Does Deion Need To Win Bowl Game? (Hour 3)

Alrighty, rocking and rolling, hour number three of our radio program.

It is the Zach Gelb show, Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. Coming up 20 minutes from now, we remember Bobby Knight, who passed away yesterday, Coach Knight, and we do so with Dusty May, who's the head basketball coach at FAU. Last year, we all remember their great story to the Final Four, and Dusty May did attend Indiana, and he was able to work a little bit with Coach Knight as a graduate assistant, also a student manager as well. So we'll talk with Coach May coming up 20 minutes from now, as you remember the life of Bobby Knight. Let's go back to yesterday though, and I want to have a conversation about two things here with the Colorado football program. Number one, let's hear the AD at Colorado, Rick George. When I asked him, does Colorado, who is two wins away from bowl eligibility, do they need to get these final two wins of the season in their last four games for this season to be considered a success?

This is what Rick George had to say. No, I think this year Coach brought a team together in a short period of time, and I think what he's done already has been significant, and I think what we'll do in the next four games and in recruiting, will set us up again for the next year, and I believe that we'll be in a bowl game. So I understand what he said at the end, that they believe he'll be in a bowl game. You know that the NCAA is begging Colorado to find a way to win two out of their last four games to get to bowl eligibility, because if you're a bowl site, and a lot of these bowl games now, they're lame, they're irrelevant. Yeah, they mean more for the student athletes, so I do have compassion there, because for a lot of these kids, it's the last time they're going to play football at a competitive level, or it's a cool bonding experience with your teammates, but the way that the NCAA structure now with the college football playoff, like you could watch the Rose Bowl last year, where it's not a part of the college football playoff, and you have Utah going up against Penn State, and people are like, oh it's the granddaddy of them all, it's the Rose Bowl, because that's what we kind of grew up with, that was the tradition, but now in the year of 2023, or ever since the installment of the college football playoff, if you're not in one of the college football playoff games, and you're a big-time program, I don't think the Rose Bowl means as much as it once did. Now if you're a group of five school, well outside of the year Cincinnati got to the college football playoff, you don't really have a legit chance to win a championship, so for the group of five schools, getting to a new year's six bowl means everything, but like let's say if Florida State, for example, this year drops a game, doesn't get an invite into the college football playoff, and they're in one of the new year's six bowl games, they may celebrate like it's a big deal, but a lot of those kids don't want to play in the game, or no, man, we missed a golden opportunity to be in the two, three games that actually matter, and that's a two semi-final game, and also the national championship, but when you look at a school like Colorado, their bowl game would matter, because every game that Deion Sanders coaches in, Coach Prime participates in, it matters because it's a big story in college football, and remember Colorado, who hired Deion Sanders, and they were the school that said, okay we're gonna do this, other schools tried, like TCU tried, but a school like Colorado was the one that was able to secure the big fish, I would imagine they didn't even think, like Rick George, if he was being honest, and I told him you guys would have five wins this year, would you believe it, which is not like this big bar, you're not even over 500, but when you were one win a year ago, and you overhauled like 80% of the roster, and then you start the year off three and oh, like we all said, eventually they're gonna start losing games, but they weren't expected to beat TCU, they weren't expected to beat Nebraska, and when you start off strong like that two and oh, and then you start to see some signs that they're just not ready against Colorado State, but then you win that game, and then you get embarrassed by Oregon, then you save face against USC with a good second half, you barely beat Arizona State, you're up 29 to nothing against Stanford, and you blow that game, and then you just lost to UCLA, and rather a boring game 28 to 16, even though no one would have said before the year, I expect Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes to get to a bowl game, no one would have said that, like I said, I remember doing the show over the summer at some point, when I was filling in on this time slot, and you said to me like, what is a successful season in your eyes for Colorado, and I said four or five wins, and I go, I think they're going to get four or five wins, and I was on like an island, like people said to me, what are you crazy, four or five wins, and to your credit, you were like the one person that said they got to get to bare minimum a bowl game, I think you even said seven or eight wins, and that was inconceivable to me, because their offensive line was going to be a problem, and you even saw it in the first game, they just made up for it because they had so much speed against TCU, but their offensive line, and their offensive line play is not built to be a consistent winner in college football for an entirety of the season, now if Travis Hunter didn't get hurt, maybe you win one of those games that he sat out for, and Chadore Sanders looks like when he wants to be, he'll be a top 15 pick in the NFL draft, Shiloh Sanders has been a really good play, you've had some good wide