What are some of the things you do with yourself and how do you face adversity? How do you overcome it?

Yeah, I think another one of those things a long time ago, tough times don't last, tough people do.

You know, and it's like watching my mom and my dad They were sick, but they never missed work, you know, and somehow they paid the bills.

Somehow we had what we needed to have to be able to play sports and go to school and do everything we needed.

And it's like watching my dad walk that picket line and, you know, what are we eating this week? And those are real times.

Adversity in sports, I think kids today are They're handing all these participation trophies and all this stuff.

And, hey, losing, don't worry about losing.

What's some advice you got there, Coach?

I've moved her

20 times.

And no more, that's for sure.

I mean, hey, you can't blame her for that, right? But every time, you know, it was around Christmas, four years in a row.

And I had to walk in my daughter's room and say, baby, we're moving.

You get fired? Yeah, we got fired.

Ninth grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade, I left, she stayed.

When you walked off the field, those toughest battles of your career, which coach made you think the hardest? Who was the toughest to play against?

I'm just curious, now watching from afar, is there anything that you've learned about the game watching through a different lens? Maybe it's tendencies of an offense or how certain teams are operating.

I think the biggest thing is the referees are just as bad as I thought they were.

I think that was the biggest off season move for the entire NFL was getting that contract down with them and making them more accountable to the league.

And, uh, but yeah, I think knowing so many of these guys and so many of these coaches are so young now.

And, uh, that's my biggest concern with the hiring process is, you know, guys are not ready to be a play caller and a head coach for the first time.

Very, very few can do that.

It's a hard job, man.

What are your thoughts on Kenneth Gainwell coming to Tampa Bay and how he can help that running back room?

Like, what- where do you lean when it comes to these guys who are unproven, but there, there's a lot of kind of smoke and fire behind their names right now?

Yeah, I...

You'd have to deep dive, because are they really doing it? Are they in front of the room putting it in, or is the offensive coordinator putting it in? Uh, if you haven't called plays, and all of a sudden you're gonna be a head coach play caller, that's a lot for somebody.

I mean, that's just a hell of a, a big jump, and, uh, very, very few guys have been successful at it.

Now, if you're gonna hire a young guy, and he's gonna hire an offensive coordinator, uh, to be in front of the room all the time and put it in and call the plays, that's a different story, and you're just gonna oversee it.

But, uh, yeah, I, I'm not a fan.

Uh, I, I've seen 10 head coaching jobs open, and I don't know who the hell's gonna get them.

What has separated the great quarterbacks over time in these- in this point of the year?

Like, a lot of these guys are gonna be ass head coaches, right? Isn't that kind of how we should look at it? How do they get it right? How do they get it wrong, in your eyes, whenever you're doing the hiring process?

Yeah, I, I think it's very, very, uh, interesting to see who owners listen to, you know? Uh, is it the general manager? Is it buddies, [chuckles] that they have business with, and, uh, sometimes have no damn clue what football is all about? You know, they just sell cars or something else.

But, uh, you know, it, uh, it's hard.

Uh, when you look at these young coordinators, uh, some haven't called plays.

They're just quarterback coaches, now you're expecting them to be the head coach and the play caller? I think that's extremely, extremely hard for somebody to do the first year.

Uh, some guys, like, go call plays for a while, and then become a head coach.

Uh, but I think this cycle is gonna be all about re, rehiring ex-head coaches.

Instead of calling a car salesman around town that they're friends with or their golfing buddy, what would you say is required to be a good head coach? What is the trait that needs to be, needs to happen?

Yeah, BA, when you're, uh, evaluating these quarterbacks coming out of college, I guess what was your, uh, what was your formula, or how did you do it? Did that change over the course of your time in the NFL, how you tried to, I guess, predict success in the NFL for these guys?

Yeah, for me it wa- you know, I didn't like comparing people, but I loved comparing measurables, and what a guy, who a guy might remind me of.

Um, you know, uh, when...

I did it for like 20 years, and you know, I'd love to sit down with them individually and get 'em on the board, talk to 'em about hots, blitzes, tell me about your offense.

