Panthers or Bears Win The Trade? (Hour 3)

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Subscribe now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. One this year, 61, and then they have a first in 2024, a second in 2025, and DJ Moore, going to the Chicago Bears. Joe Person believes that it's going to be who covers the Panthers to the Athletics. CJ Stroud with the number one overall pick, so take that.

For what it's worth, Tua Tunga Vailoa. Earlier today, found out by the Dolphins that they're going to pick up his fifth-year option. So Tua is locked in for obviously already under contract this year, but next year as well, just as long as he stays healthy, right? Don't you have to stay healthy for that guaranteed money to come? I believe that's the case for the fifth-year option.

And that's a big concern, I guess, with the status of Tua Tunga Vailoa. But then also, out of nowhere today, Odell Beckham Jr., he held workouts. And now he had the list of teams that attended his workout, and according to Jonathan Jones from CBS Sports, the Panthers were there, the New York Giants were there, the New England Patriots, his old team, the Los Angeles Rams, the Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers, the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings, the Cleveland Browns, that's interesting, the Ravens, and also the JTS Jets-Jets-Jets, who were trying to trade for Aaron Rodgers, and that's just a matter of time when it comes to that deal going on down.

I don't think it's a matter of if, it's just going to be when. So Hickey, before we had to just reconfigure this entire rundown with the number one pick conversation trade, I was going to do this as a topic, who's going to trade or who's going to go sign Odell Beckham Jr.? And I actually did jot down, it was, let's see right here, one, two, three, four, five, six teams. Let's see how many of the six teams were actually at the workout. Now the Cowboys were not there, but they've had conversations before, wasn't Odell at the end of the year at the Cowboys facility or something like that?

I mean it's, yeah I think you're right. Yeah, so I don't think they needed to go to this workout today, because Jerry Jones basically just said they didn't sign him because he wasn't healthy then. But it didn't mean that they wouldn't sign him next year, he just wasn't going to be ready to go for last season.

You would think, they're close, but you think they want to see what it looks like? He didn't work out last year, just make sure everything's okay. Maybe Jerry pulled Odell aside and said, young man, when you are healthy, we are interested, you know me, I'm the king of drama in the NFL, just call me and we'll bring you down to Dallas to Jerry's World. Maybe he's getting the yacht ready for the draft, probably, some draft prep. Odell could be hooted on by a yacht.

Just invite Justin Bieber on board, and it's the boat crews all over again pretty much. Tell Sterling Shepard to come by as well, and Victor Cruz I think was on that as well. The other teams that I had, the Giants, they were at the workout. The Jets, they were at the workout.

Here's one team that I had, and they were not at the workout, and I want to get your thoughts on this. What about the Chargers? There's been some reports that maybe Keenan Allen's going to be a salary cap casualty.

Now, nothing's really happened on that front, and the legal tampering period opens up on Monday. But if you're taking away Keenan Allen from Justin Herbert, you can't just go with Mike Williams. Now, I don't know what Odell's going to be, but the last time we saw him on the football field, he was scoring in the Super Bowl. And he did a nice job blending in with the LA Rams, and I don't know if he still has a place. He went there in the middle of the year, but he was living out in LA I guess.

I don't know if he bought anything out there. Who knows with Odell? I don't think money's really a factor with Odell Beckham Jr. What about the Chargers for Odell? Like you said, if Keenan Allen is a cap casualty, then yes, absolutely. If not, then I think there's too many mouths to feed, and I can't really trust him to be a-okay with probably being the fourth option.

Because all of a sudden, Eckler gets the ball a ton out of the backfield. So he'd probably be the fourth option throwing the ball, so he'd have to probably move Keenan Allen out absolutely. Well, you'd have Mike Williams, Eckler, would you say Everett would also be the other option before him? I was going to say Keenan Allen's there. Keenan Allen has to go. I don't think he would sign up to be the fourth option.

You'd have to move. Sorry, that's what I was saying. Gotcha. The other team I had were the Chiefs. I had two more teams. The Chiefs who were there.

And that's like another thing. The Chiefs spread the ball out so much, Hickey, but I wouldn't say they have a number one option. Like I read an article the other day that they believe Kadarius Toney is going to be their number one option next year.

