Darnold Seattle Expectations (Hour 3)

Alrighty, welcome back in and this is that Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network.

You know, I'm going to ask you a simple question here. I'm going to give you Player A or Player B, Stu. You tell me which one would you rather have. So Player A completed 66.2% of his passes. Player A had 4,319 yards this past year. Player A had 35 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. So Player A, 66.2% completion percentage, 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns at 12 interceptions. Player B completed 70.4% of his passes, threw for 4,320 yards, had 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Would you rather have Player A or Player B? I'll take the large amount of touchdowns over to completion percentage so I will go with Player A. I will as well. Now Player A was Sam Darnold, Player B was Geno Smith.

However, with that being said, look at the environments they were in. Sam Darnold plays in a dome with the best wide receiver in the league and I get it. Geno Smith, you know, had DK Metcalf, had also Jackson Smith in Jigba, had Tyler Lockett. Geno Smith, you know, played all 17 games this year but DK Metcalf's not Justin Jefferson.

You know, Tyler Lockett's very good, he's not Justin Jefferson and also Kevin O'Connell is, you know, basically the offensive coordinator. So I look at what Geno Smith just did this past year in Seattle, working with less and then what Sam Darnold did working with more in Minnesota. I think everyone say Minnesota or Seattle, Seattle last year, forget this year, Seattle last year or Minnesota last year. Who would you rather be a quarterback for?

Everyone would say Minnesota. It's not even close. So I'm looking at the numbers in a situation now in Seattle that's worse, right? Worse.

Right? Worse. And Geno Smith in that situation this past year had the fourth most passing yards in the league with 4,000 to 120. Just beat out Sam Darnold, it's by a yard.

Had a completion percentage that was better than Sam Darnold and sure, Geno threw more interceptions, Geno threw fewer touchdowns. So I look now, I put Sam in Geno's position where there's no Tyler Lockett, there is no DK Metcalf. Sure, you have a offensive coordinator now that you're familiar with, but your best wide receiver is Jackson Smith and Jigba. Jackson Smith and Jigba would be the number two wide receiver on Minnesota?

Like, you're not better than Jefferson. I would rather have JSM over Addison, but Addison's no scrub. And Kenneth Walker's a good running back, but we'll see if he could stay healthy, him and Charbedet.

So like, and you're going outdoors too. So I look at Sam Darnold and I've been trying to figure out what Sam could be in Seattle. I think it's a fine roll of the dice because of the age. Sam is 27 years old. He turns 28 this summer. Geno Smith is an older quarterback.

He's 34 and he's going to be 35 by October of the football season. So I get when Seattle said, okay, we don't got Pete Cowler anymore. We had new head football coach. We have a new offensive coordinator. So we did this one year of Geno Smith.

We were fine. We almost won the division. We just missed out on winning the division. We just missed out on getting to the playoffs. So I could understand why, even though I don't know if they believe that Sam's going to be their franchise guy, like they can't without question say that Sam is their franchise guy.

Even if they say it, we know that it has many questions with it. So I'm fine with them on a three-year deal for a hundred, 110 and a half million dollars and $55 million guaranteed. Them saying, even if this is one and done and we're there with a lot of egg on our face because we had $55 million guaranteed locked up in this guy relative to the position, I think it's a risk worth taking when you get younger at the quarterback position. And maybe last year was enlightening for Sam. And maybe last year gives Sam confidence that he hasn't had since USC. And even though it was bad at the end of the year up against the lions and up against the Rams in the playoffs, maybe that's what gets Sam moving in the right direction. Where I don't think anyone's looking at Sam Darnold and expecting him to go to Seattle and be a top five quarterback in the league, right? But maybe he could find a way to be the ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th guy consistently in the NFL.

Maybe that's what Seattle's hoping that he turns out to be. But you were in a spot with Geno Smith where you were going to have to give him a two-year extension and you're going to have to pay him anywhere between 40 to $45 million. So if you're willing to do another year or two of Geno Smith, why not get rid of Geno, get a pick back, get younger at the position and you rock and roll with Sam for a season or two.

