With the NFL Draft approaching next week and a bunch of players on the Baltimore Ravens roster already in the building and working in Owings Mills, Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the changing times with Jesse Minter establishing whatever the “new” rules will be in the purple castle. We wonder what those might be in the aftermath of two decades of Camp Hardball.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – On Friday, approach graphic designer Todd Radom to pitch the proposed ‘Charm City’ script City Connect uniform concept and request that he create a mockup.

Maryland Lottery Promotion and Upcoming Events

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Maryland Lottery promotion featuring local artists and their unique art pieces.
• Nestor mentions his upcoming appearances at Costas in Timonium on Thursday, Koco’s in Lauraville on May 1st, and Pizza John’s.
• Nestor shares his experience at Faidley’s, including a humorous moment with Luke Jones over crab cakes and shrimp salad.
• Nestor talks about the release of new Ravens jerseys and the mixed reactions from fans and media.

Discussion on City Connect Uniforms and Jerseys

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the new City Connect uniforms for the Orioles and Ravens, with Nestor expressing his disdain for the Miami Hurricanes-inspired design.
• Luke suggests a more tasteful City Connect uniform for the Orioles, incorporating elements like “Charm City” in the script.
• Nestor and Luke agree that the new uniforms are not universally liked but acknowledge the nod to Camden Yards and Fenway Park.
• Nestor mentions the upcoming release of new Ravens jerseys and the positive reception expected from fans and social media.

Ravens’ Offseason and Draft Preparations

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Ravens’ offseason, including the Max Crosby trade and the upcoming draft.
• Nestor highlights the importance of the draft in addressing the team’s needs, particularly on the offensive line and pass rush.
• Luke mentions the upcoming schedule release, which will provide context for the Ravens’ upcoming games.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the changes in the Ravens’ coaching staff and the impact of Jesse Minter as the new head coach.

Transition from John Harbaugh to Jesse Minter

• Nestor and Luke analyze the reasons behind John Harbaugh’s departure and the appointment of Jesse Minter.
• Luke emphasizes the need for a fresh perspective and urgency among the veteran players to avoid past failures.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential changes in the Ravens’ defensive and offensive strategies under Minter and Declan Doyle.
• Nestor reflects on the legacy of John Harbaugh and the challenges faced by the new coaching staff in maintaining the team’s success.

Impact of Coaching Changes on Team Dynamics

• Nestor and Luke explore the potential impact of Jesse Minter’s coaching style on the Ravens’ team dynamics.
• Luke suggests that Minter’s youth and expertise in defense will bring a different approach compared to John Harbaugh.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of creating a strong sense of urgency among the players to improve their performance.
• Nestor reflects on the need for the new coaching staff to address the team’s roster needs and improve the offensive line.

Upcoming Draft and Roster Needs

• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of the upcoming draft in addressing the Ravens’ roster needs, particularly on the offensive line.
• Luke highlights the need for a starting center and the potential challenges in finding one in the later rounds.
• Nestor and Luke consider the possibility of trading back or acquiring a veteran center to address the team’s needs.
• Nestor emphasizes the importance of the draft in setting the tone for the Ravens’ season and their chances of winning the Super Bowl.

Reflections on Past Successes and Challenges

• Nestor and Luke reflect on the Ravens’ past successes under John Harbaugh and the challenges faced in recent years.
• Luke discusses the impact of injuries and the brutal schedule on the team’s performance in 2025.
• Nestor and Luke consider the role of individual players in the team’s success and the need for accountability among the veterans.
• Nestor emphasizes the importance of finding the right mix of players to sustain the team’s success under the new coaching staff.

Final Thoughts on the Ravens’ Future

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential impact of the new coaching staff on the Ravens’ future success.
• Luke emphasizes the need for a strong draft and the importance of addressing the team’s roster needs.
• Nestor reflects on the challenges faced by the new coaching staff in maintaining the team’s success and creating a new identity.
• Nestor and Luke conclude with a discussion on the importance of the upcoming draft and the potential changes in the Ravens’ approach to the game.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens players, Jesse Minter, draft, uniforms, John Harbaugh, offensive line, defensive coordinator, Lamar Jackson, Eric DeCosta, Max Crosby, NFL offseason, coaching changes, player needs, team strategy, Baltimore positive.

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

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Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. Trying to talk like my my AI clone, I might might work on that for the weeks over, put me out of a job next week, let my clone and Luke do the draft. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have a whole bunch of them, more than I usually have, because these are the Maryland treasures. These are the local artists who actually drew these really cool art pieces. And I’ve allowed people to pick the ones that they like when we’re doing these. So I’m going to be at Costas on Thursday in Timonium. Don’t go to the dun. We can go to the Dundalk one and get crabs down there, you just don’t look for crabs for me in Timonium, or Don’t look for me in Dundalk if you want crabs. On Thursday the 23rd we’re going to be at Koco’s in lauraville, and then on the first of May, at Pizza John’s, and Luke Jones is wearing his pizza John’s hat. I will have Maryland treasures to give away in Essex on May the first and the Luke joined me at faidley’s as well for crab cake and some french fries and some proper cucumber salad. I forgot to take the shrimp salad home because my meter was running out as a crazy thing, but we had fun talking about uniforms. I found the most expressive pictures of you and me. I mean, not quite Diana Rossini and but very expressive photos of you and I, yeah, yeah, expressive photos of your disdain for me and the idea of color rush jerseys. And so we’re gonna have a jersey thing going on this week. We didn’t even beat up the city connect things, especially when the fox guys came in Brzezinski, and these guys are like, hey, they look like the Miami Hurricanes. And I’m thinking it’s exactly what I’ve always wanted the Orioles to look like the Miami Hurricanes. I hope the Ravens do better than this on Thursday. And certainly I know we’re going to get into the draft and where they are and all that. They need a win with this jersey brand release Sashi and moon and Chad, they need a win, yeah.

