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00:00all right as you guys know already john harbaugh is in north jersey he's meeting today wednesday
00:10with the giants in his first in-person visit to a team's training facility harbaugh is in the house
00:16ladies and gentlemen our giants beat writer for the post paul schwartz has been all over the giants
00:21and the harbaugh courting uh and he's going for a very special blue rush i guess coaching search
00:27edition paul is courting is that the right word to use i mean private jets and dinners that's that's
00:34that's courting right well everyone gets dinners um not everyone gets private jets i can guarantee
00:40you that um you know you get you get private jets once in a while right a little something here a
00:45little something there the victor cruz when's the last time when's the last time you sat in the middle
00:50seat oh i think a flight to germany like two years ago in a middle seat good lord all right
00:57oh man with that leg room oh man no good uh look the giants have made no secret since i think it was
01:05january 6th that harbaugh was fired uh that that this is the guy that they want now there's a lot of
01:12good candidates you know um mike mccarthy was in the building yesterday kevin stefanski was the first
01:19guy they brought into the building those are two very strong candidates but there's only one john
01:23harbaugh and the only thing that would have trumped john harbaugh is if mike tomlin came out uh he
01:28stepped down from the steelers but he's not coming back to coaching this year he'll probably go into
01:32tv or take a year off so the giants were all in on harbaugh from the start um phone calls um having
01:40people call in their behalf uh you know so it's been an um full court press for john harbaugh and uh what
01:47is important today is that um harbaugh narrowed his list to the giants the falcons and the titans
01:53and um i spoke to someone in john harbaugh's camp yesterday that said he's gonna visit these teams
01:59and by the end of the weekend we should know something i was also told that if you get him
02:05in the building you know i asked look is it the kind of thing where he's going to go in he's going
02:09to talk to the first team and then he's going to go to the second team and the third team
02:12regardless of if they you know uh you know show up in a lamborghini filled with 100 million dollars
02:19and you know the keys to the kingdom um you know is he going to still make these trips and and the
02:24person who's close to harbaugh told me that um if i was an owner and john harbaugh was in your
02:30building it would behoove you to do everything possible to not let him leave the building without
02:35a contract maybe that will happen maybe that won't happen but um i think it could happen so
02:41translation you like me but show me that you love me if they want them they're going to have to go
02:45out and get them so what do you think it's going to take for joe shane and ownership to lock this
02:51thing up and not allow john harbaugh to leave the building um look john harbaugh is a smart guy you
02:59know he spent 18 years in this league you know and and if you think of it he's not some superstar
03:03head coach i mean he's a he's a hall of fame head coach but does he carry himself like a superstar
03:09like a like a like an above it all guy he's a grinder right he was a special teams guy he never
03:14impresses me as a as a you know as a guy who thinks too highly of himself so i think he he's done i know
03:22he has done tremendous research research on these teams the quarterbacks the salary cap the the the
03:28dead money the um staffs the support system the facilities um i mentioned salary cap money free agency
03:37uh all these things john harbaugh is a smart guy he has brought in people that he knows personnel
03:43people around the league to help him with this tell me what you think of their roster let's look
03:48at jackson dart let's look at cam ward all these things so he's going to know a lot of that walking
03:53into the building um what he doesn't know and can't know till he gets in there is the vibe
03:58the feel is there a personal connection um he's talked to joe shane on the phone uh john
04:04mara has talked to um you know harbaugh's camp um we know that chris mara you know john's younger
04:10brother he's a personal guy for the giants went to baltimore to have lunch with john harbaugh
04:14and and had a meeting with him at john harbaugh's house um eli manning has spoke to him uh brian
04:20dable has spoke to harbaugh i heard that um harbaugh reached out to brian dable just what do you think
04:25here and from what i understand uh brian dable said great things about the franchise great things
04:30about jackson dart and great things about joe shane now don't forget joe shane didn't fire brian
04:36dable the owners did but joe shane is still in the building and brian dable is not so any animosity or
04:42hard feelings i believe was not present so um you know harbaugh got a really good cross section of
