Does Justin Fields Need to Win to Keep His Job? (Hour 1)

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No long-term commitments or contracts. That's Stamps.com Code Program. 855-212-4CBS is the number to jump on in. 855-212-4227. You could always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good ol' cesspool of Twitter at Zach Gelb.

That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Got Manny Rodriguez, Moist Mike, rockin' and rollin' with me. We'll be here all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Former Packers fullback John Kuhn gonna stop by 20 minutes from now.

Danny Connell will stop by in hour number two of our radio program. Alrighty, I want to start off with a game that I'm very excited about this weekend, and it's when the Chicago Bears are visiting legendary Lambeau Field with the Green Bay Packers. For the Packers, we know what's on the line.

It's a playoff spot. We have discussed with the Green Bay Packers how they are in a really good spot for their future with what we've seen down the stretch with Jordan Love and what Matt Leflore and Brian Gudekunz were building and are trying to continue to build with life after Aaron Rodgers. So we already addressed the Packers side of it. Now let's get into the Bears side, because the Chicago Bears, it's really a three-step process. Number one, will Ryan Polsby back?

Number two, will Matt Iberflus be back? And then number three, what are you going to do with the number one overall pick that you got from Carolina that will dictate if Justin Fields is the quarterback or not next season for the Chicago Bears? And there are arguments to be made on both sides. I have voiced my opinion before, and I do believe that the Chicago Bears should keep Justin Fields. But just because I say that doesn't mean that Matt Iberflus and Ryan Pols will say that. But from a standpoint of logic, when you're probably bringing back Pols and you're probably bringing back Iberflus, you should then probably bring back the quarterback. And I was not someone who, when we were like six, seven weeks into the season, that I thought Justin Fields was going to be the quarterback of this team next year. And the argument was we still don't know what Justin Fields is, but he's not going to get it to work in Chicago.

And quite frankly, from afar, it didn't seem like Ryan Pols nor Matt Iberflus really knew what they were doing either. But things could change really quickly in this league. And it would not surprise me, depending on the result of Sunday night or Sunday afternoon, if the opinions will change. Because let's say the Bears win, the calls and the contingent of people that believe that Justin Fields should be the starter next year are just going to get louder and they're going to grow exponentially. But you know how we are.

We are in a reactionary society. We are an in the moment society where one thing happens and it could potentially devalue an entire season. And it could flip your world upside down. And we've seen this from both sides, where for a large chunk of the season, you could be negative about something, and then your opinion changes and you're positive.

Or the other way, where you start to get positive, you start to move in one direction. And then something bad happens in the final game of the season, even though it won't impact the Bears, because the Bears aren't a playoff caliber team. But you say, all right, that just goes back to my initial belief that Justin Fields shouldn't be the quarterback. So I do believe Sunday is very big. But regardless of what happens on Sunday, and I could only tell you how I feel now, how I feel in the moment. And sometimes I give you a take on the radio.

I have great conviction and great belief in what I'm saying that day. And sometimes it changes the next week. Sometimes it changes the next day.

Sometimes it changes the next hour. Because events happen and you may think one way and I'm not stubborn. But once I see something else occur, a light bulb could go off in my head and I could say, oh, whatever I just said in the past doesn't hold true anymore. And now I changed my belief on what I think on what I think the Bears should do.

But I don't think that's going to happen outside of a massacre on Sunday night. Like if Fields gets on the field on Sunday and he throws four picks in Lambeau Field and he has like 85 yards passing, I will allow my opinion to potentially change. But I'm like 96% sure that this is the right way that the Bears should approach it.

And let me be abundantly clear. When the Chicago Bears were three and eight, I would have never said these three things that I'm about to say. Number one, keep Ryan Polz. Ryan Polz pulled off that deal last year at the number one pick spot to get a lot of future picks, get DJ Moore and also get this number one overall pick that you're going to have in addition to your other first round pick. So I'm good to see another year of Ryan Polz.

Number two, keep Matt Eberfluss. And this is the one I think I'm most surprised about because when Matt Eberfluss was hired, I didn't believe Matt Eberfluss was going to be a successful head coach. And he still has a long ways to go in being a successful head coach.

