Florida State’s ACC Future (Hour 2)

There's a reason you always trust your gut. Your whole body's health depends on it. Did you know 70% of your immune system resides in your gut? Invest in your health with Seeds DS01 daily symbiotic. DS01 is formulated with 24 clinically and scientifically studied probiotic strains and a plant-based prebiotic to support whole body benefits.

It works to promote healthy regularity and relief from occasional digestive discomfort and bloating. Seeds DS01 daily symbiotic is also formulated to support a healthy immune system and it even helps you look healthier and more vibrant on the outside by promoting smooth, clear, healthy skin. Invest in your whole body's health with Seeds DS01 daily symbiotic. Go to seed.com slash gut and use code 25GUT to get 25% off your first month.

That's 25% off your first month of Seeds DS01 daily symbiotic at seed.com slash gut. Code 25GUT. Alrighty, rock and roll, now we're number two of our radio program. This is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Coming up an hour from now, Kaitlyn DeBoer, the head football coach of the Washington Huskies will join us. But first up, former NFL in college quarterback and someone when you hear Florida State, you think of him. And that, of course, is Danny Connell, CBS Sports HQ, also Sirius XM and make sure you check out BetOnline for updated college football championship and bowl game lines.

Danny Connell, always appreciate the time. How are you? I'm great, Zach.

What's going on, man? It's great to be on with you again. I think the last time I talked to you, I was sitting outside the shoe before Ohio State, Penn State. But it's good to be back on, man.

Well, I appreciate you coming on. Let me start you off with Florida State because I haven't talked to you since they were left out of the college football playoff. I know that you wanted them in, but you tell me why they should have got in over, let's say, an Alabama or Texas, whoever you wanted to leave out.

I think it's pretty simple. They won every game, right? I mean, it's just undefeated in a power five conference, which wins against LSU by a greater margin than Alabama beat LSU. They beat LSU on a neutral field. Bama beat them in their own backyard. They've got a win over Clemson who finished eight and four. They've got a win over Florida on the road with a backup quarterback and an ACC championship game over a top 15 Louisville team.

Like the resume to me stacks up. Here's the problem I have with it, Zach, is just and the committee was pretty forthright, right? First of all, the invitational, we'll call it, it's not really a playoff, is designed to basically exclude a worthy candidate. And that's what Florida State is. And unfortunately for my alma mater, it's the most egregious example of somebody being wronged that should have had an opportunity. It's not the first time, but it sure is the most egregious with a power five team running the table. And the committee said we didn't think they were as competitive without Jordan Travis. We didn't think they could compete for a national championship. And I would strongly push back against that.

There is a laundry list of teams in college and the NFL that have won with backup quarterbacks when you get other areas of the team, you know, that play better, just like Florida State's defense did. So I think it's garbage. I think it's a team sport, the greatest team sport we made. I think the committee made a mistake. But there's really no wrong answer for them because of the way this thing is designed. Well, let me just ask you this, then.

And I know this is not the way that it works. You have to based off what you did, not what you're going to project in the future. But let's say they put Florida State in over Alabama and it was Michigan going up against Florida State in a few weeks in the Rose Bowl. How do you think that game would have played out? Florida State probably would have been a 13 point underdog. But I think Florida State actually stacks up pretty well against Michigan because their offense hasn't been lighting up people either. You know, like I think it would have been a defensive, lower scoring game might have not been the most compelling TV product. But in that type of situation, I think Florida State could have gone toe to toe with them. And I think they might have been able to have that defense, you know, rally shut down Michigan's offense, which did struggle against Iowa's defense, which is a great top tier defense. But so is Florida State.

So I think they could have gone toe to toe with them. But I guarantee you, Zach, that's the conversation that unfolded in the committee room was, you know, well, how do you think this game plays out? And the minute I started to get nervous was when Florida State was playing the ACC championship game and the offense looked putrid.

I mean, there's no other way around it. Offense looked atrocious with a third string quarterback. And it was the whole night. It wasn't like, oh, halftime they got it going.

It was down to the wire. The offense never looked good. And I think the committee members were thinking about the matchups and the TV product. And are we really going to send that team to compete for a national championship? Which the problem I have with that is, did anybody watch Alabama versus Auburn one week before they beat Georgia?

Like you could get that version of Bama against Michigan and it could be ugly for them, too. But the committee made the decision. It's what we got to go by. And it's just a tough pill to swallow.

