June 5, 2025 • 19 mins
Erin Summers has the latest from the third week of OTAs and sits down with Saints linebacker coach Peter Sirmon to learn more about the new coach, his philosophies and the linebacker room.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome into the New Orleans Saints Podcast, presently by Seacake.
You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and writers that cover
the NFL on a daily basis. The New Orleans Saints
Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We do have a lot of guys from the city
and this state in this locker room, and that could
be something that makes us different, right, that could be
something that makes us special. I think I think everyone
in this league right now, during this time during OTA's
I think they're trying to find what makes them special.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
And whether that's a placebo or isn't, I.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Don't think it really matters, right, because at the end
of the day, if you believe in something and you
give it everything you got, like you should have a chance, right,
you should have a chance.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Tight End Foster Morrow unable to participate in OTA's fully
as he's coming back from a knee injury, but has
been on hand every day during practices.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Foster's one of the all time bests. I have loved
every interaction with Foster since I got here. He is
everything we want in our program, and so I think
he's a great example. He can't do much of anything
from a physical standpoint, And he's out there every day,
is in every meeting. He's leading the groups. He's got
a voice, and you hear it in seven on seven
periods and he's you know, chewing and yelling at people
(01:25):
left and right, and so it's special. You know. I
think he's everything we want.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Thursday wrapped the ninth optional practice for the Saints before
they head into mandatory mini camp next week. Not spotted
at the open portion of today's practice was Tied end
Taysom Hill, wide receiver Brandon Cooks, safety Tyrant Matthew, defensive
ends Chris Rump, Chase Young, Cameron Jordan, defensive tackle, Nathan Sheppard,
(01:49):
safety j T. Gray, running back Alvin Kamara, offensive lineman
Caesar Luiz, and cornerback Dallas Beingham being Him and Nick
Saldeveri were both added as injury, but nothing serious. Head
coach Kellen Moore said that they'll be fine. They were
just not practicing today. With Ruiz absent. It was Dylan
Raiden's and Will Clapp who worked in on the offensive line.
(02:12):
Moore does seem locked in on his ol as Kelvin
Banks has been at left tackle. Trevor Penny left guard,
Eric McCoy center usually sees a Ruiz at right guard
and tally s a Fuaga at right tackle. Trevor Penning
said he is really excited about the move to guard
Kellen and Nude.
Speaker 6 (02:30):
They brought me up and I kind of had an
idea like I'm like, they're probably gonna move in, which
you know, I was excited for.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Brought me in. They're like, hey, I'm gonna try to guard.
I think it's the best for you, and I'm like,
I can't agree more. And I'm really excited for it.
And I think for me, I think it. You know,
the things that I do well, I think fit better
at guard. Not to say don't think I can't play tackle,
but in the run game, especially at guard, I think
(02:59):
the things I do well really like an shine it guard.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Looking at the quarterback battle, Spencer Ratler strong performance again today,
finished six for eight overall. He did have three touchdowns
during the seven on sevens during red zone work, he
went three to four during that time. The touchdowns were
to Juwan Johnson, Chris Olave, and Kevin Austin Junior. Johnson's
was probably about twenty yards. Austin junior back of the
(03:26):
end zone. Really good catch by him, and Chris Alave
caught one in the end zone. Tyler Schuck finished seven
of eight with a touchdown hundred Deckers. For the first
time that we've seen all OTA's actually worked in on
seven on sevens got a couple reps at the end.
