Sean McDermott Is Finished In Buffalo (Hour 1)

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Pre-existing conditions are not covered. Visit felixcatinsurance.com slash terms for all terms and limitations. 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 10th floor of 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, the free Odyssey app, and of course, streaming on YouTube. 855-212-4CBS is numbered to jump on in 855-212-4227. You could 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. Got Moist Mike and Stuart Kovacs along the other way, rocking and rolling all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Someone that is a mentor to me and has a new book out and is a former legendary radio host, Angelo Cataldi, will stop by 20 minutes from now and will be joined by Dan Orlovsky, the former NFL quarterback, UConn quarterback, and now superstar at ESPN.

He'll join us in the final segment of the show at 5.40 p.m. Eastern, 2.40 p.m. Pacific. We first have to start off though with the dumbest ending to a football game that I've ever seen. And I was so annoyed last night at Sean Payton, and he's lucky that Sean McDermott is now looking like he has reached his end in Buffalo, and he couldn't count as well. Because for Sean to just think with 24 seconds left in the game, and you're going to kick a field goal, if you make it, you go up by two. For you to just not simply, on third down, have your field goal kicker, well let's go out there and kick the field and kick the game-winning field goal and leave 20-something, 19, 18 seconds left on the clock, whatever it would be, and then have your defense be able to prevent Buffalo from getting into field goal range, for that to not be the move that he made, it's the definition of stupidity, and it just marinated in Jackassery.

