Latest / Pittsburgh Sports Memories / BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - January 15, 2026

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BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - January 15, 2026 · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to a exciting current events edition of Pittsburgh Sports Memories for this week of January here.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Um hey, uh Tim really wants to talk pirates spring training, but um we've decided we'll discuss just uh football instead.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll uh we'll we'll get into the spring training another day because I because I'm raring to go for that for sure.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: Well, as usual, I'm the co-host Stewart and I'm joined by I'm Tim Hannon.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: Alrighty.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: Um it's the Football Palooza playoff edition.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: Your Pittsburgh Steelers have lost to the Houston Texans.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: Just some background.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Houston had never won on the road.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: They were 0-6 in the playoffs in the history of the Houston Texan franchise.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: The Steelers did not won a playoff game in six tries.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the Steelers had not lost a Monday night game since the Chuck Noll era.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: 30-6.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: It was it was ugly.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I don't even know what to say.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: Um I guess here's some numbers.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Rodgers was 17 to 33, 146 yards, passing, which is just horrible.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: An interception and a fumble, which were both returned for touchdowns, which actually the defense, if the defense would have been the only thing that scored for the Texans, they still would have won 14 to 6.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: Um Jalen Warren had 12 carries for 43 yards.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: Kenny Gainwell had six carries for 20 yards, receiving really pathetic performance by DK Metcalf.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: Two catches for 42 yards, and once again, our best wide receiver was our running back, Kenny Gainwell.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: This is like the Frenchie Fuqua days here.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Four catches for 25 yards.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, CJ Stroud did his best to uh keep the Steelers in the game, even hand the Steelers the game.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: He did.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: He said, Here's the game on a silver platter.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: Why won't you take it?
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And the Steelers like, no, no, no, no, no.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: We couldn't do that.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: That would be not that would not be us not being a gracious host.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: So the Steelers were very gracious hosts on Monday evening.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, allowing he had four fumbles total.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: Only two of them were lost.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: He had an interception, and all of that, all of that, Tim, they only were able to get three points off of all of that silliness.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: Somebody named Woody Marks, uh, the running back, got 19 carries for 120, 112 yards.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the immortal Christian Kirk, he's right up there with Jerry Rice, Tim.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: You can't can't stop him.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: Can only hope to contain him.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: He had eight catches for 144 yards.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, one of the one of the narratives I'm not I don't think is fair about this game is that the defense well, the defense got gashed again.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: The defense got gashed by Woody Marks and Christian Kirk.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: It was seven to six in the fourth quarter.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they they didn't give up 14 points.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: Like if you what was it, 30?
3:29
SPEAKER_01: So take away 14 of those 30 points.
3:33
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh this is the killer.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: This is what killed the Steelers defense is the Texans went 10 for 15 on third down.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: That's horrible.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: That that's bad defense.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the other thing that killed the team was the Steelers went two for fourteen on third down.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: That's what a good defense does.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Not that the Steelers have a great offense, but the the the games, the games in the second half of the season where the defense kind of kind of was suspect were always the games where the offense just gave them zero help at all.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: Like the Buffalo game.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: This was kind of a replay of the Buffalo game.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: It was.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: It was like it was like the defense kind of kept us in it.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: They got some turnovers, they were kind of hanging in there, but then like when they're on the field all the time and nobody's getting points, and they're like, here, here's a fumble, here, here's an interception, and the offense is like, Yeah, we're just gonna punt that back to them.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: That eventually just turns into like okay, we we we can only stop them so many times.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: We don't have the 85 Bears defense, we don't have the 2025 Texans defense either.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean that's the other thing.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I know Rogers played bad, I know Metcalf played bad, but at some point we do have to acknowledge that their defense is really Oh yeah, yeah, it's really good.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: And and and you and I said two months ago, Steve, that that was a team we were most scared of in the AFC because of that.
4:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, I didn't realize C I didn't realize CJ Stroud was that bad.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: He's not.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: He had a bad game.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: He's not that bad.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, the game really turned, like I said, in the first quarter.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: They totally had CJ Stroud totally rattled rattled.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: He was totally rattled.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: It's like all they did was take advantage.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: There was one play where they they dropped a snap or something, he wasn't looking for it, and uh, and the Steelers defense couldn't do anything about it.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: He ran around and threw a I think an incomplete pass, and it was like second and two, instead of like either being like second and fifteen or an interception, or that's just the difference between like having a good defense and a great defense.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: Like Houston when when Rogers fumbled, Houston picked it up, touchdown.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: You get punished.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: When you make a mistake, you are punished.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: And and same with the offense.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: The like the offense, the first drive, they made it to like midfield, they punted.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, that's a great start.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: That's a great start.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: You're you're moving the ball a little bit.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Second drive, I think was a second drive.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: That's when they got the field goal.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: So like early on, they're they were moving the ball.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, they were running the ball okay at the first couple drives, and then uh it just they couldn't run the ball anymore.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: Like that.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: The game really turned, not turned, but like all the momentum, whatever little bit of momentum, like like they were slowly building up, like, okay, we can get some yards here, we can get some yards there.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: It was when Metcalf dropped that pass because that was after Stroud had that like fumble.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't sure if they rolled out a fumble or an interception.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: And they they were saying like on the broadcast, oh, he only runs two routes, and then he ran a different route, and Rogers threw a good pass.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's where it needed to be.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: He was pretty he was pretty wide over.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: He should have had that, and that would have been three points.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: And like if that game goes into the fourth quarter with us leading nine to seven, I'm not saying we win.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it gets as out of hand as it got.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Well, because like at some point you have to open up the offense.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of the difference between the Ben years in the playoffs and the Rodgers, is they were smart enough to like, okay, let's just take it easy, be careful with the football.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: And and once they had to open up the offense, there was just like no answer.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, then the the Texans defense could do what they do best, rush the passer.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if anybody realized this, but um, what's the guy's name?
