0:07

The Season with Peter Schrager is a production

0:09

of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio.

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What's Up, everybody, Welcome to another episode of

0:25

the Season with Peter Schrager. I'm

0:27

Peter Scheger. I'm joined by Aaron wang

0:29

Kaufman, my wonderful producer.

0:32

We are now a

0:34

week and change removed from the Super

0:36

Bowl and I'm just flipping the I'm flipping the page.

0:38

Our guest is gonna be Steve Spagnolo,

0:40

who has won his fourth Super

0:43

Bowl as a coordinator, which is an NFL

0:46

record in the history of the sport. No coordinator

0:49

has won four different Super

0:51

Bowl titles. We're gonna get spags

0:53

on in a bit, but before we do that, I

0:55

wanted to look ahead to the Combine because if you're

0:57

clicking on play on this podcast, it's

1:00

late in the week during

1:02

this President's Day week, which is kind of a dark

1:04

period for the NFL, and then you

1:06

might listen to on the weekend and then guys,

1:08

before you know it, Monday, everyone descends

1:10

upon Indianapolis and we already are on

1:13

the draft season. And to

1:15

me, the Combine is such

1:17

a I think the viewers at home

1:20

and the fans at home see it one

1:22

way, but those of us in

1:24

the NFL see it a different

1:27

way. There is an art and a science

1:29

to it. The

1:32

science part is the actual player workouts,

1:34

which will rule the headlines, and we'll rule the weekend

1:37

coming up, spanning from Thursday

1:39

to Sunday, and that's where you're

1:41

gonna get all your quarterbacks. You're gonna get all

1:43

your tight ends, all your defensivens, you're gonna get your freak

1:46

show athletes, and you're gonna have them doing

1:48

the forty and doing the past catching

1:50

trills, and you're gonna have your amazing

1:52

moments where someone's gonna break a record doing a

1:54

high jump or a long jump. And that is

1:57

the science to it. And if

1:59

you talk to NFL teams, the drills really

2:01

do matter. They're very significant,

2:03

but so are the interviews which

2:06

is earlier in the week which is unfilmed.

2:08

Again, the science of it, this is stuff

2:10

that you bring a player in. You get

2:13

a feel for their intelligence, to feel

2:15

for their vibe. You get a feel for what they

2:17

can do on a board if you had to have them draw

2:20

up a blitz, or if you had

2:22

to have them draw up what they would do if they're being

2:24

blitz and they're the quarterback or the running back.

2:26

How they would block it. They call

2:28

it the train station, and that's the beginning part

2:30

where teams can just meet with players

2:32

one by one, just kind of boom boom boom bom boom. Then

2:34

you have your private interviews where

2:37

players will walk in and you've probably seen the footage of it

2:39

before, where the

2:41

most famous one is either

2:45

the DK Metcalf one where he walks

2:47

in a room and it's all the

2:49

Seahawks guys and Pete Carroll eventually

2:52

removes his shirt to show DK

2:54

Metcalf his physique. But that is

2:57

very important. That is where a fifteen minute interview

3:00

and the teams request certain players

3:02

to come in and they have an opportunity to get

3:05

in front of the coaches, in front of the GMS,

3:07

and there could be a wide

3:09

array of ways those interviews go. Sometimes

3:12

the head coach won't say a word and it'll just be a position

3:14

coach running point. Sometimes it's the GM

3:16

running point. Sometimes they'll go around in a circle

3:18

and it'll be rapid fire the

3:21

questions. I also remember, I

3:23

want to say, I specifically remember an

3:25

Eagles interview with I

3:28

want to say it was Jalen

3:30

Hurts and it was with Doug Peterson,

3:32

and that one was leaked to the media,

3:34

and that one after the fact came out

3:37

and was super informative on

3:39

how on how Jalen Hurts handled his interview

3:41

with them, Like it's it's so rare. We actually

3:43

see the footage of these. Usually they come out after

3:46

the draft when a player selected and that team will

3:48

say, Okay, well this happened during

3:50

that interview. That's all the

3:52

science of it, all right, So I said art and science.

3:55

The art of it

3:58

is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

4:01

and it's in the hallways, and

4:03

it's in these giant corridors, and

4:06

it's these these wonderful

4:08

restaurants in Indianapolis, in a back room

4:10

or at the bar, and it's basically

4:12

a free for all where you're throwing NFL

4:16

coaches and not just the head coaches,

4:19

NFL position coaches, NFL coordinators,

4:22

NFL support staff, putting

4:24

the entire front office, and you've

4:26

got a lot of downtime, and you're putting them

4:29

all together in

4:31

Indianapolis, which is a city that

4:33

has about forty different restaurants

4:36

and bars in a one mile radius. And

4:39

you also throw in NFL media,

4:42

and you throw in NFL agents,

4:44

and you throw in NFL league executives,

4:47

and suddenly it becomes the biggest convention

4:51

in NFL yearly calendar

4:53

you're going to have. And me personally,

4:56

as a longtime NFL reporter and

4:58

someone who really values boots on the

5:00

ground, I found a way to get there

5:02

for Monday and Tuesday.

5:06

And it's important to be there Monday

5:08

and Tuesday because a lot of conversations

5:11

happen and it's not gossip, it's not This

5:13

is where I filled my notebook.

5:16

This is where I will tell you straight up who

5:18

I'll meet with, Like we're gonna have spags on. I'm

5:20

gonna have dinner with Reid and Veach on Monday Night. We're

5:22

gonna go to a steakhouse that's the chiefs

5:25

coach and GM. We're gonna do

5:27

that Monday night. Monday

5:29

Night. There's a gentleman named Bob Lamont who

5:32

is an agent to all the top head

5:34

coaches. He represents everybody

5:37

from Doug Peterson to Andy

5:39

Reid to Sean mcvayh you

5:41

can go down the list. There are so many Lamont

5:44

clients. He is a legend in his own right. He

5:46

was Mike Holmgren's agent way back when. Bab

5:49

Lamont and his wife they

5:51

have their own agency, they both and he does

5:54

a little private dinner Monday

5:56

night, late night, and I usually am

5:59

one of maybe two media

6:01

people ever at the table. It's

6:03

it's a cool invite to get I like to always

6:05

hit that up. I'll make sure I get there.

6:08

So what's the value of being at a dinner with ten

6:10

NFL head coach? As well? There's drinks going,

6:13

there's stakes being in, there's jokes

6:15

being had, and just reading between the lines, I could

6:17

pill up a notebook on Okay, well, here's how

6:20

this coach feels about this player,

6:23

or here's what this coach feels about this league

6:25

issue, or here's

6:27

what this NFL

6:29

GM here's who he was talking to. And

6:31

I wonder why he was talking to that coach. Well,

6:33

maybe because that coach is a player that might be a free

6:36

agent. All right, Tuesday morning, I'll

6:38

do Good Morning Football, and then afterwards,

6:41

I've got a day that I've already booked, hour

6:43

after hour after hours, so I'll

6:46

talk to Joe Shane, the general manager of the

6:48

Giants. We've got that in the books I've got Brendan Bean,

6:50

general manager of the Bills. We've got that in the books.

6:53

I'm sure I'll link up with somebody

6:55

from the new Chargers brass I've been texting

6:57

with them, whether it be Joe Hortiz, their GM,

7:00

or whether it be Jim Harbaugh or one of his many

7:02

assistants that he's bringing with them, Guys that

7:04

honestly I don't no. I

7:07

don't know Jesse Minter, I don't know Marcus

7:09

Brady. So if I get an opportunity at

7:11

the combine to introduce myself in a casual

7:13

setting, I can add their phone number. We

7:15

could continue a dialogue, whether it be for

7:17

information, whether it be any way that I can help,

7:20

or whether it be them clarifying something I say on

7:22

air. That's very helpful. So that's a goal

7:24

of mine. I got to get in front of some of those Chargers

7:26

guys Tuesday

7:29

night. I last year started

7:31

this tradition. It's a dinner with Sean Payton.

7:33

He came back to Denver last year. Mickey

7:36

Loomis was at our table, who I'd never really

7:38

gotten to know. We really hit it off. I'm hoping to do

7:40

that again this year and will

7:43

solidify relationships and will solidify

7:45

thoughts. And in this case, if I get Mickey Loomis,

7:47

well, what are they doing at

7:50

quarterback for the future. We know Derek Carr's there,

7:52

but what are they doing with that offense? What are they

7:54

doing with all those frenzies? The Saints are into this weird

7:57

crossshroads. I'd love to fill my notebook

7:59

a little bit. And this is where you do it. Furthermore,

8:03

beyond the science of the workouts

8:05

and the interview, we go back to the art of

8:07

this. There

8:10

are twenty NFL coaches who are going to speak on

8:12

the podium during those first

8:14

few days. There are twenty six general managers

8:16

who are going to speak at the podium. There's a

8:19

lot to be taken from those moments.

8:21

And it's local be reporters. There's also national

8:23

folks asking him questions. And if you're talking

8:25

about we have a free agency period in

8:28

three weeks that's coming up, and you also have the

8:30

draft, you better believe there's stuff to be taken

8:32

from there. I really do value

8:34

the combine for that. I think the art

8:37

of it is what happens in the Wollway. Like I'll

8:39

do Good Morning Football and I think Tom Pellisaro's

8:42

going to join me on Monday, on Tuesday

8:44

and Wednesday, and we're going to do it from

8:46

the conference center. And there's a walk from the conference

8:49

center to the hotel. You can't walk two steps

8:52

without bumping into a quarterback,

8:54

coach, an agent, an NFL

8:57

PR person, and those conversations

9:00

are all used to help inform the

9:02

next several months of what's going to be

9:04

smoke screen season, but also information

9:07

season. You the listener, you're gonna want

9:09

to know what these teams are leaning towards

9:11

it. Like I'm looking at the coaches,

9:14

twenty er are going to speak.