But I think the questions become with Sam, how far are your numbers going to drop off? Now, Geno did have more passing yards. Well, a extra passing yard and his completion percentage was better. But if you're Sam, everything right was in your favor last year. O'Connell and Jefferson, you got Hopkinson back, right? You go through, you have Addison, like you were in a dome and that produced a 66.2 completion percentage, 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

And still at the end of the year, it ended on a very sour note. And you look back and you see the look of Sam Darnold and it was like, okay, he did a lot of good this year, but you really remember more of the bad at the last two games of the season than the good. So this turns into something here with Sam Darnold where I wonder the numbers in Minnesota, how much of a drop-off are they going to be in Seattle? And I would imagine he throws fewer touchdown passes in Seattle. I imagine he throws more interceptions in Seattle. Passing yards could be similar because they're going to ask him to throw the ball a lot. And if his completion percentage was lower in Minnesota, why do I think it's going to be higher in Seattle? So if Sam Darnold throws for like 4,200 yards this year, right? If he throws for 27, 28 touchdown passes, and if he's able to, the turnovers are key. Gino had 15 last year interceptions.

Sam had 12. If he could find the way to only get like eight, I think those are numbers that the Seahawks would sign up for, obviously, but what is it going to lead you to? Does anyone think that's leading you to an NFC West championship?

You know, is that leading you to the postseason? I guess it puts you in striking distance to make the postseason, but I don't think you're going to look at Sam as someone that's going to go win multiple games with the Seahawks. And what the Seahawks did, I like the direction they were heading in. I thought that was a team that was a quarterback away. And you could argue they basically just made a lateral move at the quarterback position and they brought in someone that was just younger. So I'm fine with that, but I was waiting for that move, right? I like, and I knew that Lockett wasn't going to be there long term. I just totally, grossly miscalculated what they thought of DK Metcalf.

All right. I was wrong on that. I'm still a big fan of Jackson Smith and Jigba, but now you lose two out of your three best wide receivers and the quarterback, you know, you may have got slightly better at most, but I can't sit there with full confidence to say that.

And you just got younger. You know what teams do when they move on from a quarterback is fascinating. Like, Stu, you're Raiders.

You know better than anybody. They move off of Derek Carr. There's a lot of reasons to want Derek Carr off the roster.

But when your pivot was to Jimmy G and now we're sitting here a few years later and it's Gino Smith and it's different regimes too. It's like, when are you actually going to go get the guy like Pittsburgh? Hey, a big Ben retires, right? You do the Mason Rudolph duck Hodges thing.

You call your shot and Kenny Pickett late in the first round or Midway, a little bit past Midway in the first round. Then you go get Justin Fields and Russell Wilson and now you may be going to old man Aaron Rogers. It's like now Big Ben was a Hall of Famer that went through a long run. Derek Carr, it was time to move on. Gino Smith, you didn't have to move on, but I would have thought if the Seahawks were moving on, it would have been for a bigger name than Sam Darnold. And I'm someone that, you know, said in November that maybe Sam Darnold is going to go to the Seahawks. But I think if Sam Darnold still had DK Metcalf, maybe we're talking about this in a different way. But when you're throwing him out there with only, you know, catching the ball Jackson Smith and Jigba, I do think it changes the conversation on maybe you should have just stayed with Gino Smith.

And how that all went down is fascinating to me, right? Because it seemed like they were getting close to doing a deal or that they at least offered him 40, $45 million. And the rate like the Raiders don't have a new deal with Gino Smith. So it's not even if the Raiders are even necessarily that close, maybe they have an idea, right?

And all that stuff. But that's to me, Stu, and you've had experience with this. And I think it's different, like when, for example, Brady walks out of a building or a Roethlisberger, like legendary quarterbacks, right? It's going to, not everyone's going to be Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, right? Like even the Packers, to their credit, Jordan Love has excitement right now. And the Patriots, right, have found Drake May. We got to still see if Drake May is good, but you had to go through Mac Jones first, but a different level of excitement with Drake May. The Steelers haven't had that excitement again, but the Raiders and the Seahawks are in similar boats. So you had a guy that was fine, right?

Like good. Like you could talk yourself into saying there are moments when he looks like a top 10 quarterback, not that he is a top 10 quarterback for an entire season, but moments when they looks like a top 10 quarterback and the moves since then for the Raiders have been baffling. And this, I'm not going to call this move by Sam, by Sam Darnell of the Seahawks, signing him as baffling, but I always thought, okay, when they get rid of Geno Smith, they're going to go to their, their guy, right? That Geno was a placeholder, but he was a longer placeholder than we could have thought, but you could do a lot worse than Geno Smith.

