The Season with Peter Schrager: Nebraska HC and Former Panthers HC Matt Rhule, the Resilient Bengals, and Jaxson de Ville Thoughts

doing good. I'm exhausted. This weekend is like, you know, Thanksgiving weekend takes everything out of you. And then in the NFL, it's like, all right, Monday, go keep going. And I'll tell you I had a big Saturday night. Can I get into my Saturday night details with you? Yeah? Yeah, it's from l A. This is l A and I'm gonna tell you why it was a. It was a different one for me. So fly on Saturday morning and I fly in and I get in around three o'clock l A time, and I do my customary eat everything

in sight on the flight six bag of cheese. It's seven things of sour patch kids. Um asked the flight attendant for multiple diet cokes. Uh watch a couple of movies. Saw the Clerks three film. I don't know if you knew there was a Clerks three. I think they put it out. Do a skew shout out to Kevin Smith. I enjoyed it got kind of sentimental at the end and a little dark at the end. It was did not expect spoiler alert to Clerks three, do not expect.

They like tragic death at the end, and like this emotional, like heart wrenching scene. I don't know if it really worked, but I watched the whole movie. Then I watched Cramer Versus Cramer, which is a nineteen seventy nine custody battle, which is very quiet custody battle film film with Meryl Streep and Dustin Off and I've never seen it, and whenever you came up, fantastic film. Yet I get off

the plane just crying my eyes out. So here I am in this state after watching this brutal film Cramer versus Cramer, about you know, a child being battled over in courts, And then I get the text from my host on Fox NFL Kickoff, Charissa Thompson. We're doing a team dinner tonight. You're in. I said, I'm in, So the crew was myself, Charissa Thompson, who is an angel, Michael Vick, former NFL quarterback. He's on the show with us Sean Payton, former New Orleans Saints head coach, super

Bowl champion, and Danny A. Mendola. Danny Amendola is filming this Fox show that looks absolutely insane, where I forget what it's like Fox Special Force or something, but it's him, and it's Mike Piazzi. You saw the commercials during Thanksgiving week and they go through ten days of like elite military training. And A. Mendola was promoting the show. Of course, he's a two times super Bowl champion and a gentleman. We had him on also, so I'm like, sure, I'm in.

Let's go put on some jeans, put on a shirt. Don't know what I'm going into. We go to a place called Eggs. Aaron, have you heard of Craig's. I never heard of Craig's. Story with Craigs is thus the major d at Dantana's. You've heard of Dantana's. Dantona's is the spot in l A for you know Sinatra, and right down to al Pacino and de Niro. The major d About ten years ago left and opened his own spot called Craig's. It is the Hollywood hot spot of

hot spots. I'm talking paparazzi outside, I'm talking. I went Super Bowl week. I saw just about every NFL Hall of Famer and I think there was a Kardashion or two there. And last year I went with h my dear friends Aaron Andrews and Caarissa Thompson to Craig's. And we were there and Jim Nance was next to us, and they were calling a Chargers game, and Doc Rivers was there, and George Cloney was in the house. So when I heard we're going to Craigs, that's all right.

What we got, what we got? What we got? We go there dinners at six o'clock. There were no other celebrities. That I say other because I think Sean Payton qualifies as a celebrity. Day Chris is probably a celebrity. They all right, great night, take a take a team photo after, you know, a couple of bottles of wine and Sean pay In is the Rock and Tory. He's telling us stories from the Super Bowl years, and he's ordering bottles of wine. We're having a great night, and we leave

and then we wake up do the show. I'm flying back and I get a text from my wife's friend, Margot, who lives out in Los Angeles, and she texts me, oh, you were out last night. Huh what? Craig's Instagram posted a photo of all you guys at dinner. I am Instagram famous right now, Aaron, we made the Craig's Instagram story feed. I got multiple texts about it. It wasn't a great angle. You see my entire stomach, and it

was not in a good day. But I made the shot, and I gotta say, while I'm taking the photo, I'm saying, take a video. I'm gonna plug this season with Peter Schreeger. Can we get some additional viewers? Because that was my first brush with like being in l a celebrity. Are you impressed? I love it. I also know you famously are not on Instagram too, so I love that you didn't know that you were on there their page and someone else let you know on Sunday. That's great. You

know it's funny. I'm not on Instagram, and uh, everyone's like a hysteria over you know, what's going on with Twitter. And then there was like this push from a lot of people in media to join something called Mastadon. I said, guys, I don't have Facebook, I don't have Instagram. I I'm I'm a little slow on the uptick. I think I'm gonna be just fine saying off all those things. But I am on the Craig's Instagram. So I've made it. Uh, let's do a little four downs. What do you say? Alright?

First down? Which team had the biggest statement win over the weekend? I think it has to be the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati Bengals season has been one that's really interesting worth charting. And Aaron I go back to the first two weeks, and they started off oh and two, and they couldn't protect the quarterback Joe Burrow. After they spent the entire offseason spending a lot of money to protect him, brought in guys like Lyle Collins and Alex Carris, and they

really did beef up that offensive line. But the first two weeks he got absolutely destroyed in hindsight. Week one was against t J. Watt and the Steelers front, which is really good. And Week two was against Michael Parsons and the Cowboys front, which is really good. They lost a few games more then they had that Monday night game. Monday night game was against the Browns, and I think everyone was like, all right, the Bengals will roll over

the Browns. This will be easy. And the Browns absolutely blew them out. Nick Chubb still running touchdowns in And the story that came out on Tuesday, and maybe not everyone knew and still doesn't even acknowledge, is that one of their dear and beloved assistant coaches, Adam Zimmer, thirty eight years old, actually passed away over the weekend in the early hours Monday morning, and they all got that

news Monday before the Monday night game. The coaching staff at least did a lot of heavy hearts people's heads in a lot of different places. They got blown out in that game, and it's like, all right, there, frauds. I have to think that was an incredible rough not only twenty four hours, forty eight hours week everything when you find news out the Zimmer family very very important

to Cincinnati Bengals. Of course, Mike Zimmer was defensive coach there for many years under Marvin Lewis, and of course had such great success with those defenses with pac Man Jones and all those guys. This is his son. Now. The Bengals players would never point to that and say, oh, that was why we lost, and the Bengals coaches certainly wouldn't either. And I'm not saying that's why they lost.