9:16

That means twelve aren't here. Here

9:18

are the twelve that are not on the schedule, and

9:20

you can shame them. You can tweet at them, you can find

9:23

their PR team and try to commit some otherwise.

9:25

I don't like it. I don't like it, and I've said it before.

9:29

Come to the combine. Don't be too cool for the combine.

9:31

Come to the combine, and then speak at the combine.

9:35

Mike McCarthy's not speaking, Brian

9:37

Dabele's not speaking, Matt Lafleur

9:40

is not speaking, Kyle Shanahan's not speaking.

9:42

Sean McVay is not speaking, Mike McDonald's

9:45

not speaking, Dennis Allen's not speaking, Robert

9:47

Sala's not speaking, Gerrodmeo is

9:49

not speaking, like Tomlin is not speaking, Jim

9:52

Harbaugh is not speaking, Antonio

9:54

Pierce is not speaking.

9:57

So I'm just looking at the schedule

9:59

of who's going to be on those risers, and those

10:01

are the twelve coaches who will not be

10:03

speaking at the combine. That's their

10:05

choice. I'm not trying

10:08

to make news here. I doubt

10:10

Sean mcvay's at the combine at all.

10:12

He and I used to have some ripper

10:14

nights in Indianapolis at High

10:17

Voltage, which was a bar that was in the JW.

10:19

Marriott, which was a fun spot. But

10:22

the last couple of years he has not attended,

10:24

and that has not hurt their draft process

10:26

at all. Robert Salah, I

10:29

know Joe Douglas will be there. Salad

10:31

didn't go last year. I

10:33

don't know if once you say no and

10:36

you skip Indy, it's usually

10:38

where you come back, And in a lot of

10:40

cases it's because the coaches

10:43

rather have all their guys in the building back

10:46

in their facility just grinding

10:48

on tape and working that way and then all

10:51

the workouts you get and all the

10:53

interviews you can have taped. I

10:56

don't know if there's been a big study done on team

10:58

success or draft success of teams

11:01

that have sent their head coaches and sent

11:03

their coaching staff to the Combine. In those two have not,

11:05

but in recent years it's been a trend that

11:07

teams have not been sending as many people. I

11:09

see Kyle Shanahan's not speaking. I

11:12

don't know if Kyle Shanahan's going to the Combine. Their

11:14

season ended late, and yet

11:16

Andy Reid, we have a dinner date for

11:19

Monday, so he will be there,

11:21

and their season and ended late as well. Art

11:24

and a science. I think it's interesting

11:26

and hopefully we'll get upot

11:28

I think in Aaron, I'm thinking we'll do

11:30

next Thursday when I'm back

11:33

from the Combine and I can empty

11:35

the notebook here on this on

11:37

this yere podcast viewer

11:40

note if you're a Good Morning Football viewer, we're on

11:42

all Monday through Friday. Kyle's on vacation,

11:45

Jamie Erdall's on vacation, but

11:47

it will be myself, it'll be Jason

11:50

mccordy, and it'll be Colleen

11:52

Wolf in studio in New York on

11:55

Monday. I'm gonna be in Indy for

11:57

Tuesday Wednesday. Like I said, just

11:59

NonStop, forty eight hours. Will not sleep. We'll

12:02

do as much, you know, hanging but

12:04

also filling the notebook up as I can.

12:06

And I'm coming back to New York

12:08

for Thursday Friday shows in studio,

12:10

and I'm flying back to Indianapolis

12:13

to be there for the drills. We're all be on the broadcast

12:17

with Chris Rose up on the

12:19

second concourse, which

12:22

means you've got Eisen and Charles Davis,

12:24

and you've got Daniel Jeremiah on the call and

12:26

then hey in pockets here shreger,

12:29

what do you got? And I'll just give you all the

12:31

good juice. And this is sentimental

12:33

for me. Last

12:36

year, I'll never forget. It was the Friday night of the

12:38

combine. I had been there for five days,

12:40

we were grinding, and it's

12:42

when my wife gave me a

12:44

text Friday night, and I'll never forget it was

12:46

Will Levis Hawk.

12:49

It wasn't even Will Levis working out, but it was Will

12:51

Levis talk about of all time.

12:53

And I've gone back and watching a clip of all topics

12:55

it was Will Levis,

12:57

how will he perform

13:01

in the NFL, because when he lost

13:04

Liam Cohen, who was offensive

13:07

coordinator at Kentucky, his numbers went down. When Liam

13:09

went to the Rams, Will Levis's numbers

13:11

plummeted, did not have as good a season as

13:13

he did the year before where he lit up the SEC.

13:16

And then it was me talking

13:19

about, Okay, well, what kind of offense will he fit in. He's obviously

13:21

gonna be our first round pick. And my

13:23

wife texts me and says, you've

13:25

got to get out of here. You got to fly back

13:28

home asap because we're

13:30

about to have our second child. So I had to

13:32

bail on the combine early.

13:35

That was Friday, and then I immediately

13:37

got out of there and took care of some

13:40

family business. And we've got our baby, Betty. But

13:42

I missed last year Saturday and Sunday because

13:44

of things happening a little earlier

13:47

than we anticipated. But Will Levis, I Aaron

13:49

I lobbied to name our child

13:52

Betty Levis Schrager. And

13:54

it did not. It didn't, it didn't win. I thought that

13:56

was a connection to football into Indianapolis

13:59

and to Will Levis,

14:01

not Betty High voltage.

14:03

Oh, not Betty high voltage, Not Betty

14:05

sat l Low's Betty

14:09

Betty Levis Schregger. But Will

14:11

went in the second round, you know that.

14:13

And here he is starting quarterback.

14:15

And basically Brian Callahan gets the head

14:17

coaching job on the premise that he's gonna

14:20

get the most out of Will Levis. Stag's

14:22

gonna join us quickly. I'd just real small

14:25

quick note. Adam Schefter had a tweet that

14:28

was similar to

14:30

a tweet that I had about two weeks ago,

14:32

and it comes off of a

14:35

really you know, it's not one that's going to move the needle

14:37

at all. But interestingly

14:39

enough, USC

14:42

running backs coach Keil McDonald, who I don't

14:44

know at all. I texted Cliff Cliff's like, he's

14:46

the man, He's great. So he was a USC running backs

14:48

coach under Cliff who was under

14:51

Lincoln Riley at the USC Okay, he

14:54

had a chance to be a college offensive coordinator

14:57

and opted to not do that, not be

14:59

a college OC, but instead

15:02

to jump to the NFL and be the Chargers

15:04

running backs coach. And shef there's

15:06

tweet, and I think Adam's really good

15:08

at hearing think from people but this this

15:10

has spotted on. He says, a trend that has emerged this winter.

15:13

Many college coaches are tired of the transfer

15:15

portal, the nil money

15:17

in the new NA world. Don't just prefer to work in the NFL.

15:20

Many college coaches have already left, many

15:22

more want to. I guys, I can't stress

15:24

this enough. There's a mass exodus from

15:26

the college game as far as coaches

15:28

go. They don't want to deal with this anymore. And

15:31

two good examples. Jeff Hafley was the

15:33

head coach at Boston College, making millions

15:35

and millions of dollars, and BC is

15:38

a is an ACC school,

15:40

and they've got all this you know, history,

15:42

and Tom O'Brien and Tom Coughlin

15:45

and all this history and Doug Flutie

15:47

and Glenn Foley and all that, say Flowers.

15:49

In recent years, Aflee left

15:52

being a head coach to be a defensive

15:54

coordinator of the Packers. That sounds

15:56

like a down move, going from head coach and

15:58

a major college program to a DC in

16:01

the NFL. He did that, Kingsbury.

16:03

So many faulty reports out there, and I was biting

16:05

my tongue, but he's gonna get the Houston job.

16:08

He's gonna get to Texas a and m job. Cliff

16:10

to anyone who knew him, saying, I will

16:12

never be a head coaching college again. Never will

16:15

do that. That's hell to go,

16:17

do you know, to recruit a high

16:19

school kid non stop with money, the

16:21

nil money, and then for the kid to commit, and

16:23

then for him to decommit or then to stay for a

16:25

year, then have to beg him to stay like that's

16:28

not no one wants. That's that's not coaching

16:30

football. That's that's a whole other business. Cliff

16:33

says no to all that and decides to instead

16:35

of being a college head coach, which he could have had

16:37

several jobs, he says, I'll just be an NFL

16:40

offensive coordinator. I'm good with that, and we'll

16:42

see what happens from there. And

16:44

in this case, you're getting Kill McDonald,

16:47

who could have been a college offensive coordinator. He coached

16:49

at Utah and USC and worked for Zach

16:51

Moss and and other guys.

16:53

You know. Before that he was with Marshawn

16:56

Lloyd, who's a top prospect in this year's draft.