And I think Sean is a heck of a coach, but his one flaw is that he believes he reinvented the game of football and invented the game. He believes he's the smartest guy on the field, and sometimes his hubris leads to his downfall. But for him to methodically think there, that I'm going to have Russell Wilson take a knee, and then we're going to have in 20-something seconds our kicker, who will have enough time to run onto the field, but for him to run, and then everyone gets set, and to kick a field goal, you're rushing it. And I'm sitting on my couch, I'm watching the ending of that game, and I'm like, he's going to miss it, he's going to miss it, what are they doing, are they a bunch of idiots, oh there's no way Russell Wilson is actually going to take a kneel down, oh you take the kneel, all right, let's bring on the kicker, let's bring on the fat offensive lineman, let's get the long snapper there, let's get the placeholder down. I go, there's no way this kick is going to go through, and then the kick misses, and I'm laughing, I go, how stupid can you be, like are you the dumbest coach ever for a guy that has a brain? And then there was a little yellow handkerchief on the field, little yellow flag, yeah, too many men on the field, touch the top of your cabeza, on the defense, and when that happened, I started laughing even harder, and this is not anything against the Buffalo Bills, and I've been a big Sean McDermott fan, heck even before Sean McDermott got a head coaching job, I wanted him to be the next head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles before they hired Doug Peterson, so I say this as a Sean McDermott fan, I say this as someone that knows before Sean McDermott got to Buffalo, the Bills didn't make the playoffs for 18 consecutive seasons, and ever since Sean McDermott got to Buffalo, they've made the playoffs five out of six years, and have been a contender to win it all, but last night was the end for Sean McDermott and Buffalo, last night was the last straw for Sean McDermott with the Buffalo Bills, because ever since that horrific moment where they had Kansas City on the ropes, Kansas City fell down, right, the referee is counting, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, uh-oh, Mahone stands up, Kelcey stands up, game goes to overtime, you lose in overtime, ever since they basically had Kansas City knocked out in their own building at Arrowhead, with 13 seconds remaining, and were on the verge of advancing back to an AFC Championship game, and they blew that, it's been all downhill for the Buffalo Bills, and last year they were able to have success in the regular season, but we've seen that regular season success, but come playoff time, Buffalo almost lost to Skylar Thompson, who? That's who they almost lost to, Mike McDaniel was hitting like a vape pen on the sideline, and was having Skylar Thompson be his quarterback, and you almost lost to them, and then you get back to the division around, you had the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Cincinnati Bengals just absolutely emasculated you, they eviscerated you, they embarrassed you in that football game, and a year later you knew that this season had a little bit of an ominous feel, you knew that this season wasn't expected to be all that great, but you at least thought Buffalo could be a good team, but the moments the Fon digs did what he did right before the start of the season, where there was clearly an issue with him, Josh Allen, Brandon Bean, Sean McDermott, you knew that this was going to be to some extent a bleep show this year, but even with thinking that this would be a bleep show, I didn't think the Bills would sink, I didn't think the Bills wouldn't even be able to get to the playoffs, and that's where they're trending right now, after watching that offense last night, they even fired Ken Dorsey today, the offensive coordinator, we know Leslie Frazier wasn't brought back after this season with that retirement, but you go through all that, and who are the constants that still remain? Josh Allen and Sean McDermott, well I could let you in on this secret, you know this is a big bold hot take, Josh Allen's not going anywhere, and I'm not saying that Josh Allen's perfect, I'm not saying he's exonerated of all blame, he needs to protect the football better, he needs to play better for a quarterback that is compensated as if he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but we know how this works, you don't turn on the player, you turn on the coach first, and Sean McDermott has reached his apex with the Buffalo Bills, and last night was the final straw that broke the camel's back, it's over, it's done, McDermott's time in Buffalo, it's no longer a matter of if it's coming to an end, it's just when you're going to move on from him, and I think they'll give them the courtesy to coach out the rest of the season, but even if this team does make the playoffs, they're not doing jack in the postseason, this is not going to be a team that somehow goes to this miraculous run, gets hot in the final two months of the season, and then the next thing you know we say, wow look at the Bills, they're this great story, look at the Bills, they're in the Super Bowl, oh they're hosting their first ever Lombardi Trophy, that ain't happening, and sometimes the guy that knocks down the house and starts to build it up doesn't put the finishing touches on the house, and Sean McDermott after the season should not be afforded the opportunity to continue to try to build this mansion, and we all know it, the perfect guy for Buffalo is Jim Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh has his pending issues with the Big Ten and the NCAA, we've seen Jim Harbaugh four years in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, he made three NFC title games and also got to a Super Bowl, that could be the guy that puts the roof on top of the Buffalo Bills house, that could be the guy that puts the cherry on top of the sundae, and he is a perfect fit for Bills Mafia, he is, he's a quirky football guy, that is the Buffalo Bills, and that's who the Buffalo Bills this off season, the Pagula family, if they want to bring that passionate, loyal, great fan base of the Buffalo Bills their first ever championship, they roll on in with the Brinks truck and they say, hey Jim Harbaugh, name your price, we'll all wear khakis in the organization, we'll all do push-ups, we'll all do things that make the Buffalo Bills America's team, whatever he's saying right now at Michigan, we'll do that in Buffalo, we'll go all in, because whether you