I just know what that does to a building, to any workplace environment, whether people were close with Zimmer or not, it has an effect. So they lost that game. They go out there the next week, they absolutely blow out the Carolina Panthers. Joe Mixon has five touchdowns. They go on to buy They go out there, and they go into Pittsburgh, a place that could be a house of horrors for teams that go out there, and they beat

the Steelers in Pittsburgh. And they go into Tennessee. They're huge underdogs and they find out right for the game, Jamaar Chase is actually not going to go, even though there was expectations he would play. Joe Mixon not in the lineup. And they start off and they're struggling early and the Titans have this weird play where Henry drops the ball after an eight yard option and then Burke's recovers. It just didn't seem like it's gonna be their day.

And the Bengals fought. Gosh did they fight. The Bengals fought, and they come out on top, and suddenly there's seven and four. They're tired to top the a f C. North. They're alive in this thing, and now they take the Chiefs on on Sunday, and it's like, this isn't gonna be just a Chiefs blowout. You can't be not considering

the history that last year they played him twice. One time in Cincinnati, Jamaar Chase had three touchdowns about two yards and the ANC Championship came down twenty one three

in Kansas City and came back on this team. My whole point about the story of the season, like they've been through such such highs and lows already, like they've been through adversity, and it really starts off with an appendicitis from Joe Burrow over the summer when we missed all of August and came out and just kind of played Week one, but we weren't sure where his health was. And now we have the final two months of the season, and this is when this team got really hot last year.

It's when this team really put it all together. They've got five more regular season games. I'm watching the Ravens lose to the Jaguars in a game where you can't tell me that the a f C North is owned by Baltimore. When they can't beat the Jaguars up late in the fourth quarter and their defense gives up another game.

I think the Bengals had a huge win. It was a statement went to the rest of the league, and even if they do drop one into Kansas City, it doesn't mean they're not gonna be the team that's the last one standing in the a f C North. And it doesn't mean they can't go on the road and win games in the playoffs. So they have to. I was really impressed with the Bengals this week. Can I

give you one stat? I had them so since Week four against Miami, the Bengals have had twenty touchdowns on twenty three red zone trips, which is an eight seven percent conversion rate. The league averages fifty six percent, and the second most efficient is the Eagles. With seventy six, so they're eleven percent better in on their red zone trips getting a touchdown. I mean that's like, those numbers are ridiculous if you watch a team every Sunday that can't put the ball in the end. So, and you

know how important that is. Bengals are for real, uh ton of injuries and they're all coming back. I mean, Chase is coming back, Mixing is coming back. So I think they're gonna be straight. Yeah, all right, second down. How bad is it in Denver right now? What's going on? Oh, it's it's bad. Uh. If you watch that game, it's it's real bad. They lost to the Carolina Panthers by the score twenty three to ten. It really was a

twenty three to three game. The Broncos at the end had like eighteen shots at the end zone, including four penalties on the Panthers to finally get one in just to put up double digits. Um, here's why it's so bad. Yes, you know Russell Wilson is not fulfilling expectations. Yes, you know his contract, you know all that. Why it's so bad is that the ownership group is brand new and they inherited all of this mess. So the new owners, the Walton, the Penner family, they come in and they

inherit Nathaniel Hackett as the head coach. They inherit George Payton as the GM. They inherit Russell Wilson in a two D and twenty five million dollar contract which I truly can't get out of until from what it looks like. So to me, it's bad because I think it might be a one and done coach and if attack it, you're paying him out the next four years. He signed

a five year deal, I believe for guaranteed money. George Payton had a great first year as a general manager, and then his second year had this big splash Russell Wilson deale. I don't know if the owners look at that and say, well, what the hell did that? What? What kind of judgment was this? Did anyone watch him play last year? I am the first one to raise my hand and say, I did not see this coming.

I picked Russell Wilson before this season to be my m v P of the league, not winning quarterback, not a playoff correct, the m v P of the league. I also said that the Broncos would be going to the playoffs. And I also said famously, and this is why I'm the greatest in sports media, because I will say it on my own podcast, that Nathaniel Hackett would be the coach of the year. I had such high

hopes for this team. Why because the defense has always been good, and guess what, the defense this year is still really really good. All they add were question marks at quarterback, and then they got Russell Wilson. I figured, like Stafford did last year, and like Tom Brady did two years ago, you take this team with a good roster and you just put in a better quarterback, we

can elevate. It's been the absolute opposite. And when you see Mike Priscell the defensive tackle, arguing with Russell Wilson or barking at Russell Wilson or Russell kind of like shoving his shoulders like I don't know what to do on the sideline, you know it's it's off the rails. Um. Nathaniel Hackett is one of the all time great great dudes of this league. Players love him. He's an awesome person.

He's coached everywhere. Aaron Rodgers swore by him. It's one of the main reasons he was such a valued uh, you know, hire by the Broncos and why they kind of jumped out and hired him early in this process. Everyone squeaks the world of him. This might not be his deal like it. Maybe he'll be another coach somewhere else. Maybe he gets another season with them. I don't know if that's possible. But this thing has been just off

the rails. And the second you, as an offensive coach give up play calling duties and he did that to Click Kubiak two weeks ago, it's almost a giant white flag. I'm not saying he's quitting. I know what he's doing. He's trying to salvage something and get something going and kickstarted. Um, but I don't see it happening. And the worst part about this thing there the third worst team in football and their first round pick gos to the Seattle Seahawks.