Luke Jones  02:02

I mean, and they need to win in their uniforms. I mean, just like, I mean the Orioles, like we talked about this at faidley, so I don’t want to belabor the point, but I mean, this is what the city connect uniforms are. There are very few teams that have done it well. The one example that I’ve cited, and will probably continue to cite, is, I like how the Braves have done it, where they’ve kind of taken throwback uniforms in two different cases, and they’ve put a little spin on it, like, for example, this, this, to me, would be a city connect idea. Take the the classic 1966 Orioles, you know, script, real clean, kind of an off color, white uniform once upon a time. And instead of Orioles and script, you’d put Charm City in script. It’d be clean. It looked like the 1966 but it’d be a different spin. That would be something I’d prefer for what this is, I’m selling that

Nestor Aparicio  02:53

to Todd Radom on Friday, right away. He’s gonna come up with a he’s gonna mock that up for you.

Luke Jones  02:56

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Yeah, I mean, I for what they’re doing, they’re obviously doing a nod to Camden Yards, much like the Red Sox did with Fenway when they put their second city connect uniform out after they had previously done the Boston Marathon. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I have said it. I dislike 95% of the city connect uniforms across baseball, but

Nestor Aparicio  03:19

that Philadelphia thing looks terrible. It looks like John Kruk designed

Luke Jones  03:25

it to me. And that’s, and that’s where I’ll stick up for the Orioles a little bit here, in the sense of, I at least, and I know the Miami thing, and, you know, we’ll laugh about that, but there, there’s at least a clear theme here, where there, it’s a nod to the ballpark. You know, they’ve got the patch that replicates the plaques on Utah street. You know, I think that’s fine. It’s fine. Yeah, that’s probably the best way I can describe it. It’s fine.

Nestor Aparicio  03:49

And it’s not for us. And we’ve talked about, right?

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Luke Jones  03:51

And that’s the thing. And if they were wearing them for half their home games, then, yeah, it would bug me. But we’re talking about what will equate to what, maybe about 12 home games all year, you know, Friday night home games, it’s fine. But I will say this, based on social media, there are a lot of people that really like them, and that’s fine, you know? I mean, it’s not, does it need to be for everybody? Like I said, just so they’re still wearing their uniforms that I like, Dude,

Nestor Aparicio  04:17

I rolled out in my 79 all orange, that I like with the script that I like the one that Doug desense And Rick Dempsey and Scott McGregor like, and it’s good enough for me, and I don’t need a throwback throw up. I, you know, ever since I put that Aparicio 59 on the White Sox can’t get out of the wrong way. So I might be done with that, that thing, but they’re going to dump uniforms on Thursday, and they had some football players speak last week. They’re going to have that happen this week. They’re rolling you out. Sashi is going to pat himself on the back about how great all this looks on Thursday, I had a prediction The Raven social media. They’re going to love these jerseys. They’re going to love everything about it. Adam, you know, I mean, and all that be. Being said, we’re now a little bit out of the silly season. And by the way, I had Leigh Steinberg on this week talking about the max Crosby thing from an agent perspective, and what a handshake is worth. I dude, I can’t do any better than bring Lee Steinberg in here with this book in the comeback talking about that part of their offseason. Well, here’s the part, and I brought this up with you earlier. You know there’s no Max Crosby coming through the door, and they have a little bit of money, but this is the pick, right? This is the pick that was going to be given away in all of this, and how this all works out, and where it goes on the offensive line or to the pass rush or to the secondary, or to a tight end, for all I know, or the running back from Notre Dame, I don’t know. We all see their glaring needs right now, the cap space they have, where they are with Lamar, but we are now back into the time of the year where, and I know you hate this, because it’s baseball season, for crying out loud. And you know, if Raskin were here and the capitals were better, we’d say it’s Stanley Cup season, or it’s lacrosse season, or it’s triple crown. I mean, we’re two weeks out on the Kentucky Derby in the Preakness I put in for my press credential. By the way, I’ll be one of the handful of people actually watch the race in May that they’re trying to kill here. And it’s a whole, don’t get me started on that like I got problems with the football team the next couple weeks. Jerseys, football players, Coach Minter with a whistle, coaches, offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators, veteran players, you out there trying to figure out who’s got a hamstring pull and who had a surgery we don’t know about in the off season. And you know, Jameson’s out there trying to do a story on the Eric dicost, his wife, and she’s tweeting, and he’s tweeting, and we’re going to be great, and we’re going to be awesome. And look at the guys we drafted, and look at this big lineman we got, and look at this guy we signed. Oh and, but we’re playing in Brazil, and oh, my god, the schedule’s out. And my God, we got a wedding and a bar mitzvah, and it’s somebody’s birthday and your niece is this and that, and it’s on Labor Day, and we got to move things because it’s Sunday at four or not one, and what games are on Amazon Prime. And so all of that’s about to happen, because I don’t know, man, feels like the last time I talked to you about football, we were like, in Machu Picchu or something, and and it was Max real football that nothing, not much has happened since the max Crosby Hendrickson thing at all. And a lot of stuff’s going to start happening right now in mostly next Thursday, Friday and Saturdays, they had football players.

Luke Jones  07:35

Yeah, I mean, we’re gonna have the liars luncheon this week, uniforms, draft next week. Oh, I mean, OTAs are still about a little over a month away in terms of, like, the real full team workouts, but they’re going to be starting to get on the field together. Guys start working with coaches on the field so you get the schedule, which always gives you context. I mean, we’ve known the opponent since the end of last season, but you now know, okay, when are you going to play Pittsburgh? When are you going to play Cincinnati, all those different matchups? So I’ll give

Nestor Aparicio  08:04

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you a teaser early and late.

