I want to go into some of these.
Head coaching I don't know, rumors, whatever you want to call it, because I get asked about this stuff all the time. Where do I think these guys are gonna go? Who's in consideration for these jobs? Those kinds of things, And it's early in the process. You know, guys still have a chance to wow in the interview. And if you don't think that wowing in the interview matters, let me tell you about a little guyamed Vance Joseph. The Advanced Joseph so wowed the Broncos when he came in
to interview back then. He was a position coach with Cincinnati, came to interview with Gary Kubiak's staff, and Cincinnati at the time blocked the.
Move for him to become the Broncos defensive coordinator.
Back then, you could do that. In fact, that was one of the impetus in changing the rule about blocking promotions in the NFL that you could absolutely wow in the interview and it can change the perspective of an organization.
Nate Hackett wild in the interview. If you want an example of a negative that wowed in the interview that didn't work out, Nate Hackett wowed in the interview, and you know, I think kind of pushed them off of the three other candidates that they were very big on, Dan Quinn, Kevin O'Connell and John gannon, oll of who ultimately got head coaching jobs elsewhere in other cycles.
O'Connell of course.
With the Vikings who had a great season, John gannon with Arizona who he's elevated that franchise, and Dan Quinn, who we all know is in the playoffs with the Washington Commanders. So it can go both ways. It can go both ways when you're you know, when you're talking about that process. I think that with regard to and let's start with New England, with regard to their coaching situation, I think they're on Ben Jonson or Mike Frabel.
I think they know they've got one or the other in the bag.
And as part of the reason they made the move, which you're odd, Mayo, you know, mal Well, he was just he was just staying over his head. And that's not to say that you can't get better. I mean most coaches get better the second time around. Anyway, I think back to I remember when Rahie Morris took over in Tampa and they had some you know, smartly success or whatever. But he was in over his head too. He's way too young to be doing what he was doing.
And there's some guys that can handle it, in most that can't. And Sean McVay is the exception, not the rule and getting a job that young. As far as as far as New England goes, I do I believe that it's it's Ben Johnson or Mike Rabel.
I don't really believe that there's I mean, they'll go through.
The process and obviously, with respect to the Rooney Rule, they'll have to do certain things. But I believe that that's the direction that they're headed. And I tend to lean on Mike Rabel getting the job because I suspect Ben Johnson will go elsewhere. You know, we talked about wowing in the interview. You can also blow it in the interview. You you know, Ben Johnson, I would. I think he's going to be a fine head coach. He's
just not the world's greatest interviewer. There have been some notes from people, you know, after you've an interview before. He's not the world's greatest interviewer. Some guys are bad interviewers and would make bad coaches. But I think he'll be a fine head coach. I just don't think he's polished in the art of the interview, which is his own thing, especially when you're talking to guys that are owners, because typically when you're an owner of the NFL team,
you're probably a billionaire. You're probably somebody who's been heavily involved in the business world, and it's it's just a different style and process and and vernacular and jingoism that you don't have. There's a disconnect between football and the business world and in a sense of the way that you talk, and so you know, I think that there are guys who are slick talkers that can speak that language or speak that lingo and understand how to how to speak to those guys and wind up in jobs
that they probably shouldn't get. Their guys that don't do the best job with that and don't get those jobs.
Sometimes.
With regard to the New York Jets, that's the one that's the biggest question mark to me. I think they're casting the widest net.
I sort of think they have to because I'm not sure how desirable that job is.
You got a mess. You got to figure out your Rogers situation. You just you have a mess.
You have a mess of a culture that's been a mess of a culture for a while. You fired.
Everybody knows that they fire Robert sala instead of giving him the opportunity to turn it around this year.
And what a huge mistake that was.
Everybody around the league knows that fans were done with solid But I mean, you know, you make decisions based on what the fans want.
You're going to continue being terrible.
