Alabama Expectations (Hour 2)

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Download the Odyssey app today. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, the Dixie Mafia. Available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We are coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Well, Rocket can. I have a big question. And Alabama's out, as we all know, of the college football playoff race. But what do you expect out of Alabama the rest of the way?

And before you say, Zach, who cares? Why are we talking about Alabama? Their season's over. They lost on a two-point conversion to LSU. They lost to Tennessee. They could have lost to Texas. They could have lost to Texas A&M.

Didn't have the best efforts and the best performances in the world. The reason why I ask this question is because I think the answer is fascinating. Now, this weekend, they play Ole Miss. Then they get Austin Peay. Then it's the Iron Bowl in Auburn. And after that, they won't be in the SEC championship game.

And they'll probably get a New Year's Six Bowl, I would say, assuming if they take care of business. The fascinating part to me, though, about this situation is you've had a program for so many years and the last decade, it was championship or bust. And for most of the time, they've either been in the playoff or have had a legit chance to win the championship.

The one year when Tua got hurt, that was really the outlier. So when you have a team that has been vulnerable, you've had a group that has been struggling for the Alabama standard, because let's be fair on the whole situation here. Alabama is a two point conversion stop from maybe still being in the college football playoff conversation. If they would have hit their field goal against Tennessee. Maybe they still would have been undefeated heading into that LSU game. So when they lose, it's not like they've been getting blown out. They lost to Tennessee by a field goal.

They lost to LSU by one point. When it's Alabama, though, the sky's falling, the world's coming to an end, the dynasty's crumbling, and everyone starts to ponder on the future of Alabama. To no surprise, I think Alabama is going to be right back next year with a great chance to go win a national championship. Are teams catching up?

Absolutely. They're going to go back to back years and not winning a national championship. Now, they did get to the championship game a year ago when many people thought they were vulnerable.

And I know people are going to discuss NIL, Saban's future, all that jazz. I think the biggest part of the problem this year is they don't have the explosive playmakers at wide receiver like they have for the better part of the last decade. This year, their offense seems as if it's Bryce Young, Jamir Gibbs, and then everyone else. And Bryce Young has played a lot of good football this year.

A lot of great football, actually. They, though, have not had the wide receivers step up. And we've seen, because of that, also some uncharacteristic play and a team that doesn't look like they're ready for the moment of the Alabama standard with all the penalties, the turnovers, and the sloppiness that you've seen from Alabama. So these next three games, like Austin Peay, they'll destroy.

We all know that. But for Ole Miss and Auburn, and Ole Miss is starting to go the wrong direction after a good start. Auburn has already fired their coach in Brian Harsin and now Cadillac Williams is the interim coach.

I just wonder where the compete level is going to be at. Because when you go to Alabama, what do you say? You say, we're going to go win a national championship. That's the expectation every year.

Like, remember last year? We thought they were vulnerable, they get to the national championship game, they lose, and then Nick Saban had the audacity to say afterwards that it was a rebuilding year and a retooling year? Everyone laughed at that, because we've been wired to accept the Alabama standard of the last decade as championship or bust. So when you have underachieved this year, when everyone is just piling on nationally, and trying to take down the program and give an evaluation that is critical, but sometimes over the top, because Alabama's on a different standard than everyone else. They lose and it's much bigger than just losing. The program, the dynasty is fading, the dynasty is falling. How many more years has Saban been going to coach?

Because a lot of people are jealous and we know they have been the team that everyone's been trying to hunt for the last 10 years. I'm just wondering what type of performance you're going to get up against Ole Miss, because in a bizarre way, Alabama really has nothing else to play for this year. And I want to see where they're going to be at mentally really in that first quarter. First quarter at Ole Miss this weekend, hot take Kiki, what do you think Alabama's going to be? Because this is the first time I'm going into an Alabama game where A, it really doesn't mean much and B, I have no clue what the heck they're going to be. I have a tough time feeling and thinking like they're going to come out strong and have a hot start and be up 14-0 right off the bat, kind of like they were last year against Ole Miss when they were at home, just because it's on the road, they've struggled on the road. And this is a team that Nick Saban has talked repeatedly about the mistakes.

They repeat the same things. They're one of the worst teams in terms of turnover margin. They're one of the worst teams in terms of penalty yardage per game. It's something we've been harping on literally since week two against Texas.

