Battle for Defensive Coordinator: Graham vs. Golden

Music. This is Anthony of the Rural of the Jungle podcast, and sorry for getting at it a little late.

We did record an episode earlier this week, giving our thoughts on the two finalists because they interviewed the likes of Patrick Graham, Demarcus Covington, Matt Eberflus, I think, And then out of nowhere, the likes of Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden, who was, in fact, our former linebackers coach, emerged as a candidate. We gave our thoughts on the two finalists, which now, as of the time of release of this episode, is Patrick Graham and Al Golden.

We give our thoughts a little bit on who those two are and what we think who we think ends up getting the job also we talk a little bit about the season as a whole between the likes of me and tyler anyway there was a little bit of technical difficulties in this episode so we edited it to try to get it to the best of what we could get it to where it would be presentable for all of you the rule of the jungle, listening faithful.

So without further ado, this is the episode of talking about the defensive coordinator finalists. I also did say if there was any relevant news that we jump on and talk about it. So with that being said, for any of you that may or may not have heard, News has broken per CincinnatiBangalsTalk.com and our good friend James Rapine. It looks like we are down to a near selection. Two candidates, I would say, are the lucky recipients to potentially be our new candidate.

Defensive coordinator but before we jump into that i want to go ahead and introduce my co-host, tonight we are without will uh will may join us but uh will's not with us at the moment but we have tyler the return of one mr tyler bose what's going on tyler the number 30th entrant in the royal rumble is here glad to be back i don't know if i call it the 30th but tag What the fuck.

Oh shit But With that being said, What are you What are you thinking man With some of the craziness Going on around Around our Our guys being With the defensive coordinator, So yeah I'll get into that and then later on In the episode since I've been gone for a while Kind of give my overall thoughts on the season since we have, unfortunately. But we do have two defensive coordinator candidates, right? One being Al Golden, who's the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame, apparently.

And the other one being Al. And he was, for those who may or may not know, he was actually our linebacker's coach during the Super Bowl run. So I want to make sure we touch on that.

Correct. And the other one is Patrick Graham He was a former defensive lineman At Yale He's garnered head coaching Interests in the past He spent time with some NFL teams With the likes of the Dolphins Patriots, Giants, and Raiders Just to name a few, If I remember correctly, He was a I think he might have been either defensive line coach Or linebackers coach under Belichick I believe so.

Because I know that the Belichick coaching tree, as we all know, like for head coaching-wise, is not really panned out in the NFL. He's had a lot of great coordinators over the years, but not really good head coaching. Obviously, we're looking for a D coordinator here. So my thoughts on – the one I don't really know a lot about is Patrick Graham. Obviously, him being a former defensive lineman college, he's been a coordinator in the pros for a while.

I'm not really too familiar with him. I haven't really looked into him that much. I need to do that this week, so that's on me. However, Al Golden, I'm leaning more towards Patrick Graham, and for one reason and one reason only. I love Al Golden. I respect him for what he did when we went to the Super Bowl. He really got Logan Wilson to be one of those elite linebackers when he was here, right?

And Logan Wilson's still playing that way. One of the best linebackers in the league, especially in the past coverage. But respect to Al Golden, I'll say this. They play a game against mine and Will's favorite team on Monday, his defense in Notre Dame, right? So if they find a way to shut out Ohio State and they find a way to keep Ohio State, because Ohio State's been scoring in these playoffs.

They've been blowing teams out, right? If they find a way to win this game and hold Ohio State at bay, I think the job's his. I don't think they're going to announce it until after the game, maybe a few days after the game. Who knows? Like how the selection process is on the Bengals' end, you know, with Duke Tobin and the Blackburn and Brown family and Zach Taylor, of course. But now, that's what I'm saying. If Al Golden defense does that, I think the job is his. No question.

However, if Notre Dame lays an egg like, you know, Texas and –. These other teams, Oregon, like they have in the college playoffs, then I think it might go to Patrick Graham. And that's nothing towards Al Golden. Obviously, they could still pick him even if Ohio State does win and does win by a good margin because they have that history there. But my mind of that is if he lays an egg there, I don't see him getting it maybe just because it's recency bias. What do you say?

For me, I'm not going to lie. I think what it's going to probably take, I'm kind of leaning with you that I think it's going to be a, I think it's going to largely contend on how the game goes because I think, do I think it'll be a major defensive coordinator with Josh McDaniels? And he was one of the guys that Antonio Pierce held on to when he took over as head coach, you look at how those guys played for him. Even though their team sucked, they played hard for him.

Especially if you look at a guy like Max Crosby. I think Max, he's another one that I think Max, yeah, he's one that Max Crosby has even went on record and spoken well of. So, but I'm also looking, I've also had a chance to go through and look at some of the tape on Notre Dame's defense and Notre Dame's defense, because yeah, yeah. With Notre Dame's defense, there's some looks in there that I could see that would be beneficial to Notre Dame.

How the Bengals tend to, yeah, that could benefit the Bengals well. But I think the big thing going into this is going to be, I think, something tells me as much as I like Patrick Graham, I kind of think they may end up sticking with familiarity. Because if you've ever noticed, that kind of seems to have always been a running theme with the Bengals. And that could be true. That could be true. I'm looking at his stints here.

He is a – Patrick Graham is a former – he does have a Super Bowl with New England when they won the 2014 Super Bowl. I believe that was beating the Seahawks in the back-to-back games that they played.

Obviously, you know, the Patriots historically in the last 20 years have had a really good defense, and obviously he joined them in 2009, line obviously developing from a defensive defensive assistant to a linebackers coach and into a D line coach and then back to the linebackers coach and then obviously he's done a few things with the Giants the Dolphins and the Packers and most recently the Raiders you look at his last stint with the

Raiders like in like this past year he was are the the Raiders now obviously the Raiders were a really really bad team offensively so I mean it's kind of hard to for the defense to play good when your defense is on the field for most of the game. But they were 25th in points per game, 15th in passing yards, and 13th in rushing yards, and they were 21st in the league in sacks.

So, I mean, like I said, it's kind of – I kind of give them a pass for that just because the Raiders were a really, really bad team. At the same time, though, he's got the pedigree. He's got the experience. Oh, no, and I think that's the big thing. I think that's the big thing going into that, especially when you came from.

Being under the tutelage of one of the greater of one of the in some cases people who look at and consider him to be one of the greatest defensive minds that built one mr bill belichick yeah i'm, there's reason to look at there's reason to be excited yeah and i think because i think the other thing you would have to do is see how he would fit in with the current with yeah how he would mesh with the players, because with our guys because.

