The Season with Peter Schrager: Bucs OC Liam Coen

Published Oct 16, 2024, 9:55 PM

Peter opens the podcast with a monologue on Saquon Barkley's so-called "revenge game" this weekend versus the Giants and why the juice doesn't seem to be there. He, then, details his experience at the Bills-Jets game on Monday night, which included meeting 50 Cent and discussing Fireman Ed's lack of JumboTron real estate with Fireman Ed. Bucs OC Liam Coen is this week's guest and he's awesome in detailing Tampa Bay's offensive explosion in New Orleans, what makes Baker Mayfield so special, and why Mike Evans is still the man in the Buccaneers offense.

The Season with Peter Schreeger is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's Up, everybody, Welcome to the Season with Peter Schrager. My name is Peter Schreger. I host Good Morning Football on NFL Network, and I am one of the many faces you see on Sundays on Fox NFL Kickoff over on Fox at eleven am Eastern. And I bring that show up because I am in studio on Sundays. But there are NFL games going on in sixteen different cities, and in many cases there are NFL games going on on all different coasts, including one in London this weekend where it's Patriots versus Jaguars, but in a week that features the Vikings and the Allions, which I think is an amazing showdown in the end North the Chiefs and the forty nine Ers, Oh, the Steelers and the Jets with Devonte Adams now on the field, and the Buccaneers and the Ravens and what's an awesome mona night battle. I went back to my notes when the schedule came out and I circled October twentieth Eagles at Giants as one of my most anticipated games of the season. That game doesn't crack my top five this week, and yet I have to spend a second discussing Saquon's return. Is this a revenge game? I don't know about that term being used in this instance. Revenge game. Someone said earlier this week that the Sean Payton versus the Saints was a revenge to who Sean Payton retired abruptly and then took a year on TV and then asked to be asked out of a contract, and then the Saints let him go be the coach of the Broncos. Who is it revenge for? Is it the players? Don't? Is Marshaun Lattimore circling a picture of Sean Payton and throwing darts at it? Revenge game has to have a certain context. Revenge game is when you have such an ugly falling out with a team and you go back with another team and you want nothing more than to gut them. Is Saquon Barkley going back to MetLife a revenge game? I come out with a resounding no. Come out with a no, because despite two years of going through negotiations, Saquon Barkley took more money than he was ever offered by the Giants to go play for the Philadelphia Eagles. Could he have gone to the Houston Texans? I heard there were talks. Could he have gone to the Chicago Bears. Sure heard there were talks, but no team was offering more money than the Crosstown Eagles. So for Saquon, he takes the business decision move and goes and plays for another NFL team. It just so happens to be the Giants' rivals. For the Giants, is it revenge against Saquon because he, you know, did some unspoken rule that you can never play for a division rival and that you should take less money because you were once drafted by a team and they didn't offer you as big a contract. I don't see how it's the revenge came from the Giant side. If anything, the Giants walked away from Saquon, they could have paid him this money. Instead, they spent it on offensive line help. They went and they got Brian Burns, and then they drafted Tyrone Tracy, who, by the way, looks to be like a pretty good running back, and the Giants fan seemed to be pretty happy with him. In Eagles world, I don't even know if this is even scratching the surface of a storyline. Nick Sirianni shaved his head last week in the bye week and came out and started barking again his own fans after a win, and then went on the press conference, had three kids on his lap, and started using curse words to defend his team. That's the storyline in Philly. What happened to their quarterback Jalen Hurts. That's the storyline in Philly. Meanwhile, in New York, Daniel Jones can't buy a win in primetime any single time that the lights come on. Daniel Jones can't win these games. And oh, by the way, he's never thrown a touchdown at home in a primetime game. That's the storyline in New York. And their left tackle Andrew Thomas, who might be their best player on offense, suddenly hurt with a list Frank injury. I hate to take the buzz out of a game, but I was the first person to circle the Saquon deal and say that's gonna be a huge story. He was one of the mooset beloved Giants. But then the season starts and other storylines occur, and you see something like we saw on the Hard Knocks where Sequon's essentially like, sure, I never got offered a contract by the Giants, but then got more money from the Eagles anyway, and he went there. Maybe I'm wrong. I've seen Giants fans calling him snake one because he chose to go to the Eagles. This isn't like, this isn't kids like. This is business and a profession. And the Giants did not offer him what the Eagles offered him, and thirty one other team didn't either, So to me, I get, it's hard for me to get worked up. And the last part of it is like Saquon is like a great dude, a great dude, and he has said nothing but positive things. We had him on Good Morning Football and he's like I text Daniel Jones every week, and after his great performance when they beat the Browns, I texted him and like you hear that? And like, how do I hate Taquon? So will they boo him on Sunday? Maybe? And if Saquon goes nuts and has two hundred yards and three touchdowns, does it feel a little better because he did it against a team that didn't want to pay him. Perhaps, But I can't get into Saquon Barkley revenge game and have this great like fire in my belly if I'm a Giants fan, and I certainly don't care if I'm an Eagles fan, because there's other things to worry about, and he's the guy that we brought in. It's not like we have anything of history of him tearing them up as a as a Giants player versus the Eagles. So in a week that has so many other games, it is amazing to me that this storyline, which is what I circled in April, it is like one of the biggest of the season and I can't wait time. Wow, I get my popcorn ready for that game. It's kind of a nothing burger, and I'm sorry until the game actually happens and we see some crazy dramatics before the game and where Saquan is chewing out Joe Shane or he's slapping Brian Dable. I can't get worked up on the Saquon Barkley revenge