Transcript of Three Rivers Return: Mike McCarthy’s Drew Allar Project & Narduzzi’s Outlook New

We're back from the banks of the Three Rivers, Pittsburgh, PA. The 2026 NFL Draft has been committed to history. Now we have to try and make some sense of it for you. We also have Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi coming up. In the meantime, we have to try to figure out who the best pick of the draft was, who the worst pick is, some fantasy implications, weirdest pick, the interminable wait for the vampire named Aaron Rodgers. In the meantime, one thing I'm sure about is the greatest first overall in the history of people at least in my book, is my 19-year-old, the Cheech McGeech. She's 19 years old today. Happy birthday, Peach! Let's start the show. Yes, hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. Welcome to Football America, presented as ever by our pals over there at DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours. And like I just said, we're back from Pittsburgh. What a time it was. I know it's sort of like hearing about somebody else's fantasy team when people talk to you about how much they love their favorite sports town and how important it is. It's sort of like tell— telling you about the latest golf round that you weren't a part of, but I'm busting with, uh, with pride for Pittsburgh, PA.

What a grand show it was there. I thought it really represented itself well. I'm surprised in the year of the Lord 2026 that it's still is a surprise to people. But either way, I thought it looked great on TV. I can tell you, as, uh, some of the boots on the ground, it was a great experience to be there. Thanks to everyone who took a moment to come up and say hello and that they're enjoying Football America. We really appreciate that. Say hello, say hello to us once again on YouTube in the comments section. Football America is where you'll find the, the YouTube page, and, uh, or Football America is where you will find us on YouTube is what I think I meant to say. Either way, you can also find us wherever you find your podcasts. And I did say hello to head coach Pat Narduzzi. You're going to hear that in a moment. Right now, let's start things off as we always do by identifying who the greatest number 62 of all time is. Gino Fuentes, how are you, fella? And by the way, shout out to Mike Fuentes and Buddy Budowski. We'll talk to you guys in just a second.

Gino, take it away, fella.

I'm doing great, Dave. Let's get to 62. 62. We got an easy one finally. Jason Kelce.

Did Dave ask, do you know how he was doing? Yes, he did.

And then he talked for a long time.

Okay, so that's such a bridge in between.

I don't know how I remembered that he told me.

Yeah, because I was like, I don't think Dave asked. I don't think Dave asked.

Yeah, guys, you're too far.

No, I just, I don't know if he asked. And then like, it was just a long time ago. Gino's just serving up easy. I'm like, did it, does Dave give a shit? I don't think he cared.

We have gotten too far into the show.

I asked Gino how he was. Listen, listen, as I think Buddy Budowski at least understands, as we record this, I'm reeling emotionally and spiritually. The Pittsburgh—

I was just going to say—

shot at rallying from an 0-3 deficit. It would have ranked for me. I had made my peace that the Penguins were not going to rally once they went down 3-0. But then it looked like they really might. And I had, like I say, made my peace with the loss. But then I started to think if this happens, it might rank up there close to at least watching the Penguins win the Stanley Cup if they could rally to vanquish the hated Philly Flyers. No such luck. Better luck next year. Let's go, Bucs. But we're here to talk about football. Back to you, Gino Fuentes. And I do care how you are.

All right, I'm going to make it quick. Jason Kelce is number 62. Best 62. The only 62 I'm going to mention. Take it away.

What about Jim Langer? You live in Miami. He was the Dolphins great. He's a Hall of Famer.

But he wasn't as good.

I love, I love how Gino's pretending he knows who Jim Langer is. Listen, it's only there because he showed up on Google. Don't act like you know who Jim Lang is.

We want to talk South Florida's greats that wore number 62. Brandon Montour, Stanley Cup champion with the Panthers, scored a huge goal in the first run to the Cup Final that they ended up losing to Vegas. We kept the series alive in Game 7. We have not made enough fun of Dave for the Pittsburgh Penguins losing to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Turn off your mic.

Yeah, we're 3 minutes into the show. Like, I don't, I don't get it.

That means Pittsburgh will go 3,000 days without advancing in the postseason. I just wanted sneak that stat in there for you, Dave. In any sport.

Okay.

I have a question for Dave.

Not true. Not true. I thought you guys like soccer. The Riverhounds won whatever level of soccer they are.

Yeah, take that. Take that.

I got a draft question.

Let's get them, Dave.

For Dave. Dave, how do you feel about George Pickens being traded essentially for Drew Aller?

The pick that the Pittsburgh Steelers used in the third round, one of their third round picks, is the one they got in return for George Pickens last springtime?

Yes, and they'd use that on Drew Aller. They also had a, uh, a pick swap next year, but I'm— for, for all intents and purposes, it was George Pickens for Drew Aller.

I mean, listen, I've already gone on social media, and you can find my remarks on, uh, on YouTube if, if you want a deeper dive on what I think about Aaron Rodgers. I think I've made them pretty clear here. He's a 43-year-old man, and given that no 40-plus-year-old not named Tom Brady has ever even reached a Super Bowl. What are we doing? What— why the indignity of waiting around for this old man who is afraid of a pass rush?

What is that?

What is the value of that? And it's also strange because I think, you know, we can poke holes in, in some of the stuff that happened in the draft with the Steelers. Not a great look with Philadelphia, man. Philadelphia over Pittsburgh in sports terms the last week plus, I guess, between the Flyers and then the Eagles swooping in to take Makai Lemon when the Steelers were on the line with him. By the way, does that mean that if the technology known as call waiting hadn't been invented, that Makai Lemon would be a Pittsburgh Steeler right now? I think that is the math on it. But to your question, Gino, Drew Aller is obviously a flawed prospect. He's also a high-pedigree prospect. And a year ago, you would have been thrilled to hear that your team got Drew Aller because he was touted as maybe the first overall pick. In a class that would have included— to everybody talking a year ago, was supposed to.

I think you're lying to yourself there a little bit.

I don't know, I'm gonna be honest, Dave.

I think you're trying to talk yourself into it.

I have watched too much Penn State football over the last few years, and as much as Aller's got the size, he's got the arm, he's got the, the traits that you kind of want in a quarterback, you watch him play, and I know that Penn State's offense and James Franklin was never really a quarterback whisperer, as you might call him. I'm not too high on Drew Aller. Like, I, I saw enough from him. He was a 4-year starter at Penn State, and he like, he got them to the semifinals, and then he threw an interception in the semifinals.

I get it. Well, who's, who's, who's saying otherwise? Obviously he's flawed. That's why he was considered a reach at round 3. The point is, things change year to year. A year ago, what if I would have told you that Fernando Mendoza was going to be the first overall pick? You would have said, what the hell are you talking about? Who is Fernando Mendoza? A year ago, a year ago, a year ago, Sam Darnold was like, what, the Seahawks are paying Sam Darnold? How much don't they know what a loser he is? Things change. The point is Mike McCarthy is there because he is considered to be. Whether or not you think he is is another matter, but he has developed a lot of quarterbacks, high-end, mediocre. He gets the best version of those quarterbacks I mean, including Dak Prescott. He gets the best version of those guys out. And so let's assume that the reason that the Steelers made a savvy hire of Mike McCarthy was to try and develop the next generation's quarterback. Now they've doubled down on it. I said last year everybody thought, how silly are the Browns? They took Dylan Gabriel and Jadore Sanders.

