September 11, 2025 • 20 mins
Patriots defensive coaches Zack Kuhr, Mike Smith, and Scott Booker address the media on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
TIMECODE
KUHR / 00:00-07:29
SMITH / 07:29-11:44
BOOKER / 11:44-20:20
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, as I say, I mean, if there are more
people come, I just want to say, like, I'm not
gonna really comment about Torell right now. I'll respect for
him and his family, but uh, just you know our
prayers with him and his family, and you know he
means the world to me, and uh, you know, I
challenge anybody to find a better man, better dad.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Better coach, better friend, better mentor than anybody.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So I'll respect him, not gonna really come on him,
but I'm always thinking about him and what he means
to this team and.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
What I guess, what does this mean for you now?
Just this week he's not here.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I mean, nothing really different. You know, I'm still just
the inside linebackers coach, and I'm getting the backers right
for Miami. You know, all the guys are any any
thing we got to step up, we can step up.
But everything's pretty status quo right now.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So in the spring when he wasn't here, you're doing
a little bit more in practice, I think, and then
going back to talk to him on ZOOM.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I didn't know if like the practice is now.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
Your role would be sort of similar to what it
was in the spring when he wasn't around.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
That question.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I mean kind of like I said, it's it's about
the same as it's.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Been all all training camp.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
On the first few weeks of the season, Mike.
Speaker 6 (01:15):
Said he was gonna talk to you and kind of
figure out who was gonna call plays on Sunday potentially
if Terrell's not available. Have you had those conversations yet
and if so.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
How was that gone.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, yeah, any conversation with me and Raves only keep
between me and Raves.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But he's gonna find it told. He's gonna let you
guys know. Friday got it.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
I guess how comfortable do you feel at this point
in your career? You know in this defense obviously spent a.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Lot of time with Mike and Tennessee and you're you know,
you're in New York last year.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
How much growth have you felt.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
For this office a coach?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, a lot and uh, you know, like three people
that come to mind, just like what I mentioned about
Terrell earlier, is t.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Rabes and uh Shane Bowen.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You know, those three guys huge influence on me and
my growth, especially on the defensive side.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Of the ball.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I can't thank them enough.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I don't take any morning I wake up and get
to work with Tea and Braves like for granted, uh
and I feel like I've had, you know, pretty good
development under those three. I think they've helped me a
lot and understanding the game, especially at this level and
on the side of the ball.
Speaker 7 (02:30):
What's it like being an inside linebackers coach before and
knowing that he played the linebacker position that's kind of
his area.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That's a great question. He's on it at all times.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Uh, you got you gotta be on your toes and
you gotta be ready.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
You gotta be able.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
To explain it all the times, because yeah, he can
see a play for a fraction of a second and
know exactly what happened.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
You know, it's pretty wild how much he can see
at once.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
So, uh, yeah, you gotta be on your stuff with
him because that's I would say. I mean, he loves
all the positions because he's got his He coaches.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
All three phases.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
But you're right, he's played the position, so it means
a little something to him.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Just with Miami, how challenging is their run play action
pass game for linebackers in particular, it feels like there's
a lot of window dressing and not candy there and
how does that you know, kind of one of the
coaching points.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And yeah, I mean they do a good job of
designing plays off of each other, and he does a
good job the whole tree, the whole branch of like
you said, some window dressing, uh, trying to buy some
bad eyes by defenders and trying to make you sound
while using all the athleticism they have to kind of
(03:42):
get you out of place and run by.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
It when they know your zone dropping right and they
have those those speed at receiver crossing you know over
the field. Just what, how do you kind of coach
the linebackers there too to be able to keep up
with you know, Hill and Wattle kind of come into
their zones.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I mean they're they're a challenge.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I know this is one of the fastest teams in
the league, but like we say, across the team, it
all depends on the the details, the technique and the
fundamentals with each call and how that affects you and
your coverage in that situation.
Speaker 8 (04:14):
Sorry coming late, our Mike died, but just starting over
if you online, there's just what how was the team responded?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Just the situation where coach Williams this weekend.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, well, I know you guys just got in here,
but I'm not really gonna comment on on Tea. I
respect him and his family, But like I said, we're
going as is. I mean everybody's status quo, we're rolling.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, I wouldn't say anything's much different at all.
Speaker 5 (04:40):
Have you figured out logistics just in terms of play
calling and how that's.
Speaker 9 (04:44):
Going to have.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Like, like I said earlier, I'm sorry, Rapes, Rapes is
gonna let you guys know to morow about all that.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Okay, I saw you out there practice today.
Speaker 8 (04:54):
It looked like you were running some sort of a
playoffs kind of drill, like you were the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
You were out there moving around pretty and I was
not moving around good. I would say that, No, I
disagree with that. Every step hurts. Considering all the coaches
you mentioned that have helped you.
