College Football Chaos (Hour 3)

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So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Our number three of our radio program, that's right. It is the Zach Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage could help you get there.

From on solutions that fit your life well, Rocket can. As we told you a little under an hour ago, the college football playoff committee had their first rankings released today. Number one, Tennessee. Ohio stated at two, Georgia three, Clemson four, Michigan five, Alabama six, and then TCU in at number seven. We're not going to go through the entire top 25, but those are the seven schools in the order that they go.

So right now at the college football playoff, where to start today, be Tennessee against Clemson and Ohio State against Georgia. Let's go out to the hotline. Welcome in an SEC network analyst is great job on Sirius XM as well.

And that is Chris Doran. Chris, appreciate the time. As always, how are you? Yeah, I'm good, man.

Thanks for having me on. So my first reaction is Ohio State to Michigan five. How could they have that much of a separation between the two teams? I mean, I guess it's just the valuation of the schedules that the two play, maybe with the that with the combination of, of the aesthetics of their wins to this point in time.

And remaining undefeated. But I, it's so funny, man, because I think you ideally would like to have the criteria be consistent throughout the process. But we see it in the past where, you know, week to week, the criteria kind of changes as you go. And I guess that's maybe one of the downsides or one of the parts just in general of, of having human beings decided as opposed to some of the computer rankings or other aspects that we've used in the past.

But yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the vague term that we hear so often that is, you know, maybe undefinable is the eye test. And I think that's the ultimate excuse that the committee ends up falling back on in some, some situations where they're splitting hairs between very similar teams from the same conference with the same record. I'll say this, maybe they should use my glasses then because Michigan, when they played Penn State, compared to Ohio State against Penn State, Michigan looked better against Penn State than Ohio State did up against the Nittany Islands. Yeah, you're right about that.

Yeah. You would think common opponents would have a little bit more to, to do with differentiating those, those same teams. But, you know, I think it's interesting just how much we, we put into rankings as fans and media members. And obviously there's a long way to go, but I think in a way it might be better to be Michigan, to be TCU, to be a little under the radar at this point in time, because we've seen in the past where the lights start to get brighter as we move through November and that pressure creates games where, where teams end up losing that they probably wouldn't otherwise have lost. Now, I will say this Chris Dory, I'm happy they put Tennessee at one because I think they're deserving of it for the initial rankings.

Yeah. Now I thought that was the one question, number one team in the country, even, you know, dating back to after the Alabama season, dating back to after the Alabama win, you look at what Tennessee has done since the start of the season, going on the road, revenging a loss from last year against Pitt, coming from behind in that game, getting that Florida monkey off their back at home, going to Baton Rouge and, and winning there and what typically is a pretty tough place to play. And then knocking off Alabama who would beat him for a decade to half. I just, I think every, every checkpoint along the way they've been up to the task. And I think obviously it's the biggest task of the season, coming up on Saturday, but they've shown me no reason to not trust what I've seen eight games through this season. So you would lean Tennessee over Georgia this weekend right now?

You know, it's crazy to me. I, you know, before I heard about what the line was, I was thinking, man, Tennessee might be favored given the differential in, in opponents that the two teams have played to this point in time. I know, you know, there's the aspect of, you know, you got to beat the champ to be the champ, but you know, the, the, the committee take every year into, into a consideration and no past influence supposedly, but like I did in my mind, I haven't really seen anything from, from Georgia that leads me to believe that they're going to be able to stop that, that defense or that offense that Tennessee rolls out there and, and the hooker, maybe the best part about him is that he doesn't turn the football over two interceptions on the entire season.

The team of the holes only turned it over eight times. So I, I'm, I'm interested to see what Kirby smart and will my champ come up with in terms of game plan to stop an offense that hadn't been stopped all year. Let's say if the college football playoff committee, Chris Doran was just you, who would your top four be right now with what you've seen?

I would go with, I would go with obviously I work for the SEC network. So people will probably say I'm biased here, but I would say I would take a Tennessee number one, probably Ohio state number two, Georgia three, Michigan four, sprinkling Alabama at five and TCU at six Clemson schedule. I haven't been impressed with how they've gone about winning or the teams that they have played to this point.

They're going to be undefeated when they run through the rest of the schedule and play a disappointing. You know, I imagine it's going to be a disappointing South Carolina team by the time we get to that point, but I just I have not been impressed with them to this point. I agree with you in terms of Clemson.

