Bama Is Back? (Hour 4)

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You can always give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram, at Zach Gelb. So, National Signing Day was today, and the current rankings according to 24-7 Sports. I will give you the top 10. See, in at number 10, you have Notre Dame at 9, Oklahoma 8, Oregon 7, LSU 6, Ohio State 5, Miami 4, A&M 3, Georgia 2, and Alabama 1. So, Hickey, the Alabama fan nightmare is over after Nick Saban was very upset last year and furious and was challenging the small business owners to spend more money so they can keep up with Texas A&M, who was number one last year, Alabama back on top in the world of college football. Now, not in the college football playoff because they're not going to be in the college football playoff this year. Last year, they lost the national championship game. This year, they lost two games in the regular season, so they're on the outside looking in. But as we currently speak, they signed six five-star recruits, 24-star recruits, and then one measly third-star recruit as well. So, Bama back on top, Hickey.

And they have 27 total commits. So, just when everyone's about to probably dance on the grave of Alabama and say, ding-dong, Alabama's dead, and I am not one of those people, for me, they will have to not win the national championship for many, many years in a row, and I know now it's going to be the last two seasons, but I think Alabama's going to be right back in the mix. The only thing is, we've got to see who's going to be playing quarterback for them next year.

Wide receiving-wise, how many of those guys do they bring in? And then also, do any of these other guys they had in the roster this year take the next step? But there was a drop-off this year from the normal Alabama team that we usually see. You know they had the great quarterback in Bryce Young. You know they had the great pass rusher in Will Anderson Jr. And Gibbs was phenomenal out of the backfield, but compared to the Alabama teams that we've seen, let's just say for the better part of the last decade, what made those teams so special, and they've obviously improved the quarterback position really in the last four or five years, is just the amount of ridiculous skill position players that they had.

And at wide receiver, they really didn't have anyone throughout the year that you could tangibly hold onto and look at and go, okay, I'm really afraid of that guy. So, I don't think anyone's surprised that Alabama is back on top. Hot take kicky in the recruiting rankings according to 24-7 Sports. But it is kind of always funny when Saban was so upset last year for finishing second.

You kind of issue the challenge a little bit strategically. Alabama is back to one. And then you look at it the other way, even though this was a down year for Alabama, you do now have Jimbo Fisher probably, I would say on the hot seat. I know a lot of people are like, oh, well, he's not going anywhere because of his contract.

That was this year. But if he has a repeat of what he just did this past year with those guys that he brought in and has been bringing in, and you have the quarterback now for a full season, you would think of Connor Wigman. Yeah, I know that you just signed the new deal, but if Jimbo doesn't start winning and Jimbo doesn't take it to the next level this year, then it's time to cut ties with Jimbo Fisher. And also, not to mention, the one thing we kind of talked about outside of the contract for Jimbo Fisher is recruiting. He brought literally the highest ranked recruiting class ever in recruiting rankings history last year. He followed all the momentum up by getting number 14 this year. So you had Nick Saban go from two.

Again, Nick Saban last year was pissed off. He was number two last year. It's like he was sitting there at number 25.

This is embarrassing. Let's kick it up a notch. And he got to number one. He was number two last year.

He got an asteroid shotgun for about five miles in a car. Holy smokes. And then he gets to number one and Jimbo takes all the momentum, throws it out a window, and now he's sitting there at 14. That is wild. But like you said, a shocker that Nick Saban, after having a fire lit under his ass, after losing to A&M last year in the recruiting rankings, even with a down year, still kind of working hard. I am shocked to see Alabama still alive and well with Nick Saban there. I can't believe it. I am so totally stunned.

This portion of the Zach Gilp show is brought to you by sarcasm, by hot take hickey. What do you think Alabama does next year? Well, you said it's going to be down to their, going to be down to quarterback play. Whoa, hold on real quickly. Temple was ranked 74th in recruiting. Good job by San Drayden. I'm surprised we were 74th, but continue. Go ahead.

Does that include transfers? I saw they were active in the transfer portal, Temple was, so there you go. You probably know more than me, honestly, on this one. Um, I just, I just never understood like the entire dancing on Nick Saban's grave because sure, like I said, down year this year. Well, because they have been the team that everyone's been hunting for years. And to see them fall off a little bit, aka not win a national championship, and then the next year they miss out on the college football playoff. I'm not someone that advocates for dancing on the grave of Nick Saban because I actually enjoy Nick Saban and I enjoy the Alabama program. But a lot of those other schools, it's just out of jealousy.