But I just thought he was a guy that was more equipped and better fit to be a really strong defensive coordinator, but he didn't come off to me as head coach material. But that's also not my job to find who's going to be a head coach. And there's a lot of times where the quote unquote popular hire ends up being just a bad hire and everyone wants the guy fired within two to three years.

But it does seem like whenever it's who's this guy? Who the heck did we just hire? Oh, that doesn't seem like they got the best candidate available. Those are the coaches that turn out to be the better coaches. Like I know Nick Sirianni is starting to have things get away from him in Philadelphia, but he's made the playoffs his first three years on the job and coaching the Super Bowl. I don't think anyone knew who Nick Sirianni was when he got hired in Philadelphia. Mike McDaniel, no one thought this guy had a clue what he was doing when he was hired.

Dan Campbell, he even made the joke at his introductory press conference, most of you probably thought I was Matt Campbell. Maybe the Lions thought I was Matt Campbell, the Iowa State coach, and that's why they hired me. So you don't need to be well known. You don't have to be well respected. You don't have to be well received when you get announced as a head coach.

But you don't really have much in Chicago. And something that should be used as a positive format Iberflus is in year one, it wasn't good. But in year two, with some slight, and I mean slight roster changes, this team was three and eight. And this team could have quit.

This team could have had no life in the second half of the season. And then in all likelihood, we're talking about cleaning house and getting rid of polls, getting rid of Iberflus, and then also getting rid of Justin Fields. But to Iberflus' credit, this team has now won four of the last five games. And they have gone from being a three and eight team to a seven and nine team.

And quite frankly, when you look at this team, regardless of it's eight and nine after this weekend, or if it's seven and 10 after this weekend, the Bears probably should not be a seven or an eight win football team, but they are. So I got to see Matt Iberflus back next year. And I also have to see the quarterback Justin Fields back as well.

I'll make a comparison in just a second. But first, let's hear from the president of the Chicago Bears, Kevin Warren. There was a report last week from Ian Rappaport that it appears like Matt Iberflus will be back next year as the head coach of the Chicago Bears.

But the other day, the president of the Bears, Kevin Warren, was asked, will his head coach be back in 2024? As we said all along, we just continually will stay focused on finishing the season strong, take a big picture, a methodical look at everything. And I'm very pleased with the energy of our team.

Guys are playing hard, they're competing, but I'm just really energized as a franchise. So that wasn't a yes. He didn't emphatically go out and address reporters and say Matt Iberflus will be back. Matt Iberflus is my guy. That's my ball coach. That's the guy that's going to return the Chicago Bears back to glory.

But he didn't say no. And sometimes when you have a president speaking about the future of a coach or a GM or a player, you could usually decipher through the BS. And when I listen to that 20 second chunk of audio, I think there's enough context clues in there that would suggest to me that Kevin Warren, as long as he's still the president of the Bears, is happy with the direction of this franchise, is happy with the energy of this team.

Big picture does make a lot of sense to keep this regime there. And I would probably venture to say like 85%, 90% that Matt Iberflus is going to be back next year as the head coach. Now as for the quarterback, I do think it's up in the air. As I have said now for the last 10 minutes, as I've said now for the last two weeks, I believe the Bears should keep Justin Fields.

But I think that's at like 65%. 60, 65% in the likelihood that they do keep Justin Fields because on the other side, you're looking at what people are saying is a generational talent in Caleb Williams. And it's one thing to be called the generational talent and then actually follow through on that as we've seen through the last 10, 15, 20, 25 years of the NFL draft. But knowing that you got two years left in this contract with that fifth year option being factored apart of the two years, you are eventually going to have to make a financial decision where you want to continue to employ Justin Fields.

You're going to have to ante up and pay him a lot of money. And right now, Justin Fields deserves that other opportunity next year to be the starting quarterback. But there's a difference in deserving an opportunity. And then are you willing to pay Justin Fields this off season, which the Bears don't have to do, but a lot of times teams don't have to pay a player right now in the present moment and they end up doing so. So here's the comparison I'm going to make. Last year, the Detroit Lions got off to a really bad start. You had Dan Campbell, who was a popular coach because of the way that he handled himself at the podium, but the results weren't reflecting on the field. It's very similar to the Chicago Bears.