Because you look at some of the reports like for instance what they would what has been said about Lou Anarumo particularly with his scheme his scheme and again, let's not take it in the form of me like shitting on Lou Anarumo you've heard me go on repeatedly on record and say that I think Lou Anarimu is a fantastic defensive coordinator.

I think partly why he was let go was, one, I don't think, in my opinion, I don't think he adapted well after Jesse Bates left, after both Jesse and Vaughn left, because he had to rely on some of the younger guys. And I kind of wonder if he was, yeah, I kind of wonder if he was maybe the most equipped to do that. Would that be wrong to say? Yeah, he definitely said it would be a dark day losing both of them. And I don't think he adjusted well. He definitely did not.

And I think that's been a big running thing with him when it came to how... He meshed i mean with how he did 2023 and this year. The big thing, the other thing is, you have to look at the last two drafts. Actually, yeah, 2022 and 2023. What did we do? We went out and we drafted a lot of defensive guys. And have you seen those guys, especially when you look at the likes of a Dax Hill or Miles Murphy, guys like that?

Have you seen them step up and not step up, take that next step into potentially reaching their full potential? I mean, I thought Dax was on his way this year until he got hurt. Yeah, but you get what I'm saying. Like Jordan Battle, things like that. You have to look at those things.

I think the other thing that I want to – and I think that's going to be a big factor in who they end up choosing. Because you got to see what, because part of the job of whether you're an offensive or a defensive coordinator, is knowing where your guys are at in their skill level and knowing how to get the best out of them. Within the scheme that you run. That's part of what goes into being a coordinator. And now our defense, too, is – sorry to cut you off there.

No, you're kidding. Our defense, too, is a 4-3, and I know Patrick Graham, over the years, especially last year, did run a 4-3 with the Raiders. Actually, I think we ran – we kind of did a little bit of a 3-4 mix in, but I don't think we had any true, true sets. But I do, but you're not long. But yeah. And I, the one thing too, I think what they're looking for, obviously Al Golden did go with him to the Superbowl in 2021.

And he did have a big part in the defense because in the playoffs that year, the defense, especially, you know, the linebackers played a really key part in moving us to there. Like the defense really played better in some instances that postseason than the offense. And obviously Logan Wilson, Jermaine Pratt, you know, are key contributors to that. But at the same time, though, there's a couple factors for me as well.

One, obviously, Patrick Graham has a Super Bowl. The Bengals, and especially here lately, are big on bringing people in with winning pedigrees, right? You look at Orlando Brown Jr. won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs. Ted Karras won a Super Bowl with the Patriots, right? They're big on bringing these guys in that have won elsewhere. Yeah, you can't forget Kappa, too, because he won a Super Bowl with the Bucs.

Exactly, yes. Capitu, although he was like the triple crown winner, I think, for the World's Offensive Garden League. Yeah, let's not go into that. But yeah, they're obviously wanting to bring people in. Obviously, the right mindset, the right attitude for the culture and whatnot.

Trying to bring people in who have winning experience. Now, Al Golden, you could argue that he does too. Obviously, he went to the Super Bowl with us that year as well. And obviously now he's in the national championship in college, getting a chance to win the Natty, right?

So, I mean, there's two factors to that as well. Now, I know that the scouting thing is a big issue because obviously we're one of the teams that has the least amount of scouting or at least one of the small amounts in the league as well. Here's the thing, though, and I'm going to say with that because that's going to always be a talking point when it comes to the Bengals.

Even the most shittiest teams have a fucking bullshit scout and don't have a lot have like tons of scouts but can't fucking put up the win no I mean yeah, so I don't know I don't know I don't know that I think some people think that the NFL is mad and you.

Go in and do buy a bunch of scouts and suddenly you're a contender and there's more that goes into that well no you're not wrong you're not wrong but i do know that we rely more heavily on like the the personnel to do a lot of the scouting especially in the draft process too, that's why i did that yeah no i get what you're saying but yeah but i'm just saying there's going to be people that are gonna that are gonna have something

to say with that and want to So you get generally where I'm hitting it. Oh, no, for sure. That's where I think Al Golden might have the edge in that aspect just because he's coming from the college game. He did play, you know, I think they're on their like 14th, 15th game coming up this season. So, I mean, he's seen a lot of the landscape personally while there, and I think that part right there, if they're going to hire him,

obviously they need him to do that kind of thing. And I think that part might give him the edge on that aspect. But I know for at least this is my big thing. And I think because I know it's been said at least on like Cincinnati Bengals talk, it's been on some of the podcasts that this particular, that the Bengals defensive coordinator position is going to be a highly coveted position because of the fact that, hey, you have one Joseph Lee Burrow.

On the team that, hey, you get to watch him work. You ain't got to worry about him carving you up. You get to sit back and watch him work. But I think the thing that – I do think that if it were me, because I know the other thing I want to touch on too and get your thoughts –. There's a lot of people actually thinking that Zach Taylor might be a bit on the hot seat because of the last two years. Me, myself personally, do I think he is? The Bengals have always been kind of

tough to figure out. Yeah. They don't. Do I think he's necessarily on the hot seat? I don't want to say necessarily that he's on the hot seat, but I do think it's a little warm. Yeah. If you look at the history of how they typically dealt with coaches, they don't typically fire coaches. I think there's only been two that I can remember just in my lifetime that I've seen them really just actually fucking fire.

One being Dave Shula son of legendary Miami Dolphins head Dolphins head coach Don Shula and Dick LeBeau like the only two that I can remember in the course of my life and my 30 some odd years 30 plus some odd years as a Bengals fan, otherwise you look at guys like Marvin Lewis, they pretty much they pretty much held on to Marvin until they just basically said I think if I'm not mistaken I think he was on a two year you cut out there Anthony.

He was on a two year what he was on a two you cut out I think he might have been, right before Marvin left I think he was on like a I think he had like a one or two year extension that they added on this deal, and then After that, I think the 2018 season, I think they just pretty much let him walk. Okay, so that was like two or three seasons after our last playoff run with him.

It might have been two. Okay, so that makes sense. That would have been like two or three, because I think they extended him. And again, it's a little fuzzy for me, so if anyone in the comments, Because if anyone in the comments, because I've actually turned around and coincidentally, there's been a couple of people that I've had the privilege to interact with in the comments.

And one has even, yeah, one has even befriended me on Facebook. So, but, well, yeah, to basically sum it up. Like, you take Marvin as a prime example. Marvin really never was truly, like, fired and told, get your shit and get the fuck out. And just said, like, hey, I think we're going to go in another direction. Marvin, we're not going to renew your deal. So, we're a weird team when it comes to that, like, with the head coaching spots.