Luke Jones  08:08

Yeah, but, but it’s just, it’s nice to have that because it’s been such an not odd, but just a different offseason in terms of, I mean, new head coach for the first time in 18 years, and brand new coaching staff saved for, like, a few holdovers and the roster went through a lot of the typical free agent attrition that that happens The Crosby thing, the Ravens went from making the biggest trade in the history of the franchise in terms of just like, lucrative to then making the biggest outside free agent signing that then felt like an afterthought. I mean, think about that. If, if you, if you had just told someone three months ago, the Orioles were going to or the Orioles the Ravens were going to sign Trey Hendrickson, you’d say that’s a really big deal, and it became a complete afterthought because of what happened with Max Crosby. So that’s been interesting.

Nestor Aparicio  09:04

But, you know, agree with you to Costa, when he Nicks the deal on max Crosby, he thought it’s gonna be a better offseason to have andrickson in the pick. And I, you know, I can’t argue that point. I mean, maybe if you really believe Max Crosby is going to be crippled, like literally. I mean, if you don’t believe he’s going to be back to help by October 15, then, you know, this is obviously a better direction for them to be in. But it all hinges on what they do with this pick. And I’m not even convinced they’re taking the pick at the pick, because that’s, you know, that’s not necessarily the game that the cost of plays. If he’s trying to back up to get a center. He feels they could get it. He could get a 26 or something like that. I don’t know what their philosophy is here and and I think more than that, being someone that used to do this professionally, I think the philosophy is going to change, right? Like it’s not going to be hard ball. Anymore, even though this guy’s so associated with both of the brothers, I I get a vibe that we’re going to feel and smell and sense something different about all of this than we did with John.

Luke Jones  10:12

He’s a different person, right? I mean, he’s not, he’s not the third hardball brother, in the same way that Mike McDonald was not the third har ball brother that said, I think Kyle Hamilton said it best last week. I don’t think it necessarily means they’re reinventing the wheel, right? I mean, how different can it look? You know what? I mean, like they’re not going to come out playing a different sport. The defense, you know, Jesse Minters defense is still rooted in a lot of Raven stuff, right?

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Nestor Aparicio  10:44

I mean, I would just expect the Steelers to be changing way more dramatically when McCarthy comes in, then when a mentor, accolade of both the hardball brothers, brings the program here from the Joe Ortiz program that came from like I but there’s a part of me that feels like they need some change. And bashati felt that way, and all that. But I don’t, I don’t know what that looks like, because they don’t want Lamar running into linebackers, whatever they’ve built off the Lamar tree of monkey and Roman, the Roman thing. Dude just left Roman from you left the plane in Inglewood, came in for you had Roman, right? So I look at it all and say, what do we expect to change? A lot. I mean, John was the special teams guy, the guru guy, and the guy with the nose always into that, because it’s what he coached for so long. I don’t know what I’m expecting to be dramatically different, other than the press conferences, for sure. Like, I think the guy’s gonna have a different heartbeat and a different sense about it, how maybe he handles a team or whatever, but what the defensive calls look like and how the offense is going to be structured, I don’t know. It’s probably not going to feel a lot different. I think the building might feel different, but

Luke Jones  11:59

I’m not in the building. Yeah. I mean, and again, like, what do we want that to look like? Right? I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  12:05

okay, well, what does Eric di Costa want

Luke Jones  12:07

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it to look like? But I’m just to me, I don’t I’ve said this all along the you pivot from John Harbaugh to Jesse Minter. It’s, yeah, it’s a fresh coat of paint, and it’s a different voice, and it’s a different message. I don’t think that necessarily means it’s dramatically a 180 kind of change, right? I mean, it was very it was a sharp contrast going from how Ryan Billick handled himself from a media standpoint and how that locker room was structured where that locker room was in 2007 which you can certainly speak to with more authority than I can as just a fan at that moment in my life, but John Harbaugh coming in and rattling cages to the point where you had guys like Chris McAllister from day one saying that we can’t have that. You know what? I mean, like, there was very much that sense, it was very different. I don’t think it’s going to be that for one I’ll continue to say I don’t think their locker room was fractured beyond repair last year. I think it was much more accumulative frustration, where they felt it’s time, that it’s time. You know what,

Nestor Aparicio  13:21

though, man, I was, you’re bringing up that hardball thing, and I gotta, I gotta say to you, 20 years later, Brian Billick is so much a better person than John Harbaugh, and I believe that from the beginning. And I had long conversations with the schwartzes and the Marvins at that point in my life, 19 years ago, and saying, This guy, Brian’s a better guy, a better person, a better I felt that way. Then I certainly feel that way now. So and that’s not an endorsement for Brian, or even a damnation of har ball, because they were so different, but I would say the thing on the football field that made that different was the fact that Flacco and Ray Rice and those guys were coming into that that they had this different kind of ball. They were playing different perspective on it, different court, different everything that that really aided John as much as having wherever Ray was in his career, and where Suggs was, which was one year fat and tired, and the next year wanting to kill the quarterback and looking like he was an MVP, and then Ed Reed, who really was a straw that started the drink at that point, where he didn’t get along with hardball much at all, but they found a way to win, and they won a lot. They won for the minute Flacco got here, they were in the championship game six months later with Bill its players, so for the most part. So I think the team changed a lot then I don’t know. Man, I went back to last week, and you and I and and I can harp on salaries, and you. Will say value on Humphrey, Stanley, roquat, you’ll go down the list, Andrews, for all of those guys to say. Where are they in their career, and what’s going to be that new heartbeat that comes along with the coach? Because it’s not Kyle Hamilton or Lamar Jackson, and it’s not any of these veteran players. They’re all here sans Linda bar, Linder bomb, right? And they’re going to be trying to replace some version of that come out of this next week with something that feels like an offensive line that feels better than it does today, and but they’re not going to have that with Minter. I mean, the personality, the players, the veteran ness of this. There’s no Flaco and Ray Rice come in. There’s no massive change structurally that’s coming here because of this. And if I were still dining with Eric Decosta, which I only did for 20 years, 20 more than 20 years, God damn it, it’s almost 30 years, 24 years, where Eric Decosta and I were up close and personal writing books together that if I were in his space right now, and I had been at the owners meetings last week and ran into them at that little pasta bar by the seafood joint in the back there, where the Biltmore is him and Lacey and sat and had a wine or lemonade, I’d say, What? What are you looking what are you really looking to do with this guy that John didn’t do the Billick thing. Was dramatic, and that was Steve, and that was Dick Cass and that was just old world, new world arts guy, my guy, he’s tall and looks down upon me, just all of that that bishati had with Billick, even after giving him all the money and then accident him, right? That this is a different thing in a lot of ways. And I don’t know what I’m even looking as a former professional. I don’t know what I’m looking to change here. And I don’t know if I had a coffee with the Costa at it the Starbucks in the Marriott that he likes at in the Marriott Plaza. I don’t even know what he’d say I need John was too much of that, or not enough of this, or it was too you like, I don’t know. I really don’t know, but I don’t know what they’re looking to get out of this guy that they weren’t getting out of John. But it’s going to be interesting to see what that is, that’s all and that’s my soliloquy on it.

