2011 AFC Championship with Matt Patricia | Ravens vs. Patriots

I was laughing at him earlier. I was like, do you remember my oldest dom's first Halloween. I'm like, I came to your house, you know, for trick or treat and so Rob obviously I know where he lives, right, So he comes to the door and he's wearing the exact same clothes he wore to work, with a knitted Santa Claus like mask, like right on his face. So I'm like, all right, So I'm like, trick or treat whatever.

He kind of like looks at me. He's like, how'd you know it was me? And I was.

Like, I know, I know where you live, and you're in the same exact clothes I saw you in two hours ago.

Like in Foxborough, like Jack Santa Clause.

It was like it was like the best man.

Welcome to games with names. They're Jack and Kyler. I'm Julian Edelman, and we are on a mission to find the greatest game of all time, and on today's episode, we are covering a special special game, the twenty eleven AFC Championship between the Ravens and Patriots, with three times Super Bowl champion, former defensive end offensive coordinator, an actual rocket scientist, Matt Patricia Matt e p and we get into talking about everything, the time he almost killed Gronk.

He takes off it starts to run, and I take the garbage can and I throw it behind me, and all I hear is oh. And I turn around. He's on the ground and he's laying there and he's not moving this Friday before game.

We get into the time he got Belichick's trust, you know, Matt's side of the Malcolm Butler interception, the call for high tower stripsack in twenty eight to three, the rival between the Ravens, and what it's like in Patriots coaching meetings, and when Matty pew We're gonna win. Like we get into everything, Okay, Then we wrap up the show by bringing you the Chill Zone presented by Coors Light. How cool is it to have Cores Light as a sponsor.

Baltimore lines up the game tying chip shot with a trip to the super Bowl on the line.

Looks like we're heading into over today. Missed it? Why left? Why left? This is the twenty championship game. Welcome to Games with Names, and today we have a freaking, really special episode. We get to go in the nitty gritty of the twenty eleven AFC Championship between the Ravens and the Patriots with one of the guys that had to orchestrate a defense this year, with guys off the street putting receivers there in the slot, one and only, Matthew Patricia. Welcome to Games with Names.

Man at Thanks, I appreciate you having me. It's great to be here.

We were so excited to have you because we've had all these Patriot coaches on but it's been all offense, and we know what really wins the game. Defense wins championships. Offense just sells tickets. But in one sentence, Why did you pick this game?

I was waiting since two thousand and four when I got to know Ang. I think one of the coolest things that I saw that year was Troy Brown played defense and I was like, that is cannot wait to do that again. And so we waited and then eventually you came. And when you showed up, I was like, that's the guy. That's the guy we're going to get to play defense, and it finally happened in the AFC

And we'll jump into it, but is this the greatest game of all time?

Uh? The greatest game of all time? I saw the list. I mean again, there's some championship games that I think, are you know, obviously up there, but this is a special one.

Of all time. Okay, special of all time. We like that. That's first time we were heard. It's not the greatest game of all time, but it's the world's specialist game of all time. I saw the specialists of all all games of all Maybe what's life looking like these days? What are you doing?

So back home? And my family took this year, took the year off, you know, just was I was in Philadelphia last year. That was great, great people down there, but my family was still in Massachusetts. I missed my kids. You know, my kids got big really fast. My oldest Dominic he came to visit me at Thanksgiving, and you know, he was about chess level. And then he came back for Christmas. He's thirteen, and he was looking at me, you know, damn near right, yeah, And I was like, okay,

And that's what I'm do. You know, I tell this story. White people always, they always ask me, why do you why aren't you getting into coaching? And I always say, I did my time. Okay, I was in New England and I would leave the facility. I put my hours in, I put a fifteen fourteen hour day in, but I

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean there's a lot of times at two o'clock in the morning, I'm like, holy cow, like is this even what are we doing? Just kind of how the day was, you know. I think my thing coaching and why I spent so many hours there is I was always paranoid that, you know, the next day would come and I wouldn't be prepared to give the players every bit of information they needed to be successful.

In the game. You know, it just kept me up.

And the thing about it is everyone calls it work, and it wasn't work as my passion. Yeah, you know, so like when you when you do something that you're that passionate about, time doesn't really matter, you know, just so you gotta get up at three thirty in the morning. You get up a three thirty morning, who cares? You gotta work till one work to one?

Who cares?

You know, if I'm doing something that I know, I've got to have, you know, preparation, and I got to be prepared to give the players, give you guys the information so you can go do what you're supposed to do. Then I can stay up for days. It doesn't matter.

Now you're kind of like coaching Belichick because you got to get him prepared with all this stuff and stuff everything, because you're helping him out with all his podcasts. So does it keep you up at night to have him fully prepared for all these podcasts and media gigs that he does.

I think I think Bill's doing just great.

I means you're doing a great good great coach. We got a great coach.

We got a great we're having We're having a lot of fun. We have our our podcast on YouTube coach, which.

Killing I watch it. I watch it, dude, Well, I like appreciate that. Well, people don't realize I listened to this fucking guy. These guys speak for fifteen or for twelve years, and I was like in the front listen to everything. So it's kind of like I watch that, I'm like, oh, it's kind of like normal. Yeah, feel good. It feels feels comfort, It feels yeah. And I also I agree with a lot of how you guys, you know, it brushes up my knowledge and it because it makes

It's how we see the game, you know, So what happens I see the game?

How you see the because that's where I went to school. That's what we did.

We went to a doctor program about all the time, Like we went to a doctor program of football, and uh, you know twenty years you know at New England, Bill and I you know, Bill's like my closest friend, you know, he's he's we spent a lot of time every day together, more time than with our families. Last February, I was I was actually driving down to Philly and he's like, hey, He's like, I got to go to New York. He's like, do you mind if ive, you know, jump in the

I said, I'm gonna call you later, and I have an idea. He's all right, so I did.

I just wrote the show, you know, I wrote the Coach Show and kind of a bunch of different ideas things that we could do. You know. It started off with a lot of Hey, let's go through a normal work week like we would and kind of give everyone behind the scenes look at kind of how we game plan, like how we prepare to Hey, maybe we'll look at some games, we'll talk about matchups, we'll talk about the players. Let's just teach some football. Let's just go teach football

Like what's double mug for kindergarteners? What is everybody like?

What is that?

Though?

That's that's the big thing, Like everyone's like what exactly? We heard it all the time, but what exactly is double mug? So we just I was like, hey, why don't we just break it down?

Six on the line? Why do they do it?

You know, five on the line?

What do those look like?

You know?

Seven up?

And just so it's been fun, you know, we get up on the board. I give him to a couple of demos once in a while, which is good. He's like, fun, Hey, beat the crap out of me on the one ball security thing.

I was like, you don't have to hit me.

It's like, it's okay, and we get to tell some stories and my my favorite, one of my favorite ones obviously was you know, I got him to cut cut up film. I don't know if he saw that one, but like all the time I cut ups. Hey, we're gonna watch this cut up and we say all the time, and I was like, well, where did that come from? And it actually they we used to physically cut the film, and you know, he just he just that's when you get you know, you pull Bill out and he becomes,

So I think it's been great content, and it's been super fun of Lombardy in there as well, because he gives a whole other perspective and he's great at talking. If you want real content, this is what I think

Yeah, low lights. When we would get those in the squad meeting, it was always going to be real interesting for sure. Look, that's the beauty of coaching and certainly the way that we were raised, you know, in New England, and we could certainly look at things we did well and learn from if we definitely learned from the things that we did not so well in those team meetings for sure.

Yeah, I mean that's that's part of the game. It was part of the game. Now what in football right now or what organization are you looking at? Like, Man, they got a lot of shit dialed up right now. I like how they're coaching staff's doing. I like how their roster's built. Yeah, there's some deficiencies here, but I like their theme of style football. What are some of the organizations you like right now?

Well, you know, just coming from Philly, I think you know this year they're just doing a great.

Job, Like a fucking different I mean, Jesus, it's all right.

I mean it's awesome though it's great in insane. I mean he does the reverse leap frog, and you know, I'm like sitting there with my son and I was like, you will never see that again. I was like, it was the craziest thing ever. You know, So you appreciate, as we know, you appreciate when you see greatness. And I just think from top down, how he nick they do a great job, Jeffrey Lorie of just bringing in really good football players, tough you know, tough team. Their

Now and now now, granted they have a generational talent running back right now, that makes a lot of people right yeah, but still they're they're beating fucking guys up. Yeah, they're moving the move image, they're they're big, swallow up. They just cover you up.

And with you know, a guy like Saquon doesn't take much.

That Jalen Carter. He looks like he's in shape right now. Yeah, so he is.

Last year in practice, there was a practice he went out, we were in pads and he it was like one of those deals where he just destroyed practice. He was unblockable and you were like, wow, this is that's next level stuff. So you couldn't wait to see him come along from that standpoint. But I think, you know, twenty fourteen, we went to the super Bowl, like, and we know how hard that is, and we know how long the

And that year in fifteen, the Soldier went down and ate Deon Lewis went down, I broke a foot yep like, so we didn't like we were we were blowing teams out that year. We were like, I thought that we were really good that year and then all of a sudden, we you know, you lose.

Guys so Philly last year, Yeah, same thing, same thing, but now come back a year later. They get a little bit more rest in the offseason last year. Now they come back a year later and the ruling just like we did in sixteen. So I see a lot of similarities with those that three year stretch and then you know kind of what they've been going through So Philly. You know, I like Buffalo right now. I mean obviously, Josh, I mean, look, I'm always gonna look at the offenses

They're they're doing very, very good and I and I've been since I've started doing TV. I always said, can we get them a fucking run game and take the ball out of Josh's hand forty five times of the game and let him use his superpowers and situational plays? Can we fucking do that? That's what they've done. Yeah. The one thing that scares me with Buffalo.

See if you get it right, what do you got?

They're light there, their secondary is terrible, and they're light linebackers. They're light linebackers up front. They and I love Milano, but he's got a bice tenant and he's getting he can't get off the blockers, and I just I get so scared. They play that two show with the safeties in the run box, and I remember whenever we struggle with them, they were always light and you could run the ball down the field on them and you could

So if you sat in the meetings, it's like you're paid attention. You literally, it's like, you know, you know, this is what makes me the happiest when I hear you guys, you know Brew and everybody you know that does this now or even when we used to be in the Saturday night meal room, We'll be watching college football. You guys would be running through situations on the screen, and Bill and I would stand back and I would

And why are they like?

Because they play nickel defense, they play small. So the run control the game?

Love it?

Control the game? How do you control the game? Run the ball, stop the run, cover kicks.

You know, and you nailed it, and you know, Josh, and then if you do that, I'll tell you a little template out here because we played Josh Bunch. Control the game. You run the ball, you have long drives. Then Josh gets a little antsy. If you're scoring points, you get a little antsy and they'll throw He'll give you three or four chances where you could pick them.

Yeah, he's gonna because he's got that gun slinger. So that is the one thing Buffalo has scares this year. But that's what they've done this year.

They haven't turned the ball over, that's exactly. And then another thing with this has been very remarkable to me, this was like.

Three hours in the car with Bill. This is we could the way that we were all raised grab we could do this for.

Um yeah hours. But with with Buffalo, you know, it's just scared. You know, it's been really great to see this because preseason we were all thinking, you know, this is a rebuild year, you know, and they didn't have the offensive weapons. But what they've done well as they've they've drafted that Shakiir guy is a difference maker. He's a safety blanket, little Beasley type that Alan loves to have in the middle of the field. Coleman's contested catch guy.

I was gonna say, what else did they do?

The tight ends? Yeah, ends, and then they running that bowl Cook So I like them too, And you're.

Right because with the defensive side of it, new safeties, you know, they pieces I.

Like, but he he plays too hard for his size. He knocks himself out. And could Buffalo actually win it this year? Though?

I think that with Kansas City, you know again they're love Kings City, love Andy, love Mahomes love how they win.

I still it's it's hard for me right now to bet against the Chiefs. Now. Everyone wants to say, oh they're they're not playing good. They're not. You look at them on third down, they dominate you. Look you look at them on God to have you to talk about this ship, I would love to. But they can win situationally, which scares me because if you look at all the other teams, Buffalo can do it. But Buffalo don't have

Other than Kansas City does right now is five plus minute drives. They lead the league. So they are slowing the game down. They're not going to give the other offense as many possessions, and that's in third down, so third down conversion, slow the game down, hold the ball, situational football. Andy Mahomes fed on them and that's how they went.

They may not have an explosive run game. But you know what they have. They have an effective run game. They get that three point eight yards every time. It may not be four, but they set themselves up in those third downs manageable. And then Kelsey gets to do his shit. Then they got a couple of those draw fucking draw after Friday practice plays that they fucking do in the red air like they do it, We've seen it.

Andy one hundred percent has died into the players he has and how to win in late you know, late part of the year, and we all know control in the game, and they do a great job of.

It without a doubt, you know. And it's crazy how Shanahan came from that West Coast, but he instead of using those short passes, developed the run game. So he's taking those.

Mike's a little different now. Mike Shanahan, he was at Oakland, okay, and then when he got let go from Oakland, he went to San Francisco, but George Seaffer was the head coach. Okay, so he went learned the West Coast in San Francisco. But all those other guys, remember home Gren, All those guys left going to Green Bay, so that whole tree had kind of gone over there. So he had the principles of the West Coast. But then he died into the run game. You know, his run game that he

Look this way, I remember hearing about so we had to go to We were going to China.

We were going to be the precursor for the Olympics. The Olympics were in two thousand and eight in China. Two thousand and seven, we were supposed to go to China in the preseason. We're going to play Seattle. We're gonna fly to Seattle, play Seattle. We were both teams. Are gonna get on one plane fly to China, be the precursor for the Olympics. And uh so the year before that, in two thousand and six, we're playing Denver. We had the China Bowl. There's there's it's painted on

It was crazy. We were going to China.

So that game we played Denver, and I remember that game specifically because we're playing Mike Shanahan and we're ready for the zone team. We're ready for the zones. And so all week I've got Brew and Junior and my linebackers, you know, and I'm telling him like, look, we're going to creep the line of scrimmage. You know, we used to play base defense. You know, three four, we're gonna move up to two and a half yards off the line because we got to go press these guards right now.

What is power gap? Duo? So all kind of the.

Same deal, right, good, good question, good question the side.

Of the boys if you're getting.

In the same direction. Now we go to the gap, the duo or the power double teams everywhere, double teams all along. We're trying to move body.

So we're two on one.

It's six versus three hundred, Yeah, six hundred verse three moving the line of scrimmage.

Love it.

So instead of pressing the line of scrimmage, we actually linebacker wise, we got a stack. We got to get over the top, pull the double teams off. Well, Junior, you know who is kind of we were in the system. He's running through and so we got gashed run game. I mean I think we won, we gosh. And so now we got to go in Monday to Bill's office and we got to go through the tape and it was not pretty. It was not good we had.