I thought they were going to put them in at five, but if they're undefeated at the end of the year, you know, they're getting in and if they put Clemson in, like let's say if TCU continues to be undefeated, they're undefeated at the end of the year. I go TCU over Clemson. I think TCU has just played better teams this year.

No question. I think TCU has played better teams this year. I think the big 12 as a whole is better than the ACC. I actually like the way this, this TCU team plays, man, the resiliency that they have, the fight in the fourth quarter, the way that they, they never give up and find ways to win. Even when it doesn't look great down the stretch, like this team has been fun to watch. So I have a lot of respect for what they've been able to accomplish.

And certainly, again, I value the competition. They played much more to this point than I do Clemson's schedule. And it's a shame because the big 12 and Pac-12 has been awesome this year. And I think, you know, just watching it has been better than the ACC.

I'm sure you could give me all these stats in the world. It seems like the big 12 and Pac-12, unless you got some chaos going down, really doesn't have a seat at the table this year. Yeah, I mean, again, we're basically two-thirds of the season through and strange things end up happening. But to think about the year that TCU's having, to think about, you know, what Oregon's been able to do since they're lost to Georgia, you know, to finally not have representation from them when they've got worthy teams would be disappointing for sure.

You probably know how this is going to play out, right? You take out of these three schools, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, you'll probably pick two. I think two SEC teams will and should get in. And then it's whoever wins Ohio State Michigan. And it does seem inevitable that Clemson's going to get in, Chris Dore.

Yeah, no, I think you're right about that. But, you know, it'll be interesting to see if TCU's able to remain unbeaten to see if Oregon, we're valuing, I think in a way, Alabama with their one loss being to the number one team in the country, the fact that they're still up as high as they are ahead of a couple undefeated teams, you know, valuing that loss. I know the Oregon loss was a lot bigger of a loss, but, you know, if their one loss team was to a Georgia team that goes on to win the SEC Championship, and you look at potentially, you know, that game was played in the first week of the season with a new quarterback and a brand new coach. Like, I think you could make an argument potentially to have Oregon in the mix.

How about Alabama? Like, what do you think the likelihood is that they're going to make the college football playoff this year after the loss to Tennessee? I mean, the only chance they have to get in is to be the SEC champion. Yeah. I'm not sure they make it past LSU this weekend, to be honest with you, but if they can find a way to get it, even a two-loss SEC champion is going to get into the college football playoffs.

There's nowhere you can tell me on that not being the case. Look at LSU. So if LSU wins this week, if they go on and get to Atlanta and win that game, you know, their resume looks pretty good. They've gotten better as the season's gone on.

You can't tell me they're not deserving to get in, even as a two-loss team. What's going to be the difference this weekend between LSU and Alabama? Man, I'm interested to see what happens with the secondary of Alabama. You know, we saw him get torched by Tennessee.

They were much better in the following game against Mississippi State for very different offenses. I honestly believe that the LSU team has hit its stride with looking at Jaden Daniels' evolution. He's become a complete quarterback now. He's virtually unstoppable in the tight red zone with the zone read stuff that he runs, but he's finally utilizing a talented group of pass catchers and giving those guys an opportunity.

So I've been impressed with his transformation. A guy that I thought was only a running quarterback early in the year has turned into... I just had him in my rankings. I ranked the top five quarterbacks in the SEC to this point in the season. I had him at number three. I had Bryce Young at one, Hannah Hooker at two, and Jaden Daniels at three, just because of how unstoppable he is running the football and the compliment that he's developed into the passing game.

Chris Doring here with us for a few more moments on the Zach Gelbshaw. I got to give credit to Brian Kelly, because there was a lot of negativity with the whole fake accent stuff than the first game of the season, the wacky recruiting videos. This has probably gone better than what I expected this year. And you're right, this is a huge test this weekend, and they had a great performance last week against Ole Miss. Yeah, you know why guys like Brian Harsing get fired is because of guys like Brian Kelly and Josh Hyple. The fact that you can take over a team and completely change the trajectory of the program as quickly as they have, that's why you see guys getting fired after 21 games. But Brian Kelly, maybe because the bar was set so low after that Florida State game, I was shocked at how poorly they played in their opener. The mistakes, penalties, the special teams plays, just the general disorganization was not something that I expected from a Brian Kelly team. But what I did expect is what I've seen in terms of their improvement as the year has gone on. And it looks like after that loss to Tennessee, something just kind of switched with that group.