game narrative. But I can get worked up and I can get excited for this Minnesota Detroit battle, and I do so because of the offensive coordinators. I am so excited these are two of the biggest dogs in the league. What Ben Johnson did last week against the Cowboys was not just forty seven points of offense and here's what we can do. What he did was embarrass the Cowboys, and he did so in their building by running multiple trick plays, by having double reverse passes to Sam Laporta and then a flea flicker to Penne Sewel, and then a touchdown pass attempt to Taylor Decker, and then having you know, Big Dan, the big, big dance skipper out there as an offensive lineman out there a wide receiver trying to run a route that was emptying the bag a little bit, but it was also just a taste of what he's got in store. I think it's pretty cool that Ben Johnson has this playbook and he's just giving us a sampling. First three weeks of the season, Lions offense was pedestrian. The last two weeks there's been no better unit in football. David Montgomery kicks you in the mouth of the run game, and then Ben Johnson puts golf in these situations where you can go eighteen for eighteen on a Monday night game and the following week helping an offense score forty seven points. I would say this is a celebration of Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, if it wasn't Brian Flores lining up against him. Flora is as cool as it gets. Black flat brimmed hat. This week, black puffer, Jess Puffer, Puffer vest comes in on the press conference. Now, I like fighting fire with fire. I don't know about everyone, but I do so like he's bringing it. He's bringing it. He knows that there's a lot of hype on the other guy. This is a chess match of the greatest measure and I cannot wait in the first matchup between these two great divisional opponents to see who gets the better of who Flores is gonna bring his guys. They have been one of the best defens in the league and Johnson is going to empty the bag. The game is in Minnesota. Vikings Lions is cool, but Ben Johnson versus Brian Flores is even cooler. And here's a little part that I love. Jared Goff's worst day as a professional, probably the one that he lays a wake at night and still thinks about, was the Super Bowl against the Patriots and Sean McVay still talks about that game, how Belichick and him had this battle and Belichick got the best of them, and that was one that got away. Do you know who the defensive coordinator, the defensive coach who gave Jared Goff those fits that day was? It was Brian Flores. Brian Flores has Jared Goff's number, and I know the last year the Lions put up a lot of yards on the Vikings. I get that, but on the biggest of stages and the biggest game of his life, Jared Goff did not perform against Brian Flores's defense. They're going after it again this week and I can't wait. I'm bringing on my podcast producer Slash Pal, an NFL fan Aaron wan Kaufman, because we were both in the building for Jets versus Bills. I got there pretty early with a credential. I was able to walk on the field talk to some folks. I'm not sure this is Newsworthy or not. Drew Rosenhaus, the agent who recently picked up Hassan Reddick as a client, sees me in the lower bowels and we start talking and we walk on the field together, and then Drew immediately finds Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, and it looks like they had a twenty minute chat, and I would assume it was the first time they've spoken about the Hassan Reddick thing in person. And I'm like, all right, this is where the action is, this is where things get done. Little did I know that somewhere in New Jersey DeVante Adams was already in town watching the game and would be in the facility by Tuesday morning, signed, sealed, delivered as a New York Jets wide receiver. And here's where I come out on the whole thing. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. What if you're fooled fifteen times in the first six weeks of this season. That's how I feel here as I double down, triple down, and quadrupled down on my preseason prediction of the Jets being the AFC East winners and the number one seed in the AFC, I kinda am being maybe naive here. I think it matters. I think DeVante Adams helps, and I think he might be the missing piece. I know it's very very easy to look at this and say, same old Jets, This isn't fantasy football, This isn't Dream Team twenty eleven Eagles. Like it doesn't work, He'll just add all these pieces and just play Kate Rodgers and think it's gonna work by putting a thirty two year old wide receiver on the field and assume he's gonna magically make things better. But I look at the Jets season, and I know it's hard in a vacuum, But I look at the Jets season. I say they lost ten to nine in the rain to Denver, where Greg Zerline could make a field goal at the end and put the game away, where Bryce Hall was handed the ball on the one yard line and couldn't get it in. I look at that game as a game that slipped out of their hands. I look at the game in London where they come all the way back and Aaron Rodgers throws a terrible pass to Mike Williams and it's intercepting. That's how the game ends. That could have been a win, and then Aaron I was there on Monday night. Neither team played outstanding in this game, and there were lots of errors. There were twenty penalties called by the way, I think the rest just threw another flag. Really fun to go to an NFL game and just do flags after every single play, then a conference and then decided to pick up the flag. But then wait, there's another penalty, so they offset. Anyway, That's a whole other conversation. Greg Zerline missing those two field goals cost the Jets that game. Aaron Rodgers Aron passed to Mike Williams cost the Jets that game, not taking anything away from the Bills because I'm third and five, Josh Allen needed to run for a first down and everyone in the building knew it was a running play, and he still was able to run for a first down to put the game away. But if Zerline makes the kick in Denver, if Zerline makes one of those kicks against the Bills, you're looking at a Jets team that is four and two and sitting pretty right now. They're two and four. They're going into Pittsburgh, and I don't spite them for firing the coach, for changing the play caller and now adding a wide receiver to try to salvage this season, because if it wasn't clear already, the New York Jets are all in. On twenty twenty four, Now you were in the building as a Bills fan, I am sure you saw some of the frustration from the Jets fans that were surrounding.

Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm excited that DeVante Adams can come in and replace their line and kick these field goals.

Right.

Oh wait, no, no, no, no, Adams is not the kicker.

Okay, but Adams is going to be on the offensive line to protect Rogers blind No, no, no, he's not right. Adams is. He's one of the best wide receivers, even if he's not like at his peak, he is going to be great. And Rogers and him obviously have Like I mean, Rogers came out was like, DeVante Adams is like my family likes he's my guy. This will be amazing. Garrett Wilson as like the number two option is is an embarrassment of riches.

They're two and four? Does this change them? I you know, because I'm in I'm like, cause you're saying, here they go. They add one of the best wide receivers in football, and now Rodgers is happy and comfortable and he's not throwing at Mike Williams in big spots. He's throwing at Devanta Adams, who he knows will be exactly there. And I'll tell you I spoke with sources in New York, like we're recording this on a Wednesday, Like he's knee deep in the like he's gonna be a very big part of the game plan on Sunday night, like he is going to It's not he needs three weeks to acclimate, Like he knows this offense inside and out, and Rodgers will probably throw to him fifteen times on Sunday.

Yeah, but you know, maybe this is biased as a Bills fan, but sure if Zerlin had made those kicks, they could have won that game. Well, if Tyler Bass had kicks, it wouldn't have even been cled. Yeah, Like I was sitting right there. I watched the Hail Mary, and I was like, oh god, this is like my heart sunk because like, of course Rogers is going to hit this pass, but he's already had some magic happen, Like Garrett Wilson's been playing really well the last two games, even if he's you know, getting twenty targets for one hundred yards or whatever. But like the Jets fans that were around me were energetic to start the game and it deflated over the course of the I mean, this happens with every fan base. You know, you start the drive, you're standing up for your defense. And then my wife came with me, and she has never been to an NFL game, so I was explaining things to her, and I was like, the sign comes up and it's like, Jets fans, you are required to stand up, make some noise, and then solely people start sitting down. She's like, why is this happening. I was like, because they're losing.

Enthusiasm, They're they're getting deep and yeah.

So I'm not entire really sure how I feel if this, because I mean, look, the Jets just got Demonte Adams again. Not to be biased as a Bills fan, the Bills just made a trade for a receiver which could clean up some of our needs to I don't know if this trade puts the Jets into the clear number one position, because I think the line is a bigger issue than the lack of a web receiver.

Overwhelm all right, fair and Devant Adams is gonna tackle Josh Allen. The thirty five, Michael Clemens and Deon Dawkins were going after it all game. It was pretty cool to watch from the stands, and then to see Dawkins peacock a bit after the game was pretty neat. In fact, let's run the clip of Dion Dawkins after the game. Yeah.

I try to keep it conclude and collect all week, but you know, like yes, in the situation for this and Selvie, you know, all hell breaks loose. So that's kind of what happened today. And I love it, I really do. I love the intensity, I love the smack talking, I love it all. But football is football. That's what we're here for. We're gladiators, you know. Like I said, you know, I wore green so stun on them, kept my shirt off to stun on them. I did exactly what I said that I was going to do. And the truth always possessed itself, you know, I said that they a bunch of doudos, right, So hey, it's shown, so hey it is and what it is.