It's always going to be. I'll tell you, those players I feel gutted for on Florida State because they'll be sitting around in 20, 30 years at their reunion saying, I can't believe we didn't get a chance. And they felt robbed and I think deservedly so.

And I'm going to preface what I'm going to say next, Danny Kanell, where when I say it, I know it kind of doesn't make sense. But I keep on saying it like I do think Florida State got screwed. But on the other hand, I can't really disagree with what the committee did because any of the four teams in the playoff this year can win it.

And we've not been able to say that each and every year when you look at these four teams. Ultimately, I think what it came down to was Alabama. Like we all knew they weren't keeping out a one loss SEC champion. And because Texas beat Alabama back in week two by 10 in Tuscaloosa, you needed to put Texas in. And that ultimately cost Florida State, in my opinion. Oh, agreed. I think you're spot on. And like for Florida State fans that are upset, they're mad at her carb street, they're mad.

Bill Hancock, they're mad at everybody because they got left off. Be mad at the system. And that's what that's one thing I have remained true. Like I have not been OK with the system since day one. I thought it was better. The 14 was better than the BCS, just like the BCS, just like I think the 12 team will be better than the 14. But it's an imperfect system. It was designed to create controversy. We were sold that that's good.

The debate, you know, the fact that somebody is going to be on the cusp and somebody is going to be left out is a good thing. And I have maintained the whole time, probably most vocally when 2017, when UCF, a group of five team got left out that was undefeated. Yet they had multiple wins against Power Five programs.

I said, hold on, this feels wrong. And ironically, that year, Bama back toward their way and didn't win their division, but ended up winning the national championship. And UCF beat the team that beat Alabama and Auburn. So there's always been a team that's been left out, just like I said, unfortunately, the last year of its existence and happened to be Florida State. And the good news is next year, I think we'll get a better playoff, which hopefully will get everyone that's deserving will get left in.

Let me flip it on you. Do you because I was having this conversation the other night, Zach, if it was the 12 team playoff this year. Do you think Florida State would have been given the four? Like, do you think that because you still could have had Alabama and you have Georgia and you've got everybody in? Do you think they would have rewarded Florida State going to feed it?

Yeah. Do you think they would? Yeah, I think they would have. It was that they could because look at this. You're telling me Florida State's not better than Alabama, but then they're better than Georgia. Don't get me wrong. I think Georgia is better than Florida State.

But even in the argument of four, it didn't really make sense. And it was OK. We know we have to find Bama landing spot, but it doesn't really matter where we put the landing spot of Georgia. So let's put Florida State in front of Georgia. Right. I think so, too. I think you're spot on with that one.

So I think that's how it would have unfolded. And, you know, if you truly went with the best teams, I'm using air quotes like if because we were talking lines before who had been favored, the four probably should have been in any order. Michigan, Ohio State, Bama and Georgia. Like those are the four biggest powerhouses, best teams in the country.

If you went by rosters, four and five star makeup. But at some point, you do have to honor what unfolded on the field. And that's where I think Florida State got the raw deal because they kind of ignored that. The only one I disagree with out of those four is Ohio State. And I was someone all throughout the year that I thought Ohio State was overrated. I thought they were lucky to beat Notre Dame. McCord should have thrown that pick. And then Marcus Freeman didn't have enough guys on the field at the end of the game. And ultimately, you saw it up against Michigan. You know, it shows you why Michigan's better than Notre Dame. They find the way to make those interceptions when McCord is giving you the football. I thought the quarterback for Ohio State was what's going to derail their season and made them just a good team, not a great team.

Yeah. And I guess good news, if you're a Buckeye fan, Kyle McCord is now a Syracuse member of the Syracuse Orange. So they're going to be looking for a new quarterback.

Yes and no. But I thought they would land like D.J. Ungolay or Cam Ward. I don't even know who's going to be playing quarterback for them next year. They may be begging for McCord to come back to Ohio State next year.

Yeah. And it might be a one-game audition for Devin Brown, the freshman who played a little bit this past year, got hurt. You know, he's expected to play in this bowl game. And maybe that's what they make their decision. If he balls out, they're like, we're good. We've got some young signees that we've got. And if he struggles, I wouldn't be surprised that they're in the market because some of these quarterbacks haven't made their decision yet. They're kind of waiting and holding out for bigger paydays. And that could be a school that, you know, gets a little desperate after the bowl game and says, hey, we'll do whatever it takes.

