June 13, 2025 • 23 mins
On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk is joined by Arizona State’s Running Backs Coach, Shaun Aguano. He discusses Cam Skattebo’s football mentality, his physical play style, and his leadership on the team.
:00 - Cam Skattebo’s contact balance
4:06 - Football intelligence
8:56 - Pass protection and catching
13:51 - Cam’s mentality
17:40 - Cam’s durability and speed
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time to get inside the Giants.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Let's go Giants on the Giants mobul give me some job.
Part of the Giants podcast network. Let's roll.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Welcome to another edition of the Giantshuttle Podcast, brought to
you by Citizens Official Bank of the Giants. We continue
to talk to some of the assistant coaches that coached
up the Giants draft picks. Today, we're going to talk
to Arizona State running backs coach Sean Iguano, who coached
Cam Scattabow at Arizona State. We're joining you from the
Hackensack Rinney Health podcast studio. Keep getting better if you
(00:31):
can go back, we have a couple of previous interviews
as well with some of the assistant coaches. You have
Marcus Johnson who coached Marcus Bow at Purdue on the
offensive line, and you had Marcus Sadisfield who coached Thomas
Faedoni a tight end at Nebraska. You have Jason Kandell,
who's the head coach at Toledo with Darius Alexander. Then
you have Mike Gundy, who is the dbat the head
(00:51):
coach rather at Oklahoma State. For the Giants seventh round pick,
so a lot of good interviews. Make sure you go
check them out on the Giants Huddle podcast and now
welcome in our guest. He is the running backs coach
for Arizona State. He is Sean Iguano. Sean, how are
you man?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Fantastic? Can't do any better?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Hey, I'm so happy to talk to you. We just
had a couple days of OTAs here. We got to
see Cam out there on the field. We've had a
chance to interact with him a bunch, and boy, Ken
Scattabo is just a fun dude. Give us a feel
for him as a guy. What's your first interactions were
like with him. I know you're one of the guys
that tried to get him over from Sacramento State, So
(01:29):
just just give me your first experiences with him and
what jumped out about him to you, about his personality
and his approach to the game.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
You know, a great personality, intense, intense guy that played
you know, the underdog mentality the whole time. What people
don't understand is that and you don't find this too much.
He loves football. He's an all ball guy, and so
that kind of persuaded me to jump on him real
(01:59):
quick and persuade him to get to Arizona State. But
you know, his football intelligence is probably one of the
most elite things about him, as well as his athletic ability.
But he understands the game of football and loves the
game of football.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
All right, I want to touch on all those things,
but I want to start with this. I saw what
he did to like Power five conference level guys that
were trying to tackle him. I can't imagine what his
tape looked like at Sacramento State with these poor kids
trying to bring that guy down playing running back. What
was it like when you first put on the tape
and you found out you could get him and you
(02:35):
first looked at him trying to run the ball at
Sacramento State.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
You know what stood out was his contact balance And
I didn't know if it was real. And maybe the
contact balance because he was playing at that FCS level,
would it translate to the FBS level. I didn't know.
But I loved his tenacity and then when he played
the game and so that that intrigued me the most.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, and I think that really up is that his
low center of gravity is it is like core strength.
What allows him to have that type of contact, balance
in your opinion.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think I think both of those. I think, you know,
his core strength on the bottom, you know, he runs
really low to the ground is great hips, but just
his balance and and the way he's he's uh grounded
is is incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And he is seeking out contact the wrong term because
he doesn't make people miss, but he certainly doesn't shy
away from contact. Is that something that you thought about
when he got to the higher level that he wouldn't
be able to run through tackles as well as he
did at that level? And how did you eventually figure
out that, No, he can keep running the same way
(03:42):
and he's gonna be okay.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You know that was that was a concern, and can
he make it to the next game that you know,
health was a concern. So we worked on working half
a man, not taking somebody straight on. But to tell
you the truth, once the lights go on, he's going
to take you, stripe and test you. And so that's
part of training and taking half man and doing all
(04:05):
of that. He just plays the game like that and
I don't think that we can take away that part
of it. But I think he's getting smarter and smarter
once the hits are getting heavier and heavier.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
You know, I think too, Sean, when you watch him run,
I think his willingness to drop his shoulder and get
those extra yards, I think it sets up his short
area quickness well, right, because I think these linebackers sometimes
are bracing for the hit and the contact and then
he puts a little move on and he's able to
get by him absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You know, his lateral quickness is something that people don't understand,
and especially from his contact when he makes contact, his
separation from the contact is elite as well. And so
because he's a strong, strong kid with a good core,
but again lateral quickness, they think that he's gonna get
(04:53):
hit and next thing, you know, we call it scat runs.
It's supposed to be three four yards because somebody field it.
The next thing you know, he's gone for twenty twenty
five yards of mini and an explosive and it's.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Phone booth stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Right, Like when you're in that line of scrimmage area
and you don't have room to bounce, you don't have
room to you know, make these dramatic jump cuts. It's
these little subtle moves where you can make other elite
athletes miss in like a two yard box.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
That's special like kids. Not a lot of kids can
do that.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Not a lot of kids can do that. And that's
something that intrigued me the most, and then the for
the for two years, we worked about being efficient and
getting getting north and south as quick as possible, so
those tackles would be not full contact, but more of
arm tackles and being quick with his you know, his
jump cuts are one cuts and getting north and south
(05:45):
with the same body, lean and and and it's it
didn't work for him.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So let me let me bring this full circle. You
talk about the football intelligence.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
How important and essential is that football intelligence to use
your blockers to set up the defender so that you
are only attacking half the body and they're not able
to square you up.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think it's really important. What people don't understand about
Cam is that he wants to know the why of everything.
