No Excuses (Hour 1)

Hi, this is Shannon Storms-Badour, Real Housewife of Orange County and entrepreneur. When my company, Real for Real, started selling our health products online, we struggled to ship our orders out quickly and without error. But ShipStation's simple dashboard made it easy to manage orders from every marketplace. Plus, with ShipStation, we get up to 84% off USPS and UPS rates. Automate your shipping with ShipStation. Go to ShipStation.com slash audio for a free 60-day trial.

That's ShipStation.com slash audio. Live from the play show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio, here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10-floor, 345 Hudson Street, welcome on in to a Tuesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all of our great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and that free Odyssey app. 855-212-4CBS, number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram, where I'm straight flexing, or via the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Merrill Hodge is going to join us coming up an hour from now. Former 49ers, defensive lineman Ian Williams will stop by at 8.20 p.m. Eastern, 5.20 p.m. Pacific, and then to wrap up the show in the final segment, NFL on CBS's very own Evan Washburn will be dropping by as well. But first up, producing the extravaganza for the next four hours is no other than Hot Take Hickey. This dumb producer, Hot Take Hickey. So I have to know what I'm getting into for the next four hours today. Yesterday, our show was dominated by the Jonathan Taylor news, where the Indianapolis Colts, an organization that I can't stand, have now given Jonathan Taylor permission to seek a trade, even when that fraud, Jim Irsay, says, oh, we're not going to trade him, we're never going to do it, and now you're giving him permission to seek a trade.

But that directly impacts our show, because my producer's mental well-being depends on the Indianapolis Colts. So I need to know before we embark on this four-hour journey today, where yesterday, Hickey was down in the dumps, you could just see it, his face was as red as a tomato, he was as annoyed as annoyed could be. I actually contemplated wearing black today, where I'd be sitting Shiva after the funeral was yesterday with how annoyed you were. I said I was going to make you cookies, I didn't do that, but when I did my food shopping today, you want to know, Hickey, what they had in the cookie section?

They had sugar cookies in the shape of footballs. So it was actually perfect, but then I thought just the mention of football, maybe we'll send you in a direction that we don't want to go down. So I need to know today, after basically this news now being 24 hours old because it broke right before the show yesterday, where are you at today in terms of feeling good? Obviously your Colts are going to stink this year, obviously the Jonathan Taylor situation is not going away, but have you moved on from the frustration and the disappointment and you just being really PO'd from yesterday?

Has it kind of moved away and the pain been like eased up a little bit in the last 24 hours? I've not moved away, but I got it out last night in our podcast and so I feel a little less angry right now, but I mean still it's incompetence, but I still not changed my stance, he's not getting traded. So that's at least holding me sane. So here's where I thought your analysis yesterday was interesting, and I do appreciate this about you because you're either all in or all out. You said there's a 0% chance that he's getting traded.

Now that's inconceivable to me. I still lie on the side of the fence that he's not going to get traded and I'm at 60% that he's not going to get traded, 40% that he is going to get traded. Is that number still an adamant fashion at 0% that he will get traded at any point during this season, whether it's before or during the season before the trade deadline? 0.0. Man.

Stance has not moved and I don't know what would have changed in the last 24 hours for me to move it. Well, because it was in the moment, it's the initial reaction, sometimes you give the initial reaction, you look back and shortly after that you're like, ah, that was probably more of the fan speaking than the big time talk show host that Hot Take Hickey is. So no second thoughts here, 0.0% from Hot Take Hickey.

If I could go any lower, I would. Man, even though this is one of those things where the running backs have had no leverage, really the last two off seasons, we've kind of seen this similarly play out with Austin Eckler, even though Austin Eckler is older. If I'm a Colts fan right now and I want to keep Jonathan Taylor, I'm feeling a little bit uneasy right now because when Hickey says 0.0%, it's almost as if he is saying to the sports gods, bleep you, this ain't going to happen. And we've seen through the last two years, the sports gods have come on down and have rained on the parade of Hot Take Hickey and has put out the flames that come out of his mouth with all these teams. But you know what I sense with you this year, Hickey, and I appreciate this, is it's your ability to bounce back. Last year was a tough year for you, and you got clowned a lot by old takes exposed, you got clowned by me, a lot of people.