Luke Jones  17:15

I mean, the couple things that really stand out, you know, if we’re we touched on the similarities, right? Because he worked under John, he worked under Jim. So there are going to be elements of our ball football that are going to be there. Because I think, I mean, what, what else is Jesse Minter known right, other than, you know, one year at Vanderbilt. But I think you just,

Nestor Aparicio  17:39

he knows his dad, too. So, you

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Luke Jones  17:42

know, that’s why, like, I’ve kind of bristled at the idea that he’s just, you know, like he’s gonna, he’s his own guy, like he’s going to be there, yeah, he is trying to figure out

Nestor Aparicio  17:50

what that guy is, and when that starts for both of us, right? Because he can’t win or lose a game for five more months. Well, I,

Luke Jones  17:58

I just, there’s this sense, and you can really, you see it on social media big time. You can tell the people who hated John Harbaugh, and every single thing is under the microscope. And like some of the stuff I’ve seen, I’m like, man, don’t, don’t pull your your shoulder out of socket, reaching on that conclusion that you’re drawing there. But He’s younger. He does have an area of expertise that’s not special teams, so the defense will be directly tied to him in the same way that offense was directly tied toward Brian Billick, even though Billick didn’t start out calling the plays, but we know at the end he was calling the plays. So there’s that there is a perception of a little more of a sophisticated knowledge from an X’s and O’s standpoint, because of that expertise on one of the two phases that is more valuable than special teams. And I don’t say that to be disparaging to John. John had plenty of other qualities that the track record speaks for itself. He had a lot of success as a head coach for a long time, and we’ll see how well that translates in act two for him in New York, right? But it is different when you have a head coach who can basically take care of one side of the ball for you. And yes, he’s going to have Anthony Weaver, but we know for now, Minter is going to call the defense on game day. So I think everyone’s expecting the defense to look way more Mike McDonald than Zach or and, I mean, a better, because their defense wasn’t very good the last two years, saved for what the last seven games in 24 so that really stands out offensively. I mean, you it’s clearly he didn’t, you know, he didn’t bring Greg Roman with them from the Chargers. So obviously he’s not looking for that. So Declan Doyle and obviously all the success that Ben Johnson and the bears had this past year, you’re looking so you kind of look at, okay, what was the Lions offense? What was the bears offense? They clearly have signaled they’re moving away from a tradition. Full fullback, because Patrick Ricard is in New York now, and even if they bring a full back in, it, you wouldn’t expect it’s going to be someone that has that kind of profile. I think it’s going to be much more Durham Smythe lining up as a full back seven times a game. You know, as a blocking tight end, who’s going to handle that? And the Ravens had kind of, kind of sort of been doing a little bit more of that here over the last couple years, anyway, so, but I think, and this is where we look at what happened in 2025 and then just what’s been, kind of the characteristics of the Lamar Jackson era in general. I’ve said it. I’ll continue to say it. When Lamar Jackson has been healthy and right, this has been a heck of a football team. The record in the regular season bears that out. You know? It supports that notion. So this isn’t something that when Jesse Minter comes in, you’re you have this idea in mind that you have to make wholesale changes and fix eight different things that are, you know, horribly wrong. No, they had a bad year in 2025 but even that still stems from a really brutal schedule the first month of the season and some bad injuries early on, right from, you know, from the time they were one in five, I mean, they played better football the rest of the year. I don’t want to say great. I never thought they were going to make a Super Bowl run, even if Tyler loop makes, makes the kick, right? They still had major flaws that were going to cost them, even if it wasn’t at high Well, the owner said

Nestor Aparicio  21:35

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the coach would be the coach for another, another week, right?

Luke Jones  21:37

Right? Exactly So, but, but I still think, I still think you look at this from the standpoint of, it was fatigue, right? It was time to do something different. When you’re looking at this core with Lamar Jackson and at age 29 and Marlon Humphrey being where he is, and roquan Smith being where he is, and Mark Andrews go down the list of all their veteran guys who’ve been around. You know, not in row, quants case, but the other guys have been around the last 678, years. You kind of look at this and say, All right, how many more shots are we going to get at this thing? It’s time to have someone else come in and see if we can change that narrative. And by the way, and you know this, this really is in tune with what I was saying with Hamilton, how he was saying, we’re not really trying to really trying to reinvent the wheel here. Some of this is as simple as you’re trying to rattle the cages of these veteran players to say, hey, if we we just threw out the head coach has been here way longer than any of you guys. So this idea that you think you’re just going to get opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to finally break through in January. That’s not how this works. That’s not life in the NFL. That’s not reality. So I think, as much as anything, and I don’t say this, that you would do this solely for this reason, but I think part of this is also, man, to create a stronger sense of urgency in everyone, to just say, Guys, you’ve been the number one seed twice. You’ve been in the playoffs and you’ve had, you know, Vegas has had you as a Super Bowl favorite. And I mean, even this spring, Vegas has them with the highest wind total in the AFC, right right there, with buffalo, which I still can’t quite figure out when I look at the current state of their offensive line, but it speaks to how the perception is for them. So they have had so many different people, you and me, included, that have believed in their ability to break through and to be great and be the number one seed and to host an AFC title game three years ago and go through all the different things, and they’ve fallen short. And not just that, have they fallen short. They’ve fallen short in some of the most excruciating, agonizing ways. So ultimately, it kind of came down to John Harbaugh. Had to take the proverbial bullet for that, right? They threw him out, and they bring in another head coach, and that part of that is, yes, they want Jesse Minter and Declan Doyle to innovate and to freshen things up and to have a new perspective, and they’re younger. You know, you’re going from having a 60 something year old head coach to now a early 40s head coach. So that in the same way that John Harbaugh was, what 4445 years old when he arrived, right? So there’s that dynamic as well. But I think a big part of this is also like, Guys har ball was here way longer, and by the way, he he had a ring on his finger. None of you do, so, yeah, we’re making a change. But this is also on all of you, that everyone’s got to be better. Like, the urgency has to be there for everybody.