Don't they know they already have, uh, Deshaun Watson and Joe Flacco? This is what you need to do if you're behind the 8-ball, which is to say you don't have the answer at the position that matters most in the NFL. Then you got to keep taking some swings or you're going nowhere. I thought last year Steelers have at least done that. We'll see, maybe, maybe Mike McCarthy can develop Drew Aller.

Well, maybe—

I thought last year, speaking of the year gone by, that they liked Will Howard. I remember you said that they were high on Will Howard and they had him sitting in the wings, and now they get Drew Aller too.

So, well, as far as that goes, I will say this. Here's the simple math. If they're to be believed, and obviously front offices and coaching staffs aren't necessarily to be taken at their word in springtime or any other time, but they did say in the microphones and otherwise that they would not take a quarterback, um, in this draft unless they liked him more than they liked Will Howard. Well, guess what? They just took Drew Aller in the, in the third round. So what does that mean, that they like Drew Aller more than they like Will Howard? They are waiting out Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers is going to show up, but the fact that they had to tender him to kind of force his hand, to kind of remind him there's nowhere else you can go. It's us or the streets. Aaron is— they kind of did it dirty, necessarily. I don't think— I don't think it's as contentious as it is, but it— they can say whatever they want that no, he's aware of it. What, what he's aware of is you have no other options besides Pittsburgh.

They limited his money.

More embarrassing than not getting him— the only more embarrassing than not getting him would be to not get him because he wants to go play for the Arizona Cardinals. Now that would be a real slap in the face. I think it is going to be Rodgers. I would much rather it be Drew Aller and Will Howard and Mason Rudolph and let the, let the youngsters play as much as possible. The irony, the sad irony for the Steelers is, I'll say it again, and Daniel Jeremiah, who I think knows what he's talking about in terms of personnel, and other people we've talked to, Jeff Schwartz has agreed with this, the best roster now in the AFC North, if you take out the QB, is the Steelers. It amounts to nothing though, because Aaron Rodgers at 43 isn't capable of taking them to the Super Bowl. So then why would you try to get him? Because all he does is hold back the progress of one or both of those young quarterbacks. Overall, the, um, the best draft results— I feel like we're in the bizarro world, um, that I would need to say this out loud, or that I am going to say this, my credibility at stake here.

I think the best drafts, at least up there in the top 3, the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.

I agree. The Browns. The Browns had a great draft.

Oh, Dave, you keep speaking about the age of Aaron Rodgers, but you know what they say, Dave? Age is just a number. And that's why the Count— the Count is here to give you some numbers from the NFL Draft.

Hello, Cal.

Hello, Dave. How are you? How was Pittsburgh?

It was— Pittsburgh, PA was great. And I would like to tell you, Cal, thanks for making the scene here. Mo Damashek, with whom I stayed, my lovely Mo, commented. She said, she said to me, you know who I really like? I don't know who he is, but the Count. I like the Count when he shows up on Football America. So welcome.

Because it reminds people of when they were children and the My cousin, the one over in the barrio there on Sesame Street, he would come and count to them. Yes, uh, you know, do not get us confused though. He is not into sports. Okay, we talk about players taken in the draft. Do you know how many players, Dave, were drafted from your Indiana University?

I am just positively flummoxed by who, what accent the Count has today. No, I don't know, to answer your question.

Uh, well, Dave, uh, you're asking too many questions, you know, and this time people with accents seem to be being targeted by our federal government, so we will just say that Indiana had 8, 8 players taken. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 players taken. 2 in the first round. How many? 1, 2 players.

No, no, no, we got it, we got it, we got it.

Okay, okay, we'll move on, we'll move on. Dave, do you know how many players from that dastardly Florida State University were drafted?

I don't, no.

Oh, really? Nobody really knows because I'll tell you right now, we'll just count it out. One! End of list. Only one, only one. The same amount of numbers as punters taken from the University of Florida, which also had one. So Dave, that is a quick little draft recap. Do you want to take a crack at what position had the most players drafted?

No, I'd rather you just tell me the count. Count it up for us.

Oh, count it up? Well, we're going to be here a while. Wide receivers! 36 wide receivers! 1, 2, skip a few, 36 receivers!

NFL record, by the way.

NFL record. Gino says, guess how many tight ends were taken, hmm, Dave?

Also a record.

I'm gonna say fewer. Uh, fewer than you were?

A considerable amount. Only 22, which is crazy saying 22 because it's actually It's actually the second number I led to was tackles. Tackles and tight ends both had 22. But pass catchers, tight ends, which means that two of the highest numbers drafted were tight ends and wide receivers. Our favorite game is changing, Dave.

That's a new trend, by the way, in the NFL. Everyone's got multiple tight ends now.

Multiple tight ends.

Whoa.

Sounds like a Saturday night, you know what I mean? Anyway, Dave, back to you.

Well, tight end brings me neatly to what I was going to say about, I think, the most intriguing pick. Well, the best pick, first of all, just to get that out of the way, and it feels like this is a universal opinion, is, um, it is what the Cowboys did getting Caleb Downs at number 11. I always— I thought the NFL was a copycat league. Did everybody get amnesia about what the Baltimore Ravens got? What was that now, 4 years, 3 years, 4 years ago? And Kyle Hamilton at 14. Now Caleb Williams goes at 11. A safety, yeah, I guess they say it's not the most valuable position, but also he can play in the slot, he can play various spots, um, for you in the secondary. So I think that's a winner for them. And beware those Dallas Cowboys, America's alleged team. Um, the most Hollywood pick though feels to me appropriately to be in Hollywood, California, or nearby with the LA Rams. I don't really understand this, and if anybody can explain it to me, please do. I don't think anybody has the total information here. It's very murky at the time of this recording.

Ty Simpson from Bama, of course, the guy who I was advocating the Steelers take if he had reached them. But now QB whisperer Sean McVay took him, or did he? Or was Ty Simpson taken despite Sean McVay's opposition? I find that highly unlikely. I do not buy it.

I can't believe that, Dave. No, I can't believe it.

I could understand if Sean McVay had just gotten to Los Angeles. You're like, he's a new guy, doesn't have a rapport with the GM, whatever. Guy's been there forever, GM's been there forever, they've won a title together. There's no way they're just gonna be— I'm not gonna ask this guy. There's no way.

And not only that, do you think it's possible, given his personality— just think about Sean McVay, what you've learned about him in the last decade— do you think he's a hands-off guy? Like, yeah, quarterback, no, whatever you think, let's— let me know how it turns out. Like, there's no chance of that.

Speaking of that, so then it makes me Yeah, no, no, like, um, the way he was— we all saw the video last year, or 2 years ago now, of him strongly opinionated on Puka Nacua.

Yes, very excited.

Could not wait. BYU. Yes, yes, yes.