And callers even getting on the phone, Leroy Hoard, the former great Michigan running back, even saying that you were some dumb producer, Hot Take Hickey, a lot of people were enjoying you being wrong. And two things stand out to me, how when I was texting with you last week, you go, I'm bouncing back in a big way this year. And you're hitching your wagon once again to the Denver Broncos, the team that you predicted to win the Super Bowl last year. And then also, any team that kind of slighted you last year, you would think you would bounce off that bandwagon, but you keep on moving up in the bandwagon and kind of taking the main driving seat and willing to lead that ship back to a smooth sailing where last year pretty much capsized. When I look at your predictions this year, I kind of feel like you're on that Redemption Ryan tour, where the teams that slighted you last year, you're not going to just push them away. You're doubling down.

Like if we were at a blackjack table here, you'd be doubling down even when the hands haven't been going your way. Well, there have been changes made that, you know, yeah, Broncos bring in one of the best head coaches in the NFL right now, Sean Payton. AFC got even better though. Baker Mayfield is something that, again, I think circumstances and injuries derailed his career more than him just being a bad quarterback. With the roster that won eight games last year with Tom Brady, now they don't have Tom Brady, and you expect them to be a better football team. Yes, yes I do, and a bad division.

Oh, a bad division last year? I'm not too worried about that, yeah. And that line is shaky too, so we got a whole lot to get into. We'll do more of that coming up later because there is a radio show. One of our great affiliates, WFNZ, that I like a lot, Mac and Bone, that has been taking a lot of shots at hot take hickey recently for his Baker Mayfield prediction.

So we'll get to that audio later. Okay, I want to start the show with this. I have five players right out of the gate. No excuses this year for this upcoming season of the NFL, and these are in order.

So I'm going to go five to one here. In at five is Lamar Jackson. This offseason, he got paid, he got a new offensive coordinator, he wants to throw the ball more, it seems like they're going to do that.

And also, he asked for Odell Beckham, he got Odell Beckham, and in addition, they drafted Zay Flowers out of Boston College, and they spent another first round pick on the wide receiver. For Lamar Jackson this year, I need to see you win games, and I need to see you stay healthy. And if you want to throw the ball more, and I think Lamar is a better passer than what people give him credit for, he's not great, but I think people think he just sucks at throwing the football. That's just a lie.

But if you want to increase and augment the attempts in a big fashion, this is all on you. So for Lamar Jackson this year, there's no excuses. In at four, Stephon Diggs. Stephon Diggs created a big issue, and then Sean McDermott made an even bigger issue, going back to mandatory minicamp. Now, even right after the Stephen A. Smith report the other day, that Stephon Diggs wants out, he knows he's not going to get his way, and he's not as optimistic on the Buffalo Bills as he once was. We've seen, in the last 24 hours, Stephon Diggs fight back and say, that's not true, and he's ride or die with Bills Mafia. There will be a moment this year of adversity for the Buffalo Bills, and Stephon Diggs can't let his emotions get the best of him. There are no excuses this year for Stephon Diggs.

If you're going to tell me you're happy now, and whatever happened a month or two ago was a bunch of nothing when it really was something, you can't allow that to pop back up this regular season or in the postseason. In at number three, Hickey's BFF and Russell Wilson. Nathaniel Hackett was the fall guy last year, Russell Wilson was horrible last year, and now you get Sean Payton. I don't want to hear about the offensive line, I don't want to hear about the lack of weapons, you have a really good defense, maybe the best secondary in the NFL. I'm not even saying that this is a team that I'm even going to be irate if they miss the playoffs because I don't believe they're going to make the playoffs, but Russell Wilson individually this year has to be vastly improved. Because Russell Wilson these next two to four years is playing to save his Hall of Fame bust that will eventually be there in Canton, Ohio, if he's able to right the wrongs from a year ago.