Because, obviously, we held on to Marvin Lewis for way too long. And I didn't think Marvin Lewis was necessarily a bad coach. He may, he wouldn't make adjustments or didn't make the right adjustments at some points, you know, in the second half of some games and whatnot, but that's, that's whatever. Right. Obviously we held on to him for too long. We finally got Zach Taylor.

And that's the part that like confuses everybody because like, you know, we held on to Marvin for too long that people think that we might do the same with Zach Taylor. And that, that might be true. That might not be true. We don't know. Like you look at the NBA, for example, right? Like there was a, I think the head coach of the Toronto Raptors who won the finals in 2019, one coach of the year. He was gone after like two seasons after that.

And it's weird because he's a really good coach. They had a really good, like, and he got fired after two seasons. Now obviously he's with a new team now. But it's like, that's how quick a lot of things can happen. There's, you know, NFL, like there's some coaches that are good when you're like, Mike Vrabel won coach of the year. Whenever we beat them in the playoffs that year, we went to the Super Bowl.

And now he's with the Patriots a couple years later after being fired, went with the Cleveland Browns for this season. And obviously now he's with the Patriots, right? So like – and then you look at someone like Marvin Lewis, Mike Tomlin, they've been with their teams a long time. Mike Tomlin's going through a little bit of a stretch that Marvin Lewis went through where they didn't win a playoff game for a while. Obviously,

Marvellous did win nothing, but that's besides the point. So head coaching is weird here. Now, to answer the question about him being on the hot seat, do I think he's going to be on the hot seat? I think so. And the only reason why I say that is because of the slow starts. And I know that's a big topic for a lot of people, including us. We've talked about it before, especially with the season that we had.

If we didn't lose that week one game, if we didn't start one and four we could be potentially playing this week right we could be playing this weekend, and so that's the thing right Zach Taylor I think I can't remember what the stat was but in every year except for the year that we did get the Super Bowl I think he's like oh and.

Whatever the loss record is for the first like two three weeks of the season, obviously the year we went to the Super Bowl that being the outlier year we actually had a good record after three games but, Anyway, so I think that's why he could be on the hot seat is if we start out like, I don't know, 1-5 or 1-4. You're going to have a lot of Bengals fans calling for his job. Honestly, I think rightfully so. Now, Zach Taylor obviously made the words.

He made the comment during the press conference when Leroy Arumov and Frank Pollock were both gone from the team that day. He said, I made that choice. Now, I don't know if he did or not, but I know he came out and made the comment. But I think to me that's on him to prove this, right? I think this has got to be a prove-it-yourself one. He's got to, you know, like if he can get off to a fast start, I think that'll silence a lot of the critics, right? I think it definitely will.

And obviously we've missed the playoffs the last two years. He hasn't had a losing record since the year before we drafted Jamar Chase. So that's a plus for him. but at the same time, you know, you've got to get off to the fast start. And obviously the goal here with, you know, Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, Trey Hendrickson, and the guys we do have, is to make the playoffs and, you know, win a Lombardi. That's the ultimate goal, right?

And you're right, that is the ultimate goal. But I think the big thing that's going to be a challenge for this new defensive coordinator, and I think it might have been on Locked On Bengals. I think it was either James or if it was Jake Winsco that brought it up that whoever becomes the defensive coordinator should have a few questions to ask. Yeah. And one, figuring out how secure is Zach Taylor's position and two, are they going to extend Trey? Yeah.

I don't think that that's not an unreasonable question because when you got a guy that one thing that's never been done, we've never in the entire franchise history until now, in the entire history of the franchise until now, had a guy had a defensive end, defensive tackle, anybody on the defensive squad leading sacks, that's a pretty fucking big deal. Yeah.

Could you imagine this conversation five years ago that we would have had someone almost, if not on the same exact level as Geno Atkins after he left? You also got to look at Trey and Geno play separate, different positions.

You get what I'm saying They're like elite Passpressers and you know That's something that like After Gino I didn't think we would have for a good Amount of time and obviously we got Trey And that's I thought that was pretty good, Okay well yeah I see where you're going with it now Yeah I think and again this is Where I sit with it, That I think What has to happen, they're going to need to address, for one, they're going to re-sign Trey.

I can see that maybe being a condition. Potentially, you don't have to. If it's me, we never really learned what Trey's, how much Trey was asking for. But even if you extend it in two or three years, I don't think Trey needs to have a five-year, hundred-plus-million-dollar deal. Like no even I'm going no what are you doing because once you hit about in your 30s.

Looking at the defensive line in general, your drop off could happen at any point so like a two or three year deal and then see where things are at then yeah you see what happens but I definitely do think, he is worth and more than, yeah, I think he's more than worthy of a, second look as far as an extension. Oh, yeah, definitely. Because you look at what he's done. Like, I mean, was it you that told me that how far back?

Because I think right now, if I'm not mistaken, I think Eddie Edwards is the franchise's All-time leading Leader in sacks He is He is Yeah But yeah No I can pull it up real quick He Trey Hendrickson's really Really close To making some history This season Give me one second And I'll pull it up But, What the exact number was Let's see Hmm. Okay, maybe I left a comment on Bengals and Brews, but I could definitely pull it up. Maybe that's where I left it at. Let's see.

Because he's not that far from being number three. Oh, no, he is number three. I stand corrected. Carlos Dunlap is number one with 82.5, playing 155 games. Two is Geno Atkins, playing 161 and having 75.5.

If Trey Hendrickson And I kid you not If Trey Hendrickson Because the last two seasons Anthony If you remember He had 17 and a half sacks last year And this year as well If he has 17 and a half sacks This upcoming season He ties, No I'm sorry He comes in second place He'll pass Geno Atkins All time For Bingo sacks, So Geno is the all time leader in sacks No, Dunlap is by 7 on Geno So where is Trey on it? Number 3 all the time And he's played 65 games But how far is he from getting there?

Okay, so he's 17 and a half away from tying Geno Atkins at number 2 which means he would be 24 away from tying Carlos Dunlap. And that's actually attainable. Yeah, because I mean, Trey Hendrickson, he's played 65 games, which is he's played less than 100 games in Geno Adkins and about 90 less games than Carlos Dunlap to get this total.

And no, you're not wrong. I think, well, but I think, but I can also see where whoever is between the two finalists, between Patrick Graham and Al Golden, I can see that being a condition like, hey, like, I want Trey here. Let's see what we can do to try to get Trey, keep Trey in the building. Oh, so not only that too, whoever, whoever does get the job.

Do you think that they try to put a little pressure on the front office, whether it be Zach or whoever, to try to either, you know, needs to be able to get Miles Murphy up to par to, like, try to play him more this season or try to maybe go out and get an edge rusher via the draft or free agency? Like, obviously, he's going to need some help. Trey does. Like, he's averaged – he's got 17 and a half sacks the last two seasons, but he's been doing it by himself.