It was a very long meeting.

I've got Junior say out Teddy, Bruce, Ki, myself, Bill killing us because we couldn't fit the runs power it's not zone. We practiced zone all week, you know, ready for the Shanahan stretch and uh. I remember just walking out and Junior looking at me. He's like, I don't I don't think I've ever I don't think I've ever been spoken to by a coach like that before.

That was that was the craziest meeting.

And Teddy's like, yeah, we just gotta get it right, you know, it's just it was just coaching. You know, it was nothing new, but that was like the eye opening moment I think for Junior, like Buddy, yeah, Buddy, Buddy, because Junior had two different buddies, right, it was Buddy and then Buddy Buddy depending if he new Year, if he didn't know you, yeah, yeah, the other a couple of different ones. But so that was the China Bowl.

That was Mike Shannon.

So we had the stretch, but they had the downhill run too.

So Manny p walk us through how you got into coaching. You're from New York, New York guy Italiano like, how does an Italian rocket scientist get into coaching?

Yeah, good question, So you know, quick version of my story. I appreciate you asking. So born and raised in Syracuse, New York, right in between Syracuse and Utica, and my mom is from Long Island's a little bit time down in Long Island and then up in Syracuse. Family, hardcore, hardcore Italian, you know it is where it is, Northeast, Northeast Italian. Played Division III college football once. I was a center and guard center, played tight end in the

Much you weigh.

So we were Actually I went to a school called RPI rinse Leer Engineers in school. Yeah, I wanted to be you know, originally kind of grown up.

I want, you know, like so the mascots and an engineer.

It was an engineer. It actually was not like train like you know, I don't know, like engineer, Like, it wasn't a pocket it wasn't even like a pocket protector.

I don't even know what the hell it was. It was just wow, I guess, uh, what's on the side of the helmet?

Uh, your number for a couple of years or an R. It was just keep it simple.

I would put like the I would put like dag room theory. Yeah, actually, you.

Know what the best one was, we really you know, f equals force equals mass times acceleration, because that's what we were doing.

That's exact, that's exactly what we're doing.

That would be would be a good one. Yeah, great engineering. So you know, I wanted to play in the NFL and do all that stuff, right, and then my dad quickly sent me down and said, listen, you're Italian. You're gonna be about five to ten. You know, you're not athletic. So the NFL thing is cool, but you're not going to play.

So what what else?

I was a child of the eighties, fell in love with top gun, wanted to be a military pilot, Like I was all in, Like, you know, it's that's what I wanted to do.

Love love planes. Yeah, so I was.

Thinking about going to Annapolis West Point, the fly do all that in the academies, you know, start junior or whatever. We had pretty good high school team, so we're in the championship game. So you start getting recruited, you know, like everybody else.

That's good.

Even though it Division three, you're still getting recruited. You can get money and go to good schools that maybe you couldn't get into if he didn't have sports, you know. So RPI, I knew of my uncle had gone there. He was a really successful engineer, had a great ROTC program at our RPI. So I wanted to play football in college, and I just decided to go there as

My junior year.

The Marine Corps PFT.

Is pull ups.

You can't do pull ups with his shoulder. Let's wrecked. Plus you know I'm five to ten away to seventy eight, So that's not a not a good look. Really hard to do, really hard to do pull ups. So luckily, you know, you're kind of able to get out of those programs. And I just, you know, rehab got ready for my senior year. Played my senior year. We had a really good team, graduated, and was going to go back to school for my NBA so engineering Aeronautical engineering, NBA kind of that route.

And so I ga'ed, So you want to design airplanes to sell them?

I mean, just put it all together, right, you know, just capitalize it and go. So, uh, I went back gaid coached coaching offensive line. I played offensive line, and you know, I remember just the first like half of the year going you just you miss it. You know, you're like, man, I could still do this, like I could still play, like you know, you're just you're kind of like it's hard when the game's done. Like game's done,

Was kind of like, hey, that.

Just got that's probably gonna Hey, you really well, you need to go use it because your dad and I are like getting ready to retire, you know.

They were like, yeah, yeah, you're done sixty five, You're you're.

Eighteen year out. Let's go figure it out.

So I did it?

Is it is?

I did?

Uh?

I didn't.

I left. I got an engineering job. I did engineering for like two years. But it was the same thing.

You know.

It was getting towards the fall, start to get fresh cut grass smell, and you start to just the sweat, the lot all of it, you know, all that stuff just hits you and you're like, man, I missed this a lot. So coach high school football, you know. And my my boss was great. He let me do that. And I was volunteering. I was actually living in Syracuse. I was volunteering at s U with the strength staff at the time. And I don't know, I just I didn't love my job at the time. My boss was great,

Phone rings.

It's one of my old college coaches. He was at Amherst College and Western mass He's like, hey, He's like, look, I got a D line job here, pays like five grand. He's like, what do you think? He's like, you want to get into coaching? And I was like, you know, I just walked out of a building where they offered me. Like you know, you're twenty nothing years old, right, I'd been doing an interesting for a couple of years. I had like a BMW a jeep and I'm.

Like, you know, I'm buying stuff like I don't know what to do, right, you just you buy stuff.

So very good offer from that company, a good salary, all the rest of it, like five thousand dollars a year coaching job.

And I was like, yeah, yep, I want it. Let me do it.

I'm gonna do it because if I don't do it now I'll never I'm never gonna do it. And if you're gonna bet on anyone, bet on yourself, right.

So I called my mom.

She's like, how to go. I was like, it's great, I got the job. She's like, that's awesome, that's amazing, Like how cool. I'm like, I'm not gonna take it. She's like, what are you talking about. I'm like, I think I'm gonna go coach football. She's like what. I was like, yeah, they're gonna pay me like five grand. It's gonna be great. I'm gonna go coach, you know, defensive line at Amage College. And she was like, what what are you talking about? We just you know, you

We grew up in northern California, walked up hill both ways, snow uphill.

Can I jump in here quick? I didn't realize you coached at amhers Can you speak a little bit about the Amherst Williams rivalry?

Yeah, well absolutely, the little three right, and then Bill obviously went to Wesley and so that was another thing we talked about in the NESCAC. Huge rivalry the two schools. I think this I think the story was the president at Williams left. I think he took all the books out of the library went to Amherst, created this huge rivalry between the two teams. So I remember my first year, I'm like, let's go, let's go be Union, and I was like, I was so like just in the like,

And really at that point, like you know, growing up in that.

Area, for me, like that was it. There was no pro sports. You know, it was Syracuse football was Syracuse basketball back in the day in the old school Big East, like that was unbelievable, the rivalies, the Carrier Dome, and so going back to Syracuse for me was like amazing, you know, and great people, great coaches. You know, was there three years and coach p actually was gonna flip me over. I was going to go back to defense. I was going to coach linebackers there. And Brian Dabele calls.

I was like that.

I hadn't even really thought about pro football at that point, and I was like, yeah, I'm like let me, you know, let me go check this out. You know. My draw out of the game originally was I felt, you know, probably the same in college as a college coach. My college coaches were incredibly influential in my life. Yeah, I just felt college I could really really help, yeah, really help these you know help. I just wanted to help, you know, I just want to help kids and help

Guy.

So I go in. I interviewed Dable obviously, Josh Charlie was the offensive coordinator. I was interviewing for offensive position with those guys helping Dante, you know, Scar, helping with the on line, because that's what I was doing at Cracuse three hours with Bill, you know, going back and forth playing the you know, football chess game, which he's very good at.

But what is that? How does that? What is football? What do you Bill grilling young?

He wanted to really figure out how did I think, how did that problem solve? And I think that's what he was looking for in the job, which you know I did a pretty good job of, you know, And after that.

They like what's a question?

Like, uh, it's just stuff that's going to be really common to us.

Now, Okay, you're sitting there, here we go, Okay, here we go. What are you going to call in a third and three situation? Your fucking head set goes out all of a sudden, your middle line.

Right now, thirteen years old watching the show, like, how is that?

Is that a situation he's asking you?

Or is it?

Like we would we talked a lot about.

We were definitely we were doing Pythagoram theorem, and now we were talking about, hey, here's a formation. This is what the defense did. Why do you think the defense did that? You know, things like which you would know is like a crunch call, right, so we could call cover two, but based on formation, you could bring the corner off the edge because it was a short side or nubside on the back side. And now it looks like a pressure. So a lot of people are gonna say, oh, no,

He started with me.

He was one of my QC's.

It was my QC. Here was that when he started.

He started on defense and then we switched before the season he went over all titands yep, but it was all we were just you know, learning the game. So get the job offered from New England and basically never left like that was it? Like I went to the interview, packed my car, ad a car. At that point I bought another car which was good, nice and yeah, I think I went from five thousand a year too. I think Coach p paid me, like I don't know.

If it was seventeen, it might have been seventeen.

I was. I was like, I'm getting the cars right, this is you know you got, I can afford I can afford lunch. You know you do though, Like and coaches, you know, they're great. Older coaches would be like, hey, I need you to go get lunch. Here's you know, twenty bucks. Like here's twenty bucks, you know, go get a sandwich. And you'd come back and you'd be like, get the sandwich wherever you get to change. He's like,

Yeah, Randy used to do that to me. That's a rookie because I was a seventh rounder that except twenty bucks, it would be like an eight hundred dollars order, yeah, for fucking right before travel. But he give me the money.

The travel cash was great travel. Cas know, if you were as you were a young co young player, you know you had the older.

Guys per diem take this perdice yet, but our per diem.

Was like the little lesson everybody else.

Yeah, it was like thirty six bucks. I remember when I first got there was thirty six bucks. Do you know what we used to do with the pa diem? Were you there when? Yeah? The plane used to we'll be in the plane.

Yeah.

It was As a young coach, I was like, please win, please, I need this. This is like the lights are being turned off so my apartment. If I don't win, the raft on the plane.

So everyone would put there all their money and you'd get and you put your initial on it, and you put it in this bag and one of the stewardess she'd go out and she'd pull it out, or she'd pull out. The first one gets his money back, so the person would get the money back, and then the second one would take the whole bag. Oh you want to be second all day, all day? You ever win, listen, I would take it.

I would take either one because I couldn't afford to lose the thirty six dollars.

I was like, I was done, and you cannot put it in. By the time I got out of.

About sixty four, Yeah, went up every a couple of years if I lost that per diem, Like I wasn't gonna be able to leave the facility because gas had to stay in my car.

I was leaving it. Coaches they got nothing. They were so broke, broke.

I don't think I ever won.

Damn.

I know.

It's like the power even put mine in y P. I mean, so in the end you're like you won.

Yeah. We were good.

Even when I was older and I had money, I still didn't put it in. But yeah, so that was it.

I got to New England and and just uh. I tried to learn as much as I could.

You know.

I was on offense obviously for two years with scar Uh. And then Bill came and he's like, hey, I'm gonna flip you over. You're in coaching linebackers side the ball. And I was like, okay, this is this is gonna be It's gonna be good.

Yeah. So Bill clearly did his homework on you though. He's like, all right, I did want to. He worked on submarines. I'm a navy guy. He's he's a smart guy. I'm a smart guy.

So we had the Nescac little tree AMers William.

Beginning last before we move on rocket science ship.

All my friends are actually rocket scientists. Get so pissed.

Why when people say that because like, bro, you didn't even do this, don't steal valor heuronautical engineering ship. How does rocket fuel burn in space without oxygen?

Great? Great question, We're gonna cut this out of the entire episode. It doesn't it doesn't need oxygen.

It doesn't need oxygen. But I don't know.

I'm gonna text somebody on that one, killing me right now? What about why are why are can we go through like lift theories of Lyft of like you know Colvis of Lyft on a plane, Like I actually was awake on something.

You know, it was so funny. Listen, I played football too, Like I was like, what do we remember?

Listen, here's the whole thing. I went to RPI, the valedictorian of my high school. She went to r P I. I sat right next to her, super smart. I was like, I need a lot of help here. Like we're you know, the rest of my football buddies are like passed out of there. They're taking like, you know, the my my

Those are my classes. I was like, okay, I just need a couple of these, Like those are your electives? What was your course?

Lad?

At Kent State?

I had African American Studies read Oh, I had a sex edge class I got. I did a sexual human sexuality class. It was awesome, nice, and then I had a lot of bunch of business classes. When we had Ernie on the show, we were like, oh wow, Ernie loves that old academic. Ernie's one of the great things Ernie.

You know, Ernie obviously loves football like we do. So I go to dinner at her Ernie's one night, I go to see my wife and Ernie lives in an amazing cool old.

House, years old parents living. Yeah, exactly, it's been in his family for.

Built a library in the attic of this thing that is the coolest historical like playbooks, Like I was like, Ernie, let me learn about the flex defense. He's like, Boom, grabs the book, pulls it out. Here's the Dallas flex defense. You know, Randy White, the whole deal. And we're going like I was like hours up there. I was like, Okay, let me give me the whatever, orange crush, give me the purple people waters. And it's like we're pulling playbooks off. So that to me, I love Ernie, Like that was

What was the best Ernie nugget? Because I always ask because I was always I always used to use Ernie because like people were like scared of him, like what does this guy do? He's eating the tomato by himself, Like who is this guy? And I would go up, what's what's the give me a little something on the punter? What's good? He's like, well, you know he does this, it's gonna arrows.

Like we're just so. My wife and I were going to Italy. We were going for three weeks and he he loves to travel Yeah, loves to travel and he's been everywhere, and so he got all excited to tell me about a race called the Palio in Siena. You look it up, bro, you gotta go. This is the most insane thing. We've been to a lot of insane things. This was insane. So it happens twice a year. I think it was in July.

We're going to July.

So he tells me he's all excited about the Polio. A whole different story. That was crazy. It's a horse race. It's literally, I would say a nice way because it's my people, but it's it's like the it's the village idiot on the village horse.

I swear to you.

It's like the most amazing thing. It's the most corrupt, I've sad video, unbelievable. And it's in the center piazza in Siena. But the pageantry, the the just all the villages come out to different sections. It's amazing. It's like majestic. And Ernie had he's the one that told me about this, and he had gone. So he had also told me that he Ernie loves lions like he loves line. So he told me so everywhere I went in Italy. You know there's like lionheads, you know, from the Roman days

So yeah, there it is. It's pobably, dude, we are. We are.

So I'm in the middle, like see that craziness in the middle. So we get there and of course, like it's one of those things like see all the people sitting in the balcony, like all those people up there. So I'm I'm at the front desk in Siena. The resort was staying. I'm like, hey, can I get tickets? Like how do you like the And they called them like yeah, they're like two thousand whatever it was at the time, Like I ticket in somebody's living room like

So this is the one we went to it.