You could also do a lot better. And at best, Sam Darnell is a little bit, a little bit better than Geno Smith. If that, and that's the part to me, Stu, where I look at Sam Darnold, I think that this is a three-year contract. It could go all three years.

If you put a gun to my head right now, I would say two, but do I think ultimately the Seahawks are going to give Sam Darnold another contract extension, like multi-year contract extension. If I'm a better man, I would probably say no. Yeah. I would agree with that.

I, I'm not crazy about the move going from Geno to Darnold. I get it. But at the same time, I just don't know what the end game is. Yeah.

I just, I'm not sure. I just, I feel like they're kind of similar. And at least with your Raiders, right? And I know that it's different because right, they went from Carr to Jimmy G and O'Connell and Gardner Minshew. And now you have Geno Smith, but like the Raiders with Geno Smith, it's a little incomplete feeling to me. They have someone that if they need to play Geno Smith all 17 games, we know he's competent.

We know he's solid, right? It's better than what you had last year, but I got to see what the Raiders do in the draft. Like if the Raiders are the sixth overall pick, get Chidor Sanders, even if you don't think Chidor Sanders is going to be great, there's at least some hope that the fan base can really rest on and really start to feel. For the Seahawks, I don't see how they're like, Sam Darnold's their guy right now. If I'm a Seahawks fan, am I feeling that much different from when you entered last year to this year?

No, in fact, and it has nothing to do with Sam, right? But getting rid of DK, and I know Tyler Lockett was a fan favorite, very good player in this league. If it was just Tyler Lockett, I'm not saying these things, but getting rid of both DK and Tyler, it makes me say the Seahawks should be, in theory, worse than what they were last year. And they were solid last year, right?

They just missed out on the postseason. That's the disconnect for me, Stu. I don't see how the Seahawks can spin this as being something that makes you feel better because they're not going to go draft a quarterback in the first round, duh. And who's the other playmaker that you're bringing in, even if you didn't want to pay DK Metcalf, that's going to give you some excitement to put Sam in the best spot to ultimately succeed. That's the thing. Yeah, it's his overall environment, too. Like you said, just going from what the Vikings had to offer with the coaching regime, with the two receivers. Now you go to Seattle. I mean, I guess it's a slightly easier division, maybe.

Maybe that's the one thing, maybe. Yeah, but we're still starting. No one's picking the Seahawks.

No, I don't think that's possible. And then again, you look at the weapons are not there in the offensive line. Seattle's offensive line is pretty bad. That was the one thing with Geno Smith last year. He was running for his life and I can't imagine, unless they get really lucky in the draft, that that's probably not going to change. And to be fair, the Seahawks did a lot better than what people thought they were going to be past year, but their team's going to be drastically different this year.

Let's hear from Mike McDonald, the coach of the Seahawks, on adding Sam Darnold. When it became apparent that we were going to have to pivot away from Geno, then I'm definitely hoping that it was going to land with Sam. There's some time there, but everyone involved in the process was awesome. John was awesome. Joey Lane was awesome. All of our pro personnel people were on it.

So just really fortunate that it worked out the way it did. And there's some great quarterbacks out there that we looked into, but it's really apparent that Sam was our guy. There's one thing that stands out to me there.

Play the first six, seven seconds again. When it became apparent that we were going to have to pivot away from Geno, then definitely hoping that it was going to land with Sam. There's some time there. The laughing there. Now I haven't heard Mike McDonald speak much. I've had one conversation with him in my life. It wasn't on air.

It was off the air. Young up and coming coach. Good dude. But if you're trying to sell me on the fan base, I mean the fan base on Sam Darnell, right? You know, when it became evident that Geno wasn't going to be back, you know, I was hoping it was, it was like almost a nervous laugh that it almost, it just feels like you were lying, whether you were or not, you know, be my guest, but it almost is like, you need to have that nervous laugh.