16:59

He says, Nah, I'm good, I'll be a I

17:01

don't need to be a college offensive coordinator and work up

17:03

those ranks. I'll instead go there. And the last

17:05

one was Chip Kelly, who I think made it very

17:07

clear he was a head coach at

17:10

that You can see LA he's still a head coach

17:12

at UCLA and he's like, all right, does anyone want me

17:14

as an OC in the NFL. Made it very clear that he was

17:16

interested, having had his name

17:18

tied to many teams throughout this

17:21

process. So just an interesting thing to

17:23

watch one of the fallouts. Yes, we all want the players

17:25

to be taken care of, and we all want nil

17:27

and we all want all these guys to

17:29

get as much as they can. But from the coaching

17:31

side, yeah, for years,

17:34

for twenty years, we've said these college coaches have

17:36

had a great sweet gig in that they can leave

17:39

whenever and no one bats in an eye and everyone

17:41

just gets paid and it's money, money, money, money,

17:43

money.

17:44

Yeah.

17:44

I think a lot of these coaches are like, at the end of the day,

17:47

I'd like to cut coach football, and I don't want to deal

17:49

with the money, money, money, money, money. And it's amazing

17:51

that the NCCA and amateur sports is becoming

17:53

that while in the NFL

17:55

it's just all right, coach ball, do x's and

17:57

o's do it while you got into this thing. Speaking

18:00

of coaching ball and axes and o's, I could

18:02

not be more excited for our next guest. He is a

18:04

four time Super Bowl champion as a quarter and

18:07

he is a gem of a human being. And Steve

18:09

Spagnolo joins his next

18:18

It's my great honor and a pleasure

18:21

for a guy I've gotten to know really well over the last few

18:23

years. He's one of the most successful coaches in NFL

18:25

history, and he is a super Bowl champion yet

18:27

again. Uh, what a thrill for us

18:29

here about ten days removed

18:32

from his fourth super Bowl title,

18:34

Steve Spagnola, Welcome to the

18:36

season with Peter Shaker.

18:39

Love it. P doesn't honor to be on this show?

18:41

Are you kidding me?

18:42

Yeah?

18:42

Who the thug it?

18:44

Look I'm looking at I googled. I

18:46

googled something because I'm so tech savvy. Which

18:49

coordinators have won the most Super Bowl

18:51

titles? And what comes up is this The

18:54

defensive coordinator who is one of the most Super

18:56

Bowl titles is Steve Spagnolo, who now

18:58

holds the record for any DC

19:00

and NFL history with four. Washington's

19:02

Richie Pettibaum Pettybone nineteen

19:05

eighty two eighty seven one and Romeo

19:07

Crnell won three to four each

19:09

have three, but Spagnolo has

19:12

four. When you hear that, what is your reaction?

19:15

Well, first of all, I know those two coaches.

19:17

I got a lot of respect for it.

19:19

So I did an internship Pete way back,

19:21

and I want to say it was the fall of

19:23

eighty two or eighty three years after the Redskins when

19:26

they were the Washington Redskins. Yeah, when their

19:28

first well, and Richie Pettibone was the decoordinate.

19:30

I got to know, I love coach. How about

19:32

that? How about that?

19:34

And then fast forward whatever that is thirty

19:36

something years and uh, it's

19:38

quite a not very humbling Listen.

19:40

I think every coach will tell you, Pete that when

19:43

a coach gets an award, it's not a it's

19:45

not an individual award. I mean, you can't get coaching

19:48

awards for winning or being successful

19:50

on one unit without a bunch of players and a bunch

19:52

of assistant coaches. So to me, it's

19:54

just a it's a reflection of all the good

19:56

people I've worked with.

19:57

Yeah, and Deyonder to

20:00

be lone guy in his story. It's for any coordinator

20:02

too, because no offensive coordinator is one four. You're

20:04

the loan, four time seer

20:06

a champion as a coordinator, each

20:09

different season tells the story,

20:11

right, So you had the seven Giants,

20:13

which you've been the Patriots, and then you've had these

20:16

three with the Chiefs. What's

20:18

ten days removed? What's the what's the

20:20

story of this group, and what's the feeling

20:22

you have removed? The takeaway of like what you look

20:25

back on or what you do in the in

20:27

the near history or the recent

20:29

history of of what really stands out from this unit.

20:32

Yeah, I'll tell you what.

20:34

What stands out I've said this a lot, Pete

20:36

is the the tremendous

20:40

culmination of a high IQ players.

20:43

I mean I've worked with some real

20:45

high i Q football players. I mean, you guys know Antonio

20:48

Pierce is the head coach in the league. Now, you guy,

20:50

I don't know if you were to be. I

20:52

mean you remember the Jeremiah Trot James Lawernitis

20:55

that I had. I'm thinking about all these linebackers that we

20:57

worked with that we're really really smart. But the Sam

21:00

Madison's you know, the the Kavika

21:02

Mitchell's the.

21:03

Guys that we had in New York.

21:04

But as a as a group, as a unit,

21:06

as a number, this was the highest total

21:09

of high IQ players. Combine that with high

21:11

character guys, really good assistant coaches.

21:14

That's what sticks out like we

21:16

were able peak quite honestly, to be multiple

21:19

because we had guys like Nick Bolton

21:22

and you know, guys like l J. Sneed and

21:24

you know guys up front like Mike Dana, you

21:26

know Turk. I mean, guys that they

21:28

just get football, they

21:31

love embracing football. Drew Trank,

21:33

will you know all these guys that we had in line

21:35

back in Leo Chanel.

21:36

They just eat, drink and sleep at

21:38

Pete.

21:39

And when you have that and then you're throw

21:41

in a bunch of good assistant coaches, I mean, it

21:43

made it for a really good recipe.

21:45

This is the craziest stat that didn't get enough

21:47

love. The Chiefs were the youngest

21:49

defense in the league this year. And you're

21:51

talking about your naming guys like

21:54

like l J. Snead and of course

21:56

you know Danas, I think in his fifth year in the league.

21:58

But Trenton McDuffie stepped up. Willie

22:01

Gay was awesome when you guys needed them. There's

22:03

so much youth on this roster, and

22:05

yet all those guys, the mental errors

22:07

were not there. They were Johnny on the spot every time

22:09

they had to be.

22:11

Yeah, you know, Pete, it's funny.

22:12

I think this time last year when you and I talked

22:14

a little bit after the game. I mean, we were pretty

22:16

young last year with I mean that

22:18

secondary was specifically young with

22:21

three true rookies and Trent, Josh

22:23

and Jalen. But you're

22:25

right, the the other guys that

22:27

feel like they're veterans now have only been

22:29

two or three years in the league. And

22:32

so but I tell you what, Peter, I've said this before.

22:34

When so when you make that statement

22:36

or or we talk about that, you

22:39

can't help but credit the

22:41

assistant coaches for that because one

22:43

person can't do it or coordinator can't do it. And

22:45

players need to be fed all

22:47

of this information. They need to embrace it,

22:50

but it needs to be fed in a way that

22:52

they understand it, they get it and they can play

22:54

fast. And I got a great staff.

22:56

I don't know how if you get a chance to get to know those

22:58

guys, Pete, but shut out. Yeah,

23:02

Dave Merrit Brendan Daily, Joe Cullen,

23:04

Terry Braid, Rod Wilson, Alex

23:08

witting Him, Donald Delacio. I

23:10

don't think I've missed anybody, but it's a great

23:12

group. I'll tell you to think so when

23:14

you are blessed to go is fir in the playoffs

23:17

as we have for these past five

23:19

years. The downside is

23:22

all of these guys who should be coordinated

23:24

or should be moving up in the league. It's hard to do,

23:26

Pete right, because the jobs are all

23:28

washed up by the time you get done in February eleventh.

23:31

And now, listen, it's a blessing to win

23:33

Super Bowls and all that. I don't think any of these guys are

23:35

going to give their rings back for a job, but I

23:37

mean it's truly so. I just don't think they get

23:40

enough credit, Pete, and I just want to make sure that

23:42

we always recognize what they

23:44

mean in the middle of this whole thing.

23:46

I don't know if you get enough credit. I thought, I don't know if he

23:48

saw and I know you're not living on Twitter one

23:50

of the fortunate ones. I

23:53

made a big case how absurd

23:55

it was that you weren't being

23:57

mentioned for head coaching jobs. And you're probably blushing, like, don't

23:59

even go there. Kevin Demoff comes out

24:01

of the cobwebs. I don't even know where he and he

24:03

goes on a ten.

24:04

Tweet any of

24:06

this, Well, somebody sent it

24:08

to me and I'll tell you what I and I did

24:11

text Kevin.

24:12

Let me give the context first, but the listeners them

24:14

Off was in Saint Louis, where you were the head

24:16

coach for three years, and Kevin listened

24:18

about fifteen reasons why you had

24:21

no chance to actually have

24:23

great success because of the ownership change,

24:26

because of things that were done before

24:28

you got there, because of just the

24:30

climate of what was going on in Saint Louis

24:32

and the money and all this stuff. And Kevin

24:35

wore it and was like, let maybe

24:37

the first to tell you Spags would be an incredible

24:39

head coach and should have been. He didn't

24:41

have the resources or the opportunity

24:44

that others had to really have success.

24:46

And I thought that was pretty cool to get

24:48

that from a guy who, for being honest, they fired

24:50

you. And yet he's coming back ten years later

24:52

and he's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, that was not

24:54

on. That was not on. Steve.

24:56

Yeah, well it was Listen, it was really

24:59

nice of Kevin to say. I've always had a lot of respect

25:01

for him. I think he's a real intelligent guy in this business.