So I'm probably in this picture somewhere. I'm telling you, you're gonna find me. So it is a one hundred and nine degrees. We're on cobblestone. Once you're in there, you cannot leave. They close you in there, so no bathroom eight hours. My wife's like, what are we doing right, you know, because it's.

All real fun. It's all real fun when you go in there at like nine in the morning. But by five pm, she's like, what this is sandy.

They'll say yeah, and you can't get drinks, like, you can't get anything, and everybody in there. What happened was because it was empty.

I was like, this is great.

We were right by the finish line. We don't realize is that they parade everybody through all of the villages fill in their sections. So now you're in the middle of like crazy people that actually have a lot of money on these horses and they're betting and all the rest of this stuff. So it's three laps. So it takes off in the first last nuts and it's like sand. They put sand on cobblestone, so that's real good, right,

So he starts running with the rest of the horses. He gets lapped too, he stops.

Now he's standing in perpendicular as the rest of the horses are coming out, like this is like bowling. This is gonna be amazing, right, So all the horses scattered. Dudes get thrown off. The guys are like trying to avoid. Now the horse starts running the opposite direction. So now here comes on the third lap, everybody's running. They're running at each other. I'm like, this is the most amazing

I want to see this race in Louisiana. I was gonna say, Kentucky Derby take notes. That is so cool. So that was Ernie.

Ernie gave me the polio.

Freaking Ernie. When when Ernie so we had him out here before he came out, he he looked at my address and he read up on the development of where I live in Santa mon A, Hysteria in l A. Yeah, and we took about the dinner. He's like, he's like wat yeah. It is like he's just so Ernie. I was like, oh my god, this guy is so crazy. Dude.

Getting to share a beer with Ernie at Hillstone's bucket list item it was unreal.

He ordered the ribs, ribs, let's go back to a round.

Ernie falling down when we told the story, bro, he looked like I literally thought he was dead. And you know, like it was Thursday, right, so Thursday of Super Bowl week the families were coming in. So his wife was coming in and I remember I'm like, hey, Ernie, Ernie had to go stitches, like he split his head open. I'm like, he's okay, you know, and it's like she just gets off a plaint. She's like what She's like, I'm like, yeah, trip fell backwards, split his side open.

And it's all bandaged. Doesn't look good, but he's all right, have you got a concussion?

Yeah?

Probably, you know, but he he's on the product. But he coached her. There was nobody at the rest of practice that was going to go light because it was like, Ernie just got back out here.

He put his hooto like, I think we can finish our profusely.

It looked like it looked like carries carry his blood everywhere Ernie. And then then twenty five minutes later we're all we go through probably and then you see Ernie's coming out, stumbling out and got fucking it looks like a mummy. You get that turkey shatter transplant.

Literally looked like the Revolutionary I was like, yeah, I was like, this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen right here.

Let's go back to around January twenty second, twenty twelve, that's when the game took place, and we like to go and talk about what was going on outside.

If you can put whatever you want as far as what was going on in the real world. I have no idea like I have.

You could like contra band like Mark Wilberg, listen I.

Like now currently my wife she calls me like in Sino man. She's like, I'm like, I don't know how to use the dishwash, Like I don't know how to do anything like that. If it's wasn't in that building, I'm out.

You don't listen to music while you're game planning by yourself in the facility.

Actually all used to be in the room. We would listen to music.

Music. What was on the list? I mean for us, it would be probably a lot of Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam?

Is it?

Bon Jovi? Like the show Ship, I mean we love so Bill was out there bon Jovi.

I'm a big Buffett guy, So Jimmy Buffett, that's the last mango that those are my guys. Jimmy was great. We played a lot of comedy too, like just stand up comedians just because you needed something going now. There was also a lot of comedy probably going on in the room. We would sit in the staff room late, you know, whether it was Bowyer and Flow and myself.

Who had the ox cord, who was putting the music on. Who had the playlist?

It probably changed, It probably changed. It would probably be then I'd be like, you know, flow, let's get some music or Lawyer's get some music on or whatever it was. Bed would come in or a lot of times, you know, would be fun in the fall too World Series, you know, some sort of championship game. So it would be late in October, you know, beat because he was hardcore and baseball. He'd be out there basically crying or screaming based on whichever way the game was going, which was awesome.

The late Night's coaching.

As much as it sucked being away from your family thing, it was fun because you're just hanging doing football.

Who's some of your favorite Yeah, that's a great question.

I think there's like classics for me. You know, obviously you go back to like Robin Williams. I think Robin Williams at the met It was George Carlin at Carnegie Hall. Eddie Murphy when he had the red suit on.

That was delirious.

Yep, that was a classic one. I got really into Sebastian men. But you know who the best guy that got me into all that stuff? Though you're gonna have to guess this one of my favorite all time people to be around.

Is he a coach?

You know, he was a special teams linebacker.

Special teams Dane Fletcher.

I loved Dane Fletchers talk to me the other day. I loved Dane same time Dane Fletcher and this guy. So we had tradition in the defensive room. It was, you know, so pizza Friday, pizza. So pizza Friday was a big thing. That was a big Dante thing when I was on offense. And Pizza Friday the whole idea and why Ted struggled with this, right, And remember Ted's first shout to tell the Ted story toist was he came in right. So that was our third that was

You went in.

It was actually it was the only meal that was actually only good meal of school meal that you actually buy and eat Pizza Friday. But the idea for us, and again this back in the day four got crazy, like it got crazy in New England, but literally because I had to do the practice schedules so I would. I remember, people were amazed I figured out how to paste like it was Dominoes and KFC, like that's what we had. It was Dominoes and KFC and PA some of the practice schedules, thank god.

But it was all right.

The work week is, we're coming to the end. It's all positive. Let's not be yelling and screaming today. Let's go out and have a good prem Let's feel. Yeah, let's feel. Let's have a good mental day. Like it's pizza Friday. Everybody'd be good. Now, Scar, if you remember, he'd like, don't ruin Pizza Friday. Don't make because Scar had the other side that could come out real quick, and he'd be like, don't ruin Pizza Friday. I'm not yelling today, don't get me so. And the defensive side

So originally started out as like highlights. We started off with like high school highlights.

You know it'd be it'd be good because you had some legit dudes at a high school film and then you'd have like, you know whatever, Rob Ryan's highlight of his high so funny stuff. But then it turned into like, okay, hey, we need some comedy. And it was always usually the QC's job to get a tape and credit quality control, young coach, and it better be funny because these guys we've been yelling and screaming all week. We need something funny before we go on the field. And Vince was

Heart of human being, who is the what did they call it in the in the Italian world levantier or something.

Okay, killing me right now?

So you always calling levantier though, So Nico.

Would bring in the videos and he like, did he take this was like the one like I don't think he knew any of the defensive assignments, but he nailed Friday.

We would be laughing at the curb he had me, He had me dying. He loves because that's kind of Nico's humor too.

Because you know, Chicago Italian stuff. Nico was great.

But in the sports route of twenty eleven and twenty twelve, as a sports guy, you probably know that the Giants won the Super Bowl. That was a bad one. Rogers won in I'll tell you what though.

You know what the Giants Super Bowl taught everybody if you're paying close attention situational football. What situation did I have to execute in that game to give us a chance? This was this was tough.

Now, that was the situation. Rolex Rox Rolex, nice job, nice job.

So you know what happened with that? So at the end of the Super Bowl, what happens is you know you got the.

Coachha player points.

Time is more important than points exactly, So within the two minutes or within three minutes at the end of the Super Bowl, all the sideline media turns on, all the cameras, all this stuff, so everything turns on. The headsets went down, and there was no stopping at that point, and I just remember, you know, May and those guys on the field, it's they're going in and it was like, oh my gosh, this is Rolex and I just hit him with the set. It was like, hit him with

But yeah, we made up for it. N C two A champion Alabama.

Yeah, yeah, that's easy because really I think there was a stretch in there where we just rotated every other year.

Every other year he won or we won, and it was back and forth. I mean this was the second at Bama. Second. Yeah, you know coach saban at all? How was he?

He's great. Meet him, He's actually great, and him and Bill together are great. Uh, Nick's knicks. Really, he's been really good to me, Like I was. I was a keynote speaker at their clinic one year. Yeah, when you know, I was coaching in Detroit, had a couple of coaches. He would call and we'd ask about guys. He always you know, it was Nick was amazing, you know, getting.

Ready for the draft.

It's obviously hard, right, so you're we're calling college coaches, we're obviously there. We'd go there and spend a lot of time there, and you know, you could call him like the day of the draft, day before the draft and be like, hey, all right, Nick, real quick, what do you think? And he would whatever he's doing, he would tell you he was really awesome. The thing, the funniest thing about Alabama was it was more like will you know muss Champ and like Kirby, who are the

I'm such a nick Saban fan. I don't I think I were elbows just because of I think he was at a facility of one of our practices or something. Time he went to Kent State. Ye played at Kent State. And I don't know, but I've heard through their gate Brian. I could be completely wrong, but I heard he's our biggest booster. He gives our school the most money.

I wouldn't doubt that.

You know. That's fucking cool. He sts a huge heart, Yeah, huge heart coaches. So I'm in Alabama. That's why I always root for Alabama. Well, nothingmore, but I was always saving Fanny's gold flash. We'll be right back after this quick break, Jackie. Let's break down this game. Let's start with the New England Patriots and set the stage, Bubbs. All right, Let's start with these with these Pats thirteen and three.

This is of course head coach Bill Belichick. I Leo run the offense. Maddy p was the primary defensive play caller this year.

Really great, that's great.

Bill in the defensive coordinator since twenty ten.

Primary defense college.

I was the high I was the was a defensive coordinator, was the lowest paid outside line baer coachure what was in my contrac was like ridiculous.

Did you ask him on the three hour car ride? Why?

Why that?

It was always the case?

I mean, I know why we did it. As a young coordinator, Josh when he came over to offense. So I was on offense, right, Charlie Leaves, he goes Notre Dame Josh on offense, he's calling plays. You know myself on defense twenty ten when I started running the defense. Bill O'Brien when he started running the offense. So the thing was his young coordinators in the league. Honestly, Bill

It actually really I've always wondered that. So what happened was, you know, I was so.

My first year is a play caller. So again, boy was was with me the whole run, you know. And in twenty ten ten I coached linebackers. I was coordinated the defense called the defense. Pat Graham was left, so I coached with that Blazzero damp Yeah. Yeah, So I was a linebackers coach, you know, the coordinator, and Pat Graham was my QC.

So defensive coordinator for the Raiders right now.

So after one year, I said to Bill, because look, it was all about the way Josh and Brian and I were raised in the system was you know, Romeo was the defensive coordinator, Charlie was the offensive coordinator, and we were raised to develop our own That's the that's been the philosophy of New England, and that is what he wanted to do when he got there. And that was Charlie and Rack and the offensive coaches that were or the defensive coaches. They taught us how to be coaches.

That's everybody.

So that is that's how it worked. And so again we were trying to raise our own So after a year twenty ten past the QC, you know, Flow, who I knew was great coach, going to be a great coach, and he was in special teams and Flow again when I got their, Flow was on you know, he had gotten there too.

He was the scouting department, you know, and then he came over.

So I wanted Flow in defense, so I said, Bill, I said, listen, I go, let's move Josh. You know boyer he was going to coach corners, so let him coach corners. I'll coach the safeties. Let's make Pat the linebackers coach, and let's get Flow over here as the QC. So that was like the plan for that year, and it was good for me to get in the back end again. And that's you know, really what Bill did too. Build did this similar thing in his coaching career when

Thomas Sierra was gone. This was the start of the new I would say then, was like the start of the real news.

We'd say, the the the area that was gone was more of like the Bruskies, the Rabels, the making and all those guys stage more like it was more like Mayo was our holdover. So I drafted him and that was eight you know, I told him, sit in the room, be quiet, just learn, you know which he was amazing defensive player of the year, and so Mayo found Nikovic.

Yeah, I'll coordinate the defense.

But let's move Flow the safeties. Let's start his progression and uh, you know, and then we'll get the next QC. So it was always that was the idea was I was always trying to I'll move positions. I don't care because't what I'm doing is gonna change. But how do we keep moving the young guys up? Yeah, you know, And that's what we did defense. And then eventually I got stev B and then Stevie you know, he was my QC and then you know, Mike and Brian and

So what did b d fucking have a great little thing going? Well, yeah, he went won three Super Bowls with us. Now he's with the Chiefs, won all those three. Yeah, well this fucking guy. So keep going on the team, Jackie. Yeah.

Just to further contextualize this season, we're coming off the Can't Wait Game, the the work Round in twenty ten, Brady's coming off an MVP season. The season before this season was dedicated to Missus Graft. Of course, the patches on the Jerseys lost uncharacteristically lost back to back out of the bye week.

And then rattled off eighth straight to finish regular season. Would we lose to there? It was the Giants and the Steelers. I remember that Steelers.

Steelers is always like like the Ravens, Like those were the tough, physical These games.

Were like they were old school football. They did what they did though you knew exactly what they were doing every time, and they still do what they do. They still do the same goddamn ship that when I was playing Tomlin's defense, Steelers football. I'm like, what the we still have linebackers covering the three slot every time we play the Steelers, I have at least nine catches. Do you think that they would change it? Right?

No?

But they do what they do. They got six coach, Like, how do you get away with it for that long? Like just doing what you do and being yeah, like you know, they believe, but they also they play the game and they coach it up. Well, yeah, they're fucking they're all coached.

They don't make a lot of mistakes. And again, what do we because I heard you say this, heard you again?

Do more research? Right, more games in the NFL or what they're lost than one. So if they're they.

Don't make mistakes, they don't lose a lot of games.

They don't and they still don't lose them.

And then we beat them in the playoffs.

Sorry, And some notable rookies on this team.

We got Veren Ridley, Solder, Marcus Cannon, Uh, Josh was brought back for the playoff run to come in, Josh McDaniels.

That is come into a little offensive words. Well, that's a big draft. That's a big draft.

Yeah, is that Benny Benny.

Benny Ben Jarvis Green all a great, I have a great Ben Benny. The law firm. What do you got law firm?

It's a it's a story that involves Junior Sale.

Oh my gosh.

So we're getting beat up at linebacker. We have some injuries and uh, Bill says to me, he goes, he goes, Hey, he goes, where's Junior because he wasn't you know, he played for us, but he was.

I was like, I don't know.

He's like, give him a call fin out. So, hey, June, I go, uh where are you?

He's like Fiji. I was like the island.

He's like, yeah, surfing. I was like, okay, well Bill wants to bring in like we're, you know, kind of beat up, Like you are you ready to go or what? He's like, yeah, I'm ready. I was like all right, well, how fast can you get here? He's like, I don't know, I'll get there as soon as I can.

I was like great.