But if he continues to go down this road, it's going to be tough, even with what he's accomplished, for Russell Wilson to get in the Hall of Fame. Two, Aaron Rodgers, you're now happy, you're now away from Matt Leflore and Brian Gudekunz, you are now getting to call your shots with the JTS, Jets, Jets, Jets. You have Garrett Wilson that you love, you have now two running backs, Embreese Hall and Dalvin Cook, you're playing with as good as a defense that you ever had. This is the Aaron Rodgers show, and Aaron Rodgers, even when he had back to back MVP seasons and an easier division and an easier conference up against the Buccaneers and up against the 49ers, he did not hold up his end of the bargain. No excuses this year for Aaron Rodgers. And then finally, my number one player in this NFL season with no excuses, Dak Prescott. The last two years, the Dallas Cowboys have been given a championship effort on the defensive side of the ball. Their defense should have been and was good enough to get two victories or definitely one victory up against the 49ers. They didn't do that because Dak couldn't get the ball snap going back to two years ago in the wildcard round and then this past season with that defense just being phenomenal, he was a turnover machine.

And once Tony Pollard went out of the game, Dak Cowboys offense was absolutely atrocious. So entering this season, those are five players that identified, no excuses. Lamar Jackson, Staphon Diggs, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Dak Prescott.

Hickey, anyone else that you want to kind of throw into the conversation? And these are guys that people are questioning and they've been in the news a lot. Like a guy, for example, like Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow is not someone that we're questioning. Joe Burrow took the Bengals to a Super Bowl two years ago.

Last year they got to an AFC title game. I know he's been dealing with this injury, but Joe Burrow is not like someone that, yeah, the expectation is it's Super Bowl or bus, but he's not polarizing right now. And where there's some people that maybe don't believe in him because everyone believes in Joe Burrow.

So that's kind of what we're looking for. People that have been questioned and people that are in good environments and their teams have done enough where there's no more excuses, whether it's pay them or pay them and bring in a lot of talent this offseason. On the flip side, I'm assuming that a guy like Kirk Cousins is not in this discussion either because we kind of know who he is, right? Yeah, like Kirk Cousins, I think most, you also have to believe a little bit in him. Like Kirk Cousins is a good quarterback. It seems like everyone this year is picking the Vikings to regress in a big way and not even win the NFC North. I think the Vikings are going to win the NFC North and I think there'll be like a 10 or an 11 win team for this year. But I wouldn't, even though Kirk Cousins is someone that's polarizing, I think if we put out a poll right now, would you want Kirk Cousins as your quarterback?

It would be an overwhelming majority of people that would say no. Okay, so make sure the parameters, I got a few names I want to throw by here. Number one guy got paid this offseason, Justin Herbert. I want to say yes, but when you look at potential excuses and they have so much talent, whether it's Quinnen Johnston, it is Keenan Allen, it is Mike Williams.

Friend to show Austin Eckler, you know, all the names of the defensive side of the ball. If the Chargers don't go where they should go this year, I think there will be a minority of people that do question Justin Herbert. But the overwhelming majority is going to be going after the head coach because there's just not a great belief level in their head coach in Brandon Staley.

So Herbert, I think, has an excuse and it's because the coach is just not a coach that a lot of people believe in. His contract says no excuses, but what about this year in the first full year at the Browns to Sean Watson? I think also there will be an excuse built in there and that's why he wasn't in my top five where we still have to wonder how much rust there is to knock off with Deshaun Watson. He's basically missed two years. I know he played the final six games last year for this season to be a success.

I think with the talent that they have that they need to make the postseason. But once again, if it doesn't go his way, I think it's similar to the Justin Herbert situation where people will say, OK, that's it for Kevin Stefanski. I agree with Anthony Lima yesterday that if the Browns don't make the playoffs this year, Stefanski is gone and they'll be finding a new head coach next year. What about Justin Fields?

You know what? I'll say there's no excuses this year for Justin Fields. I don't think Justin Fields needs to be great. He just can't be embarrassing. And I do feel like people are setting up Justin Fields to fail this year because of how optimistic and how highly optimistic they are talking about Justin Fields.

And he's even done it to himself as well with the 4000 yards passing. So let's not just totally give them a pass. But you look at that team.

You like the way I'll say it. There's no excuses this year as to why Justin Fields shouldn't be improved. You look at that offensive line. They got better. How much better?