I'm not saying Iberflus was very popular, but in year number two of a head coach, they weren't taking that next step. And then down the stretch, the Detroit Lions got very hot. They won five out of their last six games. And then the final game of the season, they walked into Lambeau Field. And even though they weren't going to the playoffs, they ended the Green Bay Packers season. So you look at this on the other way with the Chicago Bears now, they were also off to a putrid start at three and eight, looked lifeless, looked like there was no future.

And now this team has won four out of five games down the stretch. And oh yeah, by the way, if they walk into Lambeau Field on Sunday and walk out with the victory, that would be winning five out of their last six games. And maybe the momentum that we saw that was built down the stretch with Detroit that carried over into next season can also help it happen to go down with the Chicago Bears. But I think that's also dependent on continuing this locker room and this good team chemistry and this good direction of this franchise and keeping what you have in place, keeping Ryan Pulse, keeping Matt Iberflus, and most importantly, keeping Justin Fields as your quarterback, who is well received in that locker room, has the respect of that locker room, and right now is winning games. And oh yeah, by the way, getting him help in the draft too.

Last year, you got him help with Future Picks and DJ Moore. Now go get Marvin Harrison Jr. You go get Marvin Harrison Jr. We could go into a Bears season next year where you got the quarterback and you got two stud wide receivers and you have a coach who's starting to figure it out. And I'm not saying you're going to take it to the level of the Lions this year when you're winning 11, 12 games and you're going to have a top four seed and you're going to be NFC North champs. I'm not saying that, but there's not, there's no reason why this Bears team can't continue to build off that momentum that they've established here in the final five, six games of the season and carry it over into next year to compete for a wildcard spot. But you get rid of the quarterback, you get rid of the coach.

I just don't think it's likely when you're resetting in some extent that this team ends up making the playoffs. And that's another part of it. I know you could get oohed and odd by, by what is the future and maybe the potential, the unknown of, for example, a Caleb Williams or a Drake May, but what you have right now is pretty damn good. And sometimes, and it's working too. And sometimes in life, you're in a good situation and you strive for more. You strive for what other people are telling you is better. And sometimes you go for what's better. And then a few years from now, you look back and you go, man, we had something special brewing. We had something really, really good working.

And because of our desire to get something better and not appreciate what we have in the moment, it changed and it derailed what we were doing. So Chicago, I don't care what happens on Sunday outside of this being like 45 to three and absolutely humiliating. As long as this is close, as long as this is within 10, 14 points, right? Two touchdowns. The plan from what I've seen down the stretch should be, polls be back, Eberflus be back, and I think both will, but then the big domino to fall is Justin Fields. And they should be fielding trade phone calls at the draft, not for Justin Fields, but for the number one overall pick and the Bears should keep Justin Fields.

All right, this is that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. What do you think the Bears should do? Should they keep Justin Fields or should they trade him while his stock right now is going through the roof? And then maybe you go get a Caleb Williams or a Drake May in the draft.

855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. We will touch on the other side of the Bears game this upcoming weekend with the Green Bay Packers having a chance to go to the playoffs and we'll do so with legendary Packers fullback, John Kuhn, who will join us in five minutes. All right, gearing up for the big game on Sunday between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, you can stream the NFL and Westwood One for free, sponsored by AutoZone. All season long, you listen to every Westwood One broadcast of the NFL Live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports on the Odyssey app. Get in the zone, AutoZone. AutoZone's free battery testing and charging is available for free at your local AutoZone. Get in the zone, AutoZone.

Restrictions apply. Let's go out to the guest line right now and welcome in a legendary Packers fullback and that of course is John Kuhn, friend of the show, kind enough to jump on board with us. John, happy Friday to you. Appreciate the time. How you been? Happy Friday.

Happy new year. Always glad to jump on here with you, Zach. And hey, look at how big time you've got now. We do this thing live over the internet versus the airwaves, a whole different vibe, a whole different field. Good to put a face to a name now.

Well, I appreciate that and always appreciate how kind you are jumping on with us. And usually it was talking about all this drama in Green Bay with your old teammate and a good friend at Aaron Rodgers. But now look how this works. For two, three years, people were saying Gudekunz had no clue what he was doing. And now a lot of people with the play of Jordan Love are issuing a little bit of an apology to the Packers GM, Brian Gudekunz. Yeah, it's almost like there's a recipe to this whole franchise quarterback thing.

