We’ve just released Episode 148 of the Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast.
Our synopsis is below:
We welcomed ESPN’s Chargers beat reporter, Kris Rhim, onto the show today to chat about the Bolts’ offseason and everything fans can expect to see at training camp! We shared our takes and also bombarded Kris with the kinds of hard-hitting questions he’s more accustomed to asking than answering! And, of course, we challenged Kris to our famous TDU Aussie Quiz. Don’t miss it!
You can also listen on Spotify below (or download on audio wherever you like to listen to podcasts):
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Hope you enjoy the episode! Thanks so much for listening 🙂
Long time team fan, podcaster (with Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast), husband to a beautiful wife, friend to all fellow Chargers fanatics, and father-to-be!
Not exactly the right place for this comment, but just saw that Popper is leaving the Chargers beat to take a “national role.” Not sure how I feel about this. Good information. I thought he was a bit unreasonable with some of his questions. I know it’s his job to ask (and it was kind of fun watching him make Staley squirm), but my gosh, no coach is going to give a competitive advantage to the rest of the league.
I’m pretty devastated about Popper leaving the team beat.
His coverage of training camp battles is always first class (with detailed notes on the 1s, 2s and 3s).
Reading his regular season post-game articles was a pillar of my weekly podcast prep. He delivered thoughtful analysis, interesting statistics, and usually tied it together with some neat metaphor. He’s a great writer.
I also think, without him around the podium, we’ll notice fairly quickly how incisive and intelligent his questions were. Sometimes he came close to crossing that line, I agree. But generally he was unmatched in holding coaches, GMs and other figureheads to account.
I’m desperately hoping The Athletic replaces him with another stud. I trust that they will. But if not I feel like as fans we will get sent back to the Dark Ages, dealing with reporters who wouldn’t know the difference between EPA/Play and a block of cheddar cheese. Some of the questions the others ask aren’t worthy of the media pass they’ve been given. Embarrassing stuff really.
No question that Popper was smart and he put tremendous effort into understanding the depth chart. His insights will be missed.
I didn’t always agree with his conclusions and I found his negative tone, which came through much more on his podcast, grating. I thought some of his questioning of coaches out of line. Again, I guess that’s his job, but at some point, you have to know what the staff can and cannot reveal. I also thought he went out of his way to be “impartial.” Most Charger writers are Charger fans. I didn’t get the feeling that Pop was a fan. He occasionally came across (at least to me) as a reporter digging for dirt.
I will miss his insights. I hope his replacement brings the same knowledge without the negativity.
Great show guys. It felt like being part of a chill hangout of a couple of knowledgeable football dudes who are having a blast.
I feel obliged to comment on the Belgian beer shout out. Love it! I’ve got to figure out how to ship some of the good stuff to you guys :).
I thought about you fellas a lot when watching the world cup. Do you guys care for that football or not at all? Was hoping Belgium and Australia would meet for some good ol’ banter. Unfortunately it was not in the cards this world cup. The trashing of the US was nice little consolation prize ;).
The hope is that by the time 49ers v Rams arrives (Andy, Jack and I are going to the game together in Melbourne) there will be enough in the kitty for us to enjoy some drinks together. But no pressure at all to contribute mate. Supporting us by listening as you do is the biggest weekly contribution anyone can make to our show!
With respect to the ‘world game’, I’d say that we have varying degrees of interest in it. I used to follow the sport more closely when Italy was making World Cups and performing well in them. I have Italian heritage on my mum’s side. Jack and Andy are long-time Liverpool supporters so they’ve been quite engaged with the sport in recent years. We definitely all watched most of the World Cup, at least the highlights, but also often waking up early to watch the big games live.
I didn’t enjoy the Belgians dominating the USA at all 😉
Entertaining show. That last part about AFL reminded me that I went to Melbourne for a work conference in ~2006 and went to an AFL game (match?). I had no idea what was really happening but enjoyed it a lot.
I would like to distance myself officially from Andy’s derisive remarks about the AFL. He supports a team that hasn’t won a championship since 1966 which partially explains his indifference. My team won in 2010 and 2023 and I count being at those games amongst my most treasured moments as a sports fan.
If put to a vote, I’d say the NFL is the world’s best sport. But I think the AFL isn’t far behind it: the 360 degree game play, with jumping, kicking, tackling and catching (we call it ‘marking’) creates an entertaining spectacle. The aerobic capacity of the players is breathtaking; and, like the NFL, 6’9″ athletes take the same field as 5’9″ athletes.