Nestor Aparicio  24:37

I always think back to that Marlon Humphrey, when I stood next to him in the locker after that chargers game, and he talked about choking, and here we are all these tight that was a Titan. Titan’s game. Sorry game. I’m sorry,

Luke Jones  24:49

when they were The overwhelming favorite, right? When they were the best team in football? At the end of that regular season, everyone thought they were the best team in football, and I’m not sure. It was close. I mean, okay, I get it. Kansas City had, you know, but Kansas City had won a Super Bowl at that

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Nestor Aparicio  25:07

point, at that point, I mean, they were firing. Everyone thought that was the Mark Ingram team. That was big trust.

Luke Jones  25:13

They were phenomenal, right? They, they were two and two, and they and they had won out in the regular season from that point on. So, but I just, I think there is an intangible to this that goes beyond how much they may like Jesse Minter, right, how much they may like his defensive X’s and O’s, how much they might like his temperament. I still think there’s just an element of this recipe kept giving us the same underwhelming end result in January, we got to tweak it a little bit, and we don’t necessarily 100% know what that’s going to mean, but we can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and over and expect a different result. So I still think that was a larger part of this than being over the moon in love with Jesse Minter. And I don’t let me be clear when I’m saying that, I’m not saying that, that I’m down on Minter or anything like that. I just think there was absolutely an element of this that sometimes change is needed for the sake of change. I’m wondering

Nestor Aparicio  26:15

how much it changed the temperature in the building

Luke Jones  26:16

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in a lot of ways, sure, and like I said, I’m hoping a big part of that is these veteran players who have heard year after year in June and July and August and September and October and November and even December in some of these years where they’ve been humming, right? I mean, we think back to a few years ago, that Christmas night game against San Francisco, and then they come home, and the dolphins come into Baltimore, and the number one seeds on the line, and they just beat the, you know, what out of the dolphins, right? You think back then, all they’ve heard is how great they are, how great they are, how, how they’re the, you know, they’re the number one seed, and no one wants to play them. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But we’ve seen how January is gone, man, if these guys didn’t look at what happened when John Harbaugh shown the door and Okay, regardless of how they might have felt about him or monk in as the OC or Zach or as the defensive coordinator, if they didn’t look themselves in the mirror and say they’re gone because we didn’t get the job done. You know that they didn’t have some accountability in that way, some intrinsic motivation now, some urgency to say it’s on us. Then I don’t know if they will break through if they didn’t all have that feeling, because I’ll continue to say it, yeah, I think it was time for John Harb I think it was time to make this move, but I will continue to wholeheartedly reject the notion that John Harbaugh was individual, as an individual was holding this back. You know, they TECOS needs to be better. The players need to be better, right? I mean, go down the list of individuals who have underperformed or made critical mistakes at the at the worst times

Nestor Aparicio  28:03

all that car ball’s running a team. McDonald’s running a team. Just won the Super Bowl. Monkins, running a team like, you know, they, they certainly the group of guys he had around here were not perceived as being village idiots, nor, you know, in the case of Minter, who was, you know, next man up in LA with with his brother. So the happy ending part of this is whatever change they were looking for, other than change for change sake, right? They got that. And, you know, the hardball ring thing. I go back to the, you know, mile high miracle and four downs from the one yard line, and blowing a three touchdown lead in the Super Bowl, and just all of the things that went into the good fortune of John Harbaugh getting the One Ring that he got. Because all the rest of the times there, you know, we can get all the blow ups of the Lamar era, all the failures of the Flacco era leading up to that, and then certainly after that, and the dominance of the Belichick era and the dominance of the mahomes era, you know, for what this franchise is trying to get through, it is built next weekend on finding five or six players that are going to be contributing. You know, they don’t have to be Hall of Famers or be all be Kyle Hamilton or Lamar Jackson, but somewhere in there, there needs to be some Mark Andrews and some Anthony Levine’s and some, you know, I don’t know. I don’t, I don’t even, they got to get a punter, right? I mean, they got, they there, there are things that they need to work on that are going to be the purview of the new coach and the old general manager who’s picking the players next week and the system that has picked these players. I do wonder like, how would you pick different players? Because mentors the coach versus. Our ball to go. I don’t have the ability to ask those very professional, legitimate questions that I asked for 25 years of the team’s General Manager, but I’m wondering it all on the outside. But much like I used to say all the time, even when I would go out there and collect envelopes from Eric dicost and Joe Douglas and and Vince Newsome, and, you know, Brian, all those guys would write down their picks. Joe Ortiz would play the game every year. George kaquinis would play the game that they would all have differences of opinion as to what they’re going to do on the 14th pick and how it would all come in, but the players they have on the board and the kind of players that they’ve picked around here, I don’t expect that to change, you know, and for that, I would say that would be one part of this that I don’t think that hardball ever in my in the years he did it. I don’t think hardball ever had the juice even to go in and overrule or push or have such a strong opinion that I ever heard about it, that he was the one in there in the fourth or fifth rounds. And I love that tight end on tape, like the tight end coaches for that, the scouts are for that. I’m in here to, you know, you guys bring them and I’ll coach them. I never felt like Harbaugh was a huge presence in that part of the draft, nor did he want to be.