The other thing I want to bring up, Danny Connell, because I could see it now. Like, I don't fault Jared Verse for skipping the bowl game. You know, it's like this bowl game, it really means nothing when you had college football playoff aspirations, and it's so deflating with that feeling. But I could, like, Georgia, if they destroy Florida State, I don't think that should be justifying the argument of the committee on why they left them out, too.

Oh, but it will be used. It'll be like Florida State. Florida State's in a no-win situation because if they beat Georgia, and there are two touchdown underdogs, that line's probably going to move up as the more Florida State players opt out. People are going to say, oh, but Georgia wasn't trying because it was national championship or bus for them.

Exactly. And if Florida State gets beat, then they're going to say, see, you didn't belong. They really are in a no-win situation. And Mike Norvell, he spoke for the first time on signing day yesterday. And I love Norvell.

Oh, me too. And he said, this is the hardest two weeks he's ever faced as a coach, and I believe him, because he's been trying to keep guys' morale up, trying to keep guys wanting to play. And when the committee says to you, you're not good enough, we don't think you can compete for a national championship, well, then why should we compete for anything if you don't think we're any good?

And I think that's probably the mindset that the players have. Why should I stick around and play in a meaningless bowl game? Which I do think the bowl system itself is broken because of the college football calendar, and I think the only solution is to move bowl games to week zero. And if it's a playoff game, make it in post regular season, post championship weekend, any other bowl game, I think the only solution is put at week zero.

Otherwise, we're going to see these opt-outs continue. 400-plus players, Zach, have opted out or transfer-portaled out or opted out to prepare for the NFL draft. 400 players. That is a massive problem for college football. And that's all I do is prepare for these games.

I can't even tell you who's playing half the positions at different teams. Like, tonight's the Boca Bowl. I'm actually going to the game.

I'm in South Florida. I've been there once. My owl's lost in the Boca Bowl. I've been there. It's a good stadium.

Right? It's a great little bowl. It's great.

It's fun. Syracuse is playing South Florida. Half of both. And these are two teams that are six and six.

Sometimes you think that's a reward. They get to come to South Florida. Both teams have, like, double-digit players have entered the transfer portal. So you're getting kind of who's playing. I don't know.

And who wants to be there is the question we keep asking. I want to put them in week zero so you know they matter. Like, they could impact your chance to make the playoff and make your chance to win a conference championship. So I think that's the only solution. So what you're saying is move it to week zero and then have that game count for the next season schedule?

Like, on their record? Is that what you're saying? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And then the only hiccup in that one is, like, balls are a reward for a successful season.

That's what I've always been told. But the players are telling you they don't care. Like, they're saying, it's not a reward. I don't know if they're going to play in the game. So if you are, you know, seven, if you get six wins, then you would set the schedule for the following season. Week zero would be your reward.

Now, it would be a lot hotter in Boca in August. But you would come to Boca for a few days, and week zero is growing exponentially. Like, I remember the first week zero was, like, two games. Then it went to five. Then the TV networks are like, oh, wait, we can put games here? Now it's like 15. Make it the bowl, you know, kind of bowl weekend, week zero.

It's kind of empty. And then it matters, and you'll have full participation. It's an interesting idea, because I do think in a four-team format, these bowl games are irrelevant. Now when we go to 12, they're even going to become more relevant. Now, let me be clear, Danny Kanell, I hate going to 12.

Like, six or eight I'm fine with. Going to 12, I think it takes away. What makes college football better than so many other sports is every regular season game matters, and we talk about those soft landing spots. Now you could go be an SEC team or a Big Ten team.

You lose two, three games, like Ohio State, Michigan, whoever loses, they're still going to find the way to get into the playoff, and it takes away from those great regular season games. I totally hear your argument. I think eight was the perfect number. 12 kind of came out of nowhere, right?

I mean, that was the selection. And it's going to get worse, because they're going to go from 12 only north of that in the future. Probably.

You're probably right. I hope they get to a place where we can do away with committees. Like, don't select them. Just come up with a true playoff where its division wins. You know, like the NFL model. We're minor league NFL.

Let's do it. I do think there are some protections, like the buy for the top four teams. Like, those losses could hurt you where you lose a buy to get healthy, or you get to either host a home game, you know, if you're seeding five through eight, and then you have to go on the road.

So there will be some penalty. I think what's really going to be weird are the rematches that take place. Like, we already see Ohio State, Michigan final game of the regular season.

They're doing away with divisions in the Big Ten. You could see a rematch of that game a week later, and if they're undefeated the first time, you could see them meet again. Like, that to me is probably the biggest issue that I'm kind of worried about. Hopefully, they can fix the bracket so that they don't face again. But if they both win, you can't really prevent that from happening.