If you ever remember the teams that played when you attended the MCG, let me know? Jack supports the Essendon Bombers; Andy, the St.Kilda Saints; and it’s the Collingwood Magpies for me.
Listened today at work. So cool to have a Chargers beat reporter on the show. I especially liked how you guys structured the show so it wasn’t all straight ahead Q&A of football talk and I genuinely felt like KR enjoyed his time. Like I replied to Kev in the other TDU post, I believe KR and you guys were correct in your assessment of how the offseason went (again) and the philosophy behind it. While it might be a solid enough strategy to prevent a bottom out, top 10 draft pick type season, it might never be aggressive enough to get the team over the hump either.
The Rams, Eagles and Chiefs, who have been 3 of the most aggressive teams in the last decade, have also been the most consistently successful. You can be aggressive without being irresponsible. I understand that after the Telesco years and especially the Staley era, having some consistent, winning seasons is refreshing, but if that’s the ceiling, what’s the point? For all their “success”, the Ravens haven’t even been to a SB going on 14 years. If year 3 of Harbaugh and the hiring of McDaniel with Herbert in his prime isn’t the time to fire your bullets, when will it ever be?
Jack, Andy and I think and talk a lot about what type of show structure will create the best content.
What we’ve all noticed is that 90% of NFL podcasts in June/July get boring (at least for us) because there’s too much focus on rosters and coaching changes whereas the outcomes are all speculative at this stage and not especially interesting to explore (at least not only that for months and months!).
For example, Stormcloud we’ve all discussed to death now the different position groups, and what we can expect to see from McDaniel, and other projections about the team. There’s only so many times you can talk about who the 4th and 5th LBs on the roster will be! So we’ve decided some mixture of “football talk”, and something a bit more fast-paced and entertaining (eg, Q&A or other creative segments) is the best way to go.
Others will no doubt disagree. But we try to make the content we like to hear ourselves, and I can’t spend an entire offseason (May-August) discussing 53 man projections and results predictions. I think it’s because I prefer analysis after the fact. To each their own!
Great interview – good to see you guys getting traction with more mainstream voices. Hopefully this (and a deep playoff run) will lead to more and more views.
Listened to the podcast while on vacation with family in Italy/Slovenia/Croatia. A few comments:
The Greg Roman experience:
We can all blame injury “luck” and Roman’s lack of creativity/archaic passing concepts. Those are all valid concerns. Other than the decision to hire Roman in the first place, the decision to sign & then trot out Bozeman at center in 2025 was just a terrible decision.
Replace Bozeman with Biadasz and the Chargers had a chance vs. the Pats. It was far too easy to scheme free rushers against the Chargers interior. Bozeman’s inability to read defensive fronts and Roman’s inability to make adjustments was a fatal flaw
Offensive discussion:
Doing this a bit from memory as I listened in spirts when I had free time
WRs: Interested to see the personnel decisions. Is Davis healthy? If so, does he make the team? With both Brenen Thompson and Davis’s stature (and injury risk), maybe it’s better to keep both (and assume only 1 will be available on game day? I think Keenan is the “break glass in case of emergency” receiver
Excited to see the new TE room.
Defensive discussion:
I can see a happy path to having a very good LB group. Henley healthy. Perryman playing 12 games and hammering RBs on early downs. Coleson finally healthy and playing like the LB the Chargers thought they drafted. I can also see the opposite of each of these things happening, which could be the most significant flaw with this roster
I am much less concerned with the DBs. I think there is tremendous talent up and down the roster.
Same with the IOL – Lots of talent. If they stay reasonably healthy and they can keep a healthy rotation, this will be a really good group.
I am always optimistic heading into seasons – I guess that’s what it means to be a fan. However, this year feels different. If Oleary is an average or better DC, this could be the best coaching staff in the NFL (and best in Charger history) coaching a very good, extremely deep roster. That is a championship formula.
I’m incredibly jealous Kev! Not sure if you made it to the Dolomites, but irrespective, that general part of Europe is amongst the prettiest on the continent. All along that Adriatic coastline the sea is such a special shade of blue. Hope you and the family are having a marvellous time.
Kudos to Jim (or whoever forced his hand) for aggressively pursuing McDaniel, who I think is an obvious upgrade (even though he doesn’t have the playoff pelts on the wall yet as a playcaller).
I thought the biggest ‘reveal’ from our show with Kris was the beat reporters’ reaction to Herbert’s presser after the Pats loss thinking he could retire. WTF?! I’m going to assume that was only Kris’ private view, or some hyperbole. It was a depressing presser but that’s because Herbert personally played so much worse in that game than he did against Houston. Anyway, that’s one of the joys of having guests on, they share unique insights.