25:03

And listen, it was a challenge. I'd

25:05

do it again because the lessons

25:08

you learn, you and I both know this, right,

25:10

The lessons you learned from failure usually or

25:12

more valuable than the ones that

25:14

you learned from success, and so I think

25:16

there was some valuable lessons. There were some tremendous

25:19

relationships pulled from there, and there's

25:21

some things that we're really proud of. I mean, the

25:23

overall record wasn't great, but I really enjoyed

25:25

our twenty ten season. We went from the

25:28

twenty two thousand and nine where

25:30

we were one and fifteen, and we drafted Sam

25:33

Bradford, who I thought was really really good.

25:35

He was exceptional, and that he

25:38

was the offensive rookie of the year. In twenty ten,

25:41

you know, we were one game, last game of the season. If

25:43

we win, we're in the playoffs, so that we're

25:46

proud of. And then it kind of fell apart in twenty eleven. And

25:48

listen, we all get this business and it's about winning,

25:50

and we didn't win enough game, so it happens.

25:52

But nice Kevin to say that's

25:54

all in the past. Now, listen, I'm blessed to

25:56

have the things happen after that. And you

25:58

know, God puts us on these these trails

26:01

and these journeys for a reason, Pete, and all

26:03

of it's been very valuable for me.

26:05

Yeah. Obviously your career,

26:07

it is so decorated

26:10

with different players. You were mentioning the Jeremiah Trotters

26:12

and the Kavika Mitchells, but also legendary

26:14

coaches. You

26:17

and I texted when you guys had headed over to Germany.

26:19

You're like, you know, I used to coach in the world link

26:22

and here we are and I'm going back

26:24

and I'm coaching in Germany and this is thirty years

26:27

ago. Take us

26:29

through some of your mentors coaching wise,

26:31

who really get a few opportunities to elevate

26:33

your career and move in this amazing path

26:35

and have this journey to win four titles. The defensive

26:37

coordinator.

26:38

No, a great question, Pete. I'm glad you

26:41

asked it. I love talking about it. If I

26:43

go, if I've moved backwards, I mean, how blessed am I

26:45

to worked with what I considered two

26:47

Hall of Fame NFL coaches and Andy Reid and

26:49

Tom Coughlin, and then you know,

26:51

in a close friend of mine, John Harbor, I spent

26:53

two years in Baltimore with which was there

26:56

was some growth. You know, listen, you know when your

26:58

peers, when you get to watch your peers

27:01

do of it, and you know exactly what he's

27:03

thinking and doing, and you're able to pick.

27:04

Apart his brain. That was too valuable

27:06

years.

27:07

But you know, and then they go all the way back to college

27:10

where I don't know if you remember this thing, Pete,

27:12

but Jack mcnell was the head coach of the Boston

27:14

College Eagles when Doug Flutie

27:17

was the quarterback there and had that miracle

27:20

down there in Miami. But I worked for Jack

27:22

in one of those years in NFL

27:24

Europe. And you know,

27:26

Dick Curle was the head coach of the Franklin Galaxy

27:29

to what you were talking about, And Dick

27:31

was nice enough to hire me his

27:33

defensive coordinator. But you know, as

27:36

much as the head coach Bill Russo, I

27:38

worked for Tom Jackson in Connecticut. I mean, the

27:40

list goes on and on. Tim Murphy who just retired

27:43

at Harvard. He's the Harvard head coach. He was

27:46

head coach at Maine at one time and I worked

27:48

for him for a brief period. But you know, as

27:50

much as the head coaches, Pete, you know, we

27:52

learn and grow from the guys we

27:55

work with as assistant

27:57

coaches across the board.

27:58

And I love that part of it.

27:59

I mean, one of the things John Harburn I

28:01

used to do when we were back in

28:03

Philadelphia were together for eight years, both assistants.

28:06

He was a special teams coordinator and I

28:08

either have the secondary linebackers, whatever year

28:10

it was, but we would evaluate

28:13

each other, Pete, so he

28:15

would spend a day, you know, as a

28:17

special teams coach, he could watch all the

28:19

other coaches. I'd say, John, just watch me

28:21

for a day and then just give me feedback

28:23

at things that I need to work on.

28:24

And then I would do the same for him.

28:26

I'd go out watch a special teams practice

28:28

and then we used to bounce those things off of

28:30

each other all the time. And so I think when you

28:32

do that, the growth is just greater

28:35

than just what you might get from a clinic or from

28:38

working from the head coach, but just the relationships

28:40

to me or with what Terrrish and.

28:43

Of course the late great Jim Johnson had

28:45

such an impact. Talk about who he was

28:47

and what he.

28:48

Did to the game.

28:50

Listen, I don't think any

28:52

of us and you know the list Pete of

28:54

the guys that worked for the gym, myself, Ron Vera,

28:57

Leslie Fraser, Sean McDermott, John

28:59

Harbor. I think the list goes on and on, right, and

29:02

the influence he had on all of us from a

29:04

defensive perspective, he was. We

29:06

were at the Combine one time and

29:09

I remember, so, I'm I

29:11

don't know, I'm early forties, and

29:13

you know, Jim's into his mid sixties and he's kind

29:15

of at the end of his career, but he's doing

29:17

great. You know, We're kicking butt in Philadelphia

29:20

defensively, and one of his buddies, who's probably

29:22

the same age, comes up to him and says, hey,

29:25

Jim, I see you finally got your retirement

29:27

defense in and so we

29:29

didn't really know what he was talking about, so we asked him.

29:31

He goes, well, Jim's wanted to do all of these

29:33

exotic, crazy defenses,

29:36

and now he doesn't because he figures if they didn't

29:38

work, he's retiring anyway, right, I thought

29:40

that was the greatest line in the world. Yeah,

29:43

because one of the things Jim did do, and

29:45

you know from watching it, was he would take he

29:47

would take some real chances at

29:49

what we did and overloaded. Yeah,

29:54

it's not as much of a chance when you got Brian Doctors

29:56

doing it. But I'll tell you what, there were the things

29:58

we did that were a little unconventional.

30:02

And we still do him today. I mean we

30:04

don't.

30:04

Yeah, we offensive offensive is

30:06

pretty smart now, so they'll hurt you if you get too

30:08

crazy. But because of his influences

30:11

where I'm going, I think a lot of us have

30:13

things that we wouldn't have had had we not worked.

30:15

With Jim Giants era. You

30:17

go there two thousand and seven. Obviously you

30:19

guys have all this incredible playoff front.

30:22

Talk about that defensive front and working

30:24

with talking o C and straighthand

30:26

and of course Jay Alford and Dave Tollison

30:29

and I love I love that O seven

30:31

Giants defense, And if you can give us

30:33

a little color on preparing for that offense,

30:35

which at the time was the greatest offense the NFL had ever

30:38

seen, and having those teen days to build

30:40

some sort of defensive game plan.

30:42

I remember Pete.

30:45

In the lead up to the game, you know, looking at them as you

30:47

watch the tape, and Tom Brady and the weapons they

30:49

had, Randy Moss, all of them. I'm

30:52

just saying, oh my god, if we could just hold them

30:54

under thirty five, you know, maybe

30:56

we gotta Maybe we got a chance to be If

30:58

we don't, we got no chance. But I mean, that's

31:00

how dynamic they were. But you

31:03

led this thing with those naids up front,

31:05

and any defense has to start

31:08

up front. So but I will say this,

31:10

I'm going to go back to Antonio piss. He was

31:12

the glue in the middle that.

31:15

Really kept it all agether like he could. He could.

31:17

That's why he said, a good head coach now he could connect

31:19

all the rooms because he can speak

31:21

the language of the dbs and the linebackers

31:23

and the d line. He can go over to the offensive

31:26

guys and he can. I mean, he can rile things

31:28

up and he knows how to get people.

31:30

And that's why he's so good at what he's doing.

31:32

Now.

31:32

I knew.

31:32

I told his dad five years ago when he got in the league's

31:34

assistant I said, heyp the head coach in five years.

31:38

Yeah, he beat it by two years because that that's

31:40

Antonio.

31:40

But do you remember he was an NFC Championship

31:43

game. He has a hit on either

31:45

Ryan Grant or Brandon Jackson

31:47

and it's up in green Bay and Antonio Pierce

31:50

saves a touchdown on a third and long and a little

31:52

screen path. It's one of the greatest defensive plays the Giants

31:54

ever had.

31:55

Pete great memory. He would

31:57

it off too.

31:58

There was nobody there if he gets blocked

32:00

by green Bay's offensive lineman. I

32:02

mean, he would have been in the in the end z on his huge

32:05

play. I mean it was that might have been Pete.

32:07

It might have been one of those risky calls that you

32:09

say, shot here and Antonio

32:13

saved us. But then you go back on the back

32:16

end there you know Sam Madison, who's

32:18

coaching now that with the Miami Dolphins, he was

32:20

a corner, Corey Webs That, James Butler,

32:24

Jabelle Wilson. I mean, we had a bunch of guys

32:26

that just, you know, not household

32:29

names, not superstars, you know, but they

32:31

it was just another group that played like that high

32:34

IQ. It was a little

32:36

rough early in the year, but because they all stuck

32:38

with it, and they believed in it, and they believed in each other.

32:40

They got better and better and better.

32:42

And then in that game, I mean, the biggest thing

32:44

in that game for us Pete was we didn't allow

32:47

I don't think we allowed to pass completion over

32:49

twenty yards. In other words, we didn't allow the explosive

32:52

pass play, which is the same thing that happened

32:54

in this past one. And I think when you do that, you

32:57

know, and you can make a play here or there,

32:59

you can keep the point total

33:01

down.

