May 30, 2023 • 17 mins
Akeem Dent played linebacker for the Texans from 2014 through 2016. Find out what Dent's been doing in his post-playing days, which Texans he remains friends with, and what's next for him.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A Keem Debt joins us now on where are they now?
Keem linebacker for the Houston Texans for a few years
you coached here as an assistant after that. We've got
a lot to get into. But first things first, where
are you right now? And what are you doing these days? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Living in North Carolina right outside of Chapel Hill here
with my family, my wife names Dana, and then I
have three kids now so little, a little busy and
uh right and so right now and I actually, you know,
like once I got done planning, I got into coaching.
So actually I have an opportunity just came up with
(00:37):
the Bill Watsh Fellowship, So I'll head down to Charlotte
actually on Monday real with the Panthers.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
That's fantastic. That's been that's phenomenal. You were with the
Texans as a coach as an assistant And we're gonna
get into that a little bit later. But that's really fun, man.
That's that's an organization that's got a lot going for it.
You'd think right now with what they've done in the
draft and all that, how the how the Bill wash
Fellowship come about?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This? Pretty much?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
You know, just me reaching out to a lot of
coaches over over my time from Houston, just for my
time in Georgia. Just knowing, uh, Thomas Brown, he's offensive
coordinated there in Carolina now, so he was able to
you know, talk to a couple of guys and kind
of get my name in there, and uh, you know,
it reached out to me and everything just just came
(01:23):
about actually this past in the past couple of days.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Oh wow, that's perfect because last time you and I
saw each other, we were crossing paths in Indianapolis at
the Combine and You're like, yeah, I'm looking for looking
for something. So I'm glad that came up. Man, that's
great stuff. That's a that's a good program, and I
know you're gonna flourish in it. But man, let's take
us back. Your journey to the Texans was an interesting one.
(01:46):
You were traded for t J. Yates and later you
guys become teammates again and coaching mates again. But what
was it like when you got here to Houston, you know,
those first few days and at that first season, that first.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Season I got there, Man, it was it was it
was interesting, brand new coaching staff, you know, Uh, just
twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
You have twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Yeah, so brand new coaching staff and uh, like you said,
I was traded there for TJ. You know, we crossed
paths and things like that. So it was it was interesting.
You know, for me, it was a fresh start coming
to an organization that had a lot of pieces and
a lot of things that was going going for themselves,
and so it was you know, it was it was.
It was a clean slate. It was new for me,
and it was great. It was great. You know, you
(02:27):
can come into a locker room you have got like
JJ Watt, you have Kareem Jackson and Jonathan Joseph and
you know those guys, you have all these pieces that
you're trying to piece together. So it was it was
a great experience for me, you know, as a player
coming from where I came from.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
You know, looking back for about ten years, almost of hindsight,
the season the year before, the Texans lost fourteen games,
largely because of some stuff that happened with pick sixes
and whatnot. But you just mentioned there was a lot
of talent in place when you got there, and you
see why it flipped around very quickly. And you will
from two and fourteen to nine and seven that first year. Yeah,
(03:04):
what was that like being on that defense because that
was very very salty. You got to front row seat
to what JJ Watt was able to do that year.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
It was great. Man, it was great to say. Me
and j J.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Watte drafted the same year, and so, like I said,
it was crazy, you know, coming into that building and
you know, just seeing how hard he worked. You know,
you got JJ, you got Cush, you got Whitnye Merciless.
You guys had just drafted a clowny that year. Yeah,
so you know you come into it and you have
great coaches around you know, Romeo Cornell he did a
(03:34):
great job, you know, just using the pieces that he
had to make his defense and make the players the
defense fit the players that was in that system. So,
I mean it was great just to you could feel
the atmosphere and you can just feel the shift in
the building in the direction that the program was going.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Was your head swimming when you got here.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
So I was traded right at the end of like
you said, like it was right at the end of
mini camp.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
So my first actual like practicing things was in training camp. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, you know, I had those first couple of days
during training camp and things like that.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
But other than that, you know, like you said, like
I was, I was kind of swim. You know.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
You still had a couple of those guys that had
been there in the spring and things like that, so
they had they had a leg up.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
On me in terms of like the playbook and all
of that stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But you know, coming in and coming you know, I
have had different coordinators for the past couple of years,
you know, from Georgia to Atlanta and things like that.
