River Boat Ron to College? (Hour 3)

Alrighty, hour number three of our radio program.

That's right. It is the Zach Gelb show inside USAA's Army-Navy Radio Row. And now joining us is of course one of our favorites. But I enjoy this guy a lot. Nobody enjoys him more than our update anchor. And that is Rich Ackerman, who worked with this guy for many, many years.

And he of course is Ron Rivera, kind enough to join us right now. I had to mention Ack because if I don't mention Ack, they'll never talk to me in the office ever again. Well, I promise you Zach, as soon as I get out of this, I bet I get a text from him too.

Yeah. And also for your birthday too. Ack is always, anytime you're close in the birthday, he gets it. Ack's a good dude. You know, we worked together when I was in Chicago, kind of in between my playing career and my coaching career. And became friends and, you know, him coming in from New York to Chicago, he didn't know a lot of folks.

So we had him over for Thanksgiving dinner and, you know, really got to know him even better. Ron Rivera here with us. So there's a lot to get to in the NFL landscape. Let me start you off with the Bears because I know they're near and dear, close to your heart. This year, you know, they ended up bringing back Matt Eberfluss.

It didn't work. Now we'll see who they end up hiring as their next head football coach. They have the quarterback.

The quarterback's still got to grow, but there's just that stench still around the organization. Will they ever be able to get it right? I believe they'll get it right.

I really do. Just because the situation, circumstance they're in. I think what they've done there is they've put together the assets that you need around a young quarterback. First of all, look at the defense. You've got a good solid defense. They perform well. They have the ability to perform well. And if you get a quarterback that can manage games, which he did do at some point, you saw how well it impacts the defense.

It really does. Secondly, you have enough playmakers around him, okay? You've got a good receiving core. You got a good young tight end that's still playing well. Your running game is on the verge of being really good.

Now you got to protect them. If there is, I think, something that needs to be worked on and massaged a little bit is the offensive line. I think the offensive line can play better. I think you have talent there, but you may have to add some more because when I was in Carolina, one of the first rules we had was identify your franchise quarterback, okay? We didn't have one, so we said we got to go get one. Now we go get one, you've got to protect them, and you got to put playmakers around them, and you got to support them with the defense.

And those were the things that we believe we had to do, and that's what we went about doing. The next year we drafted Luke Kuechly, and next thing you know, we're off to the races. When you look at the Panthers now, when they benched Bryce Young, I thought that was it for him. And then he came back, and man, we've seen a different Bryce Young where I don't think they're taking a quarterback in the draft this year, and he's their guy next year.

I don't think they need to. I think what happened was brilliant, and I went through the same thing when I was here in Washington my first year, and we had a young man in Dwayne Haskins, and we started off with Dwayne. Things weren't going the direction they needed to be.

He wasn't playing the way I believed he was capable of, so I benched him and went with the veterans. And what happened was you do two things. One is you got to make sure you put your arm around the young guy and say, look, this isn't the end of it.

How you handle this to what you learn from this is what's going to make or break you, okay? And I know Dave Canales did that, and he did that with Bryce, okay? The thing that I appreciated was the way Bryce handled it. Bryce was attentive. He was supportive. He was willing to learn and grow.

He didn't take this as I'm getting slapped down. No, he was a teammate that helped. He was what was best at the time for the team. Andy Dalton, credit to him, he mentored the kid. He helped the kid. So because Bryce did what he did, you know, everybody said, okay, he's working at it. Then what you do as the head coach, you tell these guys the other 50, hey, we can win.

Let's go. Well, that's what I went through, and Dave went through the same thing. And what happened was because Bryce did the things you needed to do, when Dalton got hurt in that car accident, he had to play, and he played well, and his teammates recognized it. And next thing you know, everybody's starting to rally around the kid. Credit to Dave Canales.

He started changing the way he was approaching the game and the plays that he was calling, and that really helped Bryce's development. Now all of a sudden, you got a young man that people are saying, hey, you know what, this may be the future. So we go through all your stops. We know that we're here in DC.

We talk about the commanders. I don't think you were like this way, but I have to ask it. Are there like conflicting emotions? Because this was your team, and now you're seeing them succeed to a really high level. No, for me, there's some gratification too, because I do know, you know, dealing with what I dealt with for the last four years, the whole idea was to put this team in position, and that's where this team is now. Credit to what's gone on with Coach Quinn coming in, doing the things that he's done. You know, the draft pick they made I thought was really good, and Jane Daniels. I love what Cliff Cleansbury's doing with him and how he's using him. One of the things that I did, you know, now that I was involved with the NFL Network is I started tracking the play of the young quarterbacks.

