00:00He's top dog Hanford Dixon. Hanford, good to have you with us, buddy.
00:04Hey, Jeff. How you doing, big dog?
00:06I'm well, bud. I appreciate it. Chris Fedor is in for Andy today.
00:09It's great to have you with us. Thank you very much for your time, bud.
00:12Hey, Hanford.
00:13Hey, Chris. How you doing?
00:13Good.
00:15Miles Garrett gets traded, and you think what, Hanford?
00:19Well, Jeff, I wasn't surprised. Guys, I mean, I wasn't surprised.
00:23I knew this thing was pretty much coming down the pipeline.
00:28You know, is that to say that I wanted to see Miles traded?
00:32Hell no, I didn't want to see him traded because, you know, as a defensive back,
00:37especially as a corner, when you have a guy like Miles that's rushing a quarterback,
00:41man, you know that you can cut down on the – you could do some things that normally
00:45you wouldn't do because the quarterback is not going to have that much to throw the football.
00:51If there's anybody mad about this trade, I guarantee you some of those defensive backs,
00:56especially the corners. But, you know, I just think the only thing I'm a little bit upset about,
01:03I think we could have gotten a little bit more for him because you're talking about Miles Garrett.
01:09You're talking about a guy – when you think of pass rushes, I mean, Reggie White,
01:14Bruce Smith, just to name a couple of names. But, no, I wasn't surprised at the deal with them.
01:22Anford, how do you think this deal, a deal of this magnitude, plays in the locker room?
01:28You know what? I mean, the guys in the locker room, sure, there's a bunch of them that's upset,
01:34didn't want to see Miles go. But as players, man, we understand that this is a business.
01:40And regardless of who you are, what your name is, how much power you supposedly have
01:47in that locker room, at any minute, at any time, we know that these guys in that front office,
01:54they'll make a move with something like this to let you know that, hey, you know,
01:58just because you think you're this, we still will get rid of you
02:01if they think that it would improve the team.
02:04Hanford Dixon joining us. When you played, Hanford, you went to three Pro Bowls.
02:11You were a top-notch corner. You played with other top-notch defensive players.
02:15Minnie, Clay, Lyle Azedo, Chip Banks, you know, early on in his career was an absolute beast.
02:21How does the changing of one of those key guys affect a unit?
02:27You know, because you can have a great player, but if you don't have other guys there with them,
02:32and you were lucky to have other great players with you,
02:35I mean, one great player is not going to get it done, especially when your offense struggled,
02:40but that defense was pretty good.
02:42Does changing out one Hall of Fame talent take that defense to a different spot?
02:49I think it does because, I mean, again, we're talking about a Miles Garrett,
02:56and this is not to say anything or shout at Jared first.
03:04I mean, I think he's an outstanding young player.
03:07I think he's still got some growth to go.
03:10I think he's going to be an even better player, but I don't know.
03:14It's going to be tough for him to say, you know, for us to say that he's going to be
03:18a Miles Garrett,
03:18and we all hope that he becomes as good as Miles Garrett was for us.
03:25But as players, man, in that locker room, we sit around and we look at each other,
03:32and we're like, God, you've got to be kidding me.
03:35But Miles, I mean, we hate to see him go.
03:38We wish him well with this team, with the L.A. Rams, but we've got to keep moving.
03:44You guys know that.
03:45I don't have to tell you guys about that.
03:48What's the best way for Jared Verse to come into this situation, Hanford?
03:53I think he's making all the right moves and saying all the right things because the good thing about it,
04:00I don't think he grew up a Browns fan, but obviously we know the kid was from Dayton down in
04:06Ohio,
04:06and he had to keep up with him even though the Browns wasn't his best, you know,
04:11the team that he really rooted for.
04:13But I think he's doing everything the right way.
04:15I listened to a part of his quotes and some of the things that he said.
04:19He said that he's not trying to be a Miles Garrett.
04:22He's not trying to fill Miles Garrett's shoes.
04:24He's trying to fill his own shoes.
04:25He's trying to create his own path with this football team.
04:29And I think the kid was very candid because he came out and said he, you know,
04:33when he first heard the trade, he was a little bit upset, and he was mad.
04:37But then he thought about it, you know, like players do.
04:40We understand this is a business, and he said, hey, I got to go now.
04:44I got to, you know, I'm at a new place.
04:45I got to come and start something new with this football team.
04:50And I like, you know, he's excited about being here.
04:53He said he looked at some of the players and some things that we have going on here,
04:58and he sees a pretty, he doesn't see a losing football team.
05:01He sees a team that's on the rise and a team that's going to win some football games.
05:06So, but the kid is starting off right.
05:09Again, he's saying all the right things.
05:12Hanford Dixon joining us.
05:13Hanford, the change from one defensive end to the other, okay, that gets handled.
05:20The change from one defensive coordinator to the next, even playing the same system.
05:25How big of a deal is that for the guys in the locker room, the guys on the field,
05:29trying to execute what it is Mike Rutenberg is going to want them to do
05:32as opposed to Jim Schwartz?