receivers running back, all that stuff, but even though this is not sexy, it's what wins in football, and that's the battle in the trenches, and I don't care how much speed you have, how good your quarterback is, if you don't have the the dogs up front, eventually it's going to catch up to you, because like look in the NFL, the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, when did he lose against the Giants, against the Ravens, against the Jets, even that Eagle Super Bowl, when he threw for 505 yards in a losing effort, when did he lose, when finally Philadelphia got to the quarterback, because I don't care how mobile you are, or if you're a statue, no quarterback, even if you embrace getting hit, no quarterback actually enjoys getting hit, and we even saw it last week, where Coach Prime afterwards, like yeah, I'm gonna go get new offensive linemen, because he knows his son, even though he looks like he's having fun, and he's playing well this year, his son could play a lot better, and look how much we're praising him already with an offensive line, so I'll just ask this question, is it a disappointment, and we asked it to Rick George, if Colorado doesn't get to a bowl game, it's so tough, because of where we were before the season, but once you start three and oh, I'm thinking you're gonna find three more wins on that schedule with 12 games that you play, so yes, it would be a disappointing season in terms of they didn't get to a bowl game, but it does not make this season a failure, because this is year one, and we live in an impatient society, where we expect things to just change overnight, and that's usually not the case when it comes to football programs, so it's a, it's weird to say it, because it can be successful and disappointing, like for Colorado, they've been talked about more than they've ever been talked about, you know, back in, you know, you know, since the 90s, right, but last 15 years, no one's talked about Colorado football, other than, oh, this team stinks up, they fired a coach, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, now everyone's talking about them, this year they became a national brand, and it's weird that you could still say, yeah, but you walk away from the season saying, I can't believe they didn't make a bowl game, and here's the problem with, with the whole setting the expectations the way Dion is setting them, yes, everyone was talking about Dion and Colorado, because they were winning, because they looked good, yes, they're flashy, yes, they're fun, but everyone's still talking about them now, and they're losing, they lost four to the last five, we're still talking about them, but we're not talking about them the way we were talking about them after three weeks, well, sure, absolutely, because they've lost games, but that's my point is, yes, they're flashy, they're fun, they're new age, right, they're young, they're vibrant, they have all that stuff, they're an easy team to root for, yes, but there's also a whole contingent that does not like that style, does not like the way they present themselves, does not like, what's wrong with the style, not their style of play, they just talk, they talk crap, but they don't even talk crap about other teams, they're just cocky, and a lot of people don't like that, a lot of people don't like the way they present themselves, and handle things, and deal with things, now I have no problem with it, right, no, no, I agree, I love it too, but there are people who don't, and I think that the people who love it, can do it, and love it, because they're winning, and they can be fun, they can be energetic, they can be interesting, but if they're not winning, none of that matters, if they're going four and ten, or four and eight every year, if they're winning four, five, six games in the Big 12, if they're not even contending, I don't care how fun Dion is, I don't care how good their locker room presence is, and how much pizzazz they have, it doesn't matter, this is year one though, right, so on his scale, like you said, yes, they go from a one win team, to it's now early November, they already had four wins, they got four wins on October 7th, so on that scale, in one breath, it's like, wow, that is a successful season, but then it's like, you're right, when you start off three and oh, expectations change, and after three and oh, if we did like a poll, because right, all these radio shows, we all love polls, polls, polls, polls, polls, polls, we have a poll about Turkey, yes, but we'll get to that in just a second, we are a very serious radio program here, if we did a poll after three and oh, it would be like 90% of the people that said they would get three more wins and go to a bowl game, and if Santa, if you got on the radio, and you said, I don't think Colorado's going to a bowl game, two things would have been said about you, oh, you're just doing this for clicks, or you're just a hater, but you may end up being right, because even though Rick George gets on the show, and I appreciate him coming on, and he says, yeah, we're going to get in a bowl game, all right, you beat Oregon State this weekend, I don't think so, you could beat Arizona, you have Washington State okay, and then Utah, like it's not murderer's row, but you have a lot of good teams this year in the Pac-12, and what you've displayed the last five weeks is, you could play a good half, like you could play a good second half against USC, but for a full 60 minutes, you know, Shadore Sanders could only take you so far when he's getting his brains beat at him, because he has no offensive line right now. Well, and listen, I mean, I just go to that Arizona game real quick, Arizona just beat Oregon State, Washington State, lost by two at USC, and lost by a touchdown to Washington. Arizona is a legitimate team that could be ranked.