Speaker 10 (05:10):
When if there comes a times that you do need
to step up.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
How prepared you feel.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I mean that's everybody on staff.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
I think I think everybody comes into work every day
that if anybody ever needs extra help, we're all ready
to do that.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I don't think it's you know, me specifically being ready
for that. I think everybody on the staff. Rapes does
a good job of hiring good people. And the one
thing I love about him, just as a head coach
or even as a person, is really his mindset is
every day like, Okay, how can I help? How can
I make somebody better? How can I help this situation?
How can I help you? You know, it's all about
(05:42):
working together and helping wherever we need to help and
reach a common goal.
Speaker 8 (05:47):
The way you did step in over the spring and summer,
it was just how did that kind of help prepare
you for whatever is called upon for him?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Moving board?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And again like I don't know what's going to be
called upon righting like that, but I don't again. Uh,
you know, when you got guys on our unit, guys
like you know, Splain, guys like Marcus Jones, herold Langer,
like those three captains, like coming to works pretty easy,
and everything's a collaborative, you know, uh, operation with the
(06:20):
players and the coaches and and you know, being aligned.
And I don't think anything can ever really change that.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
How does Miami Speed make them unique?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I mean it's it's one of the fastest teams in
the league, and you gotta respect Speed and also try
to play a physical game. It definitely can put binds
on you in certain situations. But like I said earlier,
as long as we you know, really master our details,
techniques and fundamentals and we should be in a good spot.
Speaker 8 (06:52):
You're an offensive coordinator in college, not saying you're gonna
be your coordinator here this week or anything like that,
but how does that help you? How that in the spring,
that experience and how can that help you out?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I mean, I you know, different levels, different sides of
the ball, but you know, you're in front of a
whole group of guys delivering a message.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
So that wasn't new to me.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But I don't know if it's you know, prepared me
better or worse in one way or the other.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Good this uh my ammy.
Speaker 10 (07:31):
Offense obviously stump a little bit in week one, but
just kind of knowing how unique some of the stuff
they do is how much do you go and look
at you know, this early and year in general? How
much do you go look at last year when you're
studying offense versus maybe just week one?
Speaker 9 (07:45):
Yeah, big time right now, because you got to go
back with you really can't study off of one week.
You know, so we'll pull all last season, you know,
that time of offense and the forty nine ers offense.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
You know, it's pretty they do what they do. You know,
they want to run the ball and get stuffs out
their play action. But yeah, you want to go back.
There's there is some unknown They have new players up front,
you know, so, but yeah, any time earlier in the year,
you gotta you got to get back to the previous
season and get some stuff from there.
Speaker 11 (08:13):
With Drell Williams, possibly be you know, the stuff might
get delegated, you know, down the line. Then he's a
bad staff. What does he mean to you guys? And
sort of what does he do outside of I guess
his normal.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Students then't Yeah, man, he's he's one of us, you know.
Speaker 9 (08:29):
I mean he does all the quality control, helps with
the linebackers, he does a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
He's a really good ball coach being that young. But
right now with.
Speaker 9 (08:38):
With with torell Is, you know, we're all in this together,
working together and putting our minds together and rolling like that.
Speaker 11 (08:45):
We saw any next to coach collabs in the booth
the other day. Where is that untail? Is that just
kind of taking notes or I guess for anybody that
would be there.
Speaker 9 (08:54):
Yeah, I mean there's formation stuff that we're working on.
He's looking at tells, uh, personnel grow, offensive personnel groups,
stuff like that, little.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Things that he might catch that we can't see down
on the field. Good question.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
After getting a chance to watch the tape, what did
you see from Harold Lander in week one?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (09:12):
Things I saw a training camp.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
You know, he's got exposed to get off.
Speaker 9 (09:15):
He was mixing in his power, making these guys set him, uh,
set them normal, and just how aggressive he plays. He's
a smart guy. He knows how to rush, he knows
how to set him up. You know, he's he's a
student of the game man, he studies. We talk about
it all week what the game plan is. But he
executed what what Harold does and I just loved how
(09:37):
he mixed up some things and just keep those tackles honest.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
You say, a student at the game.
Speaker 10 (09:40):
You know, how do you see that show up in
the meeting room with him?
Speaker 7 (09:43):
Uh?
Speaker 9 (09:43):
You know days like today, you know, we go over
past rush and we go over the tackles and the
offensive line, and we all get together.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
And ask him, Hey, how do you see you know who.
Speaker 9 (09:54):
We're playing this week, and he reads off his report
and in his detailed you know, he's a smart kid.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
You can tell he puts the time in.
Speaker 9 (10:00):
So as a coach, you can tell with the guys
that don't put the time in, you know, and and
watching that's how we build our plan. All right, let's
get on the board, let's all get on the same page.