I share your optimism across the board, Kev. CB might be the group with the greatest variance. We feel good about them largely because Minter played the highest rate of zone coverage in the NFL while still finding a way to get some pressure. If Cam Hart finds himself injured again earlier in the season and neither of Nikko/Rogers repay the coaches’ faith in them, that group will be looking thin. Otherwise, I feel confident about the whole team.
We’ve been south of the Dolomites this trip. We did do some mountain hiking in Montenegro, which was awesome.
Herbert’s press conference after the playoff loss was depressing. Its not shocking to hear that Chris thought Herbert could retire. He has $ and a hot girlfriend that also has $. Why continue getting your body destroyed when your team is not giving you a chance to win a championship?
While we still need to see what O’Leary is as a DC, Clinkscale and Elston returning is huge. This defensive staff has shown the ability to develop players and put said players in a position to succeed. I think they will figure CB out, regardless of the health of Hart.
I always think that after big games losses like that the players are very emotional and especially Herbert with the playoff monkey hanging on his back. We have seen many times that the players even outwardly speak of retirement in these scenarios only to be back in the fold a few weeks later beginning the offseason grind. I mean hell, even the fans take these losses hard. How many times have we heard fans forsake their fandom of a team, but are right back with them? Herbert is a competitor and as coy and aloof as he wants to be with the media, he’s no dummy to the criticisms of his playoff failures. The final results, combined with the beating he absorbed all year probably took a real toll on his psyche after the Pats game, but in no way did I or would I believe he would retire. I think Kris was just trying to describe the level of dejection he witnessed from Herbert. Unfortunately, until he wins in January, the pressure will mount.
Hey Erich – Fair point on emotions after a playoff loss. I’m always devastated. Can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for the players, especially when you know your offensive staff gave you no chance at winning. In both the playoff losses, the Chargers were so clearly out-coached on the offensive side, albeit by very good defensive coaches.
That sounds like an awesome trip! All beautiful countries. Montenegro I went there about 10 years ago and remember an amazing hike in Durmitor and beautiful coastlines.
I’ll join you on the optimistic side. If not now then when? I’m mainly just excited about seeing a McDaniel Chargers offense at work. It could be a lot of things but it sure isn’t going to be boring.
We hiked up a mountain behind Kotor to a “cheese & wine” shop where this old couple made goat cheese and moonshine. The dude is pretty famous for being wasted all the time. Pretty good hike up a mountain to get there. We got there around 10:30 AM and the dude was sipping moonshine and wasted.
If not now, when? Very good point. The Chargers have elite coaching, a deep roster and an elite QB. That is a championship formula.
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Not exactly the right place for this comment, but just saw that Popper is leaving the Chargers beat to take a “national role.” Not sure how I feel about this. Good information. I thought he was a bit unreasonable with some of his questions. I know it’s his job to ask (and it was kind of fun watching him make Staley squirm), but my gosh, no coach is going to give a competitive advantage to the rest of the league.
I’m pretty devastated about Popper leaving the team beat.
His coverage of training camp battles is always first class (with detailed notes on the 1s, 2s and 3s).
Reading his regular season post-game articles was a pillar of my weekly podcast prep. He delivered thoughtful analysis, interesting statistics, and usually tied it together with some neat metaphor. He’s a great writer.
I also think, without him around the podium, we’ll notice fairly quickly how incisive and intelligent his questions were. Sometimes he came close to crossing that line, I agree. But generally he was unmatched in holding coaches, GMs and other figureheads to account.
I’m desperately hoping The Athletic replaces him with another stud. I trust that they will. But if not I feel like as fans we will get sent back to the Dark Ages, dealing with reporters who wouldn’t know the difference between EPA/Play and a block of cheddar cheese. Some of the questions the others ask aren’t worthy of the media pass they’ve been given. Embarrassing stuff really.
No question that Popper was smart and he put tremendous effort into understanding the depth chart. His insights will be missed.
I didn’t always agree with his conclusions and I found his negative tone, which came through much more on his podcast, grating. I thought some of his questioning of coaches out of line. Again, I guess that’s his job, but at some point, you have to know what the staff can and cannot reveal. I also thought he went out of his way to be “impartial.” Most Charger writers are Charger fans. I didn’t get the feeling that Pop was a fan. He occasionally came across (at least to me) as a reporter digging for dirt.
