MichiganCardinal

Maybe. There are only so many experienced play callers out there though. Good ones become head coaches. Until they make a hire, it’s just a diligent search.

Finally got a chance to see it tonight. The play is called a Hail Mary for a reason. It’s not the officials’ job to answer the prayer. Could they have called it pass interference? Would it have been a supportable call? Sure. But I bet you their bosses are perfectly okay with a no call and I’m not sure if there is a single semifinal official in college football who would make that call. It deserves not 5% of the media attention it’s getting. Ole Miss lost fair and square. Complaining about a no call on a last second heave to the end zone is sour grapes.

The Commanders go from interviewing Tee Martin next week to hiring Blough. I wonder if Blough got an offer elsewhere and he gave the Commanders right of first refusal. I don’t think it would have been the Lions, he’d be crazy to take the Commanders offense over the Lions. But something fishy happened there. It could be too that Tee Martin’s agent is fishing for interviews.

I get in principle why fans generally would support this, but as a Lions season ticket holder, this would really piss me off. I don’t miss games. Became a STH in February 2021 and have missed four home games total since. One in ‘22, one in ‘23, two in ‘25… and attended four road games in that time too (@KC twice, @CIN, @CHI). I would never want to miss a playoff game. If I sold playoff tickets on Ticketmaster, it would be because I absolutely couldn’t make it and couldn’t find a friend to purchase them. The billionaires can save me the guilt trip. ”2026 renewal eligibility may be impacted if it is determined that your season tickets, including any playoff games, were used primarily for resale purposes.” Then a month ago you should have emailed those who were selling all their games. Don’t microscope the most expensive ticket because you’re losing money on the resale market.

I never took Trump as such an ardent supporter of indigenous rights. This is going to get really awkward when someone teaches him what Chris Columbus did.

I agree he has a tendency to turn into a pumpkin 1-2 times per season. 2023 against Chicago he threw 3 picks (the Lions won anyway). 2024 against Houston he threw 5 picks (the Lions won anyway) in addition to the playoff game. 2025 he was dreadful against both Philly and Minnesota (the Lions lost both). It's worth noting that even he as a pumpkin is better than a ton of the QBs in the league. I'm not sure it's really correlated to must-win games in any meaningful way either. Minnesota and Washington were obviously unfortunate. But the others were just random one-offs. And that's supported by the surrounding context, as he usually bounces right back anytime he lays an egg. I have total faith that he could lead us to a championship.

I don't think Goff can really shoulder the blame for that Washington playoff loss. Not to say he played well, he definitely didn't, but I'm not sure a perfect performance from him wins that game. The defense was atrocious. The play calling from Ben Johnson screamed "I prepared for interviews instead of this game." Goff wasn't going to stop Jamo from throwing a pick when the offense is driving. Goff was a cog in the 2024 Lions machine that blew up in a picture reminiscent of Deepwater Horizon.

I posted my reply in the wrong thread too, whoops. But..... I think it means nothing at all. Anything they do could be defined as the same approach as last year. If they trade for Maxx Crosby, well they tried last year but the price was too high. If they draft a 1st round edge, well they wanted to last year but the value wasn't there (or character RE Mike Green). If they sign Trey Hendrickson in free agency, well they wanted to sign a free agent last year but they got out-bid. If they do none of that and run it back with multiple high-injury risk players like Davenport, Paschal, Onwuzurike, etc., along with next year's version of AQM, well that's the same approach and the same result. That being said, I doubt they bring back Davenport. He was useless and I suspect they'll cut their losses. Doesn't mean next year's Davenport will be any less injury prone though.

I think it means nothing at all. Anything they do could be defined as the same approach as last year. If they trade for Maxx Crosby, well they tried last year but the price was too high. If they draft a 1st round edge, well they wanted to last year but the value wasn't there (or character RE Mike Green). If they sign Trey Hendrickson in free agency, well they wanted to sign a free agent last year but they got out-bid. If they do none of that and run it back with multiple high-injury risk players like Davenport, Paschal, Onwuzurike, etc., along with next year's version of AQM, well that's the same approach and the same result. That being said, I doubt they bring back Davenport. He was useless and I suspect they'll cut their losses. Doesn't mean next year's Davenport will be any less injury prone though.