And, you know, he's got to – I think it's going to be tough to say. On the one hand, like right now, I think we need to get the interior defensive line up to par. I think it has the potential to, I would still maybe, because if you look at the roster top to bottom, I like Chris Jenkins and I like McKinley Jackson. I'm hoping now since next year, they'll have a full season. and barring that, hey, they go in and nothing happens, that they get a full season,

that they come in and come firing out a little bit better. But I do think that they're going to take it. I would be remiss to say that they, I do think that they'll try to, because I don't see, as much as I like B.J. Hill, I don't know that I see him re-signing. But I wouldn't be opposed if he did. But it would have to make, the amount would have to make sense. Mike Hilton, I'm going to be honest, I think he goes wherever Lou goes.

Because I've listened to – I've listened – Do you ever listen to Kelsey Conway's Bengals Beat podcast? I have not. I'm not going to lie about it. He's been on there a few times, but I know when – at the end of the 2022 season when Lou was a finalist for the Arizona Jump and he didn't get it, Mike was extremely ecstatic and said, like, I hope Lou's here for a long time and da-da-da-da-da. And, man, even basically, he just talked up Lou. He talked up very glowingly of Lou Anarumo.

I think him and Vaughn will probably go wherever Lou goes. I would not be surprised. At least that's just me. But I'm also thinking between you and I, I do think that Lou ends up... Yeah, I think Lou ends up... Yeah, I think... You know he interviewed with the Falcons, right? Yeah, I did hear about that, yes. I think he goes to Atlanta. I mean, it could very well be I mean, if Jesse Bates was the key to his success I'm telling you right now I think he goes to Atlanta.

Yeah, I think he goes to Atlanta If I have to say, I think he goes to Atlanta I think Mike Hilton goes with him as well, If that was the key to his success all along And if he turns the Atlanta Falcons into this juggernaut defensively than major props to him, which also means we probably should have kept Josie Bates in, but that's besides the point. So, my God. Oh. But I think, but overall, at least where I'm at, and this is just me, I'm going to be curious to see who they pick.

Neither are bad choices. At least from the tape that I've seen on Notre Dame's defense through this college season. It was not bad. They're fairly aggressive. They're very opportunistic. I think Patrick, that's going to be, I would be interested to see how he fits in because I think with him and I'm pulling up his, his coaching, yeah, his coaching resume, because even I'm looking just out of curiosity because he was the, yeah, he was a, yeah, he was the defensive coordinator for Miami.

And he was also the defensive coordinator for New York and then he was also the defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders. Yeah. I don't know about you, but I know for me, myself personally, yeah, I think, and it's like you look at Miami, he had a one-year stint with them, I had a two-year stint with the Giants and then a three-year stint with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders was the longest-tenured position as far as the defensive coordinators are concerned.

But in your opinion, where are you as a whole? So who do I think we're going to hire? You kind of basically hinted that you were leaning into Al Golden Well, I mean, so here's the thing, right? Obviously, I'm a little biased towards, you know, OH, Ohio State.

I hope we beat the brakes off Notre Dame Honestly, if I had to have like a top five hated college teams Obviously, that team up north would be number one Notre Dame would be somewhere around like number four to five on my most hated college teams. So I hope we beat Notre Dame. That's what I hope, right?

However, if he decides that, you know, he's – if Notre Dame does decide to – I don't know if they would shut us out, but if they decide to hold us to less than what we have and he gets his defense to have a really good game, then I would lean towards Al Golden. However, at the moment, in the Ohio State home run me, right now I would lean Patrick Grant, just for that reason. All are reasonable potential guesses, in my opinion, but...

But for me, I'm leaning towards, I think they know already who they want. Yeah. I think they're just waiting until after the national title game. Or who knows? They could turn around and announce it today or tomorrow. But I think what's going to end up happening is whoever ends up getting it. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to bring in Patrick Graham as a defensive line coach. Yeah. That'd be interesting. It'd be interesting to see.

Well, we haven't even touched on this other one yet. And obviously, maybe I've been in the dark because I don't know. But maybe we can save this topic for another day. I don't know too. But offensive line coach, what are your thoughts on that? And who do you think we might get for that? I haven't heard about them talking to anybody. I don't know. It just baffles me, right? Because obviously Frank Pollock's been there a while. Orlando Brown credits Frank Pollock for having the season he had.

And it's really rare to have that in your seventh or eighth season or whatever he said. So, I mean, the players like him. But obviously, you know, the guard play is what earned us this year. I mean, and Frank Pollock, as far as I know, around the league was like one of the respected, you know, offensive line coaches. You, you know, obviously being a former offensive lineman, I mean, do you think that it was justified in him, you know, getting let go?

And what other candidate would there be in the league? Because I have no idea. Shit, you ain't going back and get... You're not going and getting Bill Callahan up. That'd be the only one I would, like, basically, like, rush to tell Frank Pollock to go fuck himself, but... But, uh... Like, do... What's the... On some record, I understand what's being said. But also, too, I know everybody's speaking on the, well, we have to protect Joe at all costs.

Joe's getting sacked too much. Mind you, Joe does get sacked more than I would feel comfortable as a fan and as a former football player, particularly of an offensive line caliber. Would feel comfortable with him getting hit. But I've also saw in the course of the season, not every single time that Joe was sacked, that was necessarily always 100% the offensive line's fault. I will beat that drum and then don't end it to the point that because I understand what it entails.

A lot of what makes Joe so special is what he does with trying to really make something out of nothing happen. Yeah. So I don't want to see him necessarily maybe change that, but I also want him to, if he can't get the ball fucking out of his hands and into the receiver's hands and there's nobody open, I'd like to see him just fucking get rid of it to try to avoid the sack.

But because even you and I both know that he's been in interviews and said he kind of thinks sacks are an overinflated stat. So I don't even think he necessarily puts it 100% on his own alignment I think he's at times trying to, maybe do a little take on a little too much a little more than I would like to see him do but that's neither here nor there There's. Like to see whoever they bring in, they got to bring in somebody that fits what, was Zach and Dan Pitcher trying to do.

I kind of think that's what led to Frank Pollock being dismissed more than anything. Because Frank's kind of an old school. He's an old school punch-em-in-the-mouth type lineman. Because he played in the 80s and 90s. And when you were a former lineman, and hey, you pretty much know what it entails to play the position, and you play it very much in an old-school fashion, because I'm looking at his coaching, I'm looking at his time as a player. He was drafted in 1990.

So the fact that he came out in 90 he was an offense yeah he was yeah he played guard and tackle yeah so yeah he was yeah so he had the ability to play guard and tackle so with the fact that he's.

