Speaker 1: Hey, guys, what is up?
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Guilty of Charge Podcast presented by Any
Speaker 2: Chargers Podcast Network. My name is Stephen, I'm the host
Speaker 2: as always, and joining me is my guy Tyler.
Speaker 1: Tyler, what'supman? How are you doing today?
Speaker 3: Stoke man? We've got a great interview for you guys,
Speaker 3: probably my favorite one that we've done on this channel
Speaker 3: so far. Just a very candid, spectacular interview.
Speaker 1: That's next, Yes, it is next.
Speaker 2: We are joined by the wonderful Chris rim of ESPN.
Speaker 2: He was a late addition to the beat for the
Speaker 2: Chargers this season. We had a great time at picking
Speaker 2: his brain about, you know, adjusting from Baltimore to the
Speaker 2: Chargers and everything that kind of went through this season
Speaker 2: and his experience covering it, moving to a new team,
Speaker 2: all that good stuff. Had a great conversation with him,
Speaker 2: Hopefully you guys enjoy it. Obviously we get to, you know,
Speaker 2: cover the Chargers head coaching search as well as the
Speaker 2: GM search, and he had some great insight on both
Speaker 2: of those fronts. Tyler, did you have any takeaways without
Speaker 2: spoiling from our interview with Chris.
Speaker 3: Just the process of being a reporter and then of
Speaker 3: course weighing experience versus being a first time head coach.
Speaker 3: I think those two things I think you guys should
Speaker 3: keep a eye on when you listen to this interview.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely agree there. If you are a pro
Speaker 2: Harbaugh person, I think you'll be very happy with what
Speaker 2: Chris has to say as well. That being said, Tyler
Speaker 2: and I are fans with the team just like you
Speaker 2: guys are. We've been given this platform and are very
Speaker 2: grateful for it. But the opinions that we share on
Speaker 2: this platform are hours and hours alone. They do not
Speaker 2: always reflect the opinions of the Chargers organization themselves. At
Speaker 2: the end of the day, we are content creators and
Speaker 2: we create content and have a great time doing it. So,
Speaker 2: like I said, very excited for this one. The interview
Speaker 2: did go a bit longer than usual. Sometimes we go
Speaker 2: back and forth about, you know, coming doing a post takeaway,
Speaker 2: so this is just going to be the interview. So again,
Speaker 2: cannot think Chris enough for joining us, and hopefully you
Speaker 2: guys enjoy the interview, and that being said, we'll see
Speaker 2: you next week as always.
Speaker 4: Bolt up.
Speaker 2: All right, guys, very happy now to be joined by
Speaker 2: mister Chris rim of ESPN a new edition and a
Speaker 2: great addition I might add to the Chargers Beat this year.
Speaker 2: So Chris, thanks so much for taking the time to
Speaker 2: join us today. Man, how you doing good?
Speaker 4: Good? Appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're all very excited you were, like I mentioned, sincerely,
Speaker 2: a great addition to the Chargers Beat, and we've loved
Speaker 2: reading your articles and so well, we're gonna pick Chris's
Speaker 2: brain about kind of the post mortem of the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty three season. W also, you know, ask him about
Speaker 2: some of the you know, opinions of the coaching and
Speaker 2: GM searches that are going on right now. And I'm
Speaker 2: really excited to dive in here. So Chris, first and foremost,
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of talk right now about
Speaker 2: you know, the Baltimore Ravens and pulling from the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 2: You obviously, you know, used to cover the Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 2: as well, So I want to ask you first and
Speaker 2: for almost what was your mindset coming from Baltimore to
Speaker 2: start covering the Chargers. How'd you kind of go about,
Speaker 2: you know the whole process of making that adjustment and
Speaker 2: what was kind of your goal?
Speaker 1: Uh? You know on the Chargers beat.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I think leaving Baltimore coming to the Chargers,
Speaker 5: the goal is to just you know, get through the
Speaker 5: season and get to know, you know, every player on
Speaker 5: the team, to be honest, like you know whose number,
Speaker 5: you know whatever, whatever player's number is, you know, figuring
Speaker 5: who that is because I could tell you, you know,
Speaker 5: when I left Baltimore, I could tell you you know,
Speaker 5: everybody's you know, name number, where they're from, you know.
Speaker 5: So but that was because I was there from training camp.
Speaker 5: So imagine, you know, it's week three and I don't,
Speaker 5: you know, I never I don't never really watching the Chargers.
Speaker 5: You know, I know the stars, right, but I don't
Speaker 5: know you know, the fifty third guy or you know,
Speaker 5: seventieth guys. So that was really the biggest thing is
Speaker 5: just getting through the year, writing good stuff, writing good
Speaker 5: you know stories, and yeah, that was that was really
Speaker 5: the biggest goal. And transition.