Well, right, obviously you want the dynasty to end, but wanting it to end and thinking instead is obviously two different things. Now, even with the number one recruiting ranking, recruiting class this year, I will say, I think there's a reason to have questions about next year. Just because you saw, like you mentioned, Bryce Young was obviously a great quarterback, but outside Jamar Gibbs, Jamir Gibbs, excuse me, you had no one else to throw the ball to. And Young really hid for all those deficiencies, let's say, and I know a lot of schools would be like, deficiencies?

We would love to be Alabama. But Bryce Young did make up for a lot. And you saw, I know he's a backup, but in the game and a half that Jalen Milro played, it wasn't exactly like he was lighting it up and you could see the future looking bright. I think it's fair to question what Alabama's going to look like next year at quarterback and at receiver because that's one area that they've struggled with recently. And Nick Saban, I think you got to show kind of, can you continue to produce a factor that's been quarterbacks and receivers? I also got to tip my cap to Georgia.

I just love a Kirby Smart has done it and it's kind of nuts. We all knew that Kirby Smart was a really, really, really, really, really good coach. And he got that tag of really, really, really, really, really good, but still not being called great because he didn't win a national championship. And was not, wasn't able to beat Alabama when you needed to. And then last year, they lose the SEC title game. They bounce back and they're in the national championship game. They beat Alabama. And you see this year, they're expected to win the national title again. Georgia going up against Ohio State in round one.

You then have Michigan and TCU as well in the semifinal. It's expected that Georgia wins it again. And you know, it's so amazing as Georgia now is the second highest rated recruiting class in the country.

And we know how good of a recruiter Kirby Smart and his staff has been for the last few years. But you look at really the brand of Georgia and what Kirby Smart has done there. This year is so impressive because you see, right, like when we look at Alabama for years, it was Alabama would lose like seven players to the first round.

And they would still be in the national championship game and still winning it all. There was a lot of people and I know they were ranked three heading into the season, but there was a lot of people that were doubting Georgia heading into this year because of the eight or nine. And I think it was starters that they lost on the defensive side of the ball and questions being about Stetson Bennett to see the way that they were just able to fix and quickly just stock the shelves again with the Georgia players and still be that much better than everybody else. Like what their closest game this year was Missouri. Like that was just a game that you could chalk it up to.

They just didn't get up for the game and they still won the game. When you look at Georgia this year, even with how impressive last year was, Hickey, this year is even more impressive, assuming you find a way to go win the next two games and win the national championship. Because for a while it was okay, can they just get one with how dominant Saban was. Now to see them really be the preeminent team in college football in back to back seasons, it just kind of shows you just because someone loses to Saban a few times, let's not think that necessarily they're never going to break through. And not only has Georgia broken through, they're now sitting on top of the world really in college football when you're on the verge of winning back to back national championships. And I know Alabama right now is the number one rated recruiting class, but you're kind of splitting hairs. Like they had the same amount of four star recruits and yeah, Alabama did get four more five star recruits. But these are just where the numbers are right now for what Georgia has done and the way that Kirby Smart, I guess you could say has redefined that program. It is really damn impressive. Absolutely. And look, winning a national title in college football is really hard, right?

Not a lot of programs do it. And you've got to have kind of have to have everything go your way and break right in the right year. But even harder than winning one national title is sustained success. That's why the reason again, you don't really see many dynasties or if there are, it's rare you have more than one that we kind of got lucky with a little bit with Clemson in Alabama. But even look at Clemson starting to fade now a little bit, starting to struggle a little bit where you see Georgia now two years in a row. Like you said, you won the national title this year.

They could be a failure if they don't win this year and you kind of moving on forward here. There's a chance they could kind of take the torch from Alabama and be the, you know, the dominant program for let's say the next five, ten years. Also, I know we're all going to be focused this summer on Arch Manning and Quinn Ewers, but Texas going to three, Miami going to four.

I did laugh a little bit when you see those programs back to back, Hickey. And we know what the brand is of Texas. We know the brand is of Miami and the resources they have. But with how many years we've both been trying to say is Texas back or is Miami back to see them back to back in the recruiting cycle, I did find a little bit funny.

And honestly, impressive, too. Well, Texas had a better year, so it wasn't as embarrassing. Miami was just awful. They were flat out awful in year one in Maricrystal ball. And it's easy now. It's kind of like, oh, you know what?

The program's not turning the way I want to and go somewhere else. So it's credit to Maricrystal ball for still, you know, keeping these guys committed and still kind of doing what he does best. And that is recruiting for sure. What do you think TCU was last year? In terms of recruiting last year, where? Oh, because fifty five, maybe I'm taking a look right now. They were forty five.