I will miss his insights. I hope his replacement brings the same knowledge without the negativity.
Great show guys. It felt like being part of a chill hangout of a couple of knowledgeable football dudes who are having a blast.
I feel obliged to comment on the Belgian beer shout out. Love it! I’ve got to figure out how to ship some of the good stuff to you guys :).
I thought about you fellas a lot when watching the world cup. Do you guys care for that football or not at all? Was hoping Belgium and Australia would meet for some good ol’ banter. Unfortunately it was not in the cards this world cup. The trashing of the US was nice little consolation prize ;).
Cheers!
That’s the vibe we strive for Arne, so we thank you!
Jack has recently created a ‘donate link’ for anyone who feels moved to financially support our enjoyment of beers 🙂
The link is: https://ko-fi.com/tdubeerfund
The hope is that by the time 49ers v Rams arrives (Andy, Jack and I are going to the game together in Melbourne) there will be enough in the kitty for us to enjoy some drinks together. But no pressure at all to contribute mate. Supporting us by listening as you do is the biggest weekly contribution anyone can make to our show!
With respect to the ‘world game’, I’d say that we have varying degrees of interest in it. I used to follow the sport more closely when Italy was making World Cups and performing well in them. I have Italian heritage on my mum’s side. Jack and Andy are long-time Liverpool supporters so they’ve been quite engaged with the sport in recent years. We definitely all watched most of the World Cup, at least the highlights, but also often waking up early to watch the big games live.
I didn’t enjoy the Belgians dominating the USA at all 😉
Thanks!
Entertaining show. That last part about AFL reminded me that I went to Melbourne for a work conference in ~2006 and went to an AFL game (match?). I had no idea what was really happening but enjoyed it a lot.
Hope you guys are all doing well.
Thanks Tau. Back at ya!
I would like to distance myself officially from Andy’s derisive remarks about the AFL. He supports a team that hasn’t won a championship since 1966 which partially explains his indifference. My team won in 2010 and 2023 and I count being at those games amongst my most treasured moments as a sports fan.
If put to a vote, I’d say the NFL is the world’s best sport. But I think the AFL isn’t far behind it: the 360 degree game play, with jumping, kicking, tackling and catching (we call it ‘marking’) creates an entertaining spectacle. The aerobic capacity of the players is breathtaking; and, like the NFL, 6’9″ athletes take the same field as 5’9″ athletes.
If you ever remember the teams that played when you attended the MCG, let me know? Jack supports the Essendon Bombers; Andy, the St.Kilda Saints; and it’s the Collingwood Magpies for me.
The others send their best wishes.
Sooo are we gonna discuss him not knowing where Australia is? Rather large elephant in the room.
Knowing us like you do, you can imagine how much I was holding my tongue after Kris said that 😝
That was pretty damn funny. Y’all asked the easiest damn questions. Trying not to scare Kris away from appearing on the show again?
Listened today at work. So cool to have a Chargers beat reporter on the show. I especially liked how you guys structured the show so it wasn’t all straight ahead Q&A of football talk and I genuinely felt like KR enjoyed his time. Like I replied to Kev in the other TDU post, I believe KR and you guys were correct in your assessment of how the offseason went (again) and the philosophy behind it. While it might be a solid enough strategy to prevent a bottom out, top 10 draft pick type season, it might never be aggressive enough to get the team over the hump either.
The Rams, Eagles and Chiefs, who have been 3 of the most aggressive teams in the last decade, have also been the most consistently successful. You can be aggressive without being irresponsible. I understand that after the Telesco years and especially the Staley era, having some consistent, winning seasons is refreshing, but if that’s the ceiling, what’s the point? For all their “success”, the Ravens haven’t even been to a SB going on 14 years. If year 3 of Harbaugh and the hiring of McDaniel with Herbert in his prime isn’t the time to fire your bullets, when will it ever be?
Looking forward to the next show already.
Thanks Erick!
Jack, Andy and I think and talk a lot about what type of show structure will create the best content.
What we’ve all noticed is that 90% of NFL podcasts in June/July get boring (at least for us) because there’s too much focus on rosters and coaching changes whereas the outcomes are all speculative at this stage and not especially interesting to explore (at least not only that for months and months!).
For example, Stormcloud we’ve all discussed to death now the different position groups, and what we can expect to see from McDaniel, and other projections about the team. There’s only so many times you can talk about who the 4th and 5th LBs on the roster will be! So we’ve decided some mixture of “football talk”, and something a bit more fast-paced and entertaining (eg, Q&A or other creative segments) is the best way to go.
