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00:00hotline this is the uh browns legend the hall of famer joe thomas on the wise heart right we make
00:04a right call kyle right hotline joe good morning good morning gentlemen how are you guys doing
00:09wonderful how excited are you about the play of spencer fauno and austin barber it was great man
00:15we finally got the running game going and a big part of that was those two young studs being able
00:20to use that athleticism get on the edge getting some cool creative concepts there some zone reads
00:25allowing deshaun watson to get out there with some design runs get out on the edge and then got
00:31young quinshawn judkins going we knew that the guy's got a ton of talent but we just got to open
00:36up some
00:36lanes for him and they finally did that last week so you hope they can keep it going because it
00:41gives
00:41them balance on offense that they just have not had previously until the titans game all right joe you
00:47were on that brian hoyer team that got off to the seven and four start and then you know unfortunately
00:53there was an injury on the o-line and brian kind of regressed a little bit and then the season
00:58did not go as they had were hoping at that point do you have reason to believe this could be
01:03different
01:03with this squad i do i mean i think that they're getting really good play from their quarterback
01:09right now i think last week was probably deshaun watson's best overall game not only was he making
01:14plays outside the pocket but he was making some great throws inside the pocket i think we've got
01:18some terrific pass catchers the two young guys boston and concepcion who continue to improve
01:24concepcion played probably his best game again last week as well um and so i think with the weapons
01:29that they have on the outside like if the defense continues at the pace they're at and they see the
01:34run game that they had last week like there's no reason to believe that they shouldn't be competing
01:38in december joe thomas joining us here on the wise heart right we make it right cacao right hotline
01:44what is what has todd munkin added to the culture of this football team not just the x's and o's
01:49no kevin was a big x's and o's guy not necessarily the best people person when it came to team
01:55building
01:55what has todd munkin done differently i think todd feels like a father figure to a lot of those guys
02:02right because he's got the boot up their ass when he needs them he's got the arm around their shoulder
02:06when they need them and he's always going to tell you where you stand and i think that's the best
02:10thing
02:11you can ever say about a coach at the professional level is what i just want to know is like
02:15what's
02:15it going to take for me to unlock the best potential and the best version of myself and i want
02:20the coach
02:20to tell me that i don't need him to play games with me i don't need him to tell me
02:23that i'm fine i'm
02:25great he i'm his guy and then all of a sudden he boots me out the door for somebody else
02:30that
02:30becomes available like i just want to know what i need to do to improve every single day and i
02:34think
02:34it's that honesty that he's had with guys that has garnered so much respect and some love
02:39and accountability from this team and i think you're seeing it on the field there's also a
02:43relaxed attitude when you've got a guy that is just very honest he's got the finger on the pulse
02:50of the locker room there's discipline in the locker room like they want to play for him and there's
02:54also a calmness you get behind early in that game last week i think it's easy to panic but when
02:59you got
03:00a guy like uh coach munkin who's very steady and consistent that doesn't mean he has no emotion
03:06but he is steady and consistent with everything he does and they've been in that position before
03:12and i think having that leadership allows them to kind of steer the ship through some uneven waters
03:18and adversity that happens with every team in the nfl no matter who you are but i think he's given
03:23them that confidence to get to where they are at five and two tied for first place in the division
03:27and getting them to believe that this can really be a special season and they are a special group
03:32joe thomas joining us right now on the hotline we always talk about how the coaches coach the
03:38players but how the coaches coach the coaches they actually probably spend more time with the
03:43coaches throughout the week and we're blowing my mind man yeah we saw a moment on the field when
03:48there were 12 men on special teams that could have potentially cost them royally didn't end up
03:54doing so but there were too many men on that punt situation and he was giving an earful to the
04:00special teams coach byron store i'm sure you caught that joe there there's a fine line in doing that
04:06right like can't be doing that 24 7 because i can get old real fast but i that was a
04:11takeaway from
04:12that game that i absolutely loved the fact that you know he he showed his frustration and then they
04:17went about their day yeah i mean that's kind of going back to what i said early on about coach
04:23monk and accountability it's a big thing inconsistency knowing where you stand like if you screw up
04:29he's going to get on you right and so i'm sure everybody on the sideline wasn't like
04:34they were going yeah he screwed up like he's in charge of the special teams unit if there's 12