05:35Well, I think that's going to be a little bit tough for him because Jim, I mean,
05:40we all know Jim was very, very good.
05:43And I'm going to get into this a little bit.
05:46You've got to understand where Jim was coming from.
05:48He was a little bit upset that he didn't get the head coaching job
05:52because I think he really, really wanted that job.
05:54If I'm not mistaken, I think he had whatever, he thought he had the job.
05:58He had went around the locker room and talking to some players,
06:01some coaches, and as if he had the job.
06:05And he was very, very upset, as we know, when he didn't get it.
06:10And obviously he said he wasn't coming back here, and he proved it.
06:15The coach, then to come back here being insulted like that.
06:19But, you know, I had a chance to meet the new coordinator.
06:23I think I talked to him a little bit on Monday, and I like him.
06:27I mean, he's got a great attitude.
06:30He's a lot of energy and still yet to be seen how he's going to go down
06:36and how he's going to handle this football team.
06:39But it's going to be hard to replace Jim because he had this defense cooking.
06:43And we all know with our record and the games that we won,
06:49the games that we lost, it wasn't pretty much the defense fault.
06:52The defense, I thought, played pretty, pretty well.
06:55Hanford, you know how this goes.
06:57If an organization makes any kind of decision, whether it's a player, coach,
07:02coordinator, they're looking for something else.
07:04They're looking for something different, right?
07:06So for Todd Munkin to come in and replace Kevin Stefanski,
07:10what do you think this organization is looking for out of Todd
07:13that they weren't getting from Kevin?
07:18Well, I think Kevin, when you look at it, was pretty much a player's coach.
07:25What I mean by that, I'm not going to say he wasn't tough on the players,
07:28but I think they were thinking that there was a little bit more
07:32that he could have gotten out of the players that he wasn't getting.
07:37I mean, when you see Todd, man, and there's some history a little bit with Todd.
07:42I mean, obviously, I went to the University of Southern Mississippi.
07:46I know he was there, and then he was also with the Baltimore Ravens.
07:50And there is no secret, me and Ozzie are best friends.
07:54And Ozzie had nothing but great things to say about Todd.
07:57I mean, nothing.
07:58And trust me, if he had anything bad, he would tell me.
08:01But he had nothing but praise for Todd and his coaching style.
08:09And Todd, one thing about him, he's going to get that little bit extra
08:14out of the players.
08:16So I'm excited to see what this team does and how we perform this year.
08:24Hanford Dixon joining us.
08:25And Hanford, Pro Bowl cornerback from the Browns,
08:28and has done all kinds of television work and real estate in town
08:32and has made Cleveland his home.
08:33And I had the pleasure of working with Hanford on high school football telecast
08:39on Fox Sports Ohio.
08:40And, Hanford, I hope you'll remember your line.
08:43I called Hanford the Pied Piper of football because we'd go out to these
08:47high school stadiums, and folks just absolutely loved them.
08:51And every game, every game, somebody would say,
08:54Hanford, you look like you can still go out and play.
08:57And Hanford would say?
09:00About ten plays, five or ten plays.
09:02That's right.
09:03Hanford would always say, and he'd say with such positivity,
09:06I think I have ten plays in me.
09:07And then we'd walk away and he'd say, there's no way in hell, Jeff.
09:11With that thought in mind, you're hearing rumblings about Aaron Donald
09:16coming out of retirement to play next to Miles Garrett in L.A.
09:21Now, Donald's been gone two years, and he's only 35.
09:25That's right.
09:26But he's been gone two years.
09:28Does he have more than ten plays in him?
09:31I think he has more than ten plays.
09:33I mean, again, we're talking about – and that's a guy that plays the
09:37defensive line.
09:39Defensive line is tough, but, you know, he doesn't have that responsibility
09:45of running behind those four or three guys, those wide receivers.
09:49He just has to stay on the defensive line.
09:52And so I think he has a few plays, and I'm telling you, if he decides to come
09:57out of retirement and knowing him, I mean, he's not going to just come out
10:01if he's not ready, if he doesn't think that he can contribute to that football
10:05team.
10:06But, man, it's just scary to think about him and Miles Garrett, both of them,
10:11on that defensive line.
10:12Boy, that could be trouble.
10:14But let me say this about Jeff.
10:16Jeff's not telling the full story.
10:18Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh.
10:20Back then – no, this is good.
10:22Back then I was riding his coattail, you know, because I was just trying to learn
10:26the game.
10:27And, boy, he taught me so much, and I learned so much from him.
10:30So I have to say thank you for that.
10:34Don't blame me.
10:36He would never mention that, though.
10:40Don't blame me.
10:43Hey, we appreciate your time, buddy.
10:44As always, thank you.
10:46Hey, Jeff, when you called, did I actually have a choice?
10:49Um, yes.
10:52No.
10:53No.
10:55Hey, Jared Burst didn't have a choice, so what the heck, huh?
10:59Right.
11:00Hanford, thanks, buddy.
11:01Thanks, Hanford.
11:02Okay, guys.
11:03Hanford Dixon.
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