Cause you know what you're going to say. Sounds like bull crap. You know, I'm definitely hoping that it was going to with Sam, you know, there's some time there, but you know, you weren't saying like, yeah, you were, you weren't like you're bringing an Aaron Rogers even at an older age, you know, it wasn't like you got Tom Brady at Sam Darnell, right? So here is John Schneider on the Geno Smith trade and how that all came about. We made an offer to Geno, tried to extend him. It became apparent that we weren't going to be able to get a deal done. Yeah. It wasn't like a very long negotiation.

So as a staff, we had to be prepared to pivot, always having a contingency plan. So we had several guys we were interested in, made the trade and were able to get the guy at the top of the list. So I don't know what the pulse of the Seahawks fan base is on this with Geno, but has there been any speculation in the Raiders world stew on how the heck that this contract like aren't the reports they indicate they offered him somewhere between 40 to $45 million a year on an extension and they had conversation that made him an offer and then something happened where it went south. They're like, all right, we're just going to send you to the Raiders for a third round pick. Has there been any speculation in the Raiders world? Like, I don't know when you go down the, you know, the Reddit threads and all that stuff.

Is there any like spicy take recently? Not really. I mean, a lot of it's just like assuming they just didn't want a long-term deal with a 34-year-old Geno Smith, maybe.

And it's also like, he's fine. Maybe it's a regime that had one year of him and maybe they're just not as crazy about him as obviously Pete Carroll in the Raiders regime now. Yeah.

I wonder if there was maybe some things behind the scenes or like maybe Geno was intending to stay there and then Pete was like, oh, I could use a quarterback, you know, maybe, maybe if I, maybe I think he gets you, would you be interested? Well, tampering going on. I'm not accusing anyone. I'm just saying, right? I'm just saying.

Finally, here is Sam Darnold on his struggles in the final two games of the season. I was waiting for someone to bring that up, by the way. I appreciate, appreciate that.

No, that's, it's fair, man. Like, you know, you get all the way to that point. You have the season that we had offensively as a team and then, you know, you run into at the end of the day, like only one team can, can win the Super Bowl. And unfortunately we weren't that team, but I learned a ton from those last two games, especially, you know, I think being able to get the ball out a little bit quicker on, on some of the drop back stuff that we had those last couple games and understanding where the outlets are. And even if a guy's covered, like even if my back's covered on a check down, like just throwing it at his feet, you know, I felt like I was taking some unnecessary sacks last year, especially those last few games. And, you know, thinking about that, keeping two hands on the ball in the pocket at all times and just doing all the little fundamental things.

And I think, but that's a big one is being able to just get the ball out on time. I was ready to slam that answer in the beginning. I really was. He's like, oh, I'm waiting for someone to ask you that question. I think he meant that to be funny, but it came off in like just a tone that I didn't like. But I think what he said in the back end is a hundred percent true. And I think that's why I believe that's a genuine answer. Like when McDonald's laughing about, you know, obviously hope it was Sam. Hoping that it was going to land with Sam.

You know, like that to me is just disingenuous. Sam Darnell is a hundred percent right. And those last two games of Minnesota, he was jittery. He was holding onto the ball way too long. He threw the ball at times just way too high. And I think that what he said was, I got to get the ball quicker.

And sometimes you got to know when to give up on the play and just throw the ball at somebody's feet. So I like the answer there. Now, the jittery stuff concerned me, though, because in those last two games, he looked antsy. And that went back to like, oh, that's seeing ghosts, Sam Darnell, which is not not a good Sam Darnell to see, you know, the boogeyman.

But I like the answer. And I think he may have learned something from the last two games. Now it's, can you get better at it? And in Seattle, I don't know how much better you're going to be able to get at it. Because in Minnesota, like Minnesota, if you're a quarterback, I'm not saying that you go there, you definitely win a Super Bowl. But to be bad as the Minnesota quarterback with O'Connell, Jefferson, Addison, Hockinson, Aaron Jones, it's tough to be bad. And the Vikings may, may win. They probably will win fewer games this year. But it's not saying that JJ McCarthy can't give better individual numbers at the quarterback position, even when Sam just had a very good individual season.

More, obviously a lot more good than bad. But now the question becomes, can JJ, who's a winner, but he's going to be asked to do more than he did at Michigan, can JJ take the Vikings further than what Sam Darnell did? Because I think Vikings fans would sign up for fewer regular season victories if they go get a postseason victory or two, victory or two. Something that Sam Darnell had a goose egg department in when it came to the postseason. All right. This is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a break. We'll come on back. We'll talk about some Cooper Cup destinations next.