If he's like that for a 5th round receiver, I got a feeling it's probably a little more ramped up for a top 15 quarterback.

I was stunned, Dave, to, to see all of these reactions coming out, because when I saw Ty Simpson, we were here doing the live stream, and I hear Ty Simpson to the Rams, like, I started I got a little bit excited about it because I'm saying if McVay sees a guy at 13 that he believes can be the, the, the heir apparent to Matt Stafford, that must mean he's really high on the guy.

I thought so.

I thought it was a good pick all of a sudden. And then you start seeing the reactions post, post Hayes on Twitter and it's like, what is going on here?

I got to admit, we were all here doing the draft show and I thought I had gotten the information wrong because I did not expect them to go that high. I thought it was just like, oh wow, did I misread something? I was a little scared.

I mean, ended up being right, but You know, my whole thought was if they had traded the number 13 pick and gotten back Trent McDuffie and drafted this guy with the 29th pick, nobody says anything.

Correct.

So, well, but to what Buddy Budowski just said, I think he just Freudian or otherwise just said it was an error in judgment. It's very weird in this sense. Do the whole arc of the Sean McVay Rams. They have Jared Goff and McVay likes Jared Goff and makes it work and just— and gets Goff to an MVP level, MVP-adjacent level. They go to the Super Bowl. Goff kind of flames out in the big spot. McVay adds it all up and says, we still can upgrade and get a little bit better at the position that matters most. And so they get Matthew Stafford, and then they win a Super Bowl. This feels like— I mean, listen, I am, in fact, whether I get to wear the crown or not, I am a QB whisperer. I dare you to ID a civvie out there who has a better track record of telling you that that quarterback is going to work out in pro football and that quarterback isn't. By the way, speaking of that, to your points, I just have to go back 10 minutes. The stuff about Drew Aller is a specimen. Yeah, he is a specimen, and so was Ryan Leaf, and so was JaMarcus Russell.

It doesn't mean— or Uh, or I mean, there are a million examples of guys who cut a certain figure that are, are, uh, empty suits. But you know, I, I— the faith is in Mike McCarthy and his consistent ability to develop quarterbacks. I'm not talking about the kid necessarily. I don't think it's crazy though to say that James Franklin and the Penn State coaching staff failed the kid. I don't think that's a big—

agreed 100%—

to say that. But anyway, So like this, this like, uh, Jared Goff good, Matthew Stafford all-time physical stud, now back to Ty Simpson who's going to be like— the people who would advocate for Ty Simpson would say, hey, if Brock Purdy can do it, why can't Ty Simpson? I get that math, but that's not what Sean McVay chose to— I mean, Ty Simpson isn't as talented as Jared Goff coming out of Cal, way back when. So this is going to be a diminished physical specimen based on what Sean McVay's worked with just with the Rams. And I'm not even talking about Matthew Stafford. He's not even as good as the guy who they had to trade away to get Matthew Stafford. It's very weird to me, but I do think— the thing I don't buy is that McVay was completely unaware of all this, unless the one thing that— the one caveat is, does GM Les Snead know, or at least strongly suspect, that Sean McVay is going to walk out the door when Stafford does, and in which case he's just trying to take care of the franchise the day after McVay and Stafford leave.

Either way, it makes some sense if you look at what the, what the Packers did and started the whole tumult with the aforementioned Aaron Rodgers, was drafting Jordan Love. And so now the Rams have done that, and if you think that this is going to cause the demise of the Rams, I refer you to the Packers, who after drafting Jordan Love went to the NFC title game. So it's, it's not a death knell for the short term. But to tie it all together, when Geno mentions, or, or the Count I guess mentioned it, whatever, whoever that guy was—

it was me, Dave—

whatever. Okay, he, uh, I, I feel like that Sadiq or Lemon or somebody else obviously helps them much more right now than having a backup quarterback does. Um, I do think that there is a certain sobriety, pigskin-wise, to the long-term future of the franchise to get Ty Simpson. Now the question is, once again, just like I said about Mike McCarthy's ability or not to do something with Drew Aller, can Sean McVay bring Ty Simpson along in line with what Shanahan has done with Brock, uh, with Brock Purdy? We shall see. We're talking about something that probably doesn't impact 2026, so let's move along there. Um, I, I do think that as we react to what we've just seen here, what a lot of people's brain goes to are the fantasy implications. That means it's time for the debut of Drinking from the Fantasy Fountain with Gino Fuentes, NBD. Gino Fuentes, are you ready for this? This is a, a new hat you're wearing on the show.

What's with the music?

You're in a pizza Pizza restaurant?

You're not Italian, but your name is. Oh, that's true.

I'll roll with it. Okay, so what are you asking me? Who's going to be the high-impact players from the draft for fantasy?

How about— settle down, Fantasy Fountain. I'll ask the question. All right. How about you don't prompt me that way?

I'm just trying to string stuff together.

Is that what you do? Is that what you do at the pizzeria? Is just tell people, are you calling me right now to order pizza? Yeah. Like, yeah, that's what we're doing right now.

Yeah.

Why you phoning?

We don't need that extra layer. Okay. All right. Pizza, a pizzeria. Here we go. The big one to me, Jeremiah Love in New Orleans at number— I mean, in Cardinals in Arizona.

I don't know.

I don't know why I said New Orleans, but Jeremiah Love in Arizona. How say you? I know people from a pure what happens with the Arizona Cardinals and is this a wise pick? But just from the fantasy side of things, how say you here with Jeremiah Love? Who was considered a very valuable piece if he landed in the right spot in football America for potentially your favorite fantasy football team this year.

Well, he's obviously going to get the ball. You don't spend the number 3 pick on someone if you're not going to give them the ball. However, I think if you spend like a first-round pick on him, he's going to disappoint you a little bit because they did hire— they did sign Tyler Allgeier to be the running back initially, right? Starting running back. So they're going to have to split carries there somehow. And so Jeremiah Love eventually might be that guy. But, you know, I don't think he's going to get you the numbers you're hoping for in his first year. He may be like a top 12 running back, but right around the end of the first round, beginning of the second round kind of value.

You know what?

I think the running back you're going to want, though, is Jahdarian Price.

Okay.

Because he goes to a Seattle backfield that's got nothing and a hurt Zach Charbonnet.

Good call on that one. Yeah, I like that. And then let's turn it to the quarterbacks here. I don't think Ty Simpson Um, I think Fernando, it's real interesting in year one, and I think— well, I mean, we're just speculating here. I think that it will be Fernando sooner rather than later. I don't think they're gonna mess around too much with Kirk Cousins, although the, the thing that happens is— I mean, it's not risky for the Raiders. They hope that, uh, Kirk Cousins starts in week 1, and then they win. They're like, well, we're not gonna pull the plug on the on the, on the vet now, and then he wins in week 2, and then they're off and running. Um, that would be good news for the Raiders, not for your fantasy team if you use a relatively high pick on the rookie Fernando Mendoza. I do like— I'm putting my marker down now— Fernando Mendoza is Pro Bowl— doesn't have any value at this point, but he— you know what I mean when I say I think he's a Pro Bowl-level quarterback. I think he does turn into that in a couple of years.