We'll see. You bring in a number one target in D.J. Moore. There should be enough where Justin Field should be able to win like six or seven games this year and take a step in in his kind of ascension into the NFL. I don't have high expectations for him this year, and I like Justin Fields, but there's no excuses for him to not even to be able to take a nice size step this year. So I think it depends on how you view him and what you expect this year. But bare minimum, that guy has to take a nice leap this year because they've done enough for him to take a leap where individually he should be better. Here's an interesting one.

Let's go close to home. Your guy, Matt Jones. Oh, there's an excuse because I asked for two things this offseason. The two things I asked for this offseason get a legit play caller.

They did that in Bill O'Brien after the joke that I had to deal with last year with Matt Patricia and also Joe Judge. No business having any involvement with the quarterback and calling plays on the offensive side of the ball. But the other thing I asked for is a number one wide receiver. They got Juju Smith Sush there. He's not a number one wide receiver.

So getting Juju is one thing. And I do think Kendrick Bourne being out of the ridiculous dog house that he was in with Matt Patricia. He'll be better and he'll make some plays. But I still get that wide receiving room and no one scares me with those wide receivers. And you look around the league.

How many times I have to say this? Josh Allen. When did he take off? When he got to the fun digs. Jalen Hurts. When did he take off? When he got Devontae Smith and A.J.

Brown. Matt Jones doesn't have a number one wide receiver. And that is a bad job by the Patriots to not get him that number one wide receiver, especially when DeAndre Hopkins was available. We've done a lot of quarterbacks. How about some non QBs? Your guy, especially Debo Samuel.

Oh, good, good one here. There's no excuses for Debo this year. Two years ago, he was awesome. Last year, he even admitted it. He was horrible.

And he said he's never going to put that tape out there again. They're relying on him in a big way because on the offensive side of the ball, when you look at skill position players. We know with the question mark at quarterback, Christian McCaffrey is their best skill position player. They need Debo Samuel to be elite. And last year, he was the farthest thing from elite where two years ago he was dynamite, explosive and awesome. So no excuses this year for Debo Samuel with a window that we don't know how long it will be open. But if they don't find a way to get a ring in the next two or three years, it's going to seem like a team that was so close but yet so far and didn't get the job done with the San Francisco 49ers.

Man who wanted to get paid did not get paid. Saquon Barkley. So there's no excuses this year for Saquon. We know how much they rely on him. The big question throughout the years is can Saquon Barkley remain healthy? And last year he was able to do so.

He had a monster season. He needs to do what he did last year again because the Giants are going to utilize him in a big way with Daniel Jones being a solid quarterback now. Darren Waller being another weapon to get on the offensive side of the ball. Uncertainties with what to expect in the wide receiving room.

They use Saquon not only running the ball but also catching the ball. No excuses this year for Saquon Barkley. You didn't get a deal done.

You think you were deserving of more money. Go show that once again this upcoming year. Two more here quickly.

All righty. Tua Tungovailoa. No excuses. And it's weird to say it but the one thing holding back Tua is staying healthy. You look at that team.

I know that offensive line can be better and it's a concern but Aaron Rodgers has concerns with his offensive line. They got talent. You got Tyreek Hill. You got Jalen Waddle. You got explosive wide receivers. If you can't stay healthy this year, and I hate to say it because of the seriousness of concussions, the Dolphins are going to have to look elsewhere at the quarterback position. And I've been, I'm usually not bullish on the Dolphins because that Mike McDaniel guy creeps me out. And I always feel like I don't understand the joke of Mike McDaniel but I think the Dolphins could be a serious player this year. I really do.

And last one here. He's not been the full-time star but you look around what he's got around him. Could be interesting. What about Desmond Ritter with the Falcons?

I think there are excuses just because, does anyone, I know I think the Falcons are going to make the playoffs because the division stinks. That doesn't mean I believe Desmond Ritter is going to be the star. And they have nice pieces. Like they got Bijan Robinson who's really good. Tyler Algier was really solid last year. Kyle Pitts is good. Drake London has to take that next step and he could have a big year two. But I just, I would not have put Ritter on this list just because, I don't know if anyone really has an opinion right now and there's an overwhelming majority in an opinion when it comes to Desmond Ritter.