And guess what, Zach? None of it's been fixed. So now when the season, again, when it comes to their standard of competing for a national title is cooked, I don't know something that now they'll be sharp, ready to play and focused. I guess where you would get that attention to detail is with the younger players. Because the younger players, it's almost probably easier, even though they're dealing with the situation where you go to Alabama and you're thinking, okay, I'm going to be competing for a national championship each and every year or bare minimum just being the college football playoff. And then you're not this year. I think for the younger players, you still have to prove something.

You still have to build your legacy. But for guys that have been there before and for guys that have won at Alabama before. That I think it's almost tougher to reel in those guys. Now, where they could be, nothing's advantageous about this situation. But their two best players, Will Anderson Jr., Bryce Young, they are veterans, they are great leaders, right? They're upperclassmen. And for those guys, they're going to be in the top five picks of the NFL draft.

Now, I don't usually get delirious about this conversation because I'm all for thinking about your future. We've never really had a situation where Alabama players are going to be sitting at a bowl game and they'll probably still go to New Year's six bowl. But what does that mean for Alabama?

The only trophy that matters is a national championship trophy. And I wonder if Bryce Young is going to go play in a bowl game in a New Year's six bowl. I wonder if Will Anderson Jr. is going to play in a bowl game like that, depending on where his health situation is at. So that to me, Ryan, is a scenario where this is really, it's uncharted territory for Alabama, even though they had the Tua injury a few years back and they didn't make the college football playoff in that year. But this is a year where everyone, I don't want to say everyone saw it coming, but there were obvious signs that this Alabama team wasn't that good. And still, the crazy part about this, Ry, is still when they're not that good, they only lose to LSU by one point. They only lose to Tennessee by three points. And I know it could go both ways because you can look at the A&M game. Maybe they should have lost that game. You can look at the Texas game. If Quinn Ewers gets hurt, maybe they should have lost that game as well. It's one of those scenarios where you could still play here and play there, talk about this team not only being in the college football playoff conversation, but being a legit national championship contender this year.

Which is impressive that we're kind of talking about this being one of the worst teams Nick Saban's had and yet again, they're four points and two road losses away from again being right in the title mix. The thing I'm interested in too is, so the most recent data point we can look at is 2019 when they had Tua Tonga very low, they lost to that juggernaut in LSU, then he gets hurt, separates his hip, misses the last two games of the season. Nick Jones comes in, plays against Auburn, they lose, and then they get to the Citrus Bowl, so not even a New York six bowl in that year. Everyone played. So everyone that was healthy played.

Jerry Judy played. They had a ton of receivers. They had Devontae Smith, Henry Ruggs, defensive, they had some studs.

Everyone played. It was interesting to see how they do attack it come bowl season in a few weeks and even what the spirit is like in a few weeks. Credit to them that time, you're playing in the Citrus Bowl, so it's not even like you're playing in the Fiesta Bowl or the Sugar Bowl where it still kind of means something even though it's not a College Bowl playoff competition. But this is also again a different team than what we've seen where they're very undisciplined. It's very un-Alabama like. This feels so much different than what happened a few years ago. Agreed.

Agreed. That two injury, it was a disaster. You knew the season was over right there and it was okay.

You'll play Mac. You'll see what the guys have that and obviously a lot of roster change, but you'll see what will then happen for next season and it's okay. Next year is going to be the year. Now this is back to back years of no national championship and last year the same conversations we were having this year came to reality in 2022. Like last year we said, oh, they're vulnerable and they had to find a way to survive just by the skin of their teeth up against Auburn in that Iron Bowl. They almost didn't make the college football playoff last year. The next thing you know, they're in a national championship game. So it's we've seen now this story repeat itself back to back years.

It's just the ending has been a little bit different, which what some thought was going to happen last year just ended up happening a year later. And I'm really stunned by it because not obviously when you see the way that they played against Texas and you see the way that they played against Texas A&M, it shouldn't be stunning that they have now two losses. And I told you that LSU spot was going to be a tricky spot for them with the way that LSU was trending. But with how annoyed Saban was in the off season and how he said the retooling line, I thought he may have believed that maybe that was panic.

Now, looking back and maybe that was him being a little bit truthful, even though it's like a statement you laugh at. I thought whenever he's saying things like that, well, if a retooling year for Alabama, this way I interpret it is you get to a national championship game and lose. And remember, right after the championship game lost to Georgia before Will Anderson Jr. Bryce Young were walking away at the podium, he says both of them sit back down and he complimented them excessively. I thought for sure they were going to win the championship this year heading into the season because that's Saban kind of in a spot where we've never seen him be that happy about a loss.