So I go back to Bill and I was like, hey, Junior's in Fiji surfing. I was like, like, Fiji's like that's far far. And he's like oh, He's like when can you get here? I'm like he's trying to get your smooth. We're playing Seattle in Seattle. So I was like, well, I'm like he you know, he can get back to the West Coast. I'm like, he just meet us in Seattle. He's like, no, he's got to come back. He's got to take a physical before he ssund the country. I'm like,

He I was like, oh my god.

So I called you and I was like, hey, bro, you gotta fly all the way to Boston, like you got to get So I think he was getting into Boston on like Thursday, like I called him on Monday. I was like, you gotta fly and then we're gonna get on and plane. We're gona fly all the way back to Seatt Like this is gonna be awesome. So Junior June bugs great. Right, So June Junior flies in.

Georgia tech right quick. Fact, Gary Geiden set it up Slater with his wife Gary Nice. Garry's great.

So Gary and Gerard were like that was Batman and Rob That's what they were for me. Right. So Gary, I think takes out Brew. We're playing, we're in the game, like hits him, like you know, so now Bruce Key's yeah, friendly fire. So now Teddy's down. So Teddy's the game. So I'm like, uh, Junior, you gotta win. He's like, well, I'm like we're out of body, so I'm like, you gotta go. So put Junior out there right before the half throws like a little route. Now Deon branch is

I grabbed him. I literally throw him back. I'm like, go get on me. Still runs. I throw him back in there.

He takes off. All right, So game's over. We're staying in California. It's back to back games. So he get in the meeting on Monday or whatever, and uh, we're getting ready to go over Wednesday. And Bill's like, uh, he goes, we were done practicing pass at this point because it was late in the season. He goes, hey, he goes look, he goes, he missed you know, he missed Dion like four times. He's like he's got it. He's got a practice tackling. I was like, okay, He's like,

He's like, how to get his pads, get his equipment, get out there for post practice. I was like sweet.

So I'm like, hey, Junior, I'm like, bring your pads to practice and he's like what. I was like, yeah, you had some mistackles. I'm like, it wasn't wasn't good on tape. I'm like, you know, Bill wants to do some tackling after does he realize I'm like the NFL's all time leading tackler And I was like, yeah, well, you'd have one more if you just tackled him before the half. So I'm like, get your pads on, let's go. We gotta go. So he's like, So he gets his

I love Benny, Ben Jarvis Greenells.

I'm like, we're gonna do one on one tackling you and Junior sale like post practice he was like what And I was like, yeah, it's gonna be great. So they're like ten yards apart, whistle and you know Bill's over there and so whistle goes and Junior's like, ooh, just drills him. And I was like, and I'm like looking at Benny. Benny gets up, Junior looks at me. He's like, we're going again, and I'm looking at I was like, so, I mean, it was like wow.

And now Junior is now like, is that enough? You guys good if you see nothing.

Benny's like helmet, I'm pretty sure his sideways like it's just one on one like blood sport.

At this point, I'm like, I'm I'm looking at like we are we done here? Post practice, post pctice on the road surfing like a week earlier. I'm like, are we are we done here yet?

Or what you know? So? Yeah, so we we did one on one.

Tack on Benny. That's Benny. He man, he takes. That's a team guy right there. He didn't fumble. I never when we were doing the research for this game. To this point in his career, he never fumbled in high school, college or pros. Mister ball security, ball, security.

Security, job, security, There's nothing more important than the ball. The other one says like, when you carry the ball, you carry carry fate of the entire organization in your hand.

He said, not just the organization, the fucking region. This is a big region. Then he says, say less, I got you, Ben, He says, say less.

And since we got Maddy p here and we're we're talking about this team, we gotta give a little shine to some of these defensive guys. Andre Carter into the season injured but had ten sacks. Thenco six and a half seconds.

Great. Andre Carter played my brother in championship at CCS in high school. Really yeah, I went. I remember going and seeing them at San Jose State. My brother played for Saint Francis and he went to Grove and my brother's team beat him. My brother's team in high school, Saint Francis was like they won like CCS five years, seven, eight years in a row. They were fucking You share one thing about Andre Carter that you remember.

What's the first thing that comes.

Your big hands vice grips. Can you shake his hand? You you literally risking breaking a finger. It was like wrap around your forearm.

It was just it just I was like, I don't really want to shag.

Head like kung Fu Grip kung Fu Carter Gee.

Money, Vince Kyle Love, Kyle Love's a great story. So, Kyle, do you know where I found Kyle Love? That's how I found Kyle Love.

So I do I do?

I have to go to the University of Florida two years before this and I do a huge you know, Bill sends me down. I do a huge workout because that team was loaded.

Team had half the team.

But the game that we watched, yeah, the game we watched was it was Florida versus Alabama. There was more NFL football players in that one game than you could watch the twenty other schools getting ready for the draft. So I go to Florida. I do a three hour workout with all the offensive guys and we're in the swamp and then I took a break and then had another three hour workout with all the defensive guys. So I literally worked out like fifteen eighteen dudes that were

Have them on my notes.

Who is Kyle love, and so that's how we found out about the penalty us. That was one of the hardest guys that had to block that year, and that's that's why we got them.

They wouldn't they would know those are guys were That's how it worked with a.

Lot of players. Like I mean, we'll get to your story, but like I mean, the Ohio State game, we don't think we all watched that one hundred times.

You played them tough. I was hurt.

Exactly. That's why we watched. What kind of guys we're looking for, Yeah, tough guys.

Can you speak a little bit about the recruiting process or the scouting process of Julian We.

Would pick really late in the draft, luckily very fortunate, very blessed, but really make it at the end of the first round, like you're really talking about second rounders and it just as it goes down the draft.

It's like that.

So we would always try to find and still all through the years, who are the guys that we dig out that we can find that are going to make our team because they have the traites we're looking for that might not be on everybody's radar. Because that's when we're gonna have to try to get them. You know, we're gonna have to try to find tough guys that we think can fill a role, can play make the team or what do we see their projection? What do

Ball playing Jesse, Yeah, that would be Julie. So it was like, what exactly he's gonna play quarterback for us?

Probably not?

Probably not, but can we.

Find a way? Right, Okay, so exactly so, but can we find a way for him thee on field? Yeah, he's gonna be tough, he's gonna be reliable, he's gonna be available. And we were always looking for special teams, you know, who are the guys that could help us be dynamic? And I think you came in did all

You had some games were lighting it up Iowa State, but those games like okay, but those those schools for our school it was, but Ohio State.

We're looking at those guys saying, well, you know, this guy's fighting his ass off against this team. Like okay, if you're on the other side of it, everyone's saying, well, yeah, of course he's an NFL guy. Well why is that not an NFL guy like you're seeing against the competition.

You want to see, now, how did he when we're hiring guys off the street middle of the season for DB's because we were baying, okay, here we go. Yep, who the FU asked who brought up to put me on that? I remember Josh Boy told boy go get him, go get him and bring him in. Boy or literally came up to get in the fucking locker room and said, Yo, you're on a Wednesday. Yeah go get It wasn't even on a Tuesday.

No, no, he's said, hey, a conversation on Tuesday, but it wasn't because one of the reasons I love this game Myra honoring her this year playing you know Baltimore. The way we won or they lost. However, I look at because I think I think Myra pushed the ball. I think she pushed it out of the goal post

Forty what do you get forty eight on game day? Yeah? It was forty seven, sety.

Seven on game day for three on the roster, And I was always looking at the offensive guys getting said who could play defense? Yeah, the offensive guys that can play defense. But once you were kind of on the team, all of that stuff that you went through, I was like, that's the guy that can do it. So I always had in my head I was like, at some point, he's going to play dB for us.

Which is so crazy. For two reasons. I remember when I was getting worked out, Pittsburgh worked me out as a safety in a corner when I was coming out of Kent. And then the second thing, when you told me about the Troy Brown stuff, and like you said, oh that I finally got someone that I could do this with. When I first got afted to New England, Yeah, my agent Don Ye yeah, Don do Hunk goes to me and he goes, I have a vision you're the

But yeah, it was. I just and Josh, you know, Josh Boyer, he was great at all that tiff too. So Josh was like, and I think he was on. He was in that same mentality Josh was and he saw the same thing. So you know it was Jules was gonna play defense. We were gonna, we were gonna go through it. You know, I remember Troy saying, I was like long time ago. I was like, Troy, how did you He's like, well, I know most of the routes.

Yeah, he's like a run on these routes. Yeah, so I know everything inside exceptually, Yeah, that's situation, So.

You knew the same and then situational. You know what we wanted to defensively, and I knew you'd learn it in a very short amount of time.

So because I remember what I would do Bill, and you guys would always say, well, Bill, I would listen to the team meeting, yep, and Bill would always say, gotta have it situations, the third downs, the four point plays they throw got to have it routes to gotta have it players. Yeah, so if you fucking study the gotta have it route, give you the list on that straight third down, and then you study the got to

We did?

And you see me making the fucking call and square it off. I I'm not calling no one out, but you gott anybody out? What are we doing? Maybe? And then they're calling me out on the TV. I remember watching it when I was so proud it was AFC Championship. They're like, oh, we got dumb ass, that'll be there.

I obviously did not do a good enough job of coaching that.

That's all right, I called it. I called it to him because the point was set. So what we're talking about is, and we'll get into in the game on a specific third down end cumbole and then late in the game he motions it. They have a bat, they have a bunch, And what our game plan for that week was we were gonna lock the point of the bunch and you combo the the other two guys, which means if this guy on the outside goes inside, I

Pull out the game plant the game plan.

Well, I always loved you. Yeah, And then the other I came over and we fucking looked like the Keystone cops out here, and the guy runs free we almost lose the game because of it. So I'm sitting here thinking the whole time, fucking I lost the goddamn Super Bowl for us. So do you know, like in this get so up into this game.

I think I think I had fifteen straight defensive three and out series.

Yeah, in this up.

So I think the first two series of this game they went three and out. Maybe the third three series of yeah, first three, so so I think it was total fifteen straight. We're playing some good ball.

Yeah, third down, and that's when you give up a lot offensive guys on defense. La was playing safety.

I was like, Slate, listen, I need you in the middlefield, bro, like just bro like I was. This was I could jump this in the back of the back end and this this was. This was intense trying to put this crew together.

Very it was very intense.

I tell you my favorite part of this game though, Yes, this is great. So you know I put the call in whatever Jewels is out there and in Gwin Bolden you remember me on it, Joe Flacco.

Yeah, it's fucking Julian Edelman. Throw me the goddamn ball. He was so mad, he was so mad, so mad.

I laughed with him about that all the time.

Hey, he was, he's like the ball he got me, he got me one time. But I was, I was. My strategy was, I wasn't going to cover you, No, I wasn't gonna glove you up, but I was gonna be around to tackle you and make you. It'd be a contested style type catch, and I was gonna grab you and fucking try to cheat as far as I could and hate you. Yeah, how would you sell up this team? In just the twenty eleven team.

I mean, gritty, gritty, gritty team tough, I mean obviously the next man up mentality. So but it was really just I think everyone capitalizing on their opportunities and just believing, like and again why I love this game this year with my Ra, like we were really trying to do every thing we could honor her without her memory. And I think that every week we knew like, hey, like let's just everybody give their best and go out there.

But now you said fifteen straight three and ounce.

I think it was fifteen straight something like that.

What's the art of the DC? How do you what's your starting point of when you're preparing for a team. Are you looking at players plays or is it changed situationally for each team? Like how do you construct what you're going to plan for that week? Because you were a game planning coach angels every week? How do you break that in? What's the art of co d C?

Yeah, you know it was interesting so being Annoy England. Obviously our fundamental background defensive philosophy right comes from the Giants, right nineteen eighties Bill at the Giants, those great defenses there, and then you got to really understand So I had I had two playbooks, right, we had our playbook and then I had the Bible, right, I called it the Bible because that was everything like that. I I was always keeping track of the history of where did all

So who made the Bible? So I did you know copy football beer? Does that make you a profit? Definitely?

I mean Jesus, I am. I mean I was named, I am Matthew.

He's one of the prophets. He's out of here.

So so so yeah, so eighties, right, and then you have the influence of our defense from Saban, when Bill and Nicket together at Cleveland, and how it moors from cover two to cover three, a little bit of Cover five which was our two man Nick with Cover one four, and then so as.

We get to New England loves it right.

So as we get to New England, you know Romeo Rack is there early what that was Mangini and then Dean takes over and we go all in to Cover four, which was you know, that was his baby and that was great for all those years too. When Dean left, you know, Bill wanted to get back to some more

And do you do that? Why do we change defense? Because because you're twelve personnel and so there's a lot of twelve personnel, which means there's two tight ends, but teams are still spreading people out, so the safety has to cover the tight end. Who's a better route runner these days? So Patrick Chung being the physical type player that could play decent against bigger or very good against bigger guys. So that's why Patrick Chung was so good

Yeah still still big, still coming down there. That's what I'm just giving of the history. So defensively, our mentality in general was how do we fit the defensive structure to the so again, like people are are like, oh, you're a base cover two coach, and I'm like, well I was when we needed to be, you know. But like you saw a playbook, like we had every coverage known to man in that thing, and then some we

Is he gonna move?

Do we need to keep him in the pocket? Do we want him out of the pockets he scramblard? Does the extend all of those You got to answer all of those questions, you know, as you go through the game plan process, and then you know you got run game. You got all of that in there. What packages are gonna play? How are you gonna call the game? You know, So a lot of games I would have, you know,

Done, how's money? I'm done early, and then I went to Nickel.

Then you went to Nickel.

But yeah, so that's how we game plan.

And you know, going to this game, they had had good skill that, you know, good running back obviously a quarterback that was gonna sit in the pocket. So it was like, how do we disrupt the timing of the game we had We're able to generate with some Andre and Mark, we're able you know, Vince pushed the pocket. It was Vince wilfork Man. He's easily.

Now does Bill come in to staff meeting? All right, boys, this is how we have to win this because he's gonna give you the keys on what he thinks the whole collective teams, special teams, defense and offense has to do. So he pulls in, all right, guys, this is what we got to do, this, this, this, this, this, and then he pulls you aside. You guys break and you guys go install what you're gonna do for that week or develop what you're gonna do for that game plan week.

So we certainly would have as we got ready for game plans. You know, we would meet Josh would meet with Bill. I'd meet with Bill and we'd talk about like, hey, what are you thinking, how do you want to play this? What do you think on the other side of the ball. We'd do that kind of individually. We talked, you know, personnel always biggest thing.

We who do we got?

You know, it was always us first, like who do we have? Who are the best eleven guys we can put on the field to help us win this week against and who do they got? It was all you know to me the NFL coming from college, the NFL was so much more the NBA than it was college football. It was the matchups. It was who's this guy? Who whears this guy? How do you play the game, you know, against these the players on the other side of the field, and who do you have? So we would talk about

Yeah, that's that's the crazy thing. We talk about, all these sexy hires, all these play callers. You know that these future coaches. You think that a good play caller could just be a great head coach. It's hard. It's fucking hard. Being a head coach is hard. It's hard.

