September 3, 2025 • 14 mins
Dave Canales speaks with the media following Wednesday's practice.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hope on for the review.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A great work Wednesday. Phenomenal energy at practice today. You know,
Wednesday is about recapturing that work ethic, you know, and
and uh, you know, setting the precedent for you know,
getting getting the speed that we need.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
This is where we make our team.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Is out there on the practice field, and and this
is where we make Sundays easy. Is when we work
hard during the week.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
The energy was great, a very physical practice.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We were padded up today, but it was just great
to you know, turn back around off of a bonus Monday,
just get the rhythms and flows of the installs and
and the early walk through all the different things. You know,
It's amazing how much we can you know, squeeze into
a short amount of time. But I was really really
thrilled about the energy out there. And some things to
clean up as always, you know, which we'll get back
(00:48):
to here in the in a second.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Coach, can you elaborate on your self scouting efforts this
weekend we had until.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
We worn.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I think, you know, just taking in a lot of
you know, tendencies that might have had We're talking about
going back to last year. You know, what are teams
looking at they have a full season of you know,
our team, our systems and different things to look at
like that. So just being cognizant of it something I
learned a long time ago. As tendencies are okay as
long as you're aware of them, you know, that's where
you can use them to your advantage. If you have
(01:17):
a seventy percent or more in an area, just make
sure you have something that compliments that. You know, the
defense or offense may know what you're doing in that regard,
but it's always good to have a little bit of
a changeup.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
So what's the plan for left tackle if you cannot go?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, Yosh has been taking a lot of reps there, Nyman,
and then also Brady has been taking reps at left
and right as always. So we're just kind of going
to take it one day at a time and it's cool.
Just like you know, you hope that the competition is
over and you just kind of settle into your group.
But here we are, guys have another chance to compete
for that spot.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
What does if you need to do improve to make
you confident that he's ready to go on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
He's got to have a great day on Friday, you know,
that's the goal. Right now.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We had him out there running, moving around a little
bit today. Tomorrow he'll do a little bit more, and
then the hope is Friday to get him into individual period.
You know, see him getting a stance, you know, move
move around, hit some bags and do some things to
be able to make that decision.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
What's your level of concern with Robert Hunt's foot and
also Tommy being left off the injury list.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Sounds like he's going to be good to go this week.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, Tommy's ready to rock. Had a really great practice today.
He feels great. He's He's said that as much as
far as rob goes. You know, he went back in
he had a little something in his foot. He went
back in, had a couple of plays. We decided to
shut him down for the rest of practice. Uh, we'll
evaluate him this evening, this afternoon, and we'll have more
information for you to clarify.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
He was today that, yes, it was today in practice.
He did not finish.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
He returned though, came back in for a couple of plays,
and we just thought, let's just shut him down, let's
evaluate it, let's make sure we're doing the right thing,
and then kind of move forward from there.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
The coaches, It's gonna be a big season for Bryce.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Can you describe how he's handling.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
The pressure to prove that he is a bona fide
Number one.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Bryce is doing a great job leading the group, just
challenging the guys to have the right energy, the right focus, uh,
the right mentality every day, you know, just continue to
just build on each day and having great conversations yesterday
just you know, kind of you know, popping in and out,
just kind of talking about different things that we plan
on doing.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
And love his involvement there. Love is intentionality.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Has there been.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
Any discussion in front office about contract extension for Bryce?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Uh? Not that I'm aware of right now.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I want you to describe your relationship with him going
into this season.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Oh, just excitement, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I think the cool part about last year was, you know,
there was this this cool uh thing uh for both
of us really, you know, as his first time coach
and play caller, you know, and then for Bryce coming
back in and playing the type of ball like and
I don't know if he shares this point of view,
but I'm just sharing my point of view. I wanted
to prove to him that I can put a really
good offense together that you'll be excited about and that
(03:55):
you'll be you know, able to help us grow and
evolve over the course of time. And you know, that's
kind of from my standpoint. And then I just look
at the way he, you know, approached it and the
way he continues to approach it is to show us,
to show his teammates first and foremost, and and our
Panthers fans and all that that that he's the guy
for this team, you know. And so there's just a
(04:16):
real cool mutual respect that I think both of us
have kind of grown just over the course of time
and and just working together daily.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
What sort of emphasis or discussion hasn't been on the
need to start fast and how important that could be Sunday.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I think that's always the mentality I think in my
you know, dream of all dreams, you just go out
there and whether you're on offense or defense, you put
your best foot forward.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I hold that, And with the other hand, I also say, look,
regardless of what happens early, you just go to the
next play, you go to.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
The next series.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You just keep grinding, you keep battling, you keep pounding
as we say, right, and I think that that's got
to be the mentality, right, and it all starts off
with practice. It's about the energy that the guys come
on the grass with because that's where you train that
in your mind. When I hit this grass, it's all go,
it's all gas, you know, and really trying to establish
that type of culture and philosophy for how we work
(05:10):
should carry over to the games.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
How many guys do you need this week to.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Play the robot Travis Hunner for your scout team.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
We really haven't looked at it that way. You know,
I don't know what they're gonna do with him. I
don't know, you know, how they're going to use him
in different ways? You know, as a traditional wide receiver.