Let's say I would not be using a, a, uh, a high fantasy pick on him. Definitely not on Ty Simpson. You know who I do like, Gino? Tell me what you think of this. Carson Beck.

I was just gonna say that.

Among the rookie QBs, he's in Arizona.

He's got Jacoby Brissett and I think Gardner Minshew in front of him. And so, uh, I mean, he's got a loaded offense. I don't know what the protection's like in Arizona right now, but he's got a bunch of weapons. He's got 4, like, 4 deep at running back. So Carson Beck, um, it's a good call.

Who's the receiver that came on late there?

Michael Wilson.

Michael Wilson, right? That guy's stud. Wow, they, they really—

that's the best tight end in the league. And they got Harrison Jr. Marvin Harrison Jr.

looking like a little bit like a bust, but that—

yeah, but also they, right, they made up for it with this Michael Wilson kid. Like, he's replaced the value you thought Marvin Harrison Jr. might have.

Definitely got weapons for Carson Beck to miss and throw game-losing interceptions.

Yeah, well, unless the Cardinals front office and coaching staff, and they are incented to win sooner rather than later, obviously, unless they get in their own way, the best thing to do is to roll with Carson Beck, not mess around with Jacoby Brissett, or who's the backup there?

Is Minshew there?

Garner Minshew landed there, so I don't even know. So why, why even bother with that? Because, you know, if you look, if you look in your neighborhood, and we always advocate for doing that, If you look around the neighborhood, are you winning the division? Are you getting a wild card in the division that includes the heavyweights that your division does, Cardinals? Obviously not. So use this season to see what Carson Beck has, and if he ain't got it, then turn the page in 2027. This is going to be the strategy of a lot of teams, by the way. I keep saying that that's one that the Pittsburgh Steelers should be employing as well. Um, last thing, Gino, in this debut of the Fantasy Fountain, Gino Fuentes, NBD. Is, um, pass catchers. Who will— give me one pass catcher you think will definitely make it and will definitely not have any value in his rookie season.

Uh, one guy that will definitely make it, Carnell Tate. Uh, he's gonna get the ball. He— they went number 4 overall. Uh, I think he's gonna go right into an offense where he's gonna be the featured target. They needed to get some receiving help there. Um, the one who definitely won't make it in year 1 out of the guys in the first round I mean, all the guys in the first round, I'm gonna go ahead and say Omar Cooper Jr. Um, just because all of a sudden, well, first of all, it's, you know, it's Geno Smith, uh, throwing him the ball. Um, and they've, they have all of a sudden very loaded offense. They got Saadiq, they already had Mason Taylor, and then they had Garrett Wilson, and then they add Omar Cooper Jr. So I don't think he's going to get a lot of the ball. Uh, for a first-round receiver, that's, that's kind of a disappointment.

I, you know what, I, I think you're spot on with that, man. The Jets all of a sudden, like we already said, had a Good draft. And I don't— I'm not as down on Geno as, as you are. All right, listen, let's, uh, let's go back to the banks of the Three Rivers. One of the real highlights for me was getting to sit down as a lifelong Pitt fan, grew up in Pitt Stadium, going there. My old man used to work with the team, and so it was a thrill to get to check in with the latest iteration, as the, uh, as the corporate types like to say, the latest iteration of the Pitt Panthers' longtime head coach. In fact, the second-winningest coach in program history, Pat Narduzzi, on on his birthday, no less, kind enough to give me and Lucy Rodine some, uh, some time at the Pitt facility. It was a really fun time talking to him about what it is to be an NFL— a college football head coach in the 21st century. Let's travel back to Pittsburgh right now for our visit with Pat Narduzzi. Lucy, I mean, what kind of trip would this be around Pittsburgh if we didn't at least talk football with one head coach?

And, and fortunately, wouldn't you know, So here he is, the head coach of the Pitt Panthers. In fact, the second winningest coach in school history and a birthday boy. Wouldn't you know it? It's Pat Narduzzi. Thanks, Coach. How are you? Happy birthday to you.

Outstanding. Thank you. Thank you. Getting old. Appreciate the birthday wishes. Excited to have you guys in here for, for the draft this weekend and come into our Pittsburgh building, see all the great things we have here.

Well, my mom was real excited to hear it was your birthday, so she made you some brownies.

Oh, man.

There you go.

I'm gonna have to smell these things here.

Oh yeah, let me see. Oh, that's chocolatey.

Michelle.

Thanks, Michelle. Appreciate it.

Old Mo Damashek. Yeah, she's here. Yeah. Started way back with Tony Dorsett up in Hopewell, and here I sit now, her, uh, her son talking to the head coach of the Pitt program. First question for you is, let's go pro level here since we are in for the draft. You're a Youngstown State guy. Your, your old man obviously, uh, did the work for a decade up there at Youngstown with the Penguins. Are you a Brownies guy or a Steelers guy?

Oh boy, that's a tough question. I'm a Steelers guy because I'm in Pittsburgh. I'm in, you know, I'm in the Steel City right now. But I'll tell you what, you know, as a kid growing up, my dad moved all over the place. I mean, we lived up in— I was born in New Haven, Connecticut, while he was with Yale. You guys remember Calvin Hill?

Mm-hmm. Sure, sure.

I mean, he was a pretty good player and first rounder and then moved out of Miami, Florida, Kentucky. So I moved all over the place. But you know who I'm a fan of? In the NFL is all the players that your dad coached, you know, growing up. And now I'm a fan of all the, you know, the players that we have in the NFL. We've had 31 guys since I've been here, you know, go on to get drafted to the NFL. And, you know, to me, I'm a fan of those guys, watching those guys. Tyler Boyd was in my office earlier today, just barged in. I was in player meetings. My man Tyler, you know, from Clarendon High School here in the city, comes in my office and just starts talking for about 15 minutes. It was awesome just to catch up with him because he's been busy the last few years. You know, 9 years in the league. So, but I'm a Steeler guy.

I'm here, you know, never really, you know, never went Brownies when you were growing up.

Never. I was up there because my dad had a couple of players up there, but not a Brownies fan.

And those Brownies is a fan of—

Yeah, these Brownies. Yeah, those are— that's, that's post-lunch.

My mom definitely got you something too, by the way, left in the car. Yeah, I left it in the car for sure.

I'll give you time to go to the car. We'll find out what you got.

Where do we park again?

Coach, I was saying to Lucy that, you know, I was pointing out that to her where the Allegheny and Monongahela converge to form the Ohio. And of course it's right in downtown Pittsburgh. So it seems unjust that that state, with all due respect, that doesn't have a lot going for it. You know, it's right next to the winning, to the city of Champaign. Don't you think we should get to rename that river something Pittsburgh? And if so, what should we call it?

Especially if it starts right here.

Right.

Let's, let's, uh, what are we going to call it?

Lemieux River?

Lemieux? No, we got to stay in football.

The Dews River?

I like the Dews River. Let's call it that. No, I got to win a national championship before that happens.

Let me ask you this. You're a player's coach to some degree. Is that why you wear the wristbands on the sideline?

