Wolverines Winning It All? (Hour 2)

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That's ShipStation.com slash audio. We miss college football. Bennett takes the snap and the shotgun, throws for the corner. Brock Bowers one-on-one. Caught. Touchdown.

He ate him alive. Falls down into the end zone. Six more for Georgia. We can't wait for the 2023 season. Caleb Williams throws the fade in the corner.

Oh, caught. Touchdown Trojans. And we're counting down the days to kick off. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? We said no! Are we there yet?

What's wrong with your ears? Here is your college football fix. Only on the Zach Gelb Show.

Alrighty, we continue. This is Zach Gelb Show, Coast to Coast, on CBS Sports Radio, 10 days away from the back-to-back, Big Ten champions kicking off their football season as they'll do so up against the Pirates of ECU. We'll go out to the guest line right now, and welcome in my favorite player in college football. He's also the best running back entering the 2023 college football season in the sport. And that is Michigan star in Blake Corum. Blake, always great to have you on the show.

I appreciate the time. How you been? I've been good and you? I'm doing fantastic. So everyone wants to know, as we're 10 days away from the start of the Michigan season, how is your knee feeling?

And everything okay from a health standpoint? Oh, everything's great. I'm ready to rock and roll.

You know, I've been on a couple other interviews, you know, the past couple weeks. You know, I've been around 98, 99%, but you know, I'm at 100%. I'm ready to go.

I'm locked and loaded. So no snap count for game one? You're a full go, and we could expect the full Blake Corum from a year ago.

The full Blake Corum is available. You know, now it's just, you know, up to the coaches. You know, how many reps they want me to get in game one, game two, game three. And you know, that's up to them.

But for me personally, you know, I'm good for 30. Love to hear Blake Corum here with us. We know physically what you went through last year with the knee injury, right when it looked like you were going to be a finalist for the Heisman, and we know Michigan was well on their way back to another college football playoff. I wonder though, mentally, how did you handle some of that adversity that was thrown your way late in the season? You know, it made me a better man, made me a better person. You know, at the time, you know, when things first happened, you know, I had some questions saying, why, why did this have to happen? You know, I'm having one heck of a season.

You know, some people might have called it a legendary season. You know, why did it have to happen that way? But, you know, I'm thankful. I'm thankful for that adversity that I faced and, you know, those challenges, because, you know, it made me a better person. You know, I'm back here now with my guys, and I'm just blessed, man.

I'm blessed to be here. I think everyone would have understood, if you elected to declare for the NFL draft, you ended up wanting to come back and you're getting ready to kick off another season. Why did you want to return to Ann Arbor? I had unfinished business. You know, for one, you know, getting my degree, that means a lot to me.

It means a lot to my family. So getting my degree was huge, and, you know, I have that. You know, we have one heck of a team, and, you know, you only get to play college ball once, and NFL, you know, it's not going anywhere.

So why not? Why not come back, bring some guys back with me, and chase this, you know, this process of winning a national championship and so we can have a parade, you know, on State Street or Main Street, wherever we want to have that parade. But, you know, it was all about the bigger picture. You know, for me, there's too many opportunities left at hand, and, you know, I wanted to take full advantage of all those opportunities. Was it a difficult decision for you?

Oh, most definitely, you know. Some days I would wake up going to the NFL. Some days I wake up, you know, I'm coming back. It was a long, you know, thoughtful process, you know, that I talked to my inner circle with, you know, but, you know, after a lot of prayer, a lot of talk from family, you know, it was best that I come back.

Talking to Blake Coram right now. So we know what this team has accomplished the last two years. You've beat the snot out of Ohio State. You've gone on to win two Big Ten championships. Then you get into the college football playoff and things just haven't gone the way that it should be for the Michigan Wolverines. You know, when that happens, people appraise you for what you did, but then they question if you could take it that next step further.

I love this football team heading into this season. Just how do you kind of respond to the people that are doubting you saying that Michigan can't win a national championship? You know, there's always going to be those people that doubt you, right, until you prove them wrong.

There's still people out there that's saying, you know, back-to-back years were fluke. You know, so, you know, for us, for this team, you know, we kind of just don't listen to the outsiders. You know, we only, we keep everything inside Schimbeckler hard, right? You know, we don't get big-headed. You know, we're always striving to get better. And we know we have to take it day by day, week by week, and month by month.