Usually are one in two qbs, yet four reps and
then the third gets two, so Deckers only ended up
(03:47):
with four total reps. He was two of four with
a touchdown to Michael Jacobson the tight end.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
We definitely have a competition on our hands. I think
our guys have looked really good top to bottom. I
know Hanger's not able to get out there right now,
but I think Jake's looked I think Jake's look great.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I think he's looked polished.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
The polish is certainly something I've noticed from year one
to year two.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Chuck is as advertised.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I think he makes great decisions, can spin the ball
really well, and throws a really tight neat spiral.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I mean, even even Decker.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Looks great out there. The lefty, I mean, you know,
I don't know. I haven't played with the left handed
quarterback in a long time. But we know we have
a full blown competition in our hands, and I'm excited
to see what happens when again, when when bullets fly,
when people are rushing the passer, just to see who
steps up and what happens. It's been It's been a
(04:41):
cool experience though, right because those guys are constantly trying
to better themselves, which is an awesome, awesome thing.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Defensively, while you could hear to Mario Davis getting everybody organized,
first time we've seen him at OTAs, it is hard
not to notice Alante Taylor every practice. He is out
there make and plays, supporting his teammates, literally running across
the field, up and down, screaming, full of energy.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Yeah, I love watching Alante. He is just he's everything
you want, you know. He competes every day. He's got juice,
he's got energy, He's out there flying around, he can
play a number of positions. Just feel like he's going
to become a really prominent leader for our team.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Taylor will be a fun one to watch next week
when the fans are out here for mini camp, and
we're looking forward to having them here as well. Things
are definitely starting to get set up here at the
practice facility. The tents are going up. It's going to
be a lot of fun. For today's podcast, I sat
down with new linebacker coach Peter Sermon. Sermon comes from
cal where he was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers
(05:42):
coach for the past five years. This is actually his
first stint as a NFL coach.
Speaker 6 (05:48):
Coach.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Thanks for joining me on the New Orleans Saints podcast.
We're just trying to get to know some of the
new coaches around here. So how has it been for
you so far getting used to New Orleans and getting
used to the Saints.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
It's been a great transition. You know.
Speaker 7 (06:00):
I would have to say that living in New Orleans
was not on our BINGO card. That was something that
is a great opportunity. The people have been great, The
culture has been amazing. The Saints have been particularly, very,
very accommodating with the transition. So everything's good. I think
it's probably harder on the families. You know, all my
kids are out of the house, but my wife's getting
(06:22):
the house settled. And for the coaches, it's easy to
get into a flow once you get on the practice field.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
You were coming from college, you were there for seventeen
years coaching was going into the pros, being a professional
coach on the Bingo card.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 7 (06:36):
It was it was, you know, the right opportunity, the
right situation. I really enjoyed working for Justin Wilcox at CAL.
I really enjoyed that, the academic side of being at CAL,
really enjoyed the recruiting profile of the guys that were there.
But you know, after some time, I'm looking to continue
(06:57):
to grow, and I think you grow by being around people,
you grow by being in new situations. And go from
a player to a coach in the NFL, the dynamics
are completely.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Different, coming from being the DC for five years there
now just really focusing in on the linebacker group again,
being able to dive into a position group. Do you
like that you kind of hone in on one area absolutely.
Speaker 7 (07:23):
You know that's where I you know, that's where I play,
That's where I cut my teeth. And you know, even
as a coordinator, I was still coaching the inside linebackers.
So this has been something that's been really an everyday
opportunity for me in terms of coaching that position group.
But now you know, you pour even more focus into
it when you're not having to kind of manage coaches
in the defensive side of the ball as much. So
(07:46):
it's been it's been great to really dive back into
it brand. It's been awesome to work with so I'm
learning a lot.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
How has a position changed since you played?
Speaker 7 (07:55):
You know, the position has changed in terms of you know,
I don't think the NFL carry as many linebackers as
they did in the early two thousands. There's more pass rushers,
there's more defensive backs. You know, I still think there's
you know, you're still looking for the same characteristics. But
I think then the amount of snaps that the linebackers
get to play now are a little bit diminished because
(08:17):
you're getting replaced by pass rushers and more kind of
those not the hybrid safety, but guys that have greater coverability.
The premier guys at linebackers still have high weight, speed,
but I still I think you see a little bit
of a trend, you know, towards guys that are more
proficient in space and less thumpers in the box.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
How big of an anomaly is to Mario Davis.
Speaker 7 (08:41):
Boy, probably extreme anomaly, you know, just watching him out
here and being around him, the behavior, the mental side,
you can see why he's been such a high performer
for so long. But getting to understand his physical characteristics,
I mean, he's still got extreme movement skills, he's extremely
(09:03):
strong on the point of attack, just the epitome of
a pro. And he's been great and is great in
the room as a leader, as a culture builder. So
you know, it's been great to be around him, and
he's been everything that he was.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Advertised to be.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
I was talking to coach Venables from Oklahoma about Danny Stutzman,
and he said that Danny's going to come in here
and challenge do Mario in a respectful way, but he
is going to bring a different perspective to the room
and he wants to elevate everybody around him. He's obviously
going to listen and learn and do what he needs
to do as a rookie. But how have you seen
(09:39):
his personality kind of fit in so far?