Speaker 3: How does it work for you when you're covering a
Speaker 3: team that a lot of expectations, right, I think they're
Speaker 3: going to do well, going to make the postseason, all
Speaker 3: sorts of stuff. You know, we should be watching them
Speaker 3: this week or last weekend. What's it like when that
Speaker 3: team starts to clearly not be headed in that direction,
Speaker 3: how do you manage expectations, maybe even the fans that
Speaker 3: are reading your content, how do you manage that as
Speaker 3: you start to see the charges maybe not headed towards
Speaker 3: the postseason, but you don't want to outright just say
Speaker 3: as seasons over, let's let's hang it up.
Speaker 5: It will well when when uh, when that happens, every
Speaker 5: everything gets tense, everything gets everyone. You know, maybe people
Speaker 5: who are who were nice are so nice anymore. Maybe
Speaker 5: you know the maybe a guy who always talks isn't
Speaker 5: talking anymore, you know the And then you have to
Speaker 5: have a balance between you know, what question do I
Speaker 5: want to ask that I need I need to write
Speaker 5: for my story. That's you know, my boss wants me
Speaker 5: to ask and you know, I know that this question
Speaker 5: is going to piss off the person that I'm asking
Speaker 5: it to because of how tense it is.
Speaker 4: So that's that's what it is.
Speaker 5: When the season, when the season goes downhill and you're
Speaker 5: a team that it's expected not to go downhill, and
Speaker 5: you're in year three and you know that your job
Speaker 5: is on the line, not only from coaches, but you
Speaker 5: know everyone in the organization, right, a player coach, you know,
Speaker 5: they know what's a stake, just as we know what's
Speaker 5: a stake, right, And you know you're asking a person
Speaker 5: with a family with you know, these questions that are tough,
Speaker 5: and you know from their vantage point, you know, can
Speaker 5: seem unfair at times, can you know, you know, at
Speaker 5: the at the basic level, hurts your feelings. So when
Speaker 5: things are just tense, it's just super tense. You know,
Speaker 5: it's not a it's it's it's like the you know
Speaker 5: the nature of the job though, but it's tense.
Speaker 2: I think, especially you know, coming from a place that
Speaker 2: has had the same coach for a very long time
Speaker 2: to dealing with, you know, the coach on the hot
Speaker 2: seat kind of mentality. I would imagine that would be
Speaker 2: kind of a tough adjustment as you're like, you know,
Speaker 2: you're trying to figure everything out, and then also you're like, hey,
Speaker 2: like I've got to cover a coach who might be
Speaker 2: out of a job here in a few weeks.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well you got to imagine too, Like it's the
Speaker 5: difficult part about when I came in was I came
Speaker 5: in after the Chargers had just began the season zero
Speaker 5: and two, after blowing a twenty seven point lead in
Speaker 5: the playoffs. Like there's no there's no grace period for
Speaker 5: me to get on the beat and you know, hey,
Speaker 5: you know, what.
Speaker 4: Are you guys expecting this year? You know what? You know?
Speaker 4: Like how you know what I mean? Like, there's no
Speaker 4: there's no period.
Speaker 5: For me to get on the beat and just start asking,
Speaker 5: you know, stuff to uh, you know ingratiate myself in
Speaker 5: like a comfortable way get to know people. It's just boom,
Speaker 5: you know, you guys are beating expectations. You know, so
Speaker 5: that I think that's difficult because you know, it's it's
Speaker 5: it's like, you know, who is this guy? For one,
Speaker 5: and then it's but it's also like you know, understanding
Speaker 5: that that's my job, right and you know you gotta
Speaker 5: do what you gotta do.
Speaker 3: Well, Clearly, even though things were very difficult, you were
Speaker 3: able to talk to players and you're able to maintain
Speaker 3: relationships or even just keep you find a relationship with
Speaker 3: those players in a very short amount of time to
Speaker 3: the point where you're able to write. But I think
Speaker 3: was the article that I think most people will remember
Speaker 3: your season at least this season four, which is that
Speaker 3: I'm the most recent one, but the big one at
Speaker 3: the end there why a disconnected Chargers team was Brandon
Speaker 3: Staley's downfall. Walk me through the process of collecting that information,
Speaker 3: and even sort of like you've already talked about just
Speaker 3: having to be careful with asking certain questions and and
Speaker 3: you know, certain players and that sort of thing.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I think.
Speaker 5: Again, but things are tense when things are are going well,
Speaker 5: When the screws are getting tightened, people start talking, you know.
Speaker 5: I think the I think the key thing with that
Speaker 5: article to point out too is that it's interesting is like,
Speaker 5: you know, his his entire Brandon to tenure, right, like,
Speaker 5: and I said it at the beginning, but like they
Speaker 5: were so close to they were as close to success
Speaker 5: as they were to disaster for three years, right, I
Speaker 5: mean the third year it went off the rails. But
Speaker 5: you know how many one score I don't have the stats,
Speaker 5: but how many one score games did they lose?
Speaker 4: Right? You know? So it's like, for for all.
Speaker 5: That was reported, the disconnect, the whatever it may be, right,
Speaker 5: there's there's a lot of disc not not saying it
Speaker 5: didn't matter.