He knows the blocking scheme, he knows the calls, he
knows the protection, he knows why that happens. He knows
the pressures, the simulated pressures and where they're coming from.
Because he studies the why and he wants to know.
(06:26):
And he's a guy that asks a lot of questions,
but those questions are very intelligent questions because he wants
to know why and then why do we do it?
And he'll challenge you if you don't have an answer
to why you do it because he studies so much
of the game.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
The Giants Litle Podcast is brought to you by Citizens,
the Official bank of the New York Giants. From game
day celebrations to your everyday financial needs, Big Blue fans
can get the most out of every moment with Citizens.
Learn more at Citizens bank dot com slash Giants.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Huddle up, get in here. If you're lined up here,
you gotta go over the middle with it. The score great.
How do we make that happened? I don't know, but
Citizen does makes sense of your money with Citizens, Official
Bank of ELI.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Manning, dive a little deeper into that football intelligence part
of it with me, what really you said?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
That's one of the things that first stood out to
you about it.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Give me some examples or details about what parts of
his football intelligence and kind of how that manifests himself
with how it plays, how he plays on the field,
and how it shows up on game day.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You know. So when we first started he studies the
defensive structure and that's when we set up We set
up the first level, second level, third level runs. So
he knows where people are coming from. From a protection standpoint,
he's elite now. Fundamentally he has to work on keeping
his hit up, but he puts his head down and everything,
but he knows exactly where people are coming from, how
(07:48):
to get inside out because he understands the structure of
the defense. He understands the bubbles of the runs on
defensive structure, especially the front, first and second levels, and
so he understands where to hit, where to be patient,
and all of those things because he knows the unblocked
person within that structure.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
And I think so much, and that's the smart analytical
part of it, right, But I also think you know this,
so much of the running back position is instinctual, right
If you see a flash of the wrong color of
the other color, do you do? You make the right move?
And it just seems like that comes very naturally to him.
He just has very good instincts of avoiding those big
hits from defenders.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Absolutely because I think he anticipates where they're coming from
prior to the ball being snapped. So I think he's
very quick on his pre snap reeds, understanding where the
ball will hit. Now, sometimes I get on him. We
got to be more patient. And he understands that and
he's learning. But those conversations that we have on the sideline,
I'm mature conversation because he would be like coach, I
(08:53):
should have pressed the heel line a little bit quicker
and stayed on it a little bit longer. I should
have set the mic backer up on the overflow. All
of those things he understands, so it's easy for corrections
on the sideline during the game.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
You mentioned the pass pro part of this, which you
have to do well to get on the field asn't
working in the NFL. You have to protect the quarterback.
If you can't protect the quarterback, you're not getting on
the field. Coach, you know that you talked about him
becoming elite. Is that because of the combination of the
intelligence and his physicality, he just likes to hit people.
Is that really the sweet spot of putting those two
together that makes them a good pass protector?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Absolutely, because he anticipates and he knows where they're coming from.
He knows the hot structures of the offensive scheme and
so those things he understands. He knows when he's the
hot guy I supposed to get the football, and that's
what makes him elite. And what people to understand is
he probably had one of the best hands on our
team out of the backfield, and he just knows where
(09:51):
to go, knows where to settle, knows where the green
grass is on routes. He has that keen sense of
what to do on on certain schemes, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And it's funny, you took me exactly where I wanted
to go, because once again on the field, then you
can start being a pass receiver, right and it's one
thing to catch screens and catch checkdowns. You guys are
running him on wheel routes, you guys are putting him outside.
You were letting them run in space, and he just
had his body control. Usually guys that are that big
in boxy sometimes the flexibility and the body control is
not there. But he seemed like a very natural catcher,
(10:23):
even on balls where you know he had to look
back at the quarterback adjust to it in the air.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I thought he did a really nice job with that.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
He did. He did, and he always compared the running
back prior to him was where Shad White with me
at at the issue, and he compares himself to that
as well. The thing about Cam is when he goes
he can play baseball, he can go in bold, he
can shoot pool, he can shoot, he can throw darts.
He can do all of those things. So he's a
natural athlete. And when we talk about his body control,
(10:52):
he can torque himself in those situations because of all
the sports that he can play, and then he can
then he can hoop for five nine guys. A guy
out there that can hoop, and so he's he's fun
because he's a natural athlete.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You mentioned the Blue Kyle attitude.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
The first press converse he did when he got here,
it was rookie mini camp and he goes, you know,
people were asking about what role he's going to play.
He goes, guys, look, I just want to earn my
way on the team. You know, he wasn't talking about
being a starter. He was talking about earning a spot
on the roster. And look, we all know realistically you
get picked that higher going to be on the roster,
but he wasn't thinking.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
About it that way. Is that always?
Speaker 3 (11:25):
I gotta imagine that probably comes from him being underrecruited
at a high school. Riet he had to go to
Sacramento State, he didn't get all these big offers. Is
that just the way he approaches everything where he knows
that he's starting from the ground level and he has
to build himself up from zero.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Absolutely, And when he came into ESU, all of our
running backs play special teams, and to me it is
important because the sustainability in the league is because if
you're not the first first back and you're second or
third back, you have to play special teams and you
have to be elite if you want to sustain that level.