And all of a sudden they're playing with a lot of confidence. And I'll tell you, I don't know how many people nationally know the name Matt House, but I think he's one of the best defensive coordinators in the country. What he's been able to do to utilize some very talented, versatile athletes on the defensive side of the game plans that he's put together, the in-game adjustments that they made, looking at Harold Perkins, Jr., the freshman phenomenal linebacker for them and how they made some adjustments in that game against Ole Miss to end up beating the Rebels after a slow start. I have a lot of respect for him and even more respect from Brian Kelly to identify and get him to come as his defensive coordinator to Baton Rouge. Talking to Chris Doran, clearly you got to win games in this sport to keep your job, but when Brian Harsin was hired at Auburn, it seemed very underwhelming because Gus Malzahn, say what you want about him. The guy's a good football coach, and at the time he just felt like they did not improve that position. I know he wasn't their top guy, but that's the guy they ended up hiring. Was he just doomed from the start at Auburn?

First and foremost, you got to be careful what you wish for, right? I mean, this was a guy in Gus Malzahn that had the best record of any active coach against Nick Saban, and that's the gold standard for everybody in this conference to compare themselves to, but certainly in the same state it's very difficult for Auburn to get out from that shadow, but they go out and hire somebody from the outside, a very kind of odd hire to begin with. It didn't seem like the administration, or excuse me, it didn't seem like the boosters more specifically were all that smoked up about it to begin with, and then the season they had last year, it was just a matter of time before he was going to be fired out.

I feel sorry for him in a way, and I know people can talk about the 15 million reasons to not be as part of his parting gift there, but I do think it was set up for failure. He's a good coach, a guy that I think his players really liked and connected with, and unfortunately it just didn't work out. Is Lane Kiffin going to be the next head coach at Auburn in your opinion?

It's an interesting thought. I've heard other people talk about down the road, Jimbo Fisher, if it doesn't work out there, that Lane could end up in College Station. I just don't know why you would sign up for what has historically been a little bit of a mess. He's got a great gig right now in Oxford, took him to 10 wins last year, sits atop a tie for the SEC West lead right now.

The transfer portal dominated the transfer portal. I don't know why you would want to throw yourself into that situation, but we saw John Cohen, the athletic director from Mississippi State, decide to leave to go to Auburn. I read a story that said that one former assistant said that the Auburn job is the worst, good job there is. I don't know if Lane would want those headaches, especially after talking so much earlier in the season about what Oxford and Ole Miss has done for him personally. If you could pick three names that you would target if you were Auburn, who would be the three names right now? I think the most intriguing two names to me are Hugh Freeze and Prime, Deon Sanders.

Those are two that I have to imagine that are getting some serious consideration, although there's been talk amongst the Auburn folks that they're looking for SEC experience. Hugh Freeze certainly has that, Deon Sanders does not. My understanding from what I've heard is that Lane Kiffin, is their number one target at this point? I think it comes down to more of Lane's interest in that job leaving Ole Miss. Here's my question just on Hugh Freeze.

Sell me on it. I know what he did at Ole Miss both successfully and then everything that happened off the field. He just got that contract extension with Liberty. I guess it's not damaging for him to get out of it. It's $40 million guaranteed. But the timing of that's bizarre that he signed that extension and now everyone's talking about him potentially at Auburn. Yeah, I think the contract timing of it certainly was a nice investment from Liberty and shows their commitment to him. As you mentioned, for him to get out of the contract I don't think it's much more than it was before.

And I'm sure that a program that wants to hire him is happy to write that check. Yeah, I believe all along that he's wanted to get back into the SEC. I believe that there's had to be some time away from the conference, but this is a guy that had a lot of success in this league. And I think he wants to get back to playing and coaching in this conference. And at the end of the day, I think people want to coach at the highest level.

And the highest level of football in the college ranks is the SEC. You saw Brian Kelly make a change to come here to be a part of what's historically been the best division in the history of college football with the SEC West dominating the way they have. But I have a lot of respect for Coach Freeze, and I would imagine that he finds his way back into this league before too long.

Two more for Chris Doring. How attractive of a name, just in general, is Bill O'Brien right now? You talk to Alabama fans.