MVS, Juju Smith-Schuster, I know he's a free agent, but that's the crop. And also, if you're Odell, even though Odell sometimes could be a royal pain in the ass, and don't get me wrong, Eli Manning is a Hall of Fame quarterback. He's won two Super Bowl MVPs, but he's not Patrick Mahomes. Like I do think Mahomes kind of has that Brady aura a little bit that Odell was like so blown away by and how Odell gifted Brady when he was with the Browns these goat shoes after the game or before the game, because he's always had respect for Tom Brady. I do think it wouldn't be a problem going to Kansas City, because I think Odell, outside of Kelsey, would look at himself as the star player. And Kelsey's a tight end, so you could say I'm still the star wide receiver, even though Mahomes will spread the ball out, and he's going to feed a lot of mouths out there. Do you think now that he got his ring with the Rams, do you think now his mindset changes a little bit?

I don't know. It's a great question, because he did seem very happy with the Rams, and I know that role was more than probably what he expected, because when he was going there, he was going to be the number three wide receiver behind Cooper Cupp and Robert Woods, and then it was on that Friday that it was crazy how that went down, Robert Woods tears his ACL, and the next thing you know, the role of Odell Beckham grew a lot more. I think there is a mix now where it's always going to be about targets, but if he's in a winning situation with the great quarterback, I think he will be a little bit easier to work with. And the one thing I will say about Odell, even though he comes off as a bad locker room guy, and he does some questionable things like that interview with Justina Anderson and Lil Wayne, where they paid him and he couldn't even say he was happy in New York, his teammates always love him. You know, you don't usually hear teammates saying bad things about Odell Beckham Jr. The other team that I did have, I actually did have Minnesota.

I put Minnesota down and here's why. You had Adam Thielen release today. Now, that says a lot for our guy, KJ Osbourne, and I've said this for now, the last year, that he's going to be a really good wide receiver in this league, so if you're getting rid of Adam Thielen, you have a lot of belief in KJ Osbourne, you have Justin Jefferson there as well. You also got to work on Justin Jefferson's contract, I would imagine. That's going to be a point of emphasis this offseason, kind of like a quarterback contract, where you work on it now so you can save yourself some money down the road and take care of that business now. But maybe Odell winds up in Minnesota where Kevin O'Connell is the head coach there, and O'Connell was in LA with the Rams when they did win the Super Bowl.

So I don't know what their relationship is. What do you think Odell's price is going to be? Well, there's about ten teams you riled off at his workout, so there's obviously interest. About a third of the league, let's just say, is going to be interested in signing Odell. Well, before I answer that, just one more point on the Vikings too, the LSU connection. Yes, and I'm sure Justin Jefferson was one of the many people that got some money from Odell that night.

Odell will walk in that locker room and say, here we go, money all around, money all around, and when JJ signs the contract, maybe he'll just say, hey, can I get some of that? Yeah, right, yeah. Give me some of those hundreds back. Remember I was in the locker room? Yeah, I gave you that funny money.

Could use a little loan right now. The price for Odell, it wouldn't shock me if he gets a two or three-year deal. Once he was looking for it, right? So I would assume... You have a lot of teams there.

Now, just because you're there, it doesn't hurt going and watching. But I would imagine he had bare minimums going to get what? Two for 30? Is that crazy? Two for 30?

Maybe some incentives in it? The way wide receiver salaries are starting to skyrocket, I don't think so. You think more?

No, I don't think that's crazy. I think two or three is reasonable for a guy who just missed an entire year, but we know he's talented. And maybe because Odell probably still thinks in his mind he's like a $22, $23 million wide receiver. Well, actually, some of these guys now get, what, $28, $30 million a year?

Tyreek got $30, and I think Devonta got $30, right? Right around there? Yeah, somewhere in that realm.

Like anywhere from $27 to $30. So he probably still thinks he's in that realm. So I would say probably you give him two for 30 and you work some incentives to maybe pop in an extra $5 million, depending on games played or if you win a Super Bowl, things like that, or get to an AFC or NFC title game. That's probably my first guess on that contract. Yeah, I would say he's probably going, I would guess right now, go where the money is. I don't think, I could be wrong, but if you have a Chiefs offer, let's say two for 30 and a, I don't know, like I'm trying to think of a middle of the road team. Let's just say the commanders, no quarterback, and they give him three for 50.

I guess he'd be going to the commanders. I don't want to ever undermine the importance of money, because when you play this game, you should go and get paid when you can. And there's never enough money, right?