You know, and like you say, you know, the first game is ECU. You know, that's all we're focused on right now, you know? So, you know, we let people believe what they want. We let people write what they want. And, you know, it's just our job to prove them wrong.

And then, you know, as soon as we prove them wrong, they want to hop on the bandwagon. So, you know, that's our mentality. You know, we're always just striving to be better than we were yesterday. And that's what we've been doing, man. You know, we have a really good team right now.

And, you know, I'm excited to get this thing kicked off next week on the second. And it came in your absence, Blake Coram. And we know the season Donovan Edwards had, but a lot of people started to appreciate him more when you weren't available, unfortunately, because of the injury. What did you kind of see from Donovan Edwards this year? Because, man, that is some one-two punch for this upcoming season with yourself and Donovan. Yeah, you know, I knew what Donovan could do, you know, all along.

You know what I'm saying? You know, he's been a great running back since he's gotten here. You know, and he's only gotten better. So, you know, that's what I expected. You know, I didn't expect anything less. You know, I expected him to make those exclusive plays. I expected him, you know, just to step up in that role.

You know, I didn't expect no fall off. You know, he comes in. You know, he works hard every day.

You know, he's in the film. You know, and so, you know, it's just great sharing a running back with Donovan. You know, it makes me better. It makes the team better. And, you know, we have a great relationship, you know. So, you know, a lot of people, you know, would be like, dang, like, you know, I don't want another great running back on the team. Or, you know, why is he getting 10 touches?

I'm getting five. Like, you know, there's no hatred. There's only love.

And, you know, we always push each other to be the best version of ourself. And your quarterback had some ups and downs last year, but I think he could be a heck of a player in J.J. McCarthy. What do you see out of your quarterback in J.J. McCarthy's people get ready for another year of Wolverines football? You know, it's not that he could be a heck of a player. He is a heck of a player. And, you know, he's made huge strides.

You know, as you guys could see at the end of the year, you know, everyone was down the path game, right? And then he just started letting it fly. You know, with another year under his belt, you know, what I've seen this offseason from his game, you know, he's going to be that general on the field. And he's going to be a great QB. You know, he's going to, you know, show everyone, you know, what he has to offer, you know, all the tools.

And I think people saw that. But he's going to take it to a whole other level this year, you know. Number nine, he's going to have a heck of a year. I'll tell you, I'm really optimistic to see what Colston Loveland's going to do. Because I have big expectations for him, Blake.

Oh, yeah. In my opinion, you know, he's up there with the best. You know, if it's Bronk Bowers, you know, or any other Titans out there, you know, he's up there with the man. And to be only, you know, a sophomore this year, I can't wait to see, you know, just how good he can get, you know, because he's already pretty darn good, you know. But, you know, like I said, we're chasing perfection. We're chasing greatness. And, you know, he's made big strides this season as well.

So, you know, I expect a big year out of him as well. You being an upperclassman with this football team, and I say that the team's best player, and you kind of have the heartbeat of this team, who else has really impressed you this summer that you look around the offense side of the ball, even defensive side of the ball, and you go, man, that player is really going to be something this year? Man, you know, it's so hard to say, you know, who stood out, you know, who's the best, because I'll tell you, man, this team is full of just, like, you know, savages. You know, and, you know, you start with offensive line. You know, we have two deep that could, you know, start anywhere.

You know, our ones and our twos, you can't tell the difference. You know, that's how good we are up front. You know, and then you go to the quarterback position. You know, we're really strong there, running backs, receivers.

You know, defensive line, oh, man, the defensive line looks great right now. Then you have the linebackers, you know. You have Junior. You have Mike B. And then, you know, we have the transfer from Ernest.

You know, and then we go to the secondary, you know. Mikey Sangers, though, you know, a heck of a nickel, heck of a ball player. Will Johnson, that corner, you know, he's a big corner. You know, and then we have a transfer. Josh Wallace, you know, he stepped up big time.

You know, that was a good grab from the turn of the portal for us, and he's done a lot of good work. And then, you know, from the safety position, La'Carri and Rod, you know, one player doesn't stick out to me. Man, I'm just really impressed with this team so far, this camp, and I'm excited to, you know, face someone else with a different color helmet, different color jersey.