So that is your football analysis of it. Then I like to always give you a little behind the scenes. So I've got the credits, I got the whole thing. And then I'm tapped on the shoulder and I'm introduced by one of the Jets employees and say, you know, have you met fifty cent before? No, I haven't met fifty cent before. Would you like to meet fifty cent? Sure? Like to meet fifty cent. Some backstory. I was in college when Into Club came out. I would feel like I have got many memories of that song being the soundtrack of many of my favorite moments in my life, both as a as a college student and a single man. All Right, to see Curtis Jackson in person was cool enough. And then for him to have this huge smile and then embrace me, hug me and says fan of your work, love the show. I'm like about to fall out. So then I'm like, all right, that's cool, fifty And then he's looking to like engage. I'm like, okay, this isn't just a typical spot. We start talking and I'm like, I have to tell you, I think it's really cool what you do in Shreveport, Louisiana. He's like, okay, his eyes light up. We go into a fifteen minute conversation about how fifty cent, which I've read an article about this, has set up a production company and a production house and an edit house and a post edit. It in Shreveport, which A has tax credit situation that's helpful, and B has helped employ and rebuild the city of Shreveport, Louisiana in a way that he is like one of the leading a real estate guys because he owns all this space there and then B like providers for a local economy. And for me to mention that that's me because I read everything and I saw an article on that he's immediately going into tax credits and how he's got ten different shows in production all based out of Shreveport, Louisiana, and how Power and Ghosts and that whole entire universe like they've got roots there. And then he's talking about how he brought in Andrew Schultz, and he brought in Dave Chappelle and he brought in a couple other comedians to perform in Shreveport and what that does for the local economy. And I'm like, Okay, here, I am dummy thinking about in the club and thinking about him at halftime at the Super Bowl and how cool he was. Meanwhile, I'm like, it's also one of the greatest businessmen of all If you know the story about vitamin water instead of taking a big salary. Early on in the vitamin water craze, he took ownership of the company. It sells for about a billion dollars, and fifty cent never asked to work again, and instead he not only gets back in the studio, he then starts producing these shows and is a lead actor in some of the biggest shows that has come out on Stars in the last twenty years. So we end the conversation and I'm like, all right, do I do that awkward thing? Do I? Of course I do. I go in for the for the hey, do you mind taking a photo? We get a great photo and I put it on Instagram and everyone's loving it, and I'm like, fifty cent, great interaction. Loved my time with fifty cent, And I say thank you for everyone whatever, goodbye, and he's like, he's sticking around for the game. I was like, and then we actually watched the game together. It was really cool because he was like, come up to the box. So I came up to the box and we were hanging. So fifty uh, You've always had a fan in me and very rare. Do you meet these guys and come away being like, yeah, he was cooler then I thought you would. Be fifty cent was cooler than I thought he would be. I also had another interaction, and this one has already spilled into the New York Post. No, I'm not in page six, don't worry. I'm standing there and I hear sger Schrager, Schrager, and I look around and I see Fireman Ed. Hey, Pete, big fan, like a big fan of you. I've been watching you for many years. I have gotten on my feet and made some noise based on your Jets. Chant says, they haven't been showing me on the big screen as often as they used to. If you know anything about it, let me know. I'm not one to mock Fireman at I'm not mocking him at all on this. I honestly have nothing to do with the Jets in house production. I have nothing, not even a contact who I would even even know to locate. So who pulls the lever on the Fireman ed Chant or not? But apparently in the last few weeks the Jets in house production team has been leaning more towards a non ed focus than an ED focus. So now I'm like somehow involved in this, and I know people in their their pr staff, and I know some folks in the front office. I'm like, do I make a thing of this or not? Do I inquire because I'm so like here for that kind of stuff, Like do I go out and try to find the answer before I could even text anyone or see if it's a story or not. I see Firemanet has posted an Instagram reel detailing how he's not sure what's going on, but they're not using. All he wants to do is help. He just wants to help, and he knows when he's on that screen it helps. And then I see in the New York Post there's a big article about Fireman ed Anzeloni and his claim that the Jets in house production staff has iced him out or removed him. So now I'm like, all right, I'm gonna do at a solid I'm going to maybe inquire. Before I could even inquire on that, my guy, licensed plate Guy, who is the Giants in house like resident fan reposts Ed's tweet and says, Oh, if you want to talk about icing out, we can have a conversation. Apparently the Giants have been distancing themselves from their longtime fan, the long blondhaired guy license plate Guy. Where's all the license plates. I haven't noticed it, but apparently license plate Guy is not being used on the in house screens. So as we record this right now, I have no answers. I feel like I'm Mike Wallace going into the dark side here. I feel like I want answers. I would think this is coincidence and that the Jets are not icing out Fireman Ed. I don't think he said anything that was worthy of being, you know, taking off the screens. I also don't think the offense has done much and the defense has been giving up a lot of yards in these big possessions where it doesn't even get the third down. So I'm going to go out on the limb here. I'm gonna make my promise to Fireman Ed that I will at least inquire about this and I will see. And as the Jets go on the road, they play Pittsburgh, they eventually will be home, and I think on Halloween night they play the Houston Texans and it's on Amazon. I am gonna do all that I can to make sure that the next time they play. I believe they play the Patriots in New England and then they come up Aaron, do you have the Jets schedule up here. I know there's a lengthy monologue here, but let's get the Jets schedule up.