33:02

And you know, we certainly did it in that game and obviously

33:04

in this past one too.

33:05

You've coached all these two was just you've won four,

33:07

but there's other games that you coached in there. The

33:10

super Bowl week, I thought Mahomes had such a subtle

33:12

little comment that didn't get enough pickup, and I

33:14

went big on it. Good Lord football. He said, yeah,

33:17

and I'm doing my pat voice. Yeah, you know, it's

33:20

we're just gonna I'm just gonna do what I always

33:22

do this week. I'm gonna stick to my routine. And I said,

33:24

what a subtle flex that he has a super

33:26

Bowl week routine, like so

33:28

many players just just desire to get

33:30

to one and he's got a superw week routine that he

33:33

does. You must have it too. When do

33:35

you start cracking open the books on a Niners

33:37

offense? Does that start the second

33:39

you get home? After you guys, you know, beat

33:41

the Ravens on Sunday or you take a couple

33:44

of days and then you know you're a mastermind

33:46

and you're gonna be humble about it. But when do you start

33:48

employing like, here's how we stop this team?

33:52

Well, it does happen that

33:54

Monday, Like we did not do very

33:56

much with the previous games, so we

34:00

we win the we went in Baltimore, right,

34:02

we have the tell you what was different, Pete, was

34:05

we had a plane flight after an AFC

34:07

Chanir.

34:08

We had been home, so that was a.

34:09

Little bit different. That was enjoyable and normal,

34:13

No flex

34:16

It just kind of popped in my head. But you

34:18

know, normally on the plane after a game, I would

34:20

watch the game that we just played on the

34:22

iPad.

34:23

I didn't do that. I just I just forgured that was time.

34:25

Let's just enjoy this.

34:26

But the minute we got out on Monday

34:28

morning, it was right into San

34:30

Francisco. And the way Andy does

34:33

things is we we kind of keep a

34:35

normal week for that first sweek Peete.

34:38

The only thing that's different is getting ready with tickets

34:40

and all that. But but he pushed it back one day.

34:42

So when we finally got to Wednesday

34:45

during that week, it was an NFL Tuesday,

34:47

and then Thursday was an NFL Wednesday, and we got

34:49

on a normal flow, so that by

34:52

the time we got on the plane on Sunday,

34:54

really eighty eighty eighty

34:56

five percent of the work is done.

34:58

Now there's some tweaking, and that's where coaches

35:00

can get themselves in trouble.

35:02

Other week. Yeah, and that goes

35:05

on too.

35:05

And I always tell I told the defensive

35:07

staff, make sure you put a put some rains in on

35:09

me, because if I walk in here and say, hey, we

35:12

need to put this in, you know, give me the whoa, whoa whoa,

35:14

we might not need to do that. And so that's a

35:16

challenge that that second week is a

35:18

challenge for a lot of reasons.

35:20

You know, keeping the guys focus, which I guys do a

35:22

great job of making

35:24

sure you're not putting too much in because you have the extra

35:27

week looking at too much film.

35:28

I have to stop myself from watching film.

35:30

One are you one of those film junkies, and I don't know

35:32

that about he's what like, I know, I talked to McVeigh

35:34

a lot, and he'll be up at four in the morning looking at like nineteen

35:37

ninety eight film. I'm like, what are you doing?

35:38

Yeah, yeah, well I listen,

35:41

I don't. Every once in a while you go back

35:43

and have it. Oh I got to go back and look at such and such.

35:45

That's where you drive the video people crazy. Right, he

35:47

can get me the get me the fellow out feed Eagles

35:50

two thousand and one whatever, and

35:52

then they got to go digging for it. Uh. But

35:55

yeah, I think we're all built like that, Pete, because

35:57

that's where it begins, right, That's where your ideas

35:59

and formulated. That's where you can and this is

36:02

listen, this is a big barrow and still defense.

36:04

I mean off borrowing field love

36:06

that no beg bar.

36:07

And steel profession. We all do that.

36:09

Like you'll see a You'll see and I don't

36:11

what did they do? And you might tweak it a little

36:13

bit, but you're stealing it from something, right, because nobody's

36:16

got an original idea anymore. But

36:18

that's what the beauty of this game is. It ghosts

36:21

in cycles, right, I mean, we're seeing some

36:23

running football coming back now after years

36:26

and years of all the spread and throwing it all over

36:28

the place and uh, and you just try

36:30

to stay ahead of the cycle.

36:31

But I think we all enjoy.

36:32

If you don't enjoy grind and tape,

36:35

then you're probably not in the right business.

36:36

I said, the biggest X factor is going to be Spags

36:39

versus Kyle Shanahan. And they

36:42

had their big plays like McCaffrey got his you

36:44

know at points, but you got it was Ben but don't break.

36:46

For the most part for you guys, Yeah, the

36:49

challenge of preparing for that offense. What was

36:52

that like going into this thing?

36:53

Well, not only do they have all those weapons like you

36:56

and I know, but I mean Kyle, Kyle

36:58

is really good. He made everything

37:00

look the same. You know, that kind of goes all the way

37:02

back to his dad. I've always

37:04

thought that that was a hard offense to defend,

37:07

and with all those weapons, it was just one of

37:10

those games where you couldn't say, okay, okay,

37:12

we just need to take that away because

37:14

the minute you did that, he had so many other places

37:17

to go. And then Kyle figures that out but it

37:19

did begin with the running back. I mean, we couldn't let Christian

37:22

McCaffey and he got you know, he he

37:24

poked away at a couple of runs and you

37:26

know, and had a pass completion that we

37:28

just couldn't get there in time. Like Edward was almost

37:31

made the tackle, but then they sped out because he that

37:34

high step that un do he

37:36

just right, Yeah, I

37:39

think I've seen you do that before.

37:40

Yeah, that's in the streets of New York. That's

37:43

me running from the top.

37:45

But I mean with that offense, I mean, that's why

37:47

they were so good all year long. There just but I

37:49

will say this Ore what really

37:52

helped us was l J. Trent,

37:54

whether Josh and Jalen was in there, because

37:57

we did have to switch in the middle of that game

37:59

to play a little bit more.

38:00

Man.

38:00

I just didn't think that his own coverage was

38:03

was tight enough, and they had a couple of completions that those

38:05

in breaking that they always get. I thought

38:08

our linebackers could get deep enough and our quarter

38:10

safeties would be there.

38:12

But they're just so good they and I think rocked

38:14

pretty Uh. I think

38:16

he's terrific.

38:18

Watched you watched all the games and you know

38:21

there's guys on TV me included who poke

38:23

holes and pies.

38:24

No, you got to watch the whole Yeah,

38:27

I didn't find many. I did tell you.

38:28

The other thing that that stuck out was and those you

38:31

know, so we played tour, we play,

38:33

uh, Josh Allen play with

38:36

Jackson, and you've got to worry about those guys

38:38

always running football. So we get now it's going to be

38:40

San Francisco. We haven't watched a lot of film with

38:42

them, so I don't really know him. Okay, it's a backup

38:45

quarterback. Okay, maybe he's

38:47

not a runner. Maybe we maybe

38:49

we can get a little break here. I turned the film

38:51

Lin and then he's ripping Green Bay and

38:54

Detroit with a couple of you know, the run plays that were

38:56

against the Troit And

38:59

I said, okay, here we go. We got another one. I will

39:01

I'll tell I'll be honest with you. I just texted

39:04

Brock the other day. I tried to track down and sell

39:06

number. I just wanted to tell him how

39:08

much respect I have for him. Well,

39:11

dude, I love a terrific game he played. I mean,

39:13

and he's he's such a quality

39:16

guy, strong Christian man, and

39:18

I respect all of that, and I'm happy for

39:20

all his success.

39:21

I'm glad he didn't have quite.

39:25

But let's get Let's get to the big spot because it's

39:27

third and four, and if Perdy converts a first

39:29

down, the game is essentially over

39:31

because Patt doesn't get the ball back and you send McDuffie

39:34

on a blitz. Now, I've watched this play and I haven't spoken

39:36

about it on television or I haven't spoken to Kyle about

39:38

it. I thought it was interesting they had Kittle

39:42

in the backfield as the blocker and

39:44

not McCaffrey, who's traditionally back there. Did

39:47

that Did that raise a red flag to you and say,

39:49

okay, we've got something that What was your

39:51

thought on third and four coming out of a huge

39:54

stop to play beforehand, because if they get

39:56

the first down, they belave the clock kick a field goal, game

39:58

is over.

39:59

I think that was Did Trent make that play on

40:01

the kid on that it was a great tackle.

40:05

Well, here's what happened, Pete.

40:06

So if you remember on that play, there

40:11

was about two twenty or something or two fifteen

40:13

when they broke the huddle. So we made

40:15

a call because I didn't know if

40:17

he was going to let it come down to the two minute or not, and they decided

40:20

to let it come down. We made a particular

40:22

call. And then when I went to the two minute warning, of

40:24

course, with the with the Super Bowl.

40:26

With these times, big break to discuss.

40:28

Big break, huge break. So that's when the

40:30

wheels go like this.

40:31

And so it was at that moment, you look,

40:33

okay, this is really In my mind, I said to my

40:36

this is really this is a fourth down play.

40:38

This is not a third and four or five

40:40

what it was. This is critical. I

40:42

had a thought.

