You said the problem is protecting their quarterback in the pocket, you know?

Right.

No, I mean, it's...

As a head coach, as a general manager, and even an owner a little bit, especially for the head coach and the GM, you're responsible ultimately for making decisions that are in the best interest of the team.

And this decision, I'm sure, was not easy.

But those conversations go on.

It's in some ways no different than the trade decisions that are made this time of year.

What's your analysis of this game, Vikings and Lions?

That's something that you really can't put on a stat sheet.

Well, you mentioned Brian Dawkins.

I had the honor of coaching Brian at a young age, and I learned quite a bit from him, believe it or not.

Hopefully, I was able to impart some of my wisdom and knowledge on Brian.

But you're right.

Brian, when he was with the Eagles versus when he left, I remember the first year he was gone.

there was a major void in that locker room.

What say you, Sean?

That's something that you really can't put on a stat sheet.

Well, you mentioned Brian Dawkins.

I had the honor of coaching Brian at a young age, and I learned quite a bit from him, believe it or not.

Hopefully, I was able to impart some of my wisdom and knowledge on Brian.

But you're right.

Brian, when he was with the Eagles versus when he left, I remember the first year he was gone.

there was a major void in that locker room.

What say you, Sean?

... can be achieved in such a short amount of time, um, middle of the season?

Well, it's interesting.

Number one, I think it's, I think it's very valuable to have a senior type of assistant on your staff.

Um, if you don't have that, then you're gonna go, have to go like they've gone and gone outside, which you don't really wanna do because it's just, it's like anything else.

You throw a little bit of a pebble into a still pond and it's just gonna have some ripple whether you like it or not.

And Mike's a, Mike Patton's a tremendous coach.

He's been in, he's been in the seat Christian's in currently, um, and like you mentioned, they've coached together before.

Have you ever seen anything like it, Sean?

Do you ever cross paths with him, Sean? You

know, it's interesting.

I didn't really know Todd, well, I knew his work, but I had never really interacted with him.

And then, funny story, so he reaches out this past, I believe it was early March, and he was really curious about, my first team meeting in 2017 in buffalo and that's not something i've ever been asked before as a head coach in my nine seasons in buffalo or just a question that you know people are vulnerable enough to ask we get asked questions about scheme and leadership and so on and so forth but todd reached out and He wanted to know about my team meeting, my first team meeting, and he had heard about it and really how, you know, I connected the building and, you know, made sure everybody valued each and every department, not just the football departments.

And it really just struck me.

And this is not about me.

It's about Todd.

As a follow-up, are the Raiders for real at 3-0? Sean McDermott.

Do you pay attention as a coach to that extra stuff that goes on like Tim talked about like there's a lot of stuff that goes into an NFL game obviously NBA as well but going from stadium to stadium are you like we're going into Philly this weekend like I know they've got boom boom boom boom obviously Philadelphia Eagles fans that's a different story altogether but other place Bills Mafia right like that's an intimidating place for a lot of teams and places to go as coaches do you kind of take all that stuff in as well?

I think some coaches do, some more than others.

Maybe growing up in the business of football or sports, I came in, I got my start kind of on the business side.

And Tim started on the football side.

And then I went from the business side very quickly to the football side.

And then Tim went from the football side to the business side.

So we kind of switched places.

But I think we've also... professionalized it and now put certain pressures um that are probably you know gone too far and and we just need to you know kind of uh readjust a little bit on some of that what do you think

Oh, okay.

You know, you always hear about Sean.

I've, I've always heard, um, how good of a leader [thudding sound] Sean is and how well he connects with his team, both old and young.

And so I wanted to get a front row seat and watch him in training camp with his team and watch him move and how he operated in that space.

And I'll tell you one thing I took from it or the biggest thing I took from it was I asked every player that I came across or every staff member, whether it was a coach, equipment, uh, manager, trainer, personnel department, I said, "What makes Sean special?" And to a person they said his authenticity, Rich, and that just, it stood out to me.

And at one point I even walked on the other side of, of the practice field just so I could kind of get alone and just watch Sean move and how he was connecting, and it was just awesome to, to see, uh, really was.

And you know, these are guys, Sean, and the next one Ben, and then the last one is Mike Macdonald, Ben Johnson, Mike McDonald, like, these are guys that I wouldn't say are nec-were necessarily inside of my, my coaching circle, right? But what a fraternity coaching is to where these guys were willing to open their doors, uh, to me and share, share their wisdom.

[lips smack] And I'm wondering, what did you glean? What, what's his superpower in calling these plays and des- you know, designing his system, Sean?

Mm-hmm.

Luke picks it off, uh, returns it for a touchdown.