It's really hard.

Jackie, let's break down the fucking uh Ravens. Baltimore Ravens get through the they were in our division because play them twice a year the regular season.

On theofs somehow didn't match up this year against them in the regular season this year.

Oh yeah, you gotta be a first place All the first place teams play each other. That's how it goes. Well, that's what people don't realize about the schedule. Making all in conference, whatever you place, you play all those same places and then you get a different conference division, So that makes up the eighteen to seventeen games the schedule more beautiful.

It's like, again, you think about the incredible run that we had, like every year, let alone, we're getting whatever team we played, we were getting their best because that was the benchmark. But you're also playing the best teams every year all the time. Like the mental fort two is that word? The mental toughness a favorite Tommy Like the the what do you say?

Competitive?

Competitive stands my favorite favorite term that he would use competitive stamina of you guys was unbelievable.

And that's what a lot of people don't realize right now with these Chiefs. Everyone says, oh, they only won by two points. They don't realize that every team and every coach that's coaching against them, they're sitting and they say, that's America's most wanted If we beat them, we're gonna get paid more, we're gonna get a new job. We're gonna do this every single team. And it's not like you're playing Louisiana Lafayette Agricultural School the right. Everyone's getting

It's amazing. You don't realize, you know. And again we did this on purpose, right, so we were always kind of behind the curtain, like you know, knowing we had that mystery about us, right, which we loved because we didn't talk outside the building like everything was in house. And we loved it because actually it was an advantage. Like Teddy would say this whole time. Breu would be like, we had them beat before they walked in the field because everyone was like, how are they doing this? How

Because we wouldn't make mistakes and they would Yep, we had them. Why the great teams embrace the bulls eye. Baby, you gotta you know what.

Kyle Busch, which is great, right, So.

He rubbed me when I was fucking starting to race in the New Hampshire once when I was the pit car. Yeah, you fucking bumps. So I did the same thing New Hampshire. Go right, go do the same thing.

Actually, so I go out. I gotta I walk out with him and uh give him a check or something to him whatever. So you know, everyone loves to boo them, right, So I come on, they like announce me, and everyone's kind of like and then you know, cheering, and then like they announced him that they want to boo.

But I'm on there so it's kind of awkward.

And then he just looks at me and he goes, he goes, I love the booze.

He goes, it means you're Relevan then, and I was like, I like that. It's true love that. He was awesome. He was. He drove the pace car.

Yeah, I didn't drive it.

I rode see I drove. I drove the pace car. And he was the first. He won the fucking polls, so he was. He was the first car and that's what he did. I went, I was like, hey, it was the day's thirder. He's bump you rubbed, you go rubbed. He's race He's also a Broncos fan, so I know he's got to. He was so cool though, he let he let me. All right, well he let me into his trailer and everything, but definitely on this oh yeah, come on, all right.

Anyway, these Ravens went twelve and four, fourth year of the hardball era o C Cam Cameron Chuck Pagano was leading the team. We know him a future head coach after this. Ricky Williams last year in the NFL was taking snaps in this game. It's just my mind rewatching this game. Oh my god, running Ray shout out Ricky. Uh fourth straight year making the playoffs for the Ravens. Terrell Suggs DP O wide. He's been Player of the Year and they swept their division, so pretty dominant MAFC

I liked him. Yeah, he was a bad, physical guy that could get in and out of his breaks because we played him so much. And then Tory Smith he was just he was a really fast receiver. Tyrod Taylor was a rookie crazy. They had the running back that was good.

Yeah, Ray Rice was.

That guy. He's one of my favorite He's one of my favorites. He's a fucking low He's a sweet guy. He wasn't like an asshole.

Amount of the amount of respect I have for him is off the charts.

I remember, I remember Torell's or No, that was Bart Scott. Bart. Scott went to Billio's face, Remember that fuck you what boy? Billy Like I'm talking this was like I think the ref was doing the penalty for something and like there's dead time on the field and Bart went up to him and did that billy oh like starts yelling at him.

And also this was Jones, this late era ed Reid for the for the Ravens second to last year in Baltimore.

Now, how much did ed Man how much did he talk about him? And coaches me, because in our regular meetings we we'd have a forty five played cut up on a Wednesday, fucking Ravens week of Ed Reid and the up and under on punt, the fucking the punt return, Like did Bill talk about him obsessly?

And the defensive guys, what are you talking about?

Here's the thing.

So we played when I was at Syracuse two thousand and one, we played Miami last game of the year, so we were actually really good that year. Freenie was a he was a senior Dwight.

He was rolling.

It was our whole third down defense was hey, Dwight, Yeah, Dwight's my guys, just go back to the quarterback. So we played Miami. McKinney, right is the tackle for Miami. Yeah, so this is Dwight story. But anyway, I was talk about Ed Reid, So Ed Reid and Jason Taylor. Literally, I think we threw more pick sixes to those guys in that game. I think they scored like four touchdowns

There'd be some times were like I remember just in our gameplay meetings when we play against him. For an offensive skill player, when you're looking at coverage, you never look at the corners because corners can lie and cheat. What you always do is you have to always take a pre snap read of the safeties and then post snap what the safeties are doing. You have to be able to locate them to see what responsibility they're trying to get. So then that just what that stuff. Yeah,

Like that's just those games within the game, because that's my game within the game of like the quarterback the safety like Brady and and like that's fascinating stuff, like people that love like that is just watching those two great players at it with each other was amazing. Or you know, like coverage you mentioned where you find the fish, right, who's the youngest guy on the field.

Who's the youngest guy.

He's going to be the most scared about his coverage, So before the snap he will be in the alignment he's supposed to be in. So just find the fish and that'll give you. Like so whether it was a nickel, a star, a corner safety, you.

Know, by the end I would look at because you'd always sometimes I would hear like Scar and Brady and Josh, they'd talk about like the defensive line, and sometimes you get keys from the defense line on what the coverage would be because if they were in like a bear front, or if they were in like five down diamond, you knew you were always getting manned because they were manned up, you know.

So like or if you listen and you saw, like, you know, guy has uh he's normally got one hand down, all sudden he's got the other hand down.

It's like, okay, he's dropping. Yeah, he's dropping. You know, he's almost There's all these little keys.

There's no different we look at offensive tackles. I'm like, all right, well, if his you know, his heels up here, if the stagger's this, it's past. This is run like all those you know, things you look for. But good players, like i'd read you better be careful.

Now, how what was what was this offense for the Ravens? How what was the keys to stop this offense? What was so good about this offense in twenty eleven?

Well, I mean, you know, coming out of the year before, obviously the run game was going to be an issue, right, So we got to stop the run. But this was getting Flacco, like, you know, like we got to get Joe Flacco. We gotta make him uncomfortable. He's not really gonna scram he's not going to take off. We got to push the middle of the pocket. They're gonna get some yards. They've been getting it all year. We just got to do a great job in the red area and then you know, make him try to drive it

By one hand. Yeah, that was a really good pick. Now with Joe Flacco what I always saw with you, let me pull the book. I can show you we we got ye.

We're coming on.

I mean we're coming out. Holy Ernie, Maddie. All of them were Josh brings ship to just din't bring anything. I don't think Josh Billy. Oh he brought a tea kettle. He got all pissed. So this would be right. So this is your play sheet.

So this would be the play sheet from the game.

How many times do you refine that?

So I was obsessed.

Yeah, we start out with probably like eight hundred plays.

So through the course of the week, like I'd build it right, So whether it was early downs, third downs, red area, I would build him as we would go through, and then by the end I would sit there and just I'd sit there by the end, and you know, I'd build the call sheet and we always had you know, I had a little bit of a different call sheet than than all the other coaches because they also had the personnel on the back. I wasn't doing the rotation of the players and all that stuff, so all the

So when you're you're about to call a play, you're looking over to see who's the signal guy to tell us what personnel was. So Joshua's boyer was upstairs, upstairs. We gotta love it, we gotta love it, we gotta love it. And you go to your eleven personnel.

There was nobody better upstairs than josh His eyes is the way he saw the game, the information he gave me.

I love josh. Yeah. So he gives you personnel, and then you already know situations. So it's first and ten. You go to your first and ten thing. We got eleven person are eleven personnel, and then you're changing up if you want eleven personnel blitz or this that, and that's what you're making the decision.

Yeah, or you know, based on how I think the game is going, or if I have a tendency on how I think he's gonna call it. Like some guys getting run past rhythms. Some guys go run run past or whatever that is, or or.

First down after crossing the fifty, maybe a shot.

All those situations. I mean, if we get to the logo or low fridge, high red area, fringe, hi yep, backed up, protection, block it up, throw it outside. If you're showing yeah, all that stuff.

Can I ask the dumbest like at home fan question. Just hear me out for a second. The place sheets laminated, Yes, you've got a pencil in your.

Ear or I had a paper note pad so you can see on the back there. Those are the second joy's got it right now, I had I was like staples now, I mean I had had.

Austments.

Those are the adjustments or probably during the game, you know, in the second half. Those are second half. I had my thin markers in my right front pocket. I had thick markers in my back pocket because it would cross them out. I had pencil here, I had a notebook in the front of my pocket because sometimes it was cardboard or paper because again the lambin it's great. The thing about the lamina was good is that you could

Sometimes.

Uh, you know it's hard, but you know you'd be writing and doing all that stuff. But again, if it rained or if it snowed, like, those markers are useless, right, so they don't work. Paper and pencil always works, you know, cardboard works, and a lot of times, like as if I had the call sheet here, I actually had paper

You put it into something though only the call sheet, so all that is you don't have that. You know what you should do? If I was, you tell me, if you want to be real smart, what you have engineering power to do this? You know there's chat GBT, Yes, I'm into that right now. You should make chat matty P where you log all your football ship in. And then whenever I have anything, I could just say, what is that base thing this that you could type it in there and it'll it'll take all the databases from

Yeah, yeah, because it was he was gonna go the fifty fifty. You know, everybody fifty. But defensively, for me, it was always like, really, there's three things that can happen on the play when you played these guys, and they always had it was either he could you could break it up, he can catch it, or they're gonna get a you know, they're gonna get a PI and then get the ball down there. So I'm like, we have to practice that. If we don't practice that, we're

You can do that. So what would you say? The craziest little one of those types of things you guys made players due to work on players weaknesses, because I have one. When you used to tape up the balls, you would tape they would tape up. They would tape up Dv's hands. They would tape up their hands so they couldn't grab if they got a lot of grabbing penalties, they would fucking tape their hands so they couldn't grab him. Provy, So mad I would be. If I was a dB,

Or like pass rush, I tell the defensive ends against you know, if like you had a good rusher for the offensive tackles, hey, just line up off sides, like just don't don't worry about line up on the ball, just line up off sides, because that's how fast this guy gets off the ball.

Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That's what people don't realize when I see all these situations, like when the defensive lineman sees the ball on the ground after a quarterback got strip sacked and there's a pile of guys and a guy tries to pick it up instead of just falling on it. Country, and we used to literally fucking practice that we're country. Sit there and throw a ball out. All right, there's two guys. All right, you can pick it up or you have to get on it in

What do you mean in the country pick it up? Here in the city, get on.

It, Get on it. That means too much, too much traffic, Too much traffic, jackie, what's the game. Let's blast through this thing thirty two degrees at kickoff. This is the early game of the of the Championship series. So it's still in New York.

Sam Frayin on the back end, Ledsoe Honrey, captain ye Steven Tyler out there singing the national anthem. This thing is getting kicked off, and we're coming off the tebow Mania and ground three TV performance riding high and then of course a little bit of bad memories coming in here with the Ray Rice.

Eighty seven yard TV to kick it off two years earlier.

So that was that was a storyline swirling to We alluded to this earlier in the episode three and out fest to start the game three in a row, Big Vince was in their tackle for loss sacks. We're moving the ball down the field. Three points in the first half, low scoring or the first quarter. Sorry about that, Pat's up three to nothing. Tom throws a pick late in the first quarter, intended for Jules. That drive extends into the second So mad at me, I look at like such a young player in that play.

I hate it. I hate it.

Well, the scoring opens up a little bit in the second quarter. Ten ten Steve o tax On.

Technically the ball is supposed to be outside of numbers two yards outside.

This is why we are how we are. We've won so many games. I can't like sometimes I remember that I know every game, every bad play, like all like we just we have said.

You know, you know what's crazy? This makes me rehash and remember stuff. Yeah, I don't just sit and remember, like because we we were blessed and fortunate enough where we had so many Usually, if you're like a guy that goes to high school, you play football, you remember everything from high school. But we've gone on to so many crazy experiences and we've had a lot of them that like my processor can't handle it all.

I mean, we were like six Super Bowls, eight straight AFC championship. I don't know how many total AFC champions you cant. I mean, it's just like so lucky.

Yeah, it's crazy. Thirteen ten at the half, Pats are up. Moving into the second half, we extend the lead with another Steve o field goal. A lot of bend don't break going on on both sides of the ball. Baltimore gets the lead, first lead of the game on a Tory Smith twenty nine yard touchdown. Then we have a tough sequence coming up here. Woody fumbles the subsequent kick return. Brutal, brutal three hold him to three on a big red area stop.

So what's the art of the red area stop?

Oh? Yes, negative play.

Negative play decreases your chances of scoring. It's it's resetting the line of scrimmage.

Negative play in the reddia decreases your chances of scoring by like fifty percent or whatever it is. So it was always like when they run the ball like they you know, you can never let him run it in never, and then it's the you know, stop him on early downs, and then it's the four point play on third down.

We'll be right back after this quick break.

So we used to do goal line seven on seven.

I remember competitive like it was like we would talk. That's when he brought out the easy button. We talked about that. Remember talk.

We would talk ship and all that stuff, like we would bat you know, Brady and all that, so, you know, and Rob would always be talking, you know. So I would stand. I would put the garbage cans up because he'd be.

Running the route, like the garbage can linemen. Yeah, but I put them out.

And like make sure that they couldn't just run through because we had the you know, only the skelly out there.

And so Rob.

Rob was yaking, and so I had the garbage can in front of me, and I knew he was running across out behind me. So he takes off and starts to run, and I take the garbage can and I throw it behind me, and all I hear is and I turn around. He's on the ground and he's laying there and he's not moving. This Friday before game and he's laying there and he's not moving, and I was like, oh my god, I just broke his leg. Like I was like, I just I'm like, I'm gonna get fired

And I was like, I was like all right, and he kind of looks at Me's like, how do you know it was me?

And I was like, I know, I know where you live and you're in the same exact clothes I saw you in two hours ago, like.

Foxborough.

Like it was like it was like the best man, I love, I love you know. I was like, that's the best. But we used to talk, you know, and it's I mean, tell him to temmy right.

