Mahomes vs. Brady Comparisons Need to Stop! (Hour 2)

Alrighty, this is that Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Bill Wright are going to stop by 20 minutes from now and he's going to join us for a few minutes to react to the Milwaukee Bucks firing their first-year head coach today, Adrian Griffin. And there's expectations that Doc Rivers is going to replace him in Milwaukee. Nothing official though on the Doc Rivers front yet.

I opened up the show for about four or five minutes saying, well, it doesn't take long. I'm going to take a scientist, a mad scientist to kind of figure out what the formula is here, where he had to have lost Giannis Antetokounmpo. Because there's no way in that organization, even though Giannis loves that organization, and right, they've done everything and then some that Giannis has asked, that they're not going to consult Giannis Antetokounmpo after just firing a coach that won a championship with them this past offseason.

And that's not going to happen. So I just said, hey, Giannis probably did not like Adrian Griffin and he lost confidence in Adrian Griffin. And if you can't develop a relationship with Giannis and you lose Giannis's trust that quickly, well, then you're not going to have success as an NBA head coach, especially in a league that is player driven.

And player driven the most compared to the other three major sports in America. But Chris Mannix, to give you a little more clarity on what I was assuming, he and he's an NBA reporter. He says there has been steady rumblings for weeks in NBA circles that several Bucks veterans, including Giannis, had lost faith in Griffin. What appeared to be smart, a smart hire last spring just never worked out. And I have a lot of people that follow me and I see a lot of their tweets in Milwaukee. And I love being on 1250 the fan, one of our great affiliates in the state of Wisconsin. And, you know, to really lose confidence in the Milwaukee or the Wisconsin sports fan, it takes a lot to have that fan lose confidence in you. It does take a lot. And how many times I've just seen so many negative things being said about Adrian Griffin, even with whatever their record is.

You know, I think it's kind of you could have put this together. Now, I'm not saying I expect them to get fired today, but you could kind of put it together that this guy wasn't very popular in Milwaukee and people didn't think he was the right coach for the job. Now, with all that being said, it does feel a lot like and I know Blatt was there longer, but it feels exactly like David Blatt with the Cleveland Cavaliers. David Blatt didn't have a good relationship with LeBron. Now, to be fair, LeBron also wanted to get Eric Spulcher fired right when he walked into Miami and he wanted Pat Riley to come from upstairs in the president's role and go coach the team. And I can understand why you want Pat Riley. He's one of the greatest coaches of all time. But Eric Spulcher has been a pretty damn good coach even without LeBron James. So just when a star player loses confidence in a coach who doesn't like a coach doesn't mean that that isn't the best coach for the team.

But when it's the star player in a smaller market and it's the star player and multiple other players, there's just no way for this to survive. And it was always something with Milwaukee. I even go back to the whole Terry Stott situation where Peter Fagan, he joined us, you know, before the seasons already. He's like, hey, it just didn't work out.

And Terry Stott was brought in with the new staff and right. He has the connections with Milwaukee and they just simply said it just did not work out. And this Adrian Griffin thing just did not work out. So there's reasons.

There's several reasons why it didn't work out. But in this league, when you lose your star player, when the star player is the franchise, there's no way to recover from that. And you're just not going to get to continue as the head coach. And you look at the NBA this year, you know, there's not many elite teams in the NBA. And with all the problems, the Bucks still have the second best record in the sport. Now, I would not be a fan of bringing in Doc Rivers, but that's what happens in the NBA.

It's just retreads over and over and over again. And Doc was a good coach. I don't think he's good coach in the year of twenty twenty four. But we'll see if that happens. So Bill Ryder will join us to jump on board and talk a little bit more about that later in the show.

Get him back to the NFL. I have now heard this take from multiple people that I like multiple people that I'm friends with and multiple people that have had great careers in sports talk radio. And some of them have been at this for a very long time.

And some of them, you could even say, even basically ensured that this format would be a success. And I've seen Christopher Mad Dog Russo, I've seen our pal Brandon Tierney and many others say Patrick Mahomes is the greatest quarterback of all time. Let me preface what I'm about to say with this. Patrick Mahomes is a sensational quarterback. Patrick Mahomes is a video game on the field. Patrick Mahomes gives you no reason to dislike him. He's phenomenal.