Speaking of the impending QB Carousel, I would expect Tua to be on the move as well. The Raiders, Jets, and Cardinals are picking 1-3 and each may take their rookie. Fernando Mendoza, Dante Moore, and Ty Simpson have a chance to go 1-3 in some order. If the Browns want to cut their losses, they'll probably have to make a trade. Same for the Dolphins at #11, Vikings at #18, and maybe even the Panthers at #19.

I don't think a prosecution could be successful before 2029. Double jeopardy probably wouldn't become an issue. It doesn't attach in a jury trial until the jury is sworn. So that wouldn't be an issue if the feds just said they weren't going to prosecute (which sure seems likely). Even if the state brought charges and were unsuccessful, it wouldn't foreclose a second charge unless it went all the way to a not guilty verdict. And even then, there are rare cases where the feds charge after a state acquittal for effectively the same thing, because it's a different jurisdiction. Think what's going on with Luigi Mangioni, who's charged for the same stuff in both state and federal court. I have a hard time imagining a successful state prosecution of a federal officer without federal cooperation though. And I don't think trying before 2029 would be wise. The road map I am imagining would seem to be that the state would bring charges, the shooter removes to federal court, and the federal prosecutors (or more likely the appointed folks from DC) commandeer-or at least derail-the prosecution. Passively, they could just refuse access to key ICE witnesses and reports, like they're already doing. More aggressively, they could work to prevent state prosecutors from accessing the federal courthouse on federal land. It would be a guaranteed **** show. And it's not crazy to think it would result in not a double jeopardy problem, but a res judicata issue (i.e., preventing not a case from being tried twice but a specific legal question being heard twice). If it goes before a federal judge on the immunity issue and gets dismissed because the feds join the defense and say "yep he's immune," That would be hard to re-charge after a judicial finding of immunity. I don't think the state prosecutors should risk that in a case that would already be difficult to prosecute even without federal interference. I've seen much worse police murders result in a not guilty verdict. That is all to say, I fully anticipate a question asked in Democratic debates will be: "will you authorize the DOJ to prosecute Jonathan Ross?"

He’s the players choice, but if they cared about what the players wanted they probably wouldn’t have fired Stefanski

Coaching Carousel Predictions 1.0: The Year of Retreads Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter, Chargers DC Las Vegas Raiders: Robert Saleh, 49ers DC Tennessee Titans: Matt Nagy, Chiefs OC Miami Dolphins: John Harbaugh, former Ravens HC New York Giants: Kevin Stefanski, former Browns HC Atlanta Falcons: Kliff Kingsbury, former Commanders OC Cleveland Browns: Davis Webb, Broncos QB Coach Arizona Cardinals: Klint Kubiak, Seahawks OC Brian Dabboll: Baltimore Ravens OC Pete Carroll: USC Trojans Special Advisor Brian Callahan: Cincinnati Bengals Offensive Analyst Mike McDaniel: Detroit Lions OC Raheem Morris: Washington Commanders DC Jonathan Gannon: New York Giants DC

These are good takes and better segues, get this guy in front of a mic. 😉

Gotta wonder what kind of impact all of this will have on the locker room dynamics. Not just with Williams but all around. The teasing that goes on in NFL locker rooms with 1st round rookies getting tens of millions in signing bonuses is one thing. This is something different completely, where Williams (and the multi-million dollar NIL signings like him) have a locker three down from an 18-year-old walk-on who's got class in the morning (and no "tutor" to just take it for him).

I think an interesting thing about Rapoport's report is that it almost certainly came from the McDaniel camp. The Lions have no one to impress by leaking who they're interested in at OC. Just like the "7 teams reached out to John Harbaugh within 45 minutes" story, it's coming from the agent trying to spin their newly unemployed client as a mastermind who was unjustly fired. Except this time it was for the Lions OC job, not a head coach job. Based on that I'm not sure McDaniel will garner interest as a head coach, but I do think he is interested in the Lions OC gig. TBD if it's mutual or just due diligence by the Lions.

I do agree that McDaniel probably wouldn't sign as an OC until all the head coaching positions filled, or told him he wasn't a finalist.