And so he was one of our best special teams guy.
He was our personal protector. He was the guy, our
(12:02):
hit guy on the kickoff. He's a returner, so he
does it all. He knows and can understands the environment
where he's at, where he will put himself in a
situation will he'll excel. And then that next step is
him being the guy. So he knows how to work
(12:22):
that and he'll play any position that you put him
on and excel in that. To know where his end
goal is at.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I want to talk about the playoff run.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
You guys made last year, and you take on Texas
and man, I mean, they are such a talented football team.
They had so many guys get drafted this year. Yet
you guys just felt comfortable giving the ball to Cam.
And you know, I think everyone said, all right, well,
what is this going to look like against an SEC team?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Right?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
And while it looked exactly the way it did against
every other team and he ran the hell out of
the football, what is it about Cam that gave you
guys the confidence to put the ball in his hands
as much as you did in such a critical game
against such a good opponent like Texas?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Because whoever's fitting Cam from a defensive structure, we take
Cam over anybody else. So if that's a safety fit
or a corner fit or a backer fit, we know
he's the better player. We knew that if we played
physical football, and coach Dillingham and does an incredible job
with our kids. Our game is a physicality. We're going
to run the football and try to impose our will,
(13:30):
doesn't matter who it is, and our kids' mentality is
like that. And it kind of feeds off of Cam too,
because he's a leader in that. And if it's fourth
and one. He's going to make sure that everybody knows
that he wants the football, and he'll let and he'll
let everybody know, and that Coach Dillingham as well. And
we've come to a trust point where when the game's
in jeopardy or we need something, he's the guy that
(13:51):
will get it for him. And then he'll come back
and smile at me. And so I told you, Coach,
and I know, I mean, that's just the way it goes.
But he wants the ball in his hands in crucial moments.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
When you talk to him, he seems like a very
humble kid.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And I feel like he's one of these guys that
once he gets on the football field, he kind of
flips a switch. It becomes almost like a different guy.
Is that your experience with him or does he have
that kind of you know, chip on your shoulder, you know,
killer mentality. Even when he's like in the meeting rooms
with the guys too, you know, he's.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
He tries to play that calm, but he's he's intense
all the time and he's actually a very funny guy.
But he's an intelligent guy. But once those lights goes on,
he's ready to play football. He's a big relationship guy,
and I think in order to for people to understand him,
(14:42):
he builds relationships. He builds that trust and then he'll
he'll run through a wall for anybody. But he does
well in our room because he's taking that leadership role
where he helped with out the younger guys and so
he became the leader in that room. And he'll wait
his turn and play that underdog and he'll and he'll
(15:03):
battle every day until he gets to a spot there
where he thinks that he can compete at a high level.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
How does he lead coach? Is he more relieved by
example guy? Is he a big talker, raw rod type
of guy?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
He's both and and he'll get in people's faces and
he'll let them know that he's coming. He does that
you know way that is really not offensive. But our
defensive guys are like yeah, but after a while they'll
move on the side too because he's he's coming downhill,
you know, even on walkthroughs. And so he's a show
and he's and he's a talker as well.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I imagine he sets a pretty high standard in that
running back room. Then huh, he.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Does and and he was very fortunate to see guys
that come come before him, and our guys now have
learned to play a little bit more physical because of
what they've the standard that has set what he has done.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
How does he learn? Is he a guy that that
needs to go out on the field and rep it?
Can he learn it just from boardwalk? From filmore? What
kind of learner is he?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
He's very intelligent. Now he can see it and go
on the field and perform it. Now, now rep wise,
I mean he'll he'll he'll take reps and he understands it.
But he can see it, process it really well, and
then perform it. So I don't think he will have
any trouble in regards to the playbook because he's a
he's a pretty quick learner.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
If you want to know how to manage two minutes
of crunch time football, I'm your man. But if you're
wondering about a long term financial plan, you should talk
to citizens. Hey, I can also talk long care.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I'd like to learn about ANILI routine.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yes, I knew I could help make sense of your
money with citizens. Yeah, how many different concepts did you
guys run well? Were mostly? Did you do out of zone?
Did you run some gap.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Well, how much experience does he have in the various
different run schemes that he's going to see here at
the pro level.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
And he's seen it all because we're a mid zone,
we're a mid zone outside zone gap team and so,
and he knows the nuances on both of them and
the calls on all of them, so he'll he'll fit
in fine.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Bruce Fell had a great article.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
He talked to your guys strength and conditioning coach, and
they said, he really made a lot of progress when
he got to you guys. I think he went from
like two thirty down to two eighteen or two thirty
five down to two eighteen. How did you see him
transform his body and improve some of the nutrition stuff
once he was in your building and he was there
for a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I think it was just a mindset of if we
are going through our junior year and there is no improvement,
then you have to understand that the endgame might not
be there at the end of the season. And so
for six months after his junior season, he really dove
into the nutrition, the work, the cardio, all of that
stuff getting stronger and it improved him tremendously. But so
(17:41):
he has that mindset that he can do what he
wants to do, when he wants to do, and he'll
put himself in that situation.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
How much did dropping that weight and becoming more fit
a improve his durability where you're able to ride him
as much as you guys did, especially in that title
game against that in that playoff game against Texas, but
just throughout the whole year his usage was sky high.