This yere alright? I think we're doing this every week. It seems like for our four downs at just another update, third down? What do we make of the Odell Beckham plane situation that happens Sunday? Picture yourself now, Aaron. You just had Thanksgiving weekend. You were with your grandparents in Florida. You were with your parents, you were with your cousins, your aunts and your uncle's. You've got four kids, let's

say four kids. You've got four kids. They want to go to Disney, but you're in Miami, so you're not going to Disney. What do you mean, We're going to Florida, but we're not going to Disney. We're not going to Disney. Okay, Saturday, it was raining Sunday. You know, all right, we're going to the airport. You got the two car seats in the back. You gotta return the rental car. You get to the airport, we're going back home. The kid is

asking why Blue's not working on the iPad. The other kid, UH is upset because you promised that you were going to get something at the Hudson News. But we're not buying you a tabarone. We're not we're not buying you a turbaron before uh eight am flight out of Miami, and you've got two other kids who are bickering with each other. One of them doesn't talk to you because you took away some you know, toy. Whatever. You get

on the plane, you get buckled in. The flight's about to take off and you as that passenger are told, folks, we're gonna have to deplane the plane. You have to get off the plane, take your bags from the top. You in thirty six C because a passenger in first class will not put on his seatbelt and is dipping in and out of consciousness. And that person is Odell Beckham. That's who I feel for. I feel for the mother and the father and the kids in the back of

coach is not flying Coach. I know that a lot of people haven't had to be through these situation. Have you ever been on a plane where you deplane because of an unruly patrick. I have that passenger. You're saying things under your breath and over your breath at that point, and everyone's in a collective, you know. So we had Nate Burlison on the show Monday, and you know, I don't know if Nate's ever smell old Coach and what

it's like sitting back there. Um, But Nate was saying, like, how are you how are you gonna take this man all thing? I'm like, why has everyone all worked up? I'm like, it's not about the fact whether he was asleep or not asleeper were a sleepbelt. It was the inconvenience for the others that I'm thinking about. As for football, none of it matters. None of it matters at all. It doesn't matter at all. The Cowboys don't care, the Bills don't care, the Giants don't care. Ohto Beck comes

a really good wide receiver. He's a pretty good dude. I think everyone who's ever played with him likes the guy, and I think he's gonna make an immediate impact for one of these teams. I'm surprised the Cowboys haven't signed him yet. For all the talk that Jerry Jones has had, for all the you know, the mutual love with the Micah Parson stuff and all, I am shocked that O'Dell has not signed with the Dallas Cowboys, and the fact that Von Miller got hurt in that Thanksgiving Day game.

That's the biggest guy for Odell. I assume Von's coming back. We hope so. But I don't know if Buffalo is still much in the cards. And I said it last week, I don't see the Giants thing happening. It would be a shock to me as actually, with them having two losses in a row, it makes too much sense for Odell Beckham, the biggest international star on the sport. And I mean that we go to London in Germany, like there's Oldell Beckham jerseys everywhere and they come from all

shapes and sizes, giants, rams, browns. I wouldn't be shocked if the Cowboys got that thing done this week and he said, hey, let's stry, let's finish our stretch out around with them. But the plan thing, I thought more about the parents and the uh other people coming back from a long Thanksgiving weekend with family and having to wait before a five hour flight and get off the plane because some guy in first class, uh you know, maybe it was getting a little ZS in the front seat.

Al Right, fourth down, Who do you want to shout out this week? I would like to shout out my favorite mascot and all of sports, the great Jackson Deville. Jackson Deville is a modern marvel. And as much as we love Vince Lombardi and John Madden and Tom Brady and Joe Montana, I think Jackson Deville is the face of the NFL. This mascot was completely drenched before the game against the Ravens and out of oh, I don't know, not coming out for his his his day of work.

For instead of putting on a giant parco or a windbreaker or a poncho, Jackson Deville de robed his entire mascot costumed down to just his underwear and it just happened to be a bikini underwear, a speedo, if you will, And that speedo underwear was an American flag on the front and a string bikini on the back, so you could see Jackson's cat ass in in just bare bare wind and he was slapping his own butt. He was gyrating after a touchdown. This is what being a mascot

is all about. I'm all for the T shirt, cannon, and I'm all for the JumboTron and posing for photos

and doing whatever. But if you can make me howl in laughter, and you can make me want to go see the Jaguars in person because of the mascot and his hijinks, and if you can single handedly be the reason the Jaguars had a fourth debt quarter drive down seven points against a perennial playoff team, and when the biggest game that the franchise has had in two years, which Jackson Deville did, Trevor Lawrence had nothing to do with that game. Zay Jones had nothing to do with

that game. And I promise you, Marvin Jones is catch doesn't happen if Jackson Deville is not thrusting himself in the back of the end zone with a American flag string bikini on everyone. If you haven't seen it, google Jackson Deville, have yourself an entire wormhole on Wikipedia and YouTube. This is not his first time up to no good and up to everything I want out of a mascot. I'm a huge Jackson Deville fan. He's getting my shout out. I don't know if it's a man or a woman

under that costume. I don't want to know. I just know that he brought the funnies on Sunday and I needed it. Eric, who do you want to give a shout out to? Um? I think I want to shout out just like the rookie class in general. This week, it seemed like another viral moment from the weekend was Brian Robinson Jr. With the big hat, but he also before the big hat, he had a great game for

the Commanders. Christian Watson had the touchdown at the end of the game and it was a garbage time didn't and then last night Ken he pickt George Pickens like pick it has looks good. I think last night was one of the first nights when we really have started to feel okay with Pickens, like the future of the Steelers. And I mean Pickens is just like this incredible Anyways. Yeah, um,

the Jets we had bam n uh. And then I mean Mike White's not a rookie, but yeah, so I think the rookie class Garrett Wilson on the Jets, Ryan Robinson on the Commanders, Yeah, big week for rookies. I think huge week for rookies. I'll throw into defensive players. I thought read Blanket Ship for the Philadelphia Eagles filling in for Chauncey Gardner. Johnson played incredibly well. And the other rookie I'd like to mention is Martin m j Emerson for the Cleveland Browns. He was up against Mike