He can retire tomorrow. He'd be a Hall of Famer. Like that's how great Patrick Mahomes is. But to say right now that he's the greatest quarterback of all time. It's just amazing that this is what our society has become, where everything goes into who's the goat? Like, is this guy the goat?

Is that guy the goat? Right now, as great as Patrick Mahomes is, you can't call him the greatest quarterback of all time. You may project that he may become the greatest quarterback of all time.

But to just flat out say that he's the greatest quarterback of all time right now, I don't want to say it's absurd, but it's silly. Tom Brady had three Hall of Fame careers in one. Tom Brady played in the NFL for 20 plus years. Tom Brady has won seven Super Bowls. He's also played in 10.

And I get it. Mahomes has played in three. Mahomes has won two. Mahomes could win the Super Bowl again this year.

But I love the revisionist history that people now do. Where they say, oh, look at the receiving corps that Patrick Mahomes has this year. Brady never played with the receiving corps like that, huh? He played with in one year, Reshay Caldwell and Doug Gabriel. Those are his two best receivers. You know, Brady's first run of Super Bowls were with David Patton and David Givens and Troy Brown. Tom Brady. Outside of his time in Tampa Bay. And for that run and then the short run with Randy Moss. You know, he does not win with top 10 receivers. You know, Mike Evans, he did. But in New England, he never won a Super Bowl with a top 10 wide receiver.

Now, you could say, right? He is. He's had Gronk. Well, Mahomes has Travis Kelce. But it's amazing to me when Brady defeated Mahomes in Kansas City when the Chiefs were the favorite in the game. And the Patriots had a team that was not good on paper and a team that a lot of people said throughout the year, the Patriots were done. The Patriots are washed. He won that AFC title game and then plays Mahomes in a Super Bowl where I was one of the few people to predict that the Bucks would win.

Everyone was on Kansas City in that Super Bowl. We're now going to say Mahomes is the greatest quarterback of all time against Tom Brady, who has won seven Super Bowls. Like, it's just it's crazy to me. It really is. And I say that knowing what the athleticism of Patrick Mahomes is, what the arm strength of Patrick Mahomes is, how great of a person Patrick Mahomes is and how great of a player Patrick Mahomes is.

Like, I understand everything. This is not anti Patrick Mahomes. This is not Patrick Mahomes sucks and Patrick Mahomes is some bum. And how dare you compare him to the greatest quarterback of all time and Tom Brady. But for such a long time, I heard legends in this business refused to call Tom Brady the greatest quarterback of all time. Because Montana was 4-0 in Super Bowls. Brady eventually shattered the number and not only shattered the number, anyone with a brain would understand they would rather have five Super Bowls when Brady got to five and won five and lose two and be five and two in Super Bowls than just be 4-0.

Because then you're just lost earlier. And that's not me trashing Montana. Montana is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time as well.

But it's crazy to me how that was a big argument with so many people. And then those same people are now willing to say when Mahomes is two and one in Super Bowls, it hasn't got to seven yet. That they would rather have Mahomes over Brady. It's just it's wild to me and longevity does matter. Tom Brady dominated the NFL for two and a half decades. Two and a half decades. I hope Mahomes is able to go 20 something years.

He's had injuries. I hope Patrick Mahomes continues to kick ass because he's awesome. Absolutely awesome to watch as a football player. But to suggest right now that with Tom Brady, not even with him being out of the league for one full year. That Patrick Mahomes is already a better quarterback and is going to be the greatest quarterback of all time.

It's just like I live in a world where that conversation to me is just silly for it to happen right now. Because for Mahomes to go down as the greatest quarterback of all time. He's going to have to get to seven.

Bare minimum, he's going to have to win seven Super Bowls. Because the thing that Brady will always have with Brady's career being over. Like when we do this LeBron Jordan debate. And let me be honest with everyone, I hate, I hate these GOAT debates.