All right. Welcome back in and this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. You know, the Cooper Cup market, I think is interesting. So there was a big push last night that the Cowboys are supposedly making a big push.

And then I was like, eh, we don't know if he's still going to go there. You know, I read an article yesterday that said the Seahawks, the Broncos and the Patriots are the most interested. And then really out of nowhere, the Saints, I guess, are now in this conversation, at least per one report.

So let's say those are the five suitors. It's like, what does Cooper Cup want? You know, you've played, you know, you've pretty much accomplished all you can in the NFL at this point for what Cooper Cup's going to accomplish. You won a Super Bowl MVP.

You've done the Triple Crown. You know, you've only played 33 games in the last three years. You're a number two wide receiver now.

You could still look like a number one at times, but there's just not enough consistency there with your body getting you on the field enough. Like your availability is a great question. So I look at those five destinations and I always say this with with wide receivers or really with any player, but really with with wide receivers too. It's how much money are you looking for? Like, what do you value?

Is it money? Is it winning or is it targets for wide receivers? Those are the three things winning targets money. And I wonder how Cooper Cup would rank those because I don't think winning for a guy that's already won a Super Bowl needs to be won.

And I think in this regard with how many different teams are getting leaked out and Cooper isn't like a me, me, me kind of guy. I would say it's money one. I would say targets two and winning three. So in that formula, if it's money one targets two winning three.

Well, in Seattle, I don't know what the money is going to be. You're going there. Maybe you could talk yourself into them being a playoff team. But your targets are going to be but your targets are going to be number two targets.

Now, JSN has the propensity to get hurt a bunch. So maybe you could end up getting number one targets. The Broncos. The Broncos actually would be a pretty good destination. Now, I don't know how much money they're willing to give out, but the Denver Broncos, they're they're a team that out of those five teams that I just mentioned, the Seahawks, Broncos, Pats, Cowboys, Saints. If you're looking at winning, which is the third thing that I've been talking about for them, you may that's that would be ranked number one in terms of the team closest to winning. And it's not like they have any like Cortland Sutton's a good wide receiver, but it's not a traditional number one wide receiver, as other teams would have in the NFL. You look at the Patriots.

I think the Patriots owe you the most money. They they went I think I saw one report they were willing to give Chris Gobbin 30 million dollars a year. Last year, they were willing to break the 30 million dollar mark for Brandon Aiyuk. But Chris Gobbin is like, I'm good in Tampa. Right, Brandon Aiyuk, for whatever reason, didn't want to go to the Patriots. Who was the Calvin Ridley?

They offered him a bag. Oh, my girlfriend doesn't want to go to Foxborough. Now that working out for you in Nashville and Tennessee.

And I hope you have a fun little party town down there. The number one pick in the draft. They're worse than us, which is just saying something. So I'm looking at like the Cowboys. You're number two wide receiver there. CeeDee Lamb, the Saints. You know, Alave, I think they're disappointed in him in New Orleans.

He hasn't popped off as much as people would think. But that's kind of similar to to the Seahawks and the Broncos, right, with their number one quality wide receiver. So here's what I'll say with Cooper Cup. If it's about the money and I'd be a little bit disappointed with my Patriots, if their biggest wide receiver move this offseason is Cooper Cup, you know, it's nice to bring him in.

I'd rather have Cooper Cup than not have Cooper Cup. But for a team that went all in on Harold Landry, went all in on Milton Williams, went all in on Robert Spillane, right, got Morgan Moses. I would have thought that they would have done more at the wide receiver position.

Now, you can't make people say yes, right? And unless I know it's a different regime, but the Patriots are drafting better at wide receiver, like that's the only way that you're going to get one of these wide receivers, unless if it's a trade like you go, you know, just take on the deal for Iuke. You would have given the contract last year. Now he got his contract, I guess, for less with the 49ers. But it's coming off a major injury for Brandon Iuke.

So if it's about money, I think Cooper Cup lands in New England. But if I'm him, I think I'm going to Denver. I think I would go to Denver where you have Sean Payton. You know, it's you're looking at Bo Nix at the quarterback position. You know, I think Drake May could be a good quarterback, but you know, Dak Prescott, solid quarterback, obviously good quarterback. The Saints, I'm good on Derek Carr. Seattle, like Sam Donald's fine.