So Steelers is this Sunday in Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh and then in Foxboro.

And then it's home against the Texans Texas on Halloween. All right, Ed, if you're listening Fireman Ed, I'm gonna do all I can. I'm gonna talk to the Jets PR guys. I'm gonna try at least get an answer for you. But I will also say this, I am confident that you will be back on those screens, and if you're not, it's probably becausing the time between today and then, you might have gone over your skis with this stuff. Just late, lay low man, We're gonna make it happen. Jets fans love Fireman Ed, they love that chant. I'm gonna do all I can to get some answers here. Fifty cent Fireman Ed, Saquon Barkley, and I want to talk Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They had an awesome offensive outpouring. Our guest today is their offensive coordinator Liam Cohen. He comes on after this so excited to have one of the hottest offenses and the mastermind behind it on the podcast today in season, a few days after the greatest offensive day his franchise has ever had. With no further ado, the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, mister Liam Cohen, Welcome to the season with Peter Schrager.

Ye, thank you, Peter, appreciate you having me on, and this is awesome.

We have known each other for many years. I've charted your career from the college days to the Rams, to Kentucky and then now back to the Buccaneers. And yet, for all of the history that you've had running offenses and being a part of offenses, have you ever had a day where your team has put up the amount of yards five hundred and ninety four like the Buccaneers did in New Orleans on Sunday.

No, I've really never been a part of a game like that. I mean, it was just credit to our players, our staff. I mean, these guys, so many of the things that happened on Sunday were a credit to their preparation, the week that we had getting out there and practicing at Tulane, and injuries and guys stepping up and making plays. I mean so often on Sunday, you saw guys just catching a checkdown and making a play, or breaking tackles and making plays.

So as much as yes, it's great for us.

From an offensive standpoint, and I'm proud to be a part of it, I can't take much credit for it because those guys were the ones doing it on Sunday.

All right, Take me through the week, because on Tuesday we're all watching Weather Channel and I'm up in New York and you're seeing Hurricane Milton come in right at Tampa and you guys fly out seven hundred miles get to New Orleans. A lot of people bring their families to New Orleans. Other people's families are going to Orlando or Gainesville. Take us through the Cohen family. I know you got young kids and a beautiful wife. Take us through the actual week on Tuesday and where your folks were, and how it all worked out for you to actually settle in and pretend to think about football for a couple of days.

Crazy weekend. Really, it started like Sunday morning. We got some information from the organization that said, hey, look we might have to evacuate and we're looking at what those options are. It was potentially go to Texas, it was go to Orlando, it was go to obviously New Orleans, and so started to look at some of those preparations. On Sunday, my wife and I actually it was her birthday on Tuesday last week, and we're trying to we're going out and go shopping for her birthday present on Sunday, and we're trying to make some accommodations.

We're looking at flights. We see that there's a bunch of flights available.

And then her dad actually flew down from Cincinnati to Florida to come help her and the two kids go to Cincinnati. So they didn't make the trip to New Orleans. They were able to get out of Tampa Tuesday morning where they were or Monday, Monday evening, excuse me, they went out to Cincinnati. We had Noah's Ark on Tuesday when we floor Monday when we flew out of Tampa, dogs, cats, families, everybody credit the Glazer family for doing that.

I mean, what an unbelievable joy.

So you guys get on a team plane or is it like and then also, hey, if you've got three kids and a dog, you're welcome to come to That's what the Glazer said.

Yeah, they said all of your immediate family, pets, whomever, you need to essentially get out of Tampa and wasn't able to do so on their own. So we had two planes, got those things going. We flew out, and man, as crazy as it was, you know, our our op staff and facilities, they did an unbelievable job of making it pretty seamless, and it was kind of a blur. And then I ended up missing my wife's birthday on Tuesday. It was in the doghouse for a day or two, but you know, it was one of those weeks, man.