So learning the new system it was easy. The main thing,
you know, is you come into a place and you
try to pick up on the terminology being being the
biggest difference, and you know, you transition in. For myself,
(04:37):
I was going from a four to three defense to
a three four defense, which wasn't a big deal for
inside linebacker things like that. But the main things just
getting used to that terminology.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, what was it like playing for Romeo Carnell?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
It was great, right, He's man, He's probably one of
my favorite coaches of all time.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Just a great guy, real humble guy.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
You know, he always guys wanted to play hard for him,
you know, and the guy that understood football, understood his players,
you know, understood, you know, how to motivate guys.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
You get to coach with him years after that, When
how did that come about? And I'm going to get
back into playing, But just since we were on the
subject of Romeo, I mean, how did that all come about?
You becoming a coacher with the Texans? And I guess
eighteen nineteen around there.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
So actually, so once I got done my last year
playing was seventeen in two thousand, I kind of knew
what I wanted to do post career, and I knew
that I wanted to coach.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Early on in my career, I didn't really know, you know,
which direction I wanted to go first.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I always said, man, I will never coach because time
constraints and things like that. But once I went twenty eighteen,
I went out to Colorado State coached for a year.
During that time, I reached out to guys, reached out
the raible, reached out to Billy Yo.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
The main thing with ob was, hey man, just keep
in contact with me.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
And I kind of did that throughout the season and
the next thing, you know, the off season came and
he said, hey man, come down I might have something
for you. Flew down in the interview for a job
and things like that, got to see a lot of guys,
and it was awesome just to get back in that
building and you kind of feel at home. It's kind
of a feeling like, hey man, you're back home and
you're around the people that you know and things like that.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
So it was great to just get back in the.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Building and be able to be in a room with
a guy like Romeo and Ob and you know, those
defensive coaches and kind of pick their brains on how
the game playing and scheme things and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
What was that transition like? I mean, a lot of
those guys were there when you played, and then now
you're essentially a peer of theirs. What was that like?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
It was easy.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
It was actually pretty great because as a player, you know,
you kind of you gain the respect of your peers
by the way that you play. You always want to
go out and you want to give everything you have
and you go out and you play hard and things
like that. So once you kind of transitioned over, you
already kind of have the ear of the guys.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
In the room.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Like I said, JJ, he was still playing at the
time Whitney he was still there and Bernarja McKinney, guys
like that, So it was easy to connect with those guys.
And once you're trying to to explain something or they
see something, you know, they may see a play or
how we want to operate or do something one way
and you see it another way. But it's easier to
kind of connect and communicate because at the end of
(07:11):
the day, you both can see exactly what each other,
what we're looking at and things like that, and how
we want to get stuff done.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Let's rewind to the playing days here in Houston's favorite
memory as a Texan what was it?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I would say one of my favorite memories. Who would
be just being on hard knocks. Yeah, I would say
being on hard knocks and having guys like Vince Woolfolk
be around and you know he's walking in with the
overalls and the cowboy.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Hats and things like that.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So I would just saying, you know, I just missed
the locker room and things like that.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
That would that would probably be one of my favorites.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Other than that, like the I would say the AFC
South win in the South back in back of years.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
That was pretty cool. You know, a lot of people
give Hard Knocks a bad rap and they say, oh,
it's too invasive, there's too many cameras. You kind of
it's the opposite for you kind of enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Right, Yeah, yeah, I mean because it's almost like playing
the game in a sense with the cameras and things
like that being around, because they do a great job
staying out the way, you know, so at the end
of the day, guys will still being themselves. They give
his fans and that gives people outside of a chance
to see the day to day operation and things like that.
(08:20):
But like I say, like those cameras, man, you don't
even You kind of tune them out and you just
go about your day, you know, just as you will.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Selfishly. I love when Hard Knocks was here because I
think I know a lot about you guys as players,
a lot about you guys as coaches. But then they
pull back another layer or two, or three or four
and you learn even more. So just as a football fan,
as a fan of the team, that was one of
my favorite things. I'm with you, I love that it
was a very underrated time and that was a big deal.
