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Is Fired Dallas Cowboys Coach Mike McCarthy The Right Fit For New Orleans Saints? · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 1: dot org. Golf dot Breck dot org. Thanks. You're looking
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  Speaker 1: for a coach, Mike McCarthy's on the market. A lot
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  Speaker 1: of people seem to think McCarthy will be a fit
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  Speaker 1: in New Orleans, and a lot of fans don't seem
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  Speaker 1: to think that's a good idea. So I figured, let's
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  Speaker 1: go see if we can roll up our sleeves, dig deep,
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  Speaker 1: and find out more about McCarthy and the narratives around him.
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  Speaker 1: David Hellman discovered Cowboys for a long time Fox Sports. Now,
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  Speaker 1: right's about the NFL and the Cowboys. Unless you, alum,
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  Speaker 1: shout out and good enough to hang out with us
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  Speaker 1: here for a couple of minutes. Hey man, how are you?
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  Speaker 2: What's up? Brother? It's always good to hear from you man,
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  Speaker 2: I'm good.
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  Speaker 1: It's our pleasure, thank you. What was your reaction to
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  Speaker 1: Mike mc arthy's ouster in Dallas. Let's start there.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the actual ouster not very surprising, just because
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  Speaker 2: it's one of the most overplayed storylines in the NFL
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  Speaker 2: this year. I mean, we knew from the time they
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  Speaker 2: lost in the playoffs last year that he wasn't gonna
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  Speaker 2: get his contract renewed, and the whole lame duck thing
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  Speaker 2: like it was very easy to see coming. As usual,
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  Speaker 2: the Cowboys can just never make up their minds. It's
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  Speaker 2: always got to be dramatic. You know, he'd won enough
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  Speaker 2: games without Dak Prescott that you kind of were wondering
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  Speaker 2: if they were going to pull the trigger, like, oh,
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  Speaker 2: maybe he saved his job, maybe he didn't. And of
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  Speaker 2: course they delayed for an extra week, which was very weird.
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  Speaker 2: So all of that was strange but par for the
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  Speaker 2: course for the Cowboys. But in terms of him actually
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  Speaker 2: losing his job when twelve and five and going one
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  Speaker 2: and done in the playoffs isn't good enough for an extension,
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  Speaker 2: you kind of see this coming. When the team goes
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  Speaker 2: seven to ten, is the.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm sure you you see this,
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  Speaker 1: but there's just a lot of criticism of Mike McCarthy.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe that's just part and parcel with being the Cowboys coach,
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  Speaker 1: which you would know well covering that team for so long.
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  Speaker 1: But is is the perception of Mike McCarthy fair and warranted?
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's a great question, and to okay, let's
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  Speaker 2: let's let's start here. I always I say this too much,
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  Speaker 2: but two things can be true. Do I think Mike
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  Speaker 2: McCarthy is like the best coach, the best available option
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  Speaker 2: on this hiring market for teams that need a head coach. No,
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  Speaker 2: but I absolutely think Mike McCarthy gets an unfair rep
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  Speaker 2: And honestly, like, I think it could be as easy
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  Speaker 2: as because he's a hefty guy and because he's kind
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  Speaker 2: of gruff in front of a microphone. He's not the
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  Speaker 2: most polished dude. He's a he's a guy from Pittsburgh
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  Speaker 2: who looks like you'd sidle up to him at the
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  Speaker 2: neighborhood bar. I think it's that simple, because I mean, look,
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  Speaker 2: it didn't end well. Dallas and the Cowboys' performances in
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  Speaker 2: the playoffs were bad, and Mike McCarthy deserves criticism for that,
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  Speaker 2: but he won twelve games three years in a row
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  Speaker 2: with a Cowboys team that had not been able to
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  Speaker 2: sustain success for twenty years before that. I mean, when
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  Speaker 2: they made it back to back times, it was the
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  Speaker 2: first time they had done that since Bill Parcells was
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  Speaker 2: in Dallas, and it was the first time they made
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  Speaker 2: the playoffs three years in a row since the Super
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  Speaker 2: Bowl days, and everybody just kind of glosses over that. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: he didn't do what he was hired to do. I
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  Speaker 2: get that we can criticize Mike McCarthy, but I do
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  Speaker 2: think people act like he just did a terrible job.
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  Speaker 2: And for all the valid criticisms, I never thought that
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  Speaker 2: was fair.
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  Speaker 1: Are the playoff shortcomings both in Dallas and Green Bay?
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  Speaker 1: Which green Bay maybe to a lesser extent because I'm
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  Speaker 1: not sure how familiar you are with that. But are
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  Speaker 1: those playoff failures Do you lay them at the feet
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  Speaker 1: of Mike McCarthy the narrator that he is just not
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  Speaker 1: a good playoff coach?