Played the position that says quite a bit, actually he's rather undersized for playing at 28 yeah he was 286 when he played but first thing i'm thinking was goddamn like when i got to high school shit most linemen were like 300 plus pounds but then again what the fuck do i know but but, I think, like I said, I think there was a, there was a, I think Dak probably wanted somebody that was a little more aligned with what he, with him. Cause Dak's very much, he wants to throw the ball. Yeah.

And as a former lineman, you want to put somebody in the fucking mouth. You get that urge to want to just like fucking put somebody in the dirt. Will even say that if Will was in this right now. You get that urge, you want to punch somebody in the fucking mouth. That's what linemen do. They would much rather run block than you look at pass blocking as almost like retreating. Yeah. You'd rather do it that way, but it's what it is.

The game has changed in a lot of ways, although this year it seems like it's shown signs that it might be in due time going back the other way, swinging towards being more of a run-heavy, yeah, run-heavy, punch-em-in-the-mouth type ordeal. So I think going long-term, we're going to see what happens with the, yeah, because I think in time, I think right now the top priority is getting in the defensive coordinator.

I think before the season is officially over after the Super Bowl, I think we'll have our new offensive line coach and our new linebackers coach and D-line coach between you and I. I would not be surprised.

There's two guys, if they give it to Golden, I would want to bring in. Either one would be good. Either want to bring in DeMarcus Covington because he's got a defensive line background, or I would want to bring in obviously Patrick Graham being that he was the former. Either one, I would love to have. So yeah, either one I would, I would love to have in my, on this team. If they could, if they could get, yeah, if they didn't, both of them interviewed.

So whoever doesn't get it, that's who I would love one of them to take the job as a D-line coach. And the thing is, too, right, with the defense, it's not like we're asking them to move mountains, right? It's not like we're asking them to – We just need them to play adequate. We just need them to play adequate. Average to – adequate to average. If you get – if you're above average, that's fucking phenomenal.

We don't need you – we don't need you to be like – We just need you to be higher than at least instead of like 27. If you can get like maybe first year, let's say you're 18 the first year. I can live with that. If our defense was 18 this year, we'd make the playoffs. Oh, that's what I'm saying. If we did that, I could live with that. Yeah. That's why you notice I put an emphasis on that. I could live with that. Yeah. Because typically it's not, what's the word I'm looking for?

In most cases, if you, if it be horse of the league, I don't, has it ever happened? I don't know, but I've never seen a team be like number one and like have the highly rated offense, like a top five offense and a top five defense in one season. I think if I'm not mistaken I think the only thing I think they might have came close to it was if I'm not mistaken.

Defense, 2-0-0-2 NFL, I know Tampa was the number one defense that year, but I'm just curious because I want to oh no they were top 10 And I was going to say the Raiders, because I thought that they were in that case, but apparently not. The Eagles and the Bucs were number one. So...

Hashtag. Looking at looking at that in your opinion, like you said I want to see I'm looking at the pro football database, yeah that was damn so yeah, but anyway, I don't think there's ever one team that's ever been like top, like in the top five of offense or defense for offense and defense both, just like I don't that I can recall, just like I know for a fact until this year we didn't have we never had,

it had never been recorded where you had three guys from one team leading in major categories. So I think for me I think going forward, whoever takes I think whoever takes the job I think one of But I do think one of the reasons why they're taking the job is because of Trey Hendrickson. But also the big reason is one Joe Burrow.

But I think one of the big things that they're going to ask coming into this, like, for instance, if they go Patrick Graham, I can bet you, you bet your bottom dollar, They're going to probably be like, hey, who in the league do you see as guys that you think could fit in with what we want to do? Yeah. Who in this league do you think would be, yeah, who are you looking at in free agency? Who do you think fits in with our culture and what we've built?

Mean? They're going to, I think, because we're going to have, I think by the time it's all said and done, shout out to Bagels and Brews, to the guys from Bagels and Brews who are big, real good buddies of ours. If you haven't listened to their podcast, make sure you do so because they're usually on Mondays and Fridays. Go check them out on YouTube, Facebook, and all the places where you can listen to stuff. Watch and listen, or just look them up on Apple Podcasts. So that's,

that's true. And they're, they're, they're really close to 2000 subscribers. So if you haven't subscribed to him, go over there and do it and tell them that we sent you. So also too, yeah, cause I think they, they touched on this. I think by the time, especially if we turn the fat in some areas, because there's obviously some guys that I don't think they're going to be there next year.

One of them being, I'm going to go ahead and say it. Sheldon Rankins, Geno Stone, I don't know if he's done enough to preserve his spot. Although he did show signs of life on the back end of the season, he started to pick it up. He's starting to pick it up a bit. I think my big thing that I'm wondering with him, is he going to be, do you see him sticking around? Because obviously, if they make some cuts and trim the fat on some areas, a lot of people are going to call it blast for me.

But I'm kind of thinking I think Sam Hubbard might be gone after this year. And especially, one, because he's making like 10.5 mil, if I'm not mistaken. I could be off on the numbers. But he's making somewhere in the neighborhood of like 10 million. Now, you asked about the free agents and everything, and I'm not going to go into every single one, but I'm just looking here at Spotrack and just going through.

Obviously, the season's not over yet, and obviously a lot of these people are going to sign with their same team and are going to go to another team. So a lot of these guys are going to be wishful thinking. There's a lot of good names here in free agency. You touched on Sam Hubbard's spot, right?

Like there's just looking at a couple guys here Brandon Graham But you also know there's going to be some guys, That are going to Get cut that you didn't expect too Oh yeah no for sure yeah Like the Marcus Lawrence He's a free agent Josh Sweat, Chase Young They're free agents You go to guard I think Kevin Zeitler.

Quarterback Jeff Okuda Jadavious Ward is like there's some good names available now whether or not the Bengals go that route I don't know but I mean it would be nice it would be nice, but you're not wrong I wouldn't be against it either like I think, I think because obviously I think the number one free agent I think the one that you're hearing people talk the most about, is obviously one one just to T. Higgins. Stefan Diggs is a free agent too, by the way. Yeah, that is true.

Yeah. But yeah, no, T. Higgins, that's a big one. So... But I think... What's the word I'm looking for? I think something tells me I think they're going to treat T a little bit differently. I could be wrong. I know everybody's very adamant that, oh, T's not going anywhere.

Until Penn has been put to paper and again I'm putting the emphasis on this until a deal has been announced and Penn has been put to paper and a dollar amount has been agreed upon, not like getting crazy like oh my god this is gonna be yeah T ain't going nowhere where are you at with that.