Robert Salaz should have had the opportunity to turn that team around this year and didn't get it. You know, they weren't particularly bad in the first couple of games. They just they just had some bad luck and wound up, you know, wound up just throw it away the season, essentially putting Oulberg in there in an untenable situation. The offense, they moved from Nate Hackett Todd Downing, which was stupid. I mean, both neither of those guys are great offensive coordinators,
but that might be the one. It was a downgrade. Al Loggins wasn't available to really shift that thing all the way down. That's the one I have the biggest question Mark saw some of these others are fairly clear.
I think, you know, in Chicago, I think they want Ben Johnson.
I would say that the person that maybe the most skeptical might be the guy who's making the decision there in Ryan Poles. And we'll see how that goes, because I think Ben Johnson has made it clear that he wants a unity of vision from ownership general manager himself, and that is that he wants a general manager who's basically going to.
Do what he asks.
He wants a guy who's like, I need you to go get this, figure out a way to go get this, and there's nothing to be said for that. I mean, that's sort of in the end the relationship that Sean Payton and George Peyton have sort of come into, and it really caters to both their skill sets. I said earlier the show, I think that, you know, Sean Payton causes George to be a little bit more aggressive, and George Peyton rains Sean Payton in when is when he
would otherwise be too aggressive. And you go back and look at the Saint situation, some of the things that they did, they were too aggressive with those kinds of things. Then the state situation, which is up for grabs. I think that's one of the toughest jobs out there. You're you're facing an entire rebuild in overhaul, You're at a cap hell.
You got to figure that situation out.
You don't have a ton of contracts that are really malleable in terms of being able to alleviate that. I believe they'll offer that job to Aaron Glenn. I think he's the favorite for it in New Orleans, and we'll see if he takes it. I think he would be in contention for the New York Jets' job as well. You've got the Jacksonville job, which you know, I personally
think that Ben Johnson is the apple their eye. And it's interesting to me because they've not fired Trent Balki, but people are freaking out if they didn't do it that.
I'm like, they haven't fired him yet.
They're gonna go through this process and they're gonna talk to these head coaches. Ja Shaan Cod's gonna give them if he finds a guy and he's convinced that it's the guy, and they say they got to get rid of Trent Bualkiy and get their own guy, and they'll.
They'll punt on Trent Balkey.
They just they need a general manager in there right now running operations. All the other coaching searches have that, So, you know, I think Ben Johnson, with the apple of their eye, I do believe that they'll Leam Cohen will get strong consideration there. And then there's an outside shot that that you go the Pete Carroll route and you know, put the band back together. There's obviously a lot of
connections there at Jacksonville. I think the fans would probably groan if they heard this, But you know, guys like Daryl Bevell and Robert Sala and Gus Bradley and all those guys that Carol would bring and put on the staff in various positions.
All those guests have been there before.
There's plenty of connection to that Jacksonville Jaguars, you know, think with that. So I would not be surprised if that was like a dark horse lurking out there. Get Pete Carroll in there to stabilize the culture. And I don't particularly think that's a bad move. I think that Liam Cohen is the wild card there in the sense that you bring it in, you know, another king Maker Baker Mayfield offensive coordinator, and you don't really know you know what you're getting in terms of head coach, what
he what he brings the head coach. But you've got to stabilize that thing that the Doug Peterson thing didn't work and it's just for whatever reason, kept getting worse.
And you've got a quarterback there.
I mean, it's it's a situation where you you've got something you've got the bones to build around.
Might be a two year project.
But but a guy like Pete Carroll, I mean, if you've got to go somewhere, you know, why not. And the question of whether some of these other jobs going to open up, we thought we do know about the Colts defensive coordinator. I think there are some guys that they'll look at there. I think I think Chris Grris, not the former player, we'll get, uh, we'll get a look. I think Jim Leonard will get a look. I made
I made a crack earlier today. I think people took it serious about John Paganna, our buddy figure of which I texted coach bags earlier.
It made a crack about.
Him, you know, potentially getting jobs because his brother Chuck was the head coach there, and there's kind of a running joke in Indy that Chuck Pagotnall ran the cover who defense, But you know, I don't. I don't know, and you know I didn't ask him because I didn't want to. You know, I wouldn't put him on the spot as far as that goes, But I you know it maybe that he would get the defensive coordinators, which I mean he coach PAGs has been a defensive coordinator there.