When you're playing this game. But I do think the situation matters. Can I really see Sam Howell and Odell Beckham really working? So I do think the spot of it does matter in terms of where he's going to go.

It's not the end all be all, but I think if it's a difference of a year, maybe you bet on your, you go to the better situation. Like I look at all these destinations, the Cardinals, why would he go there? I know they're getting rid of DeAndre Hopkins. They don't have a quarterback right now because Murray's hurt. You'd be the number one wide receiver there.

Like seriously, what are you going to do? The Panthers, they now have the number one overall pick. I don't think you're rushing to Carolina right now. If you want a reunion with the Giants, nice coming home type of stories. You have Daniel Jones, who is now viewed as better than what we did a few years ago. Saquon still there.

So maybe it feels like there's unfinished business. The Patriots, I know he has a lot of respect for Bill Belichick. He'd be the number one wide receiver there. The Rams, I think that ship has sailed, even though we did crash McVeigh's wedding, so maybe he owes McVeigh one. And also the workouts were in Arizona, so it makes sense for the Cardinals to go, even if they don't think they have a shot at him. The Niners, that kind of looks like L.A. right now without having Stafford there.

And I saw that Purdy got the surgery today, so who knows? But the 49ers, if they could just get a quarterback or get some success out of the quarterback, imagine they had McCaffrey, Debo, Kittle, and Odell Beckham Jr. And if you could still keep Brandon Aiyuk, imagine that. The Bills could definitely use him, but wasn't it? Oh, no, that was Antonio Brown, who got traded there for a second, and then it just didn't go through. Buffalo would actually make sense. And Von Miller's been advocating hard, you know, frequently last year before he got hurt to bring Odell in. And who knows where Stephon Diggs is at these days. Kansas City, I would actually, I kind of want to say, I don't want to throw the Cowboys out of it, but Kansas City to me is the team that jumps out first.

I think Minnesota has a chance, but I think it's a long shot. You think he's going back to Cleveland? I know Baker's no longer there. You have Deshaun Watson, they could use another wide receiver, but I don't think he's going back to Cleveland, Hickey. I mean, what I will say is, when he left, it wasn't exactly like everyone was team Baker. No, they were pretty much, we love Odell. Outside of that first game after Odell left and they played their best game of the year, and you had people like me saying, see, they're better off without Odell. And then, whoop, and then the Ravens, if you're trying to appease Lamar Jackson, that would be a move there. But if I'm Odell, I'm not going there without figuring out what's going on with Lamar. I was going to say, that has to be one of those, figure out what goes on with Lamar first, then, okay, I'll sign there.

And how about the last one? He's had interest before in Green Bay. The Jets, who are going to be getting the Green Bay quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. You put Odell with Garrett Wilson, and Elijah Moore, and you're back in New York, and you get to play with Rodgers, the Jets all of a sudden, that becomes an intriguing destination for Odell Beckham Jr.

If they get Aaron Rodgers, go figure. The Jets are actually one of those fun teams now, I think where, like you said, people start to flock to. And remember, we kind of laughed at it when they were like, Odell Beckham returns to MetLife Stadium when it was Jets and Browns. It was like he didn't play for the Jets, so it's stupid to say that's his return. But in his mind, it's going to be like, I'm going back home, I'm going back where my career started, even though it was for the other team.

So, right now, here's our poll question today. Could always chime in, at Zach Gelb, at CBS Sports Radio. It has to do with the big trade that did go down today in the NFL, that saw the Panthers shoot up to the number one pick spot. Who won the trade? 84% right now say the Bears, 16% say the Panthers. Like, the Bears is the right answer right now, because you already have the quarterback, and you give that young quarterback a great weapon in DJ Moore, and you add more picks. So, you've already seen some of that foundation, now you're trying to build on top of that foundation. But it's not like the Panthers are the biggest losers here, because if they go find a way with that number one overall pick, and their quarterback goes on to be a success for the next 10 years, then you made a heck of a trade.

Like, I could look back at this, Hickey. I don't see a way where both teams lose this deal. Like, if there's going to be a loser, it's going to be the Panthers, but both teams easily could win.

Because the Bears, they never have a quarterback, they never put that quarterback in a position to succeed. We're going to find out how great Justin Fields can be now, in these next two years, with these picks, and then also now getting DJ Moore. And for the Panthers, maybe you don't win the deal, but if you get your guy for the next 10 years, and if your guy goes on to be a Hall of Fame player, that's a different story.

And if Justin Fields turns out to be great, and he's just good, then it's different. But I don't think this is a side where both teams could ever lose this deal. It kind of looks like both teams could win this deal, and it's easier for the Bears to win this deal now than it is the Panthers, because we don't really know the answer for the Panthers until three years from now.

And it's very unfair if you're ever going to... It's basically impossible for the most part for the Bears to lose this deal, because if the only argument is going to be, well, you should have just stuck in number one and got, in this case, C.J. Stroud, and he obviously would have been a Hall of Famer, duh.

But that's not really an option. The Bears made it clear right away they're going to go with Justin Fields, and it's not an option. I think it's crazy. They got a lot in return. They got Justin Fields the number one wide receiver. It's no slam dunk in the draft, or it makes sense.

It's too easy, and we're sitting here in 10 years. C.J. Stroud's the best quarterback in the NFL.

You can't blame the Bears for not taking him. Remember Max Asmus? He led the nation in scoring when Oral Roberts was last in the NCAA tournament. Oral Roberts is back in the big dance.

He's going to join us next. That is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. And you need to know you're going to get paid. You need a sports book that offers everything, including live betting, MMA, golf, horses, esports, and all kinds of crazy bets. Call today at 1-800-79-BET-US. That's 1-800-79-BET-US, and they will walk you through setting up an account. Nobody in the industry gives better bonuses than BET-US. Join now. Mention BET-US 2022, and you can get up to 200% in bonuses on your first deposit.

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You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. I remember when we were on the air a few years ago when Oral Roberts defeated Ohio State, and they went on that great NCAA tournament run. Max Asmus was one of the stars of that team. He led the nation in scoring, and he's still a part and leading the way of the Oral Roberts program as they are 30-4.

And they are back to the NCAA tournament after winning the summit, and he joins us right now. Max, first off, appreciate the time, and congratulations. Thanks for doing this.

Definitely, man. Appreciate you for having me. So what was going through your head when you were walking off the court? You won the conference tournament, and you know you're going back to the big dance.

Man, I'm just excited. I'm excited for the group of guys we have in the locker room. Personally, too, just all the hard work that we put in before the season and set up that goal of winning a championship and getting the opportunity to play on that big stage of March Madness. You've been a part of a special team before.

What makes this group so special this year? Just everybody, their mindset. We all have the same mindset.

That brought us together. We want to win and continue to play as long as we can. We've got an older group of guys who understand what it takes to win.

So we're just trying to go out there and do that every single night. That team from 2021, we're 18-11 and 10-5 in the conference. This year you guys are 30-4 and 18-0 in the conference. Do you feel like, because the record says so, that this team is better than the team from a few years ago? Yeah, I think if you look at the team a few years ago, too, four of the top six that played that year have returned this year. Coming off that, we've got experience of playing that high-level basketball and what it takes to play winning basketball and try to get back to that point. Ever since that, we've just tried to do everything we can to get back there and have another opportunity. You guys have the experience now, and you know what everyone's going to throw at you. On the other hand, though, no one sleeps when they go into a game up against Oral Roberts because you guys got put on the map a few years ago. How has that kind of been the last two years, navigating and dealing with all the success that you guys had?

Yeah, I think it causes a lot of outside distractions, for sure. You have a lot of people talking about you and the team, but the important thing has been those guys in the locker room and the coaching staff, just keeping the focus where it belongs and really staying in the moment and trying to get better every single day to accomplish the goals that we set out to accomplish. It's so common now that transferring goes on in the NCAA with the success that you had a few years ago. Why didn't you transfer? Why did you stay at Oral Roberts? I think just the relationship that I've built with the coaching staff over the last few years. Coming out of high school, I didn't really have too many opportunities to avoid. I wanted to play college basketball.

Luckily, Oral Roberts was one of them. The coaching staff has believed in me since day one and building that relationship over the years. Just trusting what they had here and believing that we could win and get back to that tournament again. Max A. Smith is here with us, the star of the Oral Roberts basketball team. We all remember him from a few years ago when he led the nation in scoring. They went on that great NCAA tournament run as a 15 seed. Your coach, you just talked about him a little bit, Paul Mills. How do you look at the connection that you guys have been able to build? I say you've stayed at Oral Roberts.