Forty five. Did you look at the list this year? Just wondering, like the top fourteen. Yeah. TCU is sitting in at.

Let's see. So Bama's one. Georgia's two.

Texas three. Miami's four. Ohio State's five. LSU is six.

Oregon seven. Oklahoma's eight. Notre Dame's nine.

Tennessee's ten. Clemson's eleven. Florida's twelve. Penn State's thirteen. A&M is fourteen. USC's fifteen. South Carolina's sixteen. Michigan seventeen. TCU in at number eighteen.

That's a big jump. Now, you had a Heisman finalist and Max Duggan. You've been undefeated. I got to give a lot of credit because Sonny Dykes in year one. To get them into the top 20 recruiting rankings.

That's that's pretty damn impressive. And even adds more, adds another feather to his cap than just what's been a wonderful season. Like they have a better ranked recruiting class right now. And I know that we didn't know who the head coach was going to be at Auburn. But they have a better ranked recruiting class right now by one spot than Auburn.

Think about that. And they're right behind Michigan. Michigan seventeen. They're also showing point with Jim Harbaugh and what Michigan's done now two years in a row. It's credit to Sonny Dykes.

It's credit to what he's building so far. And also Shane Beamer give him credit too because he's one spot in front of Michigan. And Shane Beamer is just one of those energetic coaches that you definitely want to go play for.

You know, maybe I should have given you a little bit more time to prepare for this. But if you could pick five coaches in college football. Just off the top of your head that you would want to play for. Who would be the top five coaches that you want to play for in college football. Nick Saban would suck but it would be great.

Lincoln Riley, Lane Kiffin without a doubt. That guy I feel like would be entertaining. I'm trying to think. Who else would I?

I feel like I like the quirky guys. I'm just trying to think. Who would I want to play for? Kyle Whittingham. Tough.

He's a very good coach. Would you want to dance with Brian Kelly and do one of those cheesy recruiting videos? No. I couldn't do that. If he tried to, hey, let's take a video or talk to me in a southern accent. I'd say, Brian, thanks or no thanks. I'll tell you a guy I would not want to play for?

Dabba. I just don't think I could deal with the shtick. He has results. He's been great.

I just can't deal with the shtick the last two years since the results aren't there. Wouldn't it have to be Kirby? Saban. I would go Kyle Whittingham. If I'm a quarterback, that's a transfer. I would go Lincoln Riley.

But I don't know. I don't know if I'm running to go play for Lincoln Riley. Guaranteed Heisman finalist.

Bare minimum. You know what, Jim Harbaugh I would like to play for? It'd be fun.

And then let's just go off the trail a little bit. Who would be another coach? Who's another coach that you would want to play for?

Like, give me a random one here. Actually, I think- How about Shane Beamer? Oh, Shane Beamer's a good one.

He's got some swag. He takes some interesting recruiting videos. Now, obviously, I would want to go to Nebraska, too.

Of course. But if I had to give you a kind of one that I think this guy just continues to be one of the more underrated coaches in the country. Mark Stoops. Stoops at Kentucky. I just really have a lot of respect for the program that he built, Hickey. And what he's been able to do there. He's doing a great job, like I said. Kentucky, I want to get yelled at here by Mark Stoops himself, is a basketball school.

It is. But he has made football very relevant. And he's had sustained success. The fact that he could even snap back and fight back at Calipari. Where we all know that Kentucky is known for being a basketball school. It shows what he's been able to do and the clout that he at least has at that university.

Anything else that stands out? So Nebraska was 28. Kentucky was 33. Ole Miss, 36. And let's see, anyone else stand out with these recruiting rankings? Ah, I know who you want to play for. 48th recruited team in the country. This is a coach you would love to play for, Hickey. It's one of your favorite coaches in college football. It's funny, I actually have it up because I was looking at who's 50th in Vanderbilt. Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt Panthers. Who reportedly will not give Drake May $5 million to come to Pitt.

And I like Narduzzi every time he comes on the show, but Hickey is not a fan of Narduzzi. It's true, the Penn State Pitt rivalry, it was the Holy War going back to 1904. Oh! Did you see where Colorado ranked? No, I did not.

53. Not bad. So then you had two weeks? Not even?

Yeah, not even. To put a roster together? Anyway, it is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. That's a little college football talk to you. On National Signing Day. As once again, the top 10. Alabama, Georgia. According to 24-7 Sports right now. Texas, Miami, Ohio State, LSU. With the Brian Kelly family. Oregon in at 7, Oklahoma in at 8, Notre Dame 9, and Tennessee 10. Good for Josh Heiple. He's having a great year. And you know what?