He did a fine job with the Raiders stepping in there for for Ken Norton and all that. I mean, he's been a fine defense coordator before. He absolutely deserves defensive coordinator consideration. For whatever reason, his name is floated around there as being very hot, obviously contributing to Washington commanders. And they run this year, and then there's questions about if other jobs are going to open. The Giants job. I've been telling everybody this the whole time. I never
thought that was gonna open. I still don't think it's gonna open. I do believe they're running it back. Jim what's his name, Mara John Morrow said said pretty much that today. I do believe that they'll be on the hunt for a bridge quarterback, a guy like Carson Wentz.
That they can bring in.
And then I don't know that they'll go rookie right there at the top with the quarterback position.
They might go somewhere else and then come back and get a quarterback later.
You could probably get Carson Wentz as a bridge to a Quinn yours and come away looking pretty all right. They've got the bare bones with some pieces. Really, what they need to be doing is fixing that offensive line. The Giants fixing that offensive line. They've got skill position players. Tyrold Tracy is nice. We all know how much I love Molique Neighbors. You got Wandale Robinson, Clayton. They've got players, They've got skill position players. The question is the offensive
line there. But I do believe they running it back with Shane and Brian Dabele, and I you know, I think that was the plan all along. The question really, I think as far as jobs pop it open, is the potential the Raiders job popping open, and that would the interest to me because I think if Ben Johnson takes the Patriots, Mike Rabel would be somebody that would
be in line for that Raider's job. There's obviously the Tom Brady connection everybody likes to point out, but I believe that Mike Vrabel would be somebody who would be in line for that. The question is who would be his offensive coordinator, because if Rabel does take the New England job, you know, you could break Josh McDaniels, put the band back together, all that kind of stuff.
You can't break Josh McDaniels back to Las Vegas.
And it's interesting because the Raiders kind of clean house on that Patriots culture kind of thing. Vrabel's kind of been the one guy from that that's been successful.
And stood apart from it.
But Rabel's picks of offensive coordinators, you know, Arthur Smith was the most successful.
He's up there in Pittsburgh.
I don't think you're I don't think he's making a lateral move, and I certainly don't think Pittburgh getting ready him. And you know Todd Downing, he bringing it. Todd Downing was a disaster, which the Raiders already know. They they've dealt with offensive quardator Todd Downing before. So it'd be interesting to see maybe he brings in like Tommy Reese or somebody like that, and then that brings you to the Bears.
And there's a skins him there because you know you've got Ryan Poles the general manager.
You hire Ben Johnson, You are you hiring a guy that's gonna put you out of a job.
How organization the aligned are you in that regard?
And I do believe that Vrabel would be in play there for for Chicago as well.
I don't. I don't think much of these are set in stone.
I think there's kind of a waiting for the Ben Johnson domino to fall, the Mike Rabel domino to fall, that everything else kind of goes in there. I think New Orleans is the one team that's kind of apart from that, and I think Aaron Glenn is probably gonna wind up with the job there. But it's fascinating to watch as this thing sort of kicks off. I'll put together like an official guess.
Over there on Twitter tomorrow or something.
We always have fun with this every year, like donating to charity for how many I missed that kind of stuff, So we'll put something together. We'll put something together tomorrow on Twitter. But that's where I think it stands. I do believe that Ben Johnson is in play and all those places that everybody wants him.
I do.
I mean, I don't think it's he's in play in New York, and I don't think he would go there. But beyond that, and so I think we're all waiting for those dominoes to fall. My gut is that Vrabel winds up in New England, Johnson winds up in Chicago, and you know, Jacksonville winds up looking between you know, like I said, a Pete Carroll or Liam Collen, whether they want to go New OC or whether they want a culture stability thing. It just depends. I do believe
the Raiders will make a move next week. We'll see, but it could go into its early in the process, could go any which way.