He has stayed as well at Oral Roberts. Yeah, just that relationship. We trust one another. He trusts me to go out there. He lets me play my game. I think that's what any player would ever want from a coach. On my side of things, I trust him too. He puts in a lot of time watching film and preparing every single game. It's just that trust that has continued to grow over the last few years.

Max A. Smith is here with us on the Zach Geld show. Have you become a better player from what a lot of people have seen you last two years ago? Yeah, I think just going through the whole draft process and talking with the coaching staff too. Just trying to find areas that I can improve my game on to become a better player. Also put myself in a better position. I think one of the big things was making reads off pick and rolls. I think the last couple of years we've had a little more pick and roll type actions. Just getting more comfortable playing in those situations. Also understanding that in order to have a chance at that next level, my defense has to pick up.

So trying to put a focus on that as well. The coaching staff has done a good job of holding me accountable to those things. For you, and everyone goes back to that 2021 season. I know you guys didn't get back to the tournament last year. But you did have an extra win in the regular season, right?

You guys had two more wins in the conference. What did you learn about last year not making the tourney that really had this group this year come back and play pretty much fall as basketball being 30-4 and not dropping a conference game? Yeah, I think coming off that Sweet 16 run, the year after, we all expected to get right back. It didn't happen last year. I wouldn't say we had a terrible season. But coming off the Sweet 16 run, it definitely didn't live up to that expectation. Just understanding that it's tough to get back to the NCAA tournament and win a conference championship.

Nothing is going to be handed to us. So just coming into this year, understanding that, really taking it a single game at a time. And understanding that we're going to get the best shot out of a lot of teams.

So we have to be locked in and focused every single game. And do what we can to put ourselves in the best position to win. What can this team accomplish? Do you feel like this team could go on another big run and go even further than the team from two years ago?

Yeah, definitely. I think we can for sure. As long as we continue to get better every single day and not look too far ahead. But really stay in the moment and do what we can each and every game.

Being that we have an older group of guys who have that experience playing at the highest level. What do you look back on? That memory of that great NCAA tournament run. Still to this day, what are the memories of that Sweet 16 team that you have? Man, I can remember it all pretty much. That was probably the biggest highlight of my life. Being a kid growing up, you always dream of being in a position like that and being in moments like that. It was something special that I'll never be forgotten. Just thinking back to it, just enjoying all the time that I had with my teammates. And us being excited for one another.

It's just not an opportunity that comes every single day. The thing that always stood out to me about that team. And I remember talking to your coach an hour or two after the win against Ohio State. You guys expected to win the game. I know you never go into a game and you say, oh we're going to lose. But sometimes that stage of the NCAA tournament is too big for some. This group doesn't really ever sense that pressure.

Why is that? I think that's just because we know the work that we put in and we trust it. We put on our shoes just like every other team puts on their shoes. We go into every game confident. For one, we have a coaching staff who's going to do an excellent job of watching film.

Getting prepared for a game and conveying that knowledge to us. We've got to go out there and execute it. We have confidence in everybody. There's a lot of people outside that I might not believe.

But it's on the inside. We understand what it takes and we know the abilities that we have. So we're going to go into every game confident.

If someone hasn't seen your team this year, Max A. Smith, what does Oral Roberts bring this year in basketball? We're just a team. We're going to go out there and do what we have to do to win. I think the big thing that people attribute to us is our ability to shoot the ball. One of the big things that we like to do is we want to set the tone defensively. We don't control the shots they're going in or they aren't.

We're going to go out there and try to set the tone on that end. Just be us and go out there and do whatever we can to win. Before we let you run, you guys played Houston earlier in the season. We know they're one of the better teams in the country.

I know the game did not go the way that you wanted it to. Kelvin Sampson did a great job with that program the last few years. What do you remember about that Houston game? I think it was a good experience for us.

Early in the season, I believe November. We're still building chemistry, playing with one another, and understanding how to feed off of one another. We took that, we learned from it. We saw different areas that we could definitely improve on.

The important thing was moving in the right direction from that. I think we did a good job with that. Last thing I'll ask you, Max A. Smith, you were overlooked coming out of college.

You didn't have many offers. We know you went to Oral Roberts and you've become a star a few years ago. You lead the nation in scoring.