You have a good one. You get one before you're done with the old one. You let him learn for a couple of years under the tutelage of that older one. You let him learn the process off the field in the meeting rooms at practice.

And then you give him a chance in his third or fourth year and see what he can do on the field when he merely has to focus at things on the field versus the things in the classroom and the things on the practice field. So it's worked a couple of times in a row now and Jordan Love especially in the last seven games of the season has really proven that to a point. We saw the Lions last year towards the end of the season get hot and they won five out of six games and that carried over with the momentum that they were doing into the next season.

When you look at Green Bay and they have a chance to go make the playoffs on Sunday and win five out of or you know continue to get hot down the stretch. What have you seen with this team in the last few weeks where they've started to turn around and just play better football? Well specifically it's been the play on the offensive side. Jordan Love's not the only young piece the only inexperienced piece heading into this season. There's a lot of rookies on this offense when you talk about tight end wide receiver even on the offensive line.

So they all had to kind of collectively work together to grow and and become a cohesive unit and that that cohesiveness has really taken place these last you know two months of the season and they've kind of taken off. They've had a couple struggles a couple hiccups in the last month of the season in December against Carolina and against Tampa Bay and against the New York Giants defensively but if they can play a little bit more aggressive on the defensive end this week against Chicago get themselves another victory. I've talked to a lot of coaches I've talked to a lot of personnel in Green Bay a playoff game that type of experience in your first year as a starter for Jordan Love and a lot of these young guys on this offensive side that'll pay dividends exponentially going down here in the future.

So getting this playoff game is huge but it's it's been the play of Jordan Love and this young offense coming alive which is why they are in the position they're in. Talking to John Kuhn right now you know going into the year I said I don't really care about the wins or losses for the Packers this year and it's incredible they have a chance to go make the playoffs coming up on a Sunday but it was more so at the end of the year how do I feel about the quarterback? Do I think the quarterback has enough to be the guy moving forward and you get the best of both worlds right now? Like how far are you willing to go with Jordan Love and like what do you think his ceiling could be as the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers?