40:43

I looked at my list and I said, I need to ask

40:45

Nick about this. This is the trust I had in Nick

40:47

Bolton. So Nick's on the field now

40:49

he can't he can't talk to me, but

40:51

I'm staring right at him. I clicked

40:54

the button and I said, Nick, what do you think about this?

40:57

All I wanted to do was see his reaction,

40:59

and he just stided yes, yes,

41:02

yes, and he did the signal and it he was like he was all

41:04

in. And so I knew I know

41:06

when he was all in that we should change

41:08

it to that. So changed personnel and

41:11

put a different call in and it was a fourth

41:13

down call or or what we had

41:15

on our fourth down list, and it was for the

41:17

critical situation and fortunately

41:20

for us, you know, our guys executed

41:22

it really well. I mean to Mario O'Connor, if

41:25

you go back and watch it, Pete, he kind of

41:27

goes back.

41:27

He at first he was a little.

41:29

Bit confused because the to the

41:31

point that you're making about Kittle

41:33

being in the backfield.

41:34

But the guys unwounded, and uh, Jay

41:37

Reid was critical in it. Trent was critical, and

41:39

you.

41:39

Know, and Tred hits that hole and

41:42

comes right in and does he tip

41:44

the pass or is he just enough? He did?

41:46

He's really good at that.

41:47

I mean, we you know, we we're

41:49

all about trying to find free runners, right however

41:52

we can dissect it and can't

41:54

always get them. But in that play, we did, and

41:56

I you know, I watch it and

41:59

I thought our man coverage Dean

42:01

Bush was in it because we had if you watch

42:03

it, I think there's eight DB's in there or something, only have

42:05

two lines, and it was something that we

42:08

had. But you know, I think Dion's

42:10

gonna I think theon's going to make a break in

42:12

such a way that I maybe he knocks

42:14

it down. So I just got the guys the way they

42:17

played it was, they executed it perfect

42:20

and.

42:20

You get the ball back and on that moment you

42:22

go to there, everyone's coming to the sidelines. Are you guys

42:25

just freaking like, Yes, we did it, like we need

42:27

to make a stop work and we did it. Like that's got to be

42:29

the coolest. You change the play call at the two

42:31

minute warning, you get the play and now

42:33

you give my homes a chance, and you have to have the utmost

42:35

confidence that, oh, well, this dude's going to get it done.

42:38

Well, there's no question about that.

42:39

Now, we'd rather not put him in that situation,

42:43

you know, because that's got to come down and tie it. But all

42:45

the confidence in the world and Patrick and

42:48

our guys, I think know that if we could

42:50

have just I think I think

42:52

early in that particular drive we're talking

42:54

about, they hit they

42:57

hit one of their longer passes

42:59

early in that drive. Now that you know, we're talking

43:01

about the good one, but I'm always thinking about the one

43:04

that it should change. And then

43:06

there was one and then the one that that sticks

43:08

out is the third and thirteen in overtime

43:11

that we got the penalty on tr hold little

43:14

tug. Yeah, and uh, you know they called

43:16

it, so that's the way this is. But it would have been nice if we could have sent

43:18

Patrick Heldea right, yeah,

43:21

and then kick a field goal. But that's okay. I mean,

43:23

it was dramatic for the public. We wanted we

43:25

wanted the public to have a dramatic game.

43:27

It was pretty I

43:30

guess my next question is, you know, with

43:32

with that victory and you guys are are

43:35

celebrating and the deal liked,

43:38

do the players do they you're talking about

43:40

McDuffie now has two Super Bowl rings

43:42

in two years and Sneed's got three

43:44

trips to the Super Bowl? Like, do the players

43:46

recognize just how special this is?

43:49

Do you think they understand just how

43:51

absurd it is what you guys are doing.

43:53

That is a great question, probably

43:56

better question for them. I mean you're trying to

43:58

remind them. But in the middle of it, you know, me all the

44:00

dancing in the locker room, and I was just enjoying

44:02

the moment. I think that we all will someday,

44:05

you know, be able to to kick back and

44:07

say wow, because look

44:09

at and here's his the beauty

44:11

of these elite athletes. I'm talking about Patrick

44:14

and Travis and Trent and l J and all these guys

44:16

and Chris Jones. The

44:18

minute you know we're in the middle of that celebration,

44:21

they're talking about trying to win the third

44:23

one, and it's just I mean, for

44:25

Patrick to to think of that

44:28

on the field, I'm like, man, I need

44:30

a break. He's talking about one to

44:32

the third one. But isn't that the beauty of these

44:35

elite athletes. That's how they're wired, that's how

44:37

they're built.

44:38

That's a good transition. I

44:40

went on Fox Sports once, so usually I'm an NFL

44:42

network, but we're off for the week and they asked me if I wanted

44:45

to come on Fox Sports one. I went on it yesterday with Nick

44:47

Wright, who's a fellow Kansas City. Yeah,

44:49

big thought. He's a big fan. Nick's

44:51

a great dude, and he

44:54

was at the parade and all this stuff. And we're on the show

44:56

and we're talking about Chris Jones and I'm not going to ask you about

44:59

where you think that contract and all that is. That's not your

45:01

job and you just coach the guys and you don't have to worry

45:03

about that. But I said, if

45:05

he never takes another snap again, I think Chris

45:07

Jones is a Hall of Famer. And I'll go further. When

45:10

they did the Coach the Defensive Player of the Year

45:13

voting, he didn't get a single vote. Eleven

45:15

other players did. We're talking guys like Deron Bland

45:17

and Dexter Lawrence are getting votes, but Chris

45:20

Jones didn't get a single vote. I think he might be the under

45:22

the most underappreciated player

45:25

of this entire Chiefs run, and maybe the most

45:27

underappreciated defensive player of his generation.

45:30

You've coached him the whole way through Chris

45:33

Jones, talk about what he brings to the table, how

45:35

much he's come a long way too. In the last

45:38

he's now a leader on this defense, which

45:40

I love to see.

45:42

His growth just even throughout this

45:44

year was just awesome to watch

45:47

and see. And I told him that we had our

45:49

exit interview and we talked to him a little bit. But

45:51

you know, I don't know, Pete. Maybe

45:53

because he's been so good and so dominant,

45:56

do people just get used to it so when it's

45:58

you know, when it's only ten only right,

46:01

when you get that a half sacks, that's pretty good as an interior

46:03

alignment. And yet people I think just

46:05

I don't know, maybe maybe the same maybe that

46:08

happens with these elite athletes. But I'm

46:10

with you, Pete the year he

46:12

had, the impact he has

46:15

for us defensively, the things that we're able

46:17

to do because we know people are going to double them, you

46:19

know, and you're anticipating that, and so you do other

46:22

things. That opens up for some

46:24

of our other guys. But I mean, we love him. I

46:26

hope we don't lose him. I mean, he knows that, and

46:28

I think I know he'd like to stay. We'll see what happens,

46:30

you know.

46:31

How this league is.

46:31

I mean, it's it's one of the Yeah, it's one of

46:33

the reasons during the course of this run of the playoffs

46:36

that, uh, you know, and I'm a Christian

46:38

guy and I have my prayer time, but I

46:40

was always praying, just give

46:42

me one more week with these guys.

46:44

I just want to work with them one more week because it's

46:46

going to change.

46:47

It's it's going to change, and that's the reality

46:49

of it. But the relationships remain.

46:51

Yeah, as we turn

46:53

the page, when do you kick it

46:55

back up and say, Okay, I'm looking at a prospect from Kansas

46:57

State or TCU. I mean, do you give

46:59

yourself that grace period of guys, Can we just

47:02

enjoy this for two weeks or do you get right back into combine

47:04

mode.

47:05

Well, the I think we got right back

47:07

into it was evaluating our own guys, because we've got

47:09

to, you know, we visit with Brett vieach

47:11

who's the best. And then I'll

47:13

be honest with you, I have not done these last

47:16

four or five days. I have not done much. This was

47:18

all Maria time. This was all is all

47:20

Maria time. And when we get to Monday,

47:22

I think we'll be kicking it right back into full

47:25

mode and we need to do that.

47:26

We're behind a little bit. That's what happens when you go

47:29

on these long playoff runs.

47:30

But we'll get caught up two questions

47:33

and then we'll let's just enjoy the last couple

47:35

of days of freedom before we get back into football.

47:38

But yeah, you

47:40

mentioned Maria, your lovely wife, and I think

47:42

Chris Jones had some really cool stuff

47:44

about her cooking and what she provides

47:47

the team. That was the first time I'd heard that. Maybe I just

47:49

not in the Kansas City day to day Chicken

47:52

parm or was it veal parm?

47:53

What special Okay, you

47:56

name it, she can cook it.

47:58

She's still she does soul food. She does

48:01

everything. It's not just the Italian. She's full

48:03

italianed and she's a great But you know what, Pete,

48:05

she loves to do it. It's her way of

48:08

She'll say this all the time. It's her way of connecting

48:10

with these guys, and it's her way of showing her

48:12

love full of them. Like I mean, everybody needs

48:14

to and these guys are all away, you know, for the most

48:17

part, away from home, right, they don't they

48:19

don't get home cooked meals.

48:20

So we make it fun. We have what we call the

48:22

Cram Award, you know, and the guy that.

48:23

Has the big hit it's the Big play Deposta,

48:26

and she makes stuff on Fridays,

48:28

there's always everybody always gets,

48:31

you know, either the banana pudding or some kind of cake

48:33

or something on Friday, and then Saturday

48:35

wee give out the award.