So he talked so much.

My old heads back in the day, Rabel Bruce Ki, like those guys they would go play show team just to play show team because they were bored, and they go out and play safety and you know, tell him we got mad. So it was always like it's not gonna remember always competition back and forth between the offense defense.

What was the what was the one time that you because I know Raves used to give it to Brady the worst was there a specific incident or a practice You don't have to say what he said that you remember where like I think he may it went too far.

You would hear the helmet go flying, and it would be yard Sale ear piece, mouth piece. Like I was like, oh, they got him, they got him good. You know, he'd be so mad, he'd be so mad, and he'd probably tell you too. The worst part was is that those guys probably messed up the look he's and you know, you know he'd get all because he knew covered three there in fucking yeah. They're you know, yes, splot field

And I was like, and I knew as soon as.

I was like, oh my god, it's a touchdown, like he's about to like score. So he gives me one of these and he's looking at it, doesn't even look at the play, looks at me, and I was like, oh, he dropped it. And he turns around. He was so mad because he thought like Gronk dropped, Dronk caught it.

It was a touchdown. He turned around and looked back at me, and I was like, that was ridiculous.

It was unreal.

So much fun, man, And he said, no fun over there. We did.

Oh my god, Matt Light, are you kidding me?

Like he even story the.

Dinosaur Barbecue won in Rochester, which he did the game. That was amazing because so being from Syracuse, that's where Dinosaur Barbecue was that opened up in Rochester. So he texted me, we're on the bus like we're literally trying to be a snowstorm and we're just like we're gonna get on ninety the through way and we're gonna drive until eventually they just shut the throu way down. We get up in Rochester. We go to a hotel. It's like under construction. There's like stuff everywhere, and I get

This is not gonna be This is not.

You know, because I was always the one that was like, hey, let's get Maddie p He'll take care of it that way. If we get in trouble, we're okay. And I was like not again, because Light would do the same when we would do training camp.

This one's great.

So we all the coaches at bed check and your name would be on the board of who was the bed bed check coach that night. So Light comes to me training came. He goes, hey, he goes, uh listen, he goes, you got bed checked and then I said, yeah, he goes, you gotta do me a favorite. He goes, there's a new movie coming out. He goes, I rented the movie theater. He goes, but the whole team is gonna be there. It's okay, He's like, but we're gonna be a little late. And then it's like you mothers

That was the movie. It just come out, and literally the whole movie, it's the whole team is in the movie. That popcorn.

Everyone like the whole thing, and I just remember it andding and it's like eleven whatever, curfew was eleven. I'm like like, look, everyone's got twenty minutes, and I'm like, I'm going to rooms in twenty minutes. You better hurry up. But it was like one of those things where life's like hey, just you know, it'd.

Be good for the team, you know how he could say anything, and I was like, oh, this guy's so Matt Light one training camp. Every day at the end of training camp we'd have two minute drill and for the for the film, they would always go to the clock, which was you'd have fans under the clock and it's like there's like a lawn, there's a bunch of fans under but they'd go to the clock to see where it was before the play, to see the time on

So you can choker wide, Yeah, I have them all, and I had they were in the back of my truck. Cause again it's like I gotta I gotta hide these. I'm throwing them in the back of your truck. I'm like, don't put them in my truck, Like I don't.

I don't want the evidence.

Like, so we go into the team meeting and you know, Bill's he's up there and he's mod he's coaching, and so no one's catching it, like the first time it flashes over, but you can see the players like, wait, what did I just did? I just see right there? And then you know, Bill's like, go to the next play, and then I see the next one comes up. And then so now like part of the room sees it.

Unbelievable, it was amazing. It was amazing. What does Bill say to that after like the stime? I think you know what he says after that Jesus cry? I think you know.

But it was that's the thing, like, you know, listen, I said, you know, I know everyone's like, hey, what's best Bill story? Like all like every like whatever, Like Bill's like my best friends, He's you know, he's like my best friend. Like well, I said, but like the thing like I don't see people say, is like no, no, Bill doing a having a water gun fight in my pool with my kids in the middle of the summer. Like that's the funniest to me. You know, my kids

We learned.

It was hard, don't get me wrong, Like it was hard. Every day was hard. But you guys that you guys made it fun. Like it was just like that was the best part of my dad was like I would get done with the you know, twelve hours, I would work at night and I'd be I didn't want to see any the other anybody, the coaches or whatever, and and then you guys would come in and be like, Okay, the players are here, let's go, let's get And that was the great part about it. And that's what was

Know, the pig's head, the pig's head, which one was that so light would have pig ROAs, Yeah.

A friend of ours would have pig ROAs. And all of a sudden there would be a pig head that would show up in the locker room and like because you know, we used to have the one door, yeah, and you'd open up the door and there's a pig head sitting in your locker, like right there standing.

You know, guy's freaking I mean it was he put a duck, a live duck in someone's locker. One time.

I walked out of the I walked out of the meal room and the running back room used to be right there, yea, and Ivan was in there. It was late in the afternoon, five so you know, film might yeah, film might have been watching. And I look in and Light is literally doing the chicken's He's walking like a chicken behind Ivan, and you know, like one of the cronies is in there with the camera and he's filming it.

But get it, to know, a camera? Yeah, getting it.

He don't everything, he has it all like he has all that stuff.

There's some stories that we couldn't tell of how crazy Light was about certain things that he did to teammates. There was things we couldn't tell. Was there ever a moment We're like, all right, he went too far? This is it? Like with Light, he's getting at it, like he's getting cut.

I would say with Light it was always borderline. The stuff that got out of control, which actually ended all of it. Was the quarterbacks that ended it. What happened you You never messed with the guy that had real money, No, because real money could really mess you up.

Yeah, like guys that send moving companies.

To your house and move all of your furniture out onto the front lawn while you were at practice and you go home in your entire house. No, that would cost a normal person like twenty thousand dollars. But you know somebody has real money. Like you're messing with the wrong person wrong or uh you know you you take whatever it was, three of the tires off their.

Car and him I remember that.

No, three of them in the locker and the fourth ones hidden like in.

The stadium ground. Yeah, so you're in the stadium on the stadium grounds.

Or you maybe alter someone's jersey and hang it in the shower so that it dries. But when he sweats, the smell of how you altered it comes back in the middle of practice and you want to throw up the Uh that was? That was the worst? Oh my god, you'd put the you take their mouthpieces and you'd spray with the oldrant because you never put your.

Mouthpiece until you got the practice and put them in. The odant just sucks, sucks all.

The saliva out of your mouth and now you can't breathe and you can't.

That was a good one.

So we are at the Pro Bowl. We're at the Pro Bowl and he's there, and the Pro bowls over, and I can't remember if we were flying home or we're just at the after party at the prob I think we're at the after party and he and he's sitting there with us and he goes, watch this. He goes, I got this app and he goes, I'm gonna call and Billios across the room and he calls Billy. Oh, but it came up on Billio's phone as Robert Kraft.

He's like like, Robert's like, what do I what do I do it?

And so you can see him like answer and Light's doing like mister Kraft on the other end, like how disappointed he is in the game. And you know, we we needed to show better in the Pro Bowl and Billy's like answering them. I'm dying. I'm like, how is this guy have this stuff? It was he was He was absolutely amazing.

What did Billy do? What he did? He find out we were dying, we were rolling.

I think I had pictures of that somewhere too, ess, just taking pictures of him as he's answering the phone.

But light, Yeah, you had to know.

The quarterback thing was that was crazy. The we used to have the uh the FBI die that would turn purple. So they put it in like money bags and like if you got the money bag wet or whatever, then all the money would turn purple. It was. It was like a white powder. Yeah, So you'd put it and everybody's cleats, you know, before you go to practice, so

This is too far. I lived with Pierre Guy. Here's my guy. That's so light.

This is so bad. Man Light had this stack of lottery tickets that were like fixed, like they were winners, and they were like ten million dollars or something crazy.

So it's Christmas, I think it was Christmas.

And he's handing out the lottery tickets and Pierre sit at the table and he gets one and he starts scratching and he's like and he's scratching a little bit more and he's like scratching again.

He's like and he's like, oh my god. He's like I think I just want ten million, like a million dollars, and.

Like they're letting it go on and on and on and light, and I'm like, son of them, I'm like, that is not cool, bro, way too far.

It's not it's way too far. Right there they go to the yeah defensive room saying fuck you. Right, he out of p I'm not playing this week. I'm done.

Like I was like, oh my, that one, that one, I felt that one.

That one was all right, we gotta get back to this. Can you take us through the sterling more punch? Yeah?

So driving in the two minutes and then which you know.

Two minutes, right, so driving, lock and combo.

Yeah, lock and combo.

That was the third.

So now they're in the fringe and uh, you know, throw it up to the sideline. It was the far sideline. It was their sideline going away from the lighthouse, and uh, we're beat at the line of scrimmage, you know, and Sterling.

Sterling.

The thing that was so special about him was he just had an unbelievable ability to play the hands and really he was strong, like his hands, his punched, like his finished through was really strong, good quickness, good change direction. But you know, I mean this is high competition. This

And I knew.

I just knew it was like because we saw it in practice. All he timed it so perfectly. As he chopped through and it is literally, you know, they did a whole science thing. I think he has been like the whole like whatever breakdown of the science behind how fast he did it before the second foot came down and he knocked it out in the control and the

And then.

You know, I were pushing the ball a little bit to the left, miss field goal and miss in the field goal, and we're we're going back to the Super.

Bowl now, what are you doing pre snap before that? Are you going over your potential before the kick? Are you going over potential calls in all over time?

Yeah, all these situations, I'm always panicked, right, so I'm I'm not I'm never watching the kick. I'm always thinking, like, all right, it's tied. They get the ball, how are we gonna you know, how we're gonna play the next series, which probably drove everybody crazy, and certainly you know, Boyer is the one that had to keep me calm because I'll be like talking to playing.

Look, they get the ball.

We got to do that, and all the players like, I don't want to talk to you right now, Like I'm like, I'm watching the kick, and I'm like I can't watch the kick, like I gotta do something to take my mind off.

It was no different than the Super Bowls. We were in the same thing happened, ye.

So yeah, so I didn't really I just wait for the reaction to know where we're going with it. So yeah, I gotta I gotta stay busy.

That was crazy. We missed that. That was for them to tie it. Everyone thinks for them to win it. I was just to tie it. That was that was like a crazy year for us to aftermath because there was that drought. There was a there was a fucking drought from that seven to that, and it was kind of a new team, we're rebuilding, you know. We got to the end of nine.

I mean, Bill and I just kind of looked at it and said, all right, we gotta we gotta start over, you know. And it was just like, all right, how we're going to rebuild the roster? What are we going to do with the pieces we got? Where do we gotta go? How do we you know, what do we want to be? You know, where's the league going? It was a great thing. They always knew kind of like, hey, the league's gonna shift here, shift this direction, and we

They're changing is they don't know which guy's dropping out. That's what people So that's why when you say you're trying to mess with protections, there's five guys coming, the offensive line can pick them up. But if you they don't know which guy's not coming, or you're dropping someone and you have someone do something, then it confuses their protection. And that's when guys come out free.

Yeah, and the quarterback throws pick, I mean Rob pick against Peyton. Yeah, you know, I dropped them. That was a sim But the thing that was happening was I was doing all of sub defense in this in this timeline, but I was using three four principles. So in three four you got the three down, but you don't know where the fourth rushers coming from, and so it was just calls on the field based on formation and things like that. So I just took that principle and I

We had all the six.

Uplooks at double muggs, all that was in there from two thousand and four, So I just used all those and then the five down looks where I could reduce Chandler walk now Jamie and high up on the edge because now they had to go five down protection. Now I'm setting the other one through the middle because now he's back on the back. I'm using the same rush

Run system them.

You know in the Super Bowl, which one the Seattle fourteen, and then by the time we get to fifteen, we're running that. We had some injuries, we get to sixteen. Now we're more five down and then six up. Looks you know, branch, We're just we just kept evolving, you know, and just it.

Was always when we started being like me because the league, the offenses were changing. Yeah, like this game, we're all twelve. By the time of the end of my career, we were having like seven dbs on the fucking field. Yep, you know, because the game has changed that much from you know, Space Game eleven personnel. Now there's four wides groups. But if we see, if we all take a real look at all the dominant teams, they're all still using

So when you put twenty one in the field, what was happening is your three calls? Yeah, you just don't have the time during the week, so you know, offensively, Hey we put this unit out there, it's gonna be one of three calls. All well, let's get our keys. We know how we're gonna attack this. You know, you stay in eleven. You let us run our sub packages. You have could be four down, it could be six up. It could be five down, it could be odd spacing,

Yeah, and we drafted. We drafted the one, I mean, Jamie Collins, high tow so.

Just all those guys I kept, you know, we drafted Chandler Syracuse guy. I was like, you know, we drafted pass rusher finally, but then I loved Dante like I was, you know, he was the guy just washing on tape. And again there was there was there was an outside linebacker from Alabama that was getting all the press swept.

We went to Baltimore, but I loved high like. I was like, Hi, I will be the next signal caller.

He's gonna be the guy stands in front of the huddle and he's gonna be the guy I talked to. And he could play on the edge, you could play like the versatility guys. Because then I got van neyd right and he was another versatility guy. Or you know, I just kept getting again we'd get however we could. But I was like, okay, what's the role, what can they do? How can they get on the field. How does it help us win? And that was so fun about the creativity. I got Steph so we could stay

And that was the fun.

Like that just it was so much fun to like do that stuff and then create and we would you know, we do all those buttz pick up stuff before practice. So I'd be trying stuff out against the offense and you know, everybody get all mad and were like this is what are we seeing. I'm like, well, if you.

Can't pick it up, then I think's probably gonna work. Walk through.

This is the worst one. The worst one was were Mayo so I called I called double Mug. He walks up inside. I forgot who the other inside backer was and Rob's on one side, chains on the other outside and it was it was Josh Gooje. So we're we're doing the right pre practice and so make a protection call. So Mayo looks at Rob and goes switch. So they switch. Mayo walks up outside, Rob comes inside. So now the offense is changing it again, right, So now Rob switches inside.

Yeah, Gooje and.

Josh on how they were going to pick it up. And honestly, we didn't do anything, like we're just down operation.

Yeah, so you're you're you're practicing communication and that's like eighty percent of defense is community being able tonicate of the most athletic dudes on the field. But I always say they're the dumbest guys. I know, dumbest guys.

I know.

Here we go again, you know, I mean locking combo. The receiver on the fucking field that doesn't play dB did the right call, and the guy who plays it for a lot of living and making lots of money didn't get the call like it just.

Just run a step. I mean, if you've been running that since you're in third grade, exactly, very well.