It's more of a wait and see for me, but I totally understand what you're thinking. I still believe that there's enough teams at 130, and the reality is that only 40 can get to the playoffs. Not win. Get to the playoffs. I still think only about 12 can actually win the national championship, but I do think that the hope that it brings, those 40 programs, will bring added value to the regular season deeper.

Like, the month of November will mean that much more because teams are still in the playoff race. What do you hope happens with Florida State, whether it's realistic or not, moving forward with their search to potentially join a new conference? I wish they could salvage the ACC. I mean, my freshman year at Florida State was the first year in the conference, but it just seems unsustainable, untenable.

All the reasons that Florida State is laid out are valid. I'll say this, full disclosure, I'm tired of all the talk and the meetings and the saber rattling and the threats. Just bring some action. If you're going to get out, start the legal process, sue the league, which I think that's what this meeting tomorrow is going to be about. I think they're going to approve that, and they're going to start to sue their way out of the ACC. The Big Ten or SEC is where you want to be. Those are the super conferences.

They hold the keys to the future of college football. I think the SEC is clearly a better fit regionally. Rivalry-wise, we already play Florida. We've already played LSU. There's been some natural rivalries just regionally. The Big Ten feels a little bit clunky.

It doesn't feel like the best fit. But if the SEC says, we're good, we already have the Florida Gators in the state, sign me up to play Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington. But that's where the future of college football is headed, are these two super conferences. And if Florida State wants to stay where I think they belong, at the upper echelon, they need to find a spot in one of these leagues.

And I think a big misconception that people have, Danny Kanell, last thing I'll bring up to you. And yeah, Florida State's a big enough brand to be in the Big Ten or the SEC. But I think a lot of people believe that the Big Ten and the SEC are going to keep on just adding a lot of schools. That's the exclusive part of college football and college sports, the Big Ten and the SEC. And when I look around teams that aren't in the Big Ten and the SEC, there's not a lot of attractive brands that are still remaining, especially in college football.

Right. And that's the leverage that Florida State is trying to use between those two leagues, because Clemson and Florida State and Notre Dame. Notre Dame is the golden goose, right? And that feels like the Big Ten, that just needs to happen. But outside of Notre Dame, it feels like Florida State and Clemson, two best brands available.

I do think they're somewhat attached to the hip. So if Florida State can push their way out, I do think there's probably some deal with those two together. And then it's, you know, all right, you go to the SEC, you really want to let us go to the Big Ten? Like these two valuable playoff-worthy teams, you're going to let them go to Fox, which is a, you know, there's a competitive nature there. And ultimately, when it's all said and done, I don't know what Greg Sankey and the SEC will decide to do, but I think they bring too much value where you would turn them down.

But then it gets really crowded. You know, I still think I am worried about this, because I think when these current TV deals that start next year, so in about six years, like 2030, we lost, like Pac-12, Washington State, Oregon State kind of died, right? Pac-12 was blown up. Washington State, Oregon State left out. I do wonder if there's another cycle where some of the bottom dwellers in the Big Ten and the SEC are left behind to make room for Florida State, Clemson, maybe Miami, maybe some other programs in the ACC that are better brands than some of the bottom dwellers in the SEC and Big Ten.

I'm just curious. I hate that it's going to happen, but I feel like it will. Do you think Miami is still attractive to either the Big Ten or the SEC? Are they still an attractive brand? I think Florida, the state of Florida is attractive to the Big Ten. And I think, academically, Miami is probably more attractive than Florida State.

And I think they're probably a better fit. Florida State is trying to do things academically, perception-wise, like become an AAU school so that they are perceived stronger academically. Hey, I think they're the Harvard of the South. I think it's a great school. But the reality is they're not one of the top schools ranking-wise, so they're trying to change that perception so that they bring more value to the Big Ten. Because that seems to be a priority for them, even more so than football.

You can check out BetOnline for updated college football championship and bowl game lines. Danny Connell, before we let you run, I have to ask you about Colorado. What do you think the future is for Coach Prima? How do you think we'll be talking about them a year from now? Do you mean Colorado, the 99th ranked recruiting class of 2024? I mean, that was pretty astounding. It was shocking.

I'm a little bit concerned about them. But Deion Sanders has made it clear, I'm going to do this through the portal. And they're getting veteran players.

