The Pomp And Joe Show
Big Ben likes the McCarthy hire, Steelers hire new offensive line coach
29 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What are the implications of Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame candidacy?
All right, Bob, this very odd squaring off, it seems, to get into the Hall of Fame between Bill Belichick and people who want to vote for L.C. Greenwood. I mean, that's what this writer from Kansas City basically said it came down to, the three senior guys, Roger Craig, Ken Anderson, and L.C. Greenwood or Belichick.
And this writer felt like if I don't vote for these senior guys, they're never going to get in.
belichick will that put a little bit of a new twist on it for me now i still think there's a lot of petty jealousy i think bill polian uh was a problem here obviously belichick is a first ballot hall of famer but the process is screwing this up maybe just as much or more than um these petty ignorant voters so a couple calls on that let's go to him all right let's start with tony and butler to chime in hey tony
Hey, good afternoon guys. I was just wondering your opinion on something. Like I get it that there's journalists voting on this, which not that I don't respect the media or general, but why don't we have that committee comprised of X players? and coaches.
There are a bunch of them on there. Yeah, it's a mixture of all of them. Bunches of ex-players and coaches. Everybody from Dan Fouts to Tony Dungy, Bill Polian, a former executive. So it's about half writers and half just the people you're talking about.
Okay, well, another question. Don't you think they should have a separate ballot for coaches and a separate ballot for players? That way we don't run into this problem where, like you guys are saying, Elsie Greenwood, 100%, should be voted for, but if they have to pick between a coach and a player, I don't think that's fair. I think they should have their own ballots
So that way you're putting some players in, you're putting some coaches in, but they're not competing against each other. I think that's a very good idea. I think there should be a builder slash coach category and then just strictly a player category. And you can still limit the size of each if you want, but you don't put them up against one another because, quite frankly, it's very difficult.
I mean, how do you say that Robert Kraft shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame? given the fact there have been other builders and owners who are in it.
Good point. Of course.
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Chapter 2: Why does Ben Roethlisberger support the Mike McCarthy hire?
I mean, Joe Brady is just getting panned in Buffalo.
Yeah, but the owner should be getting it, right?
Of course, always. That's always where it starts. And then Munkin. My God, are they a joke. What a blessing for the Steelers to have that franchise in the same division.
And what you've done is just really irritated Jim Schwartz now, who may be forcing himself out.
Why didn't they just promote him? Why didn't they just keep Stefanski and get a quarterback for him? Although Shadur Sanders did make the Pro Bowl, Bob.
Why didn't Rodgers make it if they were going to choose another quarterback?
Good point. I mean, the chances of him going were zero.
Well, that's not the point. The point is you have to announce somebody, right?
I don't know. There's not even a Pro Bowl. There's no game. Let's hear some clips. Oh, another call or clips? Yeah, let's go to John in South Park. Hey, John. What's up, John? Have you ever played South Park, Bob?
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Chapter 3: How does Mike McCarthy's coaching history influence his new role?
Will Howard guy. Will Howard guy. Will Howard guy.
I'm really excited about Will Howard.
All right, let's compare those two. The first is a caller saying, I'm a Will Howard guy. I'm a Will Howard guy. And the second is McCarthy.
I'm real excited about Will Hart.
Play those back-to-back repeatedly for Bob, and we'll get Bob to judge this.
I'm a Will Hart guy. I'm a Will Hart guy. I'm a Will Hart guy.
I'm real excited about Will Hart. I'm real excited about Will Hart.
I like McCarthy's better. Might be better. It's a legit Yinzer accent.
Oh, it's unbelievable.
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Chapter 4: What are the expectations for the Steelers' offensive strategy under McCarthy?
I think we finally have an offensive-minded coach in here. I'm so excited for an offensive-minded coach because I think we have to score more than six points in a playoff game. Mike McCarthy has a great track record. Are we sure that we want a young guy that's unproven?
I like the six points in a playoff game. Both of these guys are in favor of the hire for the offensive side of the ball, Bob, which has been a common theme.
And I think that is a legitimate common theme because it's true. They need more ingenuity on offense, and they've got to figure out a way to do it. And he's very confident, Mike McCarthy is, about what he can do by play calling, by designing. I'm going to be very curious who the offensive coordinator is because they're still going to, I think, hire one.
What is the job of that person if he's not calling plays?
Well, I heard Pat Bostic talking about that today, coordinating practices for one thing, implementing a game plan for another, making it so that McCarthy's job is easy, and probably also diving in on some of the scheme with his own ideas.
With his own ideas and sequencing off and making suggestions, right?
Yeah, like a guy like Brian Schottenheimer was under McCarthy and wound up being a head coach even though he wasn't calling plays, right?
Yeah.
Yes.
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Chapter 5: Who is James Campen and what will he bring to the Steelers' offensive line?
Because he's passionate about being here. He wants to bring a Lombardi trophy here to Pittsburgh. And he's a lightweight quarterback whisperer. A lightweight quarterback whisperer.