It made me think that he thought this team was going to just pick right back up and no problem find the way easily to get back to the national championship game and win the whole damn thing. But very early on, especially when Quinn Ewers got hurt against Texas and they almost lost that game, if it wasn't for a great Will Anderson play in their miraculous escape by Bryce Young, that did send a little bit of a flaring message of some of what we saw last year is creeping back up again and it went to a totally different level. It has. It has.

But again, we've talked about this the other day. It's not changed my outlook on Alabama going forward. I'm not sitting here saying next year there'll be eight and four and the demise is, you know, it's finally coming. We can dance on their grave for a moment.

Alabama football is not good anymore. They're done. They're finished. They're dead.

No, I'm not doing that. Just enjoyed this year and maybe enjoyed this weekend. They could get rolled, but otherwise I think they'll be back next year without a doubt. Who wins this weekend? Ole Miss. Ole Miss. Wow.

Okay. I'll go Alabama. College football coach of the year. I know we've got to get to Dana White coming up in a few moments. The president of the UFC is going to be joining us. I'll be going to UFC 281 tomorrow night. I've never been to a UFC fight before, so I'm very excited for that.

So we'll connect with the president of the UFC, Dana White, coming up in about five to ten minutes. College football coach of the year. There's a lot of candidates right now and there's still three, four weeks left of the season. Who would be your college football coach of the year? Right now I'll go Josh Heiple.

So would I. At Tennessee, one loss. Probably going to get in the college football playoff. Other candidates.

Kirby Smart. He's not going to win the award because they just won the national championship last year. But the fact that right now it's Georgia and everybody else with all that they lost on the defensive side of the ball is a heck of a coaching job. Brian Kelly. It's a late charge. It's a late push. He probably has to win the SEC championship to really get significant consideration with how much that program was getting clowned and how much Brian Kelly was getting clowned.

And a lot of it he brought upon himself. But when you look at the performance or the lack of it against Florida State to now be sitting here at two losses and probably being in the SEC championship game is a heck of a year. Number one for Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers with his family.

Sonny Dykes. If TCU is undefeated and Big 12 champions, it may be the best coaching job in the country. I know record wise the Big 12 doesn't look all that great. The Big 12 is a damn good conference this year in football and was so up in the air. And I remember about a month, month and a half ago we were discussing, well, what the heck is going to happen to the Big 12?

Who's going to prevail? And TCU just distanced themselves because they never lost. And Duggan got hurt then ended up, I should be Duggan after the other quarterback injury then got in after he didn't win the job. We'll see if Johnson does play this weekend. To walk into a job your first year and I know he's been a coach at three other stops, a head coach and not lose the game.

That's a remarkable achievement. Dan Lanning. That really could have got ugly after week one against Georgia where they lost 49 to 3. They haven't lost since. And I'll also say another coach who's in the conversation for coach of the year. What about Jim Harbaugh?

Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, now I didn't think this way, but my producer extraordinaire how to kick you, oh, they're going to take a step back. Oh, they're going to have four losses. Oh, they're not going to be able to repeat success. Yeah, they still have to go out there and beat Ohio State. But they have had some dominant efforts this year and they're built physically in the trenches. And they have a great running back in Blake Corman. We'll see as the season continues to go further and further on. You get into a big game, their biggest game of the year up against Ohio State. That's when J.J. McCarthy is really unleashed. So I think those are some of the candidates for coach of the year.

I would say you're probably right. Hypel's going to win it based off what I've seen so far. But the other guy that I seriously consider would be Sonny Dykes right now. Anyone else that we seriously need to consider there? I think Lincoln Riley took a four win USC team last year. Now they're a cultural playoff contender. I mean, it's not surprising, but he's done a great job so far.

The free agency of college football, pretty much. And you know what? That's part of it. And it's worked. I give him a lot of credit.

He's worked the system really well. Because my big question for USC heading into the year was I think Lincoln, I thought Lincoln Riley was going to be good, but was he going to make me say, hey, USC is back at any time? And early on in the season, it had that feel that USC was back. Does Mac Brown, if I just give an outside of the box kind of thinking, because I'm going through this, the SEC, we pretty much hit on it. The Big Ten, it's Harbaugh. Big 12 Sonny Dykes. Pac-12, you discussed Lincoln Riley. You know, we discussed some other names in the SEC.

Kirby Smart, Josh Heiple. We also discussed Dan Lanning. Is Mac Brown a guy that if they win the ACC, he could be coach of the year? We already know how much of a legendary coach he is, what he did at Texas.

Now back at UNC for the last few years. And with the young quarterback, Drake May, he's been phenomenal. And they're 8-1 right now. And they could win the ACC championship. They just need one more victory. And if they get that victory, they'll be playing clumps in the ACC championship game. I would say Mac Brown and Chip Keller are in the same category of deserving recognition, way better years than expected. But when you look at the resume of Tennessee, when you look at potential of Sonny Dykes going to the college role and playing for his first year at TCU, there's coaches that have a better resume. But that doesn't mean they don't deserve recognition.

They both have done a great job so far this year. What's the best moment for you so far in this college football season? Because for me, it was that Tennessee win up against Alabama. And just the scene on the field after the game I thought was so cool, where you have a fan base in Rocky Top that has just been tortured for a long time to have that moment again I thought was pretty neat. Moment, yeah, that's for sure.

That has to be it. All 15 years of angst, of frustration, of embarrassment to exercise that on one of the most dramatic and arguably the best game of the year, 52-49. There's nothing right now that tops it. The game of the year, though, is going to be Michigan-Ohio State, I think. That's excluding bowl games, excluding college football playoff, to have both those teams undefeated with the spot in the college football playoff on the line. And the revenge for Ohio State, that factor too, I think that could be the best game of the year.

But so far, Alabama, Tennessee, that right now is the leader in the clubhouse. President of the UFC, Dana White, joins us next. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show? Jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football, live and on demand, wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free? Download the Odyssey app today.

Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show? Jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football, live and on demand, wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free?

Download the Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Israel Adesanya versus Alex Pereira coming up tomorrow night at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden in New York City. I have never been to a UFC fight before and I'm fired up to say that I'll be in attendance tomorrow night. I'm also fired up to welcome back to the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio.

A man that has joined us many times before and that is the president of the UFC in Dana White. Dana, appreciate the time as always. How you been? I'm great. How are you? Well, I'm doing fantastic.

I'll start you off with this. I was watching one of your F it Friday videos last week and you were eating that pizza burger which looked just delicious. And when I'm watching the video, I said to myself, Dana White's looking slim these days. How much weight did you lose?

Thanks. I'm down like 36 pounds and more important than that is I feel incredible. There's this guy, his name is Gary Brekka.

He's a human biologist and he has this company called 10X Health Systems. And I've been on that for like 20 weeks and it's incredible. So what's your actual diet like because I lost 70 pounds the last three, four years or so. Damn, there you go.

I needed to lose it and I feel great. I'll say that too. Yeah, no, it's unbelievable.

I'm on keto, you know, so you can eat, you know, protein, things that are high in fat, low carb, no sugar. You're not going to Scallon to tell us what you're telling me this time around to New York? Yeah, but you know what?

I actually will. I was going to go there last night, but they were actually shut down. They're doing some renovations in the kitchen.

Wow. And so I went to their sister, probably. What's it called? El Palito? El Postino. El Postino.

I went to El Postino last night. They, you know, they whooped up some keto for me. Well, you like to eat.

We all know that. I like to eat as well. I love eating.

That's the toughest part when you're on this diet is staying disciplined and not cheating too much. Well, you know what? You get to a point. I'm 53 years old now. I've eaten it all. I've done it all. I've drank it all. You know, I got to a point where it's like, all right, I need the party over. I got to start taking care of myself.

The president of the UFC, Dana White here with us. So I was reading up on this that you went to that DNA analyst, and he said you had 10 years to live with the way that he analyzed your DNA. Just had that made make you kind of change your perspective on life. Obviously, you're losing the weight and feeling better. Yeah. You know, and it's not about it's not about living or dying for me, man. I'm not I'm not afraid to die.

I want to have a good quality of life while I'm still alive. It's not you know, it's great. Oh, yeah. This guy's still alive. He's 84.

Yeah, but he's in a wheelchair drooling on himself in the house. You know what I mean? You don't want to be that guy.

So I'm just trying to live the best quality of life I can live and, you know, be happy. Do you take that at all with a grain of salt when you when you're told you may only have 10 years to live? I was obsessed with it. I mean, once once I found out that this guy so this guy is a human biologist, he's a mortality expert, too. And he can he takes a DNA test and blood work and he can tell you within a month of when you're going to die.

So, yeah, I was obsessed with it. I wanted to know. And, you know, he came in and actually started going through my blood work. And what impressed me the most was he told me things that were wrong with me that I'd never told anybody things that he could possibly couldn't possibly know. Then he told me what was wrong with my parents.

And then after that, he had me. I said, OK. He said, you do what I tell you to do for the next 10 weeks.

And I guarantee I'll change your life. I can do anything for 10 weeks. That's totally blew my mind. Yeah, blew my mind. And I said, I can do anything for 10 weeks.

And now I'm 20 weeks in and I can't I feel 35 again. It's incredible. When you're told that, did you at all say, hmm, maybe it's time to walk away from the UFC? Oh, hell no. No way. No way.

No way. This is what I love to do. I love this. What I'm super passionate about. It seems like you're never going to be a guy that retires.

You're going to work until the day you die. One hundred percent. Dana White, the president of the UFC here with us. So I've never been to a fight before. I'm very excited for tomorrow to go to UFC 281. And I always say that you guys put on an unbelievable show and I've been following it from afar. What should I expect?

Like, take me through what I should expect to someone that's never been to a fight before. Well, first of all, thank you. And I'm glad you're coming. You're going to be blown away. I guarantee you this.

And I'm not just saying this because it's my show. This will be the best live sporting event you have ever seen in your life. The energy is unbelievable.

The garden is sold out on Saturday night. And you picked a hell of a fight card to go to. It just when you leave your net, you're not going to get up out of your feet after the show and go, yeah, I don't ever want to see one of these again. You're going to be hooked.

You think you like it now? Wait till you see it live. It's a completely different experience, show, the energy, the buzz, the excitement. You're in for a great night. What do I need to look for in this card?

Because I've been reading through it and I know some of the history between some of these guys and girls. And it looks like it's going to be unbelievable. You can't miss on this card. This card is incredible.

And it's the card of the year. And obviously, it's hard not to say the last three fights. Poirier versus Chandler should be ridiculous. Esparza versus Weili Zhang is an awesome fight for the title.

And then the main event, Pereira and Adesanya. Those are the three fights that are going to. And just I'm telling you, when these people walk, the energy and the buzz, the excitement, then the fight itself.

It's like a roller coaster, man. You can have a blast. What do you like on Fight Night? Literally everything that I just explained to you is what I love about Saturday nights. Today, we have the weigh-ins and the face-offs, which is the second funnest day for me.

You find out where everybody's at, where their weight's at, how do they look, when they stare down, who got the edge and the stare down. And then the next best thing is the fight. Do you get nervous anymore before these fights are so routine for you, Daniel? Oh, yeah. No, I definitely do. That night when it all starts going down and guys start walking, yeah, you get nervous and then some of the fights have you sitting on the edge of your seat.

It's fun. What haven't you done in this sport that you still want to do, or have you done everything? I haven't done a fight in Africa yet. My next big thing is I want to go to Africa and put on a big fight over there. Is that close to happening?

Yeah. Well, now that the world's opening up again, unless everybody loses their mind again and gets out, then yeah, that's what we're working toward over the next couple of years. With all your experience, if you could go back and talk to like a 28 or a 30-year-old Dana White, what advice would you give that young Dana White on the journey that you're about to go on? Don't change anything. Keep doing what you're doing and stay the course. Yeah, because this thing really started to break and we bought it, I think when we bought it I was 30 or 31. So I would have told 28-year-old me to keep doing what you're doing and stay the course.

Keep working hard, keep grinding, and yep. When did you know that this thing was going to blow up? After the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. After Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonner fought, literally we didn't have a deal for another season on TV and I didn't care that night.

I said, I don't care what happened. We literally, this is going to work after I saw that fight and literally we went into the alley and did a new deal with Spike TV that night. Dana White, the president of the UFC, here with us for a few more moments. UFC 281 coming up Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

I'll be in attendance and I can't wait. I remember over the summer you were on McGronk and you shared that you almost got Brady and Gronk to the Raiders. I know you're a season ticket holder with the luxury box and then Gruden blew it up while you were sharing that story. You said there was some stuff behind the scenes. What was the behind the scenes?

I'm not getting into that. When Gronk said that that night, you know how much crap that caused in Vegas? Man, it was insane. Yeah, but it was true. It's not that it wasn't true.

It's true. And Brady was coming to Vegas and Gronk was coming with him and, you know, the rest is history. Does Brady hit you up afterwards and say, why are we spilling the beans?

No, no. I hit him up and said, you're not going to believe what just happened. I actually hit him up. Will you make a recruiting pitch again to Brady? Because I don't know if he's going to play next year, but he's a free agent again.

Yeah, I know. It'll be interesting to see what he's thinking, you know. He's so laser focused during the season that, you know, I hit him up here and there and we talk a little bit during the season, but he doesn't mess around during the season.

I got two more for the president of the UFC and Dana White. What can you tell your fans about Conor McGregor when we could see him making a return to the Octagon? Yeah, you know, he's starting to post videos again of himself training and, you know, he just got done filming a movie, so he's ready to come back next year. So we'll start looking. We'll see how this weekend plays out in the rest of the year and see what's next for him.

How potentially early in 2023 could we see him? That I don't know. That I don't know. Do you have an opponent in mind?

Nope. And then the last thing I'll ask you, when I said yesterday we were having you come on the show again and everyone loves when Dana White, the president of the UFC, joins us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. I got a lot of tweets and messages about Stipe and Jon Jones.

Is that ever going to happen? Well, Jon Jones will fight next year too. Whether it's Stipe, Francis and Gagnon or whoever, we don't know yet. Do you feel pressure from the fans to give them Stipe and Jon Jones and how much Jon Jones has talked about it?

No. I mean, I never feel pressure like that. My job is to always put on the best fights in the world so the fans get excited and want to see them.

So that's what we do. But there's a lot that goes into it. A lot of different things have to happen to make certain fights happen. But you fully expect Jon Jones in 2023 to be fighting for you guys?

One hundred percent. Well, Dana White, I'm excited to go to UFC 281 tomorrow night. Can't wait for it. Thanks so much for carving out some time for us as always. Thanks for having me, buddy. Can't wait to see you there. There he is, the president of the UFC and Dana White.

You can think O'Reilly Auto Parts while your car care needs get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio.

Season two, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. So my biggest fear is there's going to be snakes in the toilet. We're all afraid of that one strange thing. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new short 10 minute podcast called Your Weirdest Fears.

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Let me take one call here. We'll go to Michael in Washington, D.C. Next up was Zach Gelb on The Zach Gelb Show. Michael, what's happening? What's up, Zach, man? How you doing, man? I'm doing great, Michael. What do you got for me? Not much, man. I was just listening to you early and I heard you talking about the NFC East and how bad it is.

But I started thinking about something. I felt like the Cowboys are praying. Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys are praying for anybody but the Bucks to win that division.

Because if the Bucks win that division, they'll be the fourth seed, probably with 7, 8, 9 wins. And the Cowboys aren't going to catch the Eagles, I don't believe. So the Cowboys are probably finished with, what, 13, 14 wins maybe, the way their season's going right now in their schedule. So now we have to set up Wild Card Weekend, Cowboys versus Bucks.

Cowboys never – Tom Brady has never lost to the Cowboys. So now I'm going into that weekend, Mike McCarthy, all the pressure's on you. If you're 13, 14 win club and you're traveling to a team that only won 7, 8 games, you cannot lose that game.

You lose that game, you're not coming back next year. You're 100% right, Michael, and it's a great point because Tampa's not going to be – and I was trashing the NFC South. I think you said the NFC East. The NFC East has been great this year. But whoever's going to be the fifth seed in the playoffs this year is going to get Tampa because Tampa most likely is going to be the fourth seed if they only take 7 or 8 wins to win that bad NFC South. Eagles probably going to be your one seed. You would think the way that it's shaping up right now, Vikings are going to be your two. Ever wins the NFC West is going to be the three.

And the Buccaneers four. Ryan, I didn't even think about it that way until he brought it up for Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys. And we've said this going into here, he probably needs to get to the NFC title game to keep his job. So it's more than just winning one week. But even though this has been so far a good year for the Cowboys, if you lose back-to-back years on wild card weekend, where last year it was at home, it was bad, it was ugly when Jimmy Garoppolo kept on trying to give you the game away, and you couldn't even snap the ball off.

I know it's Tom Brady. I know you lost to them earlier in the year. But just optics-wise, 7 or 8 wins, even if it's Tom Brady and, yes, a Buccaneers team that has been really good under Tom Brady. If you lose to them come playoff time, if that's the 4-5 matchup, yeah, McCarthy will be sent packing after that one. And even if you win, right, if you go on the other side, if it's an 8-9 or even 9-8 Buccaneers team, I'm sure you could say, oh, it's Tom Brady and it's like an impressive win. It's really like when you're the 13-win team going on the road, it's kind of like it's a no-win situation. It's either, like you said, you lose and you're fired because you're lost to an inferior team or you win.

And it's like, is he really safe? If the Cowboys beat the Bucs and, I don't know, whoever they faced, Eagles or Vikings. Well, that's why I said he's got to get to the NFC title game. Right, and you lose in the divisional round, it's like, sorry, Mike, congrats on beating an 8-win team. It doesn't really get you much. And it's not inconceivable, by the way, for the Cowboys to get to the NFC title game this year.

It's not. You look at the NFC. Eagles have been great. But the Eagles haven't played the Cowboys with Dak yet.

They got them with Cooper Rush. The Vikings are 7-1. But when the Vikings went up against Philadelphia in Philadelphia, they got their doors blown off. So you look around the NFC, Seattle's really good. I think a lot of people are waiting for the air to come out of the balloon when it comes to the Seahawks. But I think they're going to be in the playoffs this year. The 49ers are really dangerous, too. They just haven't been consistent. Still, though, Jimmy Garoppolo getting to a Super Bowl and winning a Super Bowl, tough to imagine.

And then you got Tampa, who it's been ugly. Everyone likes to kind of kick Brady whenever he gets down. If they're in the playoffs, I know they're going to have to go on the road, which he's done before when he was the first year in Tampa Bay. Now, a little bit different because it was a COVID year, not his packed house and all that. But can Brady go in any environment and win?

Absolutely. He's Tom bleeping Brady. Right now, I would lean Eagles in the Super Bowl because they're going to have home field advantage. But we also haven't seen this Eagles team in the playoffs. I know they were there last year, but this is a different team than the team last year.

They're better. So you would think they perform well, but are they going to go from getting blown out of the wildcard round to the Bucks and go to the Super Bowl? You're going to have to see come playoff time. Right now, though, if it comes down to two games in Philadelphia for a chance to go to the Super Bowl, I would have a tough time betting against the Eagles. But it's not a lock because this is as open of not only an NFC, but maybe an NFL season, depending on the severity of the Josh Allen injury that I could ever remember. And you give me any team right now in the NFC, it would not be shocking to me within reason. Like, don't call in and say the Lions are going to the Super Bowl.

That has no shot. But you look at the teams, Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers, I guess the Seahawks. Yeah, I have a tough time to see the Seahawks in the in the Super Bowl. But the Vikings, the Bucks, Cowboys, like all those teams have a shot to go to the Super Bowl this year. And this year, good may be the difference and you may not have to be great.

A good team could get to the Super Bowl this year and not be a great team. Let's hit up a news brief. Time for your daily news brief.

We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Let's hear from Mike McCarthy. We were just talking about him and what he expects his emotions to be like on Sunday, heading back to legendary Lambeau Field. Maybe we'll get a massage before the game. And I mean, I just want to win the game, you know, because I think like any coach, you know, anybody that's not, you know, part of those 48 players out there, you know, competing, you know, I don't want to get in the way, you know, and so that's that's where my mind's at.

You know, Friday's important, you know, and being home alone is a great asset right now for me, frankly, because, you know, I'll spend a lot more extra time here today because, you know, I only want to be home alone to sleep. And so, but no, because, you know, my head's into it and, you know, and then we'll see what happens Sunday. But I'm looking to be honest, I'm really looking forward for the ball to get kicked off because that's what it's all about. It kind of stinks that the Packers aren't good heading into this matchup because as crazy as this is going to sound, Hickey, if McCarthy wins the game and he should win the game and the Packers are actually good, I could have seen a potential Gatorade bath with how much that was at the end between McCarthy and Rogers in the divorce in Green Bay. But if you give a Gatorade bath and I know any Gatorade bath the regular season is kind of silly, but I do think this is getting played up internally. I think it would mean a little bit more if the Packers were actually good. Now, if you lose to the Packers, it just becomes a bigger story because you were expected to win the game. I hope they put, you know, they get the offensive lineman, put Mike McCarthy on his shoulders, carry him off.