04:39dudes out there that's where the buck falls and he's going to tell you about it and so i think
04:43it
04:44also gives you the ability as soon as that's over it's like all right back to business as usual
04:47because this is how he coaches and i've said this for a long time but the number one job of
04:52a head
04:52coach and the hard thing about finding the right head coach is when you're the head coach your job is
04:58number one first and foremost to coach your coaches to get them to coach the players in the
05:03vision that you have for the team because you're only one man you got 53 dudes you can't coach every
05:08single one of them but what you can do is coach and reinforce the things that you want to see
05:12with
05:12your vision with your coaching staff every single day and on top of that even before your job as a
05:18coordinator which a lot of head coaches of course are also the coordinator like you have to be the
05:23liaison between ownership and the team ownership in the media and you have to be the voice for the
05:29locker room to the media and so like there's a lot of jobs that you have to do as a
05:34head coach and
05:35it's particularly difficult to hire that position because most guys come from the coordinator level
05:39and they don't have to coach the coaches in the same way that you do when you're a head coach
05:42but
05:43i think everyone will agree todd munkin's done an amazing job coaching those coaches leaning into the
05:48experience that he has and holding everybody accountable doesn't matter if you're the 53rd guy in the
05:52roster the punter the long snap or the special teams coach the owner like everybody has the same
05:57standard and that's how you have to run a great team i'm gonna ask a question that will come off
06:02very silly and then i'll explain why he's a silly goose how long joe thomas are rookies in the nfl
06:10rookies and the reason i ask that question is because we've seen a couple of tough weeks from
06:15denzel boston and we're still hyper analyzing the interception that was thrown in the first quarter
06:22by watson and what i'm wondering is how long is the coaching staff okay with like the rookie
06:28mistakes and at what point does it become hey i've got to now penalize you for stuff like that
06:34yeah it's funny we always used to say that uh rookies were still rookies until after their
06:39second training camp but i'm sure it's a little bit different when you're talking about expectations
06:44from the players so i mean honestly i think like the standard is the standard no matter who you are
06:48however you have a little bit more grace with rookies when it's the very first time you're
06:54explaining or teaching or they're seeing something right but the second time around like everybody
06:58gets one chance but then after that like you have to get it right or there's some consequences and so
07:03i think from a receiving standpoint with uh denzel boston like if they've coached him on that and how
07:10to do it and that's what they've talked about during the week like you expect to see that and it
07:15doesn't matter if it's a 10-year vet or if it's a rookie like if we've told you to do
07:19something
07:19you're accountable and you're responsible for doing it in that way and so i'm sure those guys
07:23especially like they're playing in a starting role and so it doesn't matter how many years you have
07:29in front of your name and in the roster like your expectations are you're going to do it the right
07:33way so i would say at this point for all those guys that have been starting like they've probably
07:38seen most of this stuff they've been coached on most of this stuff especially receivers don't have
07:43quite as much to learn as maybe an offensive lineman but like the expectations are there and
07:47i think the coaches are going to be hard on them just the way i imagine they are in meetings
07:51this
07:51week how do you can you describe what it takes to be a real leader and not a fake leader
07:59like we've
08:00tried to do it we tried to force the mantle of leadership on some in the past what what makes
08:07a real
08:07one well i think a real leader in a football locker room starts with performance right
08:12the only way that you can gain respect and have a voice that matters in the locker room is if
08:19you're going out and you're living it every single day that's your preparation the process that you
08:23you work with every single week in practice in meetings and then you go out and you perform well
08:29on sundays i think that's the baseline right and then from there it's about holding each other
08:34accountable but being honest with it um if somebody screws up like they're held to the same standard
08:40whether like i mentioned 10 year guy or a first year guy so that everybody knows it's not about
08:46you it's about the results right we're not criticizing the person we're criticizing the
08:51performance and holding everybody's feet to the fire no matter who it is i think is one of the most
08:55important things with leadership it's what you know bill belichick was probably most famous for
09:02right you hear stories about brady after winning four or five super bowls he's still coaching him like
09:08he's a rookie he coaches in the same way and i think it's that just consistency that you have
09:13to have as a leader to gain respect and have a voice that matters that people listen to
09:19one other thing i kind of want to go back to the munkin thing and about changing the culture you