And then at some point you put together an offensive game plan and we've you know, overshot White goes down and now it's all right, Sean Tucker and Bucky Irving and these guys combined for two hundred plus yards and you guys put up five hundred ninety four yards to offense, like in the grand scheme of it at oh, when you think about missing your wife's birthday and Noah's Ark and a hurricane coming to then Sunday having the greatest offensive day the franchise ever had, take me through the actual game itself.

Yeah, you can't write it much better, I guess, except for the fact that you know, we came out, started fast. We go down on the first drive of the game, go score a touchdown on a really efficient drive. The guys were physical, we were completing passes, you know, really efficient.

And then you know, we go down another drive, end up having to kick a field goal, the defense gets a stop, gets a turnover for a touchdown, seventeen to nothing. Things are really moving in the right direction.

And then these second quarter hits and we went three interceptions, multiple penalties, We went on a drive that didn't go forward for a single yard.

So we've played, you know, we've still we've talked about this a number of times.

We have yet to play for quarters of good football or four quarters of our best football. And so you come out of the second quarter, they take the lead. We go in the halftime and there was really no flinch, no blink those guys, the leaders, coach bowles, it was all like this, and the guys just really needed to recuperate, regain our focus, calm down. Came out in the second half, the defense plays unbelievable. They hold them to zero points in the second half, and we were able to get things going again and get.

The run game back on track. And credit to the guys up front.

They played, They played their tails off, and those backs made a lot of people miss.

So when you were interviewing for the job, one of the things that everyone in the media, myself including were saying, well, he's got history with Baker Mayfield, but that history was so brief. Baker got to the Rams when you were on the offensive staff and basically played for a few weeks, came in, saved the day on a Thursday night game on about one day's notice. And then you get reunited in Tampa. Take us through your relationship with Bakers then in LA and then now that you're together and this is the quarterback who's really at the switch for your offense.

Yeah.

I mean when I got to know him early on in those weeks in LA, you felt you just felt his confidence, even at a time where he was, you know, being moved around. He was being traded around, and you felt confidence though. He came out to practice, He practiced hard, he practiced well. He brought juice, he brought energy, He was fun to be around during during the week.

He was he kept it light but serious.

Enough to know that obviously this is a job and this is our this is our livelihood.

So he was really fun to be around. He's an igniter. He's an igniter.

He's the type of person that you really just want to gravitate towards. And he's really alignment at heart, Like that's his personality.

I love this. What does that mean?

That's Those are his best friends, those are his guys. He's just one of the guys. He's not he's our franchise quarterback. He's obviously having a ton of success right now, but he is truly one of them. Those are the guys he takes out to dinner every week, those are the guys he vacations with in the offseason.

So he is truly one of them.

Where it's not just like, Okay, it's Baker and then the rest of the guys. He's an extension of us on the field in terms of his knowledge, his preparation, the way that he's doing things. I think for Baker becoming a father and you know, just the maturation process that goes into you know, fatherhood and being a parent and obviously getting a new deal and being a franchise quarter where there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that. I think it's really helped him in his maduration process of being a franchise quarterback.

Give me a funny Baker story, because I think he's actually got the best personality of any of these quarterbacks. And they're all doing commercials and Baker used to do a ton of commercials and he's actually a great actor on them. But like you said, levity, he brings levity. I think this guy, we talk with him like, I think he's hilarious.

I mean, have you seen have you not seen the deal where he was one of our fans?

Yes, Dre talk about it.

I was part of I was actually a part of that, but I didn't know. So I'm in the weight room this summer, working out, getting a little sweat in with the guys, and all these fans come in with cameras and they're you know.

They're doing that whole production.

I had no he was standing right across from me, and I had no idea.

I had no clue.

They leave, the strength coaches are like, dude, you didn't realize Baker was in there, and I'm like, I had no idea. So I ended up going to the equipment room poking my head in and seeing him. I mean that's him though, right, like that whole act and that production. That's him all the time, right, he's he's liked that on the football field, he's like that in the meeting rooms. But his the preparation, the way he does things, it's it's phenomenal. So to me that that deal that they did is truly who he is.

Yeah, and you also happen to work with one of the greatest wide receivers to ever suit up. Now, you were in LA with Cup, You were in LA with with a host of different weapons Odell that year. What's Mike Evans bring to the table that maybe the viewer listener at home doesn't know.

Well, the thing that you you don't realize about him is until you get up close with him. First of all, how big he is and how quick he is at the line of scrimmage. His hand usage, the way that he can shed and release off the line of scrimmage for a person of his size is extremely impressive. And then oh wait, he has seen a million different coverages over the course of his career. He calls out coverage before the snap happens all the time, all the time. He'll be standing there, He'll see it, he'll peak, and he'll call the coverage out before it even happens.

Is that common for a wide receiver.

I wouldn't say that coming.