Okay, and I included Bryce in that too on some of the things that I worked on. And a lot of things that you were seeing being done here were the things that you have to do with these young quarterbacks. Quick throws. Get the ball out of his hands.

Two reasons. Quick throws tell you you got to make quick decisions. Get the ball out of your hands.

Decrease the opportunity to be sacked. Okay, well, you saw that Bryce was the other way. He was holding the ball too much, too long, getting himself hit. Well, then what happens when he comes back out?

What do I see? Quick throws. Getting the ball out of his hands.

Doing those types of things. Second thing, running game. Good running game is very important to a young quarterback, right? Now all of a sudden I start charting that and I'm looking at it.

I look at Jane Daniels. Plays off of play action were big numbers, good numbers. All of a sudden Bryce's numbers off of play actions, they started jumping. So there's a formula there with young quarterbacks and that is you got to have a good running game.

Why? Because a good running game helps increase the credibility of your play action. So there is a lot of positive things that have been happening for those kids. Well, you look at what they're doing in Washington with the commanders and again, credit to what Cliff Kingsbury doing with the offense, credit to what Dan Quinn has done with the team. And I'll look at these young quarterbacks around the league, you know, guys that are year one or year two in. I know it may not look so pretty from a statistical standpoint or a winning standpoint, but a guy like Drake May, you got a young coaching staff, new coaching staff coming in. You also have really, I could say this as a Patriot fan, one of the worst offensive lines in the league and no number one wide receiver. And that's what a franchise quarterback does is he does more with less and that's what you're seeing. That's exactly what you're seeing. And what you want to do is what you really want to see is you want to see things that quarterbacks that are franchise quarterbacks, they elevate the play of the people around them and they elevate the play of the other side of the ball.

Okay. And they do that because when you are playing good football and you're running the football and you're chewing up the clock and you're managing the game, not turning the ball over, you're keeping your defense off the field, you're keeping them fresh. And you see that from teams that do that and do it very well, like the Eagles. They're one of those teams that when you watch, when that offense is clicking, that defense is rested and they're coming out and they're taking the ball away and putting the offense right back on the field.

You had to deal with a lot with the commanders. We don't really need to go into detail with it. I thought a lot of times you had to answer for the owner, but you know what it's like to be in a difficult situation when there's a lot of controversy. I'm not comparing this directly, but you look at the Eagles right now. You have a week where Brandon Graham was out for the year, starts off the week talking about how the relationship isn't good with AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts anymore.

They've had to respond about this all through the week. We just saw in Philly last year, they were 10 and one, and then down the stretch, they were miserable. There was problems in their locker room.

They have talent to go win the Super Ball this year. As a coach, when there is, I don't want to say outside noise because it's created from the inside, but when there's noise like that and negative attention, how do you kind of nip it in the bud and move on so it doesn't derail the season? Well, I think one of the things you got to do, first of all, is you got to address it, especially if it's coming from inside. That's just my personal opinion is that that's something I think you address. It's something you get taken care of right away because the thing you got to understand is we want to focus on what's important, not what's interesting. What's happening is they're making something that's interesting important, but if it is coming from inside, it truly is, and if that's the issue, it is important. It needs to be nipped right now, and I think that's something that should be addressed and addressed internally and really pushed to be kept internal because that's our business.

That's nobody else's business. What was your reaction the other day when you saw the news? We knew that Belichick interviewed for the UNC job, but then when he got it? Well, you know, it's funny because I thought that's brilliant because I don't know if you've seen, but you've seen that conversation with these billionaires talking about buying college football teams. Yeah, well, what's happening is there may be this influx of money coming in all of a sudden, and think about this, and Coach Belichick may be ahead of the curve right now, but think about you get this influx of money, you're creating really a springboard for these players to get into the NFL, and if you get enough of these billionaires, let's say you get 32 of them, and all of a sudden you got 32 billionaires, 32 NFL teams, I don't know, maybe we got a mini NFL coming up, maybe you have two conferences, four divisions in each conference, and now you have a feeder system. This potential could be what could be happening, and football, to me, football should be its own entity in college sports, and the other groups should go back to their regular conferences. Yeah, because that's all the money is. All these schools, they chase the money, and I don't blame them for doing so. But they're only really chasing the money for football. Yes. And maybe basketball. In some select places.

But leave the Olympic sports, the other sports, to compete regionally instead of having to travel across the country to play and spend all that money. Well, I'll ask you this. You were established, right? You had a lot of good days as an NFL head coach. If one of these colleges called you up, would you be interested?

I think I would. I think the thing that I have to do is really look at the circumstances, situation, and the commitment. I promise you, Coach Belichick, that was one of the things he was probably going through in the discussions is, hey, I need commitment. Just because I'm showing up doesn't mean we're instant winners. If I'm showing up, I need commitment from all you folks to come in. That's what will make us the winner is if we come together and do this together. I promise you, this one thing he's not going to accept is, if you're not going to commit to me, why would I commit to you? So you have to have commitment to do something at this scale, at that large.