like Harbaugh or not, you could all admit he knows what he's doing, he wins games in college, he wins games in the pros, and they need a guy that is a winner, and McDermott did a phenomenal job, McDermott brought passion back to that fan base, McDermott brought hope back to that fan base, McDermott made the Bills a contender, but the last two, three years, they went from being the team to just, oh, at best Buffalo could just be a good team, they've regressed ever since the craziness of blowing that game up against the Kansas City Chiefs with 13 seconds remaining, and if you think Zach, oh it's an overreaction last night, it's not, it started week one when Aaron Rodgers goes down four plays into the season, they lose, you know, I'm gonna pop champagne when they beat the Raiders and the commanders, give me a break, yeah sure, good win up against the Miami Dolphins, but it's almost as like they did pop champagne after beating the Miami Dolphins, and they haven't woke up ever since, they haven't focused ever since, you're jet lagged going to Jacksonville to go to London to play the Jaguars, you barely beat the Giants, you should have lost that game, you lose to the Patriots, I say this as a Patriot fan, my football team stinks, that's laughable, you made Mac Jones and Mike Kisecki actually look good, what am I gonna throw a parade because you you beat Tampa Bay, you'll lose to the Bengals, you'll lose to the Broncos, so right now you're sitting at five and five, McDermott's defense has not played great this year, he's now in charge of the defense, the offense looked lost without Brian Deball, as he's been with the Giants for the last two seasons, you just fired an offensive coordinator, where is this team going, and I really do believe now that they're gonna miss the playoffs, because how could I believe in them, like yeah they should get to six and five, you would think they should be able to split against the Jets and beat the Jets this weekend, but after that you play Philly, you play the Chiefs, even though I don't love the drama Dallas Choking Cowboys, and we'll get to them in just a bit, but Dallas is better, all right, maybe you get a victory against the Chargers, maybe you get a victory against the Patriots, and you get the Dolphins at the end of the year, who are going to be looking for payback, and would love to put the nail in the coffin on your season, so this Bill's team is just not moving forward, they're moving backwards, and when that happens, and I do believe Sean McDermott is deserving of another coaching job, I do believe if I was a team, and I know he's a defensive minded coach, so that's not the most attractive thing in the stupid hiring cycle, but Sean McDermott is a good coach, there's a lot of teams, and a lot of organizations that their fan bases would love to do, what Sean McDermott has done in his last six, seven seasons, where out of the last six years they've been to the playoffs, they've been a team that it feels like they've been in the divisional round weekend bare minimum each and every year, but just doing that now is not good enough, and it just shows you once again, when you have an opportunity to win, you better find a way to win, because we all thought Buffalo, oh they had this great window, oh Buffalo they had this great team, oh Buffalo is going to win a Super Bowl, that's what everyone thought, everyone in America picked them to win the championship last year, and you go from blowing that 13 second, that lead with 13 seconds left, to oh okay that stinks, but you'll be back, and you never found the way to to get to an AFC championship, or to get to a Super Bowl again since that moment when you lost to the divisional round, we all thought they bare minimum would be able to get to an AFC championship game, and it wouldn't only just be one that they were in a few years ago up against Kansas City, and they had like a nine point lead, and they blew that too, we all thought those things were going to happen, but things change, and things change rather quickly in the NFL, go ask the Texans, go ask the Jaguars, right, the Jaguars back to back years picking number one overall, they were in the playoffs the second round last year, the Texans go from the second overall pick to now they have a team that's alive to potentially make the playoffs, but this Bill's team with this regime, it's coming to a close, you need to retool it, you need to do a little bit of a reset, and it's not a hard reset, like you don't have to burn the entire thing down, you don't have to wipe clean the entire computer, but you got to get a big chip out of that computer, you need to go for a repair, and that repair unfortunately is sending Sean McDermott packing, and you need to go get the right guy, and I don't want to get rid of Sean McDermott if it means, oh we're going to try to bring in someone that is a young up and coming offensive or defensive coordinator, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is not where you're building from the ground up, you have some pieces, you still have a window, but you need a new head coach, you need a head coach with experience, you need a head coach that has won some playoff games and has coached in some big games, and out of the realistic options that are potentially out there, no one fits that definition for who the Buffalo Bills next head coach should be more than Jim Harbaugh right now, three NFC title games with the 49ers in four years, a Super Bowl appearance as well, you need a coach that knows how to win, you need a professional coach, you need a coach that has been in the league, a coach that has had success in the league and has accolades attached to his resume, so get rid of McDermott and bring the khakis to Buffalo and have Jim Harbaugh jumping through tables, hanging out with the guy in the parking lot that's throwing mustard and ketchup in everybody's face and make sure he's the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills, because if you don't do that and you run it back with McDermott, it's going to be the same old crap, and I don't want to take a gamble of, oh we hope this offensive coordinator will turn out to be something, oh we hope this defensive coordinator will turn out to be something, I need some success in the past to move the Buffalo Bills in the right direction in the future, what do you think about Jim Harbaugh potentially to the Buffalo Bills? 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227, we'll take a break, when we return on the other side, legendary Philadelphia radio host Angelo Cataldi will join us to talk about his new book.