Evans in a huge game and shut Evans down. There are six targets on him, he didn't catch any of them. So you're right, the rookies are playing well. And as for Kenny Pickett, I made the point on Good Morning Football. I thought this was interesting that in New York we've got Zack Wilson, who is now in his second year and as all these starts under his belt, and he's regressing, and you're not seeing any progress in Pittsburgh. If you're patient, you might have to sacrifice one season of going to

the playoffs. But this guy has gotten so much better week after week after week. That is how it's supposed to go. You throw a guy into the fire and he gets better, and there's obvious improvement. Kenny Pickett was really good Monday night against the Colts. Great call Aaron coming up after this break. We've got one of my favorite guys in football. He was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers for two and a half seasons and now he is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Fresh off the announcement, he's cool enough to join us. Matt Rule on the season with Peter Schraeger. Now, welcome me on a guest for this week. I couldn't be more excited. One of the great men in football. Uh. You knew him as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers for the past few years, and before that he was at Baylor, he was at Temple, he was at a million other places on his rise, and now he is the head coach of the Nebraska corn Huskers. Let's

welcome in Matt Rule to the show. Matt, what's up it? What's up? Dude? How are you? I am great? It has been a whirlwind for you. You announced on Twitter or they announced Nebraska that you would be the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. We're recording this Tuesday morning. You are so cool for joining us in such a whirlwind. What has the last nineties six hours of your life been? Like, dude, it was, it was. It was crazy. It was like, um, I guess it

would be. Uh. Friday night, we thought it was done. We thought it was you know, it's not gonna work out. He thought it was over. It was gonna fall. Yeah, yeah, I just I was all going to fall apart, you know, just just a bunch of things. Right. So Friday night I got called act like, hey, what if we work on you know, change a little structure. Work on this Saturday morning, Um, it all worked out. I took the job. Um, and it was kind of already out there, you know.

My phone was blown up, But it wasn't actually really done until Saturday. Even Saturday when people would text me and say, I don't know, like there's we're working out, and you know, then we just sat and sat around and kind of like processed it. Man. We watched college football and my wife, you know, we were up in Cape May, New Jersey. It's it's it's a good ten and eleven hours back to Charlotte. We had my wife and we had my wife had me and her obviously

three dogs, three kids, and we will up. We will up sex you want to wake up at four am on Sunday, I was like a later or later took us, but we left our GPS when we left, said you'll arrive at six pm in Charlotte. I'm gonna get up there till eleven thirty, sitting in traffic, my wife's ironing clothes to like one in the morning. We're up at four one of private jet from Carolina to Charlotte at six. I got here yesterday, met everybody, press conference, talk to

the team. Um, it's been crazy, but uh but it's been fun. Dude, Why are you driving? Why couldn't you fly from you know, get the Philly airport twenty minute drive. You put those dogs and crates. I don't know what they do on these flights. I don't have a dog. Why are you driving eleven hours? You're a head coach

of one of the storied college ball programs of all time. Well, so at the time when we went to Kate maybe went to Kate May last, you know, last weeks last Friday, we were like, yeah, we'll we'll get the sprinter van. We'll take a bunch of stuff up to the house. You know, we'll spend all week. We were coming to New York to see you, so, you know, so we just never thought that, hey, by the way, next week

we'll be moving to another time ago. So um, trust me about hour six and the whole time we Julie drove the whole time, I was really, what are you doing on the phone? You're dealing with the with the with new recruits already or are you talking to coaching staff trying to get a coaching staff together. Yeah, so

I was talking to coaches. I was talking to current players at Nebraska, you know, because that's a crazy time, Alsodden, you have a new coach, You're like, oh my gosh, what's this gonna mean, you know, do I have a future here? That I was calling recruits like, you know, the kids that were committed, just saying hey, you know, excited they have a chance to get to know you.

Um and uh. But a lot of a lot of coaches, a lot of staff, a lot of people reaching out and I never wanted to be one of those guys blows people off. And you know, I still haven't got back to people because now your iPhone works. Man. You you you try to hit one and then like three more come in and goes to the bottom. So it's just been a NonStop process. Let me ask you when something like that happens, and it's a you know you've

been whether you're dismisses the coach. You go through this low and maybe it's quiet on the phone, but then when the good news comes, everybody's there for you and everybody comes out of the woodwork. Hey coach, I knew you'd be back. Well where were you the last six weeks? Who was it who reached out to you when you lost your job in Carolina that maybe you were a little surprised by that had your back and said, hey, I'm here for your regardless name me someone a former coach,

former teammate, anybody. I think that's the cool stuff. Not when you get the great news, but when the bad

news comes down. I'll tell you what people that really had an impact on mean, like Howie Roseman was one of the first people to take me Andy Reid uh that that day, just you know, a Brad Children who I've never worked with, uh, you know, and just was like, hey, you know, obviously you know you're a good coach, you know, but this will this will teach you a lot, this will this will make you a way better coach in

the future. Um. You know, Coach Belichick out of goes out of his way to call me and just you know, you know, waited a little while. I was like, hey, Matt, what can I do for you? I mean, I just I think that that's really cool that that that those guys did that for me. But at the same time, you know, uh, Coach read went through this, Uh, Coach Belichick went through it. They lost their jobs and they knew the best was ahead and so, um, you know

that that's a hard time. It's kind of like after a game, you win the game, you have five texts, lose the games, like my mom, my aunt, my wife, and like three of three of my friends, and so I always I always just try to keep track of, Hey, who are the all the time people? Who are the people that, no matter what happens, you know, they're kind of ride or die with me. We're in NFL podcast.

I'm an NFL guy, you know that. But Nebraska Cornhusker's dude. Now, they might not have been, it might not be right now where they were, but you and I growing up in the eighties and nineties, I'm talking you know obviously Tom Osborne, but I go right through to you know, Tommy Fraser, to Corey Schlessinger too, and Dominican Sue in the early two thousands under Bill Callahan, just wrecking shop.