The wristbands on the sideline? God, what? I wear wristbands? I didn't know I wear wristbands.

You don't wear— I've seen you wear wristbands out there.

You know what, back a few years ago, we're no huddle right now.

Yeah.

Okay. But before the no huddle, okay. Before the no huddle, our last coordinator, you know, would call it and he'd say, "Wrist number 52 or wrist 1,082." So I'd have to flip. So I don't know what the play is, cuz it doesn't, they aren't calling the play over the headsets. They're calling it there. So I wanna see, hey, is it a run or pass? What formation we line it up? So I just wanted to have a clue what was going on. But the last 2 years, man, we're moving. You know, and I can hear the formation, the play call and everything. So I don't have to listen. Wristbands.

Do you choose what you wear on a game day or is that something that's set aside for you? Are you like a tradition guy? Like superstitious?

It all depends. Do I look good on game day or do I look bad? So that's the question.

Look, Pitt's got great colors. They have fantastic colors. The blue is just— it's one of the best blues in sports. But I need to know, is this like night before? Am I like, okay, Blue is good luck. Gold hasn't worked for me in the past. Like, how are we deciding this?

Well, you know, home game, away game. Yeah. I mean, home games, we're always going to wear something. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you know, light gray or white, whatever. You know, on the road games, you know, our players are wearing white, so we'll wear something blue or black or whatever. So, but I got to tell you, my equipment guys, I got to give a shout out to Danny, Danny K down in equipment. They get me dressed right, or at least, you know, I hope so.

Yeah. So you're not picking out the outfits?

I'm not picking out the outfit.

The outfits look good, so that makes sense.

So that makes sense. Yeah. I'm not really good. I don't really care what I look like, to be honest with you. I just want to go. And, you know, the look is good for everybody else, but I just want to make sure I get to coach football.

Yeah, man, you've been here for a while now, to your credit. I'm old. Yes. Yes.

Okay. I mean, everyone says 60 is the new 40. I've heard that like all the time.

You were— you were there. At least you should— you can claim that you're the one who demanded that they go back to the script pit and the right colors for the university.

Yeah, they were starting to get it going right before I got here, but they couldn't solidify it. But then when I got here and our new AD came in, Scott Barnes, who's up at Oregon State right now, matter of fact, I think he's just retired this offseason. He was the one to bring it back. And obviously everybody in Pittsburgh wanted the old script back. Why we ever went, you know, we had a walrus one time, I think it was on the—

I don't know what that thing was.

It was a walrus. I thought someone said walrus. Is that what it was?

Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, now that I'm thinking.

It looked like a walrus, but there were some ugly logos. But I think, you know, you look up there at that Pitt script and And really, I think the new Panther logo is spot on.

Dynamite.

I mean, if you get up to the cathedral and you see that up on top of the cathedral on campus, we got to get her. Has she been to the cathedral yet? I know you have.

So this is actually my first time in Pittsburgh, which— how crazy is that? I get to spend this with you. What recs do you have for me?

Ooh, you got to get to the cathedral on campus.

Okay.

Okay. And we got to get someone— we got some people in the building, maybe even get you to the top floor and get some video up.

Wait, I want to go to the top floor so bad.

And then you can see all of Pittsburgh. You can see where you're going to be this weekend. That's for sure.

You, uh, like I say, have been around for a while, and so it's changed quite a bit. It's really— I mean, it, it— the distinction from 1982 to 2002 wasn't that big. There weren't wholesale changes to the sport, really, like you've gone through. How different is, say, your experience with Kenny Pickett through all those seasons versus now Mason Heinschel? I mean, how different is your allotment of time and how much you have to focus on recruiting guys in here and making sure they stick around once you have them in the fold?

Well, I got here in 2015 and, you know, I'd say the game of football hasn't changed that much. The amount of time we get to coach Kenny Pickett as opposed to Mason, that time hasn't changed. We're allowed 20 hours per week. So it's like a part-time job for our players. Obviously, as coaches, we're here all day game planning and trying to figure things out. You know, the biggest change in college football is been on the outside. Yeah, it's been the portal. It's been the, you know, name, image, and likeness, the rev share. That's where the difference is. And I can tell you this. Let's talk about the positive today. Today's positive. You know, April 22nd, the portal's closed right now. Okay. Last year, the draft was in Pittsburgh and you guys wanted to come talk. It'd be an absolute, I have no time. Okay. Because the portal was open and we'd be busy just talking to our players all day, trying to get them to stay at Pitt. You know, just, you know, talking about what we have to offer, what we can do for their careers as opposed to going someplace else. So that's where the biggest time difference has been and really the anxiety for all coaches.

I assume that that's legitimately— it's not a reflection on Pitt, obviously, specifically. Wherever you are, it's like, don't go now, we need you for next season, which is just not a conversation you were likely having 20 years ago.

Yeah, you weren't having the conversation at all. I mean, you might have a guy here or there that would, you know, jump in the transfer portal, they'd have to sit out a year.

But now there's nothing, you know, it was a big deal when a guy would transfer, right?

Yeah, it was a big deal. Now it's like, you know, when you look at basketball roster, they said 65% of a basketball roster is in the portal. I mean, football's probably 40%, but everybody's looking for something, something different. But, you know, we've been fortunate enough to be able to keep our guys here. That's a great thing is we have a great city. Uh, we got great people in this building. I think our players love being coached by us and how we coach them, uh, because I think the call to culture is great. We have a brotherhood, a family, uh, family atmosphere here. I think that's the key. So when you look at it, matter of fact, I looked at 70, 70 Power 4 teams in the country, 51 of them, 51 of those 70, okay, had a lot more guys in the transfer portal than we did. We were in the bottom 19 of the country as far as losing guys. And I think that's a, a tribute to our people here in this, uh, in the city and the city of Pittsburgh in general.

How do you maintain that consistency? Because I feel like over your tenure here at Pitt, it's been consistent across the board when there have been so many changes. How are you like slotting your staff to handle NIL versus the transfer portal when it's such a big part of college football these days when it necessarily wasn't before?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I think it's in the work our coaches put in. I mean, we work at it. You know, I think probably the most underrated thing, and everybody talks about recruiting, everybody wants to recruit all these 4- and 5-star guys, okay? We're not looking, we're not shopping for stars, okay? They're not sitting in our shopping cart. We're going out to get football players that love the game of football, that are the right fits in the city of Pittsburgh, at Pittsburgh and, uh, and they want to be developed. And, you know, we've developed more players. Shoot, I think in the last 5 years we've had 20 guys drafted. That's second most in the ACC. I think the most is Clemson's got 22, we got 20. You know, there's a lot of schools out there in the ACC I'm kind of wondering, where are you at? Okay, like, where are they? I don't know. Um, but, you know, Pitt's in that, in that thing. So I think it comes down to evaluations, and we spend a lot of time— you sit on these computers, you see these big TVs, um, and, you know, I'm— as soon as I free minute, I'm in reevaluating a player on videotape to say, do we like this guy or not?