(08:48):
I mean, we got to know a lot and see
a lot of personality from you guys, because every one
of you has a pretty unique personality.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Right right. That's one of those things that, like you say,
like you get to.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Peel back to and the personality of guys, you know,
like the first person comes to mind, and when it
comes that is like like Charles James. You know a
guy that the undrafted guy, and you know he was
able to work his way and works way to the
practice squad and work his way to Actor Ross and
things like that. So it's it's it's always interesting to
see those kind of stories.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And then on the other end of the spectrum, a
guy who was kind of established and been doing some
really good things but was phenomenal when gets miked up.
Is Brian Cushing. What was it like being a linebacker
in the linebacker room with Brian Cushing, whether it was
on hard knocks without hard knocks. I mean, I see
smiling here for those of you listening, he's got a
big smile. He's laughing. Keim Dent tell Us was out like.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
It was great, man, it was great.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I remember when I first got to Houston and you know,
just from the outside looking in, you see cush Man,
and all you see is just an intense guy. He's
probably one of my favorite teammates of all the time
because once we were off the field and in the
locker room and in the me rooms and stuff like that,
the guy man, he personality always shows.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
His personality was always.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Always glowing man if it was, you know, making jokes
or playing around in the locker room or but the
thing was, once we crossed those white lines, and I
think it was something that we all had, but for
him it was next level man. Once he crossed those
white lines, it was all business all the time. And
that's what made him such a great player, That's what
made him such a great leader. I got a tremendous
(10:22):
amount of respect for that guy.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You're a competitive guy. You would not have gotten as
far as you got in the league as both a
player and coach were you not hyper hyper competitive. But
how competitive was Brian Cusher in comparisons?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
That's why I say he's like ultra competitive. It didn't
matter if we were it didn't matter what it was.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
We were sitting in the locker room and we're playing.
It could be anything we had on a basketball goal,
whatever we were doing Cush always wanted to be the
top dog, you know, so, like I said, man, he's
like the ultra competitor man, and I respect him so
much for that.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
What way you got here as a coach? What were
some of the biggest challenges for you and what were
some of the biggest highlights for you as a coach?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Biggest challenges, I wouldn't say it was any challenges. The
main thing, you know, for me was just making sure
that I was taking into information and making sure that
I was able to teach.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
You know, that's as a coach, you're just a teacher.
That was the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Just making sure that I'm able to express myself and
give the guys, you know, the information and things like
that that they needed to go out daily and perform
at the highest level that they could. I would say
from a highlight standpoint, you know it, it was just
just just being around the players.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Being in the locker room, being with the guys.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Once you're done with the game, that's that's kind of
what you missed the most, is is that atmosphere in
that locker room, man, But in that coaching it gives
you a different perspective of the game. You gained that
competitiveness and that fire from coaching and trying to be
strategic in what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So that's I.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Will say that that was That's just my highlight in
terms of, you know, just coming to the coaching side,
who do.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
You keep in touch with? Which Texans are you still
in contact with on a regular basis.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
On a regular basis, And this is a I would
say this is a former textans Ben Jones.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah, it's one of my guys. We keep in touch.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Becauld, y'all play together at Georgia.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, we played together at Georgia and then you know,
once I got there in texts in Houston, he was
there as well. Benard McKinney's he's doing great, him and
his family's doing well. To David and Clowney, those would
probably be like the top three.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And a guy named Max Buller.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, yeah, so he's uh, he's another guy and he's
actually in the coaching and the coaching as well too,
So we definitely keep in.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Touch a lot.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, clown he's around town. We've I've run into him
a time or two. And yeah in Houston, so he's
he's going to join somebody, I'm sure in the in
the next year and help somebody out. That's uh, that's
an interesting one. You bring up Ben Jones. I think
he's one of the most underrated Texans of all time.
Oh it was really really good.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah, really really good, man, I would say like that.