You know, there's a lot to it. There's protections, there's chips,
there's thumps, there's gonna be a lot different things that
go with that. But he's having that plan. But he
just he's always organized. You know, he hit me last night,
like at ten o'clock about something, you know, about this move,
(10:22):
about that move. And so that's why guys like him
had some success.
Speaker 10 (10:28):
For him to be named a captain. You know that
kind of approach. Is that something that goes behind him.
Is that's something you've noticed he's maybe instructing other players,
suggesting other players to do, hey, like you know twenty
four to seven kind.
Speaker 9 (10:40):
Yeah, yeah, think about Harold. He might be the most
bulky guy, but it's the way that he works, in
the way that he prepares, right, He's he's always full
going practice.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
He's always, you.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Know, doing the right thing all that time stuff.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
He might be the vulcal leader, but that's okay. He's
gonna do it by the way he plays.
Speaker 10 (10:58):
You've talked in other coaches have talked a lot about
playing the violence on defense. Is that something tib.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Douinitely practice all the time.
Speaker 10 (11:04):
I know, you guys are trying to take care of
each other out there. You don't want to players getting hurt.
But is he somebody would say, sets the tone in
that regard.
Speaker 9 (11:10):
He does, you know, when it is time to go
and roll and rapes braves like, hey, this is this period,
I wants to go and hit and run. Uh, he
brings it. You know, there's never a time you tell
Errol they slow down. It is not even in the
pre practice that I'm watching them and he's doing full sprints,
that little thing around his back wherever he's pulling and
doing all that stuff. I mean, he's always he's always going.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
And it makes it easier as a coach when you
have a guy like that in the room.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
You know that you don't have you have you know
these guys that that one of your leaders, that that's
not always going, you know, and so you just lead
by example of him.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
You appreciate that those guys remember so, you know, I
told him before the game kicks off, just look up
there and appreciate the moment. You know, he's one of
you know, a very small percentage that's able to go
out there and play as a rookie, start all that
type stuff, So appreciate the moment. He definitely, uh played
with some good poise. Liked what I saw out there.
Obviously there are some things he can improve, but was
(12:06):
happy with his opening game and look forward to improvement.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
You know, that's what we're looking for.
Speaker 7 (12:11):
We're looking for a better game in Miami, better game
the next game, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 10 (12:15):
Actually, one more we hear so much like a week
leading up, we don't know what the other team's going
to do.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
How much do as a coach know what your team's
going to do?
Speaker 10 (12:21):
And is it you know, a little bit of an
unknown factor for you as a coach with no not
just your group but generalist.
Speaker 7 (12:26):
Speaking, Yeah, so, you know, I think we try to
do everything we can to prepare the guys and to
feel like they are ready for the moment, but you
never know until it's out there, right until the boss
kick until they're out there in front of seventy thousand fans,
how they're going to react. We try and put them
in situations, especially my position, the safeties, the dbs, We
(12:47):
try and put them into adverse situations in the practice
field so they can feel that. But again, you never
know how guy's going to react. This is a new
group for us. Obviously I'm new to them, they're new
to me, and so I was pleased with how they
came to the sideline. We talked, we got information, they
were able to take information, they are to take adjustments,
all that type stuff. So definitely pleased with the way
we handled some of the things that happened and continue
(13:09):
to look forward to improving.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I think, like news wise with Terrell, and you're like,
you guys are close from the time together.
Speaker 10 (13:19):
So I think one thing we're all curious about is
how are you all sort of rallying together and what
are your thoughts on.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
How you move forward?
Speaker 7 (13:26):
And appreciate that known Terrell for over twenty years, so
very close friend of mine, not just football wise, but
we're just talking about family and so again with all
that being said, just as a group, we are all
a collective defense. You know, that's one thing that Terrell
implemented day one in February that this is a collective thing.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So that's how we're going forward.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
We're collectively doing the game plan, We're collectively going through
our areas of expertise, and we're going to just continue
to go on forward and have game plan that we
feel likes the best to beat the beat the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
This might sound silly, I think Jalen Hawkins, actually one
of your guys today in the locker room, said they
want to do it for Terrell.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I don't know, but.
Speaker 10 (14:13):
As fellow coaches to share sort of a similar mindset,
like you'd like to come together and make up.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I don't want to say make them proud, but yeah,
like that's his baby.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
In a way.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (14:22):
No, definitely, there's always that human element of wanting to
do well for someone that you've had a long time relationship.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
I'm speaking for myself, but at the.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
Same time, just me personally, the win one for the
gipper and all that type stuff that really goes away
on that first kickoff, for the first time you get
hit or the first time some adversity hits, so you know,
it's not so much win one for Terrell for the Gipper,
but we want to get this win, you know. We
we want to make sure that we go out there
and we play a great team defense, We swarm, we
(14:53):
play violent, we take the ball away, and that's.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
What we want to do.