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Find it wherever you buy laundry products. It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. You know, one of my first bosses in this business, Eric Spitz once said to me, there's a poke scale, passion, opinion, knowledge, entertainment. That last part, the E, entertainment I learned from the legendary Angelo Cataldi when I was his intern. And I don't know if there's a greater entertainer in the history of the sports radio business than my next guest. And that is the legendary Angelo Cataldi who somehow has a book out now. I'm surprised he did write this book.

It is called Loud, how a shy nerd came to Philadelphia and turned up the volume in the most passionate sports city in America. Angelo Cataldi has the book right there on our YouTube stream, which by the way Angelo, before I bring you in, I think you'll get a chuckle out of this. There is a commenter on our YouTube chat who said, Jeff Hall, who said last time I called Angelo, he told me to go to hell and hung up because you brought up, he brought up some stupid point about Brookie who was very important to you. And the great Angelo Cataldi is kind enough to join us right now. Ang, how you doing?

I'm great. Wow. I was that rude. Well, usually when I heard you say go to hell to someone, it wasn't a call. It was the one of the old bosses at WIP if we're being honest.

That happened too. Let's say I had a very chaotic 33 years in the radio business and I'm happy than not being in anymore. Now I'm in the book business.

Yes. We'll get to the book in just a second. Let me just say to make this clear, we are not talking about Spike Eskin as that boss that Angelo told to go to hell. I still want to be employed and you also had a great relationship with my current boss. Well, the thing with Spike Eskin is I realized when I was writing the book why I was so so much kinder and gentler with Spike Eskin than the others, because he saved my life, literally saved my life. We would do a photo shoot and I was supposed to be taking a big bite out of a cheesesteak.

And what happened was that the cheesesteak got stuck in my throat and I couldn't breathe. And Spike, even though he had never once in his whole life done a Heimlich maneuver, he Heimlich me back to life. And after that, Zach, it's really hard to scream at a boss when you realize the only reason you're there is because he acted quickly to save you. So maybe that's what, whatever it was, he was a very good boss and I just had a chance to talk to him over the weekend. And he's a good guy here. They're in the radio business for every guy who knows what he's doing. It is a good guy. There's about 20 who aren't.

So I was lucky with Spike. Angelo Cataldi here with us. So how a shy nerd came to Philadelphia and turned up the volume in the most passionate sports city in America. When I was around you, I never sensed that you were shy, but at that point you've already became a legend and you're already the voice of the city. So tell me how this ended up happening, where you went from being shy to maybe the most bombastic person that Philadelphia has ever seen.

I think it's safe for me to say now that the bombast was part of an act. All right. That the fact is that if you had seen me in high school, I was, well, I was the vice president of the chess club. I was not even the president. All right. So I was not even among the nerds.

Right. But then I went to journalism school and I learned how to take on a persona when I was covering players and stuff, but deep down, I just wanted to stand against the wall. I was kind of like a wallflower. When I got to radio, it became performative. I had to come on every day and connect with the Philadelphia fan base that is extremely passionate and has a lot of emotion. So I had to dig deeper and I had to be somebody that I wasn't until I became it. And after a number of years, there was a blurring between who I was and who I became on the radio. But it was part of doing the job at the best level that you can, making what you do fun. And in order to do that, you've got to make fun of people and you have to make fun of yourself. And you always had that passion. Like there's a lot of hosts that when they make it big and when they get all the success, it becomes a machine. And then they start playing point guard.

They delegate, they try to take a lot of the work off their plate and put it to other people. But for you, like when I was your intern, I never beat you into the office once. I thought you used to sleep there all the time. And you would sit there and you would write notes on that notepad and you were a workaholic. Why didn't you ever mail it in?

Just wondering. Simplest I can answer it with one word, Zach insecurity. There was never a day in all the years that I did the show on WIP radio that I felt that I had four hours of material unless I over prepare. So I mean, I came in and the last 10 years I literally scripted every segment of every shop so that I knew I would cover what I needed to cover and would not run out no matter what else happened. If I had a string of really awful callers, I had other material I could go to. I just wanted to know that when, before I started a show, I had the ingredients to do a good one. And that takes a lot of discipline and a lot of time, but it was more out of fear than any work ethic or commitment. I was just, I didn't want to be caught short.

And that was the biggest thing, right? I I'm sorry. I got my grandson in the background here. I apologize. This is a family affair, Angelo Cataldi. This is all right. There's no problem. Zach, when you retire, guess what?

The family really becomes more a part of your life, which is great till they get on your nerves. Then you'll actually be missing Andy bloom in a few weeks. That's one of the, one of the many bosses that I'm sure at some point I told to go to hell. Yeah. I actually remember one of those meetings. I was in the, the intern room and you were sitting there and you were like, I'm done.

I'm never coming back. And it was in like 2013, 2014. And you were threatening retirement then, and you didn't retire up until last year.

It's almost been a year now. Why was it time to finally hang it up and walk away? Well, long before you were there, I threatened retirement.

All right. And this is the proudest thing in the whole book. 1995, I was five years in and I couldn't stand my boss. I mean, I hated him with a passion.

His name was Tom big. And I went to my agent and my contract was running out and I said, I don't think I want to work at WIP anymore. I can't stand my boss. And he said, let me take care of it. And it's in the book because people always thought it was, uh, it was, uh, urban myth that it didn't happen in my contract.

It's sad that my boss could not speak to me. If I choose not to speak to him, that's amazing. It says it in page five of the contract and CBS was the owner back then. And CBS signed off on it.