When when I look at a topic sheet and we are assembling a rundown and it's and it's one of those days we have to do. Who's the greatest basketball player of all time? Give us a call.

855-2124 CBS. Is it LeBron or is it Jordan? I hate those debates.

Here's why. Because regardless of who I think is the greatest basketball player of all time, you want to make the case for Jordan? You then trash LeBron. You want to make the case for LeBron?

You then trash Jordan. And there's no conversation. And trust me, I yell enough.

I don't need to yell when no one's listening on the other side of the conversation. But to already have this conversation about Brady and Mahomes, it's so premature. And it's just amazing how everyone brushes over where when you get into that LeBron Jordan debate, we've never seen them go up against one another. We've seen Brady and Mahomes. We were fortunate enough to see Brady and Mahomes go up against one another on the biggest stage. Mahomes was an MVP at home. Played great in the second half.

It was phenomenal. I'm not taking anything away from Patrick Mahomes. Brady in that game in Kansas City in his 40s was surgical on third down.

Third and 10 over and over and over again to Gronkowski, to Edelman, to Gronkowski, to Edelman. And then in a Super Bowl when he was with Tampa Bay, Brady beat the Chiefs. Brady beat Mahomes. So if you're trying to make this argument and you're just going to say, oh, well, Mahomes has a better arm or Mahomes is athletic, that's fine.

But the conversation is, who's the greatest quarterback of all time? And when I look at the resume and when I've seen what Brady has done and everyone always says, oh, Brady wasn't the most athletic. Brady didn't have the strongest arm, but he was still able to win those championships. What does that tell you about Tom Brady? It tells you that even with all this adversity, he still found the way to be the best year in and year out. So I think the world of Mahomes, Mahomes is already, you could say, a top 10 quarterback of all time. But to say right now that he's the greatest quarterback of all time.

I just think it's flat out ridiculous and it's disrespectful to the guy in Tom Brady who has won seven championships. But that's just me. Anyway, it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I want to get to Bill Samter. We'll have you chime in on that later on in the show. But Bill Wright is going to join us on the other side. We got some NBA things to discuss as the Milwaukee Bucks have fired their head coach. Rumors that Doc Rivers is going to take over as the next head basketball coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. You got Bucks lost? Well, we'll tap into the NBA scene and also the scene with the Milwaukee Bucks when CBS Sports Radio host and also CBS Sports HQ, NBA insider.

He has all the good information. Bill Wright will join us when we return in five minutes. Alrighty, big news out of the NBA.

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired their first year head coach, Adrian Griffin. And there's reports that Doc Rivers could be the next head coach of the Bucks. You can listen to Bill Rider, Monday through Friday, many of these same CBS Sports Radio affiliates from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern. And he also is a great insider for CBS Sports HQ.

And Bill is kind enough to join us right now. Bill, we'll get to the Doc Rivers part of this in just a second. But just when it comes to Adrian Griffin, why did this not work in Milwaukee, even though the team is 30 and 13 right now?

Hey, buddy. Yeah, I mean, it is shocking, not surprising, right? I'm sure you told your audience that everybody knows the Bucks have an outstanding record. They're the second best team at least by a record in the Eastern Conference. But there's been talking whispers, Zach, around the NBA about the concerns the Bucks have that Adrian Griffin just wasn't up to the task of coaching a team that is a must-compete-for-championships-now organization. Going back to when Terry Stock, his top assistant coach, suddenly resigned out of nowhere at the very start of the season.

And those rumors have continued. So talking to folks, talking to folks in that Bucks organization, the sense that I get is that that feeling that Adrian Griffin wasn't up to the job, that concern that they had given a rookie head coach more than he was at least for now capable of undertaking. And the real feeling in the front office, the guy that runs operations, John Horst, I think as good as a job, is under a lot of pressure having done what he did to bring in Damian Lillard.

They felt like it was worthwhile to panic or to be bold, however you want to read it, and go get somebody else. I know it's easy for a lot of us to advocate for a coach to get fired. I thought it was right last year when they moved on from Mike Budenholzer. Looking back, is that a mistake now in your opinion?