But I think there's some excitement on Bo. Obviously, Sean has been a really damn good coach in this league for a long time. And if it's about targets too, and I don't know what the money is for the Broncos, because I think that's number one, but if it's also about targets, it's like Courtland Sutton's good, like very good wide receiver. But if Cooper Cup is playing the way that Cooper Cup could play and he is healthy, there will be plenty of targets for you to get. And that's a team that just made the playoffs. When we look at the other teams, Cowboys won the playoffs last year, Patriots won the playoffs, Saints won the playoffs, and the Seahawks won the playoffs. So if I'm him, and he didn't want to leave L.A., but the Rams are like, oh, we're going to upgrade and we're going to go bring in Devonta Adams and you're going to be a guy out because of the emergence of Pukunakua, a fifth round pick, who ended up being a very good player in this league. I would pick Denver if I'm him. I think this is, out of those five teams, the five teams we've been told, Seahawks, Broncos, Pats, Cowboys, Saints, if you said pick two, like, I think it would be either the Patriots is going to throw the most money at him or it's going to be Denver Broncos. That to me are the two teams right there, if I'm Cooper Cup.

And Pats, it's for the bag of cash and the targets, and for the Broncos, it's putting yourself in the best environment out of those five teams, Seahawks, Denver, New England, Dallas, and New Orleans. All righty, we'll take a break. It is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. When we come on back, we will get to ask the pros question. Also, three things to look for heading into the NCAA tournament. We have Conference Championship Week, obviously we're ongoing through that. I'm going to be at the world's most famous arena tonight, Madison Square Garden, for two games, semi-finals of the Big East tournament. And then coming up on Sunday, Selection Sunday, and you know what that turns into for radio on Monday?

Brackets, brackets, brackets, brackets, brackets, brackets. Now, when does Aaron Rodgers decide to just insert himself into March Madness? Because let me tell you, I don't think we're getting an Aaron Rodgers decision over the weekend, but you never know when the white smoke is coming. Let's just be real with Aaron Rodgers.

You never know when this dude is going to make a decision. So, I would guess and say that we're not going to find out next week, but if we're getting breaking news on Monday that Aaron Rodgers, you know, has signed with whomever, Vikings Steelers or the Giants, you could bet you know what, no offense, the NCAA tournament, that's the first thing we're talking about Monday at 3 p.m. Eastern. It would absolutely be the first thing that we're talking about. Now, with that being said, do I think Monday we're talking about Rodgers? Yes. Do I think we're talking about Rodgers, though, with a team that we know he signed with?

No, I do not. So, expect a lot of bracket talk and hoops talk coming up on Monday. Ack, where's your confidence level with your Tar Heels? I know they're going up against Duke and Cooper Flagg, unfortunately. No Cooper Flagg. Yeah, out. Yes, and no Malik Brown either.

So, I give them, I'm kind of out of seven. You think they win today they're in? I think they should be in right now, but I think they win today they're definitely in. I just want, I would assume that you're right that they would get in, but I just wonder with the injuries to Duke if how the committee actually then would weigh that. Duke's still really good without those guys, I hate to tell you. You know, I mean, you're talking about the player of the year and the number one pick overall, but they're still fantastic. Yeah, so, all right, you still in on Hubert Davis? I think we have to, time will tell, but it's easy to say let's get rid of this guy and you know then who do you bring in?

Well, that's the other thing too. So, when they brought in Hubert Davis at the time, I don't love when the legendary coach is there and then you just bring in a guy because he has ties to legendary coach. Now, Duke did it with John Shire, it's been working out. Hubert Davis's first year got to a national championship. Yeah, it was an up and down first year though, and then they didn't make the tournament. They were an eight seed, right?

Yeah, then they didn't make the tournament and then they came back and, you know, had the big year and then had the early exit last year. Like, Kyle Neptune did a nice job that one year at Fordham. Yeah.

You know, should he have been taking over for Jay Wright? Probably not. So, I would like a legitimate search, but now with NIL and the transfer portal, I think an unintended consequence of this stuff, which is actually good for the coaches, they get longer leashes now.