Speaker 12 (14:59):
How import and is it or have you discovered last
week you surrendered nine plays of twenty plus year old Yes.
Do you think you've kind of ferreted out why that
happened and not to.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Have it happen again.
Speaker 7 (15:15):
Yeah, definitely, you don't want to do that. You're not
gonna win a lot of games giving up nine X
plays in the game.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
And so, you know the.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
Thing, when you look back at those situations, they came
on some different coverages, you know, one time in man,
one time maybe in his zone, all that type stuff.
So it wasn't like there was one specific thing. It
was more of a culmination of us just maybe one
guy not doing his job or maybe one guy out
of place. And so what we try to do this
week is tighten it up, make sure that as coaching staff,
(15:44):
all right, we were clear on hey, this is what
we want to do, and feel like the guys responded
well we watched the.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Tape on Monday.
Speaker 7 (15:51):
The guys were good about not only taking the coaching
but also talking about, hey, this is what I saw,
you know, because again they're out there playing, so now
with that information, with what they saw, we're in there
making a game plan so that they can use what
they see and make sure that we're just covering our
bases and covering our guys and doing the things the
areas that we need to do. So I feel like after, yes,
(16:13):
after Monday's film session and stuff like that, we were
able to do some good things there and you know,
preparation wise, all that type of stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Feel like we're on track to do better in that area.
Speaker 13 (16:24):
Guessing you also watched the Dolphins and Indie game.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Yep, that's one of the games were watching.
Speaker 13 (16:31):
Yeah, and Indy had some luck containing to or taking
away his reads or doing certain things. I don't want
to say they provided a blueprint, but are you conscious
of some of the things that work really well against
Miami and that game?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
I Mean you always look at not only the opponent's
last game, but you look at a history of their
games and to see what works against them and what doesn't.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
You know, and use the word luck.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
All good, you know, I think taking the ball away
is not lucky, you know what I mean, That's something
that you do and you practice and all that type
of stuff. So they were able to, I believe, take
the ball away three times and limited their possessions and
all that type of left play complimentary football. So that's
definitely a blueprint that we'd like, take the ball away,
be able to get over our offense, the ball in
great field position, and you know, be great on third down,
(17:23):
you know, limit their possessions. So if that blueprint is
what you're talking about, then yeah, sign me up. But
I think you know, more importantly, it's just you know,
watching what happened to them, but also focusing on us
right and making sure that you know our group what
we're doing, we're getting sound technique fundamentals, and that we're sound.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
When you guys blitzed as much as you did a
week long, things like aggressive, how does that affect you
your guys rules on the back end?
Speaker 7 (17:51):
Yeah, yeah, so you know it's one of those things
that whenever you do blitz, we obviously are are in
a situation as dbs where sometimes we're one on one,
right and so we know that we understand that, and
so we have to adjust accordingly, right, And so we
want to make sure that we're putting the pressure on
(18:13):
the offense, and that's who we are. And so in
that in that situation, if we're in one on one situations,
we're going to want to win our one on one
battles more than we lose. And obviously if we lose
our one on one battle, we want to get out
there and win the next one, you know, I mean,
we're not going to shrink from the moment, right, So
that answers your question.
Speaker 10 (18:34):
Offense, how do you disrupt the timing of it?
Speaker 9 (18:36):
And just from your safety perspective, Colt Skuy's talking about
taking away his first read, trying to make.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Them read through the coverage a little bit.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
But what are the keys to sloan this guy down?
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Yeah, I mean, accurate quarterback does a great job of
distributing the ball within their system. And so, you know,
our situation is that we want to make sure that
we do a good job of getting bodies on people right,
and sometimes that's man covered, sometimes the zone cover, but.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
We don't want to allow them to have space. Right.
Speaker 7 (19:02):
When you have space, that gives windows for the throws,
and that gives opportunities for run after catch. So we
want to eliminate the space. And so that's what we're
trying to do.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
What do you feel good as a proud Kent State
Oh yeah, oh yeah, let's go coach Piece?
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
How tight?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Like how often you're communicating with him?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
And how much is that why you're here? Not here
non coaching?
Speaker 7 (19:30):
So in nineteen ninety nine he came to my house
and offered me a scholarship with Kent State, and I
played for him four straight years, and then in two
thousand and two he offered me my first graduate assistant
job at Kent State Mama Mater, and then in two
thousand and eighteen he was a defensive coordinator with Mike Rabel.
Mike Rabel didn't know me, DNPS did. I was in
(19:52):
Nebraska at the time, and I became the assistant dB coach.
So I owe a lot to coach Piece. All that
football stuff is awesome, but he's.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Really helped be a mentor to me.
Speaker 7 (20:03):
You know, a man who's been married to his wife,
you know, for over thirty years, loves his wife, loves
his kids, and just a really good role model for me.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
So I owe a lot to that man in piano too.