There has to be commitment from a lot of folks. Do you feel like you've coached your last down as a head coach in the league? No. What's been interesting is I've got this 10,000 foot view. I'm looking down at the game now in terms of looking and seeing. I'm noticing things. I'm looking at things. I see people doing things that I've done. I say, wow, that's how I used to do it.

Look at the success they're having. What I am doing is right. Or, wow, that's another way to do it. I like that idea. I like the way they're doing those things. So I'm kind of getting a chance to evaluate myself, evaluate the things that I've done, and kind of think about some of the things I would do differently and how I would do them.

So if someone asks you, why is Ron Rivera going to be a head coach again in this league? What would that differently kind of look like? I think it would look a lot like some of the things that I've done and some of the things I'm going to change. I really do. I think I've learned enough now to understand what it takes.

The last four years, or actually the last three years, I did more managing of situations and circumstances than I did coaching a team. That's what I wanted. You didn't have a quarterback. I know.

You know what's funny? I said that. Somebody asked me, what's the difference between your team and these teams? I said, well, quarterback.

They kind of said, no, it's true. This is a quarterback driven league. If you have a quarterback, you have a chance.

It doesn't matter where he is in the stage of his career. As long as he is a serviceable guy that can manage and control and make plays when he needs to, you've got a chance. In this league, you do. But if your quarterback is okay, not as serviceable, it's hard sledding. If you don't get the call to be a head coach this year, would a coordinator still interest you or no? Yeah, the right situation.

Again, there's a lot of things that I can contribute. You get a really young, young, young first-time head coach, I promise you he's going to make a million mistakes. And he's not going to know how to handle his mistakes unless he has somebody that's been through it there to help mentor him through it. Leslie Frazier is doing that in Seattle as the assistant head coach there. And he's helping Mike McDonald through these things and look at where they are as a team. Last thing I'll ask you, just because I don't know your relationships and all of them, but a guy like Ben Johnson, right? It's my favorite part of football right now is watching his offense because it's just so fun to watch. And it's like, wow, I wish that was my team right now.

But there's been a lot of times, right? More times that it hasn't gone the right way than it does, where that young hotshot offensive, a defensive coordinator, when they become a head coach, they're just not what they were as a coordinator. What do you hear about Ben and why do you believe that maybe he could be a great head coach? I think he can be a really good head coach because of his creativity.

The things that he'd have to learn, obviously, is you're now in control of the whole room. And this is one of the hard things for these young guys is that they want to be the primary play caller too. So you've got to manage 53 players. You've got to manage 16 on your practice squad. You've got to manage the injured guys. You've got to manage every facet of football operations.

You've got to manage the coaches as well and then game plan and prepare for the next opponent. And so there's a lot. There really is. And there's not a lot of Andy Reeves. There's not a lot of Bill Belichick out there.

Not a lot of guys that do that and do it very, very well. So I know you've worked with USAA for many years. I remember talking to you for years at the Super Bowl. But kind of tell me just what this game means to you, Army-Navy. Well, you know, it means a lot for me because I grew up in a military family. And one of the great escapes you always had in the military, from what I understand, has always been sports. Sports has been something that draws people together.

It bonds them together and also reminds them of home. It's really neat to have soldiers when they come back or they come watch practice. Boy, I really appreciate you guys playing on Sundays, man, because when we were over in the Middle East, this was our great escape.

This was really cool. Well, for us as kids that grew up in the military, sports really was our avenue. So watching the Army-Navy game was a big deal for us. And my dad was in the Army for 32 years. So I'm cheering Army.

Go Army. And I really do appreciate USAA being involved because USAA's salute to service with the NFL has been a really cool thing. One of my dad's proudest moments for me personally was when I won the USAA Service Award. And that was a really big deal. He helped present it to me.

And it's, you know, it was a big thrill. Well, coach, always great to catch up to you. Good health and appreciate you doing this. Thanks so much.

Thanks for the time. There you go. He's Ron Rivera. We'll take a time out. We're coming on back.

USAA Army-Navy Radio Row. It is the Zach Gelb show. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

I'm going to read you a story that I just read during the break. I don't know if you don't know if it's true. I'm just going to say that. You see a lot of things online these days and you go, is it true? But, you know, there's a lot of aggregators there.