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  Speaker 2: I think some yes. I mean, look, I'm not an
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  Speaker 2: expert on Green Bay's playoff failures, but I remember vividly
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  Speaker 2: I was actually talking to our Buddy Luke Johnson about
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  Speaker 2: this this morning. I mean the twenty fourteen NFT title
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  Speaker 2: game collapsed. Yeah, so yeah, yeah. I mean you go
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  Speaker 2: from like up ten with two minutes to play to
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  Speaker 2: losing that game. I mean that's unforgivable and that has
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  Speaker 2: to fall at the fee of the head coach. Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: There are other times though, where I don't think it's
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  Speaker 2: necessarily on him. I mean they just as a whole team,
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  Speaker 2: they weren't ready to play against Green Bay last year.
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  Speaker 2: I think that falls just as much on dan Quinn, honestly.
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  Speaker 2: I mean Dallas's defense was atrocious in that game. Dan
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  Speaker 2: Quinn was the overseer of all of that side of
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  Speaker 2: the ball. Mike is primarily involved with offensive things. I
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  Speaker 2: think there's enough blame to go with dan Quinn there.
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  Speaker 2: I think Dak Prescott has a significant hand in that.
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  Speaker 2: I think bad luck is part of it as well.
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  Speaker 2: I mean two years ago, or I guess three years
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  Speaker 2: ago at this point, the second time they lost to
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  Speaker 2: the forty nine ers, they lost two starters to injury
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  Speaker 2: in the same game, and they just weren't the same
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  Speaker 2: group by the end of the game as they were
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  Speaker 2: at the beginning. So it's a long winded way of
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  Speaker 2: saying Mike McCarthy definitely deserves blame for some of the
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  Speaker 2: playoff failings, but again, to throw it all of all
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  Speaker 2: of it on him, I don't think that's right.
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  Speaker 1: David Hellman's here Fox Sports on Twitter at David Hellman
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  Speaker 1: underscore go give them follocker for the Cowboys. Covers the
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  Speaker 1: NFL and the Cowboys. Now knows a lot about that organization. Which,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, if you probably get asked us a bunch,
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  Speaker 1: what's it like covering Jerry Jones and the Cowboys every day?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's an overused word, but it's a circus,
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  Speaker 2: and I think Jerry said it himself, which I mean,
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  Speaker 2: this just proves my point. They're advertising a Netflix documentary
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  Speaker 2: about Jerry, and you know, the word on the the
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  Speaker 2: word on the street is that if they were to
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  Speaker 2: hire Dion Sanders, they would probably you know, farm that
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  Speaker 2: out to a company to make a TV show about
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  Speaker 2: as well. It is a it is a twenty four
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  Speaker 2: to seven three sixty five soap opera. It is a
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  Speaker 2: blessing and a curse. I mean, you and I, you
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  Speaker 2: and I both know it's always nice to know that
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  Speaker 2: you're going to have something to talk about. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: Jerry speaks publicly three times a week, nine months out
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  Speaker 2: of the year, which is great, but it's also it's exhausting.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, I moved, I moved up to a
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  Speaker 2: more national role, and I moved out to LA and
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  Speaker 2: I miss a lot of things about covering the Cowboys,
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  Speaker 2: but I don't miss always being stressed out about what's
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  Speaker 2: going to come out of his mouth.
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  Speaker 1: Mickey Loomis speaks three times a year, and that's nauseating.
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  Speaker 2: So it's so funny, Matt, Like, you know, every time
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  Speaker 2: you know beat writers get together, you chat with the
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  Speaker 2: people that cover other teams and'll, you know Luke Johnson again,
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  Speaker 2: Like when I talk to my friends that cover the Saints,
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  Speaker 2: They're like, I wish our general manager talked that often.
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  Speaker 2: We our jobs would be so much easier. And I'm like,
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  Speaker 2: I wish our general manager shut the hell up and
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  Speaker 2: I could relax a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: Context. I guess, hey, MICHAEH. Parsons, I use the word
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  Speaker 1: devastated when talking about Mike McCarthy not being batter in Dallas.
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  Speaker 1: What was I mean? I think that speaks volumes, but
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  Speaker 1: what was the relationship, like with McCarthy and the players.
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  Speaker 2: So I think it's a good thing and I think
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  Speaker 2: it's and it can be a bad thing if we
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  Speaker 2: want to find some things to criticize about Mike McCarthy,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, on the on the good side of things,
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  Speaker 2: he's a players coach. The locker rooms like him for
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  Speaker 2: the most part. And you've seen twice the Cowboys lost
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  Speaker 2: Dak Prescott to injury early in two different seasons in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty and just this past year, and both times
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  Speaker 2: McCarthy was able to rally depleted teams to not good records,
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  Speaker 2: but good finishes. You know, the Cowboys went four and
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  Speaker 2: three down the stretch. They beat Washington, they almost beat Cincinnati,
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  Speaker 2: and they did the same thing in twenty twenty, Like
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  Speaker 2: despite not having Dak. They were playing for the division
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  Speaker 2: title in the last week of the twenty twenty season,
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  Speaker 2: which n sucked that year, but they were still playing
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  Speaker 2: for a playoff spot. So his players like him. His
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  Speaker 2: players play for him. Now, I would argue part of
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  Speaker 2: the reason for that is that he goes easy on him.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: I like Mike McCarthy is very hip to uh. You know,
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  Speaker 2: he keeps track of guys like, you know, GPS numbers,
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  Speaker 2: how hard they're running at practice, how much they're running
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  Speaker 2: at practice. He's the type of coach that's going to
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  Speaker 2: try to keep guys off their feet. You're probably not
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  Speaker 2: going to get the hell beat out of you playing
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  Speaker 2: for Mike McCarthy. And I'm sure a lot of fans
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  Speaker 2: don't like that. They're like, oh, you know, we're not
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  Speaker 2: We're not going to be battle tested, We're not going
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  Speaker 2: to be tough enough for the playoffs. And given the
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  Speaker 2: way the Cowboys have played in the playoffs, and maybe
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  Speaker 2: that's a fair criticism, but his players like him for it.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, having having the locker room, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the team having your back, I guess isn't a bad thing.
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  Speaker 1: With whatever little or a lot you know about the Saints,
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  Speaker 1: do you think Mike McCarthy would be a good fit
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  Speaker 1: in New Orleans?
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  Speaker 2: You know what's really funny, uh, you know, I got
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  Speaker 2: to know Mike decently well during the time I was there,
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  Speaker 2: and I vividly remember talking to him about like destrahand
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  Speaker 2: because he was living out there at the time that
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  Speaker 2: he was the OC back in you know whatever, fifteen
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  Speaker 2: twenty years ago, and he really liked the area, like
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  Speaker 2: he like when he found out that's where I was from,
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  Speaker 2: he just wouldn't stop talking about it. He really liked it.
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  Speaker 2: So I think he likes the city. I think he
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  Speaker 2: likes the area. Obviously he's got some familiarity with the
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  Speaker 2: structure in New Orleans. And here's the thing. I said
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  Speaker 2: the same thing about the Cowboys, Like, obviously the goal
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  Speaker 2: is to win the Super Bowl, and I can't guarantee
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  Speaker 2: you Mike McCarthy's going to do that. But I see
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  Speaker 2: the Saints in a similar vein as what I saw
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  Speaker 2: the Cowboys five years ago. Is like Mike McCarthy can
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  Speaker 2: absolutely come in and raise the floor of that team.
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  Speaker 2: Like Mike McCarthy could could stabilize things. You'd have a
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  Speaker 2: competent offense. He would probably make a good hire on
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  Speaker 2: the defensive side of the ball. I think there would
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  Speaker 2: be stability and predictability there. I think it's hard to
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  Speaker 2: say for sure with the quarterback situation in New Orleans,
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  Speaker 2: but like I think Mike McCarthy could get the Saints
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  Speaker 2: to the playoffs in a year or two. But what
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  Speaker 2: happens beyond that, I don't know, And so I think
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  Speaker 2: it's hard to get people excited about a coach where
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  Speaker 2: you're like, yeah, you'll probably be pretty good. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know if you'll win a super Bowl, but after what
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  Speaker 2: the Saints have been through since since Sean Payton departed,
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe stabilities what they need. So maybe not
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  Speaker 2: the most exciting hire you could make, but but I
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  Speaker 2: don't think it would go poorly.
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  Speaker 1: At least sounds like a glass of water in a
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  Speaker 1: in an arid region. That's I mean, like, hell, I
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  Speaker 1: take it, I kind of. I mean I'd almost feel
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  Speaker 1: like that's the like mana from heaven perhaps.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, like, you know, Cowboy fans say that all
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  Speaker 2: the time. I get it. It's been thirty years since
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  Speaker 2: the Cowboys have won a Super Bowl. But it can
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  Speaker 2: be a hell of a lot worse than not getting
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  Speaker 2: to the NFC Championship game. It can be much worse
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  Speaker 2: than that, So I get it. The goal is to
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  Speaker 2: win championships, but you got to be careful what you
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  Speaker 2: wish for too.
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  Speaker 1: David Hellman on Twitter x at David Hellman Underscore, Fox
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  Speaker 1: Sports covers the Cowboys, covers the NFL. Give him a follow.
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  Speaker 1: Always appreciate it, man, Thank you for the
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  Speaker 2: Time anytime man Go Tigers,