I think he will need a few years away first. He's not Urban Meyer or Hue Jackson who will never see an NFL sideline again. But the culture in Miami was a big problem. They were soft and he lacked control. It's why I think coming to Detroit and learning from Campbell could be a win-win for both sides.

My Revised Tier List Ideal 1. Mike McDaniel 2. Kevin Stefanski 3. Kliff Kingsbury 4. Todd Monken Strong 5. Pete Carmichael Jr. 6. Mike Kafka 7. Brian Dabboll Okay 8. Marcus Brady 9. Nate Scheelhaase 10. David Blough 11. Davis Webb Nervous 12. Mike LaFleur 13. Internal Promotion 14. Jake Peetz Don't Like 15. Eric Bienemy 16. Declan Doyle 17. Greg Olson 18. Tommy Rees 19. Zac Robinson 20. Thomas Brown

More thoughts... I also think it would do McDaniel a lot of good to work with Campbell for 2-3 years before his next opportunity in a way that is not the case for Stefanski. Stefanski likely gets a gig this offseason. A quarter of the jobs in the NFL are open and there aren't that many exciting candidates. Stefanski is a two-time COTY. The [Dolphins, Falcons, Titans, Raiders...] could do a lot worse than hiring Stefanski. McDaniel's team was Charmin Soft in 2023, and it's why they were a one-and-done despite having a top-ten offense and defense. They went into Kansas City and scored 7 points in the coldest game ever played in Arrowhead. Then he nearly lost his locker room this season. I don't think he'll get another head job right away, but I could be wrong. I'm not worried about those problems permeating the Lions with adding McDaniel. Campbell is the leader of men, Holmes infuses talent that exudes that mentality, they'll be fine. But it would do McDaniel a lot of good to learn how to be a tougher, more physical, head football coach from Dan Campbell.

Speaking of the offensive line...

I think McDaniel would be a perfect fit as OC. Zac Taylor probably would have been perfecter. But McDaniel is instantly my #1 choice, over Kingsbury and Stefanski. Kingsbury is brilliant, but has worked primarily with mobile quarterbacks in an Air Raid system. I'm not sure how well it would translate, and I've probably shifted on him to being my #3 choice behind McDaniel and Stefanski. Stefanski is more of a ground-and-pound offense with heavy-set lines. He'd love Montgomery, and would love Skipper too (if he doesn't retire). His system is definitely compatible with the Lions, but it's also a little bit closer to the "three yards and a cloud of dust" philosophy of yesteryear. The Lions have a lot of speed that would need to be molded to fit that system. He's also never worked with a QB quite like Goff. And candidly, I don't love that his offense has come in dead last and second-to-last in points scored the last two years, his 5th and 6th years with the organization. I know he had basically nothing in the way of offensive talent, but you would hope that a really good OC would make something out of nothing. McDaniel though comes from the Shanahan philosophy of "let your playmakers make plays." I think he would do a masterful job with Goff, ASB, Jamo, and Gibbs. He uses pre-snap motion and play action to get guys open in space and let them do what they do best. Comparing Stefanski to McDaniel numbers-to-numbers, McDaniel was 22nd and 25th in points scored the last two years, despite not having much more talent than the Browns on that side of the ball. Back in 2023, Tagovailoa's last full season, he was 2nd in points scored. You'd still need to fix the offensive line, but I think we would see ASB put up similar numbers he has been, while Ferraris like Gibbs and Jamo have career years with prime Tyreek Hill like numbers.

Mike McCarthy is worse than vanilla ice cream.

The Giants are a prime candidate to be the next Washington: a quick turnaround with an easy schedule that makes the incoming coach look like a mastermind and a great hire… Followed by a revelation of a lot of problems under the surface not easily patched. I suspect Chicago will be in this category next season too.

The thread continues. What stops him from just dropping out of UW and enrolling at LSU? He contractually can't enter the "transfer portal" but a pre-med student at Mott Community College who wants to transfer to Michigan State doesn't have to enter the portal either. if he's officially a student at LSU, is the toothless 2026 version of the NCAA going to stop him from playing at LSU? I doubt it. And LSU will find a way to get him his money. No one cares if he's getting it directly from the school or LSU gives Raising Canes $6MM and Raising Canes gives him $6MM for appearing in a single commercial. There are no adults in the room and it's showing.