You got a lot of flowers thrown your way during that great run to the Sweet 16. Do you still sense that chip on your shoulder? Do you still feel like you get overlooked a little bit?

Yeah, definitely. That chip on my shoulder will never go away. The biggest goal for me is to make it to the next level.

I might not pass that eye test of being big enough to play at the next level. One thing for me is just controlling what I can control. I'm going to go out there and give it 110% every time I step on the court and do whatever I can to put myself in the best position. Well, it's been a magnificent journey. Best of luck. We'll see where you guys land coming up on Selection Sunday. And good luck.

And hopefully we see a nice long tourney run once again. Yes, sir. Appreciate you for having me.

You got it. There's Max A. Smith joining us from the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. They're back in the NCAA tournament looking to dance and go on a crazy run once again. You know, Hickey, I'm really pulling for you. Because during that interview I see you freaking out as Penn State has a chance to go win this Big Ten tournament game against Northwestern. They missed the shot and they had the half-court heave by Northwestern and it was no good. 56 all in overtime now with 4.25 remaining in the extra session. Hickey, I think you need a victory. Tonight, you probably lost out on your mans in Bryce Young. You need the Nittany Lions led by a Temple man in the great pack craft to really lift your spirits up tonight.

I'm hoping Penn State beats Northwestern. I'll just say this. Look, I'm a good guy. I have good intentions every day. I have gone to church on Sundays. I try to, you know, put everyone else first. I'm not selfish. Did you eat meat today on Friday just wondering?

I did not. I have rigatoni, ala vodka, meatless. There's some prosciutto there, I see.

Meatless. I go out of my way. I was in the sauna today and an older gentleman was standing and said, Sir, do you want to sit down? I try to be nice. I think I deserve one here. I need a win.

Please. Well, you know who's the biggest fan of the Northwestern basketball team? Who's that? Ack. Ack was telling me about this team months ago.

How great of a job Chris Collins has done and how this team's going to be really special. So I know Ack is pulling for Northwestern here. You don't want to see Hickey happy.

Also a big Micah Shrewsbury fan. That's right, Ack. Ack. Divided loyalties here. But I will say this. I did hear Ack was going around the newsroom talking about how potentially the Penn State coach may be on his way out the door and just floating that in front of Hickey's face while he was dealing with the worst news that he's ever got in a while.

I just stated the reality. Hickey's having a tough time here today. That was actually a very funny moment in the newsroom.

The Bears news comes out with the Panthers that the trade has been made. Hickey is not talking to anyone. And then Ack just comes out of the newsroom, walking around, going to make his dinner. He's like, hey, Hickey, looks like Micah Shrewsbury.

He's going to probably wind up out of town at Penn State. And Hickey just looked at Ack like he was the worst person on the board. Hickey's had a rough day.

He was crestfallen. It's all right. It looks like you're doing a little bit better. You want me to lift your spirits up a little bit, Hickey, outside of Penn State?

Well, the C.J. Stroud news was nice. That was a nice boost. Now we need, can we make a show push? You've made a lot of pushes against me.

Let's make a show push together. Texans sign Jimmy G. No. Jimmy G. I'm sorry. I think of something witty and that rhymes with Texans and Houston and Jimmy G. But I'll get something going here and we'll make it happen. Grab Garoppolo. There we go. Go get Garoppolo. Nah. I'm not a huge Jimmy G fan. I've never have been. And I like Seth Payne.

I like Sean Pendergast. They deserve a better football product. They didn't have to pay the price. Now they're going to go get price. This was all just a tease and all my week 18 celebrations of Davis Mills were for not.

Well, that's the case. Anthony Richardson's not going number two. If you sign Jimmy G, it opens up the door more than more than not signing Jimmy G does.

That's all I'll say. That's why I'm rooting for Jimmy G. That's it. You know, I don't care about Orlando Brown Jr. I don't care about Javon Hargrave. These are people that everyone else is looking at in terms of free agency. I'm watching one guy, Jimmy G. Where is he going?

He's going to be the compass to tell you where you have a sections are thinking of quarterbacks. I know of a problem. You have a Colts problem. I already talked myself back into Bryce.