I don't think they're all that excited about him. They've been very critical, as they are typically, of a lot of their coordinators. But, yeah, I mean, I give him a lot of credit, too. This was a guy that had really coached a lot of years in the NFL. I had a lot of success at that level, obviously, was at Penn State for a while before going back to the league. But he did what he needed to do, as a lot of coaches have, and going to Tuscaloosa and working their way through the system to kind of rehab their image and to give them some new life. And I imagine anybody that gets the seal of approval from Nick Saban is going to be an attractive commodity for some athletic directors and presidents out there.

And last thing I'll ask you, you're alma mater, Florida. You're number one with Billy Napier. They're for and for the last two weeks, obviously, have been tough for them. Where's your confidence, though, with Billy Napier, with what you've seen this year? Yeah, I like Coach Napier an awful lot. I think he's come in, and just in the way that they play, going back to the Utah game, the resiliency they showed in that one, getting to stop late to win it, watching how they battled back against LSU in the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession ballgame. Even this week against Georgia, you saw them make a push in the third quarter to cut it to eight points.

I think these are – those are illustrations of a coach being connected with a team, a coach creating a culture of competitiveness and guys that are going to play hard. The biggest thing right now, you look at it – I mean, Georgia turned the ball over three times. They had multiple busts in the secondary on coverage.

They didn't play their best, and they still won by 22 points. I think that it speaks to just how talented that roster is. And I think you look, there's a big disparity in the overall talent that Georgia has from where Florida is. So Billy Napier's biggest task right now is trying to go out and upgrade the talent, particularly on the defensive line. That's been a point of emphasis.

But in general, they've got to get a lot better on defense just personnel-wise than they are right now to be able to compete in the SEC. Chris Doring, appreciate the time. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for having me back on. There's Chris Doring joining us.

He's always excellent when he comes on the show. Yeah, I'll just go back to TCU real quickly, and I'll reiterate this point. They play Texas Tech this weekend. If they beat Joey Maguire's squad, and then the next week, they have Texas.

Will the committee – the answer's probably yes, but should they, the answer's probably no. Will the committee still put TCU behind Alabama? Because Texas played Alabama, Texas lost Quinealers, Texas only lost by one.

If TCU beats Texas, and they do so pretty handily, or even by two, can you still keep TCU behind Alabama when TCU hasn't lost the game? And when you look at what they could potentially do up against Texas, it's something that's going to be very intriguing. So if I was looking at this the way I thought it was going to go, it was going to be Tennessee 1, Georgia 2, Ohio State 3, Michigan 4. I then thought they would put Clemson 5 and Alabama 6. I can't say I'm surprised that TCU isn't at 7. But you look at a school like Clemson, and that's been a big thing that we've been all over for weeks. Clemson most likely is going to go undefeated. And if they go undefeated, they're going to get in. But I kind of like the Big 12 and Pac 12 better this year than the ACC. So most likely, this is probably leaning towards Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. Out of those three, you pick two. Ohio State, Michigan, winner of that game, we'll get in.

And then if Clemson's undefeated, fair or not, Clemson's going to be in the college football playoff. Take your phone calls next. The Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio. Get started and download the free Odyssey app today.

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Reacting to the college football playoff rankings as it's been a crazy day. NFL trade deadline, TJ Hockinson gets dealt indivision from the Lions to the Minnesota Vikings. The Dolphins were very aggressive today, acquiring Bradley Chubb from the Denver Broncos. And also Jeff Wilson Jr. coming over from the San Francisco 49ers. Chase Claypool goes to the Chicago Bears for a second round pick. And Calvin Ridley, who's been suspended and isn't going to play for the rest of the year, as you know. That was before the year because he once placed a bet actually on the Falcons to beat the Jaguars. He's now going to be a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. A lot to react to, though, in the world of college football. We'll take your calls right here for the first time today.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. I got to start things off with Mike in Abilene, Texas, and I got to give Mike credit. I know Ohio State won the game, and it looked like they won the game by a greater margin than what the game actually played out to be if you watched that. He crushed CJ Shroud last week. Now, CJ Shroud's having a very good season, statistically. I did, though, have some questions about CJ Shroud in that game against Ohio State. I still think the guys are really good quarterback, but I did not love what I did see from CJ Shroud. And you start to wonder, as I really do think Michigan, Ohio State, that's going to come down to one of those quarterbacks making a big play. I know Michigan is going to want to bully Ohio State and is going to want to do what they did last year and just embarrass them in the trenches. But it's going to come down to, can CJ Shroud use all those great wide receivers and be hot from the start? And then for Michigan, you know they're going to eventually get Ohio State to just load up the box, and you're going to need McCarthy to air one out deep and strike on a big play for like 60, 65 yards for a touchdown. But I do now have, for the first time this year, a little bit of skepticism with CJ Shroud after what I saw against Hickey's Nittany Lyons. Oh, I'm watching that game. I had to praise Manny Diaz, which I never liked to do.