Currently, our coaches are on the road recruiting right now, so they're on the road recruiting and I'll be shooting out emails like, hey, this guy's an offer. Hey, this guy, you know, I rejected a guy this morning. Wasn't good enough. You know, he was soft, actually. Maybe one of the softest players I've seen on tape. I'm like, you know, soft does not fit in Pittsburgh. Okay? It don't belong here.

I've always thought that I would take, if you gave me a choice for the rest of my— you're going to be an NFL or a college coach. I think college appeals to me more except for the recruiting. I would not want in January and February, especially given the weather in the Northeast, to be like going from living room to living room with strangers. How weird is that experience? Or do you not have to do it anymore as much? Maybe that's the blessing of the NIL stuff is that you're not out on the road the first couple of months after the season ends.

Yeah, I think for head coaches, we don't go on the road as much as we did 3 years ago. I think it's definitely got cut back. I mean, they've shut down the month of December. But I got to be honest with you, Dave, I love recruiting.

Hmm.

I mean, that's the— that's how you build relationships. I love being in homes. I love having dinner with families and, and talking with them and then getting to know us because that's how, you know, that's how we, you know, that's how we recruit. I mean, to me, it's about relationships. And you got some people that can go into a home and can't fit and some people that can't fit. I think I can fit in everybody's home, you know, whether it's in Pittsburgh or South Florida or Georgia. I mean, I think we fit in a bunch of, a bunch of homes. Around the country. And to me, that's what it's all about. I think, you know, when a Pitt staff member walks out of a home, it's a positive. And our guys are doing home visits now. I mean, you know, 3 years ago you were never doing home visits in April and May. Our coaches currently are working from 7:30 in the morning in a school all the way to 9:00 PM on home visits. So it becomes, you know—

Do they serve— do people generally put out some food, some finger food, some cheeses, charcuterie perhaps?

What do they do? It's a great question. It's a little bit everything, okay? It's a little bit everything. Sometimes it's Chinese takeout, which is phenomenal, you know, from a different area.

It's always— I would— I'd be uncomfortable, like, hey, I'm recruiting your 18-year-old son and I want you to know he's going to be in good shape, but, but also I'm trying to deal with the, the chopsticks and everything.

Yeah, I got to tell you, you want a funny story? You want a funny story? So I'm on a home visit and it was Chinese for lunch because it was kind of maybe maybe 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock. And we hadn't eaten all day. 'Cause you, we as coaches, if you're sitting in a restaurant eating lunch or you're sitting, you know, in the drive-through at McDonald's waiting, you're, you know, the clock is ticking and someone else is in that high school recruiting that kid. So we get to the house, you know, the mom's got, you know, she's got a bunch of Chinese food there and we're kind of at the, you know, at the island in the middle. We have a coach on the other side. I won't say his name. He's on the other side. I'm on this side. I'm talking to the kids to my right, mom's to the left, and you know, it's hard to eat when you're, you know, you're training. I'm recruiting, right? So, you know, every once in a while, you know, they got a question, you might take a bite. But, uh, my assistant coach is starving to death on the other side.

Like, he is hungry, okay? And he's got noodles hanging down 8 inches from his mouth. I'm like, what are we doing here? This is a bad— I was like, I, I actually had to say, hey, slow down. It ain't about the meal here.

You can't eat all the shrimp.

No, it was, it was the lo mein. The lo mein was hanging down.

If you put crab rangoon in front of me, it's the— if the crab rangoon's right there, one, I want you to play for my program right now. You got great taste. And two, we're not talking. I'm so sorry.

So the food's been phenomenal on the road. I mean, there's some meals that you kind of go, I've never had that before. I forget what the heck they were. I was down at, you know, a home in South Florida and oxtail.

Oh, yeah.

Have you ever had oxtail?

Oh, it's very nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's a lot of bones. You know, there's not much meat there, at least in this, this night it wasn't. But I was like, you know, I'm gonna eat everything now.

I mean, it's very popular. And I— but don't other beasts besides the ox have a tail that might be something you would eat? Because your only tail that I'm aware of that anybody ever eats is, is that of an ox.

Yeah, I don't know what it is. You know, I'm not eating many oxes, I'm telling you that.

Yeah, right.

I wasn't ordering it.

That— what's funny about that is, right, the only part of the ox that I'm aware that we eat is the tail. You don't hear like, uh, you know, I have some, you know, some of the other chunks of the ox, or do we just take its tail and leave the rest?

It might be in your burger. Who knows what they grind up in your burger?

Touché. Touché.

You're right. Might be some ox sausage.

Coach Dews, what's your takeaway over the course of the 24 months of Pittsburgh native Curt Signetti my alma mater. Any, any, any issue with that? I'm, you know, I'm born and raised Pittsburgh, spent more time in Pitt Stadium than anywhere else in my childhood, was there for all the great teams and then went to Indiana University. And, you know, I paid attention.

You were there in the Bill Mallory days.

I was, I was there for the Bill Mallory days.

My dad and Bill Mallory played together at Miami. Wow.

You're kidding me.

My dad and Bill Mallory coached together at Yale back. That's where I was born. You know, Bill Mallory. I know all the Mallories. Mike, Curt, uh, Doug.

Good soccer players.

I've stayed overnight in Bill Mallory's house.

Is that right? You lucky devil. Don't make me jealous.

Love the Mallories.

Bill Mallory, that was one— that's one of those things that happens in, in with certain teams and certain programs along the way is they would go— they went 8-3 and they would go to bowl games and you think like, pretty heady stuff for the Indiana Hoosiers against Michigan and Ohio State. But that wasn't good enough, and they showed him the door. And that proved to be a mistake until—

was a big mistake—

till Cignetti happens. And because of the NIL and everything else, what, what can you glean from that turnaround and the, the way coaches and people in your spot talk about, like, give me 5 years to turn this program around? How, how do you make sense of this new world we're living in?

You know, I think it's the right time, right place. You know, the first thing, you know, obviously give Coach Signetti, you know, a ton of props. I mean, the guy did a heck of a job. He's a hell of a coach, uh, without a doubt. I mean, because he could have all the things fall in place and be a crappy coach and have bad outcomes. So, um, you know, to me it came down to coaching. He's got a great staff, he's surrounded himself with good people, and he's got some good players. However he got them, uh, he got them there. I know he had a lot of kids from James Madison transfer into, into, uh, Bloomington, but he did a heck of a job coaching. Got a great, you know, quarterback. I mean, Mendoza played here a year ago and we beat him.

I remember it.

I remember he goes there and wins a national championship, wins a Heisman, and Maybe to be the first guy off the board tomorrow evening. So you think about what he did even with that guy. I mean, I think they scored 13 points in Akershus Stadium.