And then how much did that help some of that
short area of quickness we're talking about right where he gets.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
A little bit more twitchy and a little bit more explosive.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I think it helped him both because I would always
pull up There's a couple of times his junior that
he got caught from behind that he didn't like that,
and I would always make sure that when there was
a little lull in his play, I would pull that
up just to make sure that I remind him that
you know that he got caught behind it. And so
he was embarrassed about that. But again, his short airy quickness,
(18:32):
his explosion increased tremendously because of his body.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I was gonna ask you about his speed. Look he
I think is his forty time at the per day
was in the four sixes. I think that's where we
all kind of thought it was going to be, which
is fine. The way he runs, I don't really care
about how you run in a straight line as a
running back, to be totally honest with you, But is
he a guy in your opinion that plays a lot
faster than when maybe that time speed would be.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
There's no question. You know, his ten yard and twenty
yard splits are very very good, and that's that's his game.
And you know, you see people, oh, yeah, this kid runs,
and we recruit these kids run a ten to two
on the track and then he runs eleven two with
his pads on and it doesn't doesn't transition really well.
And but Cam, if he's going to run his four
(19:15):
or five highs or four six lows or whatever he runs,
you got to understand that he's running that at a
low level and then come in full speed for you.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
No, absolutely, all right, coach, Do you have any you know,
anecdote story. I mean, I've heard some crazy stories about
Cam when he was a kid, some of the crazy
stuff he would do, and in terms of like, you know,
first time he rode a bike, he's like standing on
the sea, like not touching the handlebars, just like hopping
fences when he's eighteenth months old. Like, there's some crazy
stories out there about him, anything that you had in
(19:45):
college that you think would endear him the Giant fans,
a little bit that you think kind of give a
good feel for the type of guy personality and the
little bit of craziness that he kind of operates on,
you know, on and off the field.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
You know, he thinks he's a gymnast. So the first
time I saw he did he did about five or
six backflips in a row, and I was like, how
is this this short, chunky dude doing those those backflicks?
But that's just his mentality, you know. And there's a
couple of times that we we had to have serious
talks in regards to this is where we need to be,
(20:17):
and he is bright enough to understand when it's serious
and when it's not. But he's a whole lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Now, Now does he take coaching, Well, I give you
get on him will will Will he handle that?
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Absolutely? And he and like we go back about his intelligence.
He knows when he's wrong, uh, and he knows when when,
So most of those were mature conversations because I would
be able to get on he already knew that was coming.
But there's sometimes from an effort standpoint that I didn't
like his effort on the practice, and there's law sometimes
(20:50):
because he carried the ball thirty times on a Monday
Tuesday practice, he was pretty sore a little bit that
I got on him and make sure that he's he's
attacking every practice the way he would attack that at
the professional level, and he always bounces back.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
All right.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I guess my final question that would be this.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You know we always joke about angry runs now, right,
They have the segment on Good Morning Football Angry runs
and Caim runs angry, right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I mean, that's that's the way he runs. Is he
always in control though?
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Or is there do you have to pull him back
sometimes where he gets so revved up and into it
that he kind of loses his mind, maybe is a
little bit too strong, but just gets so into being
that angry type of runner that you have to pull
back a little bit, like dude, calm down a little bit.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
There's no question, I think, like you know, when it's
on the line, is fourth and one or two. He
thinks he can just go straight through people instead of
you know, press the line or whatever it is. But
he's done it so many times, ninety to night percent
of the time he gets it's done and it's efficient.
So he'll get to that point. But the older, the
more the development that I've seen, there's more understanding from
(21:55):
a situational standpoint that makes him a better back too.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Coach.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Anything that you think we we didn't touch on and
we missed that that you want giant fans to to
know what they're getting with Cam here as as as
part of a what I think is a pretty talented
offensive backfield.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
You know what what you see is what you're gonna get.
He's he's very good out in the public with the
with with people. He's you know, he's approachable. He has
a great personality. So being right in New York, I
mean he's gonna fit right in. And then at the
same time, you'll love the way he plays and he'll
he'll bring that enthusiasm to the game.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
I think he's gonna fit right in with that blue
collar Northeast you know New York City cop, you know
New New dude.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Jero question guy on the docks, you know type of thing.
I'm with you, coach. I think he's gonna be great.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
No question.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I really appreciate it. Hey, good luck this year, coach.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Hope you guys have as much success as you had
last season, and we really appreciate the time and we
can't wait to interact and have some fun with Camp
scataball in the field up here in New York.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Absolutely, good luck, guys, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Just phenomenal stuff there. It was great talking to Sean Wan,
a nice guy. He was a big timehigh school coach
by the way out there in Arizona before uh he
joined up on the Arizona State coaching staff. Really good coach,
really good guy. Was really fun talking to him about
Cam Scatabowne. I think he's just about as excited about
Cam as I am.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
You know, you know, guys, me, I love my I
love I love Cam what love watching him? And I
said that before the Giants drafted him. So it was
good fun talking to him, getting a feel for him
and for his his personality, his run style and things
like that. So it was a lot of fun talking
to him right here on the Giants Huttle Podcast, brought
to you by Citizens, the official Bank of the Giants.