Snake Diaz, that is. Mike, go ahead. What's up? Evening, fellas. How are we today? Doing great.

What do you got for me? Well, I'm glad someone's finally taken a closer look. Hype is a real thing, and there's so much hype over CJ Shroud. Got the tools, doesn't have the brain, doesn't have the monster, doesn't have the beast.

Gets scared in the spotlights. We all saw it. There was a nice throw in the corner to Ibuka. That was a nice NFL throw. That was a seasoned NFL throw. Apart from that throw, made me one time where he impacted that game. Stover made one hell of a run after the catch.

Treveon Henderson ran behind the line, and CJ Shroud did nothing. I will further that point by if he is who we are trying to believe he is, who ESPN wants us to believe he is so they can have a more interesting draft and a more interesting Heisman race, why does his own head coach not trust him in game-type scenarios and we run swing passes to halfbacks and receivers and get shut down and punted? It's because the head coach knows. It's because, yeah, he is a great quarterback. He is. He is so talented. He's got a great arm. He will go to the next level. If there is a weakness in our offense and on our team besides the defense not being what it has been in years past, not having a Bosa or a Chase Young, the weak spot is you heard it here and Ryan Day will not admit it, but that's why we run swing passes. It is CJ, look at my baby face, nervous, anxious face, Shroud.

That's what it is. Now, granted, let's talk about some rankings because, yeah, I don't understand this. We are not number two. Georgia would beat us. I'm pretty sure Tennessee would beat us. Alabama could probably beat us. And Michigan, I'm not convinced.

I am not convinced in the shoe. We do not look like the dominant team of all. You think that man, that scary face little baby child from California is going to do what he couldn't do last year?

I don't. He's got NFL wide receivers for days. Close his eyes and point to an NFL receiver going to get a paycheck and be a number one on an NFL team right now. And we should average 60 points a game. Swap him and Justin Fields right now. And there is no doubt about Justin Fields.

Mike, appreciate the phone call. We got to run always passionate stuff. I'm not ready to crush CJ Shroud. Let's be fair. I just had some skepticism with him against Penn State. Now, it all comes down to, I'm not going to overreact. I basically say that he's going to be a failure in the NFL, that he can't beat Michigan. But it's coming down to that Michigan game. And he better be on the victorious side and a reason why they're on the victorious side against Michigan. Because that's what that season comes down to. Let's go to Phillip in Alabama.

Next up on the Zach Gilb Show. Phillip, go ahead. Hey, I have a problem with what Chris Doring was saying about Auburn, it not being a desirable job, at least for Lane Kiffin.

Okay, what's your problem? So, Ole Miss hasn't won the SEC since 1962. Auburn is relevant. Of course, they haven't been in the last couple of years, but they won it in 2010, the SEC. They won in 2013.

They were in the mix in 2017. They played Georgia. It's obviously a place where you can win SECs and national championships. And they pay. Why would you want to go there?

Now, I get it. If Lane Kiffin wants to stay at Ole Miss and play for second and third in the West and make good money, then that's what he should do. But if he actually wants a legitimate shot to be an SEC champ and a national champ, well, then you go to Auburn. Not to mention they're going to pay you at Auburn. Here's the thing that I'll just say on this.

And don't get me wrong. If I do believe that I predicted that Lane Kiffin's going to get the Auburn job, it's just sometimes it could come down to comfortability where you're at right now at Ole Miss and what you're building. And you know that there's always going to be big-time programs calling. Auburn is a big job. But are there bigger jobs at Auburn?

Yes. Now, outside of the SEC, I don't know how many of those big jobs would attract it. Now, inside the SEC, you know the other two big jobs there. Or three, Alabama.