What an important program for college football? When you see that logo on your the breast of your shirt, like, do you get chills? Absolutely? Um. I came in this morning. I couldn't really sleep, so I came in this morning. I was walking in, you know. And now now that I'm back to college recruiting, I'm posting stuff on Twitter and Instagram again, and but I'm walking and I can see, like, you know, you you come around the corner and the

and the door of the stadiums open. I kind of walked in the stadium and the five national championships are lit and you look up there and you want to talk about you know, I've been some great places, but I've never been to a place that's you know, as a head coach that's won the ultimate prize and so um that that that lets you know that you know, hey, you know what it can be done here, and therefore it should be done here, and so um just you're

exactly right thinking back to to all the great teams. And then you know, some of my favorite players, like I love in dominance. I had a chance to coach Am Abdullah, probably one of my favorite players I've ever coached. And so it's do in the league mirror, I saw him have a touchdown this week. I was like, Abdula is there. He's outrageous. He said, he's so smart, so competitive. Man, I love him, and so it's really cool. It's really

cool to be at those guys programs. Yeah, and you know, you go from the NFL back to college and in that time it's only been two and a half years, but transfer portal n I L Now you know USC and U. C. L Ayer coming to the Big ten to face you, A lot has happened. Do you feel like you could just get right back in the saddle or do you have to like kind of study up on what all this stuff means before we hit the

recruiting trail. Yeah, you definitely have to study up. And you know, from the day I got fired, you know, I I said, know what I'm gonna I'm gonna work on all these things, and so I really started looking at you know, what does n I l I mean? You know what, you know, what is the trans report with me? Because you know, when we won at Temple and we want at Baylor and those those are great places, but they're not blue bloods. You had to you had to know every rule, You had to know every edge.

You had to find a way to you know, hey, how are we going to build the best roster possible? And so now that there's new rules, man, I need to know. I need to know what I can do and when I can't do um And you know what that that's something that take a lot of pride and so I'm excited to get out there. You know, we we uh, you know obviously they're coming off of three

and nine and four and eight. So the only way to fix that is is to make sure the players you have, you're you're coaching, help and developing and getting them big and strong. But you have to go recruit and you have the guys the trans report, you have

to you have to you know, upgrade the roster. I know how you are in in the in the living rooms because we've been hearing about it for years that you're one of the best recruiters to ever hit college football to get you know, three star four star talent to two places like Temple and then Baylor after the controversies that they went through. Um, what's the matt rural pitch in Nebraska? What are you telling to a kid who's from Atlanta, Georgia or the kid who you know

is in California or Texas. Why should I come to Lincoln, Nebraska for a program that hasn't had much success of other recent history. Yeah, well, I think I think when you look back at the history of Nebraska, Okay, it's it's always been probably the premier player development uh team. You know, UM guys have come there for years, you know, walk onto state. Um, you know, they were. They were one of the originals in terms of strength and conditioning,

in terms of nutrition, in terms of academic support. They leave the country in academic all Americans, and it's not even close. So you know, to me, it's not going

to be for everybody. But if you're somebody who really really wants to become a pro football player, or you really want to become a guy that doesn't just play three years but plays like ten years in the league, if you want to come and get a great education, those are the guys I want to coach, you know, I want to coach guys who are really serious about football. You know, I mean it's out ra just here. I mean, I'm sitting in an office in a facility that that

is nicer than any place I've ever been. And it's only here for like three more months before we move into our new hundred and fifty million million dollar facility. And so you know, if if no matter where you are in the country, if you're really serious about training, if you're really serious about your body and sports science, if you're serious about your academics, you know we have we have as much, if not more than anyone else. What was your pitch to some of these coaches to

leave their jobs and maybe consider joining your staff. Yeah, you know, it's ten years for me as a head coach, three different places. Um, you know, going into my fourth place in my eleventh year. I've got a lot of guys that are like my guys. Um. You know, if I if I, if I made a mistake in the NFL. You know, one of them is I hired some guys who I hired them for their experience, but they weren't. They didn't maybe always connect with me, and that's not

their fault. I'm not say anything negative about them, but you know, I do things differently. I'm gonna be a highly demanding guy. I want things done a certain way. I want us to serve of the players. The players don't serve us, We serve the players. And so interesting, it's a it's a it's for me, it's about us, I me identifying the right guys and and so a lot it will be a lot of my guys that calm,

guys that trust me and believe in me. Um, these guys that you know, to be a player development program, you have to have coaches that love love helping players get better and I'm not just talking about, hey, you're great players. I'm talking about who's the coach, who's the strength coach that's working with the walk on that probably will never play well. You know what the walk on that if people thought would never play at Temple was

was the sonwritick. You know. So if you just poured into young people and you help them, um, they'll have better lives and some some will work out for you. So my taket has been, hey, if you come here, man, we're gonna build something special. There's no doubt we'll win, but we'll we'll affect a lot of lives along the way. And the biggest thing is, you know, we get to do it our way here. You know, Trev Alberts, the A d s and Matt we're bringing you here for

what you did at Baylor and Temple. I want you to do it your way. And you know sometimes people say they want you to do it their way, and then they it's uncomfortable, they don't want to do it here. Uh. You know, I just fit and so I think they'll let me do it my way, and the coaches are believing that will be with me. All right, rapid fire before you go because I know you've got a million things to do, including calling every recruit in the Northeast

that had just their eyes their ears perked up. Way wait, Matt Rule just went to Nebraska. Okay, Um, here are some things I'm gonna say A name, you give me a story that comes to mind about this person we're gonna stick in the NFL. Let's start off with one of your first NFL coaches when you were an assistant, Tom Coughlan. Give us a good Tom Coughlin story. Yes, so, shall I get the head coaching job at Temple and I'm the assistant online coach. He walks in my office

and he says, you know you're taking that job? I said, yes, sir. He said, I'm expecting you to finish the season. He said yes, sir. He just turned and walked out, And I was like, oh, jeez, what month was it? When was this December? January? Yeah? It was like it was like December. Yeah, we were getting to play at the Atlanta Falcons. We had some games left and U yeah,

it was it was. It was it was December because like at night was the was the Meritish New York Giants Christmas Party, which is well done, and my wife and I show up. My wife's pregnant out to hear and Judy Coughlin just one of the most wonderful women ever Grace this earth comes walking up and she said, Oh, Matt, Julie, were so happy for you. She'sa Matt. Tom is so excited. He's so proud of you. I was like, Tom walked him office this morning, told me I can't leave. I

mean just like just yelled at me. And she said, she said, oh, you know how Tom is, but he is so proud of you, and we're so excited for you. And uh, you know, so she was a wonderful, wonderful person to offset his uh you know, his just you know, coach Coughlin way. But I love the man. He's He's done more for me than I could ever do for him. Yeah, and he speaks the world of you as well. Uh. Sam Donald just got his first career win for the