I'll tell you. Oregon and Oklahoma. I know Oklahoma did not have a really good season on the field. But you got to give credit to Venables and Dan Lanning. I don't know why so many coaches, Hickey, leave Oregon.

Like Kelly, I get it. He was there forever. And basically built that program. And then gets an NFL gig. Like you can't kill a guy for leaving to go to the NFL. But then Willy Taggart was there for one year. All right, Cristobal, that was his school in Miami, so maybe it's a little bit different. But remember when some people were like, oh maybe Dan Lanning will be in play for the Auburn job?

And then he quickly dismissed that. But Oregon, they always have the resources. And now a little identity problem because they don't know what conference they're going to be in a few years from now.

But I love Oregon. I just think they're a great job. And it's good to see Dan Lanning pull three five-star recruits. They had a big day today.

They flipped a few guys. Yeah, Dan Lanning's doing a great job. And like I said, you're learning to Kirby Smart. Take a few of those good wits with you.

You have Uncle Phil, Knight's Money as well. Good combo. Good combo up there in Eugene.

Nike brand still strong. It is the Zach Guilb show on CBS Sports Radio. Andrew Whitworth talking about someone that is very strong and very large will join us next. Andrew Whitworth joined the prime video Thursday Night Football team this year, bringing his Super Bowl championship insight to the field, pregame and postgame show each week. Andrew joins us now on the Zach Guilb show on CBS Sports Radio to talk about his rookie year as a broadcaster.

What to look for in the final Thursday Night Football matchups of the year and his prediction on which teams have what it takes to lift the Lombardi Trophy. Andrew Whitworth, appreciate the time. How are you? I'm doing great, man. Appreciate you. Now, I hope you appreciate my style because you have perfected the sweatshirt and then also sports coat on Amazon Video.

How do you rate this? You know what? I love anybody that's going to come for a little bit of that swag right there. You know, it's one of those things. Look, I'd just be myself. You know, people want to ask, you know, why are you wearing that? What was the idea behind it? You know, I think for me, it was just this is how I'm most comfortable, how a train is with a hoodie. I always am rocking a hoodie at the facility when I was playing. And so, you know what they say? Go be yourself on the desk. Said, hey, can I wear a hoodie? Because that's who I am.

And they were all for it. So it's been a lot of fun to get to do something that brings a lot of attention, you know, good and bad. It's been hilarious just to see the different reactions across, you know, social media in the league to the to the outfit that I'm rocking every week.

No, it's great stuff. And it's good to not have a button up broadcaster when you're watching football. And I'm enjoying it in my sweat pants. So pretty much you should be comfortable as well. How do you kind of reflect on year one with the entire crew on this new venture? It's been so much fun.

I mean, when you walk out of the game of football, I mean, you hear so many former players talk about, you know, losing your team and losing that locker room. And how you feel lonely and you feel apart from things and to be a part of this crew with Carissa and Ryan and Tony and Sherm and Taylor and Michael Smith and our whole pregame, you know, halftime postgame group. It's been so much fun just getting to be together on the road. The camaraderie you build that new team now of people that you become family. I mean, you're together all the time. You're going through your week together and the different things that are going on in your lives off the off the field and off the desk. And so you start to build a whole new team. And that's been so exciting and fun.

Even the people not on air or producers and everybody behind the scenes. It's been fun to be that road group that's going together like a traveling circus and having a great time, just spending the time together and finding new ways to cover the game. Well, it gives you your football fix clearly, and that's something every former football player needs. But do you still miss it? Is it still something when you're at those games, you're like, man, I could still play in the NFL? You know, I think sometimes I do have a feeling like I could still play, but I don't have any interest in playing.

I mean, for me, I played, you know, up until over 40 years old. I played a ton of football games and had a lot of fun doing it. But I'm having so much fun just covering the game, being a fan. I've never watched more games, been more inspired to watch games each and every week.

I just I have literally been so excited to turn the TV on and watch people play and follow the game like never before. So I love where I'm at and I don't miss bull rushes and piled and scrums at all. If you were still in the huddle and you have the Jets and the Jaguars this Thursday night and you're an offensive lineman and Zach Wilson is thrown right into a controversy because of his own doing and his wrongdoing, just how would you kind of view your quarterback? I know he's your teammate, but it seems like he's ruffled a lot of feathers in that locker room. Well, I think, you know, it wouldn't be about the huddle.