But your focus is though, and I like it spiritually, you know, Pittsburgh and all of that kind of stuff and provincial part of the country and everything, that it seems to me from a distance is that your focus is trying to get guys for 4 years. It's not about trying to work in who can we get for 1 more year to to gild the lily a little bit, but we want guys that are a part of the program for half a decade.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we want to develop our players. I think, you know, the transfer portal is great. We're going to take 14 or 15 guys. Whatever we lose or get rid of, right? That's the other part of the transfer portal people don't get is, you know, a couple more leaving because, you know, they want better opportunities, and, and most of them are leaving because we need to get better players in here to help us win the championship. So, uh, I think that's the realistic part of it. But, uh, yeah, we're trying recruit high school players. We want to develop our own guys. Matter of fact, speaking of the last 20 guys that were, you know, drafted by the University of Pittsburgh, 17 of them were guys from high school that developed here at Pitt. They weren't guys that we brought in off, off the streets from the portal.

Well, you— I don't have to tell you, there is so much pride in the high school football and all the, you know, that, that is— I think that versus tapping into Florida or Texas or otherwise, the dream would be like the They're all from the region. They're all within 40 miles of city center kind of thing.

Do you— so happy 60th. It's important for this question. So you spend a lot of time recruiting with, with young players. Do you ever catch yourself like picking up on like the TikTok lingo or like the young vernacular? Because it's changing so much with TikTok and social media. Do you like know what they're saying?

No. I've got 4 kids that kind of give me, you know, I hear them talk sometimes. I'm like, where'd that come from? Oh, it was on TikTok. I'm like, okay, I got you. Like, I, you know, I don't have time for that. I don't have time. I'm on Twitter or X now, I guess they call it, right?

Yeah.

I still want— I'm still old. I want to still call it Twitter and not even, even go to the X. It's Twitter.

It's literally Twitter.

We're calling it Twitter.

So I'm on that and Instagram, but that's about as far as I go.

So you're not recruiting clavicular, in other words.

No.

You're not like 6'7" to the players at all?

No, no, no. But I got two teachers, two of my daughters are teachers, and I heard the 6'7" in school and, and, uh, I've heard all about this.

A couple, just a couple of things more from me, Coach. One is, have you hung out yet? Gone out and gotten some meals with Coach Mike McCarthy? I mean, you guys must be thick as thieves.

You would think we were thick as thieves. You know, 11 years with Mike Tomlin, we have not hooked up. We're supposed to hook up today, matter of fact. And I don't know if that'll happen. He's got the draft tomorrow. He's had minicamp the last 2 days. He's busy. Since he's got here, he's running. And it's the same thing. When he got here, the portal was Portal was open, if you can imagine. So the portal was open. We're trying to finish up our recruiting class. So it's been chaos. I would imagine after this draft—

Do you ever— I'm sorry to interrupt you. Do you ever, do you ever, though, in that experience when you said Mike Tomlin, when you're passing each other in the hallway, you ever go like, you know, notice a little something on watching the game in the third quarter?

Never. You—

neither one of you ever says like, I like the look of that guy?

No, no. You know, I'd never give him any advice. He gave me one advice. He gave me one piece of advice. And it had nothing to do with really what was on the field. So we get beat by Penn State. Okay, it's a pretty big game in the state of Pennsylvania, right? In the rain here in Pittsburgh. And right before the half— okay, well, I shouldn't say that. Early in the game, it's 6-7. 6-7, 6-7.

There you go. See, now he knows. He knows about it.

It's 6-7. It's 6-7. We're down by 1 because our holder got hurt, you know, on a Saturday night accident the weekend before. Okay, won't get into that. We have our backup holder is in. Our backup holder is in. This is the things we deal with as coaches. He's our backup punter as well. So the first extra point, he drops the snap, doesn't get it down for the kicker. So we didn't miss it, it was a muff. So we missed that. So we're down 7-6. Gets later on in the game, it's pouring down rain. He ends up punting. It's Kirk Christodoulou. I love him to death. He's from Australia. He's back to catch the punt and he catches it. He takes a step forward, he drops the ball and they get the ball right there at the end of the half.

Mm-hmm.

Drives, I think, 17 yards for a touchdown and the rest is history, right? Just lost the momentum there. Now, and again, I think we rushed for 250 yards in the first half. Like we were moving the ball, just didn't get in the end zone like we'd like to. So I don't, you know, I'm on the sideline. I'm looking good. I'm dressed properly, right? I mean, I don't know what's going on the rest of the sideline. There's a lot of chaos on the sideline. So Thursday night, the next week, okay. And this week happened to be Pittsburgh got beat by the Browns. We, you know, big rival game, right? You talked about that already. And we get beat by Penn State and it's Thursday and I'm driving home 9 o'clock at night and all of a sudden Mike Tomlin's number name pops up on my car. I'm like, what is he calling me on a Thursday night? He never calls me Thursday. So we start talking about, hey, it's bounce back week. You know, he's all fired up. It's bounce back week. We're both coming back with a win. This week. I'm like, I got you.

And he goes, I was watching your game because Saturday night's like our Friday. Saturday night he's in the hotel with the team and he's explaining to me that the offense is on that side watching videotape, the defense is over there, and he's with the specialists, okay? And as I mentioned, our punter at the time was from Australia. The punter for the Steelers was from Australia as well. So our punter and their punter was pretty tight. They punted all summer. So Coach Tomlin goes on to talk and he's He's talking about how after our punter dropped that snap, that his punter was like, Kirk, what are you doing? Why are you wearing gloves? He never wears gloves. And I'm going, you know, so Coach Tomlin kind of got into the glove thing. And I'm like, you know, so my punter says your punter never wears gloves. He shouldn't be wearing gloves on game day. I'm like, no shit. So Coach Tomlin gave me that scoop. That was the best advice I've gotten in 11 years.

But he let his quarterback Roethlisberger wear both gloves on both hands all through his career, which is okay because he's used to—

because he does it in practice.

Okay, okay.

So I call Chris as soon as I got the phone with Tom, and I'm calling Chris, Chris DiDulo, saying, Kirk, did you wear— because I didn't go back to watch the tape Thursday night. I said, did you wear gloves? He goes, yeah. I said, what made you put gloves on if you've never practiced with— because it's different. You have to practice it. Receivers practice with gloves, quarterbacks practice with gloves. So I said, what made you do that? He goes, well, after I dropped that extra point some of the guys on the sidelines said, hey, try this. Well, we don't try crap like that during the game, okay? You practice that. So the next, you know, my next phone call was to the equipment guy saying, don't you ever give a specialist a pair of gloves without talking to me, because to me it cost us a game. That's a big-ass game.

That was, that wasn't the game, the, the next game that then the last play of the game is the little halfback pass to Kenny Pickett for the win.

Well, that's not the, that No, that was Central Florida. That was Central Florida game, I think, at home.

I think.

I think. I mean, you're talking to Kenny Pickett, caught the pass in the end zone.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The Pickett special.

Because you had a tough— I remember you had a real tough loss the week before and then you came back.

Yeah, it might have. You're saying, you know, the next game might have been Central Florida.

You're saying it might be. Yeah, that's what I'm—

Kenny Pickett had gloves on. Is that what you're getting to?

Kenny Pickett also.

Yes.

Famously a glove wearer, not a wristband wearer like other people I might mention.

All right. Last question for me and then we'll wrap. If I told you when you took the Pitt job, that there would be a year where you're playing a road conference game in Berkeley, California, how would you react?