I have a big time problem. I'm not denying it, but it's the way I live. I live in an optimistic world. I live looking at the glass 50% full, not empty. That's the way I live my life. And that's the way I'm choosing to go ahead these next two months. I'm actually going to tune into your podcast because I want to see how you handle this on the podcast tonight.

And I may just be perusing through the podcast to keep my ears up for any interesting takes that I may hear that we may play on the air coming up on Monday. Marquette, by the way, I love a shot. I'm a Marquette. They're up by two against Yukon. That's that's a good game right now.

Good coaching matchup. A shock of smart and Hurley with about 53 seconds to go. And all right, Vicki Penn State got a chance to go up by five here and they missed up. But was that a foul? They got the rebound and they're going to go line here. I think it's a shot clock violation. The shot was so bad. The offensive rebound. It's a hit. I hate to see that Penn State up by two against Northwestern and over.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. So a few things in the college basketball world right now in the Big Ten tournament in overtime, Penn State, Northwestern, Penn State is up by two. And they do have the ball with 14 or so seconds to go. And they just got fouled, I believe. Time out. Time out.

Time out. Because they trapped him in the corner and they took a time out and Northwestern saying that it should have been a jump ball. And then you just had Marquette defeat Yukon. And that was in the Big East semifinal. Marquette survives by two. So the storm of Shaka Smart and his havoc defense is back as Marquette is now off to the Big East championship coming up tomorrow at Madison Square Garden. And I love when Shaka Smart's having success in the NCAA hickey.

Like when he was at VCU, that run was just unbelievable to the final four. And Shaka Smart's a good dude, too. Very good guy. First class dude. Had a few conversations with him throughout the years. I actually, I sat right next to him when he was scouting a Temple UMass game back in the 8-10 tournament. And we were having a conversation, like I interviewed him a few years before that.

So just a first class guy. And at Texas, it wasn't a disaster. It just didn't work out to the level that they thought it was going to. And you thought Shaka Smart with all those resources would basically blow out of the water what he did at VCU. But to only make the NCAA tournament three times.

And then I guess you had that one COVID year where everyone got missed out of the big dance. It just, they never, it never went to the heights that he thought it was. And he kind of realized that. And then he went and took a job in Marquette that I just thought fit him better than what Texas did.

And you see, look, the results are there. They've been tremendous so far this season. Going to the Big East final tomorrow.

Number one seed in the conference. Also helps when Jay Wright retires, too. Let's just be clear, timing is everything. Feather in the cap, absolutely. I will say I'm still trying to get used to Shaka Smart having hair. Yeah.

I don't know if that's something that you're kind of, you know, has kind of normalized for you, but it's still not for me. We'll be seeing him a lot, I'm sure, the next few weeks. He let out like a big roar. That's what I loved. When he looked at the guarding crowd, I was like, yeah!

That shows me Shaka Smart and the happiness is all back. And he's enjoying it again. And that's sometimes the key. You know, these jobs, you know, it's kind of like anything. It's so competitive that you just feel so much pressure to win, so much pressure to succeed that it almost kind of prevents you from being you.

And at the end of the day, we're trying to have fun here. Now, Mark Adams is not going to return as the head coach at Texas Tech. And this is wild how the last two years, really like the last like five years or so, played out. We all remember that great Texas Tech team under Chris Beard, who almost won the national championship. And we know he eventually went to Texas, and then Chris Beard was arrested, and then the charges were dropped. And now Chris Beard may wind up at Ole Miss.

It looks like it's moving towards that direction. There's been no official announcement, but once the serious charges were dropped, whether the situation with his wife or girlfriend, I forget what the exact title is of his significant other, whether that actually happened or not, because just because the charges get dropped doesn't mean it didn't happen. If he doesn't have any charges and he's not facing anything on the legal front, he's going to get a job again because the guy, say what you want about Chris Beard, is a heck of a basketball coach. So you have Chris Beard go from Texas Tech to Texas, and now probably Ole Miss. And then you had Mark Adams, who we thought was like the perfect replacement for Chris Beard, and obviously he knows Texas Tech better than anybody, and they had such a good season a year ago, and then this year it wasn't that great. And you find out that he was talking to his players, and I guess he was quoting a verse from the Bible and told one of the players there's always a master and a servant, and he added that he was just quoting his scripture when talking about a player being coachable, and the quote was, I said in the Bible that Jesus talks about how we all have bosses and we all have servants, Adams told stadium, I was quoting the Bible about that.