Yeah it's one of those things like when it happens like if the day that they announce like oh he's gonna be leaving or he's gonna be trading or whatever then I'll you know, we'll go into a discussion there but as far as I'm concerned like he'll be tagged for one more year if I'm not mistaken the franchise tag so is that what you're hearing or is that I'm pretty sure he can still be franchise tagged right yeah he can get franchise tagged one more time yeah so that's that's why I was,

asking if you like did you hear something that may be like hey I, no I wish I wish I had that power but no I did not yeah Yeah, I wish. Now, T, yeah, I expect him. Like I said, I don't know what the contract situation, I don't know what all is going to happen because obviously Jamar Chase is in need. Whether or not we restructure Joe Burrow, that's another question too to get T Higgins in there. I don't know.

Obviously, Trey Hendrickson, the seasons he's had, he's going to need a new, like he's going to need an extension. And then obviously, you know, we do have the draft coming up. We do have free agency coming up. So I don't know. It's going to be interesting, but I don't think it's hyperbole. Yeah, I said that right, hyperbole. Excuse me, but I don't think it's hyperbole to say that this is probably the most important offseason in our team's history. What do you think?

I'd be remiss to say that it's not because it is. Yeah. I'm looking at a lot of the, I'm looking at the list of the complete list of free agents on our team alone.

It starts everywhere. It starts from T. Higgins, B.J. Hill, Mike Hilton, Trent Brown, Akeem Davis, Gaither, Marco Wilson, Mike Gusecki, Cody Ford, Joseph Osai, Tanner Hudson, Joe Bocce, Von Belcher, Travion Williams, J.T. Fele, Cam Sample, Deontay Smith, Cal Adamitus. Cal Adamitus, I think, is going to be brought back. Cade York is gone. Chris Evans, I'm saying now, I think he's gone. Khalil Herbert, it's a possibility. Jackson Kirkland. Now, Zach Moss comes back next year.

Do you think that even on his last year? I'm kind of with what Daryl said. I think he's going to probably be a cap casualty. Which leads me to think, do we bring Khalil Herbert back? Do we sign another free agent? Or do we go the route of maybe draft like a, I don't know, like sixth, seventh round running back just to have that depth there? Because I don't trust Travion Williams to be the backup. No offense to him. You said you don't see it?

Well, as I say, I don't trust Travion Williams to be the backup behind Chase Brown. And obviously, you know, you've seen what happened, the game against the Broncos, right? Chase Brown got hurt, and obviously we did go to win the game and Kula Herbert, he played a little, you know, he didn't do too bad against the Steelers, right? He didn't do terrible. But obviously, you know, I think Chase Brown hit a stride later in the year. But at the same time, too, he was getting the bulk of the carries.

Like there was – like Kula Herbert was maybe getting like two to three carries a game. And obviously, you know, you don't want to wear Chase Brown down like that. So we're going to need a reliable backup. and no offense to Travion, but I don't trust him in that role. Well, you don't trust him in that role because you've not seen him in that role, but again, neither have I. I mean, what was that one, Milton, what was his first name that we have on the practice squad?

Kendall Milton? Kendall Milton, yes. I was wanting to see him get a little bit of action this year, and I think he got a couple of carries, but I was interested interested to see how he was doing, but. Time will tell what we do with that spot. Yeah, you wouldn't be wrong there. But I think the Bengals, though, with everything that's going on with this offseason, I think they recognize, and this is just my mind from what I get, I think they're recognizing that, hey, they have to do that.

That they obviously fell short, and they fell short in a big way. Especially when you are, everybody's already piling on the old man saying that they're just being cheap, which do I think that's the case? I always kind of find it weird when you have people that try to say how the bagels should spend their money and how you should spend your money when at the end of the day it's not your money?

Do you want to, like for instance, I want to see them win as badly as anybody else, but also on the same token don't want to see them. Spending frivolously just throwing money at, Just throwing out money to guys that either don't fit what we're trying to do or just all well past their prime, or you're just giving money away just for the sake of giving money away. I think as far as the whole thing with T, I would love to see T return. I want him to return, but I want it to make sense.

I want the dollar amount to make sense. And I think my ultimate concern is you have people that turn around and say, oh, you should just give him whatever he wants. You go and give him whatever he wants and he underperforms. Then you have people that'll say, well, I don't know that I would have given him that much money. And then it's like, well, weren't you on the one, like for instance, you had a lot of people.

Screaming from the mountaintop to go ahead and let Joe Nixon what happened when they cut Joe what happened when they got rid of Joe Mixon Tyler, Well, he had a career year this year, I think. But what were a lot of people? What was the first thing people were doing? When we cut Joe Mixon? Yeah, when the season started. What were you hearing from the mountaintop on social media? You were hearing people talk about it at the tailgates.

Oh, so there was people saying, oh, we shouldn't have got rid of Joe Mixon. Obviously, he had a really hot start to this year. He's like, oh man, he's rushing for over 100 yards Or whatever, we shouldn't have got rid of him And the same people saying that Like, oh, well, you know We're wanting to get rid of him.

Well, the same exact people saying that They were the same exact people After we got rid of him saying we shouldn't have Never gotten rid of him Yeah, and see, the thing is, The Texans, Joe Mixon fit that Texans scheme A whole lot better than what he did ours And like I said I didn't want to get rid of him I thought he had a career – I thought he had a really good year the year before he left. Honestly, in my opinion, the second most productive player on the offense that year, mine, Jamar Chase.

And obviously the Bengals didn't see fit that way. And Chase Brown, one could argue that he's – obviously he's not – it's not a debate. He's a better fit for our team, our system, our offensive scheme here. But at the same time, Chase Brown – is what we needed, right? Like, Joe Mixon, as much as I love him, he, you know, was not the running back we needed to move forward with the offense that we want to run, and that's, I get that, but I still love Joe Mixon though.

Yeah, no, that's pretty much where I was at. I will never shit on Joe Mixon for, because when he was here, he was a fantastic bangle. He loved what he did for the community, loved what he did for being him. serve. We'll say this, going into Sunday's game, and not Sunday's game, but going into this year.

I do think that this is going to be a defensive-focused... I don't know if it'll be defensive-focused in the draft, or if it'll be defensive-focused in the free agency, I would like to see them go ahead and try to, and this is just my opinion, I'd like to see them go ahead and try to pick up, at least try to, I would like to see them draft a guard, but I'd also like to see them bring in a guard, bring in a veteran guard, maybe on a, I don't know, maybe a one, maybe two-year deal. Yeah.

If you're going to go ahead and cut Kappa. That's what I would do. In fact, while we're doing this, I brought that up. Well, so here's the thing I have as well on the draft, right? Obviously, free agency, do what you need to do to improve the team. But when it comes to the draft, as much as I want Miles Murphy, And I think he still can succeed, you know, obviously and produce well for the Bengals, you know, stat wise and everything like that on the field.