Luke Jones  31:18

Well, I mean, he certainly had players he liked. I mean, Ben Cleveland. It’s well documented how much he was a fan of Ben Cleveland, but that said, you just, you just said it. I mean, you can see this isn’t mentors week.

Nestor Aparicio  31:33

This is, this is right.

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Luke Jones  31:35

And I think more than usual, when you consider, think about John Harbaugh in year 1213, 1415, he’s been doing it a long time at that point. And yeah, he does draft work. I mean, they all do, right? It’s not just, it’s not like Eric DeCosta. And you know, the assistant coaches are working on draft prospects certain times a year, all that. So you have some of that. And yes, certain individuals like players more than others, right? And you scrimmage that, and you put together your board and all of that. I do think this year, specifically, when you consider mentor first year, probably not going to be as inclined to rock the boat and push back and you know, in the way that he will next year, or if he’s here five years from now, or if he’s here 15 years from now, like John Harbaugh and ended up having that kind of tenure. So there’s that. There’s everything he had to do in terms of putting together a staff, putting together the offseason program, all the things in place that had to be ready to go when the players arrived last Monday, meaning April 6. Chances are this is going to be a an Eric da Costa heavier draft than normal, and that’s not, and he’s the GM, right? He’s always, ultimately, and

Nestor Aparicio  32:53

you have a whole bunch of coaches just trying to figure out where their desk is. And that’s what I mean,

Luke Jones  32:57

like, yeah, I don’t think you’re going, this is not going to be the year where you have an outsized influence from the head coach and his coaching staff. Now, when a head coach and his coaching staff is largely in place for multiple years, then, yeah, they probably have a little a little bit of a louder voice than they would right now, right I, I fully expect, as Jesse Minter goes on, he’s probably going to express his in the same way that I’m more outspoken with you than I was when I met you in 2009 it’s just kind of human nature, right? When you when you meet someone, and when you’re working with others who have been in a job longer than you, at least, my perspective is I’m probably going to listen and try to learn a little bit more, right? Whereas, you know, you don’t want to necessarily come in and act like, you know, rookie head coach, acting like you have all the answers, you know, you don’t, right so well, that’s my point.

Nestor Aparicio  33:47

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With mentor coming in and knowing where all the bones are buried, and knowing the coach, and having worked for the coach, to say, like, what really needs to change here, other than I bring a couple of new coordinators in and we draw slogans, yeah, I mean, I don’t, I don’t know what’s going to change here, but I guess it’s something, you know, they want, something different here, some different sort of temperature, you know about all of this. And I’m waiting to sniff out that it, because right now, it smells like french vanilla, you know.

Luke Jones  34:16

And I don’t, yeah, I mean, I don’t really know how it’s supposed to smell this time of year, unless you end up, unless you have an outspoken John Madden, John Gruden. I mean, go down the list.

Nestor Aparicio  34:31

Five days a week, this guy’s gonna sit and meet with you guys, and whether he’s got, he’s got all the prick in him at the hardballs have, and he’s happy to see you and sneering at you and behaving like a 12 year old John did a lot of that, a lot of that. I don’t know what this guy’s countenance will be if they’re one and two in week three, and they just got off a plane from Brazil, and they got their ass kicked and like how he’s going to respond to the days when he’s sleeping, days he’s not, you know? And I feel. That way about all of them, the flaco’s, the lamars, all of them as to how they meet the fans, meet the media, meet each other, where that temperature for the building is because the temperature only had one thermostat. It was at hardball, 24 hours a day for the last 18 years. Just that getting sucked out of the building. It’s interesting to me, just interesting. I mean,

Luke Jones  35:24

it’s different. I mean, look, we’re going to see if it’s going to be better or not. There are plenty of coaches that were just as highly perceived as Jesse mentor that don’t work out right? I think Jesse Minter is going to be a good coach. Can I say that with 100% authority and conviction. I don’t know. There are a lot of there are so many variables at work when you’re trying to figure out what makes a team tick and what makes a head coach successful or a manager successful, and there’s just a lot to it. And I know that sounds like, Oh, you’re kind of passing the buck. I don’t know. I mean, I saw and I’m going to pick on him, because I’m not really. It’s just an example, because I, I find his opinions to be great. Daniel Jeremiah, who has done a lot of work, you know, calling chargers, games and all that I saw,

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Nestor Aparicio  36:15

you know, I was the first person to put Daniel

Luke Jones  36:16

Jeremiah on the air? No, I know. And that’s why I brought up. I’m just using him as an example, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  36:21

he’s become the best in the industry.

Luke Jones  36:22

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He earlier this offseason, he called the Jesse Minter hiring a Grand Slam. Hey, he saw Jesse mintern in LA. I almost said San Diego.

Nestor Aparicio  36:32

It’s funny how we still he’s a San Diego

Luke Jones  36:34

guy, yeah, but he saw him at work with the chargers, and he called it a home run higher or grand slam higher for the Ravens. Well, you know what? I googled Daniel Jeremiah talking about Brandon Staley, who was the Chargers head coach several years back. He called it a home run of a higher at the time. That did not turn out to be a home run of a higher, right? And I’m just picking on Daniel. We all do this.