04:48what the giants are all about but you know brandon you have to get in the building get a feel uh look
04:54around just just you know so so i think all of that has to be eight plus home runs for this to
05:00work out today that john harbaugh walks around the building and and and i can work with joe shane
05:06you know i i like the mara family steve tisch he flew me here uh this facility feels like home i met
05:12the the guy at the front desk i met the woman in the lunchroom and you know what i want to work here
05:18if all those things don't add up he can go on to the next spot because he's in high demand
05:22i mean that cafeteria is is definitely a selling point it's what keeps me in the building but you
05:28mentioned the chance of him being able to be face to face with joe shane john harbaugh is respected he
05:35comes with the credentials joe but like you said he and joe shane really don't know each other
05:40how would that dynamic work if he does decide to take the job here's another thing do you look at
05:49john harbaugh from what you know right from the outside looking in right if we all have you know
05:54um perceptions here we don't know exactly do you look at him as a it's my team it's my way you know
06:01i don't want to collaborate i don't think that's what he is i'm don't forget he started in the league
06:05with ozzy newsom who was a very strong general manager and john harbaugh did not have final say
06:10with ozzy newsom i can tell you that and then you eric da costa and and you know eric da costa
06:14was uh said the other day that he was you know the reports are that he was basically crying when
06:19he had to tell john harbaugh that he's no longer going to be the coach of the ravens you know they
06:23had a great relationship does harbaugh command more input than a first-year coordinator head coach
06:30of course he does he's john harbaugh he's been there 18 years in the league he's won a super bowl
06:35i would remind everybody he won a super bowl in 2012 that's a long time ago considering the giants
06:41won a super bowl after the 2011 season and we think the giants have been bad forever right so
06:46you know and and one other thing to remember off topic about john harbaugh you know he's only won
06:52three playoff games with lamar jackson uh in the last several years and lamar jackson won two mvps so
06:57there are no perfect candidates here but john harbaugh is an elite candidate and he's been an elite head
07:04coach you know um there are reasons why everyone gets fired right did he grow stale there maybe he did
07:10but i don't and joe shane is a collaborator joe shane is not a dictatorial you know george young i knew
07:17george young when he was with the giants and he wasn't a dictator either but george young was a very
07:22strong general manager he had final say and a lot of times bill parcells was not happy about that
07:27and i know for a fact because i covered dan reeves dan reeves was not happy about that either
07:32joe shane is different he listens he collaborates i talked to a lot of scouts on his staff
07:37and they say he listens to what we say now he makes the final decision but he doesn't he doesn't
07:43say okay i'm the gm you're a scout you know i'll tell you what you need to know he wants to listen
07:48you don't think he's going to present himself to john harbaugh today and say john i need you i want you
07:55to be in this building we're going to work at this together and if we have disagreements we'll work
07:59them out and it's not going to be this i have final say you have final say if they they're not going
08:05to change the power structure completely for john harbaugh but they'll tweak it because joe shane's
08:09not an idiot and he knows when you have john harbaugh as your head coach you tweak things yeah
08:14i think it also works in joe shane's favor as well because you know no disrespect to brian dable but
08:20he's not going to have to worry about being a gm and having to sit in on the headsets during a game
08:26to see what the communication is like between the head coach and the defensive coordinator and his
08:30coaches i think harbaugh commends that type of respect or or he has it to where you feel good
08:37about what he's going to be doing not only when it comes to respect with other coaches but just his
08:42overall process and you mentioned the the success that he was able to have with two-time league mvp
08:48lamar jackson but that duo wasn't able to get over the hump beat patrick mahomes and josh allen
08:55and win a super bowl so how do you think that he's going to be in terms of the good of jackson
09:02darts development well you know that's the interesting thing right if you have a kevin
09:08stefanski right you know he's a guy who's very good with quarterbacks if you have a mike mccarthy
09:15you know who's a guy who's very very good with quarterbacks right when you have a john harbaugh the
09:20question is who is his offensive coordinator and how will he be with jackson daughter john