It's going to be fun. So, I was just watching the Florida docu-series, and those guys had two national championships, but they talk about that final season where they kind of discussed it the way that you just were, where they had a loaded roster, and they were chasing perfection, and they felt at times, even though they were so dominant and only lost one game, that nothing was ever good enough, and it was so tough to meet that standard. How do you guys just really, even though you know what the goal is to go win a national championship game, and I know everyone says, hey, it's one game at a time, one game at a time, but how do you guys really make sure that you only focus one game at a time and not go too far ahead? You know, something that I've been preaching to the guys and even myself, you know, is just, you know, being where your feet are. You know, and if you can really, you know, take that in and take in the meaning and actually apply it to your everyday life, that's how you're going to, you know, get to the national championship. You know, not thinking too far ahead.

Yeah, you can, maybe you can zone off while you're in class or something and think about, you know, what the future may hold, it might be like, but just being where your feet are every day. You know, taking advantage of every opportunity because, you know, every new day is a new opportunity to get better. So, you know, that's how we're, you know, taking this season and we're living by that, you know, just day to day, man.

Just stacking those bricks so we can build a brick house. How much would the Heisman mean to you if you're able to win it? Cause I'm a Heisman voter and I said this on the air, I'll say it again, if you didn't get hurt, it would have been tough for me not to put you number one on my Heisman trophy ballot.

Well, you know, I appreciate that. You know, before the season, you know, I didn't, I never even thought about the Heisman. And, you know, I tell a lot of people this and, you know, with team success comes individual success. And honestly, you know, the Dope Walker, all those awards that, you know, I may have been up for before I got hurt, they weren't even a thought to me. You know, before the season started, I'd never even thought about that stuff, you know?

So, you know, I got into the race and, you know, it was pretty cool, but my mind still wasn't there. It was still just about the team, man. You know, cause I love winning. You know, I love being a winner, you know, and it's nothing worse than losing. You know, you can win the Heisman and still lose, and that just doesn't sit right with me. So, you know, I was really just focused on winning. You know, of course it would have been nice to win the Heisman. You know, I have another shot to do it this year, but I'm not even focused on it. You know, everything will come, you know, my way if that's what's planned. But right now, you know, I'm just focused on, like you said, being where my feet are, you know, winning and getting my team together and getting ready for this long season.

Is it kind of crazy on the way out with Blake Coram, Michigan star football player, had a tremendous season last year, over 1400 rushing yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, and also had a receiving touchdown as well. When you look at this journey, you've been there now, this is going to be your fourth year, this is your senior season. Is it crazy just how quickly time goes by?

Oh, man, time flies. You know, as a kid, you know, a lot of people want to grow up, you know, including myself. Like, you know, I can't wait to be in college.

You know, I can't wait to go to NFL. And it's like, you know, once you get here, it's like, damn, I wish I could go back and be a kid again. But, you know, time flies, man.

You know, me, you know, COVID was freshman year, so I didn't really have a freshman year. You know, I can't believe, you know, I'm this far as of right now, you know, and that's why I'm really just trying to take everything in, be where my feet are, because, you know, time flies. You know, we have some right here, you know, days go by slow, but the years go by quick. And, you know, that's true, you know, and, you know, you just have to take advantage of every opportunity you get, you know, just in life. And, you know, that's what I'm trying to live by.

That's what I'm trying to do, man. Your head football coach, Jim Harbaugh, it's been well-documented, right? He was going to get suspended, then not. Now he is, I don't like what the NCAA is doing to him, but the university self-imposed a three-game suspension on Jim Harbaugh. Just how did you react to that when you saw that news a few days ago?

You know, obviously, you know, I don't necessarily agree with it, you know, but it's something we have to live with, and, you know, it's not a big deal. You know, like coach says, he doesn't get better, he gets better, and he really lives by that. You know, as soon as they did that, before practice, I saw him in the weight room lifting, you know, so, you know, he was getting better. You know, and that's what we're going to do as a team. You know, even though he can't be there on game day, he's going to be there during the week, and we're going to get better each and every day during that week, you know, and then we're going to get better on Saturday, and then we're going to repeat for those three weeks. You know, we're going to do it for coaching, and, you know, we're going to do it the Michigan way. And so, you know, although, you know, it sucks, you know, he's still going to be there through the week, you know, getting us prepared and doing what coach is doing. I know he's going to be watching, whether it be at SHM or his house on TV. You know, I know he's going to be there, but, you know, we don't get better. You know, we get better, and, you know, that's what he lives by.