ML football, I still think is a good aggregator. Also that JPA site, even though they sometimes when they credit me, they tag some other Zach Gelb on Twitter, which then that guy is, I think he lives in England and he's messaged me before and he goes, I love that I get all the credit whenever you guys have a story. Dov Kleinman. It's not even Dov Kleinman anymore. I've actually the real Dov Kleinman or I think is the real Dov Kleinman. He has messaged me before because he used to use a lot of our stories. And then I guess from the story, the way I understand it is that he sold his Twitter account and whoever runs the Dov Kleinman account now, no one cares about your opinions.

All right. Like you post these stories and you're like, oh, offensive or, oh, I can't believe it. And then you post something and it doesn't match up to the, oh, it's offensive or, oh, I can't believe it.

But I do like, I can't say I know him well, but whoever runs the ML football account, I do usually think they don't post things that aren't true, even though it's all about engagement and all that with these aggregators. So here's what I read during the break, Stu. And I got to get your reaction on this because you are a Raider fam. And unfortunately it's just incompetent decision after incompetent decision.

And would it surprise you? Let me just say this. The Raiders, it's not a Raider story, but if the Raiders would have hired a coach that another team was about to fire like as a coordinator before you ended up hiring him as the coach. That sounds very Raiders. Yes.

Okay. This was the story from ML football that I just read via the Chicago Tribune. The Colts plans on firing Matt Eberfluss before the Bears decided to hire him as their head coach.

Eberfluss was not good enough to be a coordinator in Indy and would have become a position coach. Instead, Chicago made him their head coach. Now I read this story or I see this tweet and it says it's from the Chicago Tribune. And I asked the question, do you believe it? Because sometimes there's stories out there that aren't true. But when I read you that, that the Colts plans on firing Matt Eberfluss before the Bears decided to hire him as their head coach, Eberfluss was not a good enough coordinator in Indy and would have become a position coach. Instead, Chicago made him their head coach.

That's in the Chicago Tribune via ML football. Do you believe that story when you first hear it? I would say no. I'm leaning no. I could see either side, but I would lean no.

So here's why I lean yes. Now I knew who Matt Eberfluss was, but I think most football fans of Matt Eberfluss or as I like to call him, Matt Eberluss was hired. They were like, who the heck is that? And Matt Eberfluss, I said this the day the Colts hired him. I go, he was an okay coordinator in Indianapolis.

But if you would have said that Matt Eberfluss would have got an NFL head coaching job in that cycle, I would have said no way, like no chance. So the Bears are a cheap organization. The Bears are someone that you could put a great football coach in front of them and they wouldn't get it right.

Like they wouldn't make the right hire. Like I love Ron Rivera who just joined us. And I understand why he's going to speak positively about the Chicago Bears. But if you tell me, and I think the Bears job is the best job on the market, right? You got the Bears, you got the Jets, you got the Saints that are open. I do think Jacksonville will open. I still think the Giants and the Cowboys aren't going to open.

And there's a few others that may open up as well. But when I look at the Bears, I go, that's the best job on the market in terms of the roster, right? The Jets, they have a good young roster. Guys like Quinnen Williams, Sauce Gardner, even though he's had a bad season, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, there's some names on that team, but they don't have a quarterback. When I look at the Bears, their roster pound for pound may not be better than the Jets, but it's still a solid roster. It's still a roster that should be a playoff team when you look at it just from the talent heading into this season. But with that being said, they have someone that I think is their quarterback and someone that I believe can be a really good quarterback. So I sit back from an aerial view and I go, if you said to me, do you fully believe that the Bears are going to get this right?

I can't say yes, just because the McCaskey family continuously gets it all wrong over and over and over again. And you look at Chicago, that is in terms of talent and who the quarterback can be. That's the premier job that is available right now. And I expect to be available and open whenever we have Black Monday and we see all the coaches that get fired after the playoffs happen and we figure out, you know, are there any coaches that made the postseason that end up getting the pink slip? And for that job, Belichick's already out. I know his buyout goes from 10 million to 1 million on June of 2025, but he's going to be coaching at UNC this upcoming year. Don't expect him to write on a piece of paper. BB resigns as HC of UNC.

I don't think that's going to happen. However, you then look at the next two guys coaching Chicago next year. If they want me to believe that this is going to work and this is going to be different, if they want Zach Geld to be singing their praises on a national radio show and say, Chicago, you may actually have got it right this time. They need to hire either Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel. And I guess the only other name, the only other name I would be okay with, and I don't think he's getting the job, is Pete Carroll. No one mentions Pete Carroll. But if you tell me it's not Ben Johnson, it's not Mike Vrabel, but then it is this guy and it's Pete Carroll, okay, I could say I'm fine with that. But no disrespect to Kellen Moore, Joe Brady, all these other guys. They're not preeminent names. They're not the top of the line names. And the Bears need a top of the line coach.