09:26harbaugh is a real ceo type head coach he's involved in everything but it is imperative that
09:32he brings in great offensive and defensive coordinators because he doesn't run the offense
09:36and he doesn't run the defense does he bring todd munkin with him from baltimore um todd munkin's got
09:42a good relationship good good um reputation around the league working with quarterbacks and
09:47did things go a little haywire with lamar jackson they did i think a lot of that's lamar jackson
09:52some of that might be the coaching staff um jackson dart is not lamar jackson in terms of talent
09:57ability um comportment attitude anything uh he's his own guy um so i think john harbaugh will be good
10:05for jackson dart and i think jackson dart is certainly a very strong selling point for john harbaugh he's 63
10:11years old he's not looking to take it slow in 2026 maybe we'll find a quarterback you know if he goes
10:18somewhere else we'll figure it out um you know he's had two quarterbacks in his career basically
10:23he came into this ravens in 2008 and they drafted joe flacco he had joe flacco and then he had lamar
10:30jackson he is not in on a quarterback chase here with with jackson dart he won't be chasing anything
10:35so um but it is imperative and i know the giants were very adamant whoever we bring in we need strong
10:41staff and strong coordinators because they don't think brian dable had an especially strong staff
10:46and coordinators especially this past year so um if john harbaugh can't bring in a good staff and
10:53good coordinators who can right yeah and it's almost like he has a mixture in those two quarterbacks
10:57you mentioned in joe flacco and lamar jackson you've got a mixture of those two guys and one guy
11:03is jackson dart big arm like a flacco athletic ish enough to be kind of considered you know in
11:10that lamar jackson uh category or that department so i mean when it comes to bringing in an offensive
11:15coordinator for jackson dart it's almost like it'd be easier to bring in someone that can help develop
11:23jackson dart as opposed to lamar jackson because lamar has such a unique skill set that he can get by
11:30on his athleticism jackson dart can move around and make things happen with this athleticism but
11:37he's not as dynamic so you do get to bring in that x's and o's coordinator that's going to work with
11:43him to see things before that they develop see things before it happens so it sounds like they're
11:48all in sounds like they're going to throw the house to him two-part question paul how much money
11:54do you think it's going to cost to bring him in and if they can't land john harbaugh then who do
12:00they pivot to well just follow the numbers right i mean john harbaugh made 17 million a year with the
12:07ravens um that's probably a starting point i would guess andy reads the highest paid coach in the league
12:12at 20 million does john harbaugh come in and say i want 21 um he's on the free agent market as we all
12:18know free agents get paid a little more than they're you know should get um i've been told that
12:24this is not going to be a complete absolute money grab that john harbaugh's like i'm going to break the
12:29bank and i'm going to siphon every dollar out of the team that hires me but he's also john harbaugh
12:33and he's 63 years old and this will probably be his final contract in the nfl so you got to pay him
12:38commensurate with what he should get that is not going to be an issue from the giants i don't expect
12:43them to come in and say you know whoever gives me 25 million a year i'm going to i just don't think
12:47that's the way it's going to work out um and i think also john harbaugh wants a lot of money for
12:52his staff and the giants have to be willing to pay more than they paid for staffs in the past
12:57if john harbaugh says i want this coordinator and it's going to cost you four and a half million
13:02dollars a year to get him uh the giants can't balk at that you don't even if i want this defensive
13:06coordinator and i got to pay him to be the highest paid defensive coordinator in the league the giants
13:11got to say okay to get john harbaugh he runs a big program uh big programs take big money
13:16um you know where do they pivot from here i guess you know what i'll come on in the next few days and
13:22we'll talk about that i do think they have options you know i think stefanski is a legitimate option
13:27i think mccarthy is a legitimate option um you know is vance joseph a legitimate option i don't know
13:33maybe raheem morris i mean you could do worse with either of those guys right they're former
13:37head coaches they they command the room um in most cycles these guys would be terrific candidates
13:43and they are um you know you go i don't think they want to go to the coordinator route route and
13:48somebody who hasn't been a head coach before but there's some good ones in this cycle kubiak
13:52you know jesse minter you know you hear great things about jesse minter right so um i don't