So some good options there. Good conversation. Zach Guilp's show CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back we will discuss just such a joke that's going on in the NCAA. Now Michigan is imposing a three game suspension on Jim Harbaugh. Is Jim Harbaugh going to be back with the Wolverines next year or is he going to be going off to the NFL? And if he is, we got some destinations in mind. Zach Guilp's show CBS Sports Radio.

Nice little rejoin right there. The now Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders. Coach Primetime is scheduled to join us tomorrow on the Zach Guilp show on CBS Sports Radio so always look forward to that conversation.

Now let's do this. Well before we get to Jim Harbaugh, let me just recommend something. Now I have not seen the other three episodes of it. It came out today I believe and I've only seen one episode. I only had an hour today to myself and I turned it on and if I had three more hours I would have watched the other three episodes of the documentary. This documentary out on the Florida football program through the first episode, Swamp Kings, it was phenomenal. And the star of the first episode was Brandon Seiler. Now I'm going to just tell you two stories that I really enjoyed here.

So if this is going to ruin your day, where you go oh I haven't watched it yet, turn off the radio for two minutes and come back in two minutes. But the two stories I love from Brandon Seiler was when Urban Meyer got to Florida Hickey, he would have a champions club, where if you were considered like a championship player or great player, you would get to sit at a table with a very fancy tablecloth, and they would have a server that would come and wait on you, and they would serve you like lobster filet mignon but if you weren't in the champions club, you would have to go get your own food and it was like, I know everyone likes a good hamburger and hot dog but it wasn't the best quality of hamburgers and hot dogs so I thought that story was funny. And then, I think Urban Meyer was a little bit concerned that Brandon Seiler was drinking too much, so he brings in Seiler's parents, and when the parents show up, Brandon Seiler even says that like both my parents have tattoos, my dad is like 13 gold teeth, and the mom goes, Urban, if you're concerned about our son, we don't care, paraphrasing here but you basically went on to say, my son came here to dominate in college, win a championship and then go off to the NFL.

And if you're going to get in the way of that, you need to then go somewhere else. Think about that, that's what the mom said. And Urban Meyer is on camera, he said, I've never seen two parents like that, and then gave a hug to Brandon Seiler because he was intimidated by Mama Seiler there. So how about that story, Hickey?

It was a great story that Brandon Seiler did tell, and he has by far and away been the star through the first episode of, I think the docuseries is called Swamp Kings on Netflix. Through one episode, we'll see how it is, the next three episodes, highly recommend it. I'm very excited, a lot of storylines there, that team, a lot of success, a lot of...

Controversy? I don't want to say characters on that team, but there's a lot of intrigue with a lot of members of those teams, so I am very excited, I cannot wait. No, there was a lot of characters on that team, a lot of big personalities, and then maybe the biggest POS ever in Aaron Hernandez, or some of the stuff that he did.

He's definitely up there. I'm curious how much they get into the Aaron Hernandez stuff, because through the first episode, and it's just Urban Meyer getting there, it's the recruitment of Tim Tebow, it's setting up the scene of Urban Meyer's success. And then they had a big victory, I believe it was in year two for Urban Meyer, it was setting the table a little bit in episode one. I'm very curious how much of the controversies they do get into, and it's like, you can't not talk about the elephant in the room of Aaron Hernandez, but you sometimes know with these docuseries, they don't always fully get into it the way that you would like. So if they don't really discuss Aaron Hernandez here, who I've never gone from loving a player more, to absolutely hating a player more than Aaron Hernandez, and I had no sympathy for him, then that would be a major swing and miss so far, and it would change the way that I feel about this docuseries.

I've only seen the first episode. Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper, Cam Newton, numerous players that have done bad things on the Florida side, obviously you have Tim Tebow in the total opposite of the spectrum there, but isn't that part of the reason why they made the film? Just because there's so much intrigue in part because they were so good and so dominant, but also because they had so many bad characters on that team. Yeah, and there's a way where you could make something entertaining, where the first episode, they didn't get into really any controversies, and it was wildly entertaining, and you could give some of the story, but not all the story, and it could still get some good reviews. My buddy, who watches all these docuseries, and is a big fan of Netflix, obviously, and he's seen all these sports specials, he said it's been the best thing that he's watched in a long time.