Look, I don't think the mistake is a great question. It's moving on from Budenholzer. The mistake is in this crop of NBA coaches, kind of like the NFL coaches that are out there now.

Go higher either. I mean, the guy you should hire is Nick Nurse. Ironically, the person hired to replace Doc Rivers, who I know we're going to talk about in a second, who's doing a wonderful job in Philly. Go higher, Monty Williams, despite the fact that the Pittsons have negative three losses this year or whatever. Go higher, Frank Vogel, who is very well respected. If you have expectations to win now, I don't think I'm with you. I think Budenholzer is a very good coach. I think maybe it was time for a separation.

The mistake was not hiring the right person after that decision. And it's also alarming where you lose the confidence of Giannis this early. Because I love Giannis.

He's one of my favorite players in the sport. It's kind of crazy how quickly, reportedly, that relationship just did deteriorate with your star player. Yeah, that's right. And look, Giannis has only had before this guy one coach in his career. So it's harder, I think, to make an assessment, just talking to folks about this.

This is what they've given me. It's harder to make an assessment on what it takes to manage Giannis, whether he's a diva or not. I'm not saying he is. But the assessments we can make on LeBron James are a little easier. He's had a lot of coaches, and he has in subtle ways, including a couple nights ago with his current coach, undermined those guys, different guys, time and again.

With this, it is just hard to know if Giannis needs to be managed a certain way, or, and I think this is the more likely outcome, Giannis has utterly lost confidence that this head coach is up to the job, and that gave the front office permission to follow their own instincts and move on quickly. Talking to Bill Ryder right now, I'm kind of laughing at this report that it could be Doc Rivers. Your reaction if the Bucs hire Doc Rivers. Well, I can tell you that I don't write all the time for CBSSports.com because I'm busy. But I'm going to write an open letter to John Horst, who runs the Milwaukee Bucs basketball operations, that will say in effect, for the love of all that is holy, your own job and the good people of Wisconsin do not do it. I think that would be, as you know I think, a colossal error in judgment. And let me just read you that very quickly. A rival executive, when the news came out that Doc was in the mix, unasked, sent me the text that said, and the other Eastern Conference contenders breathe easier. I think that's the goal. That's a pretty universal view out there.

Not 100%, but it's certainly widespread. And for a team that had shortcomings in the playoffs last year, I know that Doc won a championship with the Celtics, but with how it's gone recently, it would be crazy. It would make no sense to bring in Doc if the goal is to get the team over the hump this year. I mean, look, the stats speak for themselves. There are 13 blown 3-1 series leads in NBA history.

Rivers has coached three of them. He is 6 and 10 in Game 7. That is by far the most losses for an NBA coach in history in Game 7. This dude is 17 and 33 in games where they had a chance to clinch.

So when it's a clinch game, it's about 34% clip. I could keep going. The point remains the same. Doc Rivers, the history of success is not there to match. Well, it was a great season, that one season in Boston. The problem, Zach, is, and this is part of the reason you have to figure that the Rivers report makes sense, because they have to know who they're getting. They have to know who they're getting. Now, look, Terry Stotts, highly regarded. He would have been the ideal guy, but I can't imagine... Could they bring him back?

I mean, I had one executive suggest that it's not going to happen because this is what they should do. It depends on how Stotts parted ways, of course, to the gym. Because Stotts is very well respected, right, coach in Portland forever.

He and Damian Lloyd have a great relationship. I just don't know, and I haven't been able to find out, when he just abruptly left, whether he burned bridges just with Griffin or burned bridges with the whole organization. So let's just say it can't be Stotts, and obviously you don't want it to be Doc Rivers.

I know this is a tough question. It's so tough to do this in-season, Bill Ryder. But is there anyone else that you would be like, okay, that would actually be a good move for them to do? No, I mean, because the guys that I think that you want to go and get are either the rare, excellent coach who has just burned out with his organization or burned out his organization. There were several of those guys last year. And really, I think the right move, and Nick Nurse is a great example of this, there are a lot of very well regarded assistants out there that you can go get. I know Adrian Griffin, rookie head coach, didn't work out. It doesn't mean it can't work out with a rookie head coach. It just wasn't this one. So to answer your question, no, there are no great names that are on the table. I'll throw one to you.