I mean, you know, Cooper was extremely high football IQ. He knew a lot of things. But Mike he has seen probably more coverage defenses, you know, double teams and different structures of trying to take him out of the game. So he has such a good feel for leverage defenses, the way they're tilted pre snap and how they move post snap. I think that the viewers and fans would have a even much higher appreciation for Mike if you knew his IQ, his level of football knowledge and what he puts into it.

Okay, as we wrap here, because we're going to earn the offseason, you and I are going to do a deep dive an hour on Liam Cohen's story, and maybe we let the listeners in on how you and I got to know each other in twenty eleven. Yes, we have known each other for thirteen years, Liam, and you know how proud I am and how awesome this is to see you Helman and NFL offense. But I do want to ask you your influences, because we really reconnected when you got on mcveigh's staff, but you have been around some great football minds. Take us through your coaching journey just a little bit and who you pick and pluck your stuff from as we see this awesome Bucks attack.

I think, first and foremost it starts for playing for my dad and growing up watching him coach. I mean, he was a Division III college head coach and high school coach my entire career in life actually early on, so a lot of the core fundamentals and beliefs come from from him. And then as I go and play. You go to college and I played for Don Brown and one of our coaches on staff, Ryan Pacucci, was my offensive line coach as a player. Yeah, hired him this year, So a lot of those influences are still, you know with me. And then I go and coach from Mark Whipple, who is a really you know, really you know, big offensive mind for a long time there in the Northeast. And then you continue to move on and then end up getting to LA and where I really felt like I.

Got my PhD in coaching.

Is what I've kind of always said, is I learned more about x'es and o's defense, offense, special teams, cold sure people from Seawan And you know, he's one of the biggest impacts and influences in my life, both on and off the field.

So a lot of credit to those guys.

And as you continue to go and you're in the SEC and you're watching other people do things and you take things from other people. There's a lot of good ball coaches out there, so a lot of those are the people that I was influenced by, more so probably Sean.

Yeah, and now you're with Todd Bowles and you're with what looks to be a really good group of men, both the coaches and the players. And on this one, it's up to date. Here comes Rokwan Smith and here comes Kyle Hamilton. We got a Monday night bout against the Ravens. You had a busy week last week. Now you got some actual Monday night football shine to it. How are you preparing as we were a few days in advance of what's going to be a huge showdown.

On MNF, huge challenge, Like you mentioned, I mean, this is a group that salty. They're salty group. They run to the football, they play physical, their their dynamic with the way that they use you know, Marlon Humphreyes and Hamilton and Rokwan and and those guys up front are are are pretty dominating when they when they really are.

Getting after it.

So this is a huge challenge for us obviously, as as it every week, but this one. They're number one in rush defense in the National Football League. A lot of times they're playing from a lead and getting ahead on people so quickly. We have got to be able to start fast and really kind of help dictate the terms of the game, because if you get into a one way match.

With these guys, it's going to be difficult.

If they know that you're just going to be dropping back and throwing at every snap, They've got the ability to rush for play coverage create a rush with those guys. So I've got a ton of respect for this defense, a ton of respect for this this organization that we're going up against. It's going to be a great challenge for us, but I think our guys will be ready.

Hot off the press. This might be breaking news for you as you went straight from the practice field to this podcast. Got an email from the official NFL email account for immediate release Sean Tucker named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week six. Sean Tucker, second year guy out of Syracuse, the best offensive player in all of football. If you had told me that back in August, I would have said, Okay, that's that's that's a long shot. Your reaction to Sean Tucker being named best single offensive player in the entire conference this week.

Just the credit to the kid to to you know, stay with it. He Ever since we've gotten here as the staff, all that guy's done is take diligent notes, be engaged in all the meetings. Every time he's had an opportunity in practice, in preseason games, he has tried to show what he can do. He has stayed the course when things weren't probably looking great for him at times. And credit to coach Skip Peek for getting him ready to play, obviously on a short week, and the guy stayed prepared. He stayed ready, and it's just a great He's just a great guy. So you really don't, you know, you're so happy for him to have this moment one hundred.

And ninety two yards from scrimmage, and then his teammate Bucky Irving had eighty yards on the ground in forty yards, receiving pretty good running attack out of there from the Tampa Bay running backs. Skip Pete of course, the running backs coach. But Liam Cohen, you are the offensive coordinator. We are so appreciative of your time. Go back to game planning and go figure out a way to light up that Ravens defense.

Thank you, Peter, appreciate him.

Man.