Speaker 7 (09:42):
You know, all these guys you know in the transition,
you know, we don't want them to take a back
seat to anybody.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
The mentality and their behavior is part of what.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
Made him good, as part of why you know, ultimately
they were selected. So I think it's as an opportunity
for these young guys to show humility, but we're not
asked and then them take a back seat, and we
want to get the best product on the field as
we can. Danny's done a great job. He was really
well trained at OU.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
He comes in.
Speaker 7 (10:09):
You know what I thought you were going to go
with this talking about challenging It was, you know, challenging
the coaches and you know.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Hey, what about this and what about this?
Speaker 7 (10:16):
So you know, I thought he was He has a
high aptitude to learn, and he's got good physical tools.
He runs really well, so you know, we're really excited
about his addition. I'm really excited about what he's displayed
to me, just his work ethic, you know, the way
he views the game, which ultimately goes back to the
way he.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Was trained at school.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
So you know, we're very optimistic that that he's going
to be a big contributor for us.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
How familiar are you or were you with Brandon Staley's
defense before coming in here.
Speaker 7 (10:46):
You know, Brandon and I we had a not even
a crossover, but I was leaving the University of Tennessee
and Brandon was just coming into the University of Tennessee.
So we had met several times kind of during that transition,
and then we kind of kept up in the meantime.
But all the guys, I mean, you know, I'm pretty
familiar with kind of all the defensive trees and the guys,
(11:07):
the way they play football. You're always you're always kind
of following people or following schemes that give you some
maybe some flexibility or some adaptability what you do with.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Your own scheme.
Speaker 7 (11:18):
So I've watched a bunch of what Brand has done
and kind of his path.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
What can we expect from the linebackers in his scheme?
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Yeah, really, the scheme of it, We're going to ask
those linebackers or linebackers do a lot. You're going to
see them up near the line of Scrimmage're gonna see
him space. You're gonna see them trying to puncture things through,
you know, rushing the passer. We're going to see some
man the versatility of packages and the versatility of what
we're gonna ask them to do. You're gonna see a
lot of different groupings on the field. You're gonna see
it a lot of different alignments from the linebackers, the safeties,
(11:49):
even the d line. So there's gonna be a big
menu for Brandon to choose from and for those guys
to be and for our team and our defense to
be as good as possible. There has to be a
really really strong mental side of these guys to be
able to carry it, capture it, and then execute it.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
What made you want to be a coach?
Speaker 7 (12:08):
I didn't want to be a coach when I was
a player.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
You just wanted to play forever.
Speaker 7 (12:12):
Well, not even that, not even that, not really. So
I finished my second contract in Tennessee. I think I
turned might have been maybe just after twenty nine or thirty. Uh,
And I had a couple of injuries, like my sixth
seventh year, and I didn't look the same, you know.
So I ended up retiring after those seven years, and
(12:35):
then I stuck around in Nashville. In that year out
I kind of identified I kind of like, this football
thing's pretty good, this full thing's pretty good. So not
it only happened after I removed myself from football. But
there was never, I mean, there was never, I can
say one percent unequickly. There was never a time while
I was playing in college or in the NFL I thought,
(12:56):
you know, this is what I want to do. It
was only the removal of it kind of got me
back into it.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
So how have you grown as a coach through your
different stops? And you've been to a bunch of different
places at a collegiate level, and then you said you're
still trying to challenge yourself, want to grow. You're still
in eighteen years later.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:13):
I think the thing that I like to do is,
you know, have an open mind to where you're going
and where you've been. You know, some people refer to
as a growth mindset. I think it's a fancy way
of saying, you know what I don't. I don't have
all the answers, and I know I don't have all
the answers, And I think part of growing as a
coach is knowing what you don't know. I'm not especially
(13:37):
dogmatic about what I believe. Defensively, I think there's characteristics
of effort tackling takeaways. I think those are all very,
very durable. But four down, three down, bear, I think
there's a lot of quality, you know, defensive approaches to
do it. I think is about how you get your
guys to do it as important or even more important
(14:00):
than what you're doing. So I think growing through different conferences,
different job responsibilities, different skill levels, different head coaches. I
think you're really just trying to find you know that
that development of what do I believe in? What can
I fix? And what are my what are my strengths
as a coach as you build a defense?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
What would you say your biggest strength as a coach is.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
I would like to think that I can make complicated
things easy, use less words, not more words, and to
be able to adapt to the way that your players
need you to. And I say it often and this
comes from a reference. Who's a player I coached, Shaq Thompson.