How crazy is that? That they basically took the morning show host and made it so that he never had to speak to his own program director. That's a great accomplishment for my agent. If not me now, why did I know it was time? I didn't positively know it was time. I knew after Eagles won the Superbowl in 17, that it was safe to leave because I had experienced the ultimate, but I knew it was perfectly timed after I retired.

When at my old radio station, they decided with another one of my interns, one that I didn't like as much as you Zack, his name is Jack. I know where this is going to create a standing ovation for Trey Turner. I think it was in August when he was hitting like two 30 and it signed a $300 million contract and he wanted the whole crowd to stand and encourage this man who was stealing money from the fans pockets. And I said at the time that if I was still there, I would have done everything I could to sabotage what he was trying to do. And then it worked.

Then it worked. Then Trey Turner became the Trey Turner that was worth 300 million. And I went, oh, I'm the guy that led the boost for Donovan McNabb at the NFL draft in 1999. My days are done. That era of negativity and Philadelphia sports is changing.

And, um, I don't want to be there to see it change anymore. Angelo Cataldi here with us. You talked about the entertainment part earlier and how some of it could be an act and right. We're all performing to some extent, but we do mean what we say, even if we get carried away at some times, how do you want people to remember Angelo Cataldi? And what, what do you want them to know about the true Angelo Cataldi?

Yeah. Um, I was with a bunch of college kids last night and I said, it's not making stuff off. It's taking what you feel and amplifying it and making it more entertaining. So if you dislike a player, maybe you hate him on the air, that kind of thing.

But the thing I would like to be, you know, if I had a legacy, um, uh, it would be that I represented the amazing fans in this city more than anything else. And, you know, I got a lot of stories in this book about a guy who came into the pregame show that we had with a thousand people in a tent and cranked up a chainsaw. I got some of the sickest stuff.

You, what I have in this book is as bad as throwing snowballs at Santa, if not worse, but here's what else I have in the book. I have the story of a guy named Kenny justice, who three years before I retired called into the show at the end of his call, I just asked him where he was going. And he said, he was going for kidney dialysis in a hospital. And he told how his life was being under some duress because he had kidney failure.

And within an hour, 28 people had called a phone number to donate body parts, donate their kidneys for him. That's the other side of the passion of Philadelphia. And I want more people to understand that this lazy image of Philadelphia fans as a bunch of thugs and goons and miserable people, we are passionate. We're over the top at times, but we're just as passionate about the good stuff. It Philadelphia's got a big mouth.

It's also got a big heart. I also don't want, that's what I want to be. I don't want this to turn into where it's like, Oh, I'm kissing your ass here. And, and, and a genuflecting to Angelo Cataldi, but I really need it, please kiss it. But, but what I will say is when you were on the air in that last segment, you have 10 minutes left, right in your radio career, this speaks to the person who Angelo Cataldi is. I've never heard a radio host in their final segment, thank their interns and mentioned some of the interns like me, Colleen Wolf, Dave Uram, a few other people as well. Like that to me when people were, I was listening, but then so many people start texting me, Angelo just mentioned, Angelo just mentioned.

I'm like, why the heck is he mentioned to me when this should be all about him in the final 10 minutes of his career? And it shows how much you cared about the entire product and everyone you worked with throughout the years. That is true, but that is not what I am proud of about my final segment, Zach. I know what it is. I made it. You ripped Jonathan Gannon one last time, right?

Yes. In the final segment of 33 years, I set aside half of the segment to rip a sports figure from Philadelphia, because that is my other legacy. I let them have it.

And I am not shirking away from that. I am proud that I was able to do that, even though nowadays, apparently we applaud for losers. Zach, the reason I mentioned you guys are, you all soon, if not already, will exceed anything I ever accomplished. I am so proud of what you've done and what Colleen Wolf has done at NFL network and Mike Sealski and John Gonzalez and all the other people I got to work with. You guys are the next generation and it is time for you to take over. And I know we're in good hands.

I appreciate you saying that. Last thing I'll ask you once again, the publisher is Triumph Books. Make sure you go get it loud by Angelo Cataldi. You have a shy nerd, came to Philadelphia and turned up the volume in the most passionate sports city in America.

And Angela is holding up the book right now on our YouTube stream. If you can't hear it, see it on the radio, obviously. Last thing I want to ask you, go on one of these tours. You get asked 3000 questions. Is there anything you haven't been asked that you want to just say, OK, maybe someone should ask me about this? Like, what's the one topic that you really want to hit on? You know, I've never been asked the sports figure I like the most.