And I get it. Vrabel, he was in Tennessee. People would be like, oh, what did Mike Vrabel win? Mike Vrabel was in Tennessee. Mike Vrabel, I know he had Derrick Henry and AJ Brown, but his quarterback was Ryan Tannehill. Ryan Tannehill, folks. And he got to an AFC Championship game. He was consistently in the playoff mix in Tennessee. So I know there could be some concerns of Vrabel's defensive minded coach and, oh, what about the offense and who's his offensive coordinator?

All important. But Mike Vrabel's leader met. Mike Vrabel is a player's coach, but he's not a doormat. And I think Mike Vrabel would be a stupendous hire. But if you don't get Mike Vrabel and you're hiring a coordinator, Ben Johnson is the creme de la creme coordinator in this class. And that's the guy, either him or Mike Vrabel. And then if it's not one of those two, it has to be B. Carroll.

Anyone else those two, I'm going to look back at this move and I'm going to say, well, what really changed with the Bears? You got rid of Eberflus, but the only reason Eberflus got the job is because that was a cheap hire. Guy wouldn't probably get hired by any other team to be a head coach.

So now you need to go overspend. You need to go to the top of the list and you need to give it everything you can because let's be real. There's been a lot of coaches that have been hired in Chicago. There's been a lot of coaches that have been fired in Chicago. There's been a lot of quarterbacks that have been in Chicago and they never really had the franchise quarterback the way that the Colts have had a franchise quarterback with Peyton Manning or the Patriots had a franchise quarterback with Tom Brady or the Packers have had franchise quarterbacks with Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre. You know, I'm talking about within the last 30 years. You want to go back to Bart Starr.

You can't as well. You know, they've never had one of those franchise quarterbacks in Chicago. And we talk about it all when Caleb Williams does a 4000 passing yards in a season. That's going to be the first 4000 yard passer in Bears history. So I know we're a pass heavy league and that's been the trend for the last 10 years. So we're going to have to go back to the back and that's been the trend for the last 10 years.

The fact that they haven't been able to produce one in the last 10 years is mind boggling. Like some of these quarterbacks, they sneeze and they get to 4000 yards now. So if Chicago doesn't deliver on one of those marquee names, I'll just throw my hands up, Stu, and you've seen this before with some of the names your team has hired.

You got to swing big here and you got to make contact because if they don't get this one and they ruin Caleb Williams, there's already a stench in Chicago. But then that stench, like you can get the stench out of your home. I know it like, let's say you're driving a car and you go to the supermarket and some people have done this.

I have not. And you're going, you get in your eggs, you get in your bacon, you get in your sausage, you get in your milk, you get in your ice cream, you get in your fruit, you get in your spinach, all that stuff. You go have the big honey do list and you have to check everything off and you have to get all your groceries.

And then you're rushing and you're bringing everything in the house. You bring in the eggs, you bring in the bacon, you bring in the ice cream, you bring in the fruit, you bring in the spinach, you bring in the cookies, the chips, but you leave the milk in the car. And then the milk in the car overnight, it gets expired. Little sour smell. And then it is a disgusting stench in your car. But if you don't go get that car clean the next day, then that smell, it's never going to leave you. And it's going to be like that for a long time. The bears right now have left the milk in the car.

That's what Chicago has done. They've left the milk in the car longer than you're even allowed to. And now they have to get that milk out. They have to clean that car. They have to get the air freshener.

They have to take it to the car service and run it, the car wash and run it through the car wash inside, outside four or five times to get that smell out. Because if Chicago doesn't get the smell out this time, they're never getting the smell out. And there will be no reason until they are standing there in the postseason with the franchise quarterback, with the franchise head coach and a great head coach to say, hey, this is why Chicago can actually get it done. But if they cut corners here and if they hire some guy that you're like, who's that? Why did they hire him? And sometimes those guys turn out to be good coaches, but it's not as if you're in a bad position right now. You have bad ownership. You know, I don't trust Kevin Warren as the president.

So there are flaws. There are reasons why people want to pass, but your job should be good enough to get either Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel because you have the job on the market. And if they don't get that one of those two guys or Pete Carroll, it's someone like that, like at least a respectable name. And you're taking a chance on Kellen Moore, who's just jumped around as offensive coordinators in the league and Joe Brady.

I get it. He was at LSU. Hotshot didn't work out in Carolina. Now it's working out in Buffalo. He could be a good coach, but I'm not taking that risk where my franchise is at. This is really the franchise is on the line in Chicago. And if you swing and miss here, Stu, there's a perception that why should I ever believe in you? And you've been in that spot before where your football team, it's like, why do I believe in them? Why are they going to get them? Why are they going to get it right? Even when they go on someone, I don't want to say unprecedented, but they go on some runs that come out of the blue in Chicago. They don't get this one right.