(14:47):
His mother would tell him a closed mouth don't get fed.
So I need those guys to ask me questions. I
don't know what you don't know? So what I constantly
ask them? You don't if I'm not saying it correctly,
challenge me to say it another way. Is it an example?
Is it a video example? Do I need to rethink
(15:08):
about how I'm instructing it? But I think that's what
good coaches do, is they can they can sift through
one thousand coaching points and a player can grab on
to five or six that are crucial. I think people
that talk talk talk talk, talk, talk, talk talk, they're
just grabbing at you know. Eventually maybe one of the
(15:30):
things I say you'll listen to.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yep.
Speaker 7 (15:33):
But it's you know again, fancy words and economy of words.
Be mindful of the words that you use, mean what
you say, and say what you mean, so it's not
just chitter chatter. And there's too much information in the
in what you're trying to convey gets lost.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
So when I have a question, can I come knock
on your door?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Yes, and I'll probably give you. I'll give you.
Speaker 7 (15:56):
I'll give you one sentence and if you want more
than you got to open your mouth and ask more questions.
But I'll try to be concise with the with the
initial answer.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Okay, I love that, Thank you. How good is it
that we're not playing the Jets this year?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Well?
Speaker 7 (16:10):
His son Jackson, Yeah, so my son Jackson is on
year two in the Jets organization. You know it's I
never liked playing my son, and we did it several
times when he was the University of Washington, uh, and
we were playing him in the old how about that,
the old PAC twelve, right, But I never enjoyed it.
(16:33):
I never enjoyed talking about it. I never enjoyed any
of it. So I don't like competing against him.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Did you coach him up? Do you talk to him?
You guys did both linebackers.
Speaker 7 (16:44):
Yeah, well he played for me for two years at Cal,
so it was a lot better joined joined square.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yep.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
So he played his four years at Washington, had a
COVID year, graduated, and then came post grad and played
two years for US at CAL.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
And that's the way I liked it.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, that's what he was. On your sides off the field.
What do you like to do?
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Boy?
Speaker 7 (17:05):
A couple things that passions I have. You know, I've
sold it since. But my wife and I like r ving. Okay,
I love snowboarding. Not going to have that here, I know,
but you know, we can make it happen. I love hiking, camping, backpacking,
so really enjoy the kind of the outdoor activities. And
I think probably getting a little bit of golf now
(17:26):
with the with the four kids out of the house,
so we got two of the girls living in Dallas,
Jackson is up in Jersey, and then our youngest is
a sophomore at Alabama. So we're empty nested, so we
got to start finding some activities that we can do
on a weekend.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So probably picking up a little more golf.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yeah, we have ties to SEC Country then with Alabama, Yes, yep, yep.
Speaker 7 (17:48):
So she's a sideline cheerleader there, so my wife will
be up there as much as possible. And then now
she'll be able to drive instead of and fly from
from California.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
We got mini camp next week and then you'll have
a couple of weeks, maybe can knock out some of
those activities, get a couple of rounds of golf in
before the season gets going.
Speaker 7 (18:03):
Absolutely, that'd be great.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
All right, thank you so much for talking to me
and let us know a little bit more about you.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
That does it for OTAs. Tuesday through Thursday next week
will be that VET mini camp. It's mandatory, so we're
hoping to see everybody here. Coach Moore said that's the
expectation for him as well. The team is looking forward
to having the fans out of practice, So tune in
again next week if you're not able to make it
here for all of the coverage that you need.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
Yeah, it'll be fun. Mini camp open to the public,
and so that'll be a fun part of this and
certainly you know, when we come back in July and
training camps here for you know, the front end of it.
I think it'll be an awesome opportunity for us just
to connect with our community, get as many people here
as they can, and have a lot of fun doing that.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Pret's
going to buy seat Geeke joining us three times per
week on New Orleans Saints dot com, the Saints Mobile app,
or you can download the podcast on ITO. We'll see
you next time right here on the New Orleans Saints Podcast,
presented by seat Geek
Welcome into the New Orleans Saints Podcast, presently by Seacake.