09:23said the
09:23father figure type of thing is it because of the age of the locker room second youngest roster in the
09:30nfl he's able to do what he does because there's like okay like i heard vince the the story of
09:36vince
09:36lombardi publicly calling out bart star once and bart star going to him like listen you want to
09:41rip me rip me but you can't do it in front of the team but then todd munkin is able
09:45to come right out
09:46and say hey deshaun's got to play better or denzel boston that's a rookie mistake he's got to run the
09:51right route he's got to fight to the inside he knows that there was just a brain fart there i
09:55he didn't
09:56say brain fart i did what is the difference in being able to do that not having a backfire where
10:01it's
10:01like yeah you can you can say it publicly we all know we all we all understand we own that
10:06responsibility and that i can't believe this guy just threw me under the bus to the press
10:10i think it's just because that's who he is right that's the authentic nature of coach munkin right
10:16whether he's talking to the media he's reacting to what somebody said about his team he's reacting to
10:21what happened on the field like he just calls it how it is balls and strikes and i think that
10:26that
10:27gains respect very quickly and it doesn't matter who you are like if deshaun makes a bad play and
10:33he's been coached up on it to do it a different way like he knows it and i think everybody
10:37on that
10:37team is very okay with understanding that like hey if somebody screws up like it's okay that you get
10:43called out because look if your coach calls you out that's one thing but like there everybody in
10:49the nfl watches the games fans see the highlights there's a billion analysts talking about who did this
10:55or who did that and when the coach says it it's just about him holding everybody accountable and
10:59i think if anything else if you're truly a person in that locker room that wants greatness and you
11:04want to have a team that has great success and has a chance to go on a great run win
11:09a division try
11:10to win a super bowl you have to respect a head coach and you have to want a head coach
11:15that holds
11:15everybody accountable including you you can't think that you are held to a different standard which is
11:20lower that you have to be fragile and they have to protect your ego if anything as a leader i
11:25would
11:25want him to call me out more so that everybody in that locker room understands like holy cow he's
11:30willing to call out deshaun watson he's willing to call out joe thomas right it doesn't matter who you
11:35are and i think that instantly gives you that credibility to be able to call somebody out when
11:40they do something wrong because it's always about criticizing the performance right and that's what
11:45you want it's not about the player it's not a personal attack it's hey we want to be better because
11:49we all have this vision of working together and winning a championship and it's not about who gets the
11:54credit it's about what we're able to achieve together hyping up the rivalry game this week
11:59against pittsburgh when you've already played them once does that stuff even work with a young football
12:04team that you know didn't grow up with this stuff or would joe thomas here in 2026 still be getting
12:11in
12:11the locker room giving an impassioned fiery speech about it well i'm not one for big impassioned speeches
12:19i'm more about holding people accountable and working hard and having the same process no matter
12:24who you're playing but uh you know i think uh jared verse and uh company have already done a pretty
12:30good job getting people fired up about this rivalry and you know it doesn't take long when you play a
12:35team that is a rival historically and there's still guys in the locker room who've got plenty of hatred
12:40they understand what this rivalry means to the fan base but then when you play a team twice like you
12:45remember the stuff that happened in the first game it doesn't matter if it's the steelers the panthers
12:49the rams who cares like you play the same dudes and you're going lining up against them in an nfl
12:55game
12:56twice in the same season like there's going to be a little hatred right there and you're walking into
13:00that game with a little extra fire in your belly joe thomas joining us here on the wise heart right
13:06we
13:06make a right call call right hotline all right what can lead to a downfall of a team i mean
13:11you
13:12you were on the team that started seven and four finished seven and nine and you had an idiot who
13:17ended up playing quarterback that ended up being a big reason of the downfall to seven and nine
13:22in usual circumstances what could possibly lead to the wheels coming off a football team because
13:28i do think there's a lot of people kind of holding off buying in because they're afraid of what could
13:33happen not embracing what we're dealing with right now which is some really great football
13:38uh was that a question or a statement because i'm trying to figure out i'm checking my uh my
13:43wire if uh johnny menzel just got uh signed or something but no no no no no no no no
13:49i honestly
13:50honestly i was i i felt like i had to cover up bringing up a bad memory of what could
13:55have been
13:56because you know an idiot ended up taking over a quarterback you don't need to speak that i i'll speak