48:36

But I think the guys enjoy it and we like, we love

48:39

doing it too.

48:39

I love it. And my last one is

48:42

you mentioned the head coaching stuff, and I think everyone takes

48:44

it for Greade, like, oh well, he wouldn't want it. I thought

48:46

it was interesting you said that you'd be interested in again

48:49

and then to maybe become my head coach

48:51

again, And I don't think it's out of the out of the picture.

48:55

Is that something you still aspire for and

48:57

something is a goal or is it just if that

48:59

happened to happen, you'd be happy. You're blessed either way.

49:02

Yeah, I do feel that way. I know the avalianswer

49:04

it the same way I always do. We're

49:07

prideful men in this business. I mean, we want to win

49:09

and we want to show that we're capable of doing things

49:11

right. So I'm no different than the player. Would I love to do it?

49:13

Yes?

49:14

If however, I always fall back

49:16

on this and this is always to follow up.

49:18

If that never happens, I'm okay with it. I put

49:20

these things in God's hands. It's if his, If

49:22

it's his will to lead another

49:25

team and young men and mentor and

49:28

teach, which is what coaching is all about, then

49:30

that I'll walk right in it and full bore. If

49:33

not, I'm so I'm so blessed pede

49:36

to have the job I have to work with the guys that

49:38

work.

49:38

With Andy Reid.

49:39

I mean, come on, you've got to be kidding me, so I don't

49:41

lose sleep over it. But

49:43

the answer to the question would be yes, I would, but

49:46

if it never happens, I'm okay too.

49:48

It's a great answer, and you're at piece with

49:50

it either way. And guess what they

49:52

can ever take away four different Super Bowl

49:54

titles from from you? One more do you get

49:56

in the full five finger tree? And it

50:00

got a wall you can you can do it that, I

50:02

quickly will say. You and I we've

50:04

gotten to each other in last couple of years pretty well. Well, I'll

50:07

never forget. You were the interim coach with the

50:10

Giants. I guess after Macadoo got let go? Was

50:12

that what it was? And it was Giants

50:14

Eagles and everyone was and it was it was after

50:17

the Wents injury, so Eagles were coming into town

50:19

and everyone's like, all right, we're not sure what the Eagles,

50:21

but the Giants they're done. And the way

50:24

you got those Giants fight

50:26

after the coach being really and that was

50:28

a good game. And I remember the production meeting. You

50:30

were so conscientious of finishing

50:32

the season strong and you were

50:35

so hell bent on getting the most out of these guys.

50:37

And Eli what was his future? We don't know

50:39

he couldn't sing higher praises of you. I

50:42

think that's as commendable as winning these these

50:44

titles as a coordinator with this loaded Chiefs

50:46

team. But like, hey, that Giants team was going nowhere

50:48

and we're playing the Eagles in week sixteen and we're

50:51

going to give them hell.

50:51

And I love that, you know, Pete, that's

50:53

a I'm glad you. But that's a great memory. It was

50:56

a hard time. It's not easy to do

50:58

the interim head coast thing in the middle of the seat, and it's not

51:00

easy on different guys. You haven't really had

51:03

time to put your spin on it. But that particular

51:05

game, I thought I guys fought harder. I think

51:07

we we might have went for a fourth

51:10

thout something at the end.

51:10

It was really close.

51:11

We could have scored and won the game. But you don't,

51:14

Pete, when you were taught. When you were saying

51:16

that, but jumped into my mind. I've

51:18

been blessed with these Super Bowls, playoff runs,

51:20

the whole thing. We won that

51:24

that year. We beat the Washington Redskins

51:26

on the last game of the season and the game meant

51:29

nothing.

51:29

It meant nothing to them. And then but

51:32

I will tell you this, I love winning that game.

51:34

I walked into that locker room, I was excited

51:37

about winning that game as

51:39

any I'd been a part of, just because of what we had been

51:41

through and just the locker

51:44

rooms celebrasion on any win especial.

51:47

I mean when you it's hard to explain

51:49

what it's all about. But guys that are in the

51:51

business, players of coaches or personnel

51:54

know how hard it is just to win one game in

51:56

this league. And I just I cherished

51:58

that moment ended up with a you know the guys, the

52:00

equipment guy's got me a game ball and that goo ball

52:03

that meant nothing right is as

52:05

valuable to me as is any that. So

52:08

thanks for bringing that up, because that was that was a special

52:10

time.

52:11

That's so awesome. And my last story

52:13

is probably five years ago. You had just

52:16

joined the Chiefs. You hadn't even coached a game

52:18

with the Chiefs yet it was combined. It

52:20

was late. I went to dinner with I'll name you. The

52:23

name was Joe Thomas, the offensive tackle who

52:25

is now getting into TV. It was his first

52:27

foray into TV. So, like I was at dinner, this gentleman

52:30

named Mike Mariano, who is now running Amazon's

52:32

football stuff. Gentleman named Mike Connor

52:35

who's still with the NFL network, and a gentleman named Charlie

52:37

Yuk who's with the NFL Network. And we go to

52:39

dinner at one of the states, probably Shoola's

52:41

in the Weston. And afterwards, because

52:43

we're fat pigs, we're like, let's go get

52:45

a milkshake from Steak and Shake. And we walk

52:48

in and it's empty. Steak

52:50

and Shake is empty. I get a banana milkshake.

52:52

I'm so excited. It's literally one am. This is terrible

52:54

for my body and soul. And then walked two

52:56

bodies, Steve Spagnolo and

52:59

Andy Reid, walking in at one am, and I'm

53:01

so excited. I'm so excited to see

53:03

what happens. I spilled my entire milkshake

53:06

all over myself and you and Andy Reader just looking

53:08

at me like you freaking kluts.

53:10

I remember that, Hey,

53:12

that's to be expected, that late at night in the place

53:15

like that, right.

53:15

Come on, that's what it is. But you're

53:18

grateful to me then, and you've been

53:20

great to me, said, I appreciate these forty minutes.

53:22

I can't wait to see you. We'll hang at the combine

53:25

for sure, but congratulations

53:27

another super Bowl ring. But as we've learned in this interview,

53:30

it's not just the Super Bowls, it's the entire

53:33

journey, and I think you appreciate that

53:35

more than anybody.

53:36

Yeah, very much so, Pete, appreciate to having me on.

53:38

This is great man, a lot of fun.

53:40

The best. All right, guys, thank you, SPACs, appreciate

53:42

it.

53:43

Coming back to guys, thank you.

53:52

The youngest defense in the league, they

53:54

win a super Bowl, his

53:57

fourth as a coordinator.

53:59

It's the only four time Super Bowl champion

54:01

as a coordinator. And he's a hell of a guy. What'd

54:03

you think of s bag there?

54:05

You know, I wanted to dislike him,

54:07

you know, the best bill as

54:10

a Bills fan, keep running into him. As soon

54:12

as he jumped on the call, I was like, this guy's

54:14

he's he's great. Yeah,

54:17

I'm really unhappy with how much I enjoyed him.

54:20

Awesome and like the love he has. And what I

54:22

like is that he mentioned names like Kavika Mitchell

54:25

and James Butler and even on this defense

54:28

Mike Dana, Like these these are

54:30

not household names, but you could tell the love he has

54:32

for all of the players. And then when we talk about

54:34

Chris Jones, of course

54:37

he goes big on you know, like I love Chris,

54:39

but it was no different than he has for

54:41

Leo'shane. I love that it's almost like

54:43

a galitarian like that they're all his guys.

54:45

And no no hesitation to call

54:48

out his entire staff like this is

54:50

nice. The first thing out of his mouth or

54:52

whatever was like, anytime you have this kind

54:54

of success, it's not a one person thing. There

54:57

are so many members of the staff that help.

54:59

And then his entire interview was him giving

55:03

real examples of that, like where

55:05

his the p he's working with are helping

55:07

making Hanim communicate.

55:08

Yeah totally.

55:09

So yeah, he was great.

55:11

I thought the

55:13

last part of it when he says he's a competitive

55:15

guy in a competitive industry and he would

55:18

love to be a head coach. Again,

55:20

it's interesting zero head coaching interviews, not

55:22

only this year but last year as well. I

55:25

think the time for a

55:27

guy in his sixties who is the defensive coordinator

55:30

has passed in this league. And if Belichick can't

55:32

get a job at seventy two, why would

55:34

Spags get one? And then I say

55:36

screw that. Look how

55:38

the young guys play for him. Look

55:41

how the young guys respond to him, and maybe

55:45

maybe this is a great oversight that Spags

55:47

didn't get head coaching interviews, and maybe

55:50

his head coaching career is not is

55:52

not done. I'm very feel, very passionate

55:54

about the fact that he deserves

55:57

another shot. Yeah.

55:59

I mean again, as a Bills fan, I'd love for

56:02

him to go somewhere.

56:03

Out of the division. Yeah, go out of the conference, go

56:05

coach someone else. Real

56:07

quick housekeeping stuff. Like I

56:09

said, Good Morning Football, We'll be on all the next week

56:12

this podcast. I think we're gonna do it Thursday

56:14

morning, when I'm fresh off a Combine

56:16

trip about to get to the Combine. Maybe

56:18

we'll do a little bit more of a Combine preview.

56:21

I'll have more stuff on these players. Obviously.