Yeah, hit me with it. Now, he's never coached as an NBA head coach. Don't you got to at least call Jay Wright? No, I mean, look, I understand the Jay Wright love, but that is a gigantic leap. And whatever you accomplish at the college level, and this isn't necessarily fair, Better leap than Doc Rivers, though, right? I mean, you're a better leap than Doc Rivers. I'm a better leap than Doc Rivers.

You're a callback when he's not willing like the multiple ladies in New York City. Well, he has no hops. Yeah, is a better, I mean, like, hey, look, Jay Wright could work out.

I just think that's all it is. Again, this is on the front office in Milwaukee for hiring the wrong guy and Adrian Griffin by their own choice. Wrong guy, they just got rid of him. That's a lot to ask of any college coach who doesn't have NBA experience to step into. I think you need somebody with a ton of street credibility in the NBA.

Last thing I'll ask you, Bill, and this is just one of those good radio questions, I think. Last night, Joel Embiid at 70 points, and he only made one three-pointer. Carl Anthony Towns scored 62, but the Timberwolves lost.

What's more impressive to you, because both are crazy? Oh, I think Joel Embiid's a lot more impressive, and I think it's a really, really good point. Nothing against Kobe in the 81 or Steph in his 60 burgers or whoever you want to look at. That is a reminder that Joel Embiid does not have to be hot, right, from a shooting perspective to be in the zone, that he can just be physical and dominant with that talent. So I think it can carry over. Is he going to score 70 points in the playoffs?

No. But I think it just shows that he is capable of putting that team on his back, and he got up for that Embiid game. I mean, I want to say nice things about people, so I'll say this about Carl Anthony Towns. 62 is great. You've got to win the basketball game, and so does that basketball team when one of your guys goes off for a 60 burger. Yeah, that's what makes it so impressive that they lost. Like, you have 62 points and you lose the game.

How do you lose any fat in crunch minutes? He's Bill Ryder, CBS Sports HQ. You can listen to him brighter than you right here on CBS Sports Radio, 10 a.m. to noon Eastern. Bill, thank you. Appreciate it.

Thanks, buddy. There you go. Bill Ryder joining us on CBS Sports Radio. And that's a tough spot there for the Bucs, because you've got to move on from your coach.

You don't really have an internal candidate. So now you're going to bring in a retread of Doc Rivers, and that's where it looks like it's going to go. And for a team that's trying to get over the hump, like if this was 2009, 2010, 2011, all right, that would be a good move with Doc Rivers.

But then seeing the collapses in L.A., seeing the poor performances in the postseason in Philly, the guy just doesn't close out games now and important games. And the thing about Doc Rivers, too, and I don't always think he was in the wrong here. You know, he wanted guys like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to show up more. He wanted James Harden to show up more.

His intentions were good, but relationships matter. And I do think it's easier to deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo and also Damian Lillard. But you just had a coach and I get it. He was only 40 something games into a 10 year who ruined the relationship with Giannis Antetokounmpo this early.

They had to make this move. So I don't even know if Doc Rivers can form a good relationship with Damian Lillard and also Giannis Antetokounmpo. But then once again, I would have to imagine Giannis is in on every decision here. He's in and he's probably the driving force on why Adrian Griffin is no longer the coach. And when they gave the short list of guys that we can go pursue, you got to think that he was OK with Doc Rivers.

And the fact that this name is already out there, I got to think the deal gets done. You know, Doc is what doing ESPN right now with Mike Breen in the lead booth. He wants to go coach. All these guys want to go coach.

It's probably better for the next 10 years if he stays as the as the color analyst on ESPN. But of course, you walk into a team that has championship expectations. You're going to take that. And I want to see Milwaukee win another title. I want to see Giannis and Dame succeed.

But bring it in, Doc, right now, assuming that gets done. It's like, hey, that's what it is. That's the reaction it gives. It's like, oh, like, I want to see this team do well. But you're bringing in a guy that does not perform well in the postseason ever since winning a championship. When you go back to to the to the late 2000s when he won the championship. So it's just one of those moves that you go, OK, you got to get rid of Griffin.