That's that's one of the toughest guys that I've ever
been ye on the team with. I mean, didn't matter
what was what was bothering them, didn't let any injuries
kind of you know, hinder him from going out and
wanted to do his job and perform, you know, for
for his teammates.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
And you love guys, you love guys like that.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, he played three different positions while he was here
on the interior and played them fine, did well. And
then we've seen what he's done with the Titans over
the last decade. Basically, Yeah, he's tough, toughest nails, and
he always walks around barefoot no matter the situation in
the game. But he did that at Georgia with you,
didn't he.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, he did, he did.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So that was that's something that he's I used to add,
So we were all on like this in the same
section when when I was at Georgia, we used to
always talking, you know, just kind of pick each other's brain,
you know, everybody's from different walks of life and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And he said that was something he did in high school.
So because we used to, like, man, being you go
out before every game.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Bare feet and he said, bathleet and he always says, well,
he has to feel the ground, like he has to
feel the playing surface that he's on and stuff like that,
and hey, everybody has that thing, right, Yeah, it worked
for him. So it's one of those things. Was it
was like, all right, being, make sure you get out there,
test the feel conditions out before we get out there.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Okay, So with that in mind, what's the most unique
thing you ever did to get ready for a game?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Man? I was out In terms of me prepping for
a game, I was real, fellow.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
My main thing is as long as I breakfast, always
ate the same scrambled eggs, some baked chicken, you know,
I would always eat kind of eat the same. But pregame, man,
it was more so for me, it was more so
about revisiting any notes that I had. It was more
so about just that calm before the storm type of thing.
I always had to walk out on just walk out
(14:53):
early out onto the field and just kind of get
a sense of calmness for myself so that I didn't
go out, you know, when it's time to kicked off,
I would kind of be riled up, you know, right.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
It was like I said, it was kind of that
that calm before the storm.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Once those you know, you've seen the national anthem and
things like that, then it's like, okay, it's go time.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
The storm is there? Hey, as somebody who played the
position for this team, and you did so a few
years after he was here. But what were your thoughts
when the Texans hired Damiko Ryans as head coach.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
That's the best hire.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
That's the greatest hire, you know, one of the greatest
things that they could have done to have a guy
like that, a guy that played and the guy that
has coached these past years at the level that he has,
going from a QC to a linebacker position coach and
then becoming a defensive coordinator. That defense has been elite,
you know, these past couple of years. To afford him
(15:49):
the opportunity to get a head coaching job, I'm glad
he landed in Houston, Man, because I honestly can say,
when I saw that happened, I was stoked, and I
know the fans are probably stoked as well.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes, it's kind of a similar thing because people around
here remember who he was as a player as a Texan.
You know, you were probably in junior high high school
when he was doing his thing in Alabama, and yeah,
you're in SEC country. You knew who that guy was.
He was SEC Defensive Player of the Years last year,
playing a position that you played.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
So and that's a school that recruited Alabama, was a
school that recruited me coming out of high school.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So I knew exactly who who he was, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
So so like I say, like, that's the guy that
I always kind of looked at, I always followed throughout
my career as a as a player, you know, because
he was always one of those guys that was at
the top of his game all the time as a player.
But for him to make that transition from player to
coach and to do what he's done over these past
couple of years, man, that's that's awesome to see.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I'm definitely rooting for well, we're rooting for you, man.
Congratulations on this Bill Walsh fellowship. So what is next.
What do you have coming up? When does that start?
What's the what's the timeline for all this?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Appreciate it first of all, and so that starts on
upcoming Monday. So I'll head down to Carolina this upcoming Monday.
I'll be there from then onto until training camp. So
I'll be it with them throughout training camp, you know,
and you know, who knows, hopefully something opens up and
they're able to keep me on for the season, you know.
If not, then I'll try to find a place here
(17:19):
in North Carolina, maybe hopefully.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Go up to U N See.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Just with the connections that I have here in Carolina
and things like that, maybe you know, be able to
help those guys out or something like that. So who knows.
The sky's the limit. I'm just trying to tell you
a day at a time, you know, that's all we get.
So I'm excited for my future and in the future
as well.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
The sky is the limit.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Man.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You're you're gonna definitely latch on someplace and you're gonna
help some football team out. It's great to hear from you,
it's great to see it. It's always fun catching up
with you. And this has been a where are they now,
A Keem Debt joins us now on where are they now?