7:32
SPEAKER_01: That guy's our fourth string tackle.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Cook, yeah.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like you what do you expect out of the guy?
7:38
SPEAKER_01: He's going against the best pass rushers in the NFL for the Texans, and like you're going with like not even your best your best offensive lineman.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: That isn't Broderick Jones out there.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: This is like your third or fourth best guy getting totally just demolished, which he should, you know.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know what I thought, Steve?
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Like here's you can you can argue a lot of things in football.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: Here's one thing you can't argue.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: To make it to the AFC playoffs, you have to be one of the seven best teams in the AFC.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: To advance in the AFC playoffs, you have to be one of the four best teams in the AFC.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: And the last five years, the Steelers have been consistently one of the seven best teams in the AFC, but never once I would say have they been one of the four best.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what happens in the playoffs every year.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a lot of that ha falls on the quarterback play.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: But the year before that really was the defense because they couldn't stop the run at the end of the season.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: And and you know, before that it was playing Josh Allen, and before that it was playing Mahomes.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: It's just uh since 2016.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: Boy, I and I've said this before.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: When they lost that chance, they beat the Chiefs that year.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: They beat the Dolphins, the Chiefs, and the Chiefs did like kind of a suspect win, too.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: Remember that?
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Like there was some ref called a hold that took away a two-point conversion and then they played the Patriots and got demolished because Le'Veon Bell was like, I'm not playing.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: And the that just that ended the Steelers like being competitive for a Super Bowl.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: And it's just I don't know.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: I guess it's you know, it's have been the story of this franchise and the story of this team since the Troy Palomalu, James Ferrier, Aaron Smith guys got old and retired, is they haven't been able to get over the hump.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: And they had a lot of guys on offense.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: The Bell, Brown, and Ben era were very not Ben so much, but Bell and Brown were just not good teammates.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: And I said that back then, they were hard to root for, they were jerks, they they they still are, and and you know what?
10:07
SPEAKER_01: You need a team that that is together and you know is playing for each other.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you need the talent, but they just they just never have have had that since the the Super Bowl 45.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: Well they they've had the and and they haven't had the talent of like Brown and Bell since those guys left.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: I mean that that's what I that's what I'm saying.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: But even when they had the the you can't have guys like that are such selfish jerks.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: But they they had they had the talent, they just didn't have the teamwork.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: And now they have the teamwork, but now they don't have the talent.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: That's that's exactly what I was gonna say.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: It's a different that was that that 2010s problem is a different problem than the 2020s problem.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: The 2020s problem, we have good guys on the team now.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: But but no, yeah, we we yeah, we don't have enough of the talent.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: It reminds me very much of the 90s where it's like we we have some talent, but just not enough to get over the hump for whatever reason.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I I don't even know if we're I don't think we even have the talent we had in the 90s.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Like if my brother and I were sitting at that game the other night, just like even when it was seven to six, you're like, you're just hoping for like a pass interference or like a like some kind of fluky, like somebody gets open because even when it was seven to six, it felt like there's no way they're ever gonna score again.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I felt like that in the third quarter.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: I felt like they could they could have gone to a college style overtime with the Steelers offense, put them on the 25, and if they weren't allowed to kick a field goal, they weren't going to score.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Yes, totally agree.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: My my brother said to me, like, we don't have any weapons.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: Like they have this, they have this amazing otherworldly defense, and we're attacking it with a 42-year-old quarterback throwing the MVS and Adam Thielen and and tiny, tiny little Calvin Austin.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: Who dropped the pass.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: It was a very tough catch, but it's like, dude, you gotta make that catch.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: But once again, like I like he's a slot receiver at best.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying, Steve.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: We don't have the talent.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: We literally said this beginning of the year.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: It's the Josh is in Joe's, not the X's and O's.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: It is.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: Now, I I think we still get out coached in those games.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: That's why we like there is a difference between losing those games and losing them by a lot of points.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Although, again, from a narrative perspective, I I do not consider that game the other night a blot.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: I know it looks like it's a lot of people.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: No, it it felt like a lot different than the other games where like Jacksonville, where you're down like what, 24 points or something.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: Right.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Say in Baltimore and Buffalo and Kansas City, all those games were like huge, like they were over at halftime.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: This was definitely different than that.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: But but we just we're just not that good of a team.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and that's that's the the the they had all that talent in the 2010s, they didn't win for the reasons you said.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, I'm I'm gonna again we're gonna do like a full kind of episode on this in the offseason for our regular podcast, but there's the the the the they did not the roster construction in this decade was not good.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: It got set back several years by the last three Colbert drafts up to and including the Kenny Pickett selection.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Najee Harris and Kenny Pickett destroyed this team, have any chance.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: Like you have to pick two different people.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the i i again, there's a bunch of different things they could have done.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: So there's they're slowly, I I do think they're slowly digging out from under that.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: But you know, they're trying to patchwork together teams.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Again, how how are you gonna beat that?