But are you really getting that much better? So appreciate Bill writer jumping on board. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a time out. We'll come on back.

We'll update you. Some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. We call that segment the news brief. But here standing by first with the latest CBS Sports Radio update is Patty Boyle. And 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 Wesley Financial Group dot com. Time to update you on some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio. Let's get to a news brief. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

All right. The Buffalo Bills, they got nothing that makes you want to shout this weekend because they got eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday. And another thrilling game of the Kansas City about those chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. Here's the Bills quarterback Josh Allen on the future outlook for Bills mafia. You know, all signs are still pointing up with this team.

I know it feels bleak. And there's probably going to be a lot of change, whether it's personnel guys coming back, guys not playing again. That's all speculation.

That's nothing that I know, nor can I focus on. I wouldn't say all signs are looking up now. What else are you going to say when you're the quarterback and you lose? I would say that all signs are just staying the same because the Buffalo Bills were in that AFC title game.

They lost to Kansas City. It was the start of something that we thought was going to be special that was going to eventually lead to the Bills first title. And I'm not saying those things can't ever happen. But the last three years, it's been division around loss to Kansas City, division around loss to Cincinnati, division around loss to Kansas City.

So something seriously has to change. And I know there's salary cap restraints and all that. And you look at Staphon Diggs in the start of his decline. I don't know if he'll be back in Buffalo next year or not.

I would assume probably yes, even though there's something there. But contractually, it's going to be tough to move on from him. Gabe Davis is probably going to depart in free agency.

Really? The best way for Buffalo to fix this is Brandon Bean's got to go find a dog in the draft. He's got to go find an elite wide receiver in the draft, whether that's trading up future assets or doing what the Rams did. They had great scouting.

They were convicted and they had great conviction in a guy like Puka Nakua. And that was one of those guys late round draft gem. You need to find an elite wide receiver, whether it's in the first round or it's later on. You got to hit on the next wide receiver that you draft. And I give them credit because last year, a lot of people were like, oh, I don't get why they would draft a tight end in Dalton Kincaid. They drafted the best available player on their board. Dalton Kincaid was my favorite tight end coming out of this draft class.

Now, we got to make sure that he gets to where he's supposed to be. He showed some signs down the stretch that he's going to be a very good football player for them. And help has always been a concern going back to his days at Utah. But so far, the best tight end from that draft class was Sam Laporta. Sam Laporta has had a phenomenal rookie season.

But if they don't hit on a wide receiver where you could still have whatever's left that digs his career, who's still a 1,000-yard, 1,100-yard receiver this year, and you complement him with another young pass catcher with Dalton Kincaid, that's a way you could find a way to do a quick fix and get this team back moving in the right direction so all signs do point to up instead of saying the same. Now, there's also been a conversation about Sean McDermott. I think Sean McDermott should get fired.

I don't think he will. I do think it's time for a new voice, but this is the quarterback Josh Allen on his head football coach and Sean McDermott. I thought he did a great job, and I think he had a lot on his plate this year, us being 6-6.

Never panicked once throughout the season. A lot of BS that happened, too, off the field that shouldn't have happened. But we rallied around him, and he did a lot of really great things for this team this last year. A lot of BS that happened off the field that was caused because of Sean McDermott years ago saying stupid things. I think Sean McDermott's a good football coach. I think Sean McDermott has done all that he could and a lot of good work in Buffalo. But I do feel with the elite candidates that are out there, Belichick. I know Harbaugh's looking like he's going to the Chargers, but that's not done yet. Pete Carroll, you know, even a Mike Grable, I think there's better options than your current coach and Sean McDermott.

But I don't believe the Pegula family is going to get rid of him because the Pegula family right now, they're happy where they are, and they are afraid to see what life is like without Sean McDermott. Here is Zach Taylor praising the new head football coach of the Tennessee Titans, and that is Brian Callahan, who used to be the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. He coordinates everything having to do with it. He establishes the whole structure of our offense. On game day, he and I are in constant communication. That is calling plays.