You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and writers that cover
the NFL on a daily basis. The New Orleans Saints
Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We do have a lot of guys from the city
and this state in this locker room, and that could
be something that makes us different, right, that could be
something that makes us special. I think I think everyone
in this league right now, during this time during OTA's
I think they're trying to find what makes them special.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
And whether that's a placebo or isn't, I.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Don't think it really matters, right, because at the end
of the day, if you believe in something and you
give it everything you got, like you should have a chance, right,
you should have a chance.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Tight End Foster Morrow unable to participate in OTA's fully
as he's coming back from a knee injury, but has
been on hand every day during practices.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
Foster's one of the all time bests. I have loved
every interaction with Foster since I got here. He is
everything we want in our program, and so I think
he's a great example. He can't do much of anything
from a physical standpoint, And he's out there every day,
is in every meeting. He's leading the groups. He's got
a voice, and you hear it in seven on seven
periods and he's you know, chewing and yelling at people
(01:25):
left and right, and so it's special. You know. I
think he's everything we want.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
Thursday wrapped the ninth optional practice for the Saints before
they head into mandatory mini camp next week. Not spotted
at the open portion of today's practice was Tied end
Taysom Hill, wide receiver Brandon Cooks, safety Tyrant Matthew, defensive
ends Chris Rump, Chase Young, Cameron Jordan, defensive tackle, Nathan Sheppard,
(01:49):
safety j T. Gray, running back Alvin Kamara, offensive lineman
Caesar Luiz, and cornerback Dallas Beingham being Him and Nick
Saldeveri were both added as injury, but nothing serious. Head
coach Kellen Moore said that they'll be fine. They were
just not practicing today. With Ruiz absent. It was Dylan
Raiden's and Will Clapp who worked in on the offensive line.
(02:12):
Moore does seem locked in on his ol as Kelvin
Banks has been at left tackle. Trevor Penny left guard,
Eric McCoy center usually sees a Ruiz at right guard
and tally s a Fuaga at right tackle. Trevor Penning
said he is really excited about the move to guard
Kellen and Nude.
Speaker 6 (02:30):
They brought me up and I kind of had an
idea like I'm like, they're probably gonna move in, which
you know, I was excited for.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
It.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
Brought me in. They're like, hey, I'm gonna try to guard.
I think it's the best for you, and I'm like,
I can't agree more. And I'm really excited for it.
And I think for me, I think it. You know,
the things that I do well, I think fit better
at guard. Not to say don't think I can't play tackle,
but in the run game, especially at guard, I think
(02:59):
the things I do well really like an shine it guard.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Looking at the quarterback battle, Spencer Ratler strong performance again today,
finished six for eight overall. He did have three touchdowns
during the seven on sevens during red zone work, he
went three to four during that time. The touchdowns were
to Juwan Johnson, Chris Olave, and Kevin Austin Junior. Johnson's
was probably about twenty yards. Austin junior back of the
(03:26):
end zone. Really good catch by him, and Chris Alave
caught one in the end zone. Tyler Schuck finished seven
of eight with a touchdown hundred Deckers. For the first
time that we've seen all OTA's actually worked in on
seven on sevens got a couple reps at the end.
Usually are one in two qbs, yet four reps and
then the third gets two, so Deckers only ended up
(03:47):
with four total reps. He was two of four with
a touchdown to Michael Jacobson the tight end.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
We definitely have a competition on our hands. I think
our guys have looked really good top to bottom. I
know Hanger's not able to get out there right now,
but I think Jake's looked I think Jake's look great.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I think he's looked polished.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
The polish is certainly something I've noticed from year one
to year two.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Chuck is as advertised.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I think he makes great decisions, can spin the ball
really well, and throws a really tight neat spiral.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I mean, even even Decker.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Looks great out there. The lefty, I mean, you know,
I don't know. I haven't played with the left handed
quarterback in a long time. But we know we have
a full blown competition in our hands, and I'm excited
to see what happens when again, when when bullets fly,
when people are rushing the passer, just to see who
steps up and what happens. It's been It's been a
(04:41):
cool experience though, right because those guys are constantly trying
to better themselves, which is an awesome, awesome thing.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Defensively, while you could hear to Mario Davis getting everybody organized,
first time we've seen him at OTAs, it is hard
not to notice Alante Taylor every practice. He is out
there make and plays, supporting his teammates, literally running across
the field, up and down, screaming, full of energy.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Yeah, I love watching Alante. He is just he's everything
you want, you know. He competes every day. He's got juice,
he's got energy, He's out there flying around, he can
play a number of positions. Just feel like he's going
to become a really prominent leader for our team.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Taylor will be a fun one to watch next week
when the fans are out here for mini camp, and
we're looking forward to having them here as well. Things
are definitely starting to get set up here at the
practice facility. The tents are going up. It's going to
be a lot of fun. For today's podcast, I sat
down with new linebacker coach Peter Sermon. Sermon comes from
cal where he was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers
(05:42):
coach for the past five years. This is actually his
first stint as a NFL coach.