Others will no doubt disagree. But we try to make the content we like to hear ourselves, and I can’t spend an entire offseason (May-August) discussing 53 man projections and results predictions. I think it’s because I prefer analysis after the fact. To each their own!
Agreed 100%. It was a refreshing take and the Aussie quiz has to stay!!
Great interview – good to see you guys getting traction with more mainstream voices. Hopefully this (and a deep playoff run) will lead to more and more views.
Listened to the podcast while on vacation with family in Italy/Slovenia/Croatia. A few comments:
The Greg Roman experience:
Offensive discussion:
Defensive discussion:
I am always optimistic heading into seasons – I guess that’s what it means to be a fan. However, this year feels different. If Oleary is an average or better DC, this could be the best coaching staff in the NFL (and best in Charger history) coaching a very good, extremely deep roster. That is a championship formula.
I’m incredibly jealous Kev! Not sure if you made it to the Dolomites, but irrespective, that general part of Europe is amongst the prettiest on the continent. All along that Adriatic coastline the sea is such a special shade of blue. Hope you and the family are having a marvellous time.
You might have seen what I wrote about the Greg Roman experience on BFTB in this comment (https://www.boltsfromtheblue.com/post/upAi5gimKufh)
Kudos to Jim (or whoever forced his hand) for aggressively pursuing McDaniel, who I think is an obvious upgrade (even though he doesn’t have the playoff pelts on the wall yet as a playcaller).
I thought the biggest ‘reveal’ from our show with Kris was the beat reporters’ reaction to Herbert’s presser after the Pats loss thinking he could retire. WTF?! I’m going to assume that was only Kris’ private view, or some hyperbole. It was a depressing presser but that’s because Herbert personally played so much worse in that game than he did against Houston. Anyway, that’s one of the joys of having guests on, they share unique insights.
I share your optimism across the board, Kev. CB might be the group with the greatest variance. We feel good about them largely because Minter played the highest rate of zone coverage in the NFL while still finding a way to get some pressure. If Cam Hart finds himself injured again earlier in the season and neither of Nikko/Rogers repay the coaches’ faith in them, that group will be looking thin. Otherwise, I feel confident about the whole team.
We’ve been south of the Dolomites this trip. We did do some mountain hiking in Montenegro, which was awesome.
Herbert’s press conference after the playoff loss was depressing. Its not shocking to hear that Chris thought Herbert could retire. He has $ and a hot girlfriend that also has $. Why continue getting your body destroyed when your team is not giving you a chance to win a championship?
While we still need to see what O’Leary is as a DC, Clinkscale and Elston returning is huge. This defensive staff has shown the ability to develop players and put said players in a position to succeed. I think they will figure CB out, regardless of the health of Hart.
Heading home tomorrow.
Kev,
I always think that after big games losses like that the players are very emotional and especially Herbert with the playoff monkey hanging on his back. We have seen many times that the players even outwardly speak of retirement in these scenarios only to be back in the fold a few weeks later beginning the offseason grind. I mean hell, even the fans take these losses hard. How many times have we heard fans forsake their fandom of a team, but are right back with them? Herbert is a competitor and as coy and aloof as he wants to be with the media, he’s no dummy to the criticisms of his playoff failures. The final results, combined with the beating he absorbed all year probably took a real toll on his psyche after the Pats game, but in no way did I or would I believe he would retire. I think Kris was just trying to describe the level of dejection he witnessed from Herbert. Unfortunately, until he wins in January, the pressure will mount.
Hey Erich – Fair point on emotions after a playoff loss. I’m always devastated. Can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for the players, especially when you know your offensive staff gave you no chance at winning. In both the playoff losses, the Chargers were so clearly out-coached on the offensive side, albeit by very good defensive coaches.
Optimistic that 2026 will be different.
That sounds like an awesome trip! All beautiful countries. Montenegro I went there about 10 years ago and remember an amazing hike in Durmitor and beautiful coastlines.
I’ll join you on the optimistic side. If not now then when? I’m mainly just excited about seeing a McDaniel Chargers offense at work. It could be a lot of things but it sure isn’t going to be boring.
We hiked up a mountain behind Kotor to a “cheese & wine” shop where this old couple made goat cheese and moonshine. The dude is pretty famous for being wasted all the time. Pretty good hike up a mountain to get there. We got there around 10:30 AM and the dude was sipping moonshine and wasted.
If not now, when? Very good point. The Chargers have elite coaching, a deep roster and an elite QB. That is a championship formula.