It'd be about the week in the process to get there. You know, it'd be about sitting down with him as a veteran player and helping him understand the situation he's in. You know, I was in that a lot with Jerry Goff and, you know, and his his really rise to who he is today and being in the huddles with him. And the moments really that mattered were from Monday to Saturday and really spending time getting to know him, understanding how he ticks and maybe what drives him and maybe what he misses or doesn't.

Understands or doesn't understand. And so I think it's really that relationship and making sure you have it. You look at that offensive line. They've had a lot of people in and out of the lineup. They've had, you know, Dwayne Brown is kind of the leader of their group, a guy who's been a leader his whole career, but he didn't get there until this training camp. So, you know, my thing is when you look offensively at them, who's the leader leader on offense who's really able to help guide him and be there for him through this process?

I don't know that you can say, hey, there's been somebody's got a lot of invested time with them. And that's tough. I mean, that is really tough on a young quarterback to not have that guy in your group.

It's like, man, this is who I go to for these situations. And so I think for him, it's been a challenge. But that if I was in that huddle, it'd be about how can I find ways to spend some time with him, get to know him and find ways that I can help him be at his best and be most consistent each and every week. Andrew Whitworth's here with us for you, your former team, two of them, obviously the Bengals and the Rams.

But let's talk about the one that you most recently played for the Rams, as you know, won the Super Bowl last year and this year. Pile up of injuries, obviously having to replace people like yourself on the offensive line and dealing with injuries up front. Stafford said the other day on his wife's podcast, Kelly Stafford, that he's going to be coming back and playing next year for you.

How far away do you think they are? Because this has been a miserable season. You know, it's been a really tough year for them. I mean, I think, you know, historic numbers when it comes to injuries along the offensive line.

And now it just seems like every week it's a new thing, right? A new guy goes down and just, you know, really hard to keep fighting through stuff like that. So but I think when you really look at their team and the guys that are there, Sean McVeigh, that talent level of guys they have that are their leaders, they'll find a way next year. They'll be healthier. They'll be able to regroup.

They'll find a way to be competitive again. You know, obviously it wasn't as much. But in 2019, right after our Super Bowl that we lost to New England, we had a down year that year to miss the playoffs.

Wasn't as bad as this. We didn't have the injury rate they've had, but could have been that way and then came back and really built that rise to the next year, making the playoffs, winning a playoff game. And then obviously we know what happened last year.

So I just see this group finding a way to get themselves back in playoff contention next year, I believe will happen. I'm more disappointed that Kelly hasn't asked me to be on the podcast yet. It's a good point.

You know, Matthew's been multiple times. I get it. It's her husband. But when does Big Win get to come on the Kelly Stafford podcast? That's what I want to know. Maybe she thinks you're high in demand these days at the Amazon gig.

Maybe she's afraid to ask. I've been up with Andrew Whitworth. Jaguars in line. Just want to get your two thoughts on those two teams right now, because both of them are making playoff pushes. Yeah, I think it's really fun to see, you know, teams that are really hot in the NFL, right? I mean, I think this time of year, it's always interesting, like how the season goes. You've got teams that will separate themselves early and that you kind of like, hey, man, this is going to be a team that wins the Super Bowl because of how they play the first 8, 10, 12 weeks of the season. And then you always have some team there at the end where you're like, wow, this team is rolling right now. You know, who will be the team that stops them? I think that's interesting for both the Lions and the Jets.

It's like, hey, all right. Offensively, these teams are rolling it defensively. They're finally starting to play a little bit of complementary football and be able to help them stay in these games. You know, but who is it that they're going to run into that can stop them or can they just keep building?

And do they have the ability to keep doing that? I think one interesting thing for the Jaguars is going to be losing Cam Robinson, because any time you lose a veteran o lineman who's a really good football player, and I'm guessing probably one of the guys that room leans on a lot and Cam, it's going to be challenging because you've got a young tackle coming in and Walker Little. And you know what? Trevor Lawrence is on fire. But, you know, we can stop the quarterbacks on fire. And that's pressure in his face and him getting hit when he's trying to go to football. So how will that really derail them? And then that Lions offense, man, that o-line deserves some credit for how well they've played.

Last thing I'll ask you, I know you got to run, Andrew Whitworth here with us, Amazon Prime Video. What's your Super Bowl prediction with three weeks left in the season? Man, I think, you know, for me, it really comes down to Philly and the Niners and the NFC Championship.