And to be clear, they're five and three, but when you look at the other opponents, Oregon State right now is ranked 16th in the country, I know Washington State has fallen off, they're four and four, but at one point we were talking about them legitimately, and now they're on a four-game losing streak, and it's like Utah, Kyle Whittingham's one of the most respected coaches in the country. Right, so like I can definitely see them getting to that bowl game, and here's the difference though, there's expectations that we set as a public, or as a media, or as fans, and then there's expectations that Deion sets, and Deion sets things at a different level, and we all laughed at Deion for what he said he could do, or will do, and this and that, and he ends up proving us wrong game in and game out, year after year, Deion does things that he says he's going to do, and he impresses, and he goes above and beyond. So them making a bowl game, fine, great, if they miss a bowl game, it's a huge shot against Deion, not because of what they did last year, and the turnaround they had this year, it's because of what he says, and what he promises, and what he guarantees, and what he demands from himself, and from his team, and if they don't make a bowl game, it's gonna put a little bit of egg on his face, not full egg on his face, but if they don't do it again next year, well because here's why, Deion will just say, I don't care about the bowl junk that you say, I could hear him saying it right now, that's number one, he's gonna come out and say, we failed, and we embarrassed ourselves, he's gonna say that, fine, and they have a standard, but I think most people once again look at this, and they go, it's cut, I know this does not make for good radio, but it's kind of both, where yes, it's disappointing you didn't make a bowl game, but let's also acknowledge, this was a program that had one win the year before, everyone crushed you for the way that you went about building this team, and you made them one of the more talked about teams in college football this year, and a team that let's say won five games and missed the bowl game by one game, so I don't like to dip my toe like on both, like well, I don't even know what I'm about to say, I don't like to double dip here, but it is one of those arguments where you have to double dip. No, I understand, you don't want to straddle the fence, you want to take a side, that's what I was looking for, straddle the fence, listen, sometimes you kind of have to, because I'm gonna dip my toe in both sides of the water, but that would be very tough, even with my long legs, yeah, if you dip your toe in both sides of the water, then you fall in the water, yeah, I agree with you that it's not a death nail for the program if they don't make a bowl game, but my point is, all the fun, all the pizazz, all the, you know, celebrities on the sideline, and all the pump up of this program becomes nothing if they end up not winning consistently. Well, you don't think they'll be back next year?

I do. Okay, so off of that, how long do you think this lasts though? Because that's the other thing, you may just need this to be an express shot, and it's like two, three years, and then he bolts to another job, which we see all college coaches do, and there's nothing wrong with it, because Colorado is not this behemoth job. No, but it's, listen, it's a big market, and it's in a big area that loves football, and that they've been craving football, so it has a chance of being, I mean, they've, were national championship contenders for years in the 90s, with Cordell, and for Sean Salaam, and those guys, and Michael Westbrook, but my point is that not making the bowl game this year is not a death nail for the program, but they have to win to make all of Dion's brashness actually translate to recruiting, to all the things that he's been promising. So have they won enough this year? Not yet, but they've done enough to put the program on the map.

To make you at least become potentially a believer. Correct. Good, that's all I ask of them this year. To get recruits in there and everything, so they've done enough already, yes, to get that.

And kids are gonna want to be a part of this. They want to be a part of it, however, if they miss a bowl game this year, and they don't win, or at least contend for a Pac-12 championship next year, then we start to question, okay, Dion is great at pumping you up, but he's not great at getting you over the hump. Well, I think once again, that goes back to the standard. Like, he sets the standard.

Wait, but hold on. That team- I'm holding him to his standard. No, no, no, but that team, no one looked at this year and expected much out of them. So we're talking about next year now too. I know, but when he's already done with this team, it is a good coaching job. Real quick, because I know we got to get to a break.