Speaker 4: Because it doesn't matter. That's why I reported it.
Speaker 5: But there are disconnected teams that win, and and this
Speaker 5: this team was close to winning, right and I think
Speaker 5: some of that disconnect could have led to while they win.
Speaker 5: And that's kind of what I was trying to point
Speaker 5: out why this season went the way it did. From
Speaker 5: you know, the they're you know, a team that's going
Speaker 5: nine and eight or you know, ten and seven to
Speaker 5: what we saw this year is five and twelve. Right,
Speaker 5: that's that doesn't make any sense. So I think for
Speaker 5: me coming into the locker room or coming into the organization,
Speaker 5: you know, it's a I think you know, I'm a
Speaker 5: younger guy a lot a lot of the people around there.
Speaker 5: You know, we listen to the same stuff. We talk
Speaker 5: the same way. You might have grown up the same way.
Speaker 5: You know, I'm from Philly. You know, if I'm from
Speaker 5: Philly and you're from Brooklyn or you're from la or Detroit,
Speaker 5: it's pretty much the same thing. So you know, we
Speaker 5: talk about the same stuff. We we you know, get
Speaker 5: along with each other.
Speaker 1: And then.
Speaker 5: They trust me to they trust me and tell me
Speaker 5: things that I don't say, and then they give me
Speaker 5: the okay to go with things that they're comfortable with
Speaker 5: me going with. You know what I mean, so it's
Speaker 5: you know, ninety percent, you know, probably ten percent of
Speaker 5: the stuff that people ever read is like, as I say,
Speaker 5: all the stuff that people read is like ten percent
Speaker 5: of what I know. And I think that goes for
Speaker 5: like every reporter or what I have, right because again,
Speaker 5: you've got to weigh that balance of what you're doing,
Speaker 5: what bridges you're going to burn, you know, the risk
Speaker 5: and the value assess, but also if people are just
Speaker 5: comfortable saying stuff. So that's what I'll say, that story
Speaker 5: came together. Does that answers the question?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that definitely does. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: there's obviously a lot of you know, fresh feelings and
Speaker 2: fresh thoughts about the way things ended from a negativity standpoint,
Speaker 2: and obviously you know the charges are are where they
Speaker 2: are right now because of the way the season unfolded.
Speaker 2: But did you have kind of a more positive highlight
Speaker 2: of the year for you?
Speaker 1: You moved to a new city.
Speaker 2: You know, Khalil Mack, you know right away your first
Speaker 2: game has a six sac performance. Did you have a
Speaker 2: moment or a story this season that was kind of
Speaker 2: on the more positive side? You know, when you look
Speaker 2: back and reflect on the season, that you can be
Speaker 2: you know, really happy about you know, being able to
Speaker 2: have that kind of connection to the story.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that.
Speaker 5: The a positive that I'll point to is at least
Speaker 5: in one story. It wasn't like a story that took
Speaker 5: me a lot of time, but I put a lot
Speaker 5: of stuff in. But the I sware a story about
Speaker 5: Gift and how you kind of went over to the locker
Speaker 5: room and like two weeks and I don't know, I
Speaker 5: don't know why I like that story so much, but
Speaker 5: I which is funny because the originally there was the
Speaker 5: wrong cover photo for the story. It was the former
Speaker 5: quarterbacks coach, so that was crazy. But I yeah, I
Speaker 5: just I think that the when Gift took over, it
Speaker 5: was like you you couldn't interview a player and ask
Speaker 5: a player about Gift and them not start smiling.
Speaker 4: Like it was the weird like it's the weirdest thing ever,
Speaker 4: Like it's not.
Speaker 5: It wasn't like, you know, there are coaches where guys dislike,
Speaker 5: and then there are coaches that guys like. But then
Speaker 5: there's like I think Gift and Ryan Ficken are the
Speaker 5: guys who if you ask a player a gift or fit,
Speaker 5: they're like smiling like it's not like they're like, Yo,
Speaker 5: that guy's a good dude. It's like like as soon
Speaker 5: as you could Drman was at the podium and he
Speaker 5: and he was talking about something. I think I think
Speaker 5: someone must have asked a question because it was the
Speaker 5: game when he played, start the entire game. So so
Speaker 5: we're asking about that, and he's obviously you know, you know,
Speaker 5: he's not smiling about answering those questions. And then the
Speaker 5: next question was about Gift and he's heir to ear
Speaker 5: like Khalo Austin like ALOHI like, you know, So I
Speaker 5: think that that story was cool to write because I
Speaker 5: was just surprised.
Speaker 4: I had never seen.
Speaker 5: People just talking about a coach like that and smiling
Speaker 5: like in the way like that people were, so they
Speaker 5: clearly liked him a lot.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Giftsmith, I mean doing with the team through three
Speaker 3: head coaches, three different stadiums, two different cities, Been there,
Speaker 3: done that, and there's a lot of these guys. What
Speaker 3: was that period, like how did you find out obviously
Speaker 3: about the switch? And then what was that like that
Speaker 3: first twenty four or forty eight hours, like for you
Speaker 3: the Beat writers, the locker room et cetera.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, you know, not not saying any reporting,
Speaker 5: but I think we all knew. You know, I had
Speaker 5: my story pre written, I had, you know, all this
Speaker 5: stuff ready to go. You know, I didn't I didn't
Speaker 5: know who was going to be the interim head coach.