You also have Georgia. Those jobs aren't opening up anytime soon unless you have Saban with a surprise retirement out of nowhere. LSU, they just hired Brian Kelly. And maybe, and Chris even said this, maybe Lane's going to wait for Texas A&M. Maybe he waits for A&M to open up a year from now instead of going to Auburn. I think he's going to go to Auburn.

And even though he's spoken passionately about Ole Miss, he was also killing the fans earlier this year for arriving to the games late. One more before the break. Rich in Chicago. Next up on the Zach Gelb Show. Rich, go ahead. Hickey, can you punch him in for whatever reason? My screen isn't able to punch him in. Can we punch him, Rich? Rich, go ahead. Hey, guys. Can you hear me?

Yep, I got you. Hey, look, I'm going to give you two quick things. The first thing is the coaching paracel. And then I want to talk a little bit about some rankings. I just got back from the Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville last week. And I've got a real strong opinion of Tennessee, Georgia.

But the coaching – there's a couple of guys that you shouldn't sleep on. And I heard this from the scuttlebutt when I was in Jacksonville for three days. You're on the scene, right on the scene, getting the big sources.

Go ahead. What's the source, Zach? And I'm talking SEC guys, two of which don't want their name mentioned, but they're highly placed guys. The guy that they're real excited about is a guy that comes up occasionally. Is Jamie Chadwell. At Coastal Carolina?

Yeah. Yeah, they love him. Don't be surprised if he ends up at Georgia Tech to run that option offense that Tech used to run. I think they won him over O'Brien. And contrary to the last caller, Auburn isn't a highly desired job.

And let me tell you why. The scuttlebutt I got was when Oklahoma Texas comes in, they're going to put them in the West and put Alabama and Auburn in the East. Now, if you're Auburn, you want to play – you've got to keep playing Alabama, Georgia and Florida and Tennessee. I don't think so.

A coach is going to look at that and go, that doesn't look so hot. So I don't think that's going to happen. Well, they'll get a high-profile guy. But the other two guys that I was stunned to hear about, and it was relevant, about trying to make a big comeback, and it has SEC experience in recruiting because that is a requirement. You better be able to mine the high schools in the South.

How about this? How about Dan Mullen and Urban Meyer? And I thought they were nuts. Yeah, Dan Mullen – and thanks for the phone call, Rich. But Dan Mullen, I'd have no interest of seeing Dan Mullen coach again in the SEC. I know he was at Mississippi State, but the job at Florida, every time they lost, it was excuse after excuse after excuse. Maybe one of – and I don't know about all the other stuff that he was saying.

I was having fun with the Scubblebutt that he was hearing. And if you want to see Jamie Chabble at Georgia Tech, I'd be on board with that inside the SEC. But if you're an SEC school and you're hiring Dan Mullen, yeah, you'd better be like the last or the second-to-worst team in the SEC. I'm just not a big fan of Dan Mullen, excuse after excuse after excuse after Florida. And Urban Meyer, I think he wants to get back in. I think a lot of people put aside all the disgusting things that happens when you bring in someone with Urban Meyer off the field. But I feel like if Urban's going to get a job this hiring cycle, it would be at a place like Nebraska.

I don't think it would be at a school like Auburn. Throughout the 60s and 70s, the listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand.

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Download the Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

All right, let's start things off. We didn't talk about this game much from last night, but the Cleveland Browns just destroyed the Cincinnati Bengals last night. Kevin Stefanski hopes this win over the Bengals can carry over into next week. We played great football tonight, great defense tonight. Russian coverage was really good, but we just got to keep stacking them. We just got to, you know, like anything, offense, defense, special teams. We got to give these guys a plan.

They can go execute, execute a high level, play fast, those type of things. I thought that was on display tonight. Now they do have a bye week and then come out of the bye. They do have the Miami Dolphins.

So you could have a little bit of a momentum killer with that bye. It's tough though for me, Ryan, to really start putting in a lot of belief in the Cleveland Browns at three and five. When coming out of the bye, they have Miami, they have Buffalo, and they have Tampa Bay. The last four weeks showed you who they are for this year. Next year, they may be a different kind of talked about team yet. Chubb's great. I don't think Kareem Hunt will be there next year. He didn't get traded today though.