Now, I'm going to think less of my friend if we go through this docuseries and they don't really touch on the Aaron Hernandez stuff, because they gotta, I would think, in this docuseries, but we'll have to wait and see. Anyway, Jim Harbaugh's been a massive name, obviously, in college football the last two years. He has saved his image at Michigan.

He's been dominant, kicking the crap out of Ohio State the last two years, winning the Big Ten championship, and then the first round of college football playoffs the last two years clearly has not gone his way. The Georgia thing, I can't really complain about. Last year, that team should have defeated TCU, and they got off to a terrible start in the game. But you have this whole thing of impermissible contact, and coaching violations, and a lot of things that I think most of us roll our eyes at, but the rules are the rules. The NCAA doesn't even care about the infractions, it's about the supposed lying, and the alleged lying of Jim Harbaugh that he was not honest with the NCAA.

Now the NCAA is taking this personal because they're very petty. So we thought this was going to go away, where it was a four-game suspension, it seemed like it was going to be agreed upon, and then the NCAA and the infractions committee said, no, not so fast. And then Michigan is trying to reduce that suspension, even though it's going to be held off until next year when they come down and give whatever suspension it is. But sometimes when you self-impose something, it does make it a lighter suspension from the NCAA. And they suspended Jim Harbaugh for the first three games of the year, which they probably should have just gone with four, because Rutgers is also another cupcake, and that's when he's going to come back.

But their first four games are an absolute joke, so I would have just tacked on one more here if I was Michigan. But I really do believe, and I've been saying this now for the last few weeks, that because of this thing that's hanging over Jim Harbaugh, which I think is absolutely ridiculous, that if an NFL team offers him a job this offseason, he's gone. Now, anyone can get in front of a micron and say, oh, he's definitely going to the NFL next year.

I think that's his intention, is to go to the NFL, but you need an NFL team to offer you a job. The last two offseasons, for whatever the reasons were, he's had interest, and he's not been able to get an NFL coaching job for a guy that has been to three NFC title games in four years and also a Super Bowl. So I'm going to throw some teams out there. I think the commanders, I know we all love Ron Rivera, but if they don't make the playoffs this year, you have a new owner coming in. If control's a big issue, I could see their new owner, Josh Harris, just handing the entire keys to the franchise over to Jim Harbaugh, making a big splash.

If Sean McDermott comes up short once again, it would not surprise me if the Bills show some interest. If the Bills show some interest and the Dolphins are disappointing this year, I know Stephen Ross and Harbaugh are very close. He's always said he's not going to be the guy to take Jim Harbaugh away from Michigan. And Stephen Ross's name is on the business school. If maybe the Bills want to offer him the job and he's not thrilled with Mike McDaniel, I know people are high on Mike McDaniel right now.

Maybe that will change Stephen Ross's tune. And then I'll give you a few more teams where I just don't know if the job's going to be open or I don't know if Harbaugh wants to go there. Like, if Brandon Staley is a disappointment again, I know the Chargers, Sean Payton wanted to go there, and now he's with the Broncos.

If Brandon Staley stinks this year with all the talent that they have, that's an attractive job. And I would think Jim Harbaugh would want that job, but is the Spanos family going to pay up for Jim Harbaugh? The Raiders, they were linked to Jim Harbaugh a few years ago. They ended up going with Josh McDaniel's. If Josh McDaniel's is out of a job this year, maybe Jim Harbaugh gets the offer from the Raiders.

But I kind of feel like McDaniel's, even though I don't expect big things from him this year, is going to be back with the Raiders because Mark Davis likes him. And then I'll give you two more teams here, Hickey, and I want to get your thoughts on these two teams. What about Cleveland? Cleveland has a lot of talent.

If they don't make the playoffs this year, I think Stefanski's gone. That's an attractive job, even though you probably can't trust a quarterback. And you look at Deshaun Watson, though, if he is able to get back to former, he was a few years ago.

This is a guy that was the top five, top seven quarterback in football. And I don't think you get a lot of control there when you look at Tampa Bay, the other team that I'll throw out there. But does anyone think that Todd Boles is actually going to be back as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next year? So those are some teams that I'll throw out.