Speaker 5: I thought it might be Thicking, but give Give surprised me,
Speaker 5: uh that he was the interim just because he wasn't
Speaker 5: something to someone I was thinking of, thinking it might
Speaker 5: be Thick or you know, maybe Kellen or something or
Speaker 5: something like that. But you know, I think, well, firstly,
Speaker 5: just the period of give, I think the the organization
Speaker 5: made the right choice. Like I think he was the
Speaker 5: right person for the moment, Like for the moment he
Speaker 5: was great, even though he didn't win. I thought that
Speaker 5: was the right person to like galvanize this group, right,
Speaker 5: Like it kind of feels like like a Friday Night
Speaker 5: Lights type of coach, like the Southern draw, like the
Speaker 5: like he was the complete opposite of his predis. Like
Speaker 5: it was like, you know, you know, you know, Brandon
Speaker 5: will give you these detailed you know, super you know,
Speaker 5: you know, you know, long winded answers, good good though,
Speaker 5: like you know, deep into football and lean into analytics,
Speaker 5: and he felt very like a like some type of
Speaker 5: twenty thirty car or something, whereas Gift is like that
Speaker 5: old nineteen fifties like he's you know, he's making Joe.
Speaker 5: He's gonna rhyme, he's gonna tell you, I don't I
Speaker 5: don't know, Like if you ask him about the medical stuff,
Speaker 5: I'm not a doctor, you know, he just he's just
Speaker 5: that kind of dude. But the twenty four hours after,
Speaker 5: I think, you know, you're trying to decide when you
Speaker 5: want to go to sleep or how you're going to
Speaker 5: go to sleep. You know, you're you have to catch
Speaker 5: a flight back to la and you know something's going
Speaker 5: to happen. So it's like the news broke and I'm
Speaker 5: my uber is coming to the hotel to pick me up,
Speaker 5: you know, and I have stuff you rent, but I
Speaker 5: still have to update some things, you know, do this
Speaker 5: and that, and editors calling me. So I think Jeff
Speaker 5: Miller was on the highway, you know, I think everybody think,
Speaker 5: you know, Pop might have been in the air. So
Speaker 5: every you know, everybody's somewhere when it's happening.
Speaker 4: But you just got to figure it out.
Speaker 5: You know, buy the plane, WI fi or you know,
Speaker 5: tell the uber my bad, I need a couple more
Speaker 5: minutes or.
Speaker 4: So. Yeah, that was that was what it was like
Speaker 4: for for twenty four.
Speaker 5: For the twenty four to forty eight, it was just
Speaker 5: trying to figure out, Yeah, it was trying to figure
Speaker 5: out where I was going to be when the news broke,
Speaker 5: trying to figure out who who else.
Speaker 4: Is going to be retained, who's going to be let go?
Speaker 5: And uh, trying to come up with candidates and figure
Speaker 5: out the next steps and put together the story I've
Speaker 5: been I've been working on.
Speaker 2: That's uh, yeah, tell the uber to wait for a
Speaker 2: minute as to run high.
Speaker 1: Shifting gears here for a little bit.
Speaker 2: I think, you know, the Chargers obviously in a GM
Speaker 2: search and a coaching search, and they're gonna have some
Speaker 2: tough decisions with the you know, the big four so
Speaker 2: to speak of of Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Keenan Out
Speaker 2: and Mike Williams.
Speaker 1: What do you what do you make of that?
Speaker 2: Because there's a lot of you know, a hell sentiments
Speaker 2: out there that the charters are are you know, just
Speaker 2: in a really you know, status of a cap sheet
Speaker 2: that is not conducive towards like hiring it a great
Speaker 2: GM candidate in the future. Is all bleak and everything
Speaker 2: like that in terms of the Big Four, like what
Speaker 2: do you make of their situations and and how would
Speaker 2: you think that the charters could kind of go forward
Speaker 2: in a positive manner with the Big Four in their contracts?
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I don't know if it's I don't think
Speaker 5: it's as bad as people who describe it. Like I
Speaker 5: was in Atlanta a few years ago when when Terry
Speaker 5: and Terry Foineau and Arthur Smith took over, and that was.
Speaker 4: Like cap hell.
Speaker 5: I think they were I don't know, it had to
Speaker 5: be close to fifty million when they took it, like
Speaker 5: they like this was there. This season was their first
Speaker 5: year clearing the cap hell that they were in.
Speaker 4: That's how bad it was.