He does, he does, I Die. I've heard his album. Thanks.
I appreciate you, guys,
Yeah, as I say, I mean, if there are more
people come, I just want to say, like, I'm not
gonna really comment about Torell right now. I'll respect for
him and his family, but uh, just you know our
prayers with him and his family, and you know he
means the world to me, and uh, you know, I
challenge anybody to find a better man, better dad.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Better coach, better friend, better mentor than anybody.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So I'll respect him, not gonna really come on him,
but I'm always thinking about him and what he means
to this team and.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
What I guess, what does this mean for you now?
Just this week he's not here.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I mean, nothing really different. You know, I'm still just
the inside linebackers coach, and I'm getting the backers right
for Miami. You know, all the guys are any any
thing we got to step up, we can step up.
But everything's pretty status quo right now.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So in the spring when he wasn't here, you're doing
a little bit more in practice, I think, and then
going back to talk to him on ZOOM.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I didn't know if like the practice is now.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
Your role would be sort of similar to what it
was in the spring when he wasn't around.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
That question.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I mean kind of like I said, it's it's about
the same as it's.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Been all all training camp.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
On the first few weeks of the season, Mike.
Speaker 6 (01:15):
Said he was gonna talk to you and kind of
figure out who was gonna call plays on Sunday potentially
if Terrell's not available. Have you had those conversations yet
and if so.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
How was that gone.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, yeah, any conversation with me and Raves only keep
between me and Raves.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But he's gonna find it told. He's gonna let you
guys know. Friday got it.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
I guess how comfortable do you feel at this point
in your career? You know in this defense obviously spent a.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Lot of time with Mike and Tennessee and you're you know,
you're in New York last year.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
How much growth have you felt.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
For this office a coach?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, a lot and uh, you know, like three people
that come to mind, just like what I mentioned about
Terrell earlier, is t.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Rabes and uh Shane Bowen.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You know, those three guys huge influence on me and
my growth, especially on the defensive side.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Of the ball.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I can't thank them enough.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I don't take any morning I wake up and get
to work with Tea and Braves like for granted, uh
and I feel like I've had, you know, pretty good
development under those three. I think they've helped me a
lot and understanding the game, especially at this level and
on the side of the ball.
Speaker 7 (02:30):
What's it like being an inside linebackers coach before and
knowing that he played the linebacker position that's kind of
his area.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
That's a great question. He's on it at all times.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Uh, you got you gotta be on your toes and
you gotta be ready.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
You gotta be able.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
To explain it all the times, because yeah, he can
see a play for a fraction of a second and
know exactly what happened.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
You know, it's pretty wild how much he can see
at once.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
So, uh, yeah, you gotta be on your stuff with
him because that's I would say. I mean, he loves
all the positions because he's got his He coaches.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
All three phases.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
But you're right, he's played the position, so it means
a little something to him.
Speaker 6 (03:08):
Just with Miami, how challenging is their run play action
pass game for linebackers in particular, it feels like there's
a lot of window dressing and not candy there and
how does that you know, kind of one of the
coaching points.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And yeah, I mean they do a good job of
designing plays off of each other, and he does a
good job the whole tree, the whole branch of like
you said, some window dressing, uh, trying to buy some
bad eyes by defenders and trying to make you sound
while using all the athleticism they have to kind of
(03:42):
get you out of place and run by.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
It when they know your zone dropping right and they
have those those speed at receiver crossing you know over
the field. Just what, how do you kind of coach
the linebackers there too to be able to keep up
with you know, Hill and Wattle kind of come into
their zones.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I mean they're they're a challenge.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I know this is one of the fastest teams in
the league, but like we say, across the team, it
all depends on the the details, the technique and the
fundamentals with each call and how that affects you and
your coverage in that situation.
Speaker 8 (04:14):
Sorry coming late, our Mike died, but just starting over
if you online, there's just what how was the team responded?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Just the situation where coach Williams this weekend.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, well, I know you guys just got in here,
but I'm not really gonna comment on on Tea. I
respect him and his family, But like I said, we're
going as is. I mean everybody's status quo, we're rolling.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, I wouldn't say anything's much different at all.
Speaker 5 (04:40):
Have you figured out logistics just in terms of play
calling and how that's.
Speaker 9 (04:44):
Going to have.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Like, like I said earlier, I'm sorry, Rapes, Rapes is
gonna let you guys know to morow about all that.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Okay, I saw you out there practice today.
Speaker 8 (04:54):
It looked like you were running some sort of a
playoffs kind of drill, like you were the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
You were out there moving around pretty and I was
not moving around good. I would say that, No, I
disagree with that. Every step hurts. Considering all the coaches
you mentioned that have helped you.