That is establishing an offense. He has helped develop every position we have. He's invaluable. There's really not enough things I can say about him that if someone just followed us for a week and saw, it would be, oh, no wonder everyone's so high on Brian. The only thing that you question about this hire, and we'll eventually see if he'll be able to make that transition from being the OC to a head coach, and that comes with great question, because we've seen a lot of guys be tagged as that next elite head coach. Oh, this is the up-and-coming coordinator that you got to have, and some guys meet that expectations.

Other guys do not. You know, I kind of feel like whoever gets praised is that next guy, and I'm not saying Callahan has, but just in general, whoever gets praised is that next head coach that's a coordinator. I feel as if they usually always fail, and there's more instances of like, you know, an Adam Gase or a Robert Salah where it's not been successful than it is like a D'Amico Ryan who's been super successful.

I know the odds are usually in the favor of failing compared to succeeding, but I do feel as if recently it's always the guy that you're like, what the heck? Who the heck did they just hire that ends up having success? For example, Dan Campbell, Mike McDaniel as well, even Sean McVeigh. Like Sean McVeigh by people in football, it was like, wow, this guy's a whiz kid, this guy's unbelievable, and it was like, you're hiring a 30-something-year-old to be the head football coach of your team? So it really shows you how little we do know. But for Brian Callahan, he's deserving of that opportunity.

He now gets it. I don't think it's an upgrade compared to Mike Brabel, but Brabel didn't want to be the coach anymore. You also are entering a rebuild right now, and I don't think Brabel was going to see it through the rebuild, and you're trying to see if you can hit gold with an early second-round pick in Will Levis, who was a quarterback that was perceived to be as high. I never thought he was going to go number one, but there were some mock drafts that had him going number one, but a lot of people thought he was going to be the third or fourth quarterback off the board, but it was going to happen in the first round. He ended up falling out of the first round to the second round, so now you're bringing in a young offensive mind to work with a GM that just wrapped up his first year and ran Carthon, and now it's can that duo together get the most out of Will Levis? Let's go to C.J.

Shroud. Does he like playing with a chip on his shoulder? I wouldn't necessarily name myself as a guy with a chip on his shoulder. I just think I'm me.

I don't really try to – I used to be in the business of proving people wrong and people pleasing and stuff, and that stuff is exhausting and it don't make no sense, so honestly, man, I'm really going to be just preparing for what we got going on here. I love the personality of C.J. Shroud because he's just so unflappable, and a lot of times when you are an elite athlete or you're a great athlete, you've got to be able to block out the noise.

Now, you can't always block out everything. Naturally, you'll just see or you'll hear things when you're of that big of an interest as someone that C.J. Shroud is, but it is mature and it's also so encouraging and it shows why he could walk into a situation like the Texans and lead them to these great lengths that he did in year one where already this young in his career where you would think a guy that grew up with a phone in his hand would see and would read everything that he's already able to admit, I used to care what people think, now I don't. And I think that goes a long ways now in the new athlete that lives in the social media era who you need to be mentally tough to be able to get through a bunch of people that are just going to be saying things about you.

You could be great, you could be the greatest player ever and they'll still be kind of tugging at Superman's cape trying to bring you down. Here is Cam Newton on Good Morning Football right here in New York City on the NFL Network. He was in the studio with those guys and gals today and he was asked about where he'd play in 2024. Can you just give us the top three teams that you want to go to?

Come on bro, we're live, we're not on YouTube right now. It's not even three, it's just really one. Me having a family now, it's always been about family and I don't see myself leaving Atlanta.

If it's not Atlanta, I don't want to do it. Bill Belichick reunited and it feels so good. So the singing puts me in a good kind of mood at the end of that clip.

But the first seven or eight seconds of that answer I wanted to pull my hair out. Cam's done as a football player. I get why you have to ask that question, I get why that has to be brought up. But Cam has been shot as a football player now for several years. And isn't it funny, just a year ago he was like, I'm still a top 32 quarterback in the NFL.

And now it's, oh I would only want to go to one destination and that's Atlanta. And it's a smart play on Cam to just throw that out there because they're probably going to be bringing in Bill Belichick. They don't have a quarterback right now.