Thank you so much for joining us on the Hacken
Sack Mariney Helds podcast studio. Keep getting better. I am
(23:34):
John Schmelk for Shawn Iguano. We'll talk to you next
time on the Giants Tottle Podcast
It's time to get inside the Giants.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Let's go Giants on the Giants mobul give me some job.
Part of the Giants podcast network. Let's roll.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Welcome to another edition of the Giantshuttle Podcast, brought to
you by Citizens Official Bank of the Giants. We continue
to talk to some of the assistant coaches that coached
up the Giants draft picks. Today, we're going to talk
to Arizona State running backs coach Sean Iguano, who coached
Cam Scattabow at Arizona State. We're joining you from the
Hackensack Rinney Health podcast studio. Keep getting better if you
(00:31):
can go back, we have a couple of previous interviews
as well with some of the assistant coaches. You have
Marcus Johnson who coached Marcus Bow at Purdue on the
offensive line, and you had Marcus Sadisfield who coached Thomas
Faedoni a tight end at Nebraska. You have Jason Kandell,
who's the head coach at Toledo with Darius Alexander. Then
you have Mike Gundy, who is the dbat the head
(00:51):
coach rather at Oklahoma State. For the Giants seventh round pick,
so a lot of good interviews. Make sure you go
check them out on the Giants Huddle podcast and now
welcome in our guest. He is the running backs coach
for Arizona State. He is Sean Iguano. Sean, how are
you man?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Fantastic? Can't do any better?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Hey, I'm so happy to talk to you. We just
had a couple days of OTAs here. We got to
see Cam out there on the field. We've had a
chance to interact with him a bunch, and boy, Ken
Scattabo is just a fun dude. Give us a feel
for him as a guy. What's your first interactions were
like with him. I know you're one of the guys
that tried to get him over from Sacramento State, So
(01:29):
just just give me your first experiences with him and
what jumped out about him to you, about his personality
and his approach to the game.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
You know, a great personality, intense, intense guy that played
you know, the underdog mentality the whole time. What people
don't understand is that and you don't find this too much.
He loves football. He's an all ball guy, and so
that kind of persuaded me to jump on him real
(01:59):
quick and persuade him to get to Arizona State. But
you know, his football intelligence is probably one of the
most elite things about him, as well as his athletic ability.
But he understands the game of football and loves the
game of football.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
All right, I want to touch on all those things,
but I want to start with this. I saw what
he did to like Power five conference level guys that
were trying to tackle him. I can't imagine what his
tape looked like at Sacramento State with these poor kids
trying to bring that guy down playing running back. What
was it like when you first put on the tape
and you found out you could get him and you
(02:35):
first looked at him trying to run the ball at
Sacramento State.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
You know what stood out was his contact balance And
I didn't know if it was real. And maybe the
contact balance because he was playing at that FCS level,
would it translate to the FBS level. I didn't know.
But I loved his tenacity and then when he played
the game and so that that intrigued me the most.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, and I think that really up is that his
low center of gravity is it is like core strength.
What allows him to have that type of contact, balance
in your opinion.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think I think both of those. I think, you know,
his core strength on the bottom, you know, he runs
really low to the ground is great hips, but just
his balance and and the way he's he's uh grounded
is is incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And he is seeking out contact the wrong term because
he doesn't make people miss, but he certainly doesn't shy
away from contact. Is that something that you thought about
when he got to the higher level that he wouldn't
be able to run through tackles as well as he
did at that level? And how did you eventually figure
out that, No, he can keep running the same way
(03:42):
and he's gonna be okay.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You know that was that was a concern, and can
he make it to the next game that you know,
health was a concern. So we worked on working half
a man, not taking somebody straight on. But to tell
you the truth, once the lights go on, he's going
to take you, stripe and test you. And so that's
part of training and taking half man and doing all
(04:05):
of that. He just plays the game like that and
I don't think that we can take away that part
of it. But I think he's getting smarter and smarter
once the hits are getting heavier and heavier.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
You know, I think too, Sean, when you watch him run,
I think his willingness to drop his shoulder and get
those extra yards, I think it sets up his short
area quickness well, right, because I think these linebackers sometimes
are bracing for the hit and the contact and then
he puts a little move on and he's able to
get by him absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You know, his lateral quickness is something that people don't understand,
and especially from his contact when he makes contact, his
separation from the contact is elite as well. And so
because he's a strong, strong kid with a good core,
but again lateral quickness, they think that he's gonna get
(04:53):
hit and next thing, you know, we call it scat runs.
It's supposed to be three four yards because somebody field it.
The next thing you know, he's gone for twenty twenty
five yards of mini and an explosive and it's.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Phone booth stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Right, Like when you're in that line of scrimmage area
and you don't have room to bounce, you don't have
room to you know, make these dramatic jump cuts. It's
these little subtle moves where you can make other elite
athletes miss in like a two yard box.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
That's special like kids. Not a lot of kids can
do that.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Not a lot of kids can do that. And that's
something that intrigued me the most, and then the for
the for two years, we worked about being efficient and
getting getting north and south as quick as possible, so
those tackles would be not full contact, but more of
arm tackles and being quick with his you know, his
jump cuts are one cuts and getting north and south
(05:45):
with the same body, lean and and and it's it
didn't work for him.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
So let me let me bring this full circle. You
talk about the football intelligence.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
How important and essential is that football intelligence to use
your blockers to set up the defender so that you
are only attacking half the body and they're not able
to square you up.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think it's really important. What people don't understand about
Cam is that he wants to know the why of everything.