Yeah, I think so. Because if you get rid of the coach, then everyone hits the portal and you see it in college football too. Yep, I think the bigger issue that Carolina has, and this is not going to be very popular in the state of North Carolina, they have to get somebody with an outside point of view and it's nice to have the Carolina way, but I think it's a little too insular if you know what I mean.

I just think that they need to have a differing opinion about somebody who's been somewhere else. Now, you could argue that, you know, guys like Jeff Lebo have coached elsewhere who's on the staff and Pat Sullivan, but, you know, I just think everything is Carolina, Carolina, Carolina and that's all nice, but I do think it helps to have somebody with experience. Now, what the new GM does, you know, that remains to be seen.

That could, you know, that could shut me up. You know, Belichick's girlfriend? No, no, no, they hired a basketball game.

Who also is a, who also is a Carolina grad, by the way, so. By the way, I got to defend my guy, Bill. So, Bill, did you see this email? What email? So, Bill, I guess, got some email, Belichick. Oh, I thought he emailed you. No, no, and I guess when he responded to the email, he said, include Jordan on this, she helps me manage the email. Everyone's like, oh, Bill Belichick, he's whipped, oh, you know, this girl is like, you know, control everything. Bill is older. Yeah.

So, you have someone that literally was born with the phone in their hands. Yep. She's basically being girlfriend and also secretary. Yeah.

For Bill Belichick. So, that's kind of what I thought that was, like, she's going to inform him, hey, old man Bill, you know, you got some emails that you may want to pay attention to. Yes.

So, she will weed out the emails, I guess. No more Berj Najarian to go through this. Yes, yeah.

Good job out of you. I'm surprised Bear's didn't join the staff, he's at Boston College with Billy O'Brien. So, I think Hubert Davis, though, regardless if they make the tournament or not, I think he's going to be back for another year.

Yeah, I'd say it's pretty easy. You know, look, they have the new GM, they have a very good recruiting class coming in, that helps. They have to identify better talent in the portal. The guy they really did a great job years ago of getting and they need a kind of a guy like him again, Brady Manik. You know, he had some gumption to him. Great hair, too.

He had a little chip on his shoulder and, you know, he also, the other thing too about him was he hit big shots at the end of, yeah, at the end of possessions and that's, you know, you're playing great defense for 25 seconds and he hits a three, that's demoralizing. All right, well, come on back, we'll wrap up shop on this Friday for another great week of the Zach Gelb show update time. Here is Mr. Carolina Blue himself, Rich Ackerman. All righty, it's time to answer Ask the Pros question of the day and it's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Jason in Omaha says, Zach, what's the biggest storyline heading into the NCAA tournament? You can submit a question by tweeting at INF Sportsnet or at Zach Gelb. He's in 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-O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. I think the biggest storyline entering the NCAA tournament is the health of Cooper Flag. Like, yes, the NCAA, when it comes to basketball, I think the faces of the sport are more so coaches, but with Coach K no longer coaching, Roy Williams no longer coaching, with Jay Wright no longer coaching, like you get into the face of college basketball.

You know, Patino has been excellent at St. John's. Tom Izzo has a team in the top 10. You know, Dan Hurley, his UConn team is not great this year, but he went back to back championships and has a polarizing, you know, personality. There's not a lot of great faces from the coaching standpoint right now in college basketball. Like, you go through the AP top 25 and you say, okay, who elicits a big reaction nationally? And I said, big.

You know, John Shire, you think of Cooper Flag first. Kelvin Sampson, nice story. Bruce Pearl, awesome, but like a lovable guy. So like, you go through this and you go through, the coach is golden at Florida, Alabama, NATO, St. John's, Patino, Michigan State, Izzo, Tennessee, with Rick Barnes. I just went through those coaches. Who really gives a pop between those two, Patino and Izzo? Do I think that St. John's win the NCAA tournament this year?

I don't. I think Michigan State's win the NCAA tournament this year would be a fun story, but I don't. So I would say the biggest storyline entering March Madness this year is now going to be the health of Cooper Flag, who is the best player in the country, on right now the best team in the country, and yesterday suffered an ankle injury where he's not playing today up against UNC. Quite frankly, even if Duke wins today, I'd be shocked if he's playing in the ACC championship game. And if Duke is a 1-C, you know, I know for every UMBC, right, which is nuts and wild and crazy, and with Tobin Anderson at FDU, it's only happened twice.