Like I understand you're quoting the Bible, but you got to know the players that you're talking to, and when you're talking about slaves and servants and masters, you should have never read that. And then the only point of contention here is that I think the school said that Adams apologized. This is according out of sports, the school said Adams and media apologized to the team, but was issued a written reprimand and suspended as Texas Tech looked into the matter. Adams, however, told stadium he did not apologize while confirming the basics of the school's account, saying he was quoting scripture, and one of my coaches said it bothered a player.

So like what happened here, I would imagine, is he read this, he said, oh, it's in the Bible, so I did nothing wrong, probably. A player had a problem with it, which I totally understand the player having a problem with it, and if Mark Adams would have just apologized, maybe this goes away, but since you didn't apologize from what Mark Adams said, even though it was reported that he originally did, I think that's probably why he's out of a job. Because you look before, like we've had coaches say stupid things to players. Remember McDermott at Creighton a few years ago, it was a comment about a plantation, and his players said, coach realized he messed up, we love coach, we don't want coach going anywhere. The Penn State coach, who's now at Florida Gulf Coast, Pat Chambers, what was the exact comment, I'm sure you know, was it about a noose or something? Yeah, he talked to a player that's black, and basically he said he's playing tight, like he's playing like he said, I don't know if we should say it or not, but basically, you know, playing with a rope around your neck, which is not the best thing to say, and kind of like Mark Adams did not exactly get the message why people were upset. And then Pat Chambers out of a job as well, it's just like, how many times do coaches see these things, like we've seen this a lot, it's bizarre, and then you got to know that your words matter. But the whole situation, from where we were a few years ago, to Beard being at Texas Tech, then at Texas, now probably going to be at Ole Miss, and all that went down on the legal situation, and then Mark Adams, who looked like he was going to be there for like the rest of his life, is now out of a job, it's just bizarre how you follow that story a few years later, and how many things were completely unpredictable of just happening. It's kind of sad that we're still talking about this in 2023, like people just don't understand. Now Mark Adams is an idiot. That's like, yeah, absolutely.

I get it, it's in the Bible, so I don't want to offend anyone in the religion, but you got to know who you're talking to. Yeah, I don't disagree more, so you don't feel bad for him at all, it's just like it's still surprising in this climate that you would think that's okay to say. And clearly he thinks he didn't do anything wrong.

Right, and then feel no remorse about it afterwards. And then the other two things on the coaching front, Patrick Ewing fired at Georgetown. Remember how many times people sat here and told us Patrick Ewing has to be a head coach? Outside of success, what was it, two, three years ago in the Big East tournament, he did nothing at Georgetown. And that was his school too, and that's the tough part when you hire a legend. Right, like he's synonymous with Georgetown, we all know that. Eventually, it's very rare where the coach leaves the school in a happy way.

Because either he's leaving the school because he got a better job and then some at the school are annoyed at him, or he's leaving the school because he sense he's going to get fired, or he actually does get fired. So that's the tough part about hiring a legend. How about this, Rick Pitino, who some people thought would never coach again in college basketball, we know he's been at ION in the last few years. St. John's gets rid of their coach, Anderson, who used to be at Arkansas. And all of a sudden, everyone's starting to say Pitino to St. John's and some other destinations too. I would love, love, love, love, love, love if Rick Pitino is the next head coach of St. John's. He's already back in basketball, so you can't say, oh, he shouldn't be back in basketball because he's already there.

So we already have to get past that conversation. He's been coaching. I want to see Rick Pitino back on a big stage. I hate Rick Pitino, full disclosure, but look, he's already made the tournament, once with IONA, probably going to win it, you know, win their conference, go to the tournament again now. So two tournament appearances in three years, the guy wins, and you know, winning matters now, nothing else. And especially college athletics. There is a lot of scummy things that go on in college athletics that people look the other way in terms of winning games. But I'll tell you, two coaches that I think should get big time jobs. I'm surprised Paul Mills hasn't got a big time job yet as the head coach at Oral Roberts. And then I know we had him on the other day, but it's not just because we had him on. He did a great job at Winthrop, but now to see his success work once again at a small school, the College of Charleston, Pat Kelce. That dude's personality is just infectious. If I'm a bigger program, I would hire him an absolute second. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. We'll talk more about the Panthers trading up to number one pick next in Onside's Offside.