He knows the blocking scheme, he knows the calls, he
knows the protection, he knows why that happens. He knows
the pressures, the simulated pressures and where they're coming from.
Because he studies the why and he wants to know.
(06:26):
And he's a guy that asks a lot of questions,
but those questions are very intelligent questions because he wants
to know why and then why do we do it?
And he'll challenge you if you don't have an answer
to why you do it because he studies so much
of the game.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
The Giants Litle Podcast is brought to you by Citizens,
the Official bank of the New York Giants. From game
day celebrations to your everyday financial needs, Big Blue fans
can get the most out of every moment with Citizens.
Learn more at Citizens bank dot com slash Giants.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Huddle up, get in here. If you're lined up here,
you gotta go over the middle with it. The score great.
How do we make that happened? I don't know, but
Citizen does makes sense of your money with Citizens, Official
Bank of ELI.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Manning, dive a little deeper into that football intelligence part
of it with me, what really you said?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
That's one of the things that first stood out to
you about it.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Give me some examples or details about what parts of
his football intelligence and kind of how that manifests himself
with how it plays, how he plays on the field,
and how it shows up on game day.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
You know. So when we first started he studies the
defensive structure and that's when we set up We set
up the first level, second level, third level runs. So
he knows where people are coming from. From a protection standpoint,
he's elite now. Fundamentally he has to work on keeping
his hit up, but he puts his head down and everything,
but he knows exactly where people are coming from, how
(07:48):
to get inside out because he understands the structure of
the defense. He understands the bubbles of the runs on
defensive structure, especially the front, first and second levels, and
so he understands where to hit, where to be patient,
and all of those things because he knows the unblocked
person within that structure.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
And I think so much, and that's the smart analytical
part of it, right, But I also think you know this,
so much of the running back position is instinctual, right
If you see a flash of the wrong color of
the other color, do you do? You make the right move?
And it just seems like that comes very naturally to him.
He just has very good instincts of avoiding those big
hits from defenders.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Absolutely because I think he anticipates where they're coming from
prior to the ball being snapped. So I think he's
very quick on his pre snap reeds, understanding where the
ball will hit. Now, sometimes I get on him. We
got to be more patient. And he understands that and
he's learning. But those conversations that we have on the sideline,
I'm mature conversation because he would be like coach, I
(08:53):
should have pressed the heel line a little bit quicker
and stayed on it a little bit longer. I should
have set the mic backer up on the overflow. All
of those things he understands, so it's easy for corrections
on the sideline during the game.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
You mentioned the pass pro part of this, which you
have to do well to get on the field asn't
working in the NFL. You have to protect the quarterback.
If you can't protect the quarterback, you're not getting on
the field. Coach, you know that you talked about him
becoming elite. Is that because of the combination of the
intelligence and his physicality, he just likes to hit people.
Is that really the sweet spot of putting those two
together that makes them a good pass protector?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Absolutely, because he anticipates and he knows where they're coming from.
He knows the hot structures of the offensive scheme and
so those things he understands. He knows when he's the
hot guy I supposed to get the football, and that's
what makes him elite. And what people to understand is
he probably had one of the best hands on our
team out of the backfield, and he just knows where
(09:51):
to go, knows where to settle, knows where the green
grass is on routes. He has that keen sense of
what to do on on certain schemes, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And it's funny, you took me exactly where I wanted
to go, because once again on the field, then you
can start being a pass receiver, right and it's one
thing to catch screens and catch checkdowns. You guys are
running him on wheel routes, you guys are putting him outside.
You were letting them run in space, and he just
had his body control. Usually guys that are that big
in boxy sometimes the flexibility and the body control is
not there. But he seemed like a very natural catcher,
(10:23):
even on balls where you know he had to look
back at the quarterback adjust to it in the air.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I thought he did a really nice job with that.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
He did. He did, and he always compared the running
back prior to him was where Shad White with me
at at the issue, and he compares himself to that
as well. The thing about Cam is when he goes
he can play baseball, he can go in bold, he
can shoot pool, he can shoot, he can throw darts.
He can do all of those things. So he's a
natural athlete. And when we talk about his body control,
(10:52):
he can torque himself in those situations because of all
the sports that he can play, and then he can
then he can hoop for five nine guys. A guy
out there that can hoop, and so he's he's fun
because he's a natural athlete.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You mentioned the Blue Kyle attitude.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
The first press converse he did when he got here,
it was rookie mini camp and he goes, you know,
people were asking about what role he's going to play.
He goes, guys, look, I just want to earn my
way on the team. You know, he wasn't talking about
being a starter. He was talking about earning a spot
on the roster. And look, we all know realistically you
get picked that higher going to be on the roster,
but he wasn't thinking.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
About it that way. Is that always?
Speaker 3 (11:25):
I gotta imagine that probably comes from him being underrecruited
at a high school. Riet he had to go to
Sacramento State, he didn't get all these big offers. Is
that just the way he approaches everything where he knows
that he's starting from the ground level and he has
to build himself up from zero.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Absolutely, And when he came into ESU, all of our
running backs play special teams, and to me it is
important because the sustainability in the league is because if
you're not the first first back and you're second or
third back, you have to play special teams and you
have to be elite if you want to sustain that level.