Carolina Panthers. You traded picks to get him. It didn't work out for him and you together yet, I don't know. I look at the team right now. The season has not done. Sam's played well against Denver. Yeah, I'm excited for Sam. You know, um uh Sam, Sam's a uh, He's one of my favorite guys. And I just you know, I think I said it on the show with you, like I want to see it work out for him somehow, some way, because he's such a good dude. What I remember when he first came, Um, my son and I

were walking around the Wells Fargo Golf Championship. What's happening? I heard this guy go, coach Rule. I look over and there's Sam walking. He's got like a Miller light or a play light, and he's walking with his mom. His dad is his sister, and um, you know, he's just a regular guy and he's just walking around a golf tournament drinking a beer. You know. Uh, just uh, He's the type of guy you root for. Man. Yeah, alright, Christian McCaffrey now having a lot of success in San

Francisco for a team that's won four straight games. I have a hundred stories I can tell you about him cheating and ping pong, I can, I can. I can tell you about a lot of things. But you know, it's funny. He actually texted me yesterday he huh, details of my contract came out. He had he had no choice but to say, hey, I can't wait for the offseason. You're buying dinner and the first time time he's not buying dinner. Come on, I'm looking a contract. You guys

gave him no doubt. He's doing just fine. But I'm so happy for him that he's he's playing well because you know what I think, Peter, I think I think people haven't seen his best football. They'll see it in the playoffs. They'll see in the playoffs when like you're not worried about hate getting him to the playoffs or keeping them, you know, And I'm not saying injury wise, just like explosive when it when it's time to cut loose, that guy's gonna do special things. Yeah, Bill Belichick, you

mentioned that. I know you guys had joint practices with the Patriots. I was. I'm always fascinating because every coach in the coaching community absolutely adores Belichick and says he's a big brother. He's incredible, he does out wisdom, and yet we in the outside the media, the fans, we don't see that side. So any interactions with Belichick, yeah, you know, um, I'll tell you two of them. I hope he doesn't get mad at me for the first one.

But years ago I went to the combine when I had Reddick and I had a bunch of guys and Nickossario in the bassal like, hey, you know, why don't you come up and meet Coach Belichick? And I was like, if you want me to, And then they went to get some information. So I went up to the suite and Coach Belichick was sitting in the corner and I

walked in. Coach kind of looked at me and I don't think you knew hopefully didn't know what give me, and he looked away and he just walked in the other road, and I was like, they were like Matt and Mat. I'm like, I'm like, this the greatest story of all. It's good, but just completely blew me off. It's good, but you know what, like just going up there and working with him this year, playing him, playing against him last year, seeing at the owner's meetings, like

he's become a friend to me. I you know, I consider him a friend. I mean even in this job. You know, our president Ted Carter uh navy man, new Coach Belichick, and he's someone who's wisdom I rely on you. Know, coach and I talked about this job, and and I, you know, I hope that I can do here what he did in his second stance, and that's do it, do it right, and do it the way. You know. I want two last questions. One, what was the one thing you learned from your two and a half years

in the NFL as a head coach? And in the same vein if you could do it all over again, what would be the one thing you would change looking back on it, as obviously it didn't work out with Super Bowl victories or anything like that, I think I probably would just probably just you know, probably taking another job, you know. I mean, I think it's a great place, you know, the wonderful people. But I just don't know

if I was a fit there. You know. At the end of the day, Um, you know, we we we talked about, hey, we're gonna have a four year plan, a five year plan. You know, if you tell me, hey, we got a two year plan, then then I'm gonna get signed a bunch of free agents and do it. So, you know, what was a four year plan became a two year and five game plan real quick and interesting. It's not about hey, it's not. And I'm not angry about it. You know, at the end of the day,

I understand. But if you're if it's gonna be that quick, then then we're gonna sign some more free agents. We're gonna we're gonna go make the blockbuster trade. We're gonna do those things. I think the trajectory that we were on was correct. It was too It was to have a team that next year to make a big trade. Um that could you know, And I think you see the signs of it right now. When they play well on offense, they win. You know, there's a good defense there.

And um, I give Steve all the credit, I give the coaches all the credit, but I'm part of that building process. So had that just stayed for maybe through this year and maybe made the big free agent signing this year to get them over the top, I think that the Panthers could win the the NFC South for years to come. And yeah, and they still might win it this year. They still might win it this year. You know, I feel bad I did say it. I'm a good but you know, I know, Kyle picked I

was doing the NFC South. I told you guys, I told the team Hey, guys, I know we're struggling right now non you know, outside the conference, but we we were win the NFC South that we stayed to it. So you know, hey, I hated getting fired. I understand, you know, when you're one in four, but I look at what Ron did. I look at what Kyle did last year. I think Kyle was two and four last year.

You know, the only thing I didn't want to do is leave the guys early because I believe the team would have a chance if if this thing started to click and p J made some plays, they won some games. Deanti Foreman's coming on DJs. So you know, I take give Scott a lot of credit, but I also I also deserve some of the credit for some of those players, absolutely for some of the culture that's been built, to

the systems that were put in. UM So, yeah, when I look back, what what I do differently those little things I made. I might have not signed this guy, might have traded for this guy. But there's no major one. You know, I think, as I said, you like, we made we had some close attempts at some blockbuster trades, and if one of those trades would have gone through, it might be in a whole different spot. But everything happens for a reason. You know. I'm I'm here, and

you know what, I'm probably supposed to be here. And uh, I'm happy for Steve. I'm really excited for Scott Fitterer. I can't say enough how much I think of him. Um, But you know, Peter, I'll be honest with you, I think, Uh, if you ask me to get do you a four year plan? I think the four year plan was close. I can't say it was perfect, but it was close. And I'm hoping that you know, uh, and that four

year plans without Christian. Had Christian stayed, you know, maybe next year the right the right person, you know, the right addition, maybe that team could have won the NFC South and won it for a couple of years. Totally. Um, You're the best for being so candid, open and honest. My last question is a fun one. Coaching in the NFL for two and a half years, seen a training camp, preseason,

regular season. Who is the greatest player that you saw alive and in person as far as the NFL goes, the guy that you are like now, hey, now and this is something different, Well, okay, my favorite player your favorite, like the player that like if you got excited to see even if he's wearing a different uniform. Yeah, like like like it's gonna so I'm nuts, but not nuts, but it's gonna be out outside of Budda Baker talk about I love that answer. He's number three on the