I think the next series we come out, uh, they try and go kind of an intermediate pass again.

Again, he picks it off.

So two back-to-back plays, and I'm sitting in the press box really just watching it and enjoying, um, the greatness unfold right in front of my eyes.

And, um, there's no, there's no question he's a Hall of Famer.

No question, um, one of the best linebackers to ever play the game, and, and not only a great pers- a great player, but a great person as well.

What are your memories and impressions of Aaron Rodgers the quarterback?

Are you happy, Tony? Are you ready? You happy? Why aren't you pleased with yourself? Because you should be.

Well, Jimmy, I gotta say, I'm gonna pay you a visit here coming up on Super Bowl week on Radio Row.

I had a charity auction, and I was the highest bidder.

I've already been in touch with Craig Kinden.

We are joined right now by Sean McDermott.

I would say I spent a couple minutes, uh, doing something that I've never done before, quite honestly, Jim.

Being able to take some time, enjoying the, the coast.

I walked, uh, to the beach and take in some of the surfing that was going on, and-

Mm-hmm.

Luke picks it off, uh, returns it for a touchdown.

I think the next series we come out, uh, they try and go kind of an intermediate pass again.

Again, he picks it off.

So two back-to-back plays, and I'm sitting in the press box really just watching it and enjoying, um, the greatness unfold right in front of my eyes.

And, um, there's no, there's no question he's a Hall of Famer.

No question, um, one of the best linebackers to ever play the game.

What are your memories and impressions of Aaron Rodgers the quarterback?

I'm curious, what was that like, and what was your biggest takeaway from your time with Sean McVay and his staff and that team?

Well, I really enjoyed it.

It's not often, uh, or it's never when you're coaching for 25-plus years that you get a chance, um, to go visit other people's training camps.

Um, sometimes we get a chance as pro coaches to spend time with some college coaches and maybe share some best practices with our colleagues in the league.

Um, but this was a rare opportunity for me to, to be around Sean, and I appreciate him opening up his doors, uh, to me.

And, um, I would say I spent a couple minutes, uh, doing something that I've never done before, quite honestly, Jim.

Going to the West Coast, not for a game this time, not walking into a stadium, um, but being able to take some time enjoying the, the coast and, uh, as well as the, the beach a little bit.

Are you looking to rest, recover, rejuvenate, or man, are you already on that mission to get as much data and information as you possibly can and get back as quickly as you can?

I'm curious, what was that like, and what was your biggest takeaway from your time with Sean McVay and his staff and that team?

Well, I really enjoyed it.

It's not often, uh, or it's never when you're coaching for 25-plus years that you get a chance, um, to go visit other people's training camps.

Um, sometimes we get a chance as pro coaches to spend time with some college coaches and maybe share some best practices with our colleagues in the league.

Um, but this was a rare opportunity for me to, to be around Sean, and I appreciate him opening up his doors, uh, to me.

And, um, I would say I spent a couple minutes, uh, doing something that I've never done before, quite honestly, Jim.

Going to the West Coast, not for a game this time, not walking into a stadium, um, but being able to take some time enjoying the, the coast and, uh, as well as the, the beach a little bit.

Are you looking to rest, recover, rejuvenate, or man, are you already on that mission to get as much data and information as you possibly can and get back as quickly as you can?

And my thoughts are, what was your feeling like when you clinched a playoff berth in your first year, and having to go through some of that adversity midseason?

Yeah, great question, Jason.

And, you know, 17-year playoff drought is a little bit unique or a lot unique because of the parity in our league.

So it was a challenge, but the team, the staff, the building overall – they were in it to be determined to break the streak or the drought, I guess you would say, right? So what a great example of People coming together for one purpose, one cause, one common cause, and really feeling a part of something bigger.

And we talked that season, especially at the beginning of that season and through some of those times that you're referencing, where we felt a five and five about really just this.

Hey, this could be the biggest turnaround in professional sports history ever.

the guys really bought into that and they wanted to do that.

Sure.

[laughs]

And, and I was, I was, uh, honored to be a part of his development and, you know, Josh and I have a great relationship and, and we will for forever.

And, and, uh, I love him, I really do, and, um, it's been fun to watch his growth on, on the field, off the field.

And, um, even when you go back to day one, you know, Brandon and I were in, in sync on, on Josh, uh, from day one, and, and to watch his, his, um, trajectory, if you will, over the years, it's just, it's been fascinating to watch, right? Um, for those that know him, like, like you and I, and then those that don't know him and can only see him on TV and how he plays the game and the type of teammate and competitor he is, so there's only gonna be ever one Josh Allen.