Keem linebacker for the Houston Texans for a few years
you coached here as an assistant after that. We've got
a lot to get into. But first things first, where
are you right now? And what are you doing these days? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Living in North Carolina right outside of Chapel Hill here
with my family, my wife names Dana, and then I
have three kids now so little, a little busy and
uh right and so right now and I actually, you know,
like once I got done planning, I got into coaching.
So actually I have an opportunity just came up with
(00:37):
the Bill Watsh Fellowship, So I'll head down to Charlotte
actually on Monday real with the Panthers.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
That's fantastic. That's been that's phenomenal. You were with the
Texans as a coach as an assistant And we're gonna
get into that a little bit later. But that's really fun, man.
That's that's an organization that's got a lot going for it.
You'd think right now with what they've done in the
draft and all that, how the how the Bill wash
Fellowship come about?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This? Pretty much?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
You know, just me reaching out to a lot of
coaches over over my time from Houston, just for my
time in Georgia. Just knowing, uh, Thomas Brown, he's offensive
coordinated there in Carolina now, so he was able to
you know, talk to a couple of guys and kind
of get my name in there, and uh, you know,
it reached out to me and everything just just came
(01:23):
about actually this past in the past couple of days.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Oh wow, that's perfect because last time you and I
saw each other, we were crossing paths in Indianapolis at
the Combine and You're like, yeah, I'm looking for looking
for something. So I'm glad that came up. Man, that's
great stuff. That's a that's a good program, and I
know you're gonna flourish in it. But man, let's take
us back. Your journey to the Texans was an interesting one.
(01:46):
You were traded for t J. Yates and later you
guys become teammates again and coaching mates again. But what
was it like when you got here to Houston, you know,
those first few days and at that first season, that first.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Season I got there, Man, it was it was it
was interesting, brand new coaching staff, you know, Uh, just
twenty fourteen.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
You have twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Yeah, so brand new coaching staff and uh, like you said,
I was traded there for TJ. You know, we crossed
paths and things like that. So it was it was interesting.
You know, for me, it was a fresh start coming
to an organization that had a lot of pieces and
a lot of things that was going going for themselves,
and so it was you know, it was it was.
It was a clean slate. It was new for me,
and it was great. It was great. You know, you
(02:27):
can come into a locker room you have got like
JJ Watt, you have Kareem Jackson and Jonathan Joseph and
you know those guys, you have all these pieces that
you're trying to piece together. So it was it was
a great experience for me, you know, as a player
coming from where I came from.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
You know, looking back for about ten years, almost of hindsight,
the season the year before, the Texans lost fourteen games,
largely because of some stuff that happened with pick sixes
and whatnot. But you just mentioned there was a lot
of talent in place when you got there, and you
see why it flipped around very quickly. And you will
from two and fourteen to nine and seven that first year. Yeah,
(03:04):
what was that like being on that defense because that
was very very salty. You got to front row seat
to what JJ Watt was able to do that year.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
It was great. Man, it was great to say. Me
and j J.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Watte drafted the same year, and so, like I said,
it was crazy, you know, coming into that building and
you know, just seeing how hard he worked. You know,
you got JJ, you got Cush, you got Whitnye Merciless.
You guys had just drafted a clowny that year. Yeah,
so you know you come into it and you have
great coaches around you know, Romeo Cornell he did a
(03:34):
great job, you know, just using the pieces that he
had to make his defense and make the players the
defense fit the players that was in that system. So,
I mean it was great just to you could feel
the atmosphere and you can just feel the shift in
the building in the direction that the program was going.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Was your head swimming when you got here.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
So I was traded right at the end of like
you said, like it was right at the end of
mini camp.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
So my first actual like practicing things was in training camp. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, you know, I had those first couple of days
during training camp and things like that.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
But other than that, you know, like you said, like
I was, I was kind of swim. You know.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
You still had a couple of those guys that had
been there in the spring and things like that, so
they had they had a leg up.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
On me in terms of like the playbook and all
of that stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
But you know, coming in and coming you know, I
have had different coordinators for the past couple of years,
you know, from Georgia to Atlanta and things like that.