Awesome job. Liam Cohen, offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Our guest on the season with Peter Schrager. Keep an eye on him, keep an eye on the Buccaneers. Can't wait to have a bigger conversation with Liam this office. Liam Cohen awesome guy in a offensive genius. I think, I mean the way he's performing right now in Tampa in his first year, a year after Canalis left, where everyone thought, wow, they finally have some continuity, and they finally have and then Canalis pieces and Liam steps in and it's hasn't missed a beat. I mentioned that I've known him for eleven years. Are you curious why the hell I would know Liam Cohen for eleven years?

Eron?

Yeah, eleven years is a long time too. This isn't this sounds like, it's not just a story that's like we went to the Senior Bowl and I ran into him.

Right, it's actually thirteen years So in twenty eleven, Victor Cruz has this amazing, you know, career year and that does the Salsa dance, and the Giants win a Super Bowl and a book company, Penguin gives him a book deal and pays him a lot of money to write a book. But you know, it's an overnight success, and they're like, we need the book out very quickly because this is going to sell and we want it before the summer and before next season. So we need to a sign a book deal and b write the book, and then d we're gonna get you, you know, on the bookshelf so we can sell this thing and have it be a summer read. Victor is presented with like fifteen different like beat reporters and writers and I've told this story before, and they're all in there trying to pitch themselves to Victor, and he doesn't gel with any of them. I wrote like a two hundred word like a little blurb on Victor for GQ magazine a couple months before his Super Bowl and after all he meets all these guys, his agent, Carlos and him come in. Then I get a random call, like you know, out of nowhere from a woman named Kerry Colan who was working at the publishing house. And she's like, Victor Cruz and his agent want to meet with you about writing this book with him. I've never written a book. I have no idea what that is. Long story short. I get the gig. Victor gets this, you know, giant advance for a book deal. I get about a penny of it, and then we decide that we're going to write a book here together and it's going to be the right of our lives. I get there and Victor and I start talking about his life, and his life is both beautiful and tragic and inspiring.

You know.

He lost his father at a young age. His mother was supporting him, he dropped out a square well at UMass, he was suspended, all these things. And along the way there's these gaps of like I need football, like I need to know like some of the football stuff from your college days. And Victor said, you know, he should talk to you should talk to my college quarterback at U Mass, Liam Cohen. I don't who's Liam Cohne. He's like, he's he's my college quarterback. He's also was my college roommate. I'm like at UMass, all right, give me this guy's number. Callup Liam. Immediately. I love Liam. We have this amazing connection. And Liam and I basically are on the phone for about a week straight, for three hours piece, him telling me stories about Victor in college and his college exploits as a player, also like some of their great high jinks as friends, and it helped fill a lot of the color behind you know, the ex's and I was in the numbers and whatever facts that had. Anyway, fast forward all these years, I'm at Rams camp and sure enough there's Liam Cohen, like Shreger. I'm like, hey, who's this guy? Liam Cohen? First time I ever met him in person. We hit it off. We keep in touch. He zipped through this thing. Will Levis has a huge breakout. You're at Kentucky. Liam Cohen is the offensive coordinator there. He gets a gig, you know with the Buccaneers as the you know, offensive coordinator in Tampa, and I couldn't be happier for him. So that is my connection to Liam Cohen. And now he's flexing on him. He is unbelievable. He's having a great ride and it was kind of cool to reveal the offensive player of the week to the coach who had not heard that before.

Yeah, and I love that that Sean Tucker got it. I mean, especially as a kid.

Who he he he was drafted last year.

I think he did.

He the second year guy from Syracuse. I know every player in the draft. I have no recollection of Sean Tucker.

And he just I know people were excited about the potential he had, but he didn't really do too much last year.

No idea and b I has been this.

Shining light for them and then out of nowhere, boom, he comes in and has this amazing gages.

He delivered and for that, we're gonna give him Award two. This is the season with Peter Schrigger delivering results presented by our friends at uber eats, it is time to give our award for who delivered the results presented by our friends at uber eats, and that winner is Sean Tucker of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers one hundred and ninety two yards from scrimmage in a breakout game for a second year player out of Syracuse. Sean Tucker a part of an offense that put up five hundred and ninety four yards last week in New Orleans in a blowout win. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of the most fun teams to watch on offense, and they've got weapons coming from every angle insert Sean Tucker. He was the NFC's Offensive player of the Week, as revealed on this podcast to his coach, and now he is the winner of the Delivering Results a War presented by Uber Eats, where you can get the best deals on game day all season long, the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order Now, Sean Tucker, have yourself a day. Aaron Wan Kaufman j in English. Here in New York, all the folks listening. We love putting out this podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. And the firemanet is listening. I'm hitting the grindstone, my friend. I am on this. I am on this like I work for sixty minutes or twenty twenty or dateline. This is going to be an investigation on my part. I'm going to do all I can to get Fireman ed back on the big screenings until next week.

Guys.

The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.