I just want to play this back. How about Dion Sanders staying long term? This was the AD of Colorado with us yesterday, Rick George. Before he got here, we had a really candid discussion about what Colorado was, what we had, what we didn't have. And my job is to make sure that he has the resources necessary to win a national championship and to win a Big 12 championship next year. And, you know, I have high expectations that he'll be here for a while.

And I would hope that he would be here for a long time. Do you genuinely believe that he will never consider the NFL when they come calling this off season? You know, I believe what he says. You know, he does what he says he's going to do.

And if that's what he says, I believe him. So the NFL part, I don't think Dion's going to the NFL, but let's see what happens when those calls come. On the other side, though, like what happens if A&M fires Jimbo Fisher this year? What happens if Michigan has Jim Harbaugh leaving and the sanctions aren't as bad as what people think? And Michigan comes calling for Dion.

Those are two jobs, enormous jobs. And you then have the resources of A&M and Michigan. I do think Dion's back next year with Colorado, but after that, I don't know how long he's going to be there. And the big thing for me is what happens this off season and how many teams come calling this off season? Because that will set the tone for years and years to come. Because if two teams come calling this off season, at least four will be come calling next off season.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We look back at the life of Coach Knight who passed away yesterday at the age of 83 with someone that knew him when he was at Indiana and he was a student at Indiana, of course, talking about Dusty May. And he was a student manager for Coach Knight.

And Dusty May now is, of course, the head basketball coach at FAU and just took Florida Atlantic to the Final Four last year. Imagine you're looking at a balancing scale with everything you do for other people on one side and everything you do for yourself on the other side. If it isn't balanced, maybe it's time to spend a little more time on you. And therapy is a great place to start. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can help you find that balance and stick to it. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp.com slash positive. Hey, everyone, you've probably heard us talking about magnificent jerk. It's a story about discovering family secrets buried in a low budget 90s thriller starring Rob Lowe and Ice-T. Magnificent Jerk takes you on a journey through Chinatown gangs, drug robberies, Hollywood reinvention, and a family confronting its unspoken past.

It's the true story about a fake story about a real life. Magnificent Jerk is an Apple original podcast produced by Pineapple Street Studios. All episodes are available now. Follow and listen on Apple podcasts. We continue this Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. We've all seen the news by now. Yesterday, the legendary coach Bobby Knight passed away at the age of 83. Let's go out to the guest line right now and welcome in the head basketball coach at FAU. We all remember their great run from a year ago into the final four in the NCAA tournament.

And now they're ranked number 10th in the country to start off this basketball season. And coach Dusty May is with us, who was a student manager for coach Knight at Indiana. He's kind enough to join us right now. Coach, appreciate the time.

Sorry to do it under these circumstances. My condolences to you and your family. And I appreciate you joining us today. Well, I appreciate you having me on, Zach. It's been an odd last 12 to 24 hours where you reconnect with so many people, sharing stories and experiences. But once again, just trying to celebrate coach Knight's life and the impact he had on a lot of us. When you got the news yesterday, and like you said, a lot of people reach out and you reflect, you know, he is 83 years old when he passes away. So there's a lot of years and a lot of great memories to celebrate. But what was that immediate thought?

And what were some of those memories that came back to mind? Well, well, I was actually at the Heat game and I started getting a wave of text messages. So when that happens, typically it's a group chat going wild.

But in this case, it was more just guys started immediately sharing stories and even pictures of letters. And I think when you work for someone as great as Coach Knight, just obviously we played a very, very small, small role in the program's success. But you have a common bond that you went through something that's very difficult. I mean, the thing with Coach Knight, he was so demanding on everyone around him. And so everyone there has went through a very difficult experience. But also we're all aware that we wouldn't be where we are without it. And he prepared us for what was next.

And we're all very, very grateful just to have, like I said, a small piece in Indiana basketball history. With what you just said, how do you look back at your experience with him? Just wondering. Well, I think I don't want to say I would have a 0% chance to be where I am now. But I would say it's more likely a 0.001% chance of being where I am today. If I didn't have that experience of working for Coach Knight. Every job I got, it was the thing that opened the door. And the thing that gave me credibility. Because if you can work in the environment that Indiana, that demanding, that was ahead of the curve in so many areas at the time. Then you could bring something positive to the table at your next job.