Speaker 10 (05:10):
When if there comes a times that you do need
to step up.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
How prepared you feel.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I mean that's everybody on staff.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
I think I think everybody comes into work every day
that if anybody ever needs extra help, we're all ready
to do that.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I don't think it's you know, me specifically being ready
for that. I think everybody on the staff. Rapes does
a good job of hiring good people. And the one
thing I love about him, just as a head coach
or even as a person, is really his mindset is
every day like, Okay, how can I help? How can
I make somebody better? How can I help this situation?
How can I help you? You know, it's all about
(05:42):
working together and helping wherever we need to help and
reach a common goal.
Speaker 8 (05:47):
The way you did step in over the spring and summer,
it was just how did that kind of help prepare
you for whatever is called upon for him?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Moving board?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And again like I don't know what's going to be
called upon righting like that, but I don't again. Uh,
you know, when you got guys on our unit, guys
like you know, Splain, guys like Marcus Jones, herold Langer,
like those three captains, like coming to works pretty easy,
and everything's a collaborative, you know, uh, operation with the
(06:20):
players and the coaches and and you know, being aligned.
And I don't think anything can ever really change that.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
How does Miami Speed make them unique?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I mean it's it's one of the fastest teams in
the league, and you gotta respect Speed and also try
to play a physical game. It definitely can put binds
on you in certain situations. But like I said earlier,
as long as we you know, really master our details,
techniques and fundamentals and we should be in a good spot.
Speaker 8 (06:52):
You're an offensive coordinator in college, not saying you're gonna
be your coordinator here this week or anything like that,
but how does that help you? How that in the spring,
that experience and how can that help you out?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I mean, I you know, different levels, different sides of
the ball, but you know, you're in front of a
whole group of guys delivering a message.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
So that wasn't new to me.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But I don't know if it's you know, prepared me
better or worse in one way or the other.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Good this uh my ammy.
Speaker 10 (07:31):
Offense obviously stump a little bit in week one, but
just kind of knowing how unique some of the stuff
they do is how much do you go and look
at you know, this early and year in general? How
much do you go look at last year when you're
studying offense versus maybe just week one?
Speaker 9 (07:45):
Yeah, big time right now, because you got to go
back with you really can't study off of one week.
You know, so we'll pull all last season, you know,
that time of offense and the forty nine ers offense.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
You know, it's pretty they do what they do. You know,
they want to run the ball and get stuffs out
their play action. But yeah, you want to go back.
There's there is some unknown They have new players up front,
you know, so, but yeah, any time earlier in the year,
you gotta you got to get back to the previous
season and get some stuff from there.
Speaker 11 (08:13):
With Drell Williams, possibly be you know, the stuff might
get delegated, you know, down the line. Then he's a
bad staff. What does he mean to you guys? And
sort of what does he do outside of I guess
his normal.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Students then't Yeah, man, he's he's one of us, you know.
Speaker 9 (08:29):
I mean he does all the quality control, helps with
the linebackers, he does a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
He's a really good ball coach being that young. But
right now with.
Speaker 9 (08:38):
With with torell Is, you know, we're all in this together,
working together and putting our minds together and rolling like that.
Speaker 11 (08:45):
We saw any next to coach collabs in the booth
the other day. Where is that untail? Is that just
kind of taking notes or I guess for anybody that
would be there.
Speaker 9 (08:54):
Yeah, I mean there's formation stuff that we're working on.
He's looking at tells, uh, personnel grow, offensive personnel groups,
stuff like that, little.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Things that he might catch that we can't see down
on the field. Good question.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
After getting a chance to watch the tape, what did
you see from Harold Lander in week one?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (09:12):
Things I saw a training camp.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
You know, he's got exposed to get off.
Speaker 9 (09:15):
He was mixing in his power, making these guys set him, uh,
set them normal, and just how aggressive he plays. He's
a smart guy. He knows how to rush, he knows
how to set him up. You know, he's he's a
student of the game man, he studies. We talk about
it all week what the game plan is. But he
executed what what Harold does and I just loved how
(09:37):
he mixed up some things and just keep those tackles honest.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
You say, a student at the game.
Speaker 10 (09:40):
You know, how do you see that show up in
the meeting room with him?
Speaker 7 (09:43):
Uh?
Speaker 9 (09:43):
You know days like today, you know, we go over
past rush and we go over the tackles and the
offensive line, and we all get together.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
And ask him, Hey, how do you see you know who.
Speaker 9 (09:54):
We're playing this week, and he reads off his report
and in his detailed you know, he's a smart kid.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
You can tell he puts the time in.
Speaker 9 (10:00):
So as a coach, you can tell with the guys
that don't put the time in, you know, and and
watching that's how we build our plan. All right, let's
get on the board, let's all get on the same page.
You know, there's a lot to it. There's protections, there's chips,
there's thumps, there's gonna be a lot different things that
go with that. But he's having that plan. But he
just he's always organized. You know, he hit me last night,
like at ten o'clock about something, you know, about this move,
(10:22):
about that move. And so that's why guys like him
had some success.