And so he was one of our best special teams guy.
He was our personal protector. He was the guy, our
(12:02):
hit guy on the kickoff. He's a returner, so he
does it all. He knows and can understands the environment
where he's at, where he will put himself in a
situation will he'll excel. And then that next step is
him being the guy. So he knows how to work
(12:22):
that and he'll play any position that you put him
on and excel in that. To know where his end
goal is at.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
I want to talk about the playoff run.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
You guys made last year, and you take on Texas
and man, I mean, they are such a talented football team.
They had so many guys get drafted this year. Yet
you guys just felt comfortable giving the ball to Cam.
And you know, I think everyone said, all right, well,
what is this going to look like against an SEC team?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Right?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
And while it looked exactly the way it did against
every other team and he ran the hell out of
the football, what is it about Cam that gave you
guys the confidence to put the ball in his hands
as much as you did in such a critical game
against such a good opponent like Texas?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Because whoever's fitting Cam from a defensive structure, we take
Cam over anybody else. So if that's a safety fit
or a corner fit or a backer fit, we know
he's the better player. We knew that if we played
physical football, and coach Dillingham and does an incredible job
with our kids. Our game is a physicality. We're going
to run the football and try to impose our will,
(13:30):
doesn't matter who it is, and our kids' mentality is
like that. And it kind of feeds off of Cam too,
because he's a leader in that. And if it's fourth
and one. He's going to make sure that everybody knows
that he wants the football, and he'll let and he'll
let everybody know, and that Coach Dillingham as well. And
we've come to a trust point where when the game's
in jeopardy or we need something, he's the guy that
(13:51):
will get it for him. And then he'll come back
and smile at me. And so I told you, Coach,
and I know, I mean, that's just the way it goes.
But he wants the ball in his hands in crucial moments.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
When you talk to him, he seems like a very
humble kid.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And I feel like he's one of these guys that
once he gets on the football field, he kind of
flips a switch. It becomes almost like a different guy.
Is that your experience with him or does he have
that kind of you know, chip on your shoulder, you know,
killer mentality. Even when he's like in the meeting rooms
with the guys too, you know, he's.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
He tries to play that calm, but he's he's intense
all the time and he's actually a very funny guy.
But he's an intelligent guy. But once those lights goes on,
he's ready to play football. He's a big relationship guy,
and I think in order to for people to understand him,
(14:42):
he builds relationships. He builds that trust and then he'll
he'll run through a wall for anybody. But he does
well in our room because he's taking that leadership role
where he helped with out the younger guys and so
he became the leader in that room. And he'll wait
his turn and play that underdog and he'll and he'll
(15:03):
battle every day until he gets to a spot there
where he thinks that he can compete at a high level.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
How does he lead coach? Is he more relieved by
example guy? Is he a big talker, raw rod type
of guy?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
He's both and and he'll get in people's faces and
he'll let them know that he's coming. He does that
you know way that is really not offensive. But our
defensive guys are like yeah, but after a while they'll
move on the side too because he's he's coming downhill,
you know, even on walkthroughs. And so he's a show
and he's and he's a talker as well.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I imagine he sets a pretty high standard in that
running back room. Then huh, he.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Does and and he was very fortunate to see guys
that come come before him, and our guys now have
learned to play a little bit more physical because of
what they've the standard that has set what he has done.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
How does he learn? Is he a guy that that
needs to go out on the field and rep it?
Can he learn it just from boardwalk? From filmore? What
kind of learner is he?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
He's very intelligent. Now he can see it and go
on the field and perform it. Now, now rep wise,
I mean he'll he'll he'll take reps and he understands it.
But he can see it, process it really well, and
then perform it. So I don't think he will have
any trouble in regards to the playbook because he's a
he's a pretty quick learner.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
If you want to know how to manage two minutes
of crunch time football, I'm your man. But if you're
wondering about a long term financial plan, you should talk
to citizens. Hey, I can also talk long care.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I'd like to learn about ANILI routine.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yes, I knew I could help make sense of your
money with citizens. Yeah, how many different concepts did you
guys run well? Were mostly? Did you do out of zone?
Did you run some gap.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Well, how much experience does he have in the various
different run schemes that he's going to see here at
the pro level.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
And he's seen it all because we're a mid zone,
we're a mid zone outside zone gap team and so,
and he knows the nuances on both of them and
the calls on all of them, so he'll he'll fit
in fine.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Bruce Fell had a great article.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
He talked to your guys strength and conditioning coach, and
they said, he really made a lot of progress when
he got to you guys. I think he went from
like two thirty down to two eighteen or two thirty
five down to two eighteen. How did you see him
transform his body and improve some of the nutrition stuff
once he was in your building and he was there
for a couple of years.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I think it was just a mindset of if we
are going through our junior year and there is no improvement,
then you have to understand that the endgame might not
be there at the end of the season. And so
for six months after his junior season, he really dove
into the nutrition, the work, the cardio, all of that
stuff getting stronger and it improved him tremendously. But so
(17:41):
he has that mindset that he can do what he
wants to do, when he wants to do, and he'll
put himself in that situation.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
How much did dropping that weight and becoming more fit
a improve his durability where you're able to ride him
as much as you guys did, especially in that title
game against that in that playoff game against Texas, but
just throughout the whole year his usage was sky high.