I'm going all the way with Jordan Love Zach. He shared things early on that a special type of athlete can show and that came about one every four plays and then we had a dip in the middle of the season where he had some struggles with turnovers and he had some struggles with getting the ball out on time and then he learned about midway through the season I don't need to be perfect on every single play I can use my check down I can facilitate this offense even when it's muddy and as the season progressed even further towards the end of the year he's gotten so good before the snap of the football of recognizing the defense getting in the right checks that he is now mentally and physically there so that three out of every four plays are something that a good and established veteran quarterback is doing and I'm willing to say right now I expected Jordan Love to be good at some point in time I did not expect it to happen as fast as it has this season and Jordan Love right now towards the end of season I dare to say he's playing as good of football as nearly any quarterback in the National Football League right now and going into next year there's no reason why he can't improve even more also I think it's important when you look at all the drama since there was that decision to draft Jordan Love and all the fighting with right Lafleur and Goudekunz and Rogers that created a little bit of an unhealthy locker room and Love could have handled it one or two ways I think him being quiet and him just right going to work and work in each and every day in the role they were asking him I think that gained him a lot of trust and respect in that locker room when they officially elected to trade Aaron Rogers it was like okay we have a guy that we could believe in because of the way he conducted himself the last two three years yeah one thing this whole country is going to learn about Jordan Love is he is a very even keel person he doesn't get very emotional you don't see a whole lot of highs or lows at him no matter how a football game is going no matter how the chaos is externally it's always calm and collected on the inside and you know some of that has to do with his age being much closer to a lot of the younger players on the offensive side they have a great relationship a great rapport Jordan Love it came out this week has been hosting dinners at his house on Monday nights and invites not only the offense but the defensive players to come over too to try and really create that cohesiveness that that a team really needs that bond that a team really needs and it's been refreshing to see a team kind of rally around each other because Jordan Love had to prove himself as much as anybody else on this football team this year that hasn't been the case at the quarterback position in Green Bay for a very long time so for people to see Jordan Love earning his stripes while they are simultaneously earning their stripes that is something that goes a long way and you root for one another in those aspects and you can definitely feel a tighter-knit offensive group this year than what you have in years past. Wrap it up with John Kuhn who joins us right now on CBS Sports Radio let me talk about your friend Darren Rogers a little bit I know he got in this whole controversy this week because he opened his mouth with McAfee and then he's talking about the Epstein list with with Kimmel and it's just things you can't do but he of course did them anyway obviously it stinks that the guy got hurt I never thought he was going to return this year we know he's always going to say what he wants to say how do you think the next year or two in what could be the last two years of Aaron Rodgers NFL career which has been a great one are going to play out like what do you kind of expect from Rodgers next season? Well I hope he has a healthy season I hope he gets to play all 17 games because I'd like to see how he can perform and how he can go out here in New York and this is retirement talk that we've been talking about for a couple years in Green Bay and now in New York and with the injury you never like to see somebody go out like that so I'd like to see him go out in his own terms I'd like to see him come back next year be 100% healthy and not have to miss any time from the New York Jets because quite frankly with that roster and that team I thought they were poised to make a playoff run in New York and without him you can clearly see it's a much different picture so I'd like to see what he's able to do in a new environment and see if he can't add a little piece to his legacy. Let me ask you about two former Packers that have been tied to New York potentially I think Bakhtiari is definitely going to be on the Jets next year. Devante Adams I know he's under contract in a pretty large contract may that be after that deal that he got from the Raiders but as long as the Raiders keep Antonio Pierce I think Adams will stay with the Raiders just how about the future of two guys that you know well in Devante Adams and David Bakhtiari. Yeah I couldn't agree with you more about Devante he has publicly come out and said Antonio Pierce is his guy you'd like to see him back next year he thinks he's earned that job and right now if you're Raiders management you got to think more about how do we keep this team that has played well towards the end of the year how do we keep them together going forward and the change that the coaching staff could definitely blow everything up roster wise for that team so I think Antonio Pierce ends up staying I think they learned from their mistakes with Rich Bissachia letting him go a few years back and I think that keeps their team together especially Devante Adams. With David Bakhtiari it becomes very interesting because the guy's had four surgeries in a matter of you know about two and a half years he's only played a handful of games a little over a dozen games in the last three years since he was the highest paid left tackle in all of football so he's been very adamant and very vocal about his disdain with playing on turf especially the turf in New York it would be very interesting to me if he had to swallow those words and kind of eat some crow to go up there and play too obviously that would take some sort of releasing by the Green Bay Packers first or a trade or a forced trade in that nature and I'm just not sure how likely all of those combined play into one another. And the last thing I'll ask you just to get the flip side of this Bears Packers game coming up on Sunday we talked about the Green Bay side with you the Chicago side right like we talked about the Raiders how you don't mess what's going