Nestor Aparicio  36:58

All the young coaches have that every cliff, Kingsbury, every I mean,

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Luke Jones  37:03

sometimes they and sometimes they fail one time and they have to go somewhere else, and then it works out, right? I mean, there’s just there are, there are so many moving parts to it. I mean, look at last year, if the Ravens don’t have the run of injuries that they had at the beginning of last year. And look, I don’t know what that means for January and all that. I’m guessing there’s a pretty good chance John Harbaugh’s still still coaching, considering Steve bashati literally gave him a contract extension. You know, we’ve just passed the year mark since he gave him that extension. So it speaks to man, there are a lot of variables at work here, and regardless of how you or anyone feels about John Harbaugh, if you sat with him and you know, there’s truth serum, what would he also tell you? He’s like, Well, I wasn’t the one who fumbled the ball and dropped the ball in Buffalo like Mark Andrews. I wasn’t the one who fumbled the ball across the goal line against Kansas City like zay flower. Right? Zay flowers, did Lamar has been unbelievable in the regular season. But why hasn’t he been that same guy in January? Right? So you can do this with everyone, right? There’s not just one reason for why these things have happened, but now, when you’ve changed one of the overwhelmingly biggest variables, yeah, you are going to look to see, how is it going to look different, and what does that mean? But I will continue to say this group of this core group of players who’ve been around for a long time now. Man, if they didn’t view the hardball firing as a wake up call, and they viewed it more of a All right, we’re good now. You know, he got the blame, man, I want to I’m hoping the urgency is at an all time high to say, guy who’s here longer than all of us is gone now, and we’re partly to blame for that. You know, we’re a big part of that, because we haven’t gotten the job done either, and they couldn’t fire all of us. So they fired him. But it’s the

Nestor Aparicio  39:02

core remains, the core, the core of all of these guys that have had to look at you, after the Titans, after the bills. Some of them look at anybody after the bills. But, I mean, I go through the list, Lamar, Andrews, Marlon, Stanley, roquan. Now throw him in there. Kyle Hamilton, starting to add it up a little bit here a couple and this guy inherits a two time MVP quarterback that should have been a three time MVP quarterback inherits a defensive chess piece that acts as a queen on the chessboard that he can do anything with. He’s got a Hall of Fame running back. Got a wide receiver in his prime. It should be 100 touch guy. Hey, man, you know, like, let’s go play.

39:45

So he’ll finish the

Nestor Aparicio  39:47

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job, but he’s also inheriting an eight and nine team with a lot of disappointments and a lot of question marks as far as salary and value, and an offensive line that’s leaky and, oh, a team that got the Hall of Fame. Coach fired, who’s got $100 million he’s smelling pretty good. Steve got off the hook for all the money. So now it’s you get an eight and nine team with all of this potential. How do you go make the football team better next week? And that’s going to be for Da Costa. And this is, we’re back to talking football again. This is important

Luke Jones  40:18

week for them. Oh, I mean these next couple weeks. I mean, look, every football team will have some positions where it looks a little shaky, right? You have some vulnerabilities. It’s a salary cap, right? It’s reality. But I do when we’re as you and I are talking in real time, 10 days out, a week out from the draft, right? Right in that neighborhood, this offensive line, this draft, needs to go the right way for them, because I don’t care how much you like Dwayne Ledford, and I like him, I think he’s was a great hire as the offensive line coach, but you look at that interior offensive line right now, that’s why, 14th overall, I keep looking at Spencer Furneaux. I keep looking at Vega. I want a I’m looking at those o lineman that aren’t centers by trade, but are at least you have someone that comes in and you’re going to plug in and play, and they’re going to start from day one. That’s why it’s really tough for me to look at other positions at 14th overall, because there is just such an acute need on the offensive line, the interior offensive line, when John Simpson is the is the anchor, and he was the weak link three years ago, on that O line for the talking the inside. So they need this to fall correctly. They need this to fall the way. They need it to and, man, I get it. There’s no slam dunk first round Center. I’m not saying they should take a center in the first round. And to you made the point earlier in the conversation. I think maybe it’s wide. There is a good argument that if they find the right partner, maybe trading back is the the opportune thing, you know, the optimal thing to do to really maximize their value. But it’s tough sledding for me to feel confident and comfortable with the idea that you’re going to draft a starting center in the second or the third or maybe the fourth round. I mean, man, that’s one of those things that if it happens, it’s great, but if that’s the plan, that’s a tough sell for me. So maybe it ends up being a trade for a veteran. You propose that, as we were kind of talking about different scenarios, so who knows? Right? They’re not playing football until September. It last time I checked, it’s April. So there, there’s a lot of time, but it does feel right now in real time, they have a couple more roster needs than they usually have this time of year, and that’s where I’m just a little uneasy about looking at this thing and you know, figure determining whether you’re going to be able to address everything you need to address. But the good news is they do have the 14th overall pick, and that’s not a place in the draft. They’re accustomed to where they’re picking so that that’s the that’s the silver lining for how terrible last year was, and how, you know, how miserable that start was, and not being able to overcome it. But, and this is still one of those drafts where I think Eric Acosta, you know, even if he’d never admit it, I think behind closed doors, he’s man, he’s going through the scenarios more than ever in terms of needing this draft board to fall the way they the way they’re hoping it to because, man, they’ve got some really, really pressing needs that they still haven’t adequately addressed. In my mind, if you’re going to warrant being a Super Bowl favorite once again, as they were last year before one in five happened, and everything you know went off the rails. You sure you

Nestor Aparicio  43:44

don’t want to go to Pittsburgh with me next week?

Luke Jones  43:48

Can we go to primani Brothers? No, but I could actually go to York

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Nestor Aparicio  43:55

if I you know when the pirates were kicking the Orioles ass last Sunday, I opened my phone and I went after Tomlin, and so he and I went back and forth a little bit there. There’s a rumor that I’ll be in Pittsburgh for Springsteen next month. So that would be twice in one year. That’s once too many, at the very least, right, in a general sense, with Pittsburgh, right? By the way, have

Luke Jones  44:19

you seen the pirates are nine and six, I know playing pretty well, like they’re I’m not ready to say they’re good, but they sure are interesting.