Speaker 10 (10:28):
For him to be named a captain. You know that
kind of approach. Is that something that goes behind him.
Is that's something you've noticed he's maybe instructing other players,
suggesting other players to do, hey, like you know twenty
four to seven kind.
Speaker 9 (10:40):
Yeah, yeah, think about Harold. He might be the most
bulky guy, but it's the way that he works, in
the way that he prepares, right, He's he's always full
going practice.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
He's always, you.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Know, doing the right thing all that time stuff.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
He might be the vulcal leader, but that's okay. He's
gonna do it by the way he plays.
Speaker 10 (10:58):
You've talked in other coaches have talked a lot about
playing the violence on defense. Is that something tib.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Douinitely practice all the time.
Speaker 10 (11:04):
I know, you guys are trying to take care of
each other out there. You don't want to players getting hurt.
But is he somebody would say, sets the tone in
that regard.
Speaker 9 (11:10):
He does, you know, when it is time to go
and roll and rapes braves like, hey, this is this period,
I wants to go and hit and run. Uh, he
brings it. You know, there's never a time you tell
Errol they slow down. It is not even in the
pre practice that I'm watching them and he's doing full sprints,
that little thing around his back wherever he's pulling and
doing all that stuff. I mean, he's always he's always going.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
And it makes it easier as a coach when you
have a guy like that in the room.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
You know that you don't have you have you know
these guys that that one of your leaders, that that's
not always going, you know, and so you just lead
by example of him.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
You appreciate that those guys remember so, you know, I
told him before the game kicks off, just look up
there and appreciate the moment. You know, he's one of
you know, a very small percentage that's able to go
out there and play as a rookie, start all that
type stuff, So appreciate the moment. He definitely, uh played
with some good poise. Liked what I saw out there.
Obviously there are some things he can improve, but was
(12:06):
happy with his opening game and look forward to improvement.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
You know, that's what we're looking for.
Speaker 7 (12:11):
We're looking for a better game in Miami, better game
the next game, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 10 (12:15):
Actually, one more we hear so much like a week
leading up, we don't know what the other team's going
to do.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
How much do as a coach know what your team's
going to do?
Speaker 10 (12:21):
And is it you know, a little bit of an
unknown factor for you as a coach with no not
just your group but generalist.
Speaker 7 (12:26):
Speaking, Yeah, so, you know, I think we try to
do everything we can to prepare the guys and to
feel like they are ready for the moment, but you
never know until it's out there, right until the boss
kick until they're out there in front of seventy thousand fans,
how they're going to react. We try and put them
in situations, especially my position, the safeties, the dbs, We
(12:47):
try and put them into adverse situations in the practice
field so they can feel that. But again, you never
know how guy's going to react. This is a new
group for us. Obviously I'm new to them, they're new
to me, and so I was pleased with how they
came to the sideline. We talked, we got information, they
were able to take information, they are to take adjustments,
all that type stuff. So definitely pleased with the way
we handled some of the things that happened and continue
(13:09):
to look forward to improving.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I think, like news wise with Terrell, and you're like,
you guys are close from the time together.
Speaker 10 (13:19):
So I think one thing we're all curious about is
how are you all sort of rallying together and what
are your thoughts on.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
How you move forward?
Speaker 7 (13:26):
And appreciate that known Terrell for over twenty years, so
very close friend of mine, not just football wise, but
we're just talking about family and so again with all
that being said, just as a group, we are all
a collective defense. You know, that's one thing that Terrell
implemented day one in February that this is a collective thing.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So that's how we're going forward.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
We're collectively doing the game plan, We're collectively going through
our areas of expertise, and we're going to just continue
to go on forward and have game plan that we
feel likes the best to beat the beat the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
This might sound silly, I think Jalen Hawkins, actually one
of your guys today in the locker room, said they
want to do it for Terrell.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I don't know, but.
Speaker 10 (14:13):
As fellow coaches to share sort of a similar mindset,
like you'd like to come together and make up.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
I don't want to say make them proud, but yeah,
like that's his baby.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
In a way.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (14:22):
No, definitely, there's always that human element of wanting to
do well for someone that you've had a long time relationship.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
I'm speaking for myself, but at the.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
Same time, just me personally, the win one for the
gipper and all that type stuff that really goes away
on that first kickoff, for the first time you get
hit or the first time some adversity hits, so you know,
it's not so much win one for Terrell for the Gipper,
but we want to get this win, you know. We
we want to make sure that we go out there
and we play a great team defense, We swarm, we
(14:53):
play violent, we take the ball away, and that's.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
What we want to do.
Speaker 12 (14:59):
How import and is it or have you discovered last
week you surrendered nine plays of twenty plus year old Yes.
Do you think you've kind of ferreted out why that
happened and not to.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Have it happen again.