well with Antonio Pierce I think the Bears should bring back Justin Fields now with them having an opportunity if they walk out of Lambeau with the victory on Sunday to win five out of six down the stretch would you keep Fields and maybe draft Marvin Harrison Jr or trade that number one pick again how would you approach it if you were the GM? Well this is going to be a fascinating development after the season because everybody knows when you take a coaching job or a GM job in Chicago number one goal is to beat Green Bay you have to go up north and win and get some victories and I think they haven't won against Green Bay in their last nine attempts if they find a way to come up to Green Bay and they have a matchup that could potentially upset the Green Bay Packers this weekend if they can come up here and get a victory that makes it really tough on the ownership on the management to say hey Justin Fields we got to move on from you Maddie Perfus we got to move on from you I think they might consider it more to keep all of these guys around and build around Justin Fields if they can come to Green Bay and get a victory if they don't and I truly believe this game matters in the future for Justin Fields if they don't and he goes oh for his career against the Green Bay Packers as the Chicago Bears quarterback I don't think there's any way they keep them I think they're going they're drafting they're picking a quarterback there early in the first round whether they trade back and do that we've seen them do crazy stuff in the past in the draft so I wouldn't hold against them to do anything but I have to feel like Jordan or Justin Fields if he's going to coach or play football in Chicago in the future he's got to get this victory this weekend in Green Bay and it's kind of crazy and I was talking about this to open up the show John Coon last week the fans are chanting we want to keep Fields we want Justin they lose this game this weekend things change very quickly in the NFL as you know it is a week-to-week league more than anything more than any other sport and that last taste in your mouth especially when it's a division opponent especially when it's that division opponent that it's said and written on your walls that you need to go up and get those victories against that one can sit really sour and that can promote a lot of changes when you come into the offseason hey last thing I actually just one more thing that popped into mind John Coon we talked about the Gouda Coon side what's the fan perspective of LaFleur right now it's it's it's rode a roller coaster throughout the year it really has I would say there was more optimism and patience at the beginning of season but there was really a stretch there where fans thought we were underperforming and fans are sometimes a little impatient when it comes to the development of young players but as this team has really taken off and this offense is on the cusp of hitting a top 10 offensive national football league they're starting to realize that Matt LaFleur he can scheme up some stuff and with Jordan Love and these young wide receivers they're going to be able to accomplish things offensively going forward I think more of the heat lies on the floor as it pertains to the rest of his coaching staff and what he's going to do there with a defensive coordinator Joe Berry's contract is up at the end of the year and where does he go from there because if there is some sort of retention there for Joe Berry that's the only thing that would sit sour as far as the fans go here in Green Bay yeah there's that I follow the tweets I follow the conversations it is not a hot take to suggest that the Packers fans do not like their defensive coordinator he is John Kuhn John appreciate you doing this thanks so much you'll be well do it again soon absolutely take care of Zach there you go John Kuhn joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio we will take a time out when we come on back the Ohio State Buckeyes have their new quarterback what does that mean for their head coach is the head coach Ryan Day on the hot seat we'll discuss next eight five five two one two four CBS eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven you can always follow the Zach Gelb show on social media twitter and instagram at Zach Gelb that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B here is the Ackman Rich Ackerman with the latest CBS Sports Radio update it's time to ask the pros where you the listener gets asked us a question and it's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb using the hashtag ask the pros be listening later in the show when we might answer your question you could think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs get guaranteed low low low low low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts O'Reilly Auto Parts so the Ohio State new quarterback or the new guy that's coming in the room has been made that decision Will Howard is transferring from Kansas State to the Ohio State University and it's an underwhelming move I'm not saying Will Howard is worse than Kyle McChord I do think it's more so of a lateral move and if it is an upgrade it's an upgrade in the slightest of ways you know I put out five quarterback transfer portal predictions when all this stuff did go down I had DJ U, DJ Young LA going to Florida State I had Kyle McChord transferring to Nebraska he ended up going to Syracuse and you know you go through some of these I had Dylan Gabriel winding up in Oregon after he elected to leave Oklahoma so some of them you get right some of them you get wrong but the name that I threw out there for Ohio State was Cam Ward now initially it seemed like both of those parties were interested and it never came to fruition and now we know Cam Ward is actually going to the NFL which I was surprised by that he was a zero star recruit he had a very good career obviously at Washington State was originally at incarnate word but I didn't think he was going to go from entering the transfer portal to then making his decision to go to the NFL so I don't think it was Ohio State was just banking on Ward going there from some of the initial reports because it quickly developed after that where it looked like they weren't going to be in on him and it was basically the Florida schools that were battling it out for Cam Ward and then Cam Ward elected to say oh yeah yeah I'm gonna go to the NFL so you look now at Ohio State there's just not a feeling of positivity right now around Ohio State like I look back at this Ohio State season and in a win I actually thought it was a pathetic moment for their university and for their