So especially for someone like myself with no background, no connections. Him having his name on a resume or him making a phone call carried a lot of weight. Talking to Dusty May right now, remembering Coach Bobby Knight, who passed away yesterday at the age of 83. So when you get to Indiana and you're a student manager for him, he's king.

Like he is the guy, right? The God on that campus. What do you remember about your first time meeting Coach Knight? Just how intimidating he was.

And obviously as a manager, you want to have a relationship with the coaches. But I think I was so terrified. I just wanted to be unseen. Just please don't do anything to screw this up and stay out of the way until you get a little bit of confidence around him.

And I'm not usually starstruck. But Coach Knight, because he's so imposing, he definitely has you walking around on eggshells a lot of the days. Did you ever kind of see a side of him where he kind of warmed up to you and he kind of mentored you a little bit and showed you actually some love? Because I know a lot of times it's tough love. But was there ever like a calmer side to Coach Knight behind the scenes?

Of course. And I spent a couple of summers working in the office answering the phone and getting ready for basketball camp and helping with the camps and whatnot. So you got to see all sides of coach. But, you know, most of the time it was more of he would ask a question and then he would challenge you to go find the answer and he'd make comments. You know, that's the problem with you young guys these days.

You're not curious enough or you're not inquisitive enough or whatever the case. And it was always just to challenge us to learn, to grow and to be probably more inquisitive than anything else. But I just looked at it as every single day I have an opportunity to go in and observe at a world class performer and learn and take notes.

And so I knew I was aware that I wasn't very important in the scheme of things, but I was also going to take advantage of that opportunity. I saw an interview that you did. I think it was actually a few months ago when, you know, any one, any time that you're doing an interview, eventually coach Knight is going to come up. And you were you were discussing these three by five note cards and all the notes that you guys would have to take. And you still have some of his notes right now.

Tell us a little bit more about that. Well, coach Knight first of all had a system for everything. And there's a checklist for every bag for every road trip for the carts of practice. So one of the responsibilities as a manager, everyone at all times, you're dressed in the same uniform, the gray shirt, red shorts, candy striped socks. And at that time, Converse shoes. And then in your pocket, you had a three by five note card.

You had three by five note cards with black or red or both flare pins. So at any time he asked you to do something, it's kind of like when you're at a restaurant and the waiter tries to memorize your order. Well, that's not impressive if you get the order, you just get food, right? So it's kind of same thing where he told you to do anything. You wrote it down.

So you made sure you got it done properly and correctly. And then even with that, when he gave you an assignment, we typically didn't leave the building until the assignment was done. He'd give you a video project.

And that was before technology is what it is now. And we would stay all night to finish the project just because you didn't know he may ask for it in a week. He may ask for it the next morning. But we knew that if we wanted to have to earn his trust to have responsibility, that we needed to have it ready when he asked again. So so many important lessons, but the sense of urgency that we had to work with, obviously prepared us all for what was next. I'm sure there was a lot of people on Indiana's campus that were like, I want to be a part of the basketball program. Oh, I want to be a student manager.

How did you get through to eventually become a student manager? Well, I played Division Two one year. And at that time, there weren't walk-ons. There weren't video coordinators. So the managers, there's a hierarchy system back then where the senior managers were essentially Director of Operations video coordinators. Junior managers were phasing into that.

And then freshmen and sophomore managers did the more menial tasks. But I had done some work for Dr. Larry Rink. And he followed high school basketball closely in the area and knew me. And he always said, if you want to coach, you need to go work for Bob. Obviously, I never called him Bob.

But he'd say, you need to go work for Bob. And so that was always kind of in the back of my mind. And I wanted to be a high school coach in Indiana. So I thought that was the best way for me to get a varsity coaching position in the state of Indiana at a young age.

And from there, some opportunities opened up to be in college. But yeah, my sole reason for going to Indiana was to learn from Coach Knight. Coach Dusty May here with us from FAU.

They did go to the Final Four last year. As everyone remembered, and he was a student manager for Coach Bobby Knight. Yeah, I'm just wondering, Coach, because the film sessions we always hear were legendary and so detailed oriented.

I wasn't able to be a fly on the wall during that time. But how would you kind of look back at the film session still to this day with Coach Bobby Knight? Well, he used film daily in a way to teach the game at a deeper level. And he was just so clear and concise with his words, with his messaging. He was a master teacher and he could make complex basketball concepts seem really simple. And, you know, he studied the game. He always, it was amazing who he had around the program.