Speaker 6 (05:48):
Coach.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Thanks for joining me on the New Orleans Saints podcast.
We're just trying to get to know some of the
new coaches around here. So how has it been for
you so far getting used to New Orleans and getting
used to the Saints.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
It's been a great transition. You know.
Speaker 7 (06:00):
I would have to say that living in New Orleans
was not on our BINGO card. That was something that
is a great opportunity. The people have been great, The
culture has been amazing. The Saints have been particularly, very,
very accommodating with the transition. So everything's good. I think
it's probably harder on the families. You know, all my
kids are out of the house, but my wife's getting
(06:22):
the house settled. And for the coaches, it's easy to
get into a flow once you get on the practice field.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
You were coming from college, you were there for seventeen
years coaching was going into the pros, being a professional
coach on the Bingo card.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 7 (06:36):
It was it was, you know, the right opportunity, the
right situation. I really enjoyed working for Justin Wilcox at CAL.
I really enjoyed that, the academic side of being at CAL,
really enjoyed the recruiting profile of the guys that were there.
But you know, after some time, I'm looking to continue
(06:57):
to grow, and I think you grow by being around people,
you grow by being in new situations. And go from
a player to a coach in the NFL, the dynamics
are completely.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Different, coming from being the DC for five years there
now just really focusing in on the linebacker group again,
being able to dive into a position group. Do you
like that you kind of hone in on one area absolutely.
Speaker 7 (07:23):
You know that's where I you know, that's where I play,
That's where I cut my teeth. And you know, even
as a coordinator, I was still coaching the inside linebackers.
So this has been something that's been really an everyday
opportunity for me in terms of coaching that position group.
But now you know, you pour even more focus into
it when you're not having to kind of manage coaches
in the defensive side of the ball as much. So
(07:46):
it's been it's been great to really dive back into
it brand. It's been awesome to work with so I'm
learning a lot.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
How has a position changed since you played?
Speaker 7 (07:55):
You know, the position has changed in terms of you know,
I don't think the NFL carry as many linebackers as
they did in the early two thousands. There's more pass rushers,
there's more defensive backs. You know, I still think there's
you know, you're still looking for the same characteristics. But
I think then the amount of snaps that the linebackers
get to play now are a little bit diminished because
(08:17):
you're getting replaced by pass rushers and more kind of
those not the hybrid safety, but guys that have greater coverability.
The premier guys at linebackers still have high weight, speed,
but I still I think you see a little bit
of a trend, you know, towards guys that are more
proficient in space and less thumpers in the box.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
How big of an anomaly is to Mario Davis.
Speaker 7 (08:41):
Boy, probably extreme anomaly, you know, just watching him out
here and being around him, the behavior, the mental side,
you can see why he's been such a high performer
for so long. But getting to understand his physical characteristics,
I mean, he's still got extreme movement skills, he's extremely
(09:03):
strong on the point of attack, just the epitome of
a pro. And he's been great and is great in
the room as a leader, as a culture builder. So
you know, it's been great to be around him, and
he's been everything that he was.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Advertised to be.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
I was talking to coach Venables from Oklahoma about Danny Stutzman,
and he said that Danny's going to come in here
and challenge do Mario in a respectful way, but he
is going to bring a different perspective to the room
and he wants to elevate everybody around him. He's obviously
going to listen and learn and do what he needs
to do as a rookie. But how have you seen
(09:39):
his personality kind of fit in so far?