13:46
SPEAKER_01: I think you could have beat that defense with Aaron Rodgers if he has a speed wide receiver, if he has yeah, I I don't know, if he has Jordan Addison or who's the other really good wide receiver in Minnesota.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, Jefferson.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like people are saying, like somebody I was watching, you know, some of the post mortem on the national, mainly national guys, they were saying like Aaron Rodgers was trying to wait out Minnesota.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: That and that and I was thinking that would have Minnesota probably would have made the playoffs.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: If they have Aaron Rodgers, probably with those wide receivers, like Aaron Rodgers is still like say what you want about Aaron Rodgers, but like I said, if you keep him upright, he still has an arm.
14:28
SPEAKER_01: He's not like Ben or Peyton Manning at the end of his career where he just had no arm strength, but that guy can still throw the ball.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: He can't run like he used to, but he boy, he can still he can still sling it, man, and accurate too.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I think that Vince Lombardi in his prime coaching that exact group of players on Monday night wouldn't have to beat the Texans.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: I I just the the the they're just a better team.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: And if that was a seven-game series, the Texans four-game swim.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, I mean it either way they win.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: It it's not like and that's another difference between the 2010s.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Like that Jacksonville game, you know, that we lost at home.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: We we should have won that.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: But we couldn't stop the run.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: I saw that one coming because that was another year we couldn't stop the run.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: Fair, but that offense should have been good enough to to at least keep pace.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: And they, you know, so it was it was a difference there where we were losing games we shouldn't.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: I feel like these last couple of years, I mean, again, were we bet were we a better team than the 2024 Ravens?
15:34
SPEAKER_00: No.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Were we a better team than the 2023 Bills?
15:36
SPEAKER_00: No.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Were we a better team than the 2021 Chiefs?
15:39
SPEAKER_00: No.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: We were always coming in here as not the better team.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean you can't.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: But 2017, I I didn't I thought we were probably better than the Jaguars, but we couldn't stop the run.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: And that was when our I thought, well, this is the type of team that probably beats them.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: And the Jaguars, and to be fair, the Jaguars the next week did give like the Patriots a kind of some trouble.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, uh it it it wasn't like a monumental upset, but it was it was different than this.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: Like it wasn't like we came into that game thinking like, oh boy, this team's just heads and tails.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: The Texans were a three-point favorite and covered and hit the over, I think.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they're really, really good.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I I I again we said it back in November.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: This is the year for a team like that to win the Super Bowl.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: I if CJ Stroud plays like that, they're not going anywhere.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: No, they're not going anywhere.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: He's better than that.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: He he'll he's better.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: I hope so for their sake, because that that defense is really good.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Did you see the Patriots game?
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Drake may have had similar problems.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't real sharp either.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's gonna be the battle of the not so great quarterbacks.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think they're I think they're I think they're both pretty good.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: I think they just had bad weeks.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: But again, we'll see.
16:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh the Steelers didn't have much success against playoff level teams, like you said.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, do you know the only playoff team they beat this season?
17:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh that was in the playoffs that the Steelers beat during the game.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: The Patriots.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:07
SPEAKER_01: So there you go.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: Every other team that was in the playoffs that they played, they lost to.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of like their ten wins are kind of like a mirage a little bit.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they beat the teams that they should.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: And then even the Patriots win.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the Patriots turned the ball over like five times.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: And it was at the beginning of the season when things are different.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: It it again, it was a it was they overachieved, I think, given the roster they had.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: I think ten wins.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: I think eight wins was where they was kind of where they should have settled.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: And then they got two extra wins that probably the Jets game and the Patriots game was two games they probably should have.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Or the two, one of the two Ravens.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Or the Detroit game.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, that one too.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Or Minnesota.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Minnesota was a not a terrible team either.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, you're right.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: There's a bunch of you you're you're spot on.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: That that's really what the team was.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: And and like in a vacuum, you could look at that season and say, boy, that's probably better than they they could have done.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: But then it's like, man, to just to get to this, to get to that point, to have that huge, massive, one of the greatest games in the history of the stadium win against to get into the playoffs.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: And then it's like, hey, we're right back to where we were at the end of every other season.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: That that just didn't feel good at all.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, I guess we're it's poetry corner with Steve.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you remember, um, I think it was was it uh People Got Screwed by Pittsburgh?
18:32
SPEAKER_01: It was I think it was that podcast episode where we talked about the Ralph Kiner branch ricky feud.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, and he wrote the limerick.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Limerick, yeah.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: So I I decided to channel my inner branch ricky and write my uh limerick about um the Steelers.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, some teams score when the other team turns the ball over.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: Ours does not, Tim.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Some teams have a good offensive line, ours does not.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Finally, some teams have a coach who wins a playoff game once a decade.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: Ours does not.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it will pretty soon.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, yes, uh, that leads into uh the big elephant in the room.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: Mike Tomlin is no longer the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: I I can't believe I said that sentence, too.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Um I know it's crazy.
19:25
SPEAKER_01: It's unbelievable.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: Um here's the first point of contention before I go through all of his, you know, whatever.
19:31
SPEAKER_01: I guess you know, we'll have to do an episode on this.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: This will be a regular podcast episode at some point.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: It's this big of a subject.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: Was it a resignation or was it a firing?
19:43
SPEAKER_00: It it was a resignation.
19:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: That's our story, and we're sticking to it.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: No, it it's a resignation.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: There's there's no way I don't believe that for a second.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I belie I no.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: I think one of two things happened.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: He walked in and they said, Hey, you gotta hire some real assistants.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: And Tom Lyn said, I think I'm better than this and I'm gonna leave.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: Or be they said, hey, you can either resign or you're gonna be fired.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I don't, I don't know.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: The art Rooney isn't you you know how I know that?
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Here's here's why I know that.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: Because it happened literally like what, 14 hours after the game ended.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: There there's no way that happens that quickly if it's a firing.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: It it would have played out like look at look at what the well look at the way Baltimore did it.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, that was two or three days after the game ended.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: That's how that would have played out.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: I I I think that was absolutely a resignation.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm interested to hear, we're recording this on the day it happened, so we haven't really heard from Tomlin yet.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: No, I have a I have a uh press release from Tomlin.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but all it is is just like a thank you to the fans and stuff.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: Like I want to hear when did he make this decision?
21:01
SPEAKER_01: He's never gonna say that, Tim.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be a bunch of words salad, and the standard is the standard, and don't blink, and you know, a bunch of platitudes.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: He's never it's like cower, like how you know cower nobody believed cower was gonna retire, and then he did.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: Here's another reason why I don't think it was a firing.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: Because now he can't go anywhere he wants to go.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: Well he can, but what, the steelers have to be compensated or something.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: So again, if that if that's a if the if the if unless he's gonna sit out for two years and then right he would just have to sit out for two years.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but but if he's if he's fired, Steve, he doesn't want to do that.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: If he's fired, he's gonna go somewhere else immediately because he still wants to coach, and the steelers said you can't coach here anymore.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: I think that'll be the other telling thing.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: If he if he wants to if he was fired, then I think he's gonna be Right away finding another job.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I mean, everybody's oh, he's gonna hired here, you hired there, Giants, Falcons.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: I even saw somebody with the Raiders blog pontificating that.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: If he goes to the Raiders, he's nuts.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: He's not.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: I think I think again, we're I've I think the common sense, like the the smart money says he takes a year or two off and then goes and gets another job.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe or maybe he goes to the Giants.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: Like the Giants seem like his kind of team, like he can similar.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: And they have a young quarterback.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: He has that scataboo, which he can run into the ground.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean, scataboo think he's hurt now.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: Wait till Tomlin gets done with him.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: It all depends.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: Again, it all depends on his motivation for doing this.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: Did he did he decide months ago that this is probably going to be his last season?
22:55
SPEAKER_01: I think it is because look at the way they ran the team.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Look at what they did this year.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: That's what that's another reason I think.
23:01
SPEAKER_01: Because like they never signed DK Metcalf.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: They never signed Aaron Rodgers.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: I've never seen him do things like this.
23:07
SPEAKER_01: I think this was a last ride.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Hey, let's go all in one last time.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: Let's get it out of our system.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: Because I said that too.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: I thought he would have retired or left if they won the Super Bowl.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: Right.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: So that also makes me think that it wasn't a like a disguised firing.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't think he was pushed out.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: I think Art Rooney Art Rooney's just the Steelers don't fire coaches.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: And I know you could I but this wasn't like the Bruce Arians thing where it's like you retired, and it's like, I did.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: That's not what this is.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: I I I just I'd be shocked if that's if that's what happened.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: I think this was him.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: That's why I said I want to hear I want to hear from him.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: I want to hear like the this was this good luck with that.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Good luck interpreting that gibberish.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think at this point he can let his guard down a little bit.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Like he's not he's not talking about next week's game.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: No, no way.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh it'll be interesting.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: I I'm I'm curious to see.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: And for that, I think I do think Mike Tomlin's a good person.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: I I don't think he's like a jerk.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: I don't like it's not like Todd, it's not like Todd Graham where it's like, get the heck out of here.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't think he's a good coach too.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: We've said this before.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I I one of my biggest um at this point annoyances in life is that we as a culture are incapable of like holding two thoughts in our head at the same time.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Everything's got to be one extreme or another.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: You see that all the time in politics.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's easier and it's literally and it riles people up.
24:41
unknown: Yeah.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it makes people argue, but like you can to me, it's entirely uh reasonable to think that Mike Tomlin is a really good coach and things got stale, and it was time for him to go.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Like, both of those things can be true at the same time, just like it was with Mike Sullivan, just like it was with Chuck Knoll.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: Both things can be true at the same time.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, do you want to hear some uh Mike Tomlin stats?
25:09
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: Good, bad, and ugly.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Um good.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: Hey, he coached the Steelers for 19 years.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: That's unheard of in professional sports.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: The only Lindy Rupp with the uh Sabres, uh that that's about it.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: The guy with the Spurs, he was there forever.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Popovich.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: Popovich, yeah.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: It's just unheard of.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Um he won Super Bowl 43, unfortunately, he lost Super Bowl 45, the one Aaron Rodgers.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, he had 193 wins in a regular season.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's 201 wins overall, including the postseason.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, his 193 wins is the ninth all-time.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: Guess who he's tied with, Tim?
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Ironically.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: The Emperor.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Chuck Null.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, do you know who has the most wins among active coaches in the NFL currently?
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Andy Reid.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh, do you know who has the most all-time?