You're going to need the offensive lineman. He's carrying, you know, hold up the number one as he's getting carried into the tunnel. Maybe middle finger style, giving the salute, not to the Green Bay fans, but to Aaron Rodgers as he goes off the field.

As he's walking off the other way. I love it. Let's hear Joe Thomas.

This went viral. Everyone's praising Joe Thomas. He crushes the Colts for hiring Jeff Saturday. This was on Good Morning Football on the NFL Network. It is one of the most disrespectful things I've ever seen in my entire life to the commitment, the lifestyle, and the experience that it takes to be an NFL coach, any coach, much less the head coach of the Indianapolis Football Colts. You have got to be kidding me that this is something that Jim Irsay and Jeff Saturday, who's not blameless for accepting the job, could have talked and decided that this was the best thing for the Indianapolis Colts at this juncture of the season. This is something that changes your life when you decide to be a coach.

It's a different lifestyle because it's who you are. So the disrespect that NFL coaches have to feel when they saw that this hire was made is higher than almost anything I can ever possibly remember in the NFL. And then to defend the decision by saying, I'm happy that he doesn't have any experience because he's not scared. If you didn't already insult every person that's worked their entire life to be a head coach in the NFL, then to go up there and say, I like that he's got no experience because all NFL coaches are scared because you use logic and analytics to make decisions. It was the most egregious thing I can ever remember happening in the NFL. And I went one in 31 my last two years in the NFL. The most egregious thing that you could remember in the history of the NFL, that's a little bit hyperbole, I would imagine. But he sounded like he was serious. I love Joe Thomas.

I love when he comes on this show. I don't like the move, obviously, of the Colts bringing in Jeff Saturday. It doesn't make sense. But to say it's one of the most disrespectful things or the most disrespectful thing to happen in the NFL, that's not even true. It's not even the most disrespectful thing to happen in the NFL in the last 365 days. And also, Jeff Saturday, he's not blameless in this. He got offered the job.

If you got offered a good job, why wouldn't you take it? I don't really, I know everyone's loving Joe Thomas today because it's easy to kick the Indianapolis Colts and go after them. And trust me, I love leading that parade. And this probably surprises Hickey. I thought that was a little bit too over the top, if you ask me.

Oh, definitely. Let's just call for what it is. I'm not defending the hire. I don't think it's a good hire by any stretch of the imagination.

Everyone can acknowledge that. With that said, this Colts job is not good. Like, the Colts stink right now.

You have eight games left. You're bringing a guy in off the street who's not going to, like, anyone who's in this position is not going to win the job for next year. It doesn't matter who it is internally, externally, with how bad this team is and how few changes you can actually make eight games left in the season. Whoever is the head coach is not getting this full-time.

It's just a placeholder. Let's also remember, you talk about egregious things. We see a lot of bad things go wrong off the field. How about, like, the Cleveland Browns giving a guaranteed contract to Deshaun Watson with all that happened off the field?

Like, that's more serious. That's more egregious, giving a fully guaranteed deal and trading all that draft capital than just handing the football team over for eight games to Jeff Satteray who played in the league. But yes, doesn't have any head coaching experience in NFL or college football. And finally, real quickly here, Devontae Adams says the ball has to come his way more often. When you have certain players, you do what you can do to get them opportunities, and that's why I'm here.

That's why they paid me to come here and make plays. At the end of the day, if we're just going to concede and say, oh, they double-team Tae, so it's forcing the ball to them if we throw it to them, then I got no business being in this building because that's what they're going to do. Yeah, he's not happy. Now, the ball is going his way. I saw the numbers and the targets from last year when he was in Green Bay compared to this year. He's not happy because he's not used to losing. And that's why he's really frustrated and every little thing is going to turn into a bigger thing. And next year, I just wonder, is he going to try to force his way out or is he going to have a new quarterback? But his old quarterback is one of his good friends from college.

The Raiders continue to be a dysfunctional mess. Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show? Jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football, live and on demand, wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free? Download the Odyssey app today.

Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show? Jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football, live and on demand, wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free?

Download the Odyssey app today. What makes your skin crawl? No matter how absurd, I want to know. Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, the host of a new podcast called Your Weirdest Fears. You send me your fear. I'm just so weirded out about the texture and how they can just move around and flop. And then I go to the experts to learn how to overcome them. Listen and subscribe to Your Weirdest Fears on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from.