It's a unique tactic to take. But as long as you've got Chidor and they brought in four offensive linemen, they're still waiting on the fifth. The kid who kind of switched and flipped his commitment, who was on just two weeks ago on FS1 with Skip Bayless. You know, professing his commitment to Colorado, now it's up in the air. If they can shore him up and they can protect Chidor and they're in the Big 12, which will be easier, not easy, easier to win than the Pac-12, I think they should be better. And I think it's good. I think it's a great story for college football. I also think there's a high, it's going to be one of those boom or bust situations. And this year you saw both of it. I think next year could be the same. If they can keep it on track and keep their eyes focused and not get distracted by game day and big noon kickoff and celebrities, they could make a run for the Big 12 championship. And if they face adversity and they start to get distracted and you see infighting and they're worried about talking and putting out Instagram videos and hype videos, then I could see them being six and six.

So like there's a wide gap of what they possibly could be. But I guarantee you this, everybody's going to be watching just like last year. He is Danny Connell. Danny, always great to catch up with you. Thanks for the time. You got it, Zach.

Have a great holiday season. You got it. There he is. Danny Connell joining us on CBS Sports Radio. And if Coach Prime is watching, I am a believer. Just clarifying that I'm a big time fan of Coach Prime.

And he could come back on the show anytime he wants. Always love my conversations with Coach Prime and also Danny Connell. Once again, you can check out BET online for updated college football championship and bowl game lines. And they were the ones that were bringing Danny Connell to us. We'll take a break. We'll come on back when we do return.

How many attractive brands are there still in college sports and also college football? This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial. Stuck in a timeshare and want out.

Contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. We have a reporter agent fight right now. And I'm here with a big tub of popcorn and my fingers is getting all covered in butter and I'm eating up this feud, this war that I'm seeing right now on social media. So Josina Anderson, longtime NFL reporter, tweeted out, I'm told personnel around the league are discussing their awareness that some owners have been told that Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's asking price is at least or around. 15 million dollars a year for a head coach job per source. Now, the immediate reaction would be 15 million dollars a year for a guy who's never been a head coach. And yet he's done a nice job in Detroit.

That would be an astronomical price tag for a first time head coach. But Richmond Flowers, who's the agent for Ben Johnson, he, quote, tweeted Josina Anderson's tweet and he said, I'm told personnel around the league are discussing their awareness that there is no asking price or demand. And this tweet is 100 percent false and irresponsible reporting per source. Now, that's a pretty big time shutdown there by Mr.

Flowers. So here's my interpretation of this. I do think that there's some truth to this report, but I think this report is generated towards one team. Remember, last year, Ben Johnson was extremely coveted by the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers wanted Ben Johnson in the worst way.

And I think if memory serves me right, he did the first interview and then he took his name out when they were ready to give him a second interview and they were planning. The momentum was feeling that Ben Johnson was going to get the Carolina Panthers job. We all know the money that David Tepper has. And when it's for a player, there's a salary cap, but there's no salary cap for coaching. So what I think is happening here is Ben Johnson a year later still doesn't want to go to Carolina. He'll have better options than Carolina.

But he's basically saying or making it known. I want 15 million dollars a year because he knows there's only one owner that would be crazy enough to pay a first time head coach who's the offensive coordinator for the Lions. Fifteen million dollars a year to get their guy and that would be David Tepper because I have never had these conversations, but I could only imagine you telling a billionaire no or I don't want to go to where you want me to go usually doesn't end well for the person saying no, where it may end up because he's going to get paid a ridiculous amount of money. But if his intention isn't to go to Carolina, well, he's basically challenging the owner of the Panthers. How much are you going to pay me? So it does end up working out well for him for me to actually take the job.

That's the way that I interpret this. Santa, I don't think Ben Johnson still wants to go to Carolina. He knows he probably has two or three other jobs in his back pocket already that he would take less money and go to.

And I don't know, like what, probably like seven, six, eight million dollars anywhere in that range if he goes to those other jobs. But he's basically dangling the carrot out there. Hey, Mr. Tepper, I didn't want you last year. You still want me? I know you're desperate. You really want me? Then go pay me a ridiculous price tag to go get me.

I mean, if there is somebody who would pay the ridiculous price tag, it is David Tepper. But I just look at the wording of the quote and I love Josina, but I'm told personnel around the league are discussing their awareness that some owners have been told per source. Like it's just like it's like hemming and hawing. It's like there's so an owner may have told another owner that a source told a source that a guy may have talked to another guy that we're aware that we're possibly going to discuss that maybe Ben Johnson may have said this to an owner.