football team and it shows you how sensitive their head coach Ryan Day is Ryan Day got annoyed about what Lou Holt said about his football team where Lou Holt to the McAfee show questioned the toughness of the Ohio State and he wins the game in Ryan Day where his quarterback Kyle McCord should have thrown a game ending interception and then on the final play of the game Marcus Freeman couldn't get enough guys on the field and you decide to run your mouth and not respect your elders and going after you know poor Lou Holt and you're just yelling at him on national TV when I saw that I said fake tough guy I said Ryan Day is insecure he's sensitive and when you have the reaction like that and I'm not saying it wasn't a big win but you know in the back of your head you're the head football coach that at the time lost two years in a row to Michigan and how your season's going to be judged based off if you win that game or not how you elected to overly celebrate in that moment that was the game and you could document it by listening to this show and I was clear about this guys like Michael Fry who listens to us every day that's a big Ohio State fan oh why are you saying Ohio State has no shot this year why are you hating Ohio State because in that Notre Dame game their warts were exposed they were their flaws were exposed the quarterback wasn't good enough and the head coach who keeps on saying that he has a tough football team and that he's a tough football team and that he's a tough guy he showed that he was actually pretty sensitive and pretty weak so now you look at Ryan Day where not only did he lose to Michigan three straight years not only has he seen Michigan win three straight big 10 championships he is on the verge and it's not a lock because I have a lot of respect for that Washington program Washington can easily and I mean easily win the national championship game on Monday night but can you imagine Michigan wins the natty I don't want to hear anything from Ryan Day I don't want to hear him bitching and complaining about signs I don't want to hear him tell me how tough his team is I don't want to hear anything from Ryan Day because you took over an Urban Meyer team and an Urban Meyer program regardless if you like Urban Meyer or not and I don't but Urban Meyer had that program humming Urban Meyer had the Ohio State be elite he had them be one of the teams in college football now under Ryan Day it's Ohio State that won a bunch of games in the regular season but they won't win the big games that matter you know they'll beat Penn State they'll beat that fraudulent Franklin they'll beat all the other schools but when they play Michigan oh no and watch Harbaugh will leave and then Ryan Day will start to win again and he'll start to think he's actually a better football coach than what he is but bringing in Will Howard it's a move where I'm like okay like it doesn't it doesn't get me excited like I'm not I'm clearly not an Ohio State fan but if I was and I'm trying to buy back in on Ryan Day going from McCord to Howard is like slightly we got better maybe now there's this perception on why Kyle McCord left let's hear from the former quarterback of Ohio State he was on the QB room podcast Kyle McCord on why he left the Ohio State Buckeyes top level of college football and especially onto the pros I mean it's a business at the end of the day Ohio State had to make a business decision that they felt like was best for them and I had to do the same thing and you know unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be for next year but at the end of the day I felt like you know I put together some solid games and had some good tape and so I was confident when I went in the portal I'd find a good home so I thought the perception and what the speculation was on why he left was he wasn't guaranteed that he was going to be the starting quarterback next year but he made it seem like it was more business so maybe he's suggesting that he wanted more NIL money like that's how it sounded to me that he wanted more NIL money and Ohio State through their collective or whatever weren't willing to give it to him here is Kyle McCord one more cut from him from the QB room podcast on the narrative with all the speculation on why he left Ohio State I didn't really say too much you know after I left I kind of put out you know my statement you know kept it the reasons close you know kind of in my inner circle and you know I've had you know news outlets hit me up like I had one a news outlet from Columbus that hit me up to do a story you know and I didn't answer it you know my family have to do a story they didn't answer you know hit people up in my circle do a story nobody answered and then the next day you go online and they have an article published of you know the five reasons I left and you read them and it's just a bunch of BS and you know they're just kind of pulling at strings at that point and you know the narrative you know people read that and they think that's true and so they start you know believing in it and you know posting just kind of snowballs and when you don't really you know speak up about it you know it is what it is well you should speak up about it because if you're annoyed by what's being said about you you should clear your name and just because the reporter reached out to you and your family it doesn't mean that they weren't told why you left from the Ohio State side you had a chance to clarify it and you elected not to do so but to wrap this up together and I wish Kyle McCord nothing but the best at Syracuse I'm a big fan of Fran Brown and also Eliza Robinson who's on the defensive side of the ball I've known those guys for years so I hope Kyle McCord performs well I don't believe that Ohio State drastically got better bringing in Will Howard I think they like slightly maybe at best got better but I'm not ready to say that Ohio State's now this force to be reckoned with and for Ryan Day you don't at least bare minimum beat Michigan next year regardless if they have Harbaugh or not on that sideline you already have had people sour on Ryan Day who's only lost like seven or eight games in his career as the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes you will have a lot of people not only start to turn on you where they have already some but it will be a majority of people where they won't be able to overlook the record because you know at that job it's one thing and one thing only and that's beat of Michigan and under Urban Meyer they always beat Michigan under Ryan Day now they've lost three years in a row. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio.