Roman Harper, Former NFL Safety

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There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Roman, how you been? I'm doing good. Far from a superstar though, but appreciate that. Thanks.

It's alright. You are a superstar. You're modest, you're humble, but it's alright.

I would not blow smoke up your ass if you weren't good. You're excellent on television. Thank you, brother. Thank you, Zach.

And I'll say this too. You've started to understand the media world a little bit, that you know what it takes to annoy some fan bases around college football. Hey, man.

I just go off of what I see, man. And yeah, sometimes I like pulling the strings of some people, but it's all in fun and games, bro. I just love it because fans are just so emotional. They think it's really about them all the time, and it's not. I just talk about your team.

It's not personal, but they love to take it personal, and I love having fun with it, bro. And I love sending out a tweet and never checking it again. Roman Harper here with us. We'll get to college football in just a second. I know you know Sean paid him well. He coached you when you were with the Saints. You get that feel that Sean next year will be back on the NFL sideline?

Everybody wants to know. I think Sean's going to do what Sean wants to do. The one thing I know about Sean is that he loves getting flirted with, so the more they keep it up, the more he's going to enjoy himself, and he may come back. It'll be interesting to get what the Saints will get for compensation-wise, though, because I think that's going to ultimately matter as well. Who's willing to give up what? Could you see Carolina being in play? You know Tepper's going to go take a run. Who knows about the Cowboys if that job ends up opening up? McCarthy's had a good job this year.

We'll see what happens to the AFC West, but Carolina, one of your old teams, is now open. Could they be getting your old football coach? Do they have enough? Do they have enough to compensate?

I don't know if you say that they do. They're already a team that needs to build. They have drafted away capital. They've already traded away capital, drafted capital before.

So how much do they have left in the tank? I just don't know if it's enough to get or entice Sean enough. Will the money be there?

Yes. Will the culture be there? I don't even know, because half the fans in Charlotte, I live here. They hate Sean Tate because of all the bad times and what he did to them when he was the Saints coach. So, you know, it's going to be this love-hate thing regardless. And it'd be interesting to say the least. People would be happier in the end because they would win, but people would be so, I don't know.

They do not love it at first. How did you react to the entire whole Matt Rule situation in the last two-plus years? And now Matt is fired, as we know, with the Carolina Panthers, and we'll see what college up he ends up with next. So going back to college already, I love that you're calling that shot.

Awesome. For me, Zach, I told myself I wouldn't judge him on the first two years because I figured Tom Brady or Drew Brees would still be in the division. So he wasn't going to win it. So I said, give him two years to grow. Third year, I'll judge him on everything I see.

And he didn't make it far. And look, the only knock I had on Coach Rule was that they did not win games in November and December. And nobody ever talks about how great of a team he was in September. The playoff teams are made and built, and they win in November and December.

And the Panthers didn't win any games in those two months that he was head coach. So it was two years. Excuse me. So that was my only knock.

And, you know, we didn't get to see the finished product. And I'm not mad at the move. It doesn't seem like the fans are not mad either.

It's just, now it's just on to the next one. And how many more moves is Tepper going to have to make before he gets something right? Is there a name out there? Like, let's say they don't get Sean Payton. Is there a name that you see right now that you go, okay, that guy would be a good fit for Carolina? I just don't know right now because it seems like they're in every type, they're in every deal. I don't know if this is a conservative team. I don't know if this is an aggressive team.

And at the end of the day, you're not even in the conversation as an organization at one of the top consistently until you get the quarterback squared away. And I do not know that they have that part done either. So it's just more question marks. They continue to build more. It's been four quarterbacks since Tepper's done the team.

So who is going to be the guy who's going to help lead this organization? And they got to continue to get things right. They haven't got a lot of things right yet. Talking to Roman Harper, two more of the Panthers that will get to college football. McCaffrey's been a big topic of conversation. He's under contract for three more years.

But you know that team is just nowhere close to being good again. You maybe just see what you can get back and then trade McCaffrey by this deadline at the end of the month. Well that's what I'm hearing a lot of. It would be interesting to see what somebody would be willing to give up and who's desperate enough to do it. Especially now, at this point, I'm just wondering if they're going to do like basketball where we're just going to sit him to make sure he doesn't get hurt before the trade deadline. That would be interesting to see too. With the NFL and where it's going, where it's trending, I wouldn't be surprised if I see anything back.

The longer you've been around this game, the more crazy and bad stuff you see. It will be interesting. I think they do have some pieces that they would love to give up. Because, as I just talked about earlier, they've given up and traded away a lot of draft equity already. So they would love to get some of those picks back going back in the future these next two years.

Talking to Roman Harper right now on the Zach Gelb show, when you look just where this organization is, and it's not a good spot right now. It's just, the whole NFL this year has been really crazy. But you look at Baker Mayfield, I don't think he's their quarterback. I've been surprised how poor Baker has played.

I know he's banged up right now. Two years ago he was good, last year he got hurt. But this guy right now just does not look like he's a good NFL quarterback. You know, when I talk to people, this is the only thing I say, because I don't watch enough NFL football the way I do college, Zach. I can spit out all kinds of stuff in college, because that's what I watch. And I don't like talking about players in a negative light if I don't see it with my own eyes.

But the eyes that I do trust, the guys and friends, sorry I'm on a plane if you hear all this back noise, sorry about that. And the things that I do know is that he's missing the seven route. He's over routes, things of this nature, like that 18 to 21 yard pass. He's not completing on an annual basis, and when you do not complete those passes, it doesn't threaten the defense enough. And at this level, man, you have to be able to threaten the defense. You have to be able to throw in complete passes. When everybody in the stadium knows, you gotta throw the ball. That is what the best teams, that is what the best quarterbacks do.

And that's not what Baker and Rachel have been able to do so far this year. Is it a big surprise? I can't say I'm super surprised, because I saw him struggle with a much better group of guys around him in Cleveland.

Roman Harper here with us. What's been the most impressive part for you with Tennessee? Because they're undefeated, we know the big game up against Alabama this weekend, but what has stood out to you so far when you isolate Tennessee? Tennessee's been one of the more consistent teams we've seen in the SEC. We know exactly who they are on offense.

They're fast up, they're going to spread you out horizontally and vertically, put you on the edges. And also, they want to be able to run the ball down the hill and then get one-on-one matchups on the outside versus their really good receivers and win. And you've got a great deliverer in Hendon Hooker, who is very smart with the football. He's athletic enough to get away and escape. He knows how to get down. He knows how to protect himself.

And he's totally just conducting the show right now. And then also, their defense is also playing much, much better. They're turning calls and turnovers. They're really smart in the secondary at times, majority of the time I would say. And I really like what they're doing. And also, versus LSU, I thought LSU had that advantage up front, defensive line versus offensive line.

I was dead wrong, Zach. Tennessee's defense got after LSU up front, and that's something that I did not see happening. So maybe they are better up front defensively than I first initially thought as well. Do you think Bryce Young is going to play this weekend for Alabama? I mean, I would say yes if I was a betting man, which sometimes I am, so I would say yes.

So what determines that game? If Alabama – look, Bryce Young coming back would be great for Alabama, but I still believe that they do not need to make this a straight drop-back game, which is so often what I've seen out of Bill O'Brien when Bryce Young is that quarterback. They drop back pass game, drop back pass game. I think they need to continue to live and die with the Jameer Gibbs-run playbook right now, and then be able to – and that will open up more windows, more passing lanes for Bryce Young, so not exactly putting it all on him from day one from start to finish, because he is coming off injury.

He did have a shoulder, you know, a little – whatever that spring was, whatever it was. And this is Jameer Gibbs' kid. Jameer Gibbs' kid is a special player. Any time he gets to the second level of a defense, especially the third, and nobody's touched him or he hasn't had a stutter of feet, watch out. This is a big explosive play waiting to happen, and that's what I think Alabama should continue to do. And if they do that, they'll be able to control the tempo and the pace of this game, and they'll win it. Do you think Alabama is in trouble, though, this weekend? Because the game last week was close. The game against Texas, close, and Tennessee has really been moving along this season.

How much of an upset alert maybe is this for Alabama this weekend? Oh, this is – I said it preseason, Zach. You know me.

I'm very honest. I said this is going to be the toughest game on Alabama's schedule when I first saw the schedule, and I continue to remain and say that. I said how great Tennessee is going to be this year. I've been right about all those things. So just – it's been really fun to kind of see myself be right on TV. You know how that is, Zach?

When you say something early and you're like, you know what, I was right about that. Thank you. Yeah, you remind everyone. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

I do, and I will continue to do that. But this game will come down to can Alabama play a clean game? Not their best game, but a clean game. We've seen Alabama on these road games when they're struggled, they have penalties, they have turnovers, all these other things. The percentages say Alabama should not even have had a chance to win that game last weekend. Their minus three and the plus nine and the turnover, the takeaway battle, which we all know is the most important stat in football. They had two missed field goals. There was six other points that are off the board. That game, Alabama should not even have had a chance, but because they're a good championship quality team and play great defense, they gave themselves a chance to win.

And they won the game. So all those things, if you play a clean game, Alabama gives themselves a great chance to win this game. You sound a little bit nervous on this one. Usually you're like, roll tide, they're going to win by 40. I don't hear that from you.

Because I would be lying to you if I said that. I told you this is going to be the hardest game for Alabama. Tennessee is a really good team.

They're much, much improved. I picked Tennessee to lose this game pre-season and I'm wavering on the fence right now. But I can't give you my pick yet because I got to do it on Saturday. But you just know. Just know.

So you're taking Tennessee is what I'm thinking. I did not. Come on, it's just me and you talking. Who cares? Who else is listening? Come on, it's just me and you. We're just talking.

You got some people on the plane, some people listening to the 200 stations around the country. I think you're going Tennessee. You have to tune in Saturday, Zach. But just know, I might text you when we get off this phone. Just know that one.

Yeah, I could eat all the help in the world right now gambling games the way that I've been doing that this year. Two more before we let you run because I know you're on a plane and you got to get going. Jimbo Fisher at A&M. How hot is the seat for Jimbo Fisher right now?

I don't think it's that hot, actually. I think they're too hot committed to Jimbo to make any kind of aggressive moves right now. I know they have an endless bank account, but I mean, they're not dumb businessmen.

They're women either. So businesses, they're continuing to recruit at a high level. Jimbo has to get this quarterback situation squared away. And I thought Hannah King played excellent last week besides a couple mistakes.

But it also had to do a lot to do because they didn't block worth of craft either. So it's never just one particular thing. We'll see. Because now the questions have been, will Jimbo hire an offensive coordinator? And I'm pretty sure he's never had to answer that question before or even didn't ask that question. So it's really interesting to watch Texas A&M, their game plan, what they run offensively versus Alabama, then versus everyone else. How it does not look the same. How it really seems like Jimbo has a bead on what Nick Saban and Alabama defense like to do. And now they have the answer to a lot of those questions. But they don't have the same answers to the other test when they play other teams. It's kind of weird. I feel like they should just start to play Connor Wigman sooner rather than later.

Because he's supposed to be a stud from everything we read. Yeah, and I've heard that same statement from some people that I would say co-hosts or co-workers around the building. Alright, when you look at the college football playoff, if you had to take a prediction right now, a clairvoyant Roman Harper prediction, who do you think the four teams are at the end of the year?

I would say Ohio State. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

My bad. I didn't have my seatbelt on. I got yelled at. Yeah, come on. Fasten that seatbelt. What the heck are you doing, Roman Harper?

Get off the phone. Exactly. Alright, so I would say Ohio State, Alabama. I'm going Tennessee. So you're picking Tennessee this weekend.

We finally got it. And I will go with... It's so crazy because Oregon still has a chance to get in and also USC. So it'll be very interesting to see how those two kind of play out. But one of the Pac-12 teams I believe will make it in this year.

Wow. Even if Clemson's undefeated? Oh yeah, I forgot about Clemson. I guess Clemson, but I don't think Clemson's that great because they're so limited offensively. I know you can be good on defense and dominate the ACC defensively, but man, in today's game, in championship ball, you've got to be able to put up 30 points. I just haven't seen teams win it since I've been really following college football, not via the score. In today's game, you have to be able to throw the football.

You have to be able to score points in high numbers if you want to win championships right now. Well, he is Tennessee super fan, former Alabama player, now does a great job, SEC network analyst. I don't want you to get kicked off this flight, so have a safe flight. And thanks for giving us a few minutes today.

Hey Zach, just remember roll tide, baby. So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

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