Is there gonna be gadgets that come out of that?
You know defensively as well, you know, playing is he
just going to play the corner spot?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Is he going to return punts for them?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
There's all these question marks about, you know, a really
talented player like Travis Hunter But for us, you know,
it's it's really about assignment football. You know, regardless of
who's out there. He's a phenomenal player we've played against
unbelievable players, you know, just throughout the course of time.
So you really just have to approach it the same way.
It starts with us knowing how to line up, knowing
how to communicate and execute the way we know how
(05:58):
that sounds worked a.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Lot at this offseason on just little thing.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
He's like Candy's catching is somebody who has a lot
of history of that position.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
What are some of the things he's worked on that
that the average.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Fan might not notice right away all Sunday, but you
see to make.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
A big difference.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I think it's just work habits. He's a grinder. Sometimes
he's a little bit of an overworker. That's just kind
of the way he's wired. But I think it's just
the play in and play out energy that it requires
to be a great receiver. If you want to be
a great receiver, you got to be available. You got
to be out there play after play going full speed.
We may throw, we may launch you down the field
forty yards, and if that ball isn't complete, you're coming
(06:35):
back and you gotta be ready for the next play.
And I think he's just really pushed himself to keep
his energy and his speed up consistently and that's what
I'm really proud of, is just you know, his willingness
to be coached, his willingness to grind.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What do you expect with that?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I'm very goo ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I'm just gonna ask to follow up on something that
you said earlier about wanting to show rise early.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
On to put together an offense he can be excited about.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
What do you look forward to signal that you found
that with him?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I think it's just the mutual respect.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think it's the connection, you know, in between drives
and kind of just taking in the information that we see,
looking for opportunities, you know, as we as we check
out the pictures on the sideline in between and celebrating
you know, the plays that we envisioned happen and then
they do. You know, it's celebrating those moments and then
it's working through the things that need to be fine tuned,
you know, so that so that we just feel like
(07:22):
we're all on the same page, you know, and that
we're all you know, striving to just put our best out.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
There offenses Cuba.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
What do you expect from him this year?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I mean, just the consistent nature that he is, you know,
I just expect him to run.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
The ball hard like he always does.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
He's he's really meticulous in his studying, whether it's in
the run game, pass game, protections, all those things. To
just continue to lead, you know, be the leader that
we expect him to be, you know, and vocally, but
also just physically just being someone that we can count on.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Is it important to know that kids like me can
connect with the head coach and in the pants.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's about having a dream. If your dream's not big
enough that it doesn't scare you, your dream's not big enough.
And I think you sitting here right now, being able
to ask me questions right here in this room. This
is amazing, you know. And I think about when I
was haldi ten. Oh you're ahead of me, so you know.
But I just remember falling in love with football when
(08:21):
I was about twelve years old, and I just couldn't
get enough of it. And so, you know, as you
have this opportunity and you keep envisioning yourself doing this
for a living, I think that dreams are what pull
us through hard times, and we'll do whatever works necessary
to get there.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Is there anything you can do prolax I really to
kind of you could expected Sunday.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I just think it's conditioning.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
You know, there's there's really no way to replicate that
unless we just you know, get blessed with the hot
day tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
It's been amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
It's been gorgeous here and we've been in the low
mid seventies, you know. And but I think it's just
the temple that you practice with making sure we're getting
the work and the conditioning, the strength work, you know,
in the weight room, all those things. Once your conditioning
level is at a point, then you just got to
deal with the heat. It's no different than the cold.
You know, you can't really prepare for, you know, being
(09:10):
in different situations. I remember twenty fifteen, we go out
to play against the Vikings and the playoffs and it
was negative nineteen with wind chill. We couldn't make that
happen in Seattle, you know, it was in the you know,
upper forties or something like that. And so you just
kind of rely on your execution, You rely on your conditioning,
and then you deal with the elements. You deal with
it just like any external factor. But it is a challenge,
(09:32):
you know, it's a challenge. It challenges the guy's focus,
you know, and that's something that we've been talking about
this week. Can you get back to that next play
and execute your fundamentals. Coach Caldwell gave a great presentation today.
