And that was a moment when
I listened to that podcast, it is the Steelers. What's
the name of it? Some say, there's
Steelers Hiller's realm,
Steelers realm podcast,
September cheat I-20.
And it was the
answer that obviously
had impact. But the set up to me, was even more compelling
because this wasn't part of
Back and forth, regarding the circumstances surrounding his
hiring in Tennessee. This wasn't the end result of
an interrogation
of Mike Mularkey, where he eventually says, you can't
handle the truth. This was a very Broad and open-ended
question.
And Mike Mularkey, it's almost like he had it ready to go that
he was waiting for the moment to Bare his soul. About the one
major professional regret from all of his years in
the National Football League. So let's hear the question and
the answer
from Mike Mularkey, Steelers wrong podcast, September of
2020 regarding what ultimately was the biggest regret of his
coaching career.
Oh, Mike, if you could turn back the clock, where would
probably hate these?
Shins, but would there be anything during your coaching
career, that you might have done differently or changed?
That's a good question.
I'll tell you guys this, I've always prided myself and doing
the right thing
in this business and I can't say that's true about everybody
in this business. It's a
it's a it's a very Cutthroat business and a lot of guys will
tell you that, but I allowed myself at one point from when
I was in Tennessee to get caught up
in something. I regret. I still regret it,
but the ownership there, any items trunk and her family came
in and
told me I was going to be the head coach and 2016
before they went through the
Rooney Rule. And so I sat there, no one. I was the head
coach and 16 as they went through this
fake hiring process knowing annoying. A lot of the coaches
that they were interviewing knowing how much they prepare
to go through those interviews
knowing that everything they could do and they have no
chance of getting that job and actually the GM John Robinson.
He was in on the interview with me. He had no idea why he's
interviewing me that I have the job already, and I feel like,
you know, I regret that's
because I pride myself in my,
my kids first. They do the right thing. I always said that
to the players, and here I am, they had guy not doing it, and
I've regretted that since then, it was the wrong thing to do.
I'm sorry, I did that,
but it was not the way to go about it. Should interviewed
like everybody else and got hired because of the interview,
not
not early on. So that's, that's probably my biggest. Regret.
That really is amazing. Peter and for me
as Thursday afternoon went on.
I became more and more impressed by Mike Malarkey's
decision to say what? So many people have believed and
assumed but there's never proof of it. Nobody ever comes out
and says it. We get the feeling, we get the sense, we
have the suspicion that a
lot of these interviews are shams that a lot of these jobs
are predetermined before they begin the interview process.
And if other coaches were so willing to betray, Truthful
about their own experiences.
They would probably say similar things.
And the fact that Mike Mularkey did, I know he's retired now,
he doesn't have any skin in the game. He doesn't have to worry
about being frozen out. He doesn't have to worry about
getting cold shoulder by. Anybody doesn't have to worry
about anything other than
telling the truth.
It's still courageous. There's plenty of retired coaches, who
could come out and say
something similar. I believed what? Mike, Mularkey said, they
haven't, he did, and I got a lot of respect for Him for
doing the right thing and saying what needed to be said,
and
I can only hope that it inspires others who
know the truth about the circumstances of their hiring
to come forward and do the same thing. Peter.
Mike, I think that many times when a team enters a coaching
search, they know how it's going to end at the end of
the coaching search, you know, and I'll give you an example. This
year, that, that the New Orleans Saints were pretty
sure that they were going to give Dennis Allen. The job, you
know at the end of the search. I don't believe they ever told
Dennis Allen that but the writing was on the wall, you
know, they had spoken so highly
You have Dennis Allen,
but what was interesting about that coaching search and Mickey
Loomis. The general manager told me about this afterwards
is that they had
they basically had a couple of coaches who came in during
the course of the interview that really gave them pause
and really had them thinking about what they should do. So
and I only bring that up.
Because I think very many times a team has it in their mind
who they want to hire.
But then you go through the process
and even if you enter the process saying, well,
we want to hire Dennis Allen. Someone is really going to have
to be a lot better than Dennis Allen. That's fair.
That's fair. That's human nature.
But then Aaron Glenn,
the defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions,
who?
Formerly coached on the Saints staff under Sean Payton,
basically
formed
in the, you know, sort of in the image of Bill Parcells
because that was
one of his coaches in the NFL. But I only bring that up
because everybody would understand
if there's a guy on your staff
who you really like a lot
and you know, there's a good chance, he's going to get
the job, but we want to see See what's out there.
And so that to me is the way you go about these things
rather than to say. Yeah. Well, the fix is in.
And first of all,
why anybody in that organization would have ever
told Mike Mularkey? That is just, I mean,
I don't know. It's not very smart. It's not very smart
legally
in the first place,
and it's just not very smart period
because As
if you're going to do that, about the head coach, you know,
are you going to make other decisions that you already know
the answer before you ask the question?
And so to me,
the Titans are in a very, very bad light here. And this is
clearly
going to be a huge part of the case. I mean, Mike, look,
the most worrisome thing about this case,
in my opinion, for the competitive balance of the NFL.
Are the Stephen Ross allegations
where Brian flurries said Ross offered him a hundred thousand
dollars per game basically to lose in 2019. So they would
have the first pick in a quarterback. Rich draft in
2020.
Obviously. Flurries.
He claims didn't go along with it. If there's, if there's
a way to prove that
if that could ever be proven
that would be so dangerous. That, in my opinion, Ross would
certainly have his Stripped from them,
but I just think in general,
even though that's a huge part of this lawsuit.
The other part that is really going to have long-lasting effects
is if they can prove
before the interview process started that the fix was in
before a job, was ever interviewed for
and you spoke to how stupid it would have been to do that from
a legal standpoint. I think the fact that someone would do that
speaks to the Hubris, that previously existed that the NFL
never would have dreamed that any coach
would file this lawsuit. The
facts, the evidence, the
hiring practices, the long sordid history, that is
outlined in excruciating detail in the 100-page Brian Flores.
Amended complaint. It's always been there
but it took a Brian Flores
to get it started and I think the NFL believe that would
never happen. I'm so when you think we're never going to get
sued over this, that sets the stage for saying things that
are extremely stupid from a legal standpoint because
you believe there's never going to be
a wreck.