Why would I ever try to make people feel optimistic about their future? Every team has a lot, you know, looking for new coaches, every team has a lot to gain, but the bears, I feel like have the most to lose. And kind of like you just said, like you have this jewel of a quarterback, one of the best quarterbacks called a generational quarterback the last five years, Caleb Williams. And year one, OK, hasn't been great. He showed ups and downs. Year two, if he doesn't make that jump and you hired a wrong coach, you could be ruined.

And you look at even the jobs that are on the market right now. Let's say the Saints bring in Aaron Glenn, right, to be their head coach and it doesn't work. Did the Saints really have much to lose right now?

They already had their run. They had Drew Brees. They had Sean Payton. Dennis Allen did not work. Dennis Allen was brought back this year and never made any sense to me.

They were trying to sell you Mickey Loomis who needs to go. That Dennis Allen was going to be Bill Belichick in the second opportunity, which was always laughable to me. But you look at the Saints, if they continue to be bad for the next two, three years, there's such a foundation that needs to be built there. It's not like they really lost anything. You look at the Jets.

They were all in this year, even when it was going the wrong way. Oh, we'll rush and pay Hassan Redick, even though they took forever to do that. We'll go trade for Devante Adams. But Aaron Rodgers was your quarterback. You have a young core that's still a good core, like a respectable core. They got to stop thinking that the you-know-what doesn't stink though, because some of those Jets players, they act like they're the greatest players of all time. You got to go win some games in this league before you can put yourself in the annals of NFL history where you think you are. But your quarterback situation was with Aaron Rodgers and the Aaron Rodgers ship has sailed in the NFL.

So if the Jets mess up this higher, you know, they don't have a quarterback. They haven't had a good coach in a while. Yeah, you're afraid a little bit that you could mess up the young core, but you look at the Bears. This was a team that people going into the year were like, this is a good year for them. Like, they'll be nine and eight.

They'll be 10 and seven. And it will start for future success. It will really start to build building blocks for years and years and years of success. But you look at that division, Lions, Air Force, Minnesota, they're supposed to be the worst team in this division. They've been a really damn good team. You know, the Packers are always a respectable organization. They just pump out franchise quarterbacks, left and right Super Bowl championships and Hall of Fame jackets. But Chicago after this year and how much this has plummeted because you had the wrong coach, it's kind of the field of the Chargers with Brandon Staley, where the coach is that incompetent that just getting a good professional coach in there, like you did with Jim Harbaugh. And I know Jim Harbaugh's not available because with the Chargers, look how it changed that organization. It's not as if the Chargers had this incredible amount of talent. You know, yeah, they have Justin Herbert. You know, Ladd-McConkey's a solid football player, but they don't have a true number one wide receiver. They have a good offensive line.

They're built the right way. They're coached the right way. And that's why you see this team this year looking like a team that should be in the postseason.

Where before the year, I was like, ah, it's kind of a wash year. But that's what happens. You bring in a good coach. And if Chicago can't bring in a good coach, then it's just going to repeat itself because that locker room, they were begging, begging for someone to come save them. And that was a locker room that you could tell like last night, Devondra Campbell quit on the Niners. The other Niners players did not quit on Kyle Shanahan and their team. It's not like Kyle Shanahan has lost the locker room. But Matt Eberfluss, he lost the locker room. And when players know that there's an incompetent coach, you got no chance because then you got guys making business decisions.

You got guys that are 50-50. Oh, this coach doesn't know what he's doing. We're not put in a position to win. They need a coach that could go put them in a position to win. And you've got to be really selective because there's some years when no one want to touch your job with a 10 foot pole. I don't think this is one of those years.

There could be concerns, but I do believe there's a lot of people that would want the Chicago Bears job and they can't mess it up. It is Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a time out. We got one more segment to play. It is a football Friday.

You know what? I just said it was a football Friday for the first time. Usually on a football Friday, I say it in the first segment, the second segment, the third segment, but we're on location today.

Wonderful job by the fine folks at USAA Army Navy Radio Row. It's been a weird week where we haven't focused a lot in the games. You got no college football. You have Army Navy this weekend, but you don't have a full slate of games. And a lot of people are focused on Army Navy, focused on the Heisman Trophy.

Like these are individual events that are so cool and so special. And the NFL, last night we were talking about this Thursday Night Football comes around for week 15. It's like, oh, we got a pretty decent game on paper between the Rams and the 49ers, but there wasn't a buildup this week. And I all think it's because of the Belichick news that did happen. And the Belichick news, it was such a bizarre one.