So who knows? He got some good defense. The players defense finally stepped up for once this year, but with what transpired the last four weeks, I kind of think they're dunzo for this year because I can't see them and I can't expect them to take two out of three against Miami, Buffalo, and Tampa, even with the problems that Tampa Bay has been having this year. And they blew it. The first six games of the season was the easy part of their schedule. They should have, you know, if you're going to make a run before Sean Watson gets back, that was a time. It was the Falcons, it was the Jets.

You blew it. Now, as you pointed out last night, the Bengals have struggled immensely against the Cleveland Browns. Joe Burrow and why the Bengals have struggled to beat the Browns in recent years. They're really well coached. They're sounding their leverages in their coverage, and obviously they got Miles Garrett and Clowney that, you know, can get after the passer. So they've had our number the last couple of years. I really thought the Bengals were going to win last night.

I really did. And they didn't just lose. They got blown out. And it makes me start to reevaluate where that team is.

Now, we talk about breaks in schedule. You get the Panthers, you get the Steelers the next two weeks, so you should win both those games. But any time you're about to get back on in on this Bengals bandwagon and go, okay, they're looking like the team last year, they take a step back.

And they've been that way this entire season. They beat the Dolphins. They then lose to the Ravens. They went back-to-back game. Saints and Falcons played their best complete game this year against the Falcons.

Then they have that performance against the Browns. I know Jamar Chase is great. He's still got Higgins. He's still got Boyd. That offensive line still looks like a mess. He got Joe Mixon still. That was a really discouraging performance last night for the Cincinnati Bengals there, right?

And even though there's no Jamar Chase, it's inexcusable. You mentioned. I thought they were winning.

I thought it was going to... The Patriots destroyed the Browns on offense. And you know me, I've not been a big fan of my football team's offense this year.

13 points. But Bailey Zappi, they destroyed him. Should the Bengals make a move?

Court of Controversy in Cincinnati? Oh, shut your dumb mouth. Zappi for Joe Burke. You're saying no to that? Shut your dumb sarcastic mouth. Who says no?

Yeah, I would give him Mack Jones, Bailey Zappi, Joe Judge and Matt Patricia for Joe Burrow. Oh. I love Bill. I love Bill. But Bill... But the answer is yes. ...is getting up there in age. Joe Burrow's pretty different, pretty young. The Phillies just hit another home run?

Or is that fan interface? I think that was a home run. And that's now going to be 4-0. So Bryce Harper hit a home run. That was a two-run shot. And that was a solo home run by Brandon Marsh. Do you know who got the third run?

Alec Bohm, a solo homer to left center. Oh, geez. Now, this may be a Jeffrey Meyer situation, Mayor. Oh, it's close.

Oh, no. I think that's over that red Budweiser sign, though. That, to me, that clears that green fence. It looks like a home run to me, but we'll have to wait and see. The fan dropped the ball. In the glove, too. You brought the glove, hit you right in the glove.

Yeah, you got to make that guy. I know he looks young. Catch the ball. Come on, kid. Killing a kid now. Where's Keith Hernandez?

Bad fundies. I don't know if now is the right time to bring up Keith Hernandez. That kid's no older than 11. You're a scumbag. No. Catch the... He's playing baseball every day, you're assuming. He's 11. I assume. Hickey killing the kids. Geez. And you bring your glove.

Use it. Tom Brady. He discusses his focus after his divorce from Giselle Bunchen after 13 years of marriage on the Let's Go podcast. I think there's a lot of professionals in life that go through things that they deal with at work and they deal with at home. Obviously, the good news is things... It's a very amicable situation, and I'm really focused on two things, and taking care of my family and certainly my children, and secondly, doing the best job I can to win football games. So that's what professionals do.

I'm going to ask you a question. And obviously, they had to talk about the divorce on the Let's Go podcast, but that's his podcast. He gets to control the narrative. He got that guy, Jim Gray, who's just like so... I know Jim Gray's been around forever, and he's done a lot of successful things in this business, but he's a sycophant for Brady, and that's me calling someone a sycophant for Brady, and I love Brady.

But I was... Were you surprised that they all... I guess you had to address it, but when it's Brady's own podcast, is that at all a little bit surprising that they got into the divorce? Not at all, because that's the first time he's talking about it. This is the first time he's talking about it, right?