Who is that? Because I have this reputation and the sports figure I don't like, I love is Mr. Doug Peterson, the former coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, who, A, won a Super Bowl, the only one the Eagles ever won, and B, answered every question I asked after games for five years with honesty and, you know, respect for the fans. And I don't have enough time to say there were people I really admired and Doug is at the top of the list. And I am a big Jacksonville Jaguars fan because that man is a winner. And no one ever asked me about the positive. So thanks for doing it. I was Doug Peterson.

I was really surprised the answer wasn't Gabe Kaplan there. All right, don't do that. Boy, that's one I get asked in every interview and I won't. He's fired. Show some mercy.

Wow. What are you going to give him a standing ovation next time you see him? Angelo in his next job. No, no, no, never.

Well, make sure you get the book Loud How a Shy Nerd Came to Philadelphia and Turned Up the Volume in the Most Passionate Sports City in America. Angelo, can't thank you enough. Appreciate you doing this. Keep up the great work, my friend. You're the best, Zach. Thanks, buddy.

You got it. There he is, the great Angelo Cataldi joining us. We'll take a break.

When we come on back, Quinn, you were looking like he's going to return to Texas next year. What does that mean for Arch Manning? We'll discuss.

Update time first. Here he is, the act man, Rich Ackerman. Career sacks. It is the Zach Yelp show on CBS Sports Radio.

So a few things here. I was reading earlier today via on three sports that Quinn Ewers is now expected to return for the 2024 season with the Longhorns. Now, all of us, when Arch Manning committed to Texas, we're under the belief that maybe Arch got would get on the field this year. And then it was kind of pointed out in the summer, if you follow the depth chart, that Arch Manning wasn't even the third string or the second string quarterback. He was the third string quarterback because Malik Murphy was in there as a second string quarterback. So then you have Quinn Ewers miss a little bit of game time and it was Murphy who ended up starting. So Arch Manning is not close to seeing the field. It doesn't mean that if he started tomorrow, do I think he'd be terrible? Absolutely not.

I think it'd be good. But it's clear that this year it's a wait and see, you're not expected to play. There's only two, three weeks left in the season. And if you look at it, Texas has a great chance to win the Big 12 championship, win out in their final year in the Big 12.

And if they only have one loss, you would think they'd be in the college football playoff. So if they go to the college football playoff, a lot of people were under the assumption that going into this year, two things would happen. Either Quinn Ewers would play really well and he would go to the NFL or Quinn Ewers would not play well and either it was transfer again or it's gonna turn the baton over to Arch Manning. So going into next year, if Quinn Ewers is back and this is not sealed, signed and delivered, it was in the report and it was also talked about Pete Thamo, it's trending that way, but it's not a final decision.

So take that for what it's worth. But with that being said, if Quinn Ewers is back, I'm not saying there's not a road for Arch Manning to not get on the field. You would think Murphy is going to transfer this off season. Quinn has got hurt two times during the last two seasons. So if Quinn's back, you would assume if they do get to a Big 12 championship game and a college football playoff start, you know, spot, how the heck is that guy not starting? And this has been actually, I kind of think the most surprising thing of the college football season. Samter, when we were talking about Arch Manning before the start of the season, or as some people here on CBS Sports already would say, Arch Manning, when we were talking about Arch, Arch Manning, whatever you want to refer to him, there was a belief that inevitably at some point this year, and this was even coming from someone that picked Texas before the year, not to get to the college football playoff, but to win the Big 12 championship, that at some point the crowd and the crazy Texas fan and the passionate Texas fan on any little mistake by Quinn Ewers would be calling for Arch Manning.

And there's only so much SART to do in waiting and waiting and waiting. There has not even been a legitimate moment that has resonated nationally, even with the Quinn Ewers injury where there has been a big push, not that we don't want to see Arch Manning play, but it doesn't feel like there's been any pressure coming from the fan base to put Arch Manning on the field. And that to me is the stunning part, because I thought it kind of would have been Tebow-esque, where when Tebow was in the NFL and he was a backup and everyone knew he can't play here, we think that Arch Manning could play and he has a number one ranking and all that stuff attached to his name. But we thought eventually like the Manning fan and the Texas fan would be so crazy and so nuts, it would kind of have that Tebow effect where you force the player on the field, but we haven't seen that yet.