Oh, him to UNC where it's like, oh, we pretty much did two days on full Bill Belichick going to UNC. And then you forget, oh yeah, there was a Thursday Night Football game last night. Oh yeah, Army Navy's coming up on Saturday. Oh yeah, the Heisman Trophy is awarded out on Saturday.

So in my mind, the way that I do this, I feel like I'm in Tuesday mode where we're still reacting, right? Coming off the weekend games, right? We got the college football playoff announcement as well. And then week 15 is slowly crept on us where we already have a game. We got a full slate this weekend. You got Army Navy as well, Heisman Trophy.

So there's a whole lot to do. We'll come on back. We got to give out picks. We're going to have Stu give his picks this week. He'll give three. I'll get three picks as well. And Stu, there's a lot of pressure on you because our guest pickers this year, I'll get the numbers on the other side.

They have just been unbelievable. If you're listening to our guest pickers this year, you've won a lot of money. So we'll get to the picks coming up week 15 of the NFL when we return from USA Army Navy Radio Row. It is the Zach Yelp show. We send it back to our New York City headquarters with El Capitan and Marco Bledy standing by with the latest Infinity Sports Network Sports Flash.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. It's time to answer Ask the Pros question of the day. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Part. Mike in Annapolis says Zach, who do you think is going to win this Saturday between Army and Navy?

You could submit a question by tweeting at INF Sports Etc at Zach Gelb using the hashtag Ask the Pros. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

O'Reilly Auto Parts. I do think Army's going to win. Now, as you understand in these rivalry games, as we have just seen with Ohio State and Michigan, that whenever a team is expected to win, it doesn't mean that the other team doesn't have a chance. Navy has had a really good season. There was a while that we thought in the American Athletic Conference championship game, you could see these two teams play and then play once again in Army and Navy.

So there has been that thought that that was going to be the case. Now, obviously, we know that wasn't the way that it transpired with Army beating Tulane and being American Athletic Conference champions. But I just look at Bryson Daly. There's a case to be made that he should have been a Heisman Trophy finalist. I just believe Bryson Daly is going to do enough to just run through and go find a way to get a victory for Army over Navy. And I'm a big fan of Ken Munkins, of Jeff Munkins.

So I'm going to take Army over Navy. But without further ado, and I'm not talking about Freddie, I do it's time to get to some NFL picks. It's time for NFL picks on the Zach Gelb show. So our guest pickers this year, Pat Boyle, Ariel Epstein, Trista Crick, Andrew Perloff, Tim McCarthy, Pat McCarthy, excuse me, Ryan Hottekiki, Paul Pasp, Ricky Ricardo, Bart Winkler, Maggie Gray, Damon Amendelara, former Packers fullback John Kuhn and Ari Temkin. They are 26 and 13.

So if you are listening to our guest pickers and you have been placing your dinero on our guest pickers, you got a lot of cash. They're 26 and 13. I'm 21 and 18. I feel like I'm the Packers right now in the NFC North for crying out loud. You know, I had a good enough record where I would think I'd be pretty damn good. And Brian Jones is now back. He's staring me down. Hook him! Hook him down! Horns down!

He's got a water bottle. Take cover. He's going to beat me up. He's going to beat me up. Jeez. Brian Jones, the PR people are getting mad at him.

He just keeps on stopping by our set and delaying him for going to the next segment. So Stu, I don't want to put pressure on you. I know. But I'm kind of putting you in this spot because I'm hoping that your picks stink so I can make up some grounds here. It's an impossible spot, but I'll try my best. You're either going to go 0 and 3 or you're going to go 3 and 0. Definitely. I don't think there's 1 and 2. I don't think there's 2 and 1 for you.

I agree. Alrighty, so I'll let you start things off. What's your first pick this week? Alright, I'm going to the AFC West with my first game. And it's a team that's been a little disappointing to some, but obviously the Chiefs are still the Chiefs. They have not done very well against the spread this year, but minus 4 at the Browns. I think this is the time where the defense shows up. They forced Jamis into a few turnovers. Patrick Mahomes scores some points. And I think even on the road, the Chiefs win by a touchdown. Would it change it if I made you take it at minus 4 and a half?

Because I'm just using this site right here. No, 4 and a half. I would go with that. Okay, so Stu has the Chiefs laying 4 and a half.

I just want to be using the same spreads. My first pick, this team, they put up a lot of points. Their defense absolutely stinks. And we saw that last week and you'll continue to see it for the remaining 4 games. But I just got to trust that Joe Burrow is going to outscore Tennessee by a significant amount of points.

Those points are 5 and a half. I know the game is in Nashville, but Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase, I just got to think they're going to find a way to beat the Tennessee Titans by at least a touchdown. So give me the Bengals laying 5 and a half.