So learning the new system it was easy. The main thing,
you know, is you come into a place and you
try to pick up on the terminology being being the
biggest difference, and you know, you transition in. For myself,
(04:37):
I was going from a four to three defense to
a three four defense, which wasn't a big deal for
inside linebacker things like that. But the main things just
getting used to that terminology.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, what was it like playing for Romeo Carnell?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
It was great, right, He's man, He's probably one of
my favorite coaches of all time.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Just a great guy, real humble guy.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
You know, he always guys wanted to play hard for him,
you know, and the guy that understood football, understood his players,
you know, understood, you know, how to motivate guys.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
You get to coach with him years after that, When
how did that come about? And I'm going to get
back into playing, But just since we were on the
subject of Romeo, I mean, how did that all come about?
You becoming a coacher with the Texans? And I guess
eighteen nineteen around there.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
So actually, so once I got done my last year
playing was seventeen in two thousand, I kind of knew
what I wanted to do post career, and I knew
that I wanted to coach.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Early on in my career, I didn't really know, you know,
which direction I wanted to go first.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I always said, man, I will never coach because time
constraints and things like that. But once I went twenty eighteen,
I went out to Colorado State coached for a year.
During that time, I reached out to guys, reached out
the raible, reached out to Billy Yo.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
The main thing with ob was, hey man, just keep
in contact with me.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
And I kind of did that throughout the season and
the next thing, you know, the off season came and
he said, hey man, come down I might have something
for you. Flew down in the interview for a job
and things like that, got to see a lot of guys,
and it was awesome just to get back in that
building and you kind of feel at home. It's kind
of a feeling like, hey man, you're back home and
you're around the people that you know and things like that.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
So it was great to just get back in the.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Building and be able to be in a room with
a guy like Romeo and Ob and you know, those
defensive coaches and kind of pick their brains on how
the game playing and scheme things and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
What was that transition like? I mean, a lot of
those guys were there when you played, and then now
you're essentially a peer of theirs. What was that like?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
It was easy.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
It was actually pretty great because as a player, you know,
you kind of you gain the respect of your peers
by the way that you play. You always want to
go out and you want to give everything you have
and you go out and you play hard and things
like that. So once you kind of transitioned over, you
already kind of have the ear of the guys.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
In the room.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Like I said, JJ, he was still playing at the
time Whitney he was still there and Bernarja McKinney, guys
like that, So it was easy to connect with those guys.
And once you're trying to to explain something or they
see something, you know, they may see a play or
how we want to operate or do something one way
and you see it another way. But it's easier to
kind of connect and communicate because at the end of
(07:11):
the day, you both can see exactly what each other,
what we're looking at and things like that, and how
we want to get stuff done.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Let's rewind to the playing days here in Houston's favorite
memory as a Texan what was it?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I would say one of my favorite memories. Who would
be just being on hard knocks. Yeah, I would say
being on hard knocks and having guys like Vince Woolfolk
be around and you know he's walking in with the
overalls and the cowboy.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Hats and things like that.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So I would just saying, you know, I just missed
the locker room and things like that.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
That would that would probably be one of my favorites.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Other than that, like the I would say the AFC
South win in the South back in back of years.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
That was pretty cool. You know, a lot of people
give Hard Knocks a bad rap and they say, oh,
it's too invasive, there's too many cameras. You kind of
it's the opposite for you kind of enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Right, Yeah, yeah, I mean because it's almost like playing
the game in a sense with the cameras and things
like that being around, because they do a great job
staying out the way, you know, so at the end
of the day, guys will still being themselves. They give
his fans and that gives people outside of a chance
to see the day to day operation and things like that.
(08:20):
But like I say, like those cameras, man, you don't
even You kind of tune them out and you just
go about your day, you know, just as you will.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Selfishly. I love when Hard Knocks was here because I
think I know a lot about you guys as players,
a lot about you guys as coaches. But then they
pull back another layer or two, or three or four
and you learn even more. So just as a football fan,
as a fan of the team, that was one of
my favorite things. I'm with you, I love that it
was a very underrated time and that was a big deal.