Speaker 5: And I don't I don't think this team is in
Speaker 5: that situation. I think there are clear steps that GM
Speaker 5: can take to fix the roster in a sense right
Speaker 5: to you know, get out of that cap you know
Speaker 5: how quickly, And a lot of it starts with the
Speaker 5: with the Big Four. I think the challenge again like
Speaker 5: that these are people, uh you know again like that,
Speaker 5: that's that's the first challenge, right, Like it's easy to say, like,
Speaker 5: you know, we'll just cut this person and looking at
Speaker 5: it as numbers, But I do. I do think that
Speaker 5: personnel and teams when you're when you're doing a not
Speaker 5: a rebuild at all, but you know next year is
Speaker 5: going to be a new version of the Chargers and
Speaker 5: in this GM's vision, you know, for the first time
Speaker 5: in the you know, eleven seasons, it'll be a different
Speaker 5: GM you know it's vision, and the first time in
Speaker 5: three seasons a different coaches vision. And how much of
Speaker 5: that vision you know, and instilling it and instilling the
Speaker 5: cultures that you want to build. Do you need those
Speaker 5: vets or those guys in the locker room who have
Speaker 5: been there and to to help you, you know, get
Speaker 5: what you want to get built? And so in making
Speaker 5: those decisions, I think, specifically with a guy like Keenan
Speaker 5: and you know, even Khalil, I think that's when it
Speaker 5: becomes tough with them, Uh, specifically because keene has been
Speaker 5: here forever. He knows what he's you know, Philip rivers
Speaker 5: to Herbert and he's publicly said, I don't want to
Speaker 5: go anywhere you know, he's you know, he just had
Speaker 5: the year of his career. And I think that when
Speaker 5: you have a guy that good, who's been here that long,
Speaker 5: who's saying I want to be here, you know, you
Speaker 5: you you figure out a way to make it work
Speaker 5: with a guy like that. I think Khalil, you know,
Speaker 5: the way he spoke, you know, in the end of
Speaker 5: the season pressure, it kind of sounded like he was
Speaker 5: he was leaving it up into the new GM's hand.
Speaker 5: But he was also you know, talking about I want
Speaker 5: to win a super Bowl, and you know, he kind
Speaker 5: of didn't answer the question about if he still believes
Speaker 5: he can do that here I can you know, I
Speaker 5: could see him the team, you know, wanting to send
Speaker 5: them to a you know, a team maybe in a
Speaker 5: that that they believe is better positioned to contend next
Speaker 5: year and when a super Bowl. So I could see
Speaker 5: that happening. But he's also a guy that organized team
Speaker 5: dinners that that you know, when he walks in the
Speaker 5: locker room, everybody's like, you know, this is the guy, right,
Speaker 5: Everybody respects him.
Speaker 4: He's a clear, you know, clear leader.
Speaker 5: Right talking about some of the most respected guys, I
Speaker 5: think Kalel and Keenan or you know, one and two
Speaker 5: or you know, Justin's up there too, and Durwin's up
Speaker 5: there too, But whoever you want to, you know, put
Speaker 5: in that top four, they're there. So those two I
Speaker 5: would say, you know, especially the way they played last year,
Speaker 5: you're in a unique situation.
Speaker 4: Might be able to trade whatever.
Speaker 5: I think Mike and Joey. With the injuries the past
Speaker 5: season for Joey and then this year with Mike and
Speaker 5: their and their cap hits, I think, you know, a
Speaker 5: GM will have to make a decision, you know, do
Speaker 5: you want to restructure a deal again and push money
Speaker 5: down down the road or do you want to you know,
Speaker 5: maybe you know, send these guys out. But again it's
Speaker 5: that that element that they both have been here. But
Speaker 5: that's why I see it. I think if I was
Speaker 5: I think a GM would split that group up into two.
Speaker 4: And I think it'll be some tough decisions either way.
Speaker 5: I just I just don't like the like ultimatums, like
Speaker 5: what I would do, like I would cut someone or out,
Speaker 5: you know, So that's like a running around the circle
Speaker 5: way To answer.
Speaker 3: Your question, No, that's perfect, and you've been very candid
Speaker 3: with us so far, so please don't feel like you
Speaker 3: have to share every single possible thing.
Speaker 4: It's tough, you know.
Speaker 3: And the tough part is that one you don't know
Speaker 3: when the Chargers are going to be in contention again,
Speaker 3: is it as soon as next year? If not, is
Speaker 3: it twenty twenty five? And you'll have to ask the
Speaker 3: gms that. And then with these players, you know Khalil Mack,
Speaker 3: Keenan Allen, they have career years, great years. That also
Speaker 3: means their value goes up. So if you're trying to
Speaker 3: trade this player, you know, their value goes up. So
Speaker 3: it's it's a very very tough situation. I certainly don't
Speaker 3: end me the next GM, and the Chargers are looking
Speaker 3: for a GM who's going to quote unquote reimagine what
Speaker 3: it means to be a general manager and run a
Speaker 3: team and do certain things. What do you feel that
Speaker 3: could mean or even just what do you feel the
Speaker 3: best gms are the ones that really innovate the process?
Speaker 1: What could they do?