I remember just being a fly on the wall around Pete Newell or Tony La Russa or Mark McGuire. He just, there were always athletes, businessmen. And he was searching for a better way at all times. So, I mean, I think part of my growth as a coach has just been trying to learn from different people and different businesses and fields. And he was doing that way back when. I mean, I remember Rick McCharris spending a week just watching practice. So you'd have all these guys that were at the top of their field come in to watch the way he taught practice and conducted and ran a program and conducted workouts.

So if they're all doing that, obviously we were gaining something pretty valuable from it. Yeah, I'm not comparing my experience to your experience, but I got a chance to intern for the legendary radio host in Philadelphia, Angelo Cataldi. And I'll never forget being around him and we've become very close. And you're right. Like what you were saying earlier, you get afraid at the moment to do something wrong.

And it's an intimidating setting, but it makes you so much better. Was there one moment, I'm sure there's more than one moment where you're like, oh my goodness gracious, Bob Knight, I just got yelled at. He doesn't like me. Was there a low moment for you when dealing with coach Bobby Knight? No, there were several teachable moments that I still used to this day, but there would be examples where he would be on the phone. And a lot of people wanted his time and attention. And maybe I went put gas in his car and I put his keys on his desk or whatever the case. And then an hour later he calls, where are my keys?

You never gave them to me. And it was always just a matter of like, he had a lot going on. But no, you learn to think ahead and try to have every problem solved. But that's what he taught you to be thinking ahead.

And I know as I have three young sons, as being around teenagers and young people, if you can think ahead and problem solve and anticipate, then you're probably way ahead of the game in today's climate. So before we let you run, let's say 20 years from now, someone comes up to you and they're like, I've never seen coach Bob Knight before. I've never seen him coach. I don't know much about him. How would you describe him? So that person gets a real understanding of the legend that he was. Oh, wow.

That's a great question. He's such an intimidating, imposing figure. I always tell people jokingly that when you see him, he looks like a big grizzly bear. He's huge.

And he's about as intimidating as a grizzly bear. But his ability to elevate the focus, intensity, attention in any room that he went into was something that I don't think I've seen since he can walk into a building with 10,000 people and 10,000 people would be on pins and needles, just anxious to see what he had to say, what he did, how he moved. So just a really unique situation where because of this stature that he had created because of success and how he was, everyone was just curious of what he was going to do next. And he was fascinated. And you know this when you're in the moment coaching like you're so wired on not only day to day, but second to second where sometimes you don't you're not able to have an appreciation for what you're doing and all the people that you're impacting.

I thought it was awesome. Now, looking back at it even more than a few years ago, he finally did go back to Assembly Hall because that reaction that he got that day from the fans and then also having his players and you saw the emotion from him. It was just so special. Well, as a young coach, relatively young coach, I think I aspire to have to have the type of impact on the players that he had on his. The guys would come back 20 years later and what he did for them, it was a lifelong relationship. As soon as they were done, their eligibility was up.

He worked harder for them then, whether it's help them get a job, get into coaching, get into professional sports, whatever it was, they had him for life. And that's something that our staff, we strive to do to make sure our players know that we're going to try to prepare them for what's next, but also we're going to be in the corner for the rest of their lives hopefully. Last thing I'll ask you, just getting it to your team here in the year of 2023, we all remember the great run from a year ago. Expectations are sky high. You guys are ranked 10th in the country right now before the season tips off.

You know how this works though. Everyone appreciated what you did last year. Everyone was loving you last year. Now you guys have a target on your back and everyone's going to give you their best game when they go up against you.

And if you lose a few games, people are going to be like, oh, was it a one-year wonder for FAU? What's your message this year, Coach Dusty May, to your basketball team before the season tips off? Well, as it's early November, our message is that we weren't a very good basketball team last year on November 1, and we're not a very good basketball team in November 1, 2023. We've got a long way to go. We have to get better quickly. And it's going to be a roller coaster ride because of how we scheduled. But we're excited for the challenge. Obviously, we can't be the team we were in April now, but we've got to try to, I guess, trace the footprints that we took to get to that point. So it's not going to be easy. We understand what kind of task is in front of us, but we're excited for the challenge. And then last thing, and then we'll let you run, Coach Dusty May.