Arizona Cardinals boot of the Captain. I mean he plays, he plays like like scary hard. Um. You know, I think he's so unsung. I think he's one of the premier players. Like I hugged him after the game, like they beat us this year and I hugged him. I'm like, I just love the way you play football. Um. Another guy that I don't think it's enough credit who I loved watching him play, Grady Jarrett. I think he's Atlanta Falcons dominant ninety seven, the big man. I think he's

just a dominant, dominant, dominant player. Um. But the probably the there's a lot of them. I thought, like you hear about Nick bos So, like like we literally had on a call sheet this year, like because like sometimes in the fourth reason he would rotate out. We literally had like plays that were like ninety seven out plays Like I I mean one person like, is his boasting his boasted in his boat's out? Okay, and hey let's paul. No one's gonna no one's gonna match up with it.

But I think the best player in the NFL is you know, one of the to me is is Trent Williams. I think it was funny earlier. There's the thing about his stance and all that he does this, he's running, if he does that, he's pass it. You say something Williams. Trent Williams, if he told me he wanted to stand on one leg to block people, I'd say like, cool, well do your things. But he is just he is just elite beyond elite. And but the best player I ever saw in the league, um was Tom Brady just

you know, I just uh, you know. I saw him later in his career. He didn't think we played two man and we undercut the route like you're supposed When he actually threw it behind the undercutting guy and the guy made the catch, and I was like, I can't defend it. When I was at a wedding this, I was at a wedding the summer and we're sitting there. My girls were not you know, they were not really listening to their mom and we were kind of like, hey, hanging then. And also my son was like and I said,

why my buddy. What he should I know was the Stummer but whatever it was. March showed it to me and it was Tom Brady's coming back. You know, you want to go the best of the best. I was like, oh my god, I thought he was gonna go on Amazon, and so I would say, I just you know, it was just an honor to be on the same field as him. It's an honor having you on the podcast to the listeners listen, and you know, we like having uh, you know, the coolest guests, and we've had so many

great gems and coaches. But Matt, for you to come on, you know, a couple of days after announcing your joining one of the most storied programs to be their head coach and join our NFL podcast, be open, honest and give us the time. You know how much it means to me, But it really means a lot to everybody involved with the podcast. I appreciate you, brother. You're you're you're the best of the best. You are and we

are rooting for Nebraska. I'm hoping that you sent me either, who what Which player should I reference from the old Nebraska days? I want an old Nebraska throwback player? You pick it? Which guy do you think? It's? Like? Who do you think of when you think of like eighties Tom Osborne, Blackshirts defense? Who's the name that comes to mind? I mean, you know, I since he's my new boss, I gotta see trev albres Trefor is amazing college football

Hall of Fame. I gotta I gotta put you know, he's he's my But there's there's so many man and I got to beet Jhonny Rogers yesterday, did you he be? And Bryan All all, we all, we all, we all hit the Heisman post together. So uh, you know, this is just you know, every every every day, I'm gonna meet someone else who's you know, you know, Grant Whistram. I mean the guys am I gonna meet that? You know? I watched on TV and it's uh, it's it's pretty surreal.

It's amazing. I'm on Green with Nebraska, right and I'm on Green was awesome, great packer player too. I was always Tommy Frasier. That was my guy. And I think if Tommy Fraser enters the NFL in two He's probably starting on an NFL team making plays. It's just a different time. There's no doubt. It's a fun lead to watch, you know, you watch. Uh We're sit here talk about recruiting and I'm watching Jalen Hurts play the right night and I'm like what he's doing, like that out, Um,

you're the best, man. I appreciate it. Good luck to you in the family and uh, get settled, man, We'll be watching good luck in the Big ten big Red. Matt rule was incredible. I love when a coach or a GM or someone in Matt's position who has recently been fired comes on and it's just candid, vulnerable, open, honest. I think he said a lot more than I even expected. And Uh, Aaron and I might might wrap this thing in a little bit. But before we do that, I

gotta get smarter. And for the last two weeks, Taylor Kyles has joined us from the NFL Network Research Group and has made us smarter. He's talked about Justin Jefferson, He's talked about Matthew jude On and today I want to welcome Taylor to the show because we got to talk about Josh Jacobs in the Raiders. Taylor, what's up it? I'm excited to heap some praise on Josh Jacobs. That performance was insane. It was, and it started off early.

He had like a one handed grab early on the sidelines and I'm like, all right, this guy's having a day. But before we get into like what he's doing, just big picture from me. What's amazing is in August I was doing the Good Morning Football Show and we're talking about Josh Jacobs playing in the Hall of Fame game, like getting real carries in August and the questions are like, well what, I'm like, Well, he's on the fifth year option. They didn't pick it up. It's his like, you know,

he's he's in his last season with the Raiders. Is kind of like this might be a showcase if they want to trade him before the season. There is talk of that, and so you let him get some carries and put it on tape. Uh, Taylor, We're into week thirteen. He might be the best running back and football this season. Yeah. I mean it's hard to debate. He's the rushing leader. He just set the Raiders franchise record for scrimmage yards in a game, and the thing is he's doing it

in multiple facets. Like you said, he had the one handed catch against Denver, you saw he had a crazy vertical route out of the backfield where he got open down field. So you're starting to see not only is he this bruising you know back who can do it all run different schemes, but he's also starting to getting

all in the past games. So I mean it's kind of like Gamar Jackson situation where it feels like every single game will maybe not ringing our Jackson recently, but the situation he had early in the season, where it's like this man is making more money every single time he touches the field because his performance has just been great. And like I said, we're starting to see more of his versatility as well, which is exciting but might be