Speaker 3: What are they looking for in these gms?
Speaker 5: Do you think, yeah, that the word reimagined was yeah,
Speaker 5: it was certainly a choice in the in the statement,
Speaker 5: and I thieve John Spinos was asked about it, and
Speaker 5: I think.
Speaker 4: He just described it as just you know, this next phase.
Speaker 5: Of the Chargers and uh, you know just a just
Speaker 5: a new a new version of the team, right, But.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess, I guess in a new GM, I
Speaker 4: think what you look for.
Speaker 5: It's interesting I think with with hiring new people, because
Speaker 5: you don't you don't know who's going to be good.
Speaker 5: You know, you you can say that they are indicators
Speaker 5: from a general manager level, you know who maybe who
Speaker 5: you've scouted or who you've been around, right. I think
Speaker 5: it's a lot of that, right, Like if you're if
Speaker 5: you were within a radius of Sean McVay, like at
Speaker 5: a certain point, like you might just you might just
Speaker 5: get tapped, you know, if you're if you're you know,
Speaker 5: if you've been around Howbie Roseman, if you've been around
Speaker 5: certain certain guys, certain people, and that matters, right because
Speaker 5: you know how they think, how the organization worked, and
Speaker 5: you want to implement that winning into yours. So you know,
Speaker 5: I think they're just looking for at the you know,
Speaker 5: at the basic level, what everybody's looking for, right, Like
Speaker 5: someone who can win, right, Like someone who can I
Speaker 5: don't think there's.
Speaker 4: Like a uh.
Speaker 5: You know, Tom did a bunch of stuff wrong and
Speaker 5: we're looking for a guy that does like these things well. Right,
Speaker 5: it's just like, you know, we're just looking for the guy, right,
Speaker 5: you know, we're just looking for a guy who's gonna
Speaker 5: do it well. And I think you see the people
Speaker 5: that they're interviewing, and they're from, you know, organization of
Speaker 5: pedigree with winning, and I think that you know, that
Speaker 5: shows that you know what they're looking for.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned those previous organizations. A lot of GM
Speaker 2: candidates this here do have ties to Harry Roseman and yeah,
Speaker 2: the team you used to cover the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1: What do you think it is.
Speaker 2: About that combination that teams could be looking for because honestly,
Speaker 2: like you pull up any bio of all these candidates
Speaker 2: and they worked for the Eagles, they worked for the Ravens.
Speaker 2: What is it about those two organizations and the way
Speaker 2: they operate that kind of cultivates this culture of building
Speaker 2: future GM candidates?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think they they have a history of sticking
Speaker 5: to what worked for them. You know, you you look
Speaker 5: at the Eagles and that that's like a basically good answer.
Speaker 5: But I think you look at the Eagles, right, look
Speaker 5: at Howie Roseman's drafts, right, like he's going to draft
Speaker 5: a D lineman or he's going to draft the O
Speaker 5: lineman like nine times out of ten in the first
Speaker 5: two round, and he's not drafting a linebacker in the
Speaker 5: three rounds probably right. And if they do draft someone else,
Speaker 5: like a receiver, they're probably they might miss, you know.
Speaker 4: So so you know.
Speaker 5: You look, you look at the Eagles and how they've won.
Speaker 5: It's always at the line of scrimmage, and they've never
Speaker 5: they've never changed that for the you know since before
Speaker 5: Howie Right, it's uh, you know, there's Fletcher Cox, and
Speaker 5: then they're drafting Jordan Davis, and there's Nolan Smith, and
Speaker 5: then there's you know, Hardgrave and there's you look, back
Speaker 5: and back and back. They've always done it that way.
Speaker 5: Then with the Ravens, you know, you want these linebackers
Speaker 5: and I want a physical cornerback and I'll figure out
Speaker 5: the rest. You know that that's I think that's how
Speaker 5: they've always been. And I think some of the best
Speaker 5: organizations stick to to what's winning and what works best.
Speaker 5: And that's the simplest way to answer it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm fascinated because again new GM for the first
Speaker 3: time in a very long time, So Chargers fans sort
Speaker 3: of understood that there was a certain type maybe like
Speaker 3: receiver or at edge Ushia where that's arm length or
Speaker 3: forty or whatever it was, you know, but now it
Speaker 3: who knows, who honestly knows what's going to happen as
Speaker 3: far as switching to head coach. Now, Chargers fans are
Speaker 3: very Jim Harbaugh or bust. I don't think that is
Speaker 3: necessarily the case, but that's what Chargers fans seem to
Speaker 3: be going for. But overall, how do you feel the
Speaker 3: Chargers process has played out? Is there something you're keeping
Speaker 3: an eye on? What has been your attention? What have
Speaker 3: you been your attention been on so far throughout this
Speaker 3: whole process?