I really appreciate the time. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this. I know you probably have a ton, but is there one moment for you that's your favorite coach Bobby Knight moment? Wow. You know, my moment, I grew up in a small rural community in Indiana, and he would bird hunt, and he had a favorite restaurant there. So he would typically mess with me about Salisbury, Indiana, because he had a couple of spots there, and very few people even knew that the town existed.

So usually, he would give me a hard time about Rusty Dusty from Salisbury. So those were the times I got a good laugh. Well, good luck this season. Once again, my condolences to you on the loss of someone that's really near and dear to your heart, and I appreciate you carving out some time. I'm sure we'll be talking to you throughout the season. Thanks so much. I appreciate it, Zach.

There he is, Coach Dusty May, joining us the day after the legendary coach Bobby Knight unfortunately did pass away yesterday at the age of 83. Some really good stories there. Before we get to the break, make sure you stream the NFL in Westwood One for free, sponsored by AutoZone all season long. You can listen to every Westwood One broadcast of the NFL Live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports or on the Odyssey app. Get in the zone, AutoZone.

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Here's Rich Ackerman. Week 11 of the 2017 season, the Steelers dominated Tennessee by a score of 40 to 17 to improve to 8 and 2. Big Ben led the way, completing 30 of 45 passes for 299 yards. Gonna get another yard.

Come on. And four touchdowns up against the Titans. And for Tennessee, Marcus Mariota threw four interceptions and was sacked five times. Geez, that's brutal. Four interceptions in the game and was sacked five times. Geez Louise.

Uh, real quickly, Stu, let me ask you this. Tonight, Al Michaels, he's not had many of these great Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football games. Last year, he had a lot of bad ones and this year he's had a lot of bad ones. And a lot of people have been critical of the legendary Al Michaels where he just doesn't seem into it or he's lost some speed on his fastball when he's announcing these games. Does this game tonight, Tennessee against Pittsburgh, provide an exciting game for Al Michaels? Is this another one of those games where it's like, ooh, in the third or fourth quarter, you're saying, I still got to talk, but you're counting down the 60 minutes of the entirety of the actual game and you're hoping this thing goes to triple zeros really soon?

I think it'll be the latter. I think there'll be a lot of counting down and waiting for this match to be over. I don't know if Titans to this point does it for Al Michaels.

It does it for some people, but I don't think it does it for Al Michaels. No, it's far from the days of calling Super Bowls. This is a pretty bad game tonight. Well, I think it might be an entertaining, I mean, Will Levitch can throw the ball deep. I think it'll be a close game. Yeah, I think it could be a good entertaining game.

I just don't think that Al Michaels gets up unless there's something crazy going on. And I don't think this game is going to give you anything crazy unless Will Levitch throws 360 yard touchdowns again. I don't think we're going to get anything wild out of him.

So we know that there's two really like there's two main players to watch tonight. Will Levitch and that storyline now getting a second career start. He should be the guy for the rest of the season. I don't care about the health of Ryan Tannehill.

Like, you know, hope he'll quickly get back, you know, to being able to play. But for the rest of the season for Tennessee, Will Levitch should be the guy coming off that four touchdown performance. One to Nick Westbrook, Akina and the other three to DeAndre Hopkins.

So I want to see what Will Levitch looks like for game number two. But then on the other side, it's TJ Watt, like the Steelers defense is damn good. Alex Highsmith is one of the more underrated defensive players in this league. And TJ Watt, it has become a two man conversation for defensive player of the year. Like earlier in the season, everyone was talking about Micah Parsons. Then the Cowboys had that stinker up against the San Francisco 49ers. So we'll see what Parsons could do this weekend up against the Philadelphia Eagles to try to get himself back in this conversation.

But when it's come to the conversation of defensive player of the year, this has been a heated and a nasty debate on social media between Browns fans and Steelers fans. And here's another isolated window where the world could just see how great of a player like, we all know TJ Watt's a great player, but you get to see it once again. And right, like a few weeks ago, Miles Garrett, even when he wasn't an isolated window, he's running from right tackle to left tackle, right tackle, left tackle, calling, causing a defensive, causing a delay a game. And then he did have that one game with the two sacks and the two force fumbles. And then he's jumping over the line to block the field goal. And then TJ Watt's have an interception as well. So this is another one of those weeks where we monitor who is the best defensive player in football. And so far this year, it's for the most part, but a two man conversation between TJ Watt and Miles Garrett.