Speaker 7 (09:42):
You know, all these guys you know in the transition,
you know, we don't want them to take a back
seat to anybody.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
The mentality and their behavior is part of what.
Speaker 7 (09:51):
Made him good, as part of why you know, ultimately
they were selected. So I think it's as an opportunity
for these young guys to show humility, but we're not
asked and then them take a back seat, and we
want to get the best product on the field as
we can. Danny's done a great job. He was really
well trained at OU.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
He comes in.
Speaker 7 (10:09):
You know what I thought you were going to go
with this talking about challenging It was, you know, challenging
the coaches and you know.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Hey, what about this and what about this?
Speaker 7 (10:16):
So you know, I thought he was He has a
high aptitude to learn, and he's got good physical tools.
He runs really well, so you know, we're really excited
about his addition. I'm really excited about what he's displayed
to me, just his work ethic, you know, the way
he views the game, which ultimately goes back to the
way he.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Was trained at school.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
So you know, we're very optimistic that that he's going
to be a big contributor for us.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
How familiar are you or were you with Brandon Staley's
defense before coming in here.
Speaker 7 (10:46):
You know, Brandon and I we had a not even
a crossover, but I was leaving the University of Tennessee
and Brandon was just coming into the University of Tennessee.
So we had met several times kind of during that transition,
and then we kind of kept up in the meantime.
But all the guys, I mean, you know, I'm pretty
familiar with kind of all the defensive trees and the guys,
(11:07):
the way they play football. You're always you're always kind
of following people or following schemes that give you some
maybe some flexibility or some adaptability what you do with.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Your own scheme.
Speaker 7 (11:18):
So I've watched a bunch of what Brand has done
and kind of his path.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
What can we expect from the linebackers in his scheme?
Speaker 7 (11:26):
Yeah, really, the scheme of it, We're going to ask
those linebackers or linebackers do a lot. You're going to
see them up near the line of Scrimmage're gonna see
him space. You're gonna see them trying to puncture things through,
you know, rushing the passer. We're going to see some
man the versatility of packages and the versatility of what
we're gonna ask them to do. You're gonna see a
lot of different groupings on the field. You're gonna see
it a lot of different alignments from the linebackers, the safeties,
(11:49):
even the d line. So there's gonna be a big
menu for Brandon to choose from and for those guys
to be and for our team and our defense to
be as good as possible. There has to be a
really really strong mental side of these guys to be
able to carry it, capture it, and then execute it.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
What made you want to be a coach?
Speaker 7 (12:08):
I didn't want to be a coach when I was
a player.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
You just wanted to play forever.
Speaker 7 (12:12):
Well, not even that, not even that, not really. So
I finished my second contract in Tennessee. I think I
turned might have been maybe just after twenty nine or thirty. Uh,
And I had a couple of injuries, like my sixth
seventh year, and I didn't look the same, you know.
So I ended up retiring after those seven years, and
(12:35):
then I stuck around in Nashville. In that year out
I kind of identified I kind of like, this football
thing's pretty good, this full thing's pretty good. So not
it only happened after I removed myself from football. But
there was never, I mean, there was never, I can
say one percent unequickly. There was never a time while
I was playing in college or in the NFL I thought,
(12:56):
you know, this is what I want to do. It
was only the removal of it kind of got me
back into it.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
So how have you grown as a coach through your
different stops? And you've been to a bunch of different
places at a collegiate level, and then you said you're
still trying to challenge yourself, want to grow. You're still
in eighteen years later.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:13):
I think the thing that I like to do is,
you know, have an open mind to where you're going
and where you've been. You know, some people refer to
as a growth mindset. I think it's a fancy way
of saying, you know what I don't. I don't have
all the answers, and I know I don't have all
the answers, And I think part of growing as a
coach is knowing what you don't know. I'm not especially
(13:37):
dogmatic about what I believe. Defensively, I think there's characteristics
of effort tackling takeaways. I think those are all very,
very durable. But four down, three down, bear, I think
there's a lot of quality, you know, defensive approaches to
do it. I think is about how you get your
guys to do it as important or even more important
(14:00):
than what you're doing. So I think growing through different conferences,
different job responsibilities, different skill levels, different head coaches. I
think you're really just trying to find you know that
that development of what do I believe in? What can
I fix? And what are my what are my strengths
as a coach as you build a defense?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
What would you say your biggest strength as a coach is.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
I would like to think that I can make complicated
things easy, use less words, not more words, and to
be able to adapt to the way that your players
need you to. And I say it often and this
comes from a reference. Who's a player I coached, Shaq Thompson.