We try to have coaches rotate through and talk about fundamentals,
and he just really just crushed it today. I just
thought it was unbelievable for him to talk about in
(09:52):
all these years that he's been coaching. I think he
said it's forty seven years or something like that, that
the consistent best players down in and down out, regards
this of how they feel they execute with great technique
and great fundamentals.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
You haven't wanted to talk much about the last year
what happened Bryser this season?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And yeah, I mentioned him, but you.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Must have had some kind of confidence in him that
you know he would be able to handle that situation,
And you know, did it ever surprise you with how
well he handled that and battle back?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I wasn't surprised.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I just he revealed a lot of his character in
that process and showed great leadership. He stayed in front
of the team, he did not take a seat in
the back, you know, and just kind of let this
thing play out. He continued to lead and he was
sending a message very clearly to me, this is my
team and I respect it, you know, And that's exactly right.
This this is a place where we want to create
(10:47):
an organization and a football philosophy where this team belongs
to the players. We're all doing this together, but it
becomes most powerful when those guys own it in the
locker room and.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
The guys about kind of this edgy undercurrent that were
from them. Do you feel that and if so, what
do you think that is stemming from?
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, I think it's just the decision and a commitment
to each other and a commitment.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
To a style of football.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
It's a physical game, and if you want to be
a great team, you have to play with physicality. You
have to play with toughness and great effort. It has
to start there before anything else, before the schemes, before
creativity and all those things.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Forget about the special plays.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Can we just play physical on the every down, first
and ten or second and five in the middle of
the field, and can we do that for four quarters
or however long it takes.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
You know?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And that's what I feel from the guys. That's what
I felt from this camp. It was a physical camp.
There was a lot of great just collisions, great tough
play up front, you know, as we've built the front
play getting it the way we wanted to. And then
you know, bringing a guy in like Trey Merrick who
just is an absolute hammer play in and play out,
like he's trying to hit somebody on every play. It's
(11:54):
almost like he feels like it wasn't he didn't earn
the play if he hadn't hit somebody on that play.
And so I just love that the guys are really
grasping that and taking a hold of that mentality.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We're gonna take two more questions. See you look good,
but oh okay, you.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Mentioned a big hits for Mayork. You had some guys
last year that started.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Wrapping up some personal fouls.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
But these pics of hits, and have you seen anything
out of him or talk to him about not kind
of crossing that one?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I really just know it's about positioning. I think that
you know right when when a when an offensive player
is on your right side, it should be a right
shoulder hit that takes the.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Helmet out of the hit.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
If you cross and you try to hit with your
left shoulder, now the head gets involved, and I just
seen you know, I've seen Tray just really be conscientious.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
About his body position.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And it really goes back to just kind of the
start of the play, knowing what leverage you're supposed to
play with and using your teammate. So those compression tackles
happen with two people at times, you know, and and
then the third guy comes in there with the secure tackle,
you attack the ball.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And so that's.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Kind of I've seen him kind of work through those things.
I haven't seen him kind of just like fly recklessly
with his head down. He's got his face up, you know,
and he's he's just making physical plays. And it's not
just at the tackle, but it's also when people are
trying to block him.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
You know, he just shows up physically.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Back to being sort of a player led team. You
talked about sort of power of that earlier. Was there
a moment maybe in one of your previous stops where
you noticed that that had sort of clicked in And
if it's not here yet, what sort of signs are
you looking for to sort of make that.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Transition.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I think it goes back to my playing days, playing
on the teams that were the best we had a
connection and there was a level of care. It mattered.
It really mattered to us that we got everything right.
It mattered to us that we were on our assignments.
Whether it was a walkthrough, whether it was in the
classroom or in practice or in the games, it just mattered,
(13:53):
you know, spending all that time in Seattle and watching
that team really be built, you know, over the course
of years, I just can recall all offensively, just kind
of the accountability that was present, and defensively as well,
whether it was a walkthrough or practice, if there was
a past concept where a guy was open, it's it
was like immediate chatter, immediate communication about Okay, who's got
(14:16):
this here, who's supposed to be up on top of this,
who's supposed to be in the flat. And it's that
level of care that that I'm seeing being built here.
And it's about the guys connecting like they've kind of
taken it on their own. They get together before they
go out, before every drill, the defense gets together, they
talk to each other. It's like they're reminding themselves, here's
the standard. Let's go do it again, you know, and
(14:37):
that's gonna that really mimics in between drives when you
get together, you know, and and they have their chance
to get back out on the field, that they go
out there as one connected to be able to work
through beams.