Incredible, but twice. We're 16 has defeated a 1. You know, you remember Virginia, you remember Purdue, and when they did go down. So could they say, hey Cooper, we'll give you even an extra day off, you know, recover semifinal championship, recover first round the NCAA tournament. We won't see you till Sunday. Am I talking this Sunday? Next Sunday?

Because Duke is definitely, we talked about this conspiracy yesterday, Duke is definitely a Friday late night game. You know, even if they're Thursday, Thursday, Saturday, Friday, Sunday, you're not seeing Cooper Flag. I would be shocked if you see him tomorrow if Duke wins. I'd be shocked if you see him even in the, even if there are two. I'd be shocked if you see him Thursday, Friday. I would be.

I'd be surprised. I think if he plays the second round Saturday, Sunday, that's what I would do if I'm John Shire. And if you get burned that way, you get burned that way, it's part of the sport. But I think that becomes the biggest story of the NCAA tournament. I think he was the biggest story heading, you know, before the injury, but it even adds more speculation and more to the story without him getting hurt. Because then when he comes back, how effective is he going to be? So I would say the three things to watch heading into this NCAA tournament are these three things. I would say it's Cooper Flag and his injury.

And also how close to Cooper Flag could he be when he does come back. I also am fascinated by how far Rick Pitino could go because Rick Pitino is a gangster. He is. Rick Pitino is the godfather. Rick Pitino, like we shouldn't be surprised what he's doing at St. John's with his resume because it's an all-time great resume. But that school has been down and out for so long.

I'll just say it. They have been irrelevant for 20 years, pretty much irrelevant for 20 years, St. John's. And Mike Rupoli, right, makes a financial commitment. Rick Pitino goes to St. John's, right, brings some swagger and bravado back. Last year they should have made the NCAA tournament.

They got screwed, but doesn't matter. And look what Rick Pitino has done. In year two, they're ranked sixth in the country. He is the biggest player of the year, the most improved player in the biggies. Oh yeah, by the way, they won a regular season title and he's the coach of the year in the biggies. So even if they don't, like if they lose tonight, I'll be disappointed. But even if they don't win the biggies conference tournament, the fact that they're in position to do that, I shouldn't be surprised, but I am surprised. Even knowing what Pitino has done, it's crazy.

Two years, he's not even done with year two. And look at the way that we're talking about St. John's. And St. John's has some off shooting nights. And I've heard Pitino say this, like they can go home second round of the NCAA tournament, or they can join us in San Antonio for the final four. I think either you will see St. John's go out of the first weekend or they're going to go on a long run.

I do. That's what I don't think there's going to just be in the middle of they just get to the sweet 16 and losing the sweet 16. I think they're either losing the second weekend or, you know, the earliest then if they don't lose second weekend, they'll be on the elite eight.

Like that's what I think is going to happen here with St. John's. And then three is, is the SEC really this great? Because that's been for me, the thing this year in college basketball that I love the most, when you see Auburn and Florida and Alabama and Tennessee, right? And how great the SEC is more than just the football conference.

And isn't it funny? This year, the Big Ten has kind of taken the title the last two years, Ohio State, Michigan for football, right there on level playing grounds. And now the Big Ten just slightly, slightly above the SEC and football for now. For now, that baton and that, that's going to be tug of war for the next, until we're dead, honestly, you know, between the Big Ten and the SEC. But in basketball, the SEC, man, they've been the best conference in the country this year.

So can you have a great regular season and match it in postseason? That's what I'm also fascinated by with the SEC. So those are things to look for, headed into the NCAA tournament, and we'll be all glued to the television when the ball is tipped for the Selection Sunday show. Alrighty, fun show today. Big thanks to Jason Cabinda for joining us.

Big thanks to Matthew Collard. Big thanks to Stuart Kovacs, Michael Santer, Rich Ackerman, and each and every one of you for listening to the program, watching the program, chatting away on Twitter and Instagram and YouTube. We'll talk to you Monday when we got a bracket, everybody. Bracket, bracket, bracket, bracket, bracket. We'll do so Monday at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific time. We out. Bye-bye.