(14:47):
His mother would tell him a closed mouth don't get fed.
So I need those guys to ask me questions. I
don't know what you don't know? So what I constantly
ask them? You don't if I'm not saying it correctly,
challenge me to say it another way. Is it an example?
Is it a video example? Do I need to rethink
(15:08):
about how I'm instructing it? But I think that's what
good coaches do, is they can they can sift through
one thousand coaching points and a player can grab on
to five or six that are crucial. I think people
that talk talk talk talk, talk, talk, talk talk, they're
just grabbing at you know. Eventually maybe one of the
(15:30):
things I say you'll listen to.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Yep.
Speaker 7 (15:33):
But it's you know again, fancy words and economy of words.
Be mindful of the words that you use, mean what
you say, and say what you mean, so it's not
just chitter chatter. And there's too much information in the
in what you're trying to convey gets lost.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
So when I have a question, can I come knock
on your door?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Yes, and I'll probably give you. I'll give you.
Speaker 7 (15:56):
I'll give you one sentence and if you want more
than you got to open your mouth and ask more questions.
But I'll try to be concise with the with the
initial answer.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Okay, I love that, Thank you. How good is it
that we're not playing the Jets this year?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Well?
Speaker 7 (16:10):
His son Jackson, Yeah, so my son Jackson is on
year two in the Jets organization. You know it's I
never liked playing my son, and we did it several
times when he was the University of Washington, uh, and
we were playing him in the old how about that,
the old PAC twelve, right, But I never enjoyed it.
(16:33):
I never enjoyed talking about it. I never enjoyed any
of it. So I don't like competing against him.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Did you coach him up? Do you talk to him?
You guys did both linebackers.
Speaker 7 (16:44):
Yeah, well he played for me for two years at Cal,
so it was a lot better joined joined square.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yep.
Speaker 7 (16:51):
So he played his four years at Washington, had a
COVID year, graduated, and then came post grad and played
two years for US at CAL.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
And that's the way I liked it.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, that's what he was. On your sides off the field.
What do you like to do?
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Boy?
Speaker 7 (17:05):
A couple things that passions I have. You know, I've
sold it since. But my wife and I like r ving. Okay,
I love snowboarding. Not going to have that here, I know,
but you know, we can make it happen. I love hiking, camping, backpacking,
so really enjoy the kind of the outdoor activities. And
I think probably getting a little bit of golf now
(17:26):
with the with the four kids out of the house,
so we got two of the girls living in Dallas,
Jackson is up in Jersey, and then our youngest is
a sophomore at Alabama. So we're empty nested, so we
got to start finding some activities that we can do
on a weekend.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So probably picking up a little more golf.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Yeah, we have ties to SEC Country then with Alabama, Yes, yep, yep.
Speaker 7 (17:48):
So she's a sideline cheerleader there, so my wife will
be up there as much as possible. And then now
she'll be able to drive instead of and fly from
from California.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
We got mini camp next week and then you'll have
a couple of weeks, maybe can knock out some of
those activities, get a couple of rounds of golf in
before the season gets going.
Speaker 7 (18:03):
Absolutely, that'd be great.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
All right, thank you so much for talking to me
and let us know a little bit more about you.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
That does it for OTAs. Tuesday through Thursday next week
will be that VET mini camp. It's mandatory, so we're
hoping to see everybody here. Coach Moore said that's the
expectation for him as well. The team is looking forward
to having the fans out of practice, So tune in
again next week if you're not able to make it
here for all of the coverage that you need.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
Yeah, it'll be fun. Mini camp open to the public,
and so that'll be a fun part of this and
certainly you know, when we come back in July and
training camps here for you know, the front end of it.
I think it'll be an awesome opportunity for us just
to connect with our community, get as many people here
as they can, and have a lot of fun doing that.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Pret's
going to buy seat Geeke joining us three times per
week on New Orleans Saints dot com, the Saints Mobile app,
or you can download the podcast on ITO. We'll see
you next time right here on the New Orleans Saints Podcast,
presented by seat Geek
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