Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Donnie, do you watch Everybody Loves Raymond, or did you? I never did. I like the theme song, but I never did. Does Sarah? No, no. Does she like old sitcoms? Either one of you like old sitcoms? I do. Yeah, which ones?
I mean, Cheers is one of my all-time favorite shows.
Oh, yeah.
Long show. Very long show, but... I'm glad I watched it.
It's like Ron at Jurgle's. Everybody knew his name, right? When he walked in.
He just walked in. He got the Norm treatment.
Right. Seat at the bar for free beer.
You think he had a clever line for the bartender every time like Norm did?
Yeah, give me some free beer. Would have been his clever line. And he misses Ray Fittipaldo. I know that for a fact. He looked at Ray maybe as his son. Ray, how are you?
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Chapter 2: What led to Mike Tomlin's abrupt departure from the Steelers?
But who knows, maybe, maybe they add more names to it. And a couple of those guys are veteran coaches, and they, they settle on one of those. But I would be surprised if that was the case.
Are you looking at more of this, I guess more to the point, do you think they're looking at it as a rebuild situation? Art sure didn't sound like that the other day. A trade T.J. Watt situation? A sort of recycling? Or are they just going to do the same as ever? Bring in a veteran quarterback or go with Mason and bring in some free agents and try to go 10-8 with a blowout playoff loss?
Well, the fans probably aren't going to like to hear this, but The last time they had a losing record kind of came as a surprise. They were a playoff team in 2002. They were like a goofy penalty away from maybe going to the AFC championship game with Tommy Maddox. Yeah. Then in 2003, you know, just they weren't terrible, but they were a 6-10 team. And Tommy didn't have a good year.
It just wasn't their year. But to your point, it happened by accident, Joe. They didn't plan on it happening. And I think we're probably looking at the same thing 20 years later, 23 years later. I don't think Art has the stomach for tearing it down. What was his quote? Why would you waste a year of your life not trying to contend? That's their mindset.
But also you have to come to the realization too, new coach in place, maybe you do just have one of those losing seasons. And Joe, maybe that's all it takes in 2026 to get that draft pick that you need in 27, which is where you're going to find your quarterback because you're not going to find them this year. Maybe that's all you need for that so-called roster reset or roster rebuild.
Do you think Art has that mindset a little bit because when Cowher replaced Knoll and then when Tomlin replaced Cowher, both of those guys in their first seasons, not only did they have a winning record, they won the division.
Yeah. Yeah, I don't think they're in that position now, just as I look at it as we go into the offseason. But it's so hard, Donnie, because the head coach isn't in place yet. And there are so many decisions that they'll have to make once they hire a coach.
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Chapter 3: How did fan reactions impact Mike Tomlin's tenure?
on this roster. They are a team with a lot of 3-4 personnel, and there are a lot of guys on this team with specific skill sets. Like Nick Herbig, if you bring in a coach who runs a 4-3, I don't know where Nick Herbig ā is involved, to be quite honest with you. The guy's a terrific player, but he's probably pigeonholed as a 3-4 outside linebacker. He's a tweener.
That's what he was when he was drafted, and he's come up and he's done a great job as a 3-4 outside linebacker, but is he a guy that you can convert into another kind of linebacker? I don't know. And I think that's probably the case for a lot of guys. You know, Keanu Benton, undersized nose tackle. Can he be a 4-3 tackle? Yeah, he probably can, but he's never really done that.
He's been asked to play a specific position within this defense. So Art said it the other day, you know, they're going to have to get comfortable with this coach and the system he runs and vice versa. And if those parties can come together and be in agreement, then it could be a smooth transition. But we're a long ways away from knowing that.
Mike Tomlin had one of the, I won't say easiest, because there was some upset at the start with guys upset and Alan Fanica and Joey Porter, things like that. But really one of the greatest opportunities, I would argue, that any new coach has ever had in the NFL. He had a great defense, a built-in legendary defensive coordinator, and a franchise quarterback in his prime.
This is, this is not that, which is why Ray, when I keep hearing people say about the patients, Oh, this guy will get forever. Well, Tomlin won right away. He won a Super Bowl right away, which buys you a lot of time. What if this new guy struggles for a while when it's the clear mandate of the franchise that you win? I'm wondering why Art said that the other day.
He could have said, we might have to have a little reset here. We got to find a quarterback. Instead, the mandate is out there. We need to contend every year.