I think the most likely is the Washington commanders, but probably the most intriguing, the L.A. Chargers and then also the Cleveland Browns. You said the word control, which I think is really important because I think that's part of the reason why he's not gotten an NFL job yet is because he does, when he's at the 49ers, had a lot of success. He was kind of running the show and part of the reason why he got run out of town was he wanted more control. So I got a team like the Raiders where, look, Mark Davis was not shy, basically. I mean, he handed over power to Josh McDaniels because Dave Zeigler and McDaniels work together. So it's basically you're hiring your guy.

So you're giving on the power to kind of go all in. I wonder if things don't work out in Las Vegas. That could be a team I can look at.

But, you know, I don't think it will happen. Clean house and you bring horrible in and either he brings his own guy in or he runs a show. They had to pay John Gruden money. I don't know how many years are on the contract for David Zeigler and also Josh McDaniels, but they're both in year two of this. That's a lot of coaches to be paying with how much money you're going to have to shell out for Jim Harbaugh. And there's always questions about Davis's financial state. Well, in order to win, you've got to spend, right?

Well, he spent. I'll say to Mark, it can't be now closing the or pulling the purse strings now and things are kind of getting a little rough. But I think with how much they've spent on not only John Gruden with that ridiculous contract, but then also Josh McDaniels.

That's why I do believe McDaniels will be back next year to start year three, regardless of how this year plays out. All right. This is Zach Yelp show on CBS Sports Radio. We will take a break. We'll talk about Hickey's favorite topic next. And that's the betting odds where Jonathan Taylor is going to land this year.

If he does get traded, we'll explore those. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. I'm going to preface this by saying I've not heard the audio yet, but a few people, Hickey, this morning were texting me that Andrew Bogusch was taking a run at you on the morning show when he was filling in for D.A.

Taking a run at me for what did I do now? So the way that this was described to me, and I don't know if this information is good or not, but multiple people have said it to me. They do that sounds of Saturday segment, I believe it's called.

Yes, sir. Where they have a college play by play voice on from each and every school or the big schools that are talking points heading into the season. And your Penn State Nittany Lions are a big talking point. And you know, when someone gives you a compliment, but it could also be interpreted as a diss? I think from what I was told, I have not heard this yet, but just what people told me is that Bogusch kind of gave you a compliment. But it could also be interpreted as a diss where they were playing your audio of you walking out of the Rose Bowl as drunk as a skunk saying, Hey Sean Clifford, thank you for coming back. No big deal, no big deal, no big deal.

Penn State, I'll be in the college football playoff next year. No big deal, no big deal, no big deal. And I believe Bogusch said Hickey had a great take, but his best takes are his drunk takes. So he was basically saying you could only give a good take from the person or the multiple people that were describing this to me. Earlier this morning when they were texting me that Bogusch is basically saying you only give good takes when you're drunk.

Because that Penn State take, even though they haven't accomplished anything yet, there's a lot of buzz around the Penn State Nittany Lions entering the season, Hickser. A few things. Number one, I mean, I guess, thank you. Number two, I disagree highly with that is I don't give many drunk takes and usually they're in the moment. I don't know, you do a lot of drinking these days.

I would say sober me is definitely wiser and smarter than drunk me. And finally, did he do this when Steve Jones is on the air? I think it was like teasing the segment.

That would be not a good look. Do you know Steve? I do, I took his class. Oh, did you really? No, he doesn't probably know me, but I do know Steve and I did. Yes, I was one of his students back to date myself here, maybe eight years ago, nine years ago.

You're not an old man, though. So not a great look as a former student to have Steve hear that, but does not take away the hype. Let's just play a little game here. Were you drunk or sober when you said these things? Baker Mayfield and the Panthers last year were going to be a playoff team. Last year I was sober. OK, the Denver Broncos were going to win the Super Bowl and Nathaniel Hackett was going to be a top three coach of the year candidate. Last year I was sober. OK, your take of Penn State being a college football playoff team for next season when you said it last year? When I said it the first time, I was drunk.