Hope on for the review.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A great work Wednesday. Phenomenal energy at practice today. You know,
Wednesday is about recapturing that work ethic, you know, and
and uh, you know, setting the precedent for you know,
getting getting the speed that we need.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
This is where we make our team.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Is out there on the practice field, and and this
is where we make Sundays easy. Is when we work
hard during the week.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
The energy was great, a very physical practice.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We were padded up today, but it was just great
to you know, turn back around off of a bonus Monday,
just get the rhythms and flows of the installs and
and the early walk through all the different things. You know,
It's amazing how much we can you know, squeeze into
a short amount of time. But I was really really
thrilled about the energy out there. And some things to
clean up as always, you know, which we'll get back
(00:48):
to here in the in a second.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Coach, can you elaborate on your self scouting efforts this
weekend we had until.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
We worn.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I think, you know, just taking in a lot of
you know, tendencies that might have had We're talking about
going back to last year. You know, what are teams
looking at they have a full season of you know,
our team, our systems and different things to look at
like that. So just being cognizant of it something I
learned a long time ago. As tendencies are okay as
long as you're aware of them, you know, that's where
you can use them to your advantage. If you have
(01:17):
a seventy percent or more in an area, just make
sure you have something that compliments that. You know, the
defense or offense may know what you're doing in that regard,
but it's always good to have a little bit of
a changeup.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
So what's the plan for left tackle if you cannot go?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, Yosh has been taking a lot of reps there, Nyman,
and then also Brady has been taking reps at left
and right as always. So we're just kind of going
to take it one day at a time and it's cool.
Just like you know, you hope that the competition is
over and you just kind of settle into your group.
But here we are, guys have another chance to compete
for that spot.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
What does if you need to do improve to make
you confident that he's ready to go on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
He's got to have a great day on Friday, you know,
that's the goal. Right now.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We had him out there running, moving around a little
bit today. Tomorrow he'll do a little bit more, and
then the hope is Friday to get him into individual period.
You know, see him getting a stance, you know, move
move around, hit some bags and do some things to
be able to make that decision.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
What's your level of concern with Robert Hunt's foot and
also Tommy being left off the injury list.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Sounds like he's going to be good to go this week.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, Tommy's ready to rock. Had a really great practice today.
He feels great. He's He's said that as much as
far as rob goes. You know, he went back in
he had a little something in his foot. He went
back in, had a couple of plays. We decided to
shut him down for the rest of practice. Uh, we'll
evaluate him this evening, this afternoon, and we'll have more
information for you to clarify.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
He was today that, yes, it was today in practice.
He did not finish.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
He returned though, came back in for a couple of plays,
and we just thought, let's just shut him down, let's
evaluate it, let's make sure we're doing the right thing,
and then kind of move forward from there.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
The coaches, It's gonna be a big season for Bryce.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Can you describe how he's handling.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
The pressure to prove that he is a bona fide
Number one.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Bryce is doing a great job leading the group, just
challenging the guys to have the right energy, the right focus, uh,
the right mentality every day, you know, just continue to
just build on each day and having great conversations yesterday
just you know, kind of you know, popping in and out,
just kind of talking about different things that we plan
on doing.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
And love his involvement there. Love is intentionality.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Has there been.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
Any discussion in front office about contract extension for Bryce?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Uh? Not that I'm aware of right now.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I want you to describe your relationship with him going
into this season.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Oh, just excitement, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I think the cool part about last year was, you know,
there was this this cool uh thing uh for both
of us really, you know, as his first time coach
and play caller, you know, and then for Bryce coming
back in and playing the type of ball like and
I don't know if he shares this point of view,
but I'm just sharing my point of view. I wanted
to prove to him that I can put a really
good offense together that you'll be excited about and that
(03:55):
you'll be you know, able to help us grow and
evolve over the course of time. And you know, that's
kind of from my standpoint. And then I just look
at the way he, you know, approached it and the
way he continues to approach it is to show us,
to show his teammates first and foremost, and and our
Panthers fans and all that that that he's the guy
for this team, you know. And so there's just a
(04:16):
real cool mutual respect that I think both of us
have kind of grown just over the course of time
and and just working together daily.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
What sort of emphasis or discussion hasn't been on the
need to start fast and how important that could be Sunday.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I think that's always the mentality I think in my
you know, dream of all dreams, you just go out
there and whether you're on offense or defense, you put
your best foot forward.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I hold that, And with the other hand, I also say, look,
regardless of what happens early, you just go to the
next play, you go to.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
The next series.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
You just keep grinding, you keep battling, you keep pounding
as we say, right, and I think that that's got
to be the mentality, right, and it all starts off
with practice. It's about the energy that the guys come
on the grass with because that's where you train that
in your mind. When I hit this grass, it's all go,
it's all gas, you know, and really trying to establish
that type of culture and philosophy for how we work
(05:10):
should carry over to the games.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
How many guys do you need this week to.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Play the robot Travis Hunner for your scout team.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
We really haven't looked at it that way. You know,
I don't know what they're gonna do with him. I
don't know, you know, how they're going to use him
in different ways? You know, as a traditional wide receiver.