That's what we live by. Well, good luck this season. I have some of my closest friends that attended Michigan, so I'm going a few games this year. I'll be at the Nebraska game, and then I think we're trying to check out that big game at the end of the season in the big house up against Ohio State.

Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, you definitely want to come to that one. That's going to be a good one, man. It's definitely going to be fun, so good luck this year and good health and all the best to you. Always appreciate you when you come on with us. Nah, appreciate it, man.

Have a good one. There you go. Blake Coram joining us. Great stuff with him.

Always love his story when he joins us right here on CBS Sports Radio. Alrighty, we will take a break. When we come on back, let's get to some things that didn't happen last year in college football that will happen this year. I have three predictions. Hot Take Hickey has three predictions.

We get to those when we return in five minutes. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio.

You can think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. That was the great Spanish play-by-play voice for the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Eagles in Ricky Ricardo. Hickey, I have a few demands for the football season. One of them, though, is going to be, you know how we do each and every Monday?

No huddle offense. I believe we usually do that right at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific. That's usually when we do it. And we give you one call from every game around the full weekend slate of games. I think anytime we play a Philadelphia Eagle highlight, it's a Ricky Ricardo, Philadelphia Eagle highlight in Espanol. That's what I think we should do for this upcoming season.

Your thoughts? Maybe two? You know, one in English so you can, you know, hear what the play was from Meryl Reese, legendary Eagles broadcaster. And then also to get the enthusiastic call of Ricky Ricardo, he hurt his energy there. I think both calls would suffice.

I love Meryl. I don't think we need two calls. I think it would just be a whole lot, you know, really just fun if we end up doing just Ricky Ricardo calls. You have Ricky's number, right?

Yes, I do. So let's text Ricky and let's say to Ricky, we're gonna be reaching out to you throughout the season. We need calls and he'll send us the calls because I don't know about you, I love Ricky, but if I listened to the game on the radio and tried to record all the calls, I'd have no clue what was actually going on.

So let's have Ricky Ricardo send us that sound. Alrighty, breaking news here. This is from Michael Silver. And Michael Silver used to work at the NFL network, Sports Illustrated as well. He now works for the San Francisco Chronicle, longtime media guy. And there's been a lot of speculation about this throughout the day, but he's told that Cal Stanford and SMU are in the process of finalizing a deal to join the ACC in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.

So that is from Michael Silver. Here's the thing. I think this is a good move by the ACC. I don't know if it's a good move initially, but I think you have to prepare yourself for when that deal expires in 2036 and maybe it will happen before then in terms of the max exodus of teams leaving or some teams leaving as you get closer and closer to that 2036 deal. It's like, how many times we talk about this in Florida State, they wanna leave because it would be one thing on the buyout that they would have to pay and then also to go pay for their TV rights. It's just too lucrative. Eventually, maybe it gets to a point where it could be okay.

We could get out a few years earlier rather than right at 2036. But I do believe eventually you'll see a few teams from the ACC get extended an invite to the SEC or the Big Ten. And I think a big misconception here is a lot of people believe everyone's just gonna immediately go to either the SEC or the Big Ten. Those conferences have to want you because eventually the TV networks aren't just gonna be like, oh, we'll keep on giving you 50, $60 million for every school that you add.

They're gonna eventually say, here's the sum of money, split it up between how many teams that you're going to add. So there could be some teams and some brands in the ACC that are attractive that maybe the SEC or the Big Ten say we wanna get. I think what the ACC realized is, let's do what the Big 12 did when in similar time, originally it was Texas and Oklahoma saying we're gonna leave the Big 12, we're gonna go to the SEC. And then after that, you had the Pac-12, have USC and also UCLA originally say they're gonna go to the Big Ten. And it wasn't really those two moves that caused the Big 12 to win over the Pac-12 in terms of keeping your conference alive. It was that the Big 12 said, their old commissioner and now their new commissioner, we're gonna add as many schools as possible. That are, I'm not gonna say attractive brands, but that can find a way to give us enough teams in the Big 12, whether it was independent BYU, the three teams from the American Athletic Conference that they brought in, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati.