I think that's going to be the two teams there. And I think Brock Purdy's shown that he can get them wins and he can do enough to just play the quarterback position well enough to get them. But I think what's going to be tough is when you match those two rosters against each other, there's a little bit of a lean in the skill positions towards probably the Eagles at wide receiver. And then at quarterback position, you'd have to say, you know, that season Jalen Hurts has had, if he's healthy, him versus Brock Purdy, the Eagles win that matchup big time. So I just think that the Eagles will find a way to get there and then find a way to get themselves in the Super Bowl. And then the AFC, I think it really comes down to the Bills, Bengals and Chiefs.

Which young dynamic quarterback do you want to go with and roll with? And I like complimentary football, so I'm always going to lean to that, even though I hate to ever go against my home. I just think that the Bengals and Bills both have shown that their defenses can help them win a game as well. And I think this Bengals have sneakily put themselves in a position to maybe return to the Super Bowl.

So I think that might be my matchup, Philly and Cincinnati. Well, appreciate you taking a few minutes today, Andrew Whitworth. Make sure you check him out for the final two weeks of Amazon Prime Video. We appreciate it and good luck the rest of the way. Hey, I appreciate it.

Thank you all for the time. There he is. That is Andrew Whitworth. And you can think of O'Reilly Auto Parts for your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. I know we've been talking about the Super Bowl clearly all throughout the year, and this answer has probably changed a bunch of times. Just real quickly, I want to go around the room. So Andrew Whitworth just went with Eagles and Bengals in the Super Bowl. Hickey, who are you going with? The 49ers going up against who? The Chiefs. The Chiefs.

Marco? Chiefs and Eagles. Chiefs and Eagles.

Okay. I'm going with Philadelphia as well. And I keep on flip-flopping, I think, by the day with Buffalo and Cincinnati.

Since I believe that Buffalo's going to have home field advantage, I will say that it's Buffalo and the Philadelphia Eagles. By the way, what was your reaction to all this Carlos Correa stuff where less than 24 hours ago it was supposed to be he was going to get introduced as a member of the San Francisco Giants. The Mets missed out on him.

Then there's some ambiguous disagreement on the medicals. And the next thing you know, Steve Cohen, who is in Hawaii right now, his wife tweeted out a photo of them in Hawaii, was able to negotiate the deal and approve the deal to get Carlos Correa to the New York Mets. Totally wild. And here last night when everything was breaking, going through. Oh, you were up? Oh, yeah, up. I was here.

Oh, that's true. I'm on the air. I've actually found out I was in my closet, you know, cutting tape. And I hear McKeon, Brian McKeon, who's here with us.

Skirted. He came running out in the hallway and he goes, Correa to the Mets. And I started to laugh. And he's like, no, I'm serious.

John Heyman just reported. I'm like, what? So it was just a wild like 15 minutes where it was like, is this for real?

Is this serious? And you got to give the Mets and Steve Cohen a ton of credit. I mean, look, coming in, he kind of talked about how he was a fan. He's going to spend money. He's going to get this team to the championship. He's going to get this for the fans.

And you hear all that nonsense all the time. But he's come in and he's put his money where his mouth is because this year he did not like the way everything kind of went down last year with one hundred and one wins bounced in the wild card. Jacob, the ground basically saying, I don't want to be here.

Walk out the door on him and saying good luck with it. And it seems like Steve Cohen has gone on just a wild bend where over eight hundred million dollars spent in free agency in one off season. It's amazing. Now, look, you can't do this every year. You can't spend a billion dollars every off season. But he knows one title changes it all. Oh, yeah. Changes is a god forever.

And after that, you can figure out what you want to do and build it the right way. But one title, however that is, because I mean, let's face it, look, the left side of the met off left side of the met defense. You're talking about over six hundred and fifty million dollars left side of the infield, just the infield alone. So that doesn't include and just wait when Correa and Lindor are like slumping the first month of the season.

Right. But that doesn't include Pete Alonso, but they got to pay or Jeff McNeil just want a batting title. So your infield in New York for the Mets will cost over a billion dollars, a billion for just your infield, not including your catcher. So Steve Cohen, you can't do this every off season, but he knows in a short time, get this, spend all the money you can get the one title. Once you do that, then you can build it the right way with your organization and the minor leagues and all that system and all the things that you got to do right. But you can buy it once and he's going all in.

If you're going to buy it, go all in and spend it. And here's what I say to all sports fans, because we've seen this throughout the years, like when the Warriors won their titles. Oh, it's a cheap championship because they're already a great team.