And then how much did that help some of that
short area of quickness we're talking about right where he gets.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
A little bit more twitchy and a little bit more explosive.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I think it helped him both because I would always
pull up There's a couple of times his junior that
he got caught from behind that he didn't like that,
and I would always make sure that when there was
a little lull in his play, I would pull that
up just to make sure that I remind him that
you know that he got caught behind it. And so
he was embarrassed about that. But again, his short airy quickness,
(18:32):
his explosion increased tremendously because of his body.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I was gonna ask you about his speed. Look he
I think is his forty time at the per day
was in the four sixes. I think that's where we
all kind of thought it was going to be, which
is fine. The way he runs, I don't really care
about how you run in a straight line as a
running back, to be totally honest with you, But is
he a guy in your opinion that plays a lot
faster than when maybe that time speed would be.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
There's no question. You know, his ten yard and twenty
yard splits are very very good, and that's that's his game.
And you know, you see people, oh, yeah, this kid runs,
and we recruit these kids run a ten to two
on the track and then he runs eleven two with
his pads on and it doesn't doesn't transition really well.
And but Cam, if he's going to run his four
(19:15):
or five highs or four six lows or whatever he runs,
you got to understand that he's running that at a
low level and then come in full speed for you.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
No, absolutely, all right, coach, Do you have any you know,
anecdote story. I mean, I've heard some crazy stories about
Cam when he was a kid, some of the crazy
stuff he would do, and in terms of like, you know,
first time he rode a bike, he's like standing on
the sea, like not touching the handlebars, just like hopping
fences when he's eighteenth months old. Like, there's some crazy
stories out there about him, anything that you had in
(19:45):
college that you think would endear him the Giant fans,
a little bit that you think kind of give a
good feel for the type of guy personality and the
little bit of craziness that he kind of operates on,
you know, on and off the field.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
You know, he thinks he's a gymnast. So the first
time I saw he did he did about five or
six backflips in a row, and I was like, how
is this this short, chunky dude doing those those backflicks?
But that's just his mentality, you know. And there's a
couple of times that we we had to have serious
talks in regards to this is where we need to be,
(20:17):
and he is bright enough to understand when it's serious
and when it's not. But he's a whole lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Now, Now does he take coaching, Well, I give you
get on him will will Will he handle that?
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Absolutely? And he and like we go back about his intelligence.
He knows when he's wrong, uh, and he knows when when,
So most of those were mature conversations because I would
be able to get on he already knew that was coming.
But there's sometimes from an effort standpoint that I didn't
like his effort on the practice, and there's law sometimes
(20:50):
because he carried the ball thirty times on a Monday
Tuesday practice, he was pretty sore a little bit that
I got on him and make sure that he's he's
attacking every practice the way he would attack that at
the professional level, and he always bounces back.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
All right.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I guess my final question that would be this.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
You know we always joke about angry runs now, right,
They have the segment on Good Morning Football Angry runs
and Caim runs angry, right.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I mean, that's that's the way he runs. Is he
always in control though?
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Or is there do you have to pull him back
sometimes where he gets so revved up and into it
that he kind of loses his mind, maybe is a
little bit too strong, but just gets so into being
that angry type of runner that you have to pull
back a little bit, like dude, calm down a little bit.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
There's no question, I think, like you know, when it's
on the line, is fourth and one or two. He
thinks he can just go straight through people instead of
you know, press the line or whatever it is. But
he's done it so many times, ninety to night percent
of the time he gets it's done and it's efficient.
So he'll get to that point. But the older, the
more the development that I've seen, there's more understanding from
(21:55):
a situational standpoint that makes him a better back too.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Coach.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Anything that you think we we didn't touch on and
we missed that that you want giant fans to to
know what they're getting with Cam here as as as
part of a what I think is a pretty talented
offensive backfield.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
You know what what you see is what you're gonna get.
He's he's very good out in the public with the
with with people. He's you know, he's approachable. He has
a great personality. So being right in New York, I
mean he's gonna fit right in. And then at the
same time, you'll love the way he plays and he'll
he'll bring that enthusiasm to the game.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
I think he's gonna fit right in with that blue
collar Northeast you know New York City cop, you know
New New dude.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Jero question guy on the docks, you know type of thing.
I'm with you, coach. I think he's gonna be great.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
No question.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
I really appreciate it. Hey, good luck this year, coach.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Hope you guys have as much success as you had
last season, and we really appreciate the time and we
can't wait to interact and have some fun with Camp
scataball in the field up here in New York.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Absolutely, good luck, guys, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Just phenomenal stuff there. It was great talking to Sean Wan,
a nice guy. He was a big timehigh school coach
by the way out there in Arizona before uh he
joined up on the Arizona State coaching staff. Really good coach,
really good guy. Was really fun talking to him about
Cam Scatabowne. I think he's just about as excited about
Cam as I am.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
You know, you know, guys, me, I love my I
love I love Cam what love watching him? And I
said that before the Giants drafted him. So it was
good fun talking to him, getting a feel for him
and for his his personality, his run style and things
like that. So it was a lot of fun talking
to him right here on the Giants Huttle Podcast, brought
to you by Citizens, the official Bank of the Giants.
Thank you so much for joining us on the Hacken
Sack Mariney Helds podcast studio. Keep getting better. I am
(23:34):
John Schmelk for Shawn Iguano. We'll talk to you next
time on the Giants Tottle Podcast
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.