And it's not as if this is September, it's October, we're already midway through November now. And barring something crazy where Ewers and Murphy both get hurt, you're not going to see Arch Manning start a game this year for the Texas Longhorns. And that's the crazy part to me is that there hasn't been a moment in the Texas season where there was a dip enough in play or an injury, or even when there was an injury that constituted that fan base to go nuts and go crazy and get Arch on the field. I think part of it is Malik Murphy hasn't looked great the past couple of weeks, but they've done enough to win.

So there hasn't been a need for it. And Quinn's back now too. Yeah. I mean, had they almost lost the game or had they had a close game where Murphy was part of the reason why they almost lost or did lose different story, but they've been beating up on bad competition without him.

And so I guess that's it. I think people may be in Texas, they're excited enough about the prospects of this year. They're not thinking about the future right now. They're thinking about the present and Quinn Ewers is the present.

So maybe they're just kind of biding their time for Ewers. Maybe if they had lost a couple more games, maybe if Ewers was hurt for a lot longer, or if he was struggling on the field. Yeah, because they only missed two starts. It was the BYU game where BYU is not that great and they blew them out, even though Sataki's done a good job. And they just came off that victory top 25 against Kansas state and TCU by name, right? People go, Oh, they made the national championship last year, but TCU is not having a good season.

They've had a massive fall off. And listen, I'm actually happy that we're not hearing the arch Manning calls because he's a true freshmen. And we've heard all the different stories about how the Manning family. I think this is calculated. I think it's by design by the Manning family.

In what way? I think they picked Texas. I'm not saying they identified that they wanted arch to sit for two years, but they didn't want him to play this year. Cause a lot of times you beat like, look at Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert was at Oregon for a while.

And then he stayed too long. Even when he finished his career, winning a Rose ball where he didn't fall and plummet down the draft order. But he went from the year before potentially being the number one overall pick to then falling to the third quarterback off the board and being the sixth overall pick in the draft. So sometimes when you get deemed the guy and you play for a few years, even if you're playing at a high level, people just naturally get fatigued because they've already seen you at your best. But then it also works the other way where if you only play one year, it's like, Oh, doesn't have enough experience. And I read a quote today from Archie Manning. And this was from today.

Every situation is different. Or some would say, Archie Manning, every situation is different. If you remember Peyton and Eli went to school early for spring training, Peyton got thrown in for his first game as a freshman. He played a great deal that season, Tennessee had a great offensive line and two really good running backs. So that allowed him to work into it. Eli had what I think is the best course.

He red shirt his first year was a backup in his second year and then started in his third year. So we all know that name recognition. Peyton Manning is the most valuable Manning in terms of name recognition and career, but in the Manning family, Archie is literally the grandfather.

He is the patriarch in the family. And I think they're following Archie's lead on this. I really do. But I think part of it, honestly, if you really think about what Eli and Peyton went through and obviously what Archie went through, it's a foot, it's a different football now, right? Like Johnny Manziel, Jamis Winston, Tim Tebow, guys winning the Heisman as freshmen and sophomores. It's different, right?

If you're good enough to play, you play as early as possible now. It's not the same where, you know, you get drafted and you sit for three years and then you get in there. But those are all guys that don't come from the Manning football factory. And there is a science behind all the madness here. The science has to adapt with the times as well.

Sure. But how many times do you see a football coach that is skeptical of adapting to the times? Look at Dabo Sweeney right now. And look what's happening. He's falling behind.

So maybe, maybe the key for Arch would be to adapt to the new systems and get in there as early as possible. But we're talking about team success, right? This is an individual. Like when I talk about Dabo, that's a failure of team success. We're just talking about an individual. And if the Manning's think patience is good here, I'm not going to crush him for it. Because how many times you talk about in the NFL, you throw a guy to the wolves too early and he's not ready. And I think they're not only, they're not thinking about the team success of Texas.

They're thinking about the individual success of Arch Manning for not only his college career, but then also his NFL career. And that's the thing that I'm going to be fascinated to see. If, when Quinn Ewers comes back, does Arch transfer?

I don't think he will. There's some destinations I would love to have him. Alabama, Oregon, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, I'm sure would all be interested, right?

All those top dogs. But I really do believe this is by design. And I do think this is like the scientific approach by the Manning family. And I'm not saying they are imploring Sarc to not play next year. But if he has to wait two years, it would seem like a long time to wait. But I don't believe the Manning family would be all bummed out about it. Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio.