The Pomp And Joe Show
Brian Batko thinks Chris Shula is the favorite to be next Steelers coach
20 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Who are the candidates for the Steelers' head coach position?
All right, Steelers are talking to Brian Flores today, the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, former defensive assistant linebackers coach of the Steelers in 2022 after he was the head coach with the Miami Dolphins. We're also going to talk to Mike McCarthy, former head coach of the Packers and of the Cowboys. So... Joe seems caught off guard by that.
And they're also expected to talk to Anthony Weaver for a second interview.
Who's talking to Mike McDaniel?
Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy's talking to Mike McDaniel? No, Mike McCarthy's talking to the Steelers. He has lost his mind. More headlines at 937thefan.com. Headlines there powered by Bowser Chevrolet. And Brian Backo is next. Your mic remained on, so everybody heard you yawn in the background. I don't care. Maybe you should.
I don't think people want to hear yawning as they're driving to work or driving from work.
Who are you to speak for them? Listen to this, Limits. So I am to speak for them. Listen to this. You know I'm writing for the Trib now, right? Yeah. They have a nice man named Brian. In their human resources department. Did you pass your drug test? I don't know yet. But I'm having back and forth emails with him because he's getting me set up. And in our email exchange, there's an AI overview.
Why is AI involved in a personal email exchange? Here's what it says. I don't feel bad saying it since AI is obviously watching it. Here's the AI overview of my week with Brian at the Trib. One, Brian requested a 30-minute meeting to explain available benefits to Joe. Two, Joe expressed confusion. What a surprise.
Two, Joe expressed confusion about paycheck approval and suggested connecting on Monday, which Brian declined. Which Brian declined. Brian and Joe tentatively agreed to meet on Tuesday, but Brian later reduced the requested time to 15 minutes. What is happening here, Limits? Is anything private anymore? How is AI in there monitoring my email exchange with a private employer?
Well, what type of email is it? Is it Gmail?
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Chapter 2: What is Brian Batko's prediction for the next Steelers coach?
Well, because there's a Gemini Google Gmail feature. That's who did it.
It says, buy Gemini.
That will automatically do that.
I don't want that to do that.
I want to fire that.
Turn it off. Get Gemini out of here. Turn Gemini off. Who turned it on? Me or Brian? I don't know why it's on or when it's on. Gmail turned it on. Then how do I turn it off? I don't know. Go. I'm sick of this crap. I look down at my phone and sometimes it's recording me and I don't know how to not record me. It's recording you. It'll do a transcription.
All of a sudden there'll be a ghost mysterious text with what I just said in a text. Well, that means that you probably bumped the microphone button. Yeah, I don't want to bump microphone buttons. What if I say something horrible about one of my bosses and it gets on there? Take Siri off.
Turn Siri off. That's what I did.
All right, show me that in a minute here. Let's go to the Mongoose.
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Chapter 3: How does Mike McCarthy's coaching history impact his candidacy?
I love these. I love these occasional dives into into AI. And because I heard you guys talk about this before limits put me on, I went to chat DPT and I typed in. What can you tell me about Austin Beck told?
Oh, what do you got? Yeah.
Austin Bechtold is a sports media professional and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He's built a career in sports broadcasting, radio production, and print-slash-digital journalism. Wow. Shall I continue? Please. Can I ask about his persona?
And his personal life. Yes, both.
I think I'm going to say, what about his persona? Because, you know, it's got more facts in here about pursuing a master's degree in strategic communication at Penn State. Yeah, that's true. Wow. Oh, here we go. Here's a sense of his persona. I don't know if I should have put persona or personality. What do you project on the air, Joe? Your persona or your personality?
Both. I think they're very similar. In fact, I think they're synonymous.
Okay. Here's what they say about our dear limits. Austin clearly loves sports. It's not just a job for him, but a lifelong passion. He grew up immersed in games and commentary, and that enthusiasm still shows in how he talks about teams and players. His drive to pursue sports media from a young age conveys that zeal.
Wow. Zeal.
Or zell. Zell?
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Chapter 4: What are the pros and cons of hiring Brian Flores?
It also says Limits is serious about his craft, but he also comes across as friendly, accessible, and approachable.
I'd say that's true.
Longtime sports radio personality and co-host on 93.7 The Fan. Brings a deep enthusiasm for Pittsburgh sports. All right. Oh, personable and off the wall. He tends to be fun and conversational on air with a style that mixes thoughtful analysis with humor. I think that's accurate.
Yeah, I'll buy that. Anything about his head?
No, no. It says he also life beyond the mic is a section here. Talk about writing the articles for us. Malzi also participates in local community and leisure activities like playing competitive. But that's dimensions to how listeners connect with him outside of pure sports talk.
Leisure activities. I like that. Very well phrased. Are you flying a helicopter right now? Does he not look like he's in the cockpit of a helicopter? I told him he looks freezing. Where are you right now?
I'm in my car.
Okay.
That's similar.
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Chapter 5: Why is Chris Shula considered a strong candidate?
Very frightening. I'm going to make sure it doesn't take our jobs, Joe. Good thing it can't talk for four hours.
No. In some ways, it probably already has. All right, Brian. Let's get to the Steelers. Your best guess. Your best guess. Who's the next coach?
I think I would put my... My shekel's on Chris Shula from the Rams, defensive coordinator.
In your opinion, is that the best choice of the candidates that are known?
Yeah, it's right up there with the other Rams guy, Nate Shieldhouse. I would want to pick from the McVay tree if it were me. I wrote extensively about that on the PG site today if people want to check it out. I think there's just a reason why those guys are are churning out candidates year after year. It's a really good operation that they have there. With Shula, he also has the tradition.
Who your grandfather is shouldn't matter, but I think it's human nature to know the name. It rings more of a bell than Sheilhaus, quite frankly. The defense, I made this point with limits on his show last night, young and energetic and passionate as he is as a driven sports professional in the media landscape. I thought his unit acquitted itself pretty well against the Bears.
The points that they gave up were superhuman plays by Caleb Williams. What do you really draw up to stop that? I think he's got really good momentum. He doesn't turn 40 until February. I can just imagine a Steelers presser in which Art Rooney II or Omar Khan sort of
subtly hinted the trend of them hiring head coaches on the defensive side in their 30s and say, well, we just made the cutoff here with Chris. Let me introduce everybody to Coach Shula.
All right. What do you make of the prospect of Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers going 10-8 and getting blown out of a wildcard game?
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Chapter 6: What is the significance of the Sean McVay coaching tree?
They kind of know how he operates. He knows how they operate, which is probably worth mentioning in this whole circumstance as well.
Brian Batko, the Batconian mongoose, they call him limits. Do we have the clip that Brian has requested or should I continue to talk to him?
Over the course of the season, in terms of Brian's contributions, man, it was significant throughout.
Very significant, Brian requested.
I think he was talking about me.
He was.
Or maybe it was Brian Flores. That's it?
Who's to say? We're going to hear from Brian himself. Yeah, I think Tomlin was talking about you, actually. Tomlin was, for the first time, spotted in public. Did you see that at his daughter's gymnastics meet? I thought that was a nice family outing there. Did you see that, Brian?
Yeah, and then the next day, I think it was Georgia men's basketball against Arkansas or something. He's one of the sickos in my... fantasy college basketball dynasty league that's been going on for 12 years. Now, I applaud Mike T for just going to take in some random SEC hoops on a Saturday night or whatever it was.
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Chapter 7: How does AI influence sports journalism and coaching decisions?
First, a lot of people are trying to call for John Gruden. Can we put that to rest? And also, would it be better to hire Nate Shieldhouse a year early than not hire him at all and have the opportunity to have who some people believe might be the next Sean McVay?
Yeah, I think so. And I think when Sean and yeah, the John Gruden stuff, I, I'm not really seeing enough like smoke around him to any of these job openings linking him that I think that an organization has sort of buttoned up and conservative as the Steelers would bark up that tree.
But, you know, I suppose if, uh, if one of these McVeigh or Shanahan disciples gets the job here or elsewhere, would, would they call Gruden and see, Hey, senior assistant, QB coach, something along those lines. I don't know. I enjoy Gruden's shtick now, but it seems like he's pretty far off the reservation in terms of the media that he's doing. But it's amusing.
So I don't know what that means for his coaching future. But Sheilhaus, you're kind of in the same mindset as me, Limits. I mean, I think when McVay handpicks you randomly, basically out of Iowa State, because he hears good things about you or likes what he's seen,
from you that's almost even more impressive than believing in his college teammate and longtime friend Chris Shula so yeah it's almost folly maybe to predict that there will be another McVay but if you have the chance to get the closest thing to it and yeah maybe he's not quite ready but can learn on the job especially if you put a good experienced staff around him then I'm very intrigued by that idea
Thank you, Brian. You're one of the nicest men we've ever met. Have a nice lunch with Sean Gentile. We'll talk soon. Tell Sean I said hello. He's waiting for you. All right. I will. Bye, guys. See you, buddy. Let's wrap this up next, Limits, with some predictions, how we think the Flores interview is going.
What would be your first question if you were asking Art the questions, if you were an interview candidate? Fun stuff like that, shall we? Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia, Peters Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. The text line brought to you by Edgar Snyder & Associates, personal injury law firm, where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you.
And the fan hotline presented by Sullivan Super Service, Pittsburgh's trusted plumbing and HVAC provider for over 50 years. It's 1.33, time to check out Nine Yards Golf Lounge, now open at the Block Northway in Ross Township. And limits, I need social media's biggest loser. Who is it today? It's brought to you by Awaken 180 Weight Loss. Visit them at awaken180weightloss.com.
You got somebody in mind?
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