14:00it i know you've had no problem sharing your opinion on matters but honestly like there i think there's
14:05some people are a little bit nervous like uh you know because i got people calling in like oh
14:09there's a measuring stick i go they're five and two football teams if one team loses they're five
14:12and three their season ain't over but you know one team does have a history of the wheels coming off
14:17the other one doesn't what leads to a wheels situation where they fall off a football team in a
14:22season yeah honestly i think it goes back to maybe what i said about the rivalry right like i think
14:28you
14:28treat every opponent the same way um you treat every game like it's the super bowl you know one of
14:33the
14:33things that drove me nuts was uh going way way back to when i was getting ready for the combine
14:39and you know all these guys are working out they're going to these special training facilities and
14:44you hear them in the pre-draft i've never worked harder in my life i'm finally eating the right way
14:50and i i gave up partying and it's like well why weren't you doing that when the games were being
14:54played back in you know saturdays in the fall like why all of a sudden now you're giving your best
14:59effort like i think the nfl it's too hard to give anything less than your best effort and have a
15:04consistent process like every week is the super bowl and so just because we're playing the steelers
15:09and first place in the division is on the line like it shouldn't matter like you should prepare
15:15and go out and play the same way every single sunday and have that consistent approach and you know
15:20what that gives you the ability that hey if you don't win because like a couple weeks ago you didn't
15:26play very well against the jets hey it's okay we don't want that what can we learn from it how
15:31do
15:31we move forward and go and win the next game it's the same thing here with the steelers you don't
15:35win
15:35this one like hey it's okay like the season is not over we've just going back to exactly what we've
15:42done
15:42the week before we're going to learn what we can from the game and we're going to go out and
15:46try to
15:46get a win on sunday and then we'll see what happens and we'll see where we're sitting in division
15:50for fans now that i'm a fan like you guys it's more about hey i just want to enjoy where
15:56we are
15:56right now like i don't want to try to quantify or qualify or look at the schedule or try to
16:00say like
16:01why we're here or if we deserve it or what happens from here like let's just enjoy where we are
16:06let's
16:07enjoy the fact that we're sitting at first place we got a chance to go beat the steelers again on
16:11sunday
16:11and you know what if it doesn't happen the season's not over because we got another game on sunday
16:17you're not just a hall of famer you are an entrepreneur you are a farmer we have holidays
16:22coming up after right after thanksgiving we got gun season here in ohio i know you got the jerky
16:27tell us about hall of fame beef tell us about the jerky tell us about all of it
16:31yeah we got all sorts of great stuff going on obviously it's the busy season for us on
16:36hall of fame wagyu we got our website halloffamefarms.com hall of fame jerky it's the perfect gift
16:42for a friend it's the perfect thing to put into your deer backpack which i'll be doing some deer
16:47and duck hunting this weekend kids got thursday friday off of school so we're heading out right
16:50after school is over to the farm for a nice long weekend we can't wait we'll have the hall of
16:54fame
16:55wagyu beef sticks in everybody's lunch bags we're going to be enjoying some picnic lunches out there
17:00tagging some calves it's just a beautiful time of year to be outside when you got some hall of fame
17:05wagyu
17:06in your bag that delicious mouth-watering tender beef the premium beef the best stuff on earth boys
17:13i'm gonna have to send you guys some more because i know uh it's been a little while since you
17:17guys
17:17have been able to enjoy it but for anybody that's listening that's starting to think about holiday
17:21stuff if you go to our website we got a little contact page and if you go to the bottom
17:25and send
17:25us a message um we'll take care of all your holiday gifting we got these beautiful holiday gift
17:31boxes hall of fame farm branded amazing wagyu on the inside everything from the jerky the sticks
17:36the steaks the burger anything you could want any price point um making people very happy at the
17:42holidays with special custom gift boxes that is something they'll open up and actually be excited
17:48about not just think about who i can give this away to at a white elephant gift party halloffamefarms.com
17:54is the website go ahead check it out joe i would also i'd beg you to take us deer uh
17:58take us uh duck
17:59hunting but i wouldn't want lima to turn me into her uh what harry winnington i think the guy's name
18:03was tone i think that's okay i want to make sure anyway i don't want it either it sounds terrible
18:11i mean you know it was only minor injuries he later recovered anyway uh joe thank you very much for
18:17the
18:17oh by the way good luck to your brewers all right thanks guys i appreciate it we got to bring
18:22home the
18:22series for the small markets guys take care of my friend the great joe thomas bronze legend pro football
18:29hall of famer otherwise all right we make a right call call right hotline