26:00
SPEAKER_00: Belichick.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: No.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: Close.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: He's third.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: Belichick is third, and then Hallis is second.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: Hallis is second.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: Um Don Shula is it talk about a guy that hung around too long and just compiled wins.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: Nobody says that about Don Shula, and he lost in the first round like by 70 points every year.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: He basically had the same end of his career that's actually a good point.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: That's actually a really good point.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: Like Dan Marino can't uh had him hang around for 10 more years than he should have.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: And every year, like, oh, the Dolphins are going to the Super Bowl.
26:37
SPEAKER_01: Oh, the Dolphins are going to the Super Bowl.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Because they love Don Chula.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh, whatever.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, last win, last playoff win was that divisional round over the chefs, um, the Alex Smith chefs.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh the last uh they lost the AFC Championship game, which was obviously it's obviously like one of those turning points of the universe where everything you know is converged upon one point in 2016, or it could just be a really big coincidence.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: But uh they had some embarrassing losses along the way.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: We talked about the Jaguars team with Blake Bortles, the immortal Blake Bortles, whatever sheets he's working at.
27:19
SPEAKER_01: Um Tim Tebow in Denver is probably another embarrassing loss.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh he tied Marvin Lewis for the most consecutive play of losses in a row.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: Yay!
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, again, that's another stat you have to dig into a little bit because uh again, the last four of those were were games where we were just up against teams that were way, way better than us, and we probably didn't have any business being there in the first place.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't think you can say that I don't know, say that about the Marvin Lewis Bengals teams, too.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Um he doesn't really have a coaching tree, I guess we could say that.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: I mean Bruce Sarians, Mike Munchak, Todd Haley, Dick Lebeau, those are all kinds of established guys.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know that Cower had, I mean, he had who was the guy, the defensive coordinator, Don Caper.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: Don Capers, yeah.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: And Dick Lebeau coached for both.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know if Dick Lebeau kind of had his own coaching.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: Ken Gailey was a head coach too.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: So Cower does and um Mike Millarkey.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: Cower definitely had more Ken Wisenhunt.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Ken Wisenhunt, yeah.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: Cower definitely had more of a coaching care, but Cower also, to your point, kind of hired more of the up-and-coming kind of Yeah, yeah.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: I think that's another reason like Tomlin ended up kind of digging his own grave, is because he he tended to stick with like yes men.
28:39
SPEAKER_01: I I think that's a problem.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh except for I mean he did hire uh Haley, Todd Haley, the couple exceptions, Todd Haley, Mike Munczek, and um Arthur Smith.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: I I don't think are you know but but those guys were also established head coach.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: That was like the equivalent of when Cower hired Kevin Gilbride.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because Kevin Gilbride at that point wasn't going to be a head coach again, but he had been a head coach.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: So maybe it's that.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, to be fair, Tomlin also had some really bad hires like um, you know, Matt Canada.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: Sticking with Matt Canada a whole lot of people.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: Sticking with him, yeah, yeah.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: So so Tomlin uh his his evaluation of you know coaching personnel is definitely mixed.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:24
SPEAKER_01: Uh, do you want to hear the statement from Martin Rooney the second?
29:27
SPEAKER_01: Does anybody want to hear it?
29:28
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: During our meeting today, Coach Tomlin informed me that he's decided to set down as our head coach.
29:33
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I am extremely grateful to Mike for all the hard work, dedication, and success we have shared over the last 19 years.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: It's hard for me to put into words the level of respect and appreciation I have for Coach Tomlin.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: He guided the franchise to our sixth Super Bowl championship and made the playoffs 13 times during his tenure, including winning the AFC North eight times in his career.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: His track record of never having a losing season in 19 years will likely never be duplicated.
30:00
SPEAKER_01: My family and I and everyone connected to the Stillers management are forever grateful for the passion and dedication Mike Tomlin has devoted to Steelers football.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: Nice, classy, classy, what you would expect out of the Rooney.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: Again, I I can't I can't imagine after 20 years together that he fired him hours after a game.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: And then I just I just I can't.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: And I can't imagine that Tomlin, the way he does things, just was like, oh, if you're really crappy about this game, I quit.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: Like well he that's what people are saying.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that that makes sense too.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: Like he's been obviously thinking about this.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: I bet I think this is the he's been thinking about this since the summer.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: Well just because look look at look at the raw way.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean that's a r that's probably the best point of all that you made is that is that the the way that they built the team this year did kind of have that like last ride feel to it.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Because they weren't ready to take that.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: And I think like if people are looking for optimism, I said the last three uh Colbert drafts were disasters.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: The first three con drafts have been actually pretty good if you look up and down.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: So I think they are kind of building something, but they they're trying to patchwork it together with again like Adam Thielen and and you know uh Jabrell Peppers and you know all these guys that are just we're good in 2018.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: Like so, so at some point you have to like just okay, we're we're and this is the perfect excuse to do it.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: Now Tomlin's gone.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: There's a perfect excuse to say, okay, now we're really into a rebuild.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: We can actually afford to start either a rookie or Howard or a bridge or bridge quarterback like Mason next year.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to make it to the playoffs, we don't have to win 10 games.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: The Will Howard Gambit, as they're calling it on the Madden show.
31:59
SPEAKER_01: Like if you play Will Howard, like you know, can you lose like can you unintentionally, intentionally tank and get like a high draft pick?
32:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I and and they they won't.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know if Will Howard's good enough to to be a starting quarterback, but I'm I'm I think it's it's tank the team.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: Is it like the 83 Penguins where no, I don't I don't I I don't have no idea.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: I've never seen him play in the pros because he he was hurt in the preseason, so we don't really know.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: But but I guess my point just being that with Tomlin there, you're always gonna try to like okay, get whatever we can to get be as competitive as possible, and now you can just kind of like let the air out of that bubble and just be like, okay, i i if you if it's okay if we start an experienced quarterback next year because it's probably gonna take a few years to get back on track, and that's fine.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: Well, do you want to hear fan reaction, Tim?
32:56
SPEAKER_01: Or do you want to hear Tomlin?
32:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't really I can't I don't have the heart to read Tomlin's statement.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: I'll just say I'll just read the last thing.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: It says, with this chapter comes to a close, my respect and love for the Pittsburgh Steelers never change, will never change.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for what the future holds for this organization, and I'll be forever grateful for my time coaching in Pittsburgh.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: I am like getting into the fan reaction, how I felt.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I knew it was bittersweet.
33:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a good word.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, like, I'm not like one of these people, like people are saying all kinds of crazy stuff.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess people are crazy.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: That's why they're called fanatics, fans turned for fanatic.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and I I don't know.
33:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm a fan, I don't know what it is about me as I've gotten older.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: I just maybe I've matured.
33:41
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it wasn't I I wasn't like, oh my gosh, this is gonna ruin my day.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: Like, I know some people this really ruined their day, and it's like there was people like on the radio and they were playing these comments on ESPN.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: It was embarrassing.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, hallelujah, the evil coach is gone.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: And but ESPN's agenda was like, oh, look at these people, they're a bunch of racists.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: That that was kind of their agenda.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: Well, their agenda is also like let's find the craziest.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: What do you want to hear from the guy from Paul from Mount Washington who called the fan this morning while I was on the shuttle to work?
34:16
SPEAKER_01: He said he called Mike Tomlin, I think Ryan Clark, too.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: He called them a socialist collectivist for saying we or something.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Oh, there's socialist collectivist agenda, and this I was like, what does this have to do with the football team?
34:29
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess the football team is kind of a collective, but that's because it is like the the sport of football lends itself, I guess, to that kind of socialist ethos, I guess, like 11 people all working towards one goal, but they're there willingly, they're not forced by the government to do this.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: And they do make millions of dollars.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: I like I like to say, like, if people, if like I couldn't imagine doing my job and like, you know, I make five mistakes a day at my job, which is not a probably a great thing to admit, but you know, I could you imagine Tim at your job if every little mistake you had everybody on Twitter, ESPN, oh my god, Steve forgot to put his TPS cover report on his sheet.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, what an idiot.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: There he is again.
35:17
SPEAKER_01: What is wrong with him?
35:18
SPEAKER_01: When is he gonna get it together?
35:20
SPEAKER_02: Right.
35:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, we had such high hopes for this guy, and he just let us the whole you've let the whole like I can't imagine with that kicker from Baltimore, you know, just you've let the whole city of Baltimore down.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's it's I I think the other thing I'll say about fans, the the media, the the way the media works now, everything's clickbait, everything's you know, it's reaction based.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: And so the the national media, especially this year, has tried to portray Steeler fans as universally hating Tomlin.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: And that's that are people.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Fire Tomlin.
36:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, even that.
36:01
SPEAKER_01: I was I was at the game.
36:03
SPEAKER_01: Well, were they really I did I had the sound down.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: So there were there were you could hear like one or two people trying to get it started, or or a group of people trying to get it started.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: It never once took over the whole stadium, like the Buffalo game.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: But even that wasn't the you know, by again, that was portrayed a certain way.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: By the time that can't started, literally half that stadium had left.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: So it it's it's the idea that again, like collectively, every Steeler fan was when Tomlin fired.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: I think every Steeler fan is disappointed.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: I think every Steeler fan is feeling like, man, this isn't we're tired of Groundhog Day.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Something needs to change.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: But the idea that I mean, go look at go look at the reactions to like go like on the Steelers Facebook feed and and the statement that Art Rooney posted.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: See how many likes and hearts and care emojis there are as opposed to laughter and hatred.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: And you have to remember, Steve, if you thought Tomlin is a good guy and a good coach, and maybe it's time for a change, you're not posting that on social media.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: What you're going on social media to post is, oh, this guy sucks.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: We gotta get rid of him, blah, blah, blah.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: That's why that's also the radio shows.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what I mean.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: It's he's waving his little commie flag, like, ooh, yeah.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: So, so uh people need to be really careful about the thing that the media does.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: They don't just do it in sports, but especially in sports, where they want to create narratives because those narratives then fuel more posts and more stories that more people click on and more people argue about.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: And and I don't think that every Steeler fan just hated Mike Tomlin and wanted him gone.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: I do think every Steeler fan was disappointed.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of Steeler fans, again, I hope, maybe this is me being too optimistic, but I hope a lot of Steeler fans were grateful for his time here, thought he was a good coach, and you know, thanks for everything.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just time for a change.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: We might suck.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: It might be four or five more years before we have another playoff game.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's it could be it could be.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: After losing in the first round every year, I think I'm ready for that as opposed to losing in the first round every year if it means we're building something.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: It it's all gonna depend on who the coach is and who the quarterback is, Steve.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: Honest, honestly, that's what it's all gonna come down to.