Nestor Aparicio  44:27

Well, Seth Elkin from the Maryland Lotter, you’ll be here on Wednesday. He will reiterate all that you just said in regard to the pirates, and I will get my pirates belt buckle out from 1971 by the way, um,

Luke Jones  44:43

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oh, you just boy, you, I have to tell you that I know. Sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you off, but you mentioned the pirates in 71 all right, this is something that I am almost hesitant to say it, because I know this is something that’ll get you wound up, but I even agree with you on this. So it was scout. Day, you know, the Boy Scouts, Scout day at Camden Yards on Sunday. So just like they do for Little League, they kind of have a parade around the field that all the kids and, you know, the troop leaders, all that stuff, they walk around the warning track. Guess what? One of the songs was that they played,

45:16

no, we are

Luke Jones  45:18

no, we are family. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. I was just like,

Nestor Aparicio  45:25

well, on the same day when we lost Phil Garner scrap iron, right?

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Luke Jones  45:29

And I thought of that too. I was just like, man, what Omar Moreno’s wife somewhere was blowing the whistle, right?

Nestor Aparicio  45:35

I mean, have you ever looked up

Luke Jones  45:37

at Camden yard? Have you ever looked

Nestor Aparicio  45:38

8

up Phil Garner? Stat? I have. Did you do that in the day he died? I tend to do that. He absolutely was the reason that the pirates beat the Orioles that week. Did you do you know about his postseason in 79 Yeah, yeah. I mean, would he bet 505

Luke Jones  45:59

20, I’m looking at it right now, batted 472, he had a home run, a triple, four doubles, six runs driven. Now this was also with the NLCS numbers looped in there. But, yeah, he was phenomenal.

Nestor Aparicio  46:10

He was a terror. Yeah, he was the heart and soul that team, as much as Star Jill was too. But, I mean, they had a team full of leaders. They won, you know, I mean, it’s, I mean, they won. They they won game seven. I don’t want you want me to say, man, it wasn’t stolen. You know, they won as much as I tell Bly Levin, it was stolen.

Luke Jones  46:28

The Orioles had a three one lead. I one of my, one of my favorite memories of my dad and obvious. You know, I was born in 83 I mean, this is just, these are just stories to me. But my dad, Game six he went to, he literally brought a bottle of champagne into the ballpark, into Memorial Stadium for Game Six. He was ready to drink the champagne. You know, the Orioles were up three two, and thinking, hey, you know, we’re gonna clinch, and I’m gonna call Joe man’s

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Nestor Aparicio  46:56

fall for icing, dad, champagne.

Luke Jones  47:00

From what I understand, he still drank the champagne afterwards, but in 83 No, no, he drank the champagne that night, drowning his sorrows. Because I think anyone at that point figured, hey, you know when it was going into game seven, even if it was in Baltimore, I don’t think

Nestor Aparicio  47:14

anyone was feeling too reunion. Ice. That’s nice,

Luke Jones  47:17

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yeah, but, but I always think

Nestor Aparicio  47:19

of that story, so yeah, sure, it wasn’t a lamb

Luke Jones  47:20

Brusco, hearing, hearing, we are family. Sunday morning at Camden Yards was down. That was a choice that would, that’s for sure.

Nestor Aparicio  47:28

That wouldn’t happen if Bobby was still spinning the tunes over there.

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Luke Jones  47:32

Yeah, yeah, I saw rock Koco, actually. He tweeted about it. Said, I can only imagine what woody would think right now, but woody would

Nestor Aparicio  47:41

not like to happen. I would not know it would have been a rush song or something like that. Wouldn’t spirit of radio or Luke Jones is here. He’s there. He’s Baltimore. Luke. You can find him if any breaking news happens. It happens first on wnst tech service. That’s all brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy. I have not 1234, Maryland lottery tickets. These are the Maryland treasures. They’re really cool, and they are fun art pieces. I think I really like the the Ocean City one a lot, but I like the bridge one too. So I’ll be giving these out on Thursday it cost us in and Timonium on next Thursday, the 23rd which is Draft Day, will be a Koco’s Pub in lauraville. And then on the first of May, we’re going to be at Pizza John’s. And I just learned as we were doing this segment, I was tweeting with April over at Planet Fitness and Timonium. I think we’re going to be there on May 7. So, and I got a very special crab cake. I’m going to tie into that with my buddy, Dennis, who works for profit comms, one of my AI guru buddies. So our friends at GBMC this week have the their their big day, and it’s gonna be 80 degrees. The weather’s gonna be perfect. We’re gonna be out at South Chapman. It is walk a mile in their shoes. It’s for the SAVE program there for victims of sexual assault. Very, very important. We don’t talk about it a lot because it’s very uncomfortable. Talk about it unless it’s the Epstein files, and I’ll talk about that all day. But this Friday, come on out. Support us at four o’clock. It’s going to be a beautiful afternoon. Bring the dog, bring the family, put the walking shoes on. It’s only a mile, and the weather’s going to be perfect as well. And the Orioles were out of town on Friday, and it’s not draft weekend either all brought to you by friends at GBMC who are keeping me healthy. I got my doctor’s appointment two weeks from Thursday. I think I’m healthy, but they’re going to take my blood and shoot me up and do all the things that make me a fraidy cat. From doctors, GBMC is trying to make it a little easier. So our friends at Farnham and Dermer, the comfort guys making my life easier. When I had my pipe. It didn’t burst, but it certainly sprung a leak at a squishy pipe. I don’t even know how the hell that happens, but it was, was a pipe that was not a pipe anymore. It was kind of like a pipe dream. So they fixed it up. Got me right. Thank you to Sean. Thank you to Zach at farnand Dermer, they are the comfort guys and. HVAC and AC. This is your week. Gonna be 85 going to be, you know, put the AC. You click the button. Nothing happens. Call Zach. Make sure that doesn’t happen. They’re the comfort guys. He is, Luke. I’m making him uncomfortable. We are WNS, T AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore. Maybe that’s my new segment, making Luke uncomfortable with the comfort. Guys back for more. It’s Baltimore, positive. Stay with us. You.