Now, Santa, you kind of have the the really good media understanding and the producing understanding as well. If you had to set an over under for the first time that they bring up in this game, that Will Levis puts mayo in his coffee or Will Levis eats bananas and doesn't unpeel them. When do you think you'll get the cheesy TV shot of Will Levis either putting the mayo in his coffee or eating the banana with the peel on, or at least a mention of it from one of the broadcasters, maybe from the sideline. But unless it's a crazy blow out and they're just looking for things to talk about, I don't see Al Michaels or or Herbie doing it. No, I think the sideline reporter, Kaylee, I think her name is.

Yeah, I could never say her last name, but I don't see it coming from either of the two main broadcasters. Do they do a sideline hit where they're just telling the story? And if they do that, they're going to do it early first quarters. What about pregame? Does the pregame crew do it? Maybe that could be something more fun for the pregame crew. But I can still see the sideline pulling stuff like that off. I think they do it in the first half. Oh, they're going to have to.

I mean, because you're introducing the nation. Exactly. So they're going to do it early, either pregame or early in the game.

Or if they don't do it at all and it's a huge blowout, then maybe they do it later on in the game just to kind of like fill time. Now, here's the other thing to watch. You know, Ryan Hickey here at CBS Sports Radio, who used to produce me six to 10 p.m. Eastern and also host here on CBS Sports Radio. Last year, he created a big stink and he went after like Hickey's not a tough guy, but Hickey went after Tony Gonzalez. It was like week three or four.

It was I think it was the Cleveland Browns or so. He's in Cleveland and the guy's wearing gloves on the set in September. And he's like, you can't be a Hall of Fame player, you can't be the legendary tough Tony Gonzalez and be wearing gloves. And I'm like, who cares if you're cold, you're cold. Put gloves on if you got to warm up those hands because no one likes cold fingers. This year, Tony Gonzalez has not worn gloves once on every broadcast. And I kind of think Hickey got in his head. So tonight it's anywhere between 32 to 49 degrees in Pittsburgh.

That's a big range. You know, though, in Pittsburgh, it's going to be cold. It's going to be windy. The most important bet of the game tonight. Does Tony Gonzalez kind of bend the knee and go enough of that hot take Hickey guy? And he goes, I'm going back to doing what Tony Gonzalez does. And he wears gloves in the pregame because that's a big storyline for me tonight in this game. I think it goes back to the gloves if you do me, I do.

Yeah, I think he does. Like now it's the calendar is flipped to November. So now it's cold.

Yeah, kind of allowed to wear gloves. Yeah, it's not fall. It's not September anymore. The first eight weeks, though, or seven weeks of the broadcast calendar.

No gloves. It's a big difference, though, when it goes at least in the northeast here. I know it's a big difference when that calendar turns from October to November. And he's a California kid, too. I'm pretty sure Tony Gonzalez. So it's not as if he's used to the cold weather, even though he did play in Kansas City and Atlanta.

But Atlanta, they play in an indoor stadium anyway. So that's what I'm looking for tonight. TJ want to be defensive player of the year. Will Levis is there going to be a fall from grace from last week? And will Tony Gonzalez be wearing gloves on Thursday night football on Amazon Prime? That's the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. That's how we'll end our Thursday show.

There's no better way to do within that. Do I even need to give people a pick on the game tonight? I don't even know. Like after that breakdown, that comprehensive football tough guy breakdown, do I really need to give you a prediction for this game? Sure, I can't trust Tennessee. I really can't trust the Steelers offense, but this is probably a stay away game for me. When I look at the over under and I see it's 36 and a half, I'm like, oh, they're telling you this game is going to suck. But I'll lay the three points with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I think it's sloppy. I'll go 21-17 Steelers win. They cover the three point spread. We'll talk to you tomorrow in a big Football Friday show. Andrei Osivas from the Cincinnati Bengals will join us before their big game up against the Buffalo Bills. We got a lot of big games to preview tomorrow.

Of course, with the Eagles and the Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs and college football as well. Alabama's got a big one this weekend against LSU, but that's all the time we have. We out. Bye bye.

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