And Durant went there. If I'm a fan of that team, I don't care how you win just as long as you win. And I don't if you have to deal with the narrative of, oh, someone doesn't like the way that you got the championship. It's usually just filled and it's marinated with jealousy and hatred.

Yeah, that's all that's all it is. And again, when you're when you're a fan, you're worried about everybody else talking about you. I mean, honestly, it's nonsense. You worry about yourself, worry about people get caught up. Well, you know what? That's on you, then you're going to get caught up in the noise that's on you.

I don't care. But that's also the same thing that what comes with that does come great expectation. So the Mets do have to deliver actually on the field and get that World Series title, which the National League and all the baseball, there's still plenty of teams that are out there that are just as good. Right.

So it's not to say that it's automatic. You still have to win on the field. You got to stay healthy.

You got to do all the things the right way. And let's be fair. They're also up there in age in a lot of spots. So their window is somewhat small in that regard. So you have to come through. And with all this money comes expectation. So the fans, like you just talked about, you slump, you're going to hear it.

You've got to deal with that. Well, that's also the other thing like, OK, Nimmo has a long term contract. You look at Edwin Diaz now a long term contract. Then you see what we just talked about with Correa and Lindor. The pitchers. That's that's where it is. The pitching is all old.

And that's where they could still retool to get someone else down the road. And that's you know what? I've been I've been saying this and I usually am slow to how things develop and how things change. To me, baseball has changed. Don't worry. It's nice to have an ace at the top so that you could feel good in a short series. However, you need to be able to hit. Yeah. I've shown you that that you need to be able to have consistency in your line to be able to score runs.

How many times have we talked about this? You don't see teams when you go into the playoffs, they didn't lose because their pitching came up small. It's rare. It's because they couldn't hit consistently. Now, you can say, well, it's because the pitching was on the good on the other side.

Not really. It's really the same guys, because I mean, how many times have you gone into a series and you go, well, I mean, the Phillies with the perfect heartburn. No, no, Cindy Garth threw like two innings and he was a starter. I mean, they got some good pitching. You can mix and match with your bullpen.

You can you can kind of fill the gaps, if you will, with guys that are not top of the line starters, because even your top of the line starters are going to give you what, seven? You still need your back into your bullpen to come a big you need to hit. The main reason the Phillies got to the World Series this year is because at the same time, guys like Schwarber, Castellanos, Harper, Riomuto got hot.

Right. And not only got hot, they were hitting home runs. And again, why did the Astros win it?

They combined the two. They pitched well. Don't get me wrong.

But you need to be able to hit in big spots. And whenever the Phillies came at them, the Astros had an answer because the guys like Bregman and Pena and all that all the way through the lineup. So by the way, I heard your name mentioned on the fan yesterday. So they had my dad.

I don't know if you know this, but my dad, my dad used to be a very big juggler. I have heard that. Yeah. No. So before Bob Saget became Bob's saying that we all knew.

Right. My dad, when Bob was in college, used to open up for him through a mutual friend that like some Penn coffee house or something was Harry's coffee house. And there was one time my dad was spitting fire and juggling and there was asbestos on the ceiling and he shot the fire up and it went back in his face. And he was like, oh, my face.

He burnt his face off and it grew back. So he didn't see Bob Saget ever since that moment. And then Saget was here on Boomer and Geo years ago, obviously.

Right. And, you know, it's terrible that he obviously has passed away. And then he went into their sales meeting to promote some play. And my dad like raised his hand and right away, Saget said, you're Bob. And he's like, is your last name Kelp? And he's like, that's pretty damn close, Gelb. And and Bob was like taking a selfie with my dad and everything. So for some reason, they were talking about that on Boomer and Geo and then they were talking about me and and everything and the whole juggling and my uncle, which I think I knew this.

He once juggled to open up a Rolling Stones concert in in Wembley. Like, I know that's impressive. Yeah, I knew parts of the story. And he also he authored books about Leonardo da Vinci and another not my second cousin. He's very big in in film writing and all that, like Boy Meets World and whatever. Yeah. So very there's some real actual talent in that family for you.

I got to find where I fit into the fourth or fifth on the depth chart. But anyway, I was listening through one of the updates and for some reason, I guess Boomer saw Marco Battaglia, the former Rutgers tight end and NFL tight end. Right. And Al gets on the mic. He goes, you saw Marco Belletti, our update guy at a restaurant. Do you often get confused for Marco Battaglia? Not anymore. Used to be when he was playing for Rutgers.

Yeah, I heard a little bit more than Marco Belletti. Yeah. Yeah. I used to get the Mike Bellotti, the Oregon coach because my brother's Mike. So, yeah, we used to get a little bit of that, too.

But Battaglia. Yeah. Not a long time. That's been a while. He hasn't been to Rutgers in, well, it's got to be like 20 years, right?

Is he the AD now, Hickey? I want to say. I mean, look it up really quickly. Oh, no, no, it's Hobbs. I've had dinner with the guy Hobbs. Sorry. Pat Hobbs, I think it is.

I never met Battaglia, so. Yeah, I see him. I know that he's still involved somewhere in the I think he was the interim AD or something like that once, but regardless, there's someone right now listening in Iowa saying who cares about who's a Rutgers AD. Rutgers? Yeah. Where's that?

Hey, they're in the Big Ten. Why? All right, well, come on back to the closing bell. We'll tell you whose stock is booming, whose stock is dooming. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Another day is in the books and we're taking stock of the sports world. It's time to find out who's up and who's down. Let's end the day right and hit the closing bell. Only on the Zach Gelb show. Carlos Correa, man, and one of the craziest things that you'll really ever see when it comes to free agency.

One moment signs with the San Francisco Giants. It's not like, oh, it was reported. And then it just the next like two hours later, it happened. They knew for a few days that a press conference set up and then it saw the press conference getting postponed. And I just thought maybe it was like he got sick or something.

Maybe a COVID or there was some travel issue or something. And the next thing you know, there's an issue with the medicals. And 12 hours later, he's with the New York Mets. Huh, Steve Cohen, I love you. Stock up, Carlos Correa. I also got to give a stock up to Alabama football.

Back on top. Now, not a national championship game this year. Not, of course, in the college football playoff. But right now in 24-7 sports, they have the number one recruiting class for this year.

So give a stock up to Nick Saban in the Alabama Crimson Tide. Did you see that dancing, by the way, of Nick Saban doing like the electric slide? Isn't that an old video? I've seen that video before.

The cha-cha slide. Sorry. I don't know. Yeah. I've seen that before. Did that just resurface or was that him doing it again in another recruit's house? That I do not know.

May have resurfaced, but with. Yeah. He's got some moves. He's still playing the game. That's for sure.

I was so dead about that. I watched a little bit of the Nuggets game last night. Nikola Jokic with a triple-double as he had 13 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists. The Nuggets now 19-11, a team you could root for. Go up against another team you could easily root for as well, the Memphis Grizzlies.

They fall to 19-11 as well, but give the Denver Nuggets a stock up. The San Francisco Giants, they got used in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes. He goes back to the Yankees. And then you had Correa. Then you had a problem with his medicals.

Clearly the Mets didn't have a problem with his medicals because they just swooped in and gave him that 12-year contract. Imagine being a Giants fan today. You know what? Maybe we'll get to this tomorrow.

But KNBR did a great job. They put together a bunch of calls of these fans losing their mind. And I just don't think we have, we don't have the time hickey here yet.

It's too long. So maybe we'll play that tomorrow. But Giants fans, you got teased and then the next time it's even worse because you had the guy. And then he goes somewhere else. So give a stock down to the San Francisco Giants. And Ryan Tannehill, reports are from Paul Karski, is very likely out for the rest of the season. You know, this may not be as bad as what people think because then you get to Alicia Malik-Willis in some high-pressure situations. But you don't know what Malik-Willis is and he was supposed to be a first-round pick ends up going in the third round. But just an unfortunate way for Ryan Tannehill to end his season if the reports are true.

So give a stock down to Ryan Tannehill. And that's the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. By the way, you know who's filling in tomorrow for me as I'm out on a little vacay?

I'll be back on Friday, though, for Big Football Friday. Bart Winkler is going to be filling in. You know who Bart Winkler interviewed on his podcast last week, Hickey, in person?

Klay Thompson. Oh, you knew that? Oh yeah, someone on social media. Very great guy for him. Well, not to diminish the great accomplishment of Bart Winkler because it was a phenomenal interview and I love Bart. I found out in the interview Bart's brother works in PR for the Golden State Warriors. I think he's like number two in command on the PR team. That I did not know.

It's all about who you know and it makes a lot more sense now. But it was a great interview and I was about to text Bart, why were you interviewing Klay Thompson? And then I would listen to the whole interview because Bart's my guy and there you go. So Bart in tomorrow. Big thanks to Terry Collins, Nick Costos, Andrew Whitworth as well. I'll be back on Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. We out. Bye-bye. Rest in peace, Franco Harris.