38:24
SPEAKER_01: I don't think Aaron Rodgers comes back, speaking of what's next.
38:27
SPEAKER_01: I I think he's done.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: Like he wanted to play, he likes Tomlin, he played for Tomlin.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: I think he's done.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: I think even if he wants to come back, we should say thank you so much for your service.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: You were you served us well.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: You were a great quarterback, you were a model citizen.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: He would, you know what?
38:44
SPEAKER_01: How about a little thought?
38:45
SPEAKER_01: You want to have a fun thought experiment, Tim?
38:47
SPEAKER_01: Let's switch CJ Stroud and Aaron Rodgers.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: What happens then?
38:54
SPEAKER_01: I bet uh Houston wins the Super Bowl easily.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: They have that Nico Collins, like a for real wide receiver, and apparently Christian Kirk's not bad either.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he doesn't have to move around a lot, just play his game manager and make a few plays at the end of a game if they need him.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: And with that defense, they're fine.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, well, TJ Watt is T well TJ Watt has never won a playoff game, right?
39:24
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: Has Cam Cam Hayward, was he around to win a playoff game?
39:28
SPEAKER_01: He was, yeah.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: I feel bad for those guys because they they have been good people, good players, played their hearts out, you know, and they're they're not going to get rewarded, but you know, Carnell Lake never won a Super Bowl either.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it it's every good player for the Cleveland Browns for the last 50 years.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Joe Thomas never even played, like we played like what, one playoff game?
39:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:53
SPEAKER_01: Maybe two.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: I mean, so it you're right, it is really hard.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's another thing to remember as disappointed as we all are, or or whatever, when you look back at Tomlin's record.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: I I think people, just like Cower, I think people will appreciate Tomlin more in five years.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: In five years, yeah.
40:12
SPEAKER_01: After we've had like consecutive like four and whatever seasons.
40:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, or even if we're good, I think people would still appreciate him.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: Like Noel, when when when Noel left, my goodness, like people were so tired of Noel.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: People wanted Noel gone for he's probably stayed four or five years too long.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's why I really want to see if Tomlin opens up about this at all, because I do think Tomlin has enough self-awareness and he always talks about upholding standards.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: And I just wonder if he thought, I'm I'm not, this isn't I don't want to be a a caricature of myself, you know, and and stay so long that this doesn't this keeps not working.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Do do we I now I I haven't I don't really have this in my notes.
40:59
SPEAKER_01: D do you even want to I mean the body's not even cold.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: There dare we speak of uh who's gonna get hired.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah I don't I don't even know.
41:07
SPEAKER_01: I I don't even know.
41:09
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we should maybe that's best left for another time.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: Well, no, I mean let's I mean sure.
41:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you want to throw the the craziness I've heard I've heard Kirk Signetti uh from Indiana.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't I hope not.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that guy's 64 years old.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not that's not what the Steelers do.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: They don't hire a 64-year-old coach.
41:27
SPEAKER_01: I know I've heard Kevin Stefansky.
41:29
SPEAKER_01: He's a good coach, but I mean he's kind of had a crap organization.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: I love them.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: I would love Kevin Stefansky, actually.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I he seems like he's a good coach, except he doesn't know how to keep Baker Mayfield on the team, but maybe that wasn't his fault.
41:43
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't his decision.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: I I really believe that was all ownership and that Barry, who's a terrible, terrible GM, you know, uh I said it last week.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: I think that he got a totally raw deal in Cleveland.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: And and honestly, I want an offensive coach.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: Like I that's not a steel, that's not what the Steors do.
42:02
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
42:03
SPEAKER_00: But I want an offensive coach.
42:05
SPEAKER_00: I think if you're if you're a good offensive coach, you can hire a good defensive coordinator to run the defense.
42:14
SPEAKER_01: Well, Mike McCarthy's still available, but that's another old guy.
42:17
SPEAKER_00: That's they're not gonna he's a cast out.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: The only reason Mike McCarthy is even being mentioned by people is because he's from here.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: If Mike McCarthy was from Atlanta, you'd never hear his name even mentioned in the same breath as the Steel R.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: Kennedy.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: Here's another fun one.
42:32
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think they're meant they just want him on the staff, but I didn't realize this.
42:37
SPEAKER_01: And uh have you have you ever heard of a little uh kind of a mediocre wide receiver from Pitt from Norwin named Mike Shanahan?
42:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, he's their offensive coordinator in Indiana, so but I mean that guy's like barely, you know, I I don't know, somebody threw that out there.
42:55
SPEAKER_01: It was like people are just throwing names out there.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: What's the name?
42:58
SPEAKER_01: Why don't we have Mark Cuban coach the team or like Dominalia?
43:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's have like all the Pittsburgh celebrities, they'll coach, they'll take a turn coaching the team for the week.
43:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the the the the names being thrown out or because they're from here, I think are dumb.
43:13
SPEAKER_00: I think I think you know you hear Chris Shola's name because he's kind of that yeah, yeah, yeah.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: You would you would you would have fun with them hiring a Shula.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: No, because like the who was that other Shula that was horrible with David.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: That's his father, isn't it?
43:29
SPEAKER_01: Or no?
43:30
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know how many sons yeah, Don's his grandfather.
43:34
SPEAKER_00: I know that.
43:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember if David or the other, yeah.
43:38
SPEAKER_00: But but you know, he's been the defensive coordinator of the Rams.