56:26

My weekend, I am Saturday

56:29

afternoon taking

56:31

my son to the Harlem Globetrotters

56:34

at the Madison Square Garden. Have

56:36

you ever seen the Globetrotters lives.

56:38

As a young kid, Yeah, because

56:41

you know, growing up in Connecticut, we would our

56:43

basketball team, like our rec league.

56:45

Every once in a while we would get to go into was it the

56:48

Trotters or was.

56:49

It the Wizards? I got the I'm

56:51

not trying to knock the Harlem Wizards, but

56:53

there was like a you know, like Oreo and Highdrocks.

56:56

There was a Yeah, there was there was a

56:58

there was a Harlem Wizards said. I used

57:01

to always see in our town and the Harlem Wizards

57:03

would come and I'd be like, oh, but they weren't the Globe

57:05

Trotter.

57:05

I'm pretty sure it was the Globetrotters, Okay,

57:09

especially if I was if we were coming into the city

57:11

to see it wasn't that. Probably wasn't the Wizards.

57:13

Like the farm team that's the travel Maybe

57:16

they.

57:17

Would come to Freehold, New Jersey. The Globetrotters

57:19

weren't coming to Freehold, New Jersey.

57:20

I think we saw the Globetrotters.

57:22

I have a vague memory, and I

57:24

got to ask my friend Ryan if this is true.

57:27

When we were in elementary's school,

57:30

this is not a fit. They had Freal

57:32

Township, which was the town I grew up. Then there was Real Borough

57:35

and at the Freehold Borough High School. This

57:37

must have been nineteen eighty nine, nineteen ninety

57:41

the New York Giants with oj

57:43

Anderson and Stephen Baker, like

57:46

the Super Bowl champion Giants in nineteen

57:48

ninety came and played

57:51

either the high school like

57:54

faculty, or they played the

57:57

Wizards, or they played the Jets.

58:00

Like I have this vague memory of like a football

58:02

team coming to our hometown that would never happen

58:04

today.

58:05

A football team playing against your school

58:08

faculty. That thinks, that sounds

58:10

like a mess.

58:11

I have to look back on this, like that stuff kind of happened

58:14

back then, Like could you imagine like

58:16

the Chiefs going to play against the Kansas

58:21

City High School science teacher's

58:24

that's a memory. I have to go check it out. But like the

58:26

Harlem Wizards were who we got. I've

58:28

never seen the Globetrotters live. My son is into

58:31

it. Go on to the garden, and then I have one

58:33

of the coolest deals. Because I've been on this Chiefs

58:36

bandwagon and because

58:39

i have done the big Slick

58:41

charity function, I've become kind of embedded

58:44

in this Kansas City celebrity world. We've

58:46

had Paul Rudd on the podcast, We've had Eric

58:48

stone Street. Well, I have never

58:51

asked anything of any

58:54

of these people. I finally asked

58:56

for a favor, and it was to Heidi

58:58

Gardner Saturday Night Live cast

59:02

member. She's fantastic in

59:04

that movie Hustle with Adam Sandlers. She's got

59:06

commercials now. I think Heidi's one of the funniest

59:08

what. She lives in Brooklyn and

59:11

I have her number because we did the Big Slick

59:13

Tournament, Big Slick charity function and

59:15

she and I were at Children's Mercy Hospital

59:18

visiting kids and we hit

59:20

it off. Friend, you know, through

59:22

the chief stuff, but also just love that she's

59:24

in Brooklyn and I finally

59:27

sent the text, Is

59:29

there any way I

59:31

can get a ticket for Saturday Night

59:33

Live this week. I'm a huge

59:36

Shane Gillis fan. He's hosting

59:38

SNL and I get the email yesterday

59:41

on Wednesday afternoon, here's

59:44

your ticket Saturday Night Live. Arrive

59:46

at ten pm Eastern. Come

59:49

to SNL. I will

59:51

be there for twenty one Savage and

59:53

Shane Gillis at thirty Rock

59:56

on Saturday Night. Do I go to the after party?

59:58

I'd like to.

59:59

I think if I could stay awake, I will have a big day

1:00:01

of Harlem Globetrotters earlier in the afternoon.

1:00:03

Ere I'd

1:00:06

like to imagine you like, for

1:00:08

some reason, you know, you get pulled onto

1:00:10

the court with the Globe Rudders and you're

1:00:12

playing with them, and then that night you're

1:00:15

like you're regaling people at the

1:00:17

SNL after party with like, well, you know, actually, earlier

1:00:19

today I was playing against the Globetrotters, and

1:00:22

I.

1:00:22

Was thinking, more more likely I

1:00:25

won't get on the court with the Globetrotters. But I

1:00:27

always love it at the end of SNL where like they'll

1:00:29

have like other people show up on stage. I'd

1:00:31

be like, here's Billie Eilish, but also Alec

1:00:33

Baldwin showed up and oh my Rudolph stop

1:00:36

by. Yeah, that I could just I'm not going to be invited

1:00:38

to come on. I'm just going to walk on stage and I want

1:00:40

to be on that finally, and I'll be I'll be hugging twenty

1:00:42

one Savage.

1:00:45

I'm trying to think of who do you

1:00:47

think like they'll like because

1:00:50

Tony one Savage could have guest artists on suree

1:00:53

the Weekend could have could have some you

1:00:55

know, comedian friends that are just jumping

1:00:58

in, Like is there anyone in either of their

1:01:00

New York circles that you think will be a surprise

1:01:02

guest who will be there. That's always a cool thing

1:01:05

too, like, I.

1:01:06

Don't know the Gillis like, all right, So if

1:01:08

you're not familiar, Shane Gillis is the stand up comedian

1:01:10

who's been crushing it. He was hired by SNL

1:01:13

in twenty eighteen. He was fired by SNL

1:01:15

when some old stuff came up from his old podcasts

1:01:18

that they fired him. Now he has since come

1:01:21

around and he's been from what they say, he

1:01:23

and Warren Michaels have hit up a friendship. He has been to

1:01:26

various tapings, he has spoken

1:01:28

to all the cast members and he's doing it all

1:01:30

now. And it's like, you know, you could

1:01:32

cancel people and then at the end of the day, like people

1:01:35

could be redeemed, and in this case Shane is this

1:01:38

is like the full circle moment. He's coming back

1:01:40

as the host after being fired as

1:01:42

a cast member. And

1:01:46

I don't know if he's like like to

1:01:48

me, Shane Gillis's buddies and we talked about it with

1:01:50

Dan Sodar, like Christian McCaffrey and Gave Davis

1:01:52

and Burt Kreischer. I don't think it's like Daniel

1:01:55

day Lewis is coming out. So I'm not sure what

1:01:57

kind of, you know, level of celebrity

1:01:59

you're expecting. I'm going some with Shane

1:02:01

Gillis fan and I've always obviously been a historian

1:02:04

of SNL and love it

1:02:06

and I can't wait to be there. But

1:02:08

I don't I don't think Shang Gillis is, you know.

1:02:11

I don't think Ethan Hawke or you

1:02:13

know your name, Julian

1:02:15

Louis Dreyfus is coming out to see

1:02:17

Shane Gillis.

1:02:18

I do really hope though, that CMC

1:02:21

or gave Davis show up and you're at the after

1:02:23

party with them, and like, no one knows who

1:02:26

gave Davis is and you're like, wait a minute, we got

1:02:28

to talk about you know, the fourth

1:02:30

and long and yeah, that would be very funny.

1:02:32

Yeah.

1:02:33

I do one question for you, Peter. There

1:02:36

was one problem I had with the guest interview. You've

1:02:38

got a banana milkshake.

1:02:40

Yeah, what a weird order, right. Yeah, I've

1:02:43

never been to Steak and Shake, and that's not some great

1:02:46

crime. I grew up in New Jersey, New York. They don't have

1:02:48

it, and it's like they have like a thousand flavors,

1:02:50

and for whatever reason, banana and Creams sung

1:02:53

to me.

1:02:54

Hey, I had a banana this morning. I love banana.

1:02:56

I just I'm thinking, like, if it's a milkshake

1:02:58

late at night, I'm probably just chocolate.

1:03:01

Chocolate, vanilla or straw. Yeah yeah, yeah,

1:03:03

banana and it's spilled all over me.

1:03:06

Still even know how it was.

1:03:07

How about that Andy read at one in the morning, comes

1:03:10

walking in and you

1:03:12

know as a cheeseburger at one in the morning

1:03:14

from Steak and Shake. I love it. Aaron,

1:03:17

great papod, good one. This one's gonna

1:03:19

break all the records. I'll

1:03:22

see you next week. I hopefully will

1:03:24

have a full notebook. I keep on saying that Term'm going to

1:03:26

fill the notebook. I'll have lots of stories and hopefully

1:03:28

I can share them here on the podcast. Thanks to everyone who

1:03:30

listens on behalf of Aaron

1:03:32

Jason English, my

1:03:35

man John Syke's over at die Heart. That's

1:03:37

my dog now he runs iHeart. We met

1:03:39

at the super Bowl. That's my dog, John Sykes.

1:03:42

If you're listening, love you burrow to

1:03:44

everybody else back listening,

1:03:47

enjoy the combine. We'll have plenty

1:03:49

of stories, and remember it is an

1:03:51

art and a science. Till

1:03:53

next time.

1:04:03

The season with Peter Schrager is a production

1:04:05

of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio.

1:04:08

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio

1:04:11

app, Apple Podcasts, wherever

1:04:13

you get your podcasts.