13:58think with this team at this feel right now they want to do that but uh that would be a fallback
14:02position um you know i think it's hardball a bust right now and then they they kind of um reassess
14:09things like that i have one thing for you brandon is a guy who sat in a room with coaches okay you
14:14know um you know tom coughlin was a certain guy who commanded a room right so if you're sitting
14:20there right you're sitting there you're you know your second or third guy your receiver you know
14:24you're a decent player but you're nothing spent you know you know you've got to make the team and
14:28things like that right when when john harbaugh comes in for his first team meeting okay you know
14:33and this is as opposed to stefanski or even mccarthy or or any of the guys when he walks into
14:40that room okay and it's dexter lawrence and it's it's burns and it's dart and it's scatterboo and
14:46it's neighbors and it's it's all these guys young and old right from you know 35 to 22 what do you
14:52think their their mindset and their reaction is when he takes that podium for the first time as the head
14:58coach of the giants first thing that happens paul when you're sitting there you're on the phone and
15:02you're going back and forth about whichever new roys roys or bentley you're going to buy or purchase
15:07you see him walk in you sit up take your hat off take your do rag off whatever it is you sit there
15:14you get your uh your little notebook out they probably don't even use pen and paper anymore but
15:19you sit there you sit up you look and you're like all right it's it's time to go let's go as opposed
15:26to what stefanski or even like a chris shula who i'm high on or the clint kubiak when they come in
15:32you still sit up you still show that respect but at the same time you're waiting to hear
15:37how they're going what they're going to sell to you harbaugh already comes in and he's already he's
15:44already had the gold he's already been there so you're listening to that message like okay it's
15:49time this is the guy that's going to get us over the hump and get us back to getting some wins so
15:54it would it would be great to bring him in especially it's since mike tomlin looks like he's
15:59not going to be coaching but i'm with you on this one paul they can't let him out of the building
16:04and if they want to sell him on the in-game entertainment i'll come in and talk to him
16:09show him what great of an mc in-game mc that the giants have i think that will be the deal breaker
16:14right there paul what say it to you maybe maybe we give him a free pass uh 10 free passes to any
16:23blue rush episode he wants to uh podcast he wants to come to look i mean i get it this can't let him out
16:28of the building i get but if if it's it's going to take a lot and it's going to take a lot and just
16:34because he leaves doesn't mean he's not going to be the head coach of the giants you know i'm painting
16:37a picture that you know it can they can make it happen which i think they can but if john harbaugh
16:42has one tenth of one percent of doubt you know he probably owes it to himself to go to the next team
16:47you know what i mean and and and you know that that won't be great for the giants but that doesn't
16:51mean he's not going to come back to them and i only only he knows if he's thinking this this could be
16:57this is my first trip it could be my last or if he's thinking no i want to hear i'm very intrigued
17:02by cam ward and tennessee and mike morganzi and i'm intrigued by a hundred million dollars in cap
17:07space and i'm going to hear what they have to say um no matter what the giants say or or you know he
17:13looks at um you know he he looks at uh the uh falcons and says you know arthur blank and uh you know
17:20they're the best team right they want a bunch of games to end the season not so sure about michael
17:25pennix jr is the quarterback but i owe it to myself to go to atlanta and hear what the falcons say
17:29um i'm sure there's a lot of private jets for all these teams that they can send to you know to get
17:34harbaugh there you know um so i mean i don't think it should be panic city if the giants don't lock this
17:39up today um but i think there's a chance they can that's all but you know like you said what is it
17:45going to take to not let him leave the building i mean they could put him in in shackles and close
17:51lock the door and then you know then we got some issues so i i just think it depends on what his
17:56mindset is but i think there will at least be a opportunity i don't know how much of an opportunity
18:01to get it done today and have him cancel those other interviews cam ward and a hundred million
18:06dollars in cap space i'm picking up that phone and i'm taking that trip to nashville so we'll hold
18:12off uh we'll hold off on that right now but paul thanks for uh making yourself available thank you for
18:17the reports man you're absolutely kidding killing it and uh thank you guys for watching blue rush
18:22you
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