The same with Dax Hill, you know, the same with DJ Turner's of the world, you know, the same with the Jordan Battles, like all these like first and second round picks that we've got the last couple of years. Oh, shit. Dalton Risner's a fucking free agent again. I wonder if we'll actually pick him up this time. I say look at him or look at fucking Tevin Jenkins Tevin Jenkins is a big son of a bitch too.

I see here's the thing right now and I don't know if anybody's like around that's going to be listening to this but here's the thing the draft part of this they have to take this draft I wouldn't say they don't take the draft seriously in the past but the word I'm looking for is they're going to have to not look for projects this year. Obviously, you know... Yeah, they're going to have to get away. Yeah.

Miles Murphy, obviously, you know, he could still be great, but it's been almost three seasons now. Same with Dax Hill. It's been almost four. You didn't know what to do with him in the first two years, right? And then you finally figured it out and obviously got hurt this year. But you needed, like, the first two to three rounds, which is the first two days of the draft, whoever you're drafting... They need to be in win-now mode.

The people they draft, they have to have the mindset of, how can they contribute immediately instead of, how can I contribute three to four years down the road, if that makes sense. That's the mentality I want them to have when they draft them. First round, draft that guy who's going to come in and contribute immediately. Do whatever he can right now to help the team succeed.

And again you're not wrong i think for the bangles though it's gonna these next few days and i want to get your thoughts on this uh when do you think they announce when do you think they make the announcement i'd say i say it'll be i wouldn't be surprised if they announced it the day of the day of the national title game and then and then like the day like to that tuesday wednesday thursday somewhere in there they had the at the press conference or.

Something told me when they when they announced well yeah something told me when they announced it, that they fired lou anarumo you only heard a small handful of interviews i mean of them talking to a small handful of people and i know a lot of people were pissed off that oh they're not trying to win they didn't try to go talk to robert sala or or dennis out and i'm like who's to say they did like i said who's to say they didn't and they just said they weren't interested because that's

the right i think come in and say if you you call them up and say hey hey robert can i speak to robert solid please this is him hi this is so and so from the cincinnati bangles uh we'd like to have you come in and talk to us about potentially being our new defensive coordinator. We wanted to see how you felt about it. You know what? Hey, I'm good, man. Hey, I'm not interested. Are you sure? Yeah, I'm sure, man. Hey, we're all right.

Yeah, it could have been that, or they just didn't interview him at all. They didn't see him as a fit. Now, if I'm not mistaken, too, isn't he getting an interview for the Jaguars? Yeah. We also got contacted about the Cowboys job, and I heard about that this morning. So that is the other thing. So to answer your question about when it's going to be announced, I didn't even think about that, like what you said about the day of the National Championship game. That could be interesting.

Because they've done that before. Yeah. and if they do it, part of me thinks that could be a distraction for them. It could be a narrative they run throughout the TV broadcast that day and it could be a distraction. Well, but it's probably a distraction now because it just came out. They had interviewed. They had did it if you want to be technical, but when you, like for instance, I'm going to throw this out there and I think you would even agree with this.

When they first started looking at defensive coordinators, the only people you really heard about them even coming close to talking to was Demarcus Covington, Patrick Graham, and then you heard Matt Eberfluesa in the mix. Hell, you even fucking heard Wink Martindale. I've heard that, yeah. And a lot of Bengals fans say, fuck Martindale. Why? Because he turned around and said you shouldn't give Joe Burrow just a fucking Hall of Fame jacket.

At the end of the day, we got one up on him. He just And Joe pretty much did what Joe does. He carves your ass up and sends you packing. Yeah. And sends bombs away. So that's pretty much what the fuck happens. I think the Bengals, I think whoever ends up with this job, I don't know that this will be necessarily a distraction if they announced it the day of. Didn't they interview?

Somebody talked to Golden And asked him did they know about it And he made it sound like he hadn't been in talks And nobody had contacted him And then You find out this morning Oh they're the finalists.

I didn't hear that one So I don't know So that was Yeah that's what I That's, at least that's what came that's what i heard could i be wrong could i maybe have misunderstood something oh it's possible because there's sometimes you maybe mishear something or something of that sort but from what i'm looking at everybody's saying it's down to him or it's down to him and it's down to yeah and everybody everywhere i'm seeing they're all saying that But yeah, like A to Z Sports says some believe

that the national championship game could be the last game for D.C. Al Golden at Notre Dame. And everybody's, it's already there. If we're going to talk about distraction, that's already potentially there. I think at this point, would it be great for him to go out with a championship to getting a Notre Dame Fighting Irish national championship ring. Yeah, it'd be fucking fantastic for him to go out that way. Hell, that's the way you want to go out before you leave a job like that.

You go out a fucking champion. Yeah. I think what's going to end up happening, I've paid. It'll be either announced that day or somewhere in the days to follow. Every article I'm seeing is saying is picking golden as the favorite to succeed Lou Anarumo. And from what I can tell, it looks like, yeah. So from what I can see, it looks like they run a, yeah. If that would be the case, I don't think it'd be bad. I don't think it'd be bad.

I don't think it'd be bad. I could be, I couldn't live with that. You or are you different with that? No, I could live with it, too. Yeah, it's like I could be okay. I could literally be okay with having Al Golden as the defensive coordinator. As long as he doesn't beat my Buckeyes, I'm good. Well, it's a fucking game, dude. Yeah, but it's different around these parts are. Well, but it's also at the end of the day, it's fucking Ohio State. Like, what do you expect? Well, this is 10 years, right?

10 years after we won the first ever college football playoff national championship game. This is 10 years exactly. The 2014-2015 season, we won the first ever. And we weren't expected to win. Now, obviously, we play three games and get to this one. Ten years could be a ten-year thing right here. It could be the first ever 12-team national championship winner, so we'll see. Don't count us out yet. Well, but you also got to look at it like this, too.

Ned will win the last time. As a matter of fact, that's an interesting question. I will look that up, and then we will get ready to close out the show because we've been on for an hour and 20 minutes, in. Any other things? Because like you said, we both think that either way. It has the potential to be a slam dunk for either candidate, but it's looking like Al Golden is the favorite. The way the one the last N-O-T-R-E Dame, National.

Spore Football 1988 so, it's been over 30 years so I'm going to say this much, regardless it's going to be a good game yeah but you also know you also know just like what we've all been saying At some point the bagels are going to, Crash that ceiling You gotta wonder Is this the year that Ben Eddie Dame crashes that ceiling But you also gotta look at The NIL money That Ohio State has had And they've had more money than God So.