Yeah, I don't know. Is that a compliment from Charlie? A lightweight quarterback whisperer?
I think it was, but a little bit of an undertone to that, I guess. A lightweight quarterback whisperer.
Yeah, everything was good there until that. Listen, he's been around. He knows how to get it done, and I do agree with Charlie that When you have a coach who's been around, he has a lot of connections. He's going to take people who he knows, who he trusts, people who would complement what he believes. So I'm sure you're already seeing some of that go on right now.
Well, we are on the other side of the ball. A guy who worked for McCarthy in 2018 is Patrick Graham. Uh-oh.
And I have another coaching staff edition for you. Holy bird milk. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports is saying that the Steelers are set to hire veteran offensive line coach James Campin. Another guy who has worked with McCarthy. Correct, in Green Bay.
Thank you, Limits.
I would expect that, right?
Well, let's talk about Graham because probably after Tyler Kennedy, that was the lead. So let's get to it because Jerry Dulac reporting that they're closing in on Patrick Graham.
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Chapter 6: What challenges does Patrick Graham face as the new defensive coordinator?
Bob, whatever excuses or explanations we want to make for him, he's not arriving here with a Sterling NFL resume.
He's just not. I also think there are circumstances to everything. As I told you yesterday, my thing would have been, regardless of 4-3-3-4, because I think we both know that you very seldom play your base defense, just I don't know how much percentage of the time. I would, since Schwartz is a little unhappy, I would have tried to pursue that and see where that goes.
I really would have because I respect what that guy has done no matter where he's been. He's had a good defense, it seems, or at least he knows. I'd be begging him and trying to make some type of deal with the Browns, but I don't know if he's going to get out of there. I wouldn't care that he was with the Browns. Now, maybe the Browns will say, no, you're not talking to him.
At some point, Bush will come to shove. If he doesn't want to be there because he's upset with his defense.
There's no way they'd let him go to Pittsburgh.
Well, they made some stupid decisions before. That's true. They traded a quarterback in the middle of a game in the middle of a season to another team that affected Pittsburgh. Who knows what they're capable of doing?
His two Giants defenses, if anybody's interested, he did have a top 10 scoring defense, Patrick Graham. in 2020, and then the next year they ballooned up to 23. So this much we know about him. In raw numbers, the defenses he's run have not been good, period. There may be way more to the story.
Like you said, there is a lot of the time, and he may be a great defensive coordinator waiting to happen, but he's walking into a situation where while there's talent, A lot of it, or at least a good portion of it, is aging. You have Cam Hayward. You have TJ Watt. You have Jalen Ramsey. Those are three key players right now on this team.
I don't know what they're going to do with Ramsey, but that's one guy at each level who's really, really important who's getting up there. You do have some pretty good young talent too, though. I think you have a lot of young talent.
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Chapter 7: How does the Steelers' coaching staff compare to previous years?
that could be added to the staff. It seems like McCarthy is just adding a bunch of his buddies that he's worked with before that he's familiar with. And it just fits into the Steelers' system and scheme and everything that's gone on in the last couple of weeks where they're just seeking comfort and they're seeking what they already know and not going out and trying to add new ideas.
How about a Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator in Raheem Morris? He was the Rams guy when they beat the Bengals. I mean, the Bengals did some work in that game, but it was 23-20.
I thought he would be hired by now. He's another guy who at least has a bigger resume and a more successful one. But I understand coaches who know guys they've been with. He's not going to change his system of how he does business. He wants people who know it so that they can implement it quicker and make the transition faster, I guess.
I think I'd go for a proven guy if I were him. because some of Mike McCarthy's seasons have ended in horror because his defense got shredded. The year after they beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl, they lost to the Giants as an eight-point favorite in the first round, giving up 37 points. The next year, they gave up 45 to the Niners.
The last time we saw a McCarthy team, they were giving up 48 to the Packers. Go out and get a guy who's won a Super Bowl. Get Raheem Morris in here.
Yeah, especially if his plan is just to let that guy do the thing that he has to do. If you're just going to turn it over to somebody, then get the best one you can find. So, yeah, here's what I would say.
If the rationale, if you're a big Mike McCarthy guy, is he's been there and done that, and you want to have a proven track record. Okay, that's the offensive side. How come you don't hold that philosophy on the defensive side? Patrick Graham has not been there and done that, and he doesn't have a good track record. Why doesn't that philosophy hold for the other half of the team?
Anthony Weaver would have made sense, too. They brought him in multiple times for interviews, too. One virtual, one in person. Yeah, I mean, I thought he was another name because they brought him in, but again, it's up to the head coach to do that.
Well, he's another guy who, to me, is in the Graham category because people say the numbers don't equate to how good of a job he did. Okay, but there's a guy out there who won a Super Bowl and beat Joe Burrow in the Super Bowl. How about that?
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