43:41
SPEAKER_00: He's that's a Steeler kind of hire like a guy in their 30s, it's a defensive coordinator.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: The other the other interesting name is is Marcus Freeman.
43:52
SPEAKER_00: And I I don't I don't think he would leave Notre Dame.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, I forgot.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it well I saw on the scroll on The crawl on ESPN that they said Marcus Freeman is totally committed to at Notre Dame, which means he's totally hired for the Steelers.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: Well, doesn't he just have the vibe of a Steeler coach?
44:12
SPEAKER_00: He kind of I don't like him.
44:14
SPEAKER_00: So you just don't like Notre Dame.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't like Nordic.
44:17
SPEAKER_00: What do you like about him?
44:19
SPEAKER_00: He's a smug jerk.
44:22
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:23
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I grow to like him.
44:24
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: I just don't like Notre Dame.
44:27
SPEAKER_00: You just don't like Notre Dame.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: I don't like Charlie Weiss either, and he's a jerk.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but he is a smug.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Freeman strikes me as like a very grounded, good leader of men kind of guy.
44:39
SPEAKER_01: And that's that you could smug jerk that tries to sell me over the male meals.
44:46
SPEAKER_01: I want to be fat, Marcus Freeman.
44:48
SPEAKER_01: Screw you.
44:50
SPEAKER_01: Go go not be in the playoff.
44:52
SPEAKER_01: Ha ha.
44:53
SPEAKER_01: Don't go to your pop tarts pole.
44:55
SPEAKER_00: So I don't I don't know.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that he would leave Notre Dame.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: But you know, this is somebody, uh, I think it was Dejan Kovacevic said today, this is the premier job in all of pro sports.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: Because there's no other I've heard that.
45:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: It is.
45:10
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you why.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: You want to I I heard that from Rich Eisen, too.
45:13
SPEAKER_01: He said, This is the Steelers' comment.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: This is your one chance to like get a job that you'll probably won't get fired from.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: That's that's it.
45:20
SPEAKER_00: That's the reason.
45:21
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's the premier job.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: It's it's not because if you go to Baltimore, you you have a franchise quarterback.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: If you go to Green Bay, if they end up firing LaFleur, you have a franchise quarterback.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: But but the reason it's the premier job is because, yeah, because you won't get fired.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: Because every other job is, well, you better win in those first three or four years, and you better do whatever it takes to do that, even if it means selling the future and making decisions that aren't the best for long-term success.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: And that's what every other organization in sports has to deal with, except the Steelers.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: You could argue the same for the Ravens.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: I think they're also pretty patient.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that's what I think that job's right up there.
46:02
SPEAKER_01: I think I think the Jets and Raiders, yeah.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: That's what I mean.
46:06
SPEAKER_00: Like, go ahead, go to the Jets, go to the Falcons, see how see how many years you get before the owner gets impatient and says, go to Cleveland, my God.
46:16
SPEAKER_00: See how many years you get before the owner gets impatient and then fires you.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: That's why this is a this is not your job because oh, the stewer away, and the stewards are so the the history and that no, it has nothing to do with any of that.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: It's because you won't get fired and you can have a five-year plan, and the ownership will let you implement that.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: There was no other place where that'll happen, except, like I said, maybe Baltimore.
46:40
SPEAKER_01: I I I can't believe Zach Taylor is the senior member of the AFC North Coach.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: We said that last week.
46:47
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember we said that on the podcast last week that he might be the last man standing?
46:51
SPEAKER_00: And Don Kelly is now the most tenured coach in Pittsburgh.
46:57
SPEAKER_01: Don Kelly?
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: For for the Pirates?
47:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
47:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right?
47:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think so.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, two years.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
47:06
SPEAKER_00: But but yeah, Dan Muse got hired after Don Kelly, and now all the steelers need a coach.
47:11
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, Don Kelly's been around what since middle of 2025.
47:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's he's the longest tenured coach in Pittsburgh Pro Sports.
47:21
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: Wild.
47:23
SPEAKER_00: It's a wild time, Steve.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: It's a wild, wild time.
47:27
SPEAKER_01: Well, speaking of that, Tim, do you want some good news?
47:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh the the the Pirates pitchers and catchers will report for spring training in the middle of February.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: So we got that to looking forward to.
47:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I've appreciated, I love this doing this every week uh for a little footballpalooza here and other stuff.
47:45
SPEAKER_01: We we didn't cover any other stuff because did anybody care that Pitt is crap in basketball or or the penguins are maybe or maybe not going to be in the in the playoffs.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: I summed that two up.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: And we'll keep doing the uh the once a month.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: Well we'll go back to um our original schedule um of like once a month, I think.
48:05
SPEAKER_01: So so there you go.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for tuning in.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for a great football season.
48:09
SPEAKER_01: This was a lot of fun.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: Um next time, yeah, we'll probably be able to talk about the uh Super Bowl champion Houston Texans and how how qu what what a great quarterback MVP CJ Stroud was um of your Super Bowl LX.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: God bless.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh check us out on all your podcast services, give us a high rating to keep getting more people in uh Facebook.
48:35
SPEAKER_01: Get those comments coming.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: Tell me how Mike Tomlin's socialism has ruined the Pittsburgh Steelers.
48:40
SPEAKER_01: And uh thank you, and I'll talk to you next time.
48:42
SPEAKER_01: God bless.