Stu, your next pick. Alright, for my next one, I'm going to go with what a lot of people will probably see as an upset. I think the Dolphins going to Houston against the Texans. I like the way Tua has been throwing the ball.

He's been putting up a lot of yards, decent amount of points. I just feel like this is a spot for the Texans where this could be a down week. Miami, I just think they can get it done.

They can win by more than three points. So I'm going to go with the Dolphins to win or maybe they lose by one or two points. But I think the Dolphins in this one. And then that would be a rough stretch for the Texans who also lost to Tennessee last week. Alright, my next pick. You know where I'm going. If there's one team I'm picking this week, if you're doing the picks, who is it?

I would have to be the Falcons. I'm going to take... No, I'm not going to take the Raiders. Yeah, don't do that.

I advise against that. Kirk Cousins hasn't had a touchdown pass, I think in the last four weeks. He's been a turnover machine.

This is a perfect get right spot. The Raiders are gunning for that number one overall pick. They're going for that number one spot. Give me the Atlanta Falcons laying the four points this week. And Kirk Cousins, I already think you should be benched, but if you can't beat the Raiders by four and you can't find the way to cover that spread, then you really should be benched for Michael Penix Jr. And your final pick, Stu?

Yeah, my final pick, I'm going to go with the Chargers minus three at home against the Buccaneers. The Bucks have been a good story this year, the 7-6. They're a good football team. Baker Mayfield's a good quarterback.

I know Justin Herbert's a little banged up. That's the one thing that concerns me a little bit, but I just think this defense is going to show up like it's done with Jim Harbaugh the whole season. And I think the Chargers are going to have a very nice game and they're going to win by a touchdown. That's a sneaky good game because in the 4.25 p.m. window, Colts, Broncos, who cares?

Even though playoff implications, but it's like low playoff implications. Bills-Lions is in the Sunday window. That's a marquee game.

Steelers-Eagles, I'm going to be there at South Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. Good game, 11-2, 10-3. Pats, Cardinals, you got two young quarterbacks, Kyler Murray and Drake May, but nothing to write home about. And then you get the Bucks and the Chargers thrown in there. That game's coming down to whoever's going to have the ball last. And I think it's going to be a sloppy game towards the end and you got Herbert, assuming where his health is, and you also got Baker Mayfield.

I think that's a quiet game that's flying under the radar. But for my last pick, I'm going to the Sunday night football window. And I take a look at the Green Bay Packers. The Packers this year are going up against the Seahawks. The Green Bay Packers this year, what's their best win? Like they beat the 49ers, they beat the Dolphins, they beat the Bears, the Jaguars, the Texans, the Cardinals, the Rams early in the season when the Rams are struggling, Tennessee and Indianapolis, they don't really have like a signature victory. And you look at Seattle, I still think the Rams are going to win that division. So I would like to see Seattle go down this week. But this is a big week for Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers. I like the Green Bay Packers to not only win, but I like them to cover the two and a half point spread. So I'm going all favorites this week. Bengals lay in five and a half. Falcons lay in four.

The Green Bay Packers. Go pack, go lay in two and a half. And Stu has, or a lot of people calling you Stewart today because they see your name on the credentials. Everyone's going by your full first name. I got a Stewart on my Starbucks order, but spelled the way I do not spell it. I was not happy. E-W-A-R-T. Which is the way most people spell it, to be fair.

But you didn't have like a bagel boss guy freaked down? No, no, no, no, no. And Stewart, Stewie, Stupak, Stewart, Stu, whatever people are going to call you is going with the Chiefs lay in four and a half, the Dolphins plus three, and then the Chargers lay in three. Correct Amundo?

That's right. Alrighty. Those are the picks for week 15 in the National Football League as we will enjoy the games coming up this weekend and we will talk about it all on Monday, obviously. You could also catch me Saturday from 9 to 930 a.m. Eastern Time on WFAN in New York City and then on Sunday right back here on the Infinity Sports Network.

10 a.m. to noon Eastern Time for Sunday morning football. Be back in New York City on Monday for another Zach Gelb show at Chavaganza starting at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific Time. I'd like to thank the guys on set here. Corey, appreciate it. Thanks so much. Also Dave, everyone that set this up, Tom, Jimmy, all do a great job.

All the folks at USAA. Also like to thank Ryan Botcher back in New York City headquarters and Stuart Kovacs who has survived the trip with me and I am going back tonight. Stu staying for the game tomorrow so Stu does not have to take another train ride back with me. We appreciate you guys listening. Thanks so much. We will talk to you over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday where I told you and then on Monday right back here on the Infinity Sports Network at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific Time. Make sure you follow me on social media at Zach Gelb. We'll get you all behind the scenes with Heisman tomorrow night. We out. Bye-bye. Peace.