Speaker 7 (15:15):
Yeah, definitely, you don't want to do that. You're not
gonna win a lot of games giving up nine X
plays in the game.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
And so, you know the.
Speaker 7 (15:21):
Thing, when you look back at those situations, they came
on some different coverages, you know, one time in man,
one time maybe in his zone, all that type stuff.
So it wasn't like there was one specific thing. It
was more of a culmination of us just maybe one
guy not doing his job or maybe one guy out
of place. And so what we try to do this
week is tighten it up, make sure that as coaching staff,
(15:44):
all right, we were clear on hey, this is what
we want to do, and feel like the guys responded
well we watched the.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Tape on Monday.
Speaker 7 (15:51):
The guys were good about not only taking the coaching
but also talking about, hey, this is what I saw,
you know, because again they're out there playing, so now
with that information, with what they saw, we're in there
making a game plan so that they can use what
they see and make sure that we're just covering our
bases and covering our guys and doing the things the
areas that we need to do. So I feel like after, yes,
(16:13):
after Monday's film session and stuff like that, we were
able to do some good things there and you know,
preparation wise, all that type of stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Feel like we're on track to do better in that area.
Speaker 13 (16:24):
Guessing you also watched the Dolphins and Indie game.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Yep, that's one of the games were watching.
Speaker 13 (16:31):
Yeah, and Indy had some luck containing to or taking
away his reads or doing certain things. I don't want
to say they provided a blueprint, but are you conscious
of some of the things that work really well against
Miami and that game?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
I Mean you always look at not only the opponent's
last game, but you look at a history of their
games and to see what works against them and what doesn't.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
You know, and use the word luck.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
All good, you know, I think taking the ball away
is not lucky, you know what I mean, That's something
that you do and you practice and all that type
of stuff. So they were able to, I believe, take
the ball away three times and limited their possessions and
all that type of left play complimentary football. So that's
definitely a blueprint that we'd like, take the ball away,
be able to get over our offense, the ball in
great field position, and you know, be great on third down,
(17:23):
you know, limit their possessions. So if that blueprint is
what you're talking about, then yeah, sign me up. But
I think you know, more importantly, it's just you know,
watching what happened to them, but also focusing on us
right and making sure that you know our group what
we're doing, we're getting sound technique fundamentals, and that we're sound.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
When you guys blitzed as much as you did a
week long, things like aggressive, how does that affect you
your guys rules on the back end?
Speaker 7 (17:51):
Yeah, yeah, so you know it's one of those things
that whenever you do blitz, we obviously are are in
a situation as dbs where sometimes we're one on one,
right and so we know that we understand that, and
so we have to adjust accordingly, right, And so we
want to make sure that we're putting the pressure on
(18:13):
the offense, and that's who we are. And so in
that in that situation, if we're in one on one situations,
we're going to want to win our one on one
battles more than we lose. And obviously if we lose
our one on one battle, we want to get out
there and win the next one, you know, I mean,
we're not going to shrink from the moment, right, So
that answers your question.
Speaker 10 (18:34):
Offense, how do you disrupt the timing of it?
Speaker 9 (18:36):
And just from your safety perspective, Colt Skuy's talking about
taking away his first read, trying to make.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Them read through the coverage a little bit.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
But what are the keys to sloan this guy down?
Speaker 7 (18:43):
Yeah, I mean, accurate quarterback does a great job of
distributing the ball within their system. And so, you know,
our situation is that we want to make sure that
we do a good job of getting bodies on people right,
and sometimes that's man covered, sometimes the zone cover, but.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
We don't want to allow them to have space. Right.
Speaker 7 (19:02):
When you have space, that gives windows for the throws,
and that gives opportunities for run after catch. So we
want to eliminate the space. And so that's what we're
trying to do.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
What do you feel good as a proud Kent State
Oh yeah, oh yeah, let's go coach Piece?
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
How tight?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Like how often you're communicating with him?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
And how much is that why you're here? Not here
non coaching?
Speaker 7 (19:30):
So in nineteen ninety nine he came to my house
and offered me a scholarship with Kent State, and I
played for him four straight years, and then in two
thousand and two he offered me my first graduate assistant
job at Kent State Mama Mater, and then in two
thousand and eighteen he was a defensive coordinator with Mike Rabel.
Mike Rabel didn't know me, DNPS did. I was in
(19:52):
Nebraska at the time, and I became the assistant dB coach.
So I owe a lot to coach Piece. All that
football stuff is awesome, but he's.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Really helped be a mentor to me.
Speaker 7 (20:03):
You know, a man who's been married to his wife,
you know, for over thirty years, loves his wife, loves
his kids, and just a really good role model for me.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
So I owe a lot to that man in piano too.
He does, he does, I Die. I've heard his album. Thanks.
I appreciate you, guys,
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