It's like, okay, listen, if it's true, it's true. There's no chance he's going to get it. And if Carolina is the way he's going to go and he's trying to dangle it, fine.

There's a chance from Carolina he gets it. That's about it. No, I still don't think so. Well, here's why. Like as much as David Tepper might want Ben Johnson, I don't think after firing two coaches and having to pay them whenever he's going to pay them off of firing them, I don't think he's going to shelf $15 million for a guy who's never coached before. Well, two things. Number one, David Tepper has showed before he's willing to go above and beyond what other owners are going to do.

But he may have learned a lesson. Wait, no, no, no. Hold on.

Let me finish. Matt Ruhl was supposed to go get on a flight and go to New York with the Giants interview there. David Tepper, for a first time NFL head coach, gave him what, like $70 million?

And then after two years and four or five games, he got rid of him. And then the other part here, too, is that I don't think David Tepper can write this elite circle of NFL owners where a lot of owners care what the other owners think about them. And sometimes you don't do things like giving Lamar Jackson a fully guaranteed contract because you know it's going to mess up the system or it's going to annoy the other owners. But there's always one owner that operates rogue.

Look at the Haslam family. They did that with Deshaun Watson, and I think David Tepper and the coaching cycle would operate on his own. And I almost gave the middle finger on the YouTube camera, and I prevented myself from doing that.

When I say give the middle finger and then usually give the middle finger when you say that. But it wouldn't surprise me if Tepper gives the middle finger to the rest of the owners and go, I need to get this right. I believe in this guy.

I've now believed in this guy for two years. So you really don't want me and you're going to go to, I don't know, the commanders for six or seven. Well, I'll make sure to give you an offer that you can't refuse the $15 million. I think this is whether it's true or not. The fact that this is getting talked about, maybe it could be owner driven where they're like, oh, we know Tepper is desperate. So let's just dangle out this to Judge Cena that, hey, he's asking for $50 million. And if Tepper thinks that's the price tag to go get his guy, he'll be willing to pay it.

There is no doubt about that in my mind. All right, this is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll get back into the brand conversation in college football coming up later in the show.

How many brands outside of, for teams that are not in the Big Ten of the SEC are still attractive? Kaitlyn DeBoer is going to join us coming up in about 30 minutes from now. The head football coach of the Washington Huskies. But let's take a break. And when we come on back, we'll update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. We call that segment The News Brief. First up, standing by with the latest CBS Sports Radio update, here is El Capitan, Marco Belletti. All righty, Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio.

We'll get to News Brief in a second. But I have a problem that I just discovered during the break. So I sent one of our co-workers a Starbucks gift card for the holidays. I know the person's a big coffee drinker. And I texted this person, hey, I sent you a gift card.

Let me know if you don't get it. Now, I just got back to back emails from Starbucks. First email is congratulations, your gift card has been delivered. And then 30 seconds later, I get an email saying, unfortunately, your gift card is not able to get delivered.

So I go to my credit card statement. And because it just happened, it's still pending. And then I texted that person, did you get the gift card? They said no.

So what do I do in this scenario? Like, do I just assume that that person is being a good person and telling me he didn't get the gift card to try to not finagle two gift cards out of me? Or do I just resend the gift card and just hope that the first one actually didn't go true? Because that's the confusing part to me, Stu and Sanctor, is they send me the email saying got delivered.

And then 30 seconds later, I get this email that it's not delivered. Yeah, it seems like it can't be both ways, right? That's a conundrum.

I don't know. I would kind of wait and probably give the person the gift card, another one, and then hope it cancels. And then if it both goes through, they call my credit card number. Yeah, dispute the first one if they both go through. Okay, so that's what I'll end up doing. But I was looking at that because at first I was like, oh, maybe I'll wait. But then once it gets past Christmas, then I know you people, once it gets past Christmas, the holiday season, people still say happy holidays for like four weeks after that, which is ridiculous in its own right. But I feel as if you've got to get the gifts in, in my opinion, before Christmas when it comes to company gifts or else it feels a little disingenuous.

But anyway, that's a personal problem. All right, let's update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio we get to. All right, let's start off with Mike McDaniel. Samta was telling me about this speech yesterday from Hard Knocks, and today it's blowing up and it's going viral.

Here is what Samta says is an awesome speech that Mike McDaniel gave to his team. I know who's in this f***ing room, so we're going to hit this and like, if it's brutal, f*** yeah, bring that s***. Let's just look at it straight in the eyes.