I told you no way. No way, Lucy. But, you know, it's the reality of it.

Crazy.

And we went out there on a Thursday and got a win. It's hard to go coast to coast and get a win. The odds are about you. I think about 30% of the teams go out on the West Coast and win. We were able to, you know, to strategically get that done last year. So I was fired up to get out to Stanford.

Uh, springtime, so we've got a little bit of room before, um, before I have to take you— really take you to task on this. But Pitt in the ACC, Clemson, you know, for what it matters at this point, they're the, the team that's supposed to take, uh, things this season. But you know where Clemson's been the last couple of years, a little bit dicey. So where is the Pitt program in the ACC conversation right now?

You know what? I don't know where it is right now. And I don't care where it is preseason. I care where it is at the end of November. That's when it matters where you're ranked. But, you know, I don't think anybody— I think they ranked us 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th last year in the ACC. We finished tied for 2nd. We're 1 win away in the ACC. You know, we gave away a Louisville game. We're up 17-nothing and had some unfortunate events happen in the game. We won't talk about that. We won't get into that stuff. You know, the weeds on that. But You know, we're one way, you know, one win away from being in the ACC Championship, and that's where we expect to be. I think we got a heck of a football team. We got a great quarterback in Mason Heinschel. And, you know, we've got some pros on our team that'll be sitting in a draft day, you know, like you guys are tomorrow.

I think we should ask this. It's not something I want to ask. I'm sorry, Rose, and I don't want to ruin your arms before the big ping pong match. But because, you know, our boss is down in Miami and happens to be a big U fan, Everybody down there is. What do you think about their role in the ACC this year, trying to come off of Carson Beck? Yeah, Mario Mensa taking over.

Yeah, Mario does a great job. He's a great football coach. He's got really good talent down there. We get to go play down there, I think, in October or November this year. So we're looking forward to getting down there and having another rematch with a sophomore quarterback instead of a true freshman quarterback.

So if I could give you a gift— well, listen, pretty good in his true freshman year. If I could give you a gift on your birthday of letting one guy come back to the Pitt program for one season, who are you choosing?

One guy? You're talking to someone to transfer?

Don't say Marino. Yeah, you can't say Marino because you already have Mason. So you don't need—

I'll pick a retired guy.

Okay. Okay.

Because Marino might not still be able to play.

I don't mean, I don't mean, I don't mean a 65-year-old Dan Marino.

I mean, I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm following you. So pick a guy that could maybe come back and help you win a championship.

Yeah.

Well, who do you think I'm going to pick? Aaron Donald. I'm taking AD.

That's good.

Because he could still play. I seen him with 80 pounds benching the other day. Like, holy cow, he's a beast.

I thought you were— when you— the way you said it with your Pittsburgh accent, you do have a good—

I don't have a Pittsburgh accent.

You got it. You say Pittsburgh. Dave, you got a pretty good Pittsburgh accent. Pittsburgh with a K. Dave, you got a Pittsburgh accent. You got the regional accent.

I got the regional?

When you said, I thought you were going to say air. I thought you were going to say Ironhead Hayward, which would be a good answer too.

Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. We got a couple of Haywards next door too.

So you want to teach before we go?

She's holding Rose's elbow up.

Yeah, you're killing Rose.

I know, but I want Lucy to know how to do a Pittsburgh accent. Tell her how to say the name, the Hall of Fame-bound quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's a good name for people to say from our region.

Who's that, Roethlisberger?

Yeah, Roethlisberger. Ben Roethlisberger.

Oh, okay.

Now, you know, I coached with— I coached Ben Roethlisberger his junior year, not quarterbacks. I was at Miami of Ohio in 2003.

I didn't connect those dots.

I know Big Ben. Big Ben's a hell of a guy.

Yeah, well, listen, I love— I thought— that's who you and I park our cars in the same garage on that one. And you know what, for the sake of Rose's arms, I'm going to cut it off here. But I could do another.

I don't believe you.

I'd happily do another 3 hours talking about the history of Pitt football. I'd love to do that. But you know what? All right, let's cut it off here. Have a happy birthday, Coach.

Appreciate it.

Happy birthday.

Hail to Pitt! Oh, what a time it was. I could talk to the Dews for another 3 hours there and barely— after we stopped, by the way, I got in his ear about stories I had with Dan Marino and Johnny Majors, and Johnny Majors, uh, bouncing off my old man, and, and some great memories there. I don't know if the dudes really cared about any of them, but you know, I'm an old man, so that's what I do. I just talk to people. Um, real quick, do we want to do, uh, the debut of a, an F1 preview here? Should we do that real quick here, buddy?

I got what you need, Dave. I got what you need.

He doesn't.

No, you don't. We don't care about F1. Real quick, let's do something else instead here. Oh, Mike Fuentes. Mike Fuentes is, uh, is one of the more notorious mics in the world, but he's not the only mic out there. It's time for the debut of another segment, Mic Check. Tell us what's going on with the mics in the world. A lot, as it happens. Mike Fuentes, take it away.

Well, Dave, the Michael Jackson biopic appropriately titled Michael has now hit theaters, and because of that, I will transition from Mike's with a classic teehee in between the Mike's, just so there's no confusion of what Mike's we're talking about here. Obviously, Mike, one of the most popular names in the world. You can go into any room, shout it, you can have at least 5 guys turn around. Okay, number 1, teehee, Mike Tomlin. Looks like he's doing okay. He had an interview the other day. He's got a fancy new job, pushed out some people out of Football Night in America. Looks like he's doing pretty good over there in Pittsburgh on the banks of the Three Rivers.

What a weirdo. What a weirdo. Like I just felt like I had to leave because we haven't won any playoff games lately. What a weird remark to make about oneself to sort of excuse your absence from pro football this year.

Well, next, one thing guys in media do is they lie, and he's probably lying. All right, Mike Vrabel, not so great.

I heard about him.

Yeah, yeah.

Michael Jackson, now let me tell you, he's having a week. The biopic Michael, it's coming out, not the best reviews. From the critics. They find it empty. I haven't seen it myself, but I heard it ends in like 1988. As we know, Michael Jackson's story much bigger than that. So yeah, apparently it ends like—

what happened after that, Mike?

You want to tell me?

No, we'll go get into the next edition of Mic Check. Teehee! But despite bad reviews from the critics, the fans, they like it. Of course they do. They get to hear a bunch of music they love. It's a 2.5-hour music video. Who wouldn't like it? That has been Teehee! Mic check.

So some white gloves, thumbs pointed up, some pointed down. That's your debut of the mic check.

And some kicks.

Mix bag. I like it. We did some Gino Fuentes segments. We did a Mike Fuentes. Buddy Budowski almost did an F1 minute. Good times. Good times. Thanks again to the pit staff for facilitating our visit with Pat Narduzzi. A great time there. And we thank you for listening along with us. Again, a reminder, follow us on YouTube, Football America, and wherever you find your podcasts. We'll be back in a week. In the meantime, make sure you're checking the YouTube page. We update that almost every day, if not every day. Until next time, thanks so much, my fellow Football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.