(08:48):
I mean, we got to know a lot and see
a lot of personality from you guys, because every one
of you has a pretty unique personality.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Right right. That's one of those things that, like you say,
like you get to.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Peel back to and the personality of guys, you know,
like the first person comes to mind, and when it
comes that is like like Charles James. You know a
guy that the undrafted guy, and you know he was
able to work his way and works way to the
practice squad and work his way to Actor Ross and
things like that. So it's it's it's always interesting to
see those kind of stories.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
And then on the other end of the spectrum, a
guy who was kind of established and been doing some
really good things but was phenomenal when gets miked up.
Is Brian Cushing. What was it like being a linebacker
in the linebacker room with Brian Cushing, whether it was
on hard knocks without hard knocks. I mean, I see
smiling here for those of you listening, he's got a
big smile. He's laughing. Keim Dent tell Us was out like.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
It was great, man, it was great.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I remember when I first got to Houston and you know,
just from the outside looking in, you see cush Man,
and all you see is just an intense guy. He's
probably one of my favorite teammates of all the time
because once we were off the field and in the
locker room and in the me rooms and stuff like that,
the guy man, he personality always shows.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
His personality was always.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Always glowing man if it was, you know, making jokes
or playing around in the locker room or but the
thing was, once we crossed those white lines, and I
think it was something that we all had, but for
him it was next level man. Once he crossed those
white lines, it was all business all the time. And
that's what made him such a great player, That's what
made him such a great leader. I got a tremendous
(10:22):
amount of respect for that guy.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You're a competitive guy. You would not have gotten as
far as you got in the league as both a
player and coach were you not hyper hyper competitive. But
how competitive was Brian Cusher in comparisons?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
That's why I say he's like ultra competitive. It didn't
matter if we were it didn't matter what it was.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
We were sitting in the locker room and we're playing.
It could be anything we had on a basketball goal,
whatever we were doing Cush always wanted to be the
top dog, you know, so, like I said, man, he's
like the ultra competitor man, and I respect him so
much for that.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
What way you got here as a coach? What were
some of the biggest challenges for you and what were
some of the biggest highlights for you as a coach?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Biggest challenges, I wouldn't say it was any challenges. The
main thing, you know, for me was just making sure
that I was taking into information and making sure that
I was able to teach.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
You know, that's as a coach, you're just a teacher.
That was the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Just making sure that I'm able to express myself and
give the guys, you know, the information and things like
that that they needed to go out daily and perform
at the highest level that they could. I would say
from a highlight standpoint, you know it, it was just
just just being around the players.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Being in the locker room, being with the guys.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Once you're done with the game, that's that's kind of
what you missed the most, is is that atmosphere in
that locker room, man, But in that coaching it gives
you a different perspective of the game. You gained that
competitiveness and that fire from coaching and trying to be
strategic in what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So that's I.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Will say that that was That's just my highlight in
terms of, you know, just coming to the coaching side,
who do.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
You keep in touch with? Which Texans are you still
in contact with on a regular basis.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
On a regular basis, And this is a I would
say this is a former textans Ben Jones.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yeah, it's one of my guys. We keep in touch.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Becauld, y'all play together at Georgia.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, we played together at Georgia and then you know,
once I got there in texts in Houston, he was
there as well. Benard McKinney's he's doing great, him and
his family's doing well. To David and Clowney, those would
probably be like the top three.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And a guy named Max Buller.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, yeah, so he's uh, he's another guy and he's
actually in the coaching and the coaching as well too,
So we definitely keep in.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Touch a lot.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, clown he's around town. We've I've run into him
a time or two. And yeah in Houston, so he's
he's going to join somebody, I'm sure in the in
the next year and help somebody out. That's uh, that's
an interesting one. You bring up Ben Jones. I think
he's one of the most underrated Texans of all time.
Oh it was really really good.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah, really really good, man, I would say like that.