It's pretty simple. We lost the game up for 15 different reasons, and I have my hand fully in that s***. Trash plan on my part, yeah, I call it some trash f***ing place.

That will f***ing happen, just like you'll have bad place. You know what makes me a f***ing man is that I don't blink at that s***, nor do I avoid it. I'm going to learn from that s***. You don't get mad, you don't get sad, f*** that s***, okay?

We learn lessons. There's one coach that he sounds like. You guys want to take a guess? There is a college coach, and I've never thought about this until I just heard that audio, that Mike McDaniel sounds like.

Stu, you want to take a guess? Just a college coach that he sounds like. Oh, I mean, I don't know, Mark Stoops. Alrighty, not Mark Stoops.

Sampter. Ryan Day. No, it is not crying Ryan. He wouldn't have that much emotion. He would just be crying. It's actually Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State.

I see it, yeah. When he did, you know, I'm a man, I'm 40. That kind of sounded a little bit like Mike McDaniel there. And that's one of my favorite, and I mean favorite speeches and rants I've ever heard from a coach.

The other one was Dan Hawkins, I think, when he was at Colorado. And he was like, it's Division 1 football. Go play intramurals, brother. Go play intramurals. You got two weeks off for this vacation, two weeks off for that one, another week for this.

That's more vacation than you guys get. Oh, that was a great speech. Hawkins and Mike Gundy, two of my favorite speeches or outbursts from a college football coach ever. McDaniel has grown on me. He's an acquired taste, and now I'm starting to understand him. At first, I just thought, man, this guy makes absolutely zero sense, and I'll never connect with this guy. But he's genuine, and he puts the losses on him, and he turns on the tape and basically goes, there's 15 reasons why we lost this game, and it's all on me.

I got my hands on them. And I think as a player, when you get caught up in a bad loss like that, and it feels as if the ship is about to sink, when a coach takes all the ownership on him and actually provides some levity, it's easier to accept the criticism than move on and give you a great effort the next week, which they did up against the Jets. Here is Nick Sirianni on the mindset on the deep ball on the final play where Jalen Hurts was airing the ball out, and it eventually got intercepted for the second time by Julian Love. At times there, you can get a pass interference there. If you get a pass interference call there, and if a team's giving you a one-on-one shot, and you can get a pass interference, and now you're in position to kick it.

And so there's times where you're going to be able to do that. And we felt like in that situation we had an opportunity to, hey, it didn't work out that particular time. So it'd be one thing if there was three seconds left in the game, and you said, okay, we are, like let's say you weren't 70 yards away, but let's say you were 70 yards away, that we'll just toss the ball up deep instead of doing like a hook and lateral play, and we'll just hope to get a pass interference to get you in field goal range to kick the field goal.

That'd be one thing. But you just had a big run by Jalen Hurts. You're down at the 45. You just need like 20 more yards. And you got to go short there, and you have a great field goal kicker in Jake Elliott.

To try to hope for a penalty in that spot doesn't really make sense. Here is Antonio Pierce. The Raiders play the Chiefs once again this weekend, and the last time these two teams met up, Raiders had a good start. They were up like 14-0. Josh Jacobs had a touchdown, and the Chiefs were the Chiefs, and the Raiders were the Raiders, and the Chiefs end up winning the game. Here is Antonio Pierce on how you stop the Chiefs in their trick plays.

You can't. He's got a million of them. Every time you think you've seen one and you've seen it all, here comes another one. They're creative. They have fun doing it. That's good. But obviously at the end of the day, you got to do your job, right? So if they don't run it in, here comes the gadgets. We saw the ring around the rosy deal they did last year, all fun and games. Cool. But at some point, the best way to stop a trick play is do what?

Hit it in the mouth. More and more I hear Antonio Pierce speak. My comp for him is Dan Campbell. And I've said that before. But he is Dan Campbell for what Dan Campbell is the Lions when Antonio Pierce is to the Raiders. And that is just we're going to physically beat you up. We're going to smack you in the mouth. We're going to bite off your kneecaps.

And that could galvanize a locker room when you have a former player who's not that far removed from playing, connecting with younger players now in the NFL. But I don't care if the Raiders punch the Chiefs in the mouth. I still don't think it's going to be enough to go get a victory. Here is Dave Doran. This is going back to November 26th. This is right after UNC lost to NC State.

NC State won 39-20. This is Dave Doran in the locker room after the game. You know, it's been 1,460 days since those pieces of **** be gone. So he called them pieces of bleep, UNC.