Yeah, even having said that, Joe, like I don't think this is like ā like look at other teams in this hiring cycle right now, the Falcons. Raheem Morris was there, what, two years? The Cardinals with Jonathan Gannon, two or three years. The Steelers know better that when they hire a guy, even if he does struggle, I think they're going to give him ample time.
Unless he's a complete disaster, this guy's going to get at least five years in my mind. There's no way of knowing that, but I think that's the mindset that they're going to go with. go in there with. And already we know, guys, whoever is hired, you're not going to have a franchise quarterback in place in 2026 because you're not going to get that guy in the draft this year.
Even if Mendoza is that guy, there's no way you can move up 20 spots to get him. And after Mendoza, with Dante Moore and Lenora Sellers and Manning all going back to school, that other guy just isn't there. So you have to wait until 27. So you're already one year into it. Then you've got to give him some leeway with a young quarterback.
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Chapter 4: What coaching candidates are being considered for the Steelers?
Yeah.
Crazy owner?
It's a fun city, you know, whatever. But the con would be pretty much everything else the organization does.
Pretty much, although they took a shot at Pete Carroll. I didn't blame him for that. They took a shot at Gruden second time around. He almost won a playoff game, didn't he? Or did his replacement come in and almost win one? I don't know. Go ahead with your questioning. I'd rather have the quarterback myself.
Well, then, Ray, where would you come down on that? Where do you think this should rank in terms of job openings, how attractive the job would be out of the nine that are out there?
It's 1A, 1B with the Steelers and the Ravens. And I think because Lamar is with the Ravens, you give the slight edge to Baltimore. But that's it. I mean, you were talking about the Falcons roster. I'm sorry. Kyle Pitts was a top-ten pick. What has he done in the league? Penix, are you really ā Yeah, I know.
I mean, but, like, Michael Penix, are you convinced that Michael Penix is a franchise quarterback? I'm not. Like, as far as the Raiders guy, I mean, I disagree with Joe. I mean, he mentioned it in passing, but they have a crazy owner out there. And the last thing you want to do if you're a young enough upcoming head coach is align yourself with a crazy owner.
So I would ā if I was, like, one of these ā young guns who's up for one of these jobs, I would not want to go to Las Vegas.
Beyond stability, what are the major attraction points for the Steelers?
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree for the Steelers?
I guess for me, it's about stars, Donnie and Ray.
Chapter 6: What does the future hold for Cam Heyward?
It's about the quarterback, and after that, it's about stars. I hear what you're saying. There's definitely some young talent here, but I feel like every team in the NFL has some young talent. It's almost impossible not to. Who are the stars leading the way? TJ Watt, to me, is a fading player. This new coach is walking in to an overpaid, overhyped, and in key areas, aging defense.
He's walking into DK Metcalf. Is he your best player on offense? Yeah. I don't know, man. A lot of people feel like the Steelers is a situation built for success. I feel like it's built to fail.
Yeah, I mean, I agree with you with DK. That's a contract that could hamstring them. you know, into the future. But to answer your question, they just might be a team that doesn't have a lot of young stars that are known yet. But listen, maybe Derek Harmon can become the next Cam Hayward. You know, maybe Zach Frazier can become that next Pouncey.
I know it's not sexy talking about linemen, but building through the trenches is, I don't mind that approach, Joe, until you get your franchise QB. I would rather be strong up front in the lines than then I have quote-unquote stars dispersed throughout the roster.
Ray, when it comes to somebody like TJ Watt, maybe even a Cam Hayward or Jalen Ramsey, how do you think the approach comes down on trading those guys? I mean, I feel like that conversation has to be had. It's a tough conversation, but you have to have it.
Yeah, I want to find out about Ramsey's contract situation. I know what it says on SpotTrack, but when they acquired him, I seem to remember thinking that they reworked that and there might be a way for them to get out of that contract. So I want to find out about that. So let's put him off to the side. You know, I think Cam isn't really a trade candidate.
He's either going to retire or move on to another team or come back if the new head coach wants him. But he's a guy who was unhappy with his contract last year at this time. He's not going to be happy this time around after being named all pro again. So that's a domino that has to fall. And I think the biggest one, Donnie, it's the elephant in the room. It's what do you do with TJ Watt?
And I've been in the locker room or at the podium after every bad loss this season, including Monday night. And I can't remember specifically some of the others, but TJ was so ā
um looking for like downtrodden this year defeated almost um i don't know if you guys i'm sure you guys have heard the audio from monday night but if you saw him if you saw the video and just the way he was responding to the questions i think he's frustrated as heck at what's going on here and i just wonder does he want to be here for a reset if that's what happens or
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