I think, you know, just overall the most important thing is you gotta have someone that is willing to be curious and work hard, right? So Josh, to his credit, the first year comes in and bang, he, this is what he wants to get done, this is what he wants to get done in the off, the first off-season.

The next year it was something else.

So he, he was always kind of, um, chipping away at his, his learning curve, if you will, and, and not only mentally in terms of the NFL game and what happens with NFL defenses, but also his physical technique and, and that's huge as it comes to spinning the ball and, and being accurate with the football.

Yeah

How do we do what you did?

Well, number one, there's probably only one Josh Allen, right? I was honored to be a part of his development.

And Josh and I have a great relationship, and we will forever.

And I love him.

I really do.

And it's been fun to watch his growth on the field, off the field.

And even when you go back to day one, you know, Brandon and I were in sync on Josh from day one.

I always have the same question, which is something that you learned about football from Andy Reid that you wouldn't have thought of if you never worked for him.

But you can touch on more right there.

Sure, and I, I think we'll talk about it a little bit later on, but we do have the BlueSync app.

That's your interface with the pump.

So that's, that can provide both the, the homeowner and the pool operator, the, or the pool professional with data about what's going on with the pool pump and the circulation.

So a couple of things that we do, if you're in constant flow or turnover mode, we allow you to set a, a maximum speed, or essentially set a dirty filter warning.

So within the app, you press a button, it reads the current RPM of the filter.

When that RPM goes 20% higher than that, and if it stays there for 24 hours, because again, conditions change, we don't want to alert you right away, but once it stays there for 24 hours, we're gonna tell whoever's looking at the app that they have a clogged filter and they need to clean it.

What went into testing and making sure that this is ready to go and, and the pool guys and gals aren't gonna be beta testers out there, basically?

Tell me a little bit about Keen to Be Green.

Yeah, so we've been constituted nearly two years now as a CIC, a community interest company, but we'd been going for maybe a year and a half, two years prior to that.

We sort of started it because of, uh, the climate crisis really, and that sort of we felt helpless in the sense that I think a lot of people feel helpless.

Uh, it's a very big [laughs] thing, and we're told we have to do so much and do this, where we were trying to do little bits, so we started our community apple press, and that was more about engaging people in waste and the understanding of local food as well.

And then it sort of grew from there, and a lot of, like, what we do is about connecting people to their local environment through wildlife and food.

So it's all linked together.

And, um, I, I'm also a gardener as my day job, so do you know k- [laughs] being outdoors, I know the benefit of it and just connecting people.

Who will be coming to this site to see the bee bank and the ponds, and to maybe get involved with some of the growing?

Mm-hmm.

But having said that, um, it's also an opportunity, um, to, to, to respond, right? And respond in a way that my kids can, can learn from, right? And when you go through something, um, like that's adverse in your life, how do you respond to it? And so- We're attacking it head on.

It's, it's a great opportunity for us this year to take a step back and say, "Hey, um, how do we wanna grow? How do we wanna approach this, this, this year as a, as a family as well, and, and the time that we wanna spend together?" But also, um, let's attack this thing head on and let's come back stronger than, than we were even in Buffalo.

Mm-hmm

... skin cancer myself.

It's something that has run in my family, in our history.

Um, and then Jim Johnson, right? So the, the, the late and, and great legendary defensive coordinator for the Eagles years ago, I worked with for 10 years, and, and Jim passed, uh, due to s- uh, his battle with skin cancer.

And so, um, you know, it's, it's, it's important that we as, uh, uh, people who are getting out, especially this time of year in the late spring months into the summer, going out for a walk, you're doing yard work, you're coaching.

Mm-hmm.

But having said that, um, it's also an opportunity, um, to, to, to respond, right? And respond in a way that my kids can, can learn from, right? And when you go through something, um, like that's adverse in your life, how do you respond to it? And so we're attacking it head-on.

It's, it's a great opportunity for us this year to take a step back and say, "Hey, um, how do we wanna grow? How do we wanna approach this, this, this year as a, as a family as well, and, and the time that we wanna spend together? But also, um, let's attack this thing head-on, and let's come back stronger than, than we were even in Buffalo."

Mm-hmm.

It's something that has run in my family, in our history.

Um, and then Jim Johnson, right? So the, the, the late and, and great legendary defensive coordinator for the Eagles years ago, I worked with for 10 years, and, and Jim passed, uh, due to s- uh, his battle with skin cancer.

And so, um, you know, it's, it's, it's important that we as, uh, uh, people who are getting out, especially this time of year in the late spring months into the summer, going out for a walk, you're doing yard work, you're coaching.

A lot of these coaches are gonna be taking the field out here with their teams, respective teams, in a cou- in a couple of weeks, and that, that we use sunblock, right?