It's time for the Chill Zone, brought to you by cores Light. Get cors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit corslight dot com, slash gwn celebrate responsibly. Can you walk us through the Malcolm Butler situation? Yea, the interception in in fourteen on the Super Bowl, that whole sequence of plays and what do you got on that?

Yeah, So obviously you're talking about great games, and certainly the eleven Baltimore team and and the Y and all of it. That's why I love that one. And obviously you so I thought that'd be a great one. But you know these the fourteen game, the sixteen game, you know, the super Bowl. There's there's some crazy, crazy stuff that just happened in those games. And the thing about the

Going through the card.

I think you need the call because I knew that no one had seen it.

We hadn't run it. We hadn't run this call. Need that call.

Just eleven personnel inside the three yard line trying to be able to stop Lynch the quarterback run game, the receivers that are on the field if you were going to go sub defense on the two yard line, Like just too much space. There's just too much space. Like he's just he's too good. Remember, like I played Lynch for a lot of years. When he's at Buffalo, like my happiest day. When Buffalo sent him to Seattle, I was like thank like m send flowers to Buffalo, like

This card, like this is this is voices.

We did, and the thing was everybody saw it, like it wasn't the same guy every time seeing it. We ran all the combinations. So we get into the game, or we get we get to the end of the week of practice and I looked at it and I was like, I don't there something here. I don't really like I need to move, you know. I switched Jamie. I switched him, I switched high. I kind of moved

Was, so practice it changed it.

At the last minute, I was like, okay, like it's ready, we're gonna I'm gonna need this. And it's literally written, it's like three letters in the bottom right hand corner of the call sheet. It's like the most tiniest call on the sheet. So beginning of the game, we had talked about how tough this game was going to be. The first play of the game is my favorite play of the game. Like you watched the defensive guys because we knew their offensive line looked to clean clean the pile.

I was I was hot, it was hot. This was bad.

There's a bad series of bad play. So I am literally, you know, I'm I'm, I'm like, we're changing, like I'm switching some guys up. Malcolm is gonna come in the whole deal. So get into the second half and they have It was kind of back and forth right like they were moving, we were moving. It was like, you know, the defenses in the Super Bowl get worn out.

It's just what happens.

You know, if you can control it early, you have a chance. But you know, if you're playing like those games are long, and if you're moving the ball ear in the first half, the second half, you're worried about, you know, how well is the defense gonna hold up. It's gonna be, you know, be a shootout. So both teams are moving the ball and I was like, ah, man, this is this is We got to get one stop

Third and two.

So I call I call call one of our one of the stackbacker left. So The idea of the call was, we're gonna walk up on the edge the defensive end who's now in Ninkovic. He's gonna crash down hard and he's gonna take out Lynch, and then the backer's coming off for the quarterback. So call stackbacker left third and two. Rob goes in and nails Lynch and we stop them

I was like I was just like I was on the scene. We're talking about the scene where he tipped it and Curse ended up doing it back Malcolm. Malcolm's great.

There's a great play that Malcolm makes on a third down earlier where he goes up and through the pocket and then rips the near hand and gets the ball out there. There's a big play in that game earlier to kind of get him off the field to get the ball back to the offense. But so now they line up on them. I click in the high. I'm like, they're gonna run it. Man Like I'm looking at High's.

Got one arm.

I'm like, they're gonna run it. We were stuck in the defense, and he makes it. I saw an unbelievable tackle, unbelievablet tackle, one arm gets him down. So now the clock is moving, so I know the situation and so this, I mean, it's one of those moments where really like the like life slowed down for me. I don't know exactly how long the seconds were, but for me, it felt like a half hour. So I know the call

And he's staring.

He's just staring across the field and I'm like, Bill, I'm like, are you calling the timeout? And he's not saying anything to me. And I was like, hey, I go, I need to know because I'm not putting this out there. Are you calling the time out? And he's like, yeah, just make your call. And I was like okay, so I click out. I'm like, hey, go line three corner, get it out. Make sure we got Malcolm. So like they're all I'm down with Bill. Everyone's out down on

I'm I think you think that the brub was is all good?

I just we're good on the rub. Like, they're gonna go to the snack seven flat. They guy to have a play to the other side. They're gonna pick the linebacker. So I'm like, so I'm on with high. I got hey, make sure you don't get picked here. I'm like, Lynch is going to you know, this is gonna be snacks him flat to your to your side. So I'm watching the left side of the offensive the right side of the defense, and all snapped and I look and its

What I love.

Browner is the one who we're going in half. He's like, Browner knew that personnel so good. He's like, put me here, put them there, put them there right, So it'd be a good coach. The best thing you can do is just listen to your best player, listen to your smart players. So that was the matchups that we did. But when they built the stack, you know, Browner looks at Malcolm and goes, listen, I'm gonna choke the shit out of him.

You just go.

And if you watch the play, Browner's he's literally got his hands around his neck. Yeah, and he's and he's and then Malcolm just goes. So I didn't see any of that. I'm like, we got picked everyone, and everyone's like, no, you picked it. I'm like, who, I didn't even know we had the ball, so that was like chaos is going on. So now again I'm nervous because I'm looking at Thelock'm like, oh my god, I'm like where the balls like on the inch line here, like there's right.

There's up.

I'm going through situational plays. No one wants to listen to me because I'm like, what are we gonna do? What are we putting out there? Because I'm panicked, like we're gonna be back on the field and obviously, you know, we get the thing and the games, and and I turn around and Revis is running at me and he jumps and I like catch him, like do you know thick.

He's so he's his little this is what he was so good. He was so strong, so he bent.

He cracks my back. So the end of Super Bowl, I cracked my back like in the celebration because he jumps up on me.

I didn't care, Like who cares? Who cares? Right, it doesn't matter.

You know, Stevie B's running around me like like he like everybody's freaking out. It was like amazing. Malcolm still crying and it was like yeah. It was like total chaos and my best my best play if you watch, if you watch the coaches copy of that tape, if you watch the end zone copy, because again we had the extended end zone because we watched the celebration and all that stuff in the back of the end zone is the Seattle Man, Scott. It's my favorite thing in

Just see, like, you know, his face. His expression is the change. You see.

We're about the back, we're about the hands, think the lynch, we're about to like score here we and they snapped the ball and you see him freeze and then the ball's picked and he just takes his hands and he puts his hand on the front of his beak and he stands there like and he doesn't move and you could just see him like, what the hell just happened. It's the funniest ship ever. I'm just telling you, it's hysterical. And he doesn't move, like there's chaos going on. He

But you know what's crazy, Cot That's not the first time a coach has has pointed out a standing. Oh, we watched the stands all the time because they watched so much film, so they sit there chatty l would come in there, like, look at this guy. Beer on. This guy my favorite. Every year I.

Would watch every year there's a guy in Buffalo and every scoreboard he sits in the right corner of the stadium and it would be the middle of December. He's got no shirt on, he's got a big beer belly, and he looks kind of like, you know, he's got long gray hair. So I'm like, and he's every year he's there and I always check. I'm like, he's still there and no shirt.

It's middle, you know.

Or the in New Orleans where the scoreboard there'd always be a crew that and Halloween would dress in costumes instead above the score so you just you just you look always but the mascot and the.

End zone of that thing.

It's really we had an extension. It's one of the most amazing things. But that was that play, how that was put together, the game, the halftime, the fact that it was like I can't believe we're gonna install this. This is like six years he'd been asking. H'm like, nope, here does we need it?

We got it.

We're gonna have it right now and put that in a week and have that thing go out.

Was that was crazy.

And honestly, that whole defensive year like give that, like Vince wilf work and I sat down because you know, look, he wanted to win again like he was and he

It just hit me. Two of the last couple plays, one on defense and one on offense, other than the when we were running out the clock where adjustments added after practices after all our prep was done. My my return route, yeah right, that was We added that on Saturday night in the hotel goal line, going on three corner, three corner added after practice, Like, had to adjust it.

How fast you guys process and put that stuff together, man, Like, it's just it's amazing. Like I just you know, like, look, I'm I'm just lucky to be there and kind of help and do whatever I can to give you guys a chance to go play and execute. But watch you guys do that up quose man, that is that is a treat that you know I'll have with me forever.

Thankfully. That was the chill Zone thanks to our favorite beer, cores Light. Get cors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit Corslight dot com. Slash GWN celebrate responsibly.

I just remember one of the things annowing on. Like you listen to a lot of like coaches, right and it's like, oh, hey's in the barn. And I used to walk in and be like, listen, there's no hay, there's no barn. Like we are working until we win, and we will keep working until the game is over and we have one.

That is it.

And that was just the mindset that we always had.

Now I can see that for the coaches, but sometimes you have to put that. You have to say that to the player. Yeah, because the physical work. Yeah, the mental work, that's pizza Friday. We're good pizza Fridays. Physical work, but that.

Was pizza Friday. Friday was shutting it down. But we always you guys, you guys, listen your The edge that you guys had is that you did keep working from the time like everyone most teams Friday at one o'clock they're out, nobody's home, Like that's forty eight hours before the game. You guys stayed sharp all the way up into the game. And that's the walkers in the hotel. Like I know I watched, like you know, the walkers in the hotels the meeting. Look, we all tried to

Yeah, I mean I always say it, you know, like the Patriot way with everyone else. What is that? I go, Well, you know, the coaches had a template, they had the laws, and they picked certain players to be sheriff to go make those laws enforced.

You know. Was really easy for us though, was if you like I would stand back all the time and I would watch Bill, or I'd watch it, I'd say the bill. I would watch the team and be like it was it was a herd, right. The team moved in a herd, and every once in a while you'd look and you'd see, like, man, that guy's not in the herd anymore, Like.

What's going on?

And if you just watched the team, you guys told us everything we need to know on who you trusted and who could go out on the field and help us win. If you just watched, you guys did it probably without even knowing it. But if you just watched, you'd be like, Okay, we're really good here, Like we got to look at that. There's something off over there.

So by twenty fourteen crazy, the twenty sixteen the high tower sack. What do you get on that?

Yeah, I mean same call, isn't that crazy? Stackbacker left? Same call I just talked about with Nikovic. It was the same call.

But let me go back. So this is this is you so.

Obviously, so we're't allowed to five down. We're playing, you know, really good offense. It's coming at as fast we're we're struggling on defense.

Right, Yeah, this is one of the highest scoring offenses in the history of the league.

Offensive MVP, best coordinator with Channy, you know, like coordinator of the year everything, Yeah, lost, Okay, so coordinator of the year, best off you know all this stuff. Right, So, so off the first half isn't going good. I'm trying to make adjustments. It's it's long and then this is another one of those weird things. Right. So the night before the game, you know, we got extra time, so I'm like, hey, let's watch this game. Let's watch this game.

Now. Yeah, no, he could break wherever you wanted to.

So we had to because I was cheating alignments based on that injury information. I was like, don't worry about it, we're going And then again, you know, we meged the backside of cover two.

We undercut him.

I think it was Logan and he reached up over the top of Logan and took the cut and I was like, oh shit, a problem. So yeah, so that was in the first half, was like first series of the game or whatever. So we go into the locker room and said, listen, we're going to all the red area calls. I said, I'm just I'm gonna We're gonna play the red area calls. These are the calls we're

This is what happened.

I go, remember what we watched last night. I was like the Charger game. I'm like, we're going to come back and win this thing. I'm like, we are gonna be fine. Like we just go play every single down.

We got it.

We put ourselves in a hole, but we got to play every single snap. These are the calls we're gonna make. I go, you gotta believe right now because we're going to do this. And what was happening was Doran was on the bike. You remember this, No, Douran was on the bike and he was trying to stay warm. And so I let the players, you know, I get down my meeting and players going to the coaches and Duran starts chirping.

He starts chirping.

He's like, we got it, like he just I just And I was like you could feel the energy and you could feel the belief. And then all of a sudden, you come in and you're like we gotta go, and you start chirping with Duran and you guys are chirping back and forth, and the energy's building and I remember walking out, I was like, holy fu, we're gonna win this game. And I just I just because I don't

And I was like.

I walked down, I was like, holy shit, we're gonna win this game. And I told him before we went out, I said, here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna get a negative play.

On the first run.

They're gonna run the ball. I'm like, Hi, if they run it at you, this is a TfL. I'm like, if a first start down, they're not gonna throw, We're gonna double over here, it's coming backside. It'll be three by one. You gotta make the play, and it was. Eric made the play on the backside. So the very first year they had the ball TfL, in the first play they run it.

The high.

Third down, they throw it to Eric was like third and long because we had put him in long yard situation. We break it up and coming side and I go, here we go, it's gonna happen. So we go through the game, and what happened was the series. They're going left or right, so they're going that way in the end zone. Second down run. Coleman is in the game. Coleman was the third down back. Yeah, Freeman was early

And I remember watching. I was like, it's third down. Coleman's out.

And I clicked and I said, hey, Hi, I said, Hi, listen, I said, Coleman's out, Freeman's in. I go, we're going stack back or left. I go, don't show it. I go walk late. I go, he'll never see you. I go go get the ball, Scoop. We gotta score, bro. I go, you got this right now. I just it was one of those like Coleman got hurt. It clicked in my head. Freeman was in there, he was gonna miss the protection. Don't show it, walk up late, we're coming right at him and we're about to score. We

Then we had the tree Flowers sack.

So then later in the game. Now they're driving, they throw. Julio's right there. He and I was who I was with Julio last year. He's like the best right, And I was like, bro, how far out about it?

Did you reach?

The little ball is literally ten yards out of bound. It's ridiculous, right, It's I'm in the coaches, it's passed me and he catches this thing, and everyone on the headside it's like he's out.

He's out him like literally looking at his feet. I'm like, he's not out.

I'm like, he just caught it.

So now they're in field goal rangement.

I was like, oh my god. So I'm like, hey, dev Wick, we got a blitz. So with get the TfL And so now it's second along. So everyone's they're gonna run again. They're gonna run it again, and some of my I was like, they're not gonna run, they're gonna throw. And then and I'm arguing. I'm arguing on the headsets with Bill. He's like, they're gonna rune it. I'm like, they're not gonna run it. I'm like the quarterback of the Year got off in the corner of

I'm like, I'm so I called.

I actually called a three man rush because I wanted to have max coverage, but it was a five down look. But as they lined up, I look, and now I've got one. I got Gaeball was great shirt. He's on the outside. But now I'm like, oh shit, it's the wheel route. I'm like, oh, I'm like, this is about I'm freaking out because I'm like, this is about to be a touchdown. And so sure enough back I think it was Freeman. He releases. I see Jabal he's peeling on the wheel. I was like, oh my, like here

We were running.