And when they made that move, that was like, okay, you got some schools. And the Pac-12 just sat in their hands, they did nothing. And eventually schools like Oregon and Washington said we're gonna go operate what's in the best interest of ourselves and other schools that ultimately did go to the Big 12 too. But you look at Colorado and it's crazy, Colorado really was the school that caused the Pac-12 to die. Because I know Colorado has done nothing and I know they're going back to the Big 12, but I think Colorado leaving to go to the Big 12 saying, if Colorado can get up and leave the Pac-12, all these other schools with more attractive brands could leave and could easily leave. And I get part of it striking while it's hot with Deion Sanders being there and who knows how long he'll be there. But for the ACC, the point I'm making here is, I think it's good to go scoop up Cal, Stanford and even SMU cause there could be a day where, I don't know how many schools there'll be, but some schools will leave the ACC and you don't wanna have to wait for that day when those schools leave to try to go save your conference.

Cause then everyone starts thinking about themselves. So I don't have a problem with the ACC doing this and you're gonna eventually have to add more schools, but I think the ACC is clearly by scooping up Cal, Stanford and SMU saying, we're gonna take the Big 12 approach instead of just waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and trusting our schools and the ACC like the Pac-12 did, Hickey. I don't wanna sound negative, but I've just been resigned to this unfortunately. Like the fact is they can add schools at this point, it doesn't matter, it truly does not matter. If Clemson leaves, if Florida State leaves, if UNC leaves, the conference is cooked. I don't care if they have nine teams, I don't care if they have 14 teams, if Notre Dame does not wanna join as a full-time member, the gap financially between what we're gonna see in the Big 10, the SEC and everyone else is only gonna continue to get massive. And again, if you have those flagship big time programs in the ACC leave, add Cal, add Stanford, add SMU, you're gonna be closer to a group of five conference with those gone than you are Power Five Conference. You're not wrong in everything you just said, but there's a difference in saying that you're cooked and then actually the conference being cooked as if the Pac-12 is. I'm not saying Big 12 for basketball, different story, it's tremendous. I'm not saying the Big 12 for football once Texas and Oklahoma leaves is going to be this conference that's really gonna spark fear in people, but at least for some time here, they're gonna be able to survive where the Pac-12 is gonna go away. And yes, you could look at the hierarchy of college football and then take a dummy to figure out that, okay, you don't have to have a PhD in football to understand it's still the Big 10, the SEC and now everybody else, but at least you get to survive at some point. And that's what the Big 12 did. And that's what I think the ACC is doing here in trying to survive and knowing there's gonna have to be a landing spot first from school so we could still make money. Because once again, not everyone's gonna get an invite into the Big 10 and the SEC and get a seat at the popular kids' table. I guess, but I mean, they're gonna be considered Power Five conferences still? I'd say no. So it's like at that point, I mean, I guess you can have your conference.

Well, no, clearly not. It's not gonna be Power Five. You can keep that if that's what you want. But don't you think that the winner of the Big 12, like the Pac-12's done, we know that. But don't you think the winner of the Big 12 and the winner of the ACC are gonna get a guaranteed spot in the college football playoff here? In a 12-team college football playoff?

I honestly, at this point, I have no idea. It will in the upcoming three years, but the contract ends after 2026. And so I'll be honest, I'd be a fool to predict the future in terms of what the landscape's gonna look like. I think they should. I think it helps real parity, but if they look around and say, these conferences stink, why should we do it? Would I be surprised if it's the top 12 teams or Big 10, SEC, and the other 10 spots are the highest ranked teams, three to 10, three to 12? But also, I'm not gonna say that the Big 12 and the ACC are gonna stink. They're not gonna be as desirable as the Big 10 and the SEC. But look at the Big 10 this year. You have three great teams, three great teams in Ohio State, Penn State, and then clearly Michigan. But how many times have we, look at the Penn State schedule this year. Outside of Ohio State and outside of Michigan, is there really another team in the Big 10 that you get all jacked up, you being a Penn State fan to see? And that's even in one of those power, the two big power conferences right now. There's some teams in the Big 10 right now that are like, huh, do I need to see Rutgers?

Do I need to see Indiana? And you look at that Penn State schedule outside of the two big games against Michigan and Ohio State, is there any game that you really get excited for, genuinely, Hickey? I mean, for me as a fan, yeah, there's a few games, but it's not like, I mean, that's unfortunately the case now for a lot of teams.