Now I've repeated it multiple times. Sober, mind you. I'm just saying right there out of three opportunities, sober, sober, bad take, bad take, drunk. Looking like an OK take right now, not a take that you're going to be shredded for. Well, hopefully not. I mean, you got to play like it, but long way to go.

But hopefully, hopefully I do turn out right. You know, I hope, you know what, I hope come December, early January, I hope Bogusch is right that that take actually stands up. And I look like Nostradamus a year ago, drunk as a skunk, walking out of the Rose Bowl and knowing this was just the beginning. So your expectations at the Rose Bowl was Penn State be a college football playoff team this year.

Have they altered at all before this season is about to start? Like all they have to do is just get into the college football playoff and this is a successful season in your mind. Yes, I'm not saying they're going to win the national title or that they're better than Georgia or even Michigan. 11-1, two big 10 teams in the college playoff. That is my expectation.

Anything from there is house money. Man, you would be so insufferable, so insufferable if Penn State got to the college football playoff. I am warning you now. Absolutely. Absolutely. Selection Sunday, December, what would that be, 8th, maybe 4th, whatever the date is. Yeah, but you know before.

The next day. Well, well, you got to see how things play out. You got to see how conference championships go.

If they're not in the Big Ten title, if they are, do they win it? I'm not going to put the cart before the horse. I'm just going to say if it happens, look out. Okay. Look out.

Look out. I'll tell you how it's going to sound. I told you folks, I finally got one right. My team, Penn State, we are. Here we go. College football playoff. Yeah.

That's what it will sound like. You could clip that, by the way, and we could compare it to the video if Penn State does make the college football playoff this year. Would you go to the college football playoff? Oh, yeah. We're already talking about going to the Big Ten title game if they make it. We've gone the last time they made it.

Indy is a beautiful city. Yeah. So that trip, this could be very potentially, potentially, not putting the cart before the horse, not guaranteeing anything. I'm a little superstitious. This could be a pretty pricey fall if things go the way I hope and plan they do.

Now, I think you have to be careful here. I don't think you could miss too many hick at night shows and just go off for Penn State games. Like there's been times where I had to miss a lot of football games because you're trying to build a career out for yourself.

So I think actually going to the games, we have to take a little bit of a back seat this year potentially. And I think you should be leading the charge on the radio show on Friday into Saturday nights when you're on 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern. What do you think about that? I will see. We'll see how it goes. I think I can do both. Also, this is a year that I've never seen before.

Who knows? Next time I'll see it again. You got to put the career first. Strike when the iron is hot. You got to put the career first. Got to put the career first. That's just the way that I would go.

Alrighty. Odds right now to land Jonathan Taylor. Dolphins plus 250, Bears plus 400, Ravens plus 700, Broncos plus 750, Cowboys plus 750, Commanders, Bucks, Bills, all plus 1,000, Vikings plus 1,500, and plus 2,000, Panthers, Eagles, Bengals, if Jonathan Taylor gets traded hickey.

Who's the best destination? Where do you think he'll go? If he's traded, big if, it's the Bears. They have the most draft capital. They're going to be the worst out of that group. So you get the highest pick. They're more likely, you would think, to par with either a second or first since they have multiple of both in 2025. I'm going, or I guess 2024, Bears. Yesterday my take was three teams I would consider doing it. It would be the Eagles, it would be the Bears, and then it would also be the Miami Dolphins.

I think the Eagles absolutely should, though, be the number one destination. Where you look at their running back room. Yes, they went out and got DeAndre Swift. Yes, they got Rashad Penny. You have a lethal offense.

You're in a win now mode. You just got to a Super Bowl. Imagine giving Jonathan Taylor, Jaylen Hertz, Jonathan Taylor with A.J. Brown, Devante Smith, Dallas Goddard, and you can make DeAndre Swift as your second running back with the best offensive line in football.

Howie Rosebun leaves no stone unturned. I would give up the draft capital and give him a four-year contract. $13-14 million a year. Guarantee like $25-26 million and go all in on JT if I'm the EAGLES Eagles and go win that Super Bowl this year. Bears would be fun, though, because you get Justin Fields another weapon. You have D.J. Moore, then you get Jonathan Taylor, that'd be a good one. And the Dolphins have been all in as well. Coming on back, Merrill Hodges will join us.