But you're not going and you're not handing the keys over to Cam in the year of 2024 and expecting him to be your starting quarterback in the NFL. Cam did not play well in New England. He didn't play well in the second opportunity in Carolina. And unfortunately he compiled so many injuries that his body broke down where he used to be a great football player.

He used to be a lead player. I'm a Cam fan. There's not many bigger defenders than Cam than me. You know I own Cam Newton-Gear. Like I love Cam. But this idea that he could still play in the NFL as a starting quarterback is just so ridiculous.

It really is. This is Greg Popovich, pregame message for Victor Wembanyama up against Joel Embiid and with the Spurs. We're going to try to do up against the Sixers. Now it's funny, we'll still play it for you. Let me just remind everybody, Joel, the process Embiid had 70 points last night in this one.

But here's what Pop was trying to do. Listen up. We're going to hammer his ass. I told Wembany to stick him, put your butt right in his stomach, back him down over the rim and just throw him through the rim.

That's what you should look forward to tonight. And everyone takes that clip and they don't use the context, they don't use the tone and they're like, Greg Popovich, legendary coach, says the Sixers, I mean the Spurs are going to hammer Joel Embiid. That's like, it's so ridiculous, the world that we live in, the way that things get quoted. That's clearly sarcasm from Greg Popovich and just having fun in the moment. Here is Joel Embiid though, who didn't get his ass hammered by the Spurs. He scored 70 points and only had one three-point shot made out of two attempts.

Here's Joel Embiid on his performance. We've been through a lot, but this is nothing. This is just another accomplishment.

Obviously you want to get the whole thing and that's why we're walking through walls. We've got a long way to go. So the thing with Embiid and the Sixers, they're having a good regular season, a really good regular season. And it's tough to make relevant moments in the NBA regular season because by design, it does feel like the NBA regular season is irrelevant in the large scheme of things. But scoring 70 points last night is something that should get lauded. However, a lot of people with the Sixers are going to say, let's see what you can do in the postseason because they've been a team that has been derailed by Ben Simmons. They've been derailed by James Harden. Even Joel Embiid hasn't played his best in the closing moments of some of these big games.

So yes, you could praise the individual performance of Embiid, which is definitely deserving of that. 70 points and only one three-point shot made. It's ridiculous. One of the craziest things I've ever seen. But there's always that cloud hanging over the Sixers.

Can they actually get the job done when it matters the most? So Embiid ended up getting ass in the postgame that he had at least 65 points and 15 rebounds and 5 assists in a game. So it was brought to his attention that Wilt Chamberlain has never done that. Here is Embiid on comparison to Wilt Chamberlain.

I mean, it's great. Obviously, you can compare errors and stuff, but what he was able to do was amazing. Obviously, he's got all the records.

So any time someone beats his record, you must be doing something good. And there was another clip where he was like, Wilt never did this. It was pretty funny. And he was stunned to disbelief when he found out about that.

Here is Chris Finch, the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Karl Anthony Towns, who had 62 points, but it was in a losing effort. It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball all the way through the game. So it really didn't slip away.

It had been there from the jump. So this is what happens when you have this type of approach. Obviously, we're going to try to feed a hot hand, look for a hot hand. But at some point, we've got to get back to making the right play. We've got to get back to doing the right things. Chris, did it turn into Karl trying to hunt a big number? Yeah, but for a while, it was going.

But down the stretch, it kind of dried up for us. I think that's a coach, that his team's 30 and 13. Yeah, it's crazy that a player scores 62 and you lose. But he's sending a message to the team that defense has got to be better. And there's moments that you can pick and choose to send a message to your team.

I don't think anyone sounds good on any side, regardless of what you say. When a player scores 62 and you end up not finding a way to win the game. Especially with the horrible opponent that they were going up against.

That's the other thing. It wasn't like you were playing another great team. You were playing a bad team when you were going up against the Hornets. That was their 10th win of the season last night. So that's that. All right, that's the news brief of the sec help show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break when we come on back. The five most disappointing storylines from this past year in the National Football League.