Now if a guy can put his up- up there and explain to me what are you gonna do versus cover two, what do you do versus this blitz, I wanna hear how you handle it.

Then we're gonna put our offense up on the board.... and talk, talk to them about it.

And then out in the middle of the workout, I might walk up and say, "Okay, this man, man protection, here comes a weak safety, how you gonna handle it?" (laughs) And the best two I've ever seen were Andrew Luck and Patrick Mahomes.

You know, BA? That feels like that's the biggest deal.

... you're a Super Bowl champion for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I guess they've been ass for a long time, AQ.

Yeah, that's crazy.

I went with the Cardinals because I saw the stat the other week where, you know, Carson Palmer's the winningest all-time quarterback and he was only there for a couple years, so I just figured-

He has a final word for you here.

Thank you, Dan.

I needed that.

We talked before the show.

You came through for me.

Is there a way to address that? Like how do you even-

Yeah, if you go back to the Bucs, when the Bucs were in the Green Bay division and they could never win when it was under 40 degrees, and all of a sudden, they broke that one and they go win a Super Bowl, you know, and they win the playoffs.

So, it's just a matter of mindset, you know.

You, you know what you got.

And I thought the Dolphins came out electric.

Uh, you know, they're running the ball.

They're tackling as good as I've seen any secondary tackle, you know.

Your thoughts on ending the season with mo- momentum.

What do the... 'Cause he's gonna be a free agent after this year, what is the standard operating procedure here you think for the Colts or for Danny Dimes?

Yeah, I think for some teams, I look back at the Bucs, and we re-signed Chris Godwin with his injury, and, uh, well, 'cause we knew what we had.

You know, I think the Colts know what they have, and I, I would be willing now to be a bargain basement price on another one-year deal.

But if they're smart they'll get him signed quickly.

What are your thoughts on the NFC South? Who's gonna punch the ticket to go into the playoffs?

Yeah, I think the Bucs are getting healthier, but that was a bad, bad loss.

I, I did not like the energy that they showed up with, starting with the opening kickoff, running it back 60 yards, whatever it was, and, you know, this, the Bucs were just not there.

And, uh, but, you know, they've got the Panthers twice and I think that'll be the telltale sign.

Bruce, you got a good one?

Yeah, the half, right? Yeah, I think it was about maybe 1:15, maybe 1:20, right before half, and we had the lead, and- and the Super Bowl, and Tom comes over, "You got 80 yards to go," and, uh, "Hey, we're just gonna- we're just gonna take it real easy, right?" 'Cause I said, "Heck no, man.

We're, you know, we're gonna be very smart with the ball, but if you get a shot to Mike, take it." And of course he takes a Mike shot and gets a PI, gets another PI, we get a touchdown.

And uh, you know, it's like that one and the one up in Green Bay (laughs) with uh, with about six seconds left, I got pissed off, called timeout.

Uh, "We ain't punting," and uh, Byron Leftwich called a jewel.

And uh, Tom looked at him and said, "This is gonna work, man." (laughs) They're gonna squat on it, and he throws that touchdown to Scotty Miller up in Green Bay right before the half.

So I think the half of both of those games determined those games.

Mm-hmm.

... what has Drake Maye done last year vers' this year or this year vers' last year, uh, and what have you seen out of this guy who's an MVP favorite in his first year in an offensive system in his second year, uh, in the NFL?

Yeah, he was my number one guy coming out that year because he had a, he had all the measurables.

He could do it all and obviously Clyde and I have been together a long, long time.

But, uh, yeah, he's, he is, uh, he's in a different system.

He's got Josh McDaniels.

Uh, not be li- belittling the other guys that coached him m- the year before, but now they're more quarterback people.

And, uh, th- he's got a great system now.

But if he was going to another building, for you, what did you experience whenever you go to a new place?

Why is that? And, and what do you think the conversation is about Dak Prescott as quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys?

Yeah, it'd have to be inconsistency with the group.

You know, the offensive line, 'cause Dak can light it up, uh, and he's one of the best leaders there is, but he can still spin it, and with Pickens and C.D. and William, th- he got, they got weapons.

Ferguson.

It's gotta be up front.

You know, there's games where they can't protect him, and the defense is getting better, but they haven't been able to hold onto any leads either.

Good point.

... with three tight ends and you got the best young back in the, in the league maybe, um, it's gotta, it's gotta be up front.

That's a tough decision, though.

I mean, yeah.

And it certainly makes sense.

Some of those, uh, decisions are kinda out of our pay grade in the locker room.

But being in that locker room, when you see how the offense is rolling (laughs), how it's moving with Jacobi under center, running the show, uh, I'm sure offensive players for sure, but even the whole team, defensive players, special teams, it's just different.

And yes, it's their first win, uh, with him under the helm.

But yeah, it, it'll be a big decision, as far as keeping that locker room together.

History will be made.

Yeah.

But if you can't referee the play, the play's gotta get out of the game.

And obviously they can't referee this play anymore.

Between all the false starts, the offsides, and this ridiculous play that, that they, forward progress was stopped.

They're all going forward.

He's reaching forward when they take the ball away.

It...

What are your thoughts on Carson Wentz the quarterback as a whole? Obviously he has a Super Bowl ring, but those types of guys that every play is like, 100 or zero, how do you kind of manage that?

Yeah.

You can't just be long.

You gotta be able to stop people from the bull rush.

It starts with the bull rush, then you gotta be athletic enough to take all their moves on.

And (laughs) it's a very hard position to play.

Um, when you look at the draft a couple years ago when Tristan Wirfs came out, there were like four really good tackles.

And we're like, "Hey, we're going to get one." And (laughs) we made sure we went up and got Tristan Wirfs and it changed our whole team.

how, and how would you handle it if you were-

H- how have you seen him operate that most coaches, like, kind of look and, I don't want to say give a shout-out to, but, like, respect at the way he's doing it?

Yeah, I think it started with his first press conference when he goes, "Bite your kneecaps off" [laughs] And he set the tone that this is how the Detroit Lions are gonna play.

And that's how he lives, and the team embraced it.

And, uh, I never thought I'd see anybody go into Baltimore on a big night and, and beat 'em up, and they beat 'em up, and that's Dan Campbell.

I mean, uh, his personality personifies everything about this whole organization now, and the team.

The guys rally around him.

Jared Goff's playing fantastic.

Is it that easy to, like, kind of fix some things, bring in some new pieces, or what are your thoughts on the culture changing as drastically as it seemingly has with Indianapolis?

Yep.

We were just...

Tom was there for the first time and learning our way as we went week to week, you know, and uh...

But in the past it's sort of like, break it down into four segments.

Try to go three and one, three and one, three and one.

If you win 12, you're gonna win.

You're gonna have home field advantage and just b- break it down that way and keep it in those four quarters and uh, injuries happen and other things happen and you gotta readjust and adjust 'cause it's...

Is that something to think about or is that just what Harbaugh's always like, you think?

What's a big takeaway for you?

Uh, all of those things.

And I am right with BA.

Uh, I think I, I want him to be fixed and I think he will be fixed.

And if you look at his la- his rookie year and his numbers, they weren't terrible.

Obviously, he got sacked, that's the number that stands out the most being sacked 68 times, but didn't turn the ball over a ton.

He has the skillset and the fact that, uh, Ben Johnson is the head coach and he's also the play caller.

He was everywhere.

What are you talking about?

Because I think Scotty would be a good head coach because he's Sean he's an offensive guy, first of all.

His dad was ultimate defensive coach.

I worked for his dad and her- head coached the running backs and, uh, my son and Sean he were ball boys together.

But I think he'll be a hell of a head coach.

But he's been around really good ones.

He saw it since he was this tall.

Was it always that way or, or was this like something that just changed mightily or something?

Jim was special, and I, uh, I appreciate you potentially, or I potentially, uh, appreciate you coming on and sharing some sentiments with the people.

Oh, you bet.

I mean, the guy was just, just so special.

I mean, I wa- I was blown away by the, the tweets and- and everything that went out by the former players.

Uh, I think that just tells you what Jim was all about.

Um, this was at his birthday party a couple years ago here at Lake Oconee, and he (laughs) invited me over.

We had a great night, and, uh, you know, he, he, uh...

Not a lot of humans.