That's that's one of the toughest guys that I've ever
been ye on the team with. I mean, didn't matter
what was what was bothering them, didn't let any injuries
kind of you know, hinder him from going out and
wanted to do his job and perform, you know, for
for his teammates.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
And you love guys, you love guys like that.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, he played three different positions while he was here
on the interior and played them fine, did well. And
then we've seen what he's done with the Titans over
the last decade. Basically, Yeah, he's tough, toughest nails, and
he always walks around barefoot no matter the situation in
the game. But he did that at Georgia with you,
didn't he.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, he did, he did.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
So that was that's something that he's I used to add,
So we were all on like this in the same
section when when I was at Georgia, we used to
always talking, you know, just kind of pick each other's brain,
you know, everybody's from different walks of life and things
like that.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
And he said that was something he did in high school.
So because we used to, like, man, being you go
out before every game.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Bare feet and he said, bathleet and he always says, well,
he has to feel the ground, like he has to
feel the playing surface that he's on and stuff like that,
and hey, everybody has that thing, right, Yeah, it worked
for him. So it's one of those things. Was it
was like, all right, being, make sure you get out there,
test the feel conditions out before we get out there.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Okay, So with that in mind, what's the most unique
thing you ever did to get ready for a game?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Man? I was out In terms of me prepping for
a game, I was real, fellow.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
My main thing is as long as I breakfast, always
ate the same scrambled eggs, some baked chicken, you know,
I would always eat kind of eat the same. But pregame, man,
it was more so for me, it was more so
about revisiting any notes that I had. It was more
so about just that calm before the storm type of thing.
I always had to walk out on just walk out
(14:53):
early out onto the field and just kind of get
a sense of calmness for myself so that I didn't
go out, you know, when it's time to kicked off,
I would kind of be riled up, you know, right.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
It was like I said, it was kind of that
that calm before the storm.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Once those you know, you've seen the national anthem and
things like that, then it's like, okay, it's go time.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
The storm is there? Hey, as somebody who played the
position for this team, and you did so a few
years after he was here. But what were your thoughts
when the Texans hired Damiko Ryans as head coach.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
That's the best hire.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
That's the greatest hire, you know, one of the greatest
things that they could have done to have a guy
like that, a guy that played and the guy that
has coached these past years at the level that he has,
going from a QC to a linebacker position coach and
then becoming a defensive coordinator. That defense has been elite,
you know, these past couple of years. To afford him
(15:49):
the opportunity to get a head coaching job, I'm glad
he landed in Houston, Man, because I honestly can say,
when I saw that happened, I was stoked, and I
know the fans are probably stoked as well.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes, it's kind of a similar thing because people around
here remember who he was as a player as a Texan.
You know, you were probably in junior high high school
when he was doing his thing in Alabama, and yeah,
you're in SEC country. You knew who that guy was.
He was SEC Defensive Player of the Years last year,
playing a position that you played.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
So and that's a school that recruited Alabama, was a
school that recruited me coming out of high school.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So I knew exactly who who he was, you know.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
So so like I say, like, that's the guy that
I always kind of looked at, I always followed throughout
my career as a as a player, you know, because
he was always one of those guys that was at
the top of his game all the time as a player.
But for him to make that transition from player to
coach and to do what he's done over these past
couple of years, man, that's that's awesome to see.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I'm definitely rooting for well, we're rooting for you, man.
Congratulations on this Bill Walsh fellowship. So what is next.
What do you have coming up? When does that start?
What's the what's the timeline for all this?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Appreciate it first of all, and so that starts on
upcoming Monday. So I'll head down to Carolina this upcoming Monday.
I'll be there from then onto until training camp. So
I'll be it with them throughout training camp, you know,
and you know, who knows, hopefully something opens up and
they're able to keep me on for the season, you know.
If not, then I'll try to find a place here
(17:19):
in North Carolina, maybe hopefully.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Go up to U N See.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Just with the connections that I have here in Carolina
and things like that, maybe you know, be able to
help those guys out or something like that. So who knows.
The sky's the limit. I'm just trying to tell you
a day at a time, you know, that's all we get.
So I'm excited for my future and in the future
as well.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
The sky is the limit.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Man.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You're you're gonna definitely latch on someplace and you're gonna
help some football team out. It's great to hear from you,
it's great to see it. It's always fun catching up
with you. And this has been a where are they now,
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