Now, Mac Brown yesterday, even though these comments happened on November 25th, November 26th, he went off on Dave Doran for his comments. The head coach of that school called our players a piece of ****. But I've never heard something like that before. I'm disappointed.

I thought it was classless. It's not true. But you don't call kids a piece of ****. And from me speaking for them and their parents, they really didn't appreciate being called a piece of ****. Never heard that before.

And very, very disappointed. So that North Carolina, so that video, I guess why it was brought up yesterday, is North Carolina, that was their final game of the season, North Carolina, NC State. And then you go into the bowl season, availability not that much, then you have all the recruiting.

So yesterday, Mac Brown probably made available because of signing day. And he finally got asked about that, I guess. Because at first I was like, man, it's bizarre to bring it up that much later.

But if it's asked, hey, you've got to give an answer to the question. This is Dave Doran then apologizing for his comments. This is also from yesterday. I did call coach and apologize because I could have used a lot of different words, obviously. He caught me in the heat of a moment situation in the locker room celebrating a huge win. And I was fired up about how we played. But I have respect for coach.

So the last thing I wanted was for him to feel that. And again, it's not an excuse, but it shouldn't have been on TV. And I think there's a thousand coaches out there would tell you that if we had to apologize for everything we said in the locker room, we'd probably spend a lot of time doing that. Well, that's the thing, too.

And I know this may sound lame for my part, but I'm going to say it. If I was a college football coach, I'm not allowing any cameras in the locker room unless they are team-issued cameras. I'm not allowing players to go on Instagram Live or FaceTime. Because some of those locker room moments, even though you shouldn't operate this way, but you fire up a football team and you're connecting to your players, the same thing in the heat of the moment. And then they get out and it makes the coach look bad. Where I guarantee you that this isn't the first time a coach has said something badly about another team just fired up after a win. I don't think Dave Doran actually thinks UNC players are pieces of bleep.

He's just saying that to connect with his players and do something like that. And I don't even like Dave Doran. I'm not a fan of Dave Doran. Out of all the coaches I've interviewed in college football, I remember when he beat Clemson, he was a terrible, boring interview.

So I'm not a fan of really Dave Doran, but I can't crush him for this one. But if I'm a college coach, I'm not allowing TV cameras in the locker room. People remember people ripped Dan Lanning for the speech that he gave, which is basically nothing.

He was like, talk with your helmet, pick Colorado. And people freaked out about that. And to allow TV cameras in the locker room, right, which is the sacred locker room, I think it's a little bit ridiculous. The one thing, so Doran actually went on later on and went on a rant saying that he didn't, they normally have to have approval and get permission to have cameras in there. And nobody asked for permission, and there was no approval given, so he wasn't expecting there to be TV cameras.

So I think that's part of it also. He's like, if I knew there was a camera there, I wouldn't have said that. But we didn't approve having cameras in there.

We didn't want a camera in there. So that's why he was upset. He went on a whole rant about it. But still, to your point, also be aware.

Even if you didn't approve it, look around before you start saying stuff. Yeah, but you're fired up after when you come running your locker. I can't trash the coach for that one. So Michael Shrewsbury had a great season last year at Penn State. Now he's the head basketball coach at Notre Dame.

His team is struggling, and Michael Shrewsbury rips his Notre Dame team. We're building a culture, and that ain't it. That is not the culture we're trying to build.

So a message needs to be sent to some of these guys that, like, if you don't play hard, then you can sit and rot over there on the bench. And I'll find a way. I'll go and talk to the people in compliance. I will help you transfer.

Because this culture is getting built the right way, and if you ain't a part of it, you're out. And I don't care. Wow.

How about that? Now, recently, they lost to Marquette, who's ranked top 10 in the country. They just lost to Georgetown in overtime.

And I saw Ed Cooley was, like, lecturing the media afterwards, how we need to praise Michael Shrewsbury. And I thought, like, I didn't watch the game. I just thought, oh, Notre Dame won based off that comment. But they ended up losing to Georgetown in overtime, and they just lost to the Citadel.

65 to 45. So he's not happy with his team's effort or lack of it. And when you're building a program, sometimes you have to talk through the media, where if you're just shredding your team's behind the scenes and it's not working, then sometimes you have to blast them publicly, and that's what Michael Shrewsbury did.

All right. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. We will take a break. When we come on back, Kalen DeBoer, the head coach of the Washington Huskies, is going to join us. Coming up in a little over a week, his team is going to be playing in a bowl game. It's a college football playoff, semifinals up against Texas. The winner goes to the national championship game.