Georgia's not one game you can even look at and say, oh, that's interesting. Clemson schedules things outside of Florida State, Notre Dame, that's unfortunately the reality of just like, a lot of these team schedules are not very good. And so if you're the ACC and you remove Clemson, and or not even remove, they leave, Clemson, Florida State, Miami, what are you looking at? You know, that's why for me like, look, you wanna say the ACC, you wanna just add numbers and safety in numbers is kind of your philosophy. So add as many teams as we can, it's a thought. And again, it could help preserve the conference just to be around and be a thing in let's say 10 years from now. But I just, I guess it's frustrating because the direction is just now seemingly is gonna be these two power conferences.

Everyone else is kind of at least bottom, you know, bare minimum, bottom tier below. I hate it, but that's why I see the reaction if Florida State leaves and Clemson leaves, the ACC is screwed. Let's do this right now because we teased this right before the break. We're gonna get three predictions each year. It cannot have happened last year in college football. So for example, if Hickey thinks Georgia is gonna win it all this year, you can't predict it. If Hickey thinks Clemson is gonna win the ACC, once again, you can't predict it. If Hickey thinks James Franklin is gonna lose another big game this year up against a top 10 team, you can't predict it. If Hickey says Caleb Williams is gonna win the Heisman, you can't predict it again. I'm looking for new things this year that didn't happen a year ago in college football. I'll let you start off, give me one of your predictions that did not happen a year ago. USC making the college football playoff. And your reasoning? Caleb Williams, best quarterback in the country, a great offensive mind in Lincoln Riley and the defense for how bad it was last year was one Caleb Williams popped hamstring away from making the college football playoff.

Yeah, you could say that. They also did blow another lead early in the regular season up against Utah, but you're not wrong in terms of the injury playing a factor in that game. My prediction here, LSU will be in the college football playoff. Their quarterback is phenomenal. I think two SEC teams are going to make the college football playoff this year. And I think two big 10 teams like they did last year will make the college football playoff as well. I do believe LSU will be one of the four. I'll still pick Georgia to win the conference, but I think LSU gets into the college football playoff, which they did not a year ago. Perkins on the defense side of the ball, could be the best defensive player in the country. And I really like what Brian Kelly did after a rough start and when he was just a pinata for a lot of people. So my first prediction of things that did not happen last year that will happen this year in college football, LSU will be one of the 14 standing.

I will say for prediction number two, Oklahoma bounces back and wins the Big 12 Conference. Dylan Gabriel's a damn good quarterback and kind of similar to USC. Brandon Venables' defense last year at Oklahoma was awful.

Huge trip. Cannot be any worse. Recruited a lot better, really good recruiting class coming in. They got talent there. They'll bounce back. I'm not picking Texas and or trusting Texas.

That's for damn sure until they actually do something. So Oklahoma Sooners winning the Big 12. So funny you say that because I have a Big 12 prediction and I'm going with Texas.

Maybe that is a foolish decision on my part. I look around the Big 12. I like Texas Tech with Joey Maguire. Chris Kleiman is maybe the most underappreciated conference champion ever with the conference championship that they won last year at Kansas State. TCU going to take a step back. I'm curious to see what Dave Aranda does after a bad year, a great year, and then another bad year.

So there's a lot of question marks there. But I look at Texas. I think Quinn Ewer's going to be really good for them this year.

If he's not, then maybe eventually see Arch Manning get into the fold. But I think Texas has a ton of talent this year. And I'm going to say that they get a Big 12 championship, but will not be in the college football playoff.

So what's your next one and final one? Final one, Alabama will finish this season outside the top 15. Oh, I was going to say, if you were to say not in the college football playoff, they didn't do that last year. Outside the top 15?

Outside the top 15. Do you have my sounder there? Hickey, play the sounder. Come on, play it. Yeah, where's my sounder here? I tell you each and every day, I need the sounder loaded up, ready to go.

Play the sounder. Oh, no, no. Oh, hot take Hickey is at it again. We have a hot take alert. Outside the top 15, how many losses do you think Alabama is going to have this year?

Nine and three. If they have three losses, you think they're out of the top 15? Yeah, in parks, who are they beating? Who are the impressive wins on their schedule? That's part of the problem is you look at their schedule. Yeah, LSU is the toughest team. Tennessee. But it's like, I don't think Tennessee is very good, to be honest. Texas, again, I'm not buying and you can beat Texas, sure. But just like last year, they fall off the map at the end of the year.

It's like I look that impressive. So real quickly here, just give me a winner loss. Middle Tennessee. Loss. I'll go win. Texas games at Tuscaloosa.

I know, I know. I'm going to say win. I don't like it. It's more of a lack of belief in Texas than a belief in Alabama. Just give me the winner loss.

I don't need the explanation. At South Florida. Win. Ole Miss. Loss. At Mississippi State.

Tricky game. I'll say win. At A&M against your boy Jimbo Fisher. Talk about another one. God, I'll take a win for Bama there, but don't like it. Pig Suey. Games at Tuscaloosa.

They've given them fits of late. I'll still go Bama winning that game. Tennessee. I'll go Tennessee.

OK. LSU. Loss. They got Tennessee and LSU at home.

That's big. Playing both on the road last year. Two losses.

At Kentucky. Loss. I'll go win.

Devin Leary's good. I'll go win. I'm the biggest Mark Stoops fans in the country, but come on. Chattanooga. Win. And then Auburn. I'm going to say win, but I'm intrigued by Auburn.

I am. I'll go win now, but they have talent there and I'm excited. You freeze those out of Nick Saban's number.

So that's being as critical as possible. I can understand doubting Alabama, but outside the top 15. I don't see that whatsoever. And then my final prediction here that didn't happen last year that will happen this year. Michigan will be in the national championship game and Michigan will win it all.

Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Those are three predictions each that did not happen last year in college football that will happen this year. We hope will happen.

We will take a break when we come on back. Tua, looking to shut some people up this year. What a fiery exchange between him and Ryan Clark. We get to that on the other side and also an update on Jonathan Taylor. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty, let's hear from Ryan Clark, former NFL player, longtime stealer.

Of course, now does a great job on ESPN and also with our guide, Channing Crowder on the pivot. Here is Ryan Clark calling Tua Tunga-Viloa fat on NFL Live. Let me tell you what he wasn't doing. He wasn't in the gym.

I bet you that. He wasn't with me. He might have spent a lot of time in the tattoo parlor. He was not at the dinner table eating what the nutritionist had advised.

He looked happy. He is thick. He's built like a girl working at Onyx in Atlanta right now on the bottom. Come on now.

Get to the show. I feel like Ryan Clark saying that he could get away with it, Hickey, but I feel like if you tried saying that on one of your very popular Friday evening into Saturday night morning shows on CBS Sports Radio, Hickey at Night, that you would maybe get canceled if you compared Tua Tunga-Viloa to a bottle girl at Onyx with how thick Tua has been looking. I thought you were going to say like fight wise, not like canceled wise. I was going to say, I don't know if Ryan Clark's getting off the hook here, but yes, I would probably be canceled for comparing Tua's weight to someone else. So I was reading an article today via ABC News, and it said at one point this offseason, Tua bulked up to 238 pounds this offseason. Now, last year he was listed as 217 pounds and then eventually did cut down to 225 before the end of training camp. But a lot of the offseason consisted of a weight training program, as well as jujitsu, to break that kind of fall routine that he's been practicing to protect his head. So I never love when quarterbacks put on a ton of muscle.

I feel like it never really works well. And Tua, he's looking a little big. There's there's no doubt about it. I just wasn't expecting Ryan Clark to say that.

So part of me appreciates it. But then another part of it is like, how will Tua adding muscle impact his performance on the field? And remember last year, I forget who the player was, but remember they were they were poking fun at Russell Wilson for looking a little pudgy. I forget what the the funny quote was with Russell Wilson, but someone was taking a shot at the weight of Russell Wilson and Russell Wilson didn't have a good year last year. Do you think this is a concern that Tua maybe it's muscle, maybe some of it is you ate too much this offseason is looking a little thicker heading into 2023?

I think he needs it. He was frail. Coming to Alabama, I mean, at Alabama, he was frail. In the NFL, he's been frail. He's gotten hurt every year for the most part. I know maybe some it's more, you know, it's been concussions. It's been an ankle injury. But like look at the injury in college.

A pounding his first two years in the limited time he played behind that porous offensive line in Miami. I think he needs to put on the way I think it's a good thing because it helps him absorb hits and stay on the field more. The question is, though, did he put on muscle here or did he put on fat? It doesn't look fat to me, to be honest. It looks thick. I think it's muscle. I don't think it's fat. You know, I haven't really.

It's weird. We talk so much about Tua, but you don't see a lot of Tua in this off season. Let me just see, because usually when people talk about Tua, they just kind of throw up highlights of Tua Tunga Vailoa from last year or the injuries. Now I'm looking at this video of Tua responding to Ryan Clark, which I'll play in just a second. I don't think he looks that large, like he definitely put on some weight, but I don't look at Tua Tunga Vailoa and say Tua looks fat, like his arms are definitely a little bit thicker. His fingers maybe look a little pudgy, but I don't really notice that much of a difference in Tua Tunga Vailoa, Hickey, if I'm being honest with you.

I'm actually with you on this one. Go back to last year, two years ago, like he's a quarterback that does not wear a flak jacket around his ribs, so you can kind of see his stomach. He doesn't have a six pack.

Never has, you know, never, maybe never will. And I don't need a quarterback that has a six pack. But my point is, he's always been like, I think he's been who he's been like. He's a guy that has a good arm.

He's never again been a stick, but he's also never been fat. I'm looking at this photo from 2022 last season. I don't really see much of a difference. And that's two in shoulder pads compared to two of this year. Maybe he'll look a little bit different when he gets into shoulder pads, because we're seeing him now without shoulder pads, and that's when you'll be able to maybe see a difference. But that was the analysis of Ryan Clark.

Here is Tua Tunga Vailoa saying Ryan Clark better watch his back. He probably knows more about me than I know about myself. I mean, I don't know. It's a little weird when other people are talking about other people and they're not that person. So I know it's just a little weird. I come back, like my background is like, I come from a Samoan family, like respect is everything. But, you know, does get to a point where, hey, you know, little easy on that, buddy, because, you know, we I think we're pretty tough minded people. And if we need to get scrappy, we can get scrappy, too. Just saying. Two things I love. Tua right there saying to Ryan Clark, like basically take it easy, buddy.

I always feel when you call someone buddy, that's not actually your buddy is very disrespectful. So I like that by Tua. But does anyone think Tua Tunga Vailoa is going to fight Ryan Clark? Maybe Dana White should try to set it up. But, you know, Tua could say that I'm fine with the response, but there's never going to be a way where Tua actually confronts Ryan Clark in person and this thing gets physical hicks there. Well, the Tuanon will have Tua's back, so Tua's have to do it. He'll have swarms of people going to Ryan Clark's house, lining up ready to fight him. Great point. That was Tua calling, like kind of put in the Batman signal signal up there for the Tuanon to just cause havoc.

Finally, here's Tua Tunga Vailoa telling Ryan Clark, oh, going a little Will Smith to keep his name out his mouth. I mean, I think we all worked hard throughout the off season. And I'm not someone to talk about myself the entire time, but I mean, it takes a lot. You think you think I wanted to to build all this muscle? Like not to some extent. Like I wanted to, you know, I wanted to be a little lighter. There's I know there's a mixture of things that people don't understand, that people don't know about, that are talked about, that go behind the scenes.

So, you know, I'd appreciate if you kept my name out your mouth. That's what I'd say. So he's saying that's muscle is what he's saying. Where Ryan Clark made it seem as if it was fat.

Maybe we have to get a little weigh in on Tua Tunga Vailoa and then check if it's fat or muscle as well. We could go through that. It could be a nice little reality show. You know, we can forget about Hard Knocks, too, because the first two episodes of Hard Knocks were good with the Jets.

Last night was a bore. Maybe for the final edition of Hard Knocks, we just changed teams and we go highlight the Miami Dolphins and get the big weigh in and kind of take the the fat or muscle level of one Tua Tunga Vailoa. So I'm good with that exchange.

I kind of like that between Ryan Clark and Tua Tunga Vailoa. All right. He will take a break when we come on back. We're talking running backs and we'll get into Jonathan Taylor and that deadline. And also one guy that the NCAA wants to tell you doesn't have a Heisman. He wants his Heisman back. Talk about Reggie Bush next.