tough for the Raiders. They want to bring him back. Yeah, they drafted the kid White out of Georgia, and I thought by now he would be the one. He's him and Cook we're in the backfield for those Bulldogs and you're like, all right, well, they drafted this guy, He's gonna play, and Jacobs is kind of gonna be like the Melvin Gordon to the Javante Williams. It's been just the opposite. Uh, it has been all Josh Jacobs. Take us within the numbers, take us a little deeper, empty

the bag. Josh Jacobs two and especially this past week. This past week, interestingly, he actually had the fastest speed for a ball carrier on his final touchdown running overtime. And he's had his entire career, which is pretty nuts because I mean, it's he's a pretty fast guy, but you give him room. Clearly that guy's in twenty miles. And then he also had a career high and rushing yards over expected and receiving yards over expected by next Gen stats in his career in that game. So what

does that mean? Take me through that. And I know there's a lot of next Gen stats, but over expected. So who someone based on past performances gives you, like what we expect from rushing yards and receiving yards. Is that what that is? Yes, sir. So with next Gen we got the players with the chips and the pads and that way we contract them their speed different things

like that. So based on where different players are on the field of the situation that they're currently in and then comparing that to all these other different simulations based on what's happened in the past. It gives you an idea of Okay, you know, based on the space, seeing where players are around him, this player should gain x amount of yards on this catcher on this run, and by that metric, he just completely broke the system and just decided, Hey, I'm gonna set myself a little career

records today. Yeah, he was awesome. Is it sustainable? And if you're the Raiders, are you actually considering bringing him back? He's playing that. Uh, it's tough because no one Dave Ziegler and all the Pat's guy So the Patriots are very strict with their numbers. You know, you can have the best year of your career. But really it's more of them looking into the future. While I do think that josh Jacobs can build on this, and I think that casiling maybe higher because like I said, again, it's

the receiving elements of it. We all knew he was a great running back. Now he's really getting a chance to prove it. And as much as I know josh Ua Daniels likes is running backs, it's tough to see Dave Ziegler matching what I'm sure he's going to get on the market, especially with all the fantastic free agent running backs we got coming this offseason. Can I can I just take a moment to respect the Alabama Crimson

Tide running back situation right now in the NFL. Derrick Henry, this guy, Josh Jacobs, and then you've got Brian Robinson with the Commanders, who's on August was shot and now you know, less than three months later, especially for a hundred yards and is on a team that is red hot with the Commanders and making extreme amazing fashion statements. Let's not forget about that. What do you think of the big hat? You liked it? I was it reminded me of the UM I think you should leave sketch

with Bryan's hat if you haven't seen it yet. I love that. You know that. I love that. You know that was the first thing. Tim Robinson fantastic. Uh real quick, before we let you go, I went on a good two minutes soliloquy about my love for Jackson Deville, the mascot for the Jaguars, and his attire during Sunday's game. I am assuming you saw the American flag bikini and the rear shot as well. Your thoughts on Jackson Deville and what he brought to the to the Jaguars on Sunday.

I mean, another fashion statement. I have never in my life seeing a mascot with only the head, but I mean, he was making it work. It gets hot down there. You gotta do what you gotta do, and if you're gonna do it, you might as well represent country on your attire. So I thought he looked. I thought it was definitely an interesting choice. But what I'm hoping they bring back that was a that was a pretty sick look. Taylor.

That's why I want you on the podcast. I love the next gen stats and the winds above replacement, and you do an amazing job. It's why you are the guy who makes a smart her. But when you can talk about bikinis that have American flags in the same conversation, that makes you truly, truly exemplary. Thank you for setting me up for it. Beautiful. All right, we'll talk to you next week, Taylor. Thanks for making us smarter. Can't wait.

Thank you again. I'm gonna wrap this week's podcast here, and before we go, I just wanted to shout out two amazing games that are both in the four o'clock window this Sunday. I gotta tell you, there's very few regular season games before Thanksgiving that I can really genuinely be so excited for once Thanksgiving hits and John Matten

used to say this, that's when football really matters. And I'm looking at the schedule, I'm telling you, as much as we love the Chiefs in Buffalo, and I think like the Dolphins are a story and I still don't

think they're getting their respect yet. They're playing the Niners on Sunday, and the interactions between these two teams are gonna be really interesting because Mike McDaniel coached for Kyle Shanahan and about ten different places before he got to Miami, and of course was with the Niners throughout this recent rise that they've had. But it's not just him. There's a out of Dolphins staff members Wes Welker, uh Embree, who's a tight ends coach. Then you've got the players,

whether it be Jeff Wilson or Moster. There are so many common bonds between these two teams, and I think the Dolphins fashion themselves like Niners Southeast I'm not saying Super Bowl preview, but I'm not not saying Super Bowl preview. And while that game is going on on Fox, over on CBS, you have a rematch of last year's ANFC championship game, the suddenly red hot Bengals against the suddenly red hot Chiefs. UM to have Bengals, Chiefs and Niners Dolphins on at the same time as we go into

week thirteen. That's why we watch, It's why you stay home on Sunday. I can't wait for it. It's gonna be excellent. Uh, Aaron. I love going on the podcast once a week with you, but I love our text throughout the week as well. UM. Looking forward to texting me throughout both of those games. UM are gonna be exciting. I can't wait. This is a good weekend of games, good weekend of games, and we're just getting started. Uh. Many thanks to you, Aaron. Many thanks to the terrific

Matt Rule. Say what you want about his NFL career. This guy can coach on the college level, and he came on and stood to the music and was pretty open and honest on our podcast. I'm pretty proud of that interview. Taylor Kyle's made a smarter talking about a little bit of Josh Jacobs, but also a little bit

about Jackson Deville and his bikini. Um. Yeah, I love doing this podcast on behalf of Aaron Jason English, who's here with us every week, The I Heart Team, the NFL Digital team, our music maestro Jack rudd Uh and everybody at the NFL network. Thanks for listening, guys, Tell your friends, subscribe and enjoy the games this weekend. The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL

and partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app app podcasts wherever you get your podcasts.