We were stopping the run now and now we got to cover a kick and slate those guys made able wile they pin them deep late in the game, and I remember clicking on we stopped him on first time. Remember clicking on the bill and I go, hey, where about to win the Super Bowl? And the craziest rule that no one's ever seen before. I'm like, be ready for a free kick because I was like, if they don't get any more yardage, I'm like, we're gonna fair catch this thing. And we're gonna We're gonna win the

I was thinking walk off because I went down to return the punt. I was sitting there like, all right, man, if I fucking walked this off, man, unbelievable. So so then you know, we go to overtime. We tried some other ship. Remember we tried the game cock bro, I mean blues Hamstring. It was it was like that was so bad. Game was like the annexation of Puerto Rico. Play for us guy like a bumble Roosky fake Neil handed over and fucking that was a crazy game.

That was crazy.

So then we win.

Yeah, it's bananas. I'm so we go through all the sale. I get on the bus, right, So I get on the bus. Tom Tommy's in the back. It's Josh, Laura, myself, Rina, Bill, Tommy's in the back, and I'm literally like, did we win? Like I don't even know what happened? And Josh is looking at me and goes, hey, bro, goes I didn't. I didn't see any of the defense. I didn't see one play of the offense. It was because every series was like this has to go right in this so

And I'm like, bro, we got the stackbacker left call. He's like, you should just.

Catch Julian made and then we ran this and Josh and are trying to fill each other in because I'm like, I don't even know if we won and Bill. Bill turns around and he's like, hey, look, he goes, listen, he goes. You know, we got to play these guys next year. It's probably gonna be like the first game of the year. They'll probably do that. When we get back, Let's make sure we write down, like what was good.

I'm like, I don't even know if we won.

Bill.

I'm like, literally on the bus, I'm like, what are you talking about right now?

I'm like, oh yeah, it was like holy Josh and I just looked at you and started laughing. I was like, what are you talking about? I don't even know if we won the game.

When was the moment you knew we were gonna win fifty one? When when was the real were you saying right out of the locker room in halftime? I did, I was like, we're gonna win this game. I just I was just trying to be a rawer guy. Man, it's gonna be a hell of a story bed.

Yeah. But you but you picked the right guy to talk to because Doran was in that mode. And I mean it, I was so blessed like to be around great guys and I mean, it's so many but it was like it was unreal. I mean obviously, I mean, you know, myla, I gotta to bring him up.

Of course, Italians love Italians.

The same thing I had with Welker. It was like I said it, I was like, we played Welker one year at Miami and we don't know Mari who played at Syracuse pulls his calf in warm up. Yeah, so I'm like, I'm gonna just pull his calf and then I'm looking, I'm like, Wes Welker is kicking. Wes Welker kicked off kickfield goals, extra points caught like one hundred and thirty yards on me. I was like, we got

This guy is Bruce.

So we traded so the same thing we're getting Amadola. I was like, I don't, I don't want a game plan, you man, like, can we just get you over here on this side?

And like you look, they all went out car shop and went ahead. The car in the garage already said we had we had a good bottle to the real car in the garage already in. We're just trying to get as many as possible, many as possible.

So yeah, so Ami Dola and I I was I love that I wanted to kill you all when you signed Amla.

Do you know how much of a better player?

I know, but I still wanted to murder you. Good, you should. I think that's what Bill like to. Bill used to sign me these contracts where he knew it was enough to make me satisfied but also enough to piss me off. Listen, you and me both. He did that with all of us.

You know, it's like trying to negotiate a coaching contract in there. Hey, but I don't I don't think I should. She think we should a little bit more here. He's like, yeah, no, I'm just gonna keep your place.

Yeah yeah, Well.

That's the beauty of Bill is like it was more intellectual than it was. Like I've been around coaches just like forrage. You eventually you're like all right, like I'm good. But it was the intellectual mind bombs that would go off later and you're like, what did.

You just say? Yeah he would, you know, you're like some of them, what did he say?

The thing like you guys wouldn't see is like we would go on road trips and you know, we'd have the bus drivers and stuff, and like everybody be on the plane will be out there like giving them cash. You know, he'd be like tipping on the bus drivers, like making sure that they were okay.

You know.

Just that was all the stuff where.

He has a heart killing I love it, killing me. Bro, Let's name the game, Mattie P. Now, these are the names that we came up with. Sterling Steel, Sterling Steel Steel. See he's a fucking aeronautical instro. Bro, I got it. Score the game? Is this the greatest game of all time? Let's score it, Matty P. Zero to ten is okay? What are the states yeah, I love this game.

It is an AFC championship game, so it's definitely above a seven seven at above a nine because it's not a championship game, so I'm probably the eight. What are we doing for Deskmalds here?

They're okay eight point two eight point two? See the fucking Matty pe did this guy damn homework? Probably watched about fifteen of our shows just the grading Situationally watched this show. All Right, he's gonna all right, let me see what the intro is like. All right, let me see what the interviews like. All right, let's do the score segment. Okay, this is what they do in the all right, yeah, yeah, Mavericks owner he too much? Yeah, I would say an eight flat eight flat at a

The other thing about this game, this was a start of us turning it around. We had gone through a couple of years of rebuilding, and then we had the young guys that maybe had a couple of years in. We're still gonna add some pieces. We knew we had to add some pieces, but it was the start of what would become a very long, great, great run. And again, if you think about it, you know, twenty ten, we had a really good defense. Twenty ten, like we played

Star power struggle. I struggle with because.

Again, the beauty of this game to me is that I think the star power is low on our side. Their side, I think it was high. I mean, look we had Tom Brady, so like that Trump's all of it, right, Like that makes all of it. Uh, you're young at this point, so you know and can play. So I think that's why I love the game is because the star power it's kind of lower, kind of scrappy, kind

Eight for us. Yeah, I mean you got two first ballot Hall of Fame coaches, work coaches. It's star power of the.

Crowd. Oh god, Stephen Tyler.

With Steven Tyler, I had to go like.

Find the lady that made that so my wife could get one and stand.

I mean, there's a lot you could bump it up.

I mean, Hall of Fame coaches, Steven Tyler.

It's pretty big. This is real big. Potentially more Hall of Fame coaches because there's still a lot of meeting on a lot of careers, a lot of a lot of meat. Those bones for so a lot of these guys eight nine, I'll go eight five.

Talk you into that.

I went nine to one. I'm going high. Are you see Jackie Blaze's Patriot games?

I do.

I'm a homer. I am an unabashed homer.

I love it.

The gameplay of this game at ep back forth. Yeah, how it's the field goals, I.

Know, but like I know, people don't like field goals. People want touchdowns. But when you're calling defense, that is stressful.

There's there's some stressful.

Back and forth here. There's back to back turnovers. We picked it off, they picked it off.

I'm like, you think you're good and good and then we throw the slate. That's right.

So the back and forth in this the stress level of this game, it was pretty good. There's a lot riding and you put you know what we're playing for ira Craft all the rest of ye I was stressed. This one was stressful. This was a nine to one for me.

For me, there's.

You could just get a lock combo in this one.

I'm sure there was probably know we got receivers playing fucking dv in this game. Do you think the gameplay is going to be fallless? Jesus Christ, what do we do. I'm gonna go I'm gonna go E eight because it still was. It was an exciting fucking game, and it's Baltimore, Baltimore hated and they came into our stadium and beat our ass the last time in the playoffs went I went eight five.

Missing a kick at the end of a game always is a little bit of a detractor for me. Giants won a Super Bowl doing that, and then they didn't have a good, good gameplay score right.

Missing I think missing and blocking a field, all that stuff I think is just because they missed doesn't mean they didn't affect the kick. I don't think the rush didn't affect the kick.

The stadium.

Make them kick it in the closed end zone late in the year when the pattern of the wind goes from the open lighthouse across the field to their side, and the kicker is going to overcorrect for that and the wind dies.

Right, and then you put the rush to the right so that he has to think, get it away from the rush. Hmmm, I'm going to move it up.

I'm going to go to stadiums and I'd be like, all right, what flag am I watching? Because you couldn't watch. You couldn't watch the uprights. So there's there's every stadium at a list of what flag in that stadium was going to tell me the true direction of the wind? Wow?

So who's who's the flag scouter? Like, who did we higher on the staff to the scout out? Which flag is the wind flag scottio.

You know, we can call on other teams like hey, what flag are we watching for the like, Hey, we're just trying to, you know, do everything. We could win where you could be the Buffalo wind because that was crazy over there.

I played the night before in two thousand and eight. You're talking about the two thousand and eight win where ridiculous. I play.

Weather games were the most amazing things I've ever been a part of.

I played the Saturday before you guys played in my last college game at Buffalo against Buffalo. That's awesome and that wind, that that crazy win game where you didn't throw. Remember, I'm not talking about the Mac Jones one.

Was the most amazing win I've ever seen. That was sixty had chains. They had chains holding the uprights for just ripping off. I literally told the DBS, I said, listen because the wind was blown across the field to their sideline. I said, play the top of the numbers as the sideline.

That's it.

I go move everything inside. They're not going to be able to throw it outside.

It was that. It was really unreal. I changed my score to eight six. That might be a first and Maddy p Lastly, to top it off, we had to score the name of the game, which you came up with, the fucking killer little name that I just yeah, I kind of like it as the Sterling stealing steel Man.

This is like a guy's legacy right here, if we're talking about a dude's legacy. Sterling Steel, fucking Sterling Sterling made some money, got us to the Super Bowl.

They've definitely made a couple of ducats off of it. That's pretty tight right there. You know his coaching right now. I think it is highlight.

Yeah, whole highlight on the ESPN form.

It's a nine nine five Sterling Steel game. I'm gonna go with an eight to two eight two. That's low. Well, I mean you got to think about this, Matt, I think about it. We did the immaculate reception culturally, do you we're talking about that? Huh? I didn't we're not. But we know that game from nineteen seventy something and it's fifty years past. Fifty years. You give that one, Hi hi, Hi, okay, so go a little bit. I went seventy. No low, that didn't go high high. I

Is there?

There's no you played for Coach Belichick. There's no perfect game. I won a Super Bowl MVP and I almost had a perfect play call out sheet, but I still remember three plays that keep me up at night. So it wasn't a perfect game. Like when you when you eat a burger? Have you ever had a ten burger? And if you're telling me yes, and I'm definitely needing some, knock you off your socks and you'll go back. Seven to five will bring you back. Seven five will bring

All right, it's this cultural impact.

Can I get a retraction? You can change it? All right, let's go.

I did at eight point one.

I'm four.

Terry Bradshaw did a ten even on the Immaculate Reception.

He might be with my with my retraction.

Four.

All right, what does that put us? This is going to be high.

Puts us right here, just tenth. It's just ahead of the Statue of Liberty Game two thousand and seven fest the ball stay for Oklahoma, and just behind the nineteen ninety nine Women's World Cup China USA.

This is the diving board to the next generation of the dynasty, This twenty eleven team, This hardship that we had to learn the very two weeks, the next two weeks later, whatever leadership.

You guys learned, you know, like again, like I'm just remember like all the young guys that came in, like you guys had big You guys had ginormous shoes to film.

Oh yeah, ginormous shoes. You think I loved hearing about fucking the other Patriots. I wanted to win Super Bowls just as so Bill could stop talking about Teddy Bruce Ski, Troy Brown.

What do you think that was the brilliance of it? I mean, like my linebacker room, like Teddy Bruski, Mike Junior, William McGinn, it's Roosevelt Colvin and Dahlius Thomas larry Is.

But it motivated me to it motivated me to want to say, I want to make our stamp on it. So like it was a great motivation factory because you definitely you love the guys to death and you respect them because they were always around. But like we wanted to be something, you know, you wanted to be in that level that was like a fucking a shooting star that you're looking at. You guys grew and they went back to back. We never did close fucking bullshit S three. We still got three back to back.

We played, we won twenty one in a row. Yeah, that was twenty one games in a row. We want until it was Halloween. It was Halloween in Pittsburgh two thousand and four, So twenty one in a row. You haven't lost in twenty one games the NFL.

That's crazy, man.

We're at the end here, Yeah, because I got I got I got something.

What do you got something? Well? Before that, did we miss anything from this game?

Thank you the guys that were out there, And like I said, I've been waiting like ten years to get an offensive guy on the defensive field. Kidding me again, it was just I wouldn't say there was there was stars on the field, but there was stars waiting to be born on the field and that's.

Cool, yeah to me. So maybe time to let the ways day.

I got something for you.

What do you get?

So when I got back to New England, right, So I left for a little while, took a cup of coffee.

On the Midwest. I come back.

New England is my home. You know, the fans and you know I love it there and my kids were born there and all that stuff and you guys. Right, So I got back to New England. It was very emotional for me to go in that building. Now I'm coming in a different role. I'm coming in because Nick left and Bill needs me to do the GM stuff and kind of oversee and just be his eyes and ears and all that stuff. So as the GM when I get back, you know, your situation was coming up.

Opened that my guy. Then we start crying. Matty P.

Got here.

So that was your name tag that was on the personnel board at the Patriots while you were playing. I don't know if it always got updated because it was on there for a while, but I didn't want that to just go anywhere. I thought that it should go to you. And so for whatever reason, how many here every year as it is now, I back then grabbed it in the moment and I've just kept it all these years.

And uh yeah, I thought it was it's got my salary on there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had a salary. There's no doubt we had a salary on there, of course.

But uh, what is uh nine and a half? Okay, twenty nine nine and a half there? Your hand size? Is that? That is my hand size? I am that's that's a big hand for my size.

Yeah, but that was to me, those tags on the board represented more than just piece of paper.

Dude, I appreciate that. I love you, man, I love you too, buddy, I really do know. This is what this is. When you go into a general manager your office, they always had the they could slide something so you couldn't see the names board. I would always sneak up in there. Once I look and see the depth chart, Well you can see where what the guys were taking through their depth charts, you know, they plot out the team on how they wanted to build it. Thank you, man,

Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

I appreciate you coming on. Anything else from you guys, that was unbelievable. I feel like my ball knowledge is my Oh I man, that was an honor. Thank you so much. That's why we do the show for conversations like this, and everyone go out and check out. Coach Matty P wrote it, He's helped producing it. I think

Yeah, well just think how fool his drawers. There's a lot in there.

Yeah.

Here, how about this?

Uh?

I think I'm gonna have to join social media?

Well are you?

I think I'm gonna do it tomorrow?

Let's go.

Yeah, who's running Coach Belichick's Instagram?

Yeah? Thank you forgetting it all.

Maddie.

What a game.

The lighting has changed, audience, because we're still here forty eight hours after.

Day has turned tonight, the night has turned back today. You don't become a rocket scientist by just not knowing everything.

Great episode. Amazing man, He's he hung around later too, was great.

Yeah, Maddy p is a good one. He's one of He's a good dude. We're smarter ball knowers. From from hearing that it's good to have defense perspective. It is. You know, if you don't know what a double mugg is by now, you didn't listen to this episode. You didn't listen to the goddamn episode. Okay, but Matty pe got us. You gotta explain it to kindergarten people. Okay. If you're gonna be in TV, you know you can't say double mug fire zone six. This that I mean,