You had the Thursday night game. Of the statement he released. Not a coincidence. The very next day is when it came out, so it's the farthest time away from questioning. And not that there's anything to press him about. You're actually probably right.

It's a perfect platform to do so. Not that they're going to press him about the divorce. You shouldn't be pressed about the divorce anyway. A guy's getting divorced. Respect his privacy. I know he's a public figure.

He's talked about, yeah, I'm great, and I'm such a huge name that obviously my personal life becomes public information, so you shouldn't be pressed about it, but using your own platform, you're still going to get to guide the narrative, so it's better than sitting up in front of a podium, and I'm sure... Has he talked to reporters in front of a podium yet? No. Remember to play Thursday night.

This came out Friday, and today is Tuesday. Their players stay off. Yeah, so... And now we can just... I guess you get out in front of the storm. And then you can say, you know, I talked about it in my podcast.

I like to leave it there. Sean Mark says the Nets players did not have a hand in the Nets firing Steve Nash. Only, yeah, that guy, Kevin Durant, wanted him fired this offseason. Yeah, they didn't have a hand. It's never that case.

Go ahead. Well, there was zero input from any of the players on this. I think this was a decision that we didn't need that.

Steven, I didn't need that. Obviously, I've talked to Joe about this, but the players were not consulted. They were told... Yeah, you could say that, and maybe that is true that the players were told and they weren't consulted on this move. But Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both clearly already voiced their problems with Steve Nash.

It's not like they need to say anything extra. So you look at that situation. That's just been a disaster. And Kevin Durant, how he gets a free pass in this, and you should have zero sympathy for Kevin Durant. He wanted Steve Nash hired.

And then he wants the guy fired. I know he hasn't been a good coach, but jeez Louise. Also, why bring Steve Nash back if you're going to fire him seven games in? Like, this is not two months in. We're not sending her January, February, seven games in.

Well, I'll give you the answer. Did they know they were going to be able to get Eme Oduka that quickly? That Oduka story kind of came out of nowhere. And even Steven A weeks ago said if he was just fired right away, the Nets would have scooped him up. So maybe they were waiting to figure out if they had to give up anything to go get a Oduka.

And clearly, that's not going to be the case. As the reports today say that if the Nets want to hire Oduka, the Celtics will say, go ahead, pick him up, take him, and get him on out of Boston. Do you think then if this Eme Oduka situation never happened, do you think Steve Nash is still the coach then right now? They probably still, KD and Kyrie would end up wanting Jacqueline, Jacqueline, I would say. And then he would be the interim for the rest of the season. So Eme's status helps, but is not the sole reason. No, I still think Steve Nash would have got fired eventually because eventually Kevin Durant's going to get his way because that's what the NBA is.

One way or another, the Stars always get what they want in the NBA. Sean Marks has asked if he's comfortable hiring Eme Oduka considering what happened in Boston. Yeah, look, I really don't think it's up to me right now to give a list of candidates who we're talking to and where we're going to arise and where we're going to fall on this. But I would say I will reserve that for when those decisions are made.

And I couldn't give you a timeline of that. Obviously, there's a reason why we made this move when we did because time is ticking. So we do want this process to be a thorough one. We're not going to skip steps in that, and we'll do our due diligence like on anybody. When I was hired, when anybody was hired here, the organization does very, very thorough due diligence on anybody and you arise at the best possible outcome.

Here's the difficult part. We don't know what happened with Eme Oduka. If he just had consensual sex or relationship with someone in the organization with the Celtics, he's hireable. But when he just took a team to the NBA Finals and they want no part of it, they don't even want compensation back, it makes me think that there is something more.

Now, is that something more? Maybe the report of the unwanted comments potentially, or could it just be who Eme Oduka may have slept with? Maybe he slept with someone's wife in the organization that also works for the team that that person's pretty high up in the organization.

And that's personal, that's why you don't want anything to do with the guy. We don't know, we could speculate all we want, I have no clue. But it was clearly something significant enough where the Celtics, after his first year of getting them to the NBA Finals and his first season as head coach, they said, we don't want this guy. Because how many times the team sweep things under the rug for winning games?

Celtics elected not to do that. Well, take a break when we come on back. Overreaction, proper reaction based off week eight in the NFL and also hot take Hickey. I had someone text me something about hot take Hickey.

We'll see if it's good or bad after these short messages. To catch up later, there's a lot to listen to. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today.

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