Speaker 5: Man, I think they've they've cast a super wide net,
Speaker 5: you know. I think they're interviewing a lot of good candidates,
Speaker 5: a lot of different different people. Maybe well, I guess
Speaker 5: none that I guess really didn't expect. But I guess
Speaker 5: like Legendy Fraser, you know, was a name. Maybe I
Speaker 5: didn't know if you'd get interviewed here. But yeah, I
Speaker 5: think the good part about interviewing is you can when
Speaker 5: you cast a white net and you interview all these people,
Speaker 5: you get to grab certain things from certain people, right
Speaker 5: and put it in your back pocket. You know, you
Speaker 5: get to you know, how do how does this thought
Speaker 5: process work here? Or how did guys do this there?
Speaker 5: And you know you can suggest that to your new people, right.
Speaker 5: So I think that's important. And and again I'm not
Speaker 5: big on criticizing who teams interview or who they don't interview,
Speaker 5: because I've learned and I've been wrong. And you know,
Speaker 5: my group chats with friends about some person that for
Speaker 5: some reason, I was like, Oh, that's interesting that they're
Speaker 5: interviewing this person, and then that person's a phenomenal head
Speaker 5: coach or opening day press conference, you know, whether Jonathan
Speaker 5: Gannon or.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: We've seen these opening press conferences where they look kind
Speaker 5: of wonky and.
Speaker 4: You're like.
Speaker 5: Campbell, yeah, Campbell, you know they they then they turn
Speaker 5: out to be great. So whoever the Chargers interviewed, I
Speaker 5: would have said it was good because because you can't say,
Speaker 5: at least for me, I'm never gonna be like, what
Speaker 5: has that person done to because I don't I've been
Speaker 5: wrong too many times to say that. But I think
Speaker 5: the people they've but with that being said, they've interviewed
Speaker 5: all people who I believe if they hired any of
Speaker 5: these people, I would say, okay, and I think that
Speaker 5: goes you know, down the line, and I'll say that
Speaker 5: that makes sense. And they started with the internal people,
Speaker 5: which I think is the right thing to do. And yeah,
Speaker 5: so I think they're going about.
Speaker 4: It the right way.
Speaker 2: Obviously the cycle is not over yet, but just like
Speaker 2: my perspective is that I feel like there are more
Speaker 2: interviews this time around, specifically of like the head coaching candidates.
Speaker 2: It feels like they they said they were gonna cast
Speaker 2: a why Nett and they've they've done that, and there's
Speaker 2: obviously a group of candidates that they could still interview
Speaker 2: later this week. You know, they have a point with
Speaker 2: Dan Quinn and request with Ben Johnson Orrahie Morris that
Speaker 2: are still kind of you know, waiting out there. In
Speaker 2: terms of Jim Harbaugh, what do you what do you
Speaker 2: make of his chances of leaving, because obviously the fan
Speaker 2: base is is very pro Harbor. Do you think that
Speaker 2: you know, I know, Jeremy Fowler reported today that chances
Speaker 2: are unlikely that he does return to Michigan. Are you
Speaker 2: buying that or do you think that he could be
Speaker 2: using leverage here to get a bigger payday at Michigan.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't. I never met Jim or I don't.
Speaker 5: I don't know him, but it doesn't seem like the
Speaker 5: type of person who would like waste his time or
Speaker 5: you know, like I you know, so I don't. I
Speaker 5: don't see why he would take in an interview if
Speaker 5: he did it, if he wasn't seriously considering it.
Speaker 4: Of course, you know, there's there's the other way, you know,
Speaker 4: he could be.
Speaker 5: But I don't I think this legitimate, especially this last season, right,
Speaker 5: you know, I think if you're the you know, in
Speaker 5: his position, you might feel like I need to be
Speaker 5: done with this college football thing for a little bit.
Speaker 5: And I just one so you know, it's not like
Speaker 5: I need to I have much to prove to anyone
Speaker 5: except that I.
Speaker 4: Can repeat maybe and there.
Speaker 5: This situation is a is a great one, and that's
Speaker 5: why the fans, that's why everyone has put this together
Speaker 5: and and you know, manifesting it to happen. And yeah,
Speaker 5: so I think you asked me, like, is the hardball
Speaker 5: stuff really? You know, I think I think it is
Speaker 5: for sure, and I think it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 5: And if if if the you know John Spanos told
Speaker 5: the Beat when we talk to him, you know, we
Speaker 5: have no limitations in salary or experience. You know, he
Speaker 5: touched on that point. And the job market might change,
Speaker 5: you know, their Dallas might open. I don't know what's
Speaker 5: going on in Philly. You know, stuff might open. But
Speaker 5: even if those open, I think this is one of
Speaker 5: the better ones. So if if he wanted to come
Speaker 5: to the Chargers and the Chargers are serious about you know,
Speaker 5: not being limited to anything, then they should get them.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well that'll excite fans, and hopefully it does happen for
Speaker 3: a lot of fans who are very much so all in.
Speaker 4: On this decision.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is a great spot, honestly, And I think
Speaker 3: if you bringing Jim Harbaugh or any of these candidates
Speaker 3: for an interview, just have like a cardboard cutout of
Speaker 3: Justin Herbert standing behind you and just like, yeah, I
Speaker 3: don't know if your team can do that, but here's
Speaker 3: a cardboard cutout of Justin Herbert.
Speaker 4: It's a good pitch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, absolutely, that's all you need to cut out,
Speaker 3: cardboard cut out in a blank check.
Speaker 1: That's all you need.
Speaker 3: The other debate outside of Harbor for a lot of
Speaker 3: fans has been experienced versus a first time head coach,
Speaker 3: and you know, obviously Vrabel's available, Belichick is available, but
Speaker 3: there's also Ben Johnson. For every experienced coach, like let'd
Speaker 3: say a McCarthy who did this past game, there's a
Speaker 3: there is a Dan Campbell, there's a La Floor, there's
Speaker 3: a Demico Ryans, et cetera. Where do you I don't
Speaker 3: know if it's stand on the issue is the way
Speaker 3: to say it, but what is your thoughts I guess
Speaker 3: on versus one of these first time head coaches, particularly
Speaker 3: obviously an offensive minded head coach like a Ben Johnson.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it just depends on the experience. I
Speaker 5: would say it depends what your track record is. I
Speaker 5: think with with Jim or Hardball, at least you know
Speaker 5: it's you know, the guy just wins, like you know
Speaker 5: what I mean, Like like it's hard.
Speaker 4: It's hard for you to It's hard for me.
Speaker 5: I think it would be hard for anyone to say, like,
Speaker 5: you know, you know, if you hire this guy, you
Speaker 5: think you're going to win because he you know what
Speaker 5: he's done every that's all he's done as as a coach, right,
Speaker 5: and when.
Speaker 4: You're talking about a first time guy, if.
Speaker 5: You're putting up a hardball to you know, Ben Johnson
Speaker 5: or whoever you know you like, right, it's you're comparing
Speaker 5: guy who whatent forty four nineteen in the NFL, Guy
Speaker 5: who went to the Super Bowl, turned around a Niners team,
Speaker 5: guy turned around Michigan. Michigan just won the national championship.
Speaker 5: It's it's hard to turn that down to imagine what
Speaker 5: someone could do who hasn't done it in my in
Speaker 5: my eyes, And I don't I don't know if that's
Speaker 5: right or wrong, right, because you know, uh, Ben Johnson
Speaker 5: could be I don't know, you know, Ben Sombardi or
Speaker 5: somethwhere Don Shuley, right, Uh, he just needs a chance.
Speaker 5: But this guy already had one and he's killed it everywhere.
Speaker 5: So I think I'm of thee of the view vantage
Speaker 5: point of I don't think you could say a blanket
Speaker 5: experience is over a new coach. But when you're talking
Speaker 5: about experience, at least in Hardball's case, I'll take it.
Speaker 5: I think, uh, you know, for different coaches like McCarthy,
Speaker 5: I think that's a different, different thing, right, Like his
Speaker 5: experience it's been you know, he's fluctuated from bad to good.
Speaker 5: It's been a lot of inconsistencies. You know, in that scenario,
Speaker 5: I might go with a younger coach, but so so
Speaker 5: I don't, I don't know, I don't. I don't think
Speaker 5: it's a blanket statement of like automatically you go young
Speaker 5: or automatically you go experience.
Speaker 1: I think that's a totally fair assessment there. You know,
Speaker 1: we we've had a lot.
Speaker 2: Of conversations about you know, kind of maybe balancing like
Speaker 2: the new, the next thing versus the thing that you know,
Speaker 2: and I think that could apply to you know, the
Speaker 2: GM search, the head coaching search. But either way, we're
Speaker 2: excited to see. Obviously what comes should be an exciting
Speaker 2: you know, next week or so for the Chargers, and
Speaker 2: we're thrilled to you know, read how you cover this approach. So, Chris,
Speaker 2: thanks so much for joining us today. Where can Chargers
Speaker 2: fans go and find you? And maybe a sneak peak
Speaker 2: of some upcoming stories that you might have.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I'm on Twitter at Chris room one, k
Speaker 5: R I s orr A, try m one and threads
Speaker 5: if you're on there, Chris rim trying to get my
Speaker 5: threads up a lot of followers on there, so.
Speaker 4: But yeah, that's me and moving forward.
Speaker 5: You know, I was working on this thing about justin
Speaker 5: how you're grown as leader this year, and then he
Speaker 5: got hurt. So at some point I think I'll have
Speaker 5: that coming. And then I got some other stuff that
Speaker 5: they can I don't want to say, but yeah, we
Speaker 5: got some stuff coming.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see it again. Thank you so
Speaker 2: much for Janis joining us today. Charge fans cannot recommend
Speaker 2: Chris's work enough. Please go follow him, show him some love.
Speaker 2: He's been a great addition to the Beat and we
Speaker 2: are very excited to visit with him later on. So Chris,
Speaker 2: thanks so much.
Speaker 1: A man.
Speaker 4: We'll talk to you soon, Okay, thank you,