You gotta look at it Well that's not fair Because Oregon Had just as much money as we did And we blew them out, well but it's Oregon their mascot is a fucking duck they were also undefeated until we played them well but they beat y'all fucking ass the first time I don't know, They beat us by one. They beat the brakes off you. They beat us by one. You're going to die on that hill, aren't you? They beat us. And the only reason they beat us is because Will Howard didn't

know how to slide at that time. So, anyway. Love you, buddy, but you're going to die on that. Love you, buddy, but you're going to die on that hill, aren't you? I mean, yeah. All right. Well. But, anyway. Honestly, I'd like to see Golden get it. That'd be a nice little parting gift if he is the one to be named the defensive coordinator. I think it would be a great move. But I know the competitive side of you that is saying, no! So, where are you at on the – so you're pretty much where I'm at.

What are you thinking with – what are you thinking in the long run with the –, what are you thinking long run-wise with the defense? How do you think that they – who would you like to see maybe get the defensive line to the coach? Defensive line, coach. Again, I don't know what candidates are out there, so I'm not entirely sure what – you know what I'm saying? Does that make sense? No, I get that. I don't know what's out there, so it's not a mistake. Anyway, I'm interested to see. But yeah.

So, with that being said, did you have any other final thoughts on the finalists? Because it sounds like we're getting close to having that selection process done. No, just whoever they bring in, bring us to at least average to good. So we can make the playoffs next year. Yeah, it goes. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. So that's pretty much your thoughts. Because like I said, we both went over their, went over both of, matter of fact, yeah, we both went over both of their.

Yeah, both of their coaching resumes, and both have, yeah, both have had not terrible resumes as coaches. Because, like, for instance, you look at Golden's college resume. He's getting from 2011 to 2015. He was with the Miami Hurricanes. 2016 to 2019, he was with the Lions as the tight ends coach and the linebackers coach. And then 2020 and 2021, he was our linebackers coach. Pretty sure. Yeah. 2022 to 2020 today. 2022 to 2023, he was the DC and linebackers coach, and then 2024, he was the DC.

From what I can see, and I'm looking at Wikipedia, his head coaching record, he was pretty much about even. I wouldn't say he wasn't a terrible, he wasn't a god-awful head coach. He's about middle of the road, but from what you can see in the position coach and a, and yet for what you can see in the BC like oh man he's fucking fantastic, I'd be anxious to see what he does at the at the pro level right so, and similar with and similar with Patrick Graham looking at looking at his stuff and think,

For me, do I think that they'll do it? That remains to be seen. If it is Golden, I'd like to see Patrick Graham get held on to as a defensive line coach. I think that'd be great. I mean, that wouldn't be terrible either, honestly. Yeah, at least that would be my idea. Because, like I said, I'm looking at his, because even like 2007, he even had a stop at Notre Dame. Patrick Graham did on new Charlie Weiss. With that being said, I just realized we've been on for almost an hour and a half.

Did you have any other final thoughts, man? I mean, just yeah, I'll go ahead and address one more thing real quick and then we'll close. Obviously, the season didn't turn out the way we wanted. So losing the first three games of the year did not help. Now, I will say this. I don't think we should have lost week one, but that's besides the point. The league came out and did address that Mike Gusecki touchdowns should have counted. They took it away from us, but we ended up losing by six.

I think we could have won that by one. But anyway, we started 0-3. We started 1-4. And there was a stretch in November, December, whichever it was, where we lost like three straight, the Chargers, Steelers, and I think Ravens or however it was. Obviously, that goes into it. We finished 9-8 with a winning record, but not good enough to make the playoffs. So we have ourselves to blame for that, mainly the defense for a part of that as well, which is why we're looking for a defensive coordinator.

But at the same time, wasn't expecting the season to end the way it did. He wrote off a bunch of wins at the very end, something that obviously I'd like to do every year, like win a lot of games in a row to end the season. But I don't want to do it at the expense of trying to fight for the playoff lives. We should already have this stuff locked up.

But anyway, really great season from Burrow, from Chase, from Hendrickson, from T. Higgins as well, although T. Higgins, I don't think he got to 1,000 yards, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know. I know Chase Brown was like, I think, 10 yards shy of 1,000. So, I mean, he had a really good overall season there. I think he was like really close to 1,500 all-purpose yards. It's a nice job for him.

Ted Karras and the two tackles, Mims and Orlando Brown, I think played really well this year, as did Mike Hilton down the stretch blitzing. But here's the next season, right? Here's the next season. And hopefully we turn this around, we make the playoffs, and we win a daggone Super Bowl because we need it. The fans need it, and we just need it next year. So that's my final thoughts. I'm right there with you. I think it's time. It's long been time.

And fuck the Chiefs. Fuck the Chiefs. I'm going to say fuck the Chiefs again. So, Being said, Tyler, go ahead and punch this out, man. All right. Well, I'm back. So I get to do the outro now. So thanks, everybody, for listening to this episode of the Rule of the Jungle podcast. You've been without me for a few months, so you guys are going to hear me do this again. So I appreciate you guys listening. Leaving a like, leaving a comment on wherever you get your podcast from.

We definitely appreciate it. We have been seeing some comments roll in, so thank you for that. I finally got my phone fixed, which is part of the reason I've been gone. So cheers to that as well. We want to thank everybody for that. Like I said, listen to us. And thanks for a good 2024 to 2025 season for this podcast, not for the football team, but for the podcast. Truly appreciate it. You can follow us on social media. We also post the podcast there as well.

Facebook is at RuleTheJungle. Twitter is at RuleTheJungle9 We've had some really good guests Yeah, Tyler, you kind of cut out Cut out there, buddy Start from the top.

Okay Let's see, well, we've had some We've had some good guests come on this offseason, And, you know, to know A little bit about those as well You can follow us on social media To know that when our guests come on Or when we post episodes, we do post on there as well Facebook is at RuleTheJungle, Twitter's at rule the jungle nine You can follow me on social media At tower who day 54 I do have a Facebook as well And Instagram is at T bowls 54 For me.

Follow me at a Anderson 78 on X and with, you know, and as far as my Instagram account, you can follow me if you're wanting to. If you feel, if you so dare, you can follow me on Instagram at Anthony Anderson 535.

So with that being said on behalf of tyler myself and will who unfortunately isn't here tonight we say who day and uh as we get the official announcement we will do another podcast and go ahead and talk a little bit about and give our thoughts of everything and more and especially week when it comes to when they do the press conference so with that being said guys we will see you we will hopefully see you when we get the announcement and then,

so who day guys alright man I'm gonna go in the house I'm gonna go lay down or I'm going to sleep I had a long day I've been short yeah we're short staffed on my.