Is there gonna be gadgets that come out of that?
You know defensively as well, you know, playing is he
just going to play the corner spot?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Is he going to return punts for them?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
There's all these question marks about, you know, a really
talented player like Travis Hunter But for us, you know,
it's it's really about assignment football. You know, regardless of
who's out there. He's a phenomenal player we've played against
unbelievable players, you know, just throughout the course of time.
So you really just have to approach it the same way.
It starts with us knowing how to line up, knowing
how to communicate and execute the way we know how
(05:58):
that sounds worked a.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Lot at this offseason on just little thing.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
He's like Candy's catching is somebody who has a lot
of history of that position.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
What are some of the things he's worked on that
that the average.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
Fan might not notice right away all Sunday, but you
see to make.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
A big difference.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I think it's just work habits. He's a grinder. Sometimes
he's a little bit of an overworker. That's just kind
of the way he's wired. But I think it's just
the play in and play out energy that it requires
to be a great receiver. If you want to be
a great receiver, you got to be available. You got
to be out there play after play going full speed.
We may throw, we may launch you down the field
forty yards, and if that ball isn't complete, you're coming
(06:35):
back and you gotta be ready for the next play.
And I think he's just really pushed himself to keep
his energy and his speed up consistently and that's what
I'm really proud of, is just you know, his willingness
to be coached, his willingness to grind.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
What do you expect with that?
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I'm very goo ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I'm just gonna ask to follow up on something that
you said earlier about wanting to show rise early.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
On to put together an offense he can be excited about.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
What do you look forward to signal that you found
that with him?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I think it's just the mutual respect.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think it's the connection, you know, in between drives
and kind of just taking in the information that we see,
looking for opportunities, you know, as we as we check
out the pictures on the sideline in between and celebrating
you know, the plays that we envisioned happen and then
they do. You know, it's celebrating those moments and then
it's working through the things that need to be fine tuned,
you know, so that so that we just feel like
(07:22):
we're all on the same page, you know, and that
we're all you know, striving to just put our best out.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
There offenses Cuba.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
What do you expect from him this year?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I mean, just the consistent nature that he is, you know,
I just expect him to run.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
The ball hard like he always does.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
He's he's really meticulous in his studying, whether it's in
the run game, pass game, protections, all those things. To
just continue to lead, you know, be the leader that
we expect him to be, you know, and vocally, but
also just physically just being someone that we can count on.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Is it important to know that kids like me can
connect with the head coach and in the pants.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It's about having a dream. If your dream's not big
enough that it doesn't scare you, your dream's not big enough.
And I think you sitting here right now, being able
to ask me questions right here in this room. This
is amazing, you know. And I think about when I
was haldi ten. Oh you're ahead of me, so you know.
But I just remember falling in love with football when
(08:21):
I was about twelve years old, and I just couldn't
get enough of it. And so, you know, as you
have this opportunity and you keep envisioning yourself doing this
for a living, I think that dreams are what pull
us through hard times, and we'll do whatever works necessary
to get there.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Is there anything you can do prolax I really to
kind of you could expected Sunday.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
I just think it's conditioning.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
You know, there's there's really no way to replicate that
unless we just you know, get blessed with the hot
day tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
It's been amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
It's been gorgeous here and we've been in the low
mid seventies, you know. And but I think it's just
the temple that you practice with making sure we're getting
the work and the conditioning, the strength work, you know,
in the weight room, all those things. Once your conditioning
level is at a point, then you just got to
deal with the heat. It's no different than the cold.
You know, you can't really prepare for, you know, being
(09:10):
in different situations. I remember twenty fifteen, we go out
to play against the Vikings and the playoffs and it
was negative nineteen with wind chill. We couldn't make that
happen in Seattle, you know, it was in the you know,
upper forties or something like that. And so you just
kind of rely on your execution, You rely on your conditioning,
and then you deal with the elements. You deal with
it just like any external factor. But it is a challenge,
(09:32):
you know, it's a challenge. It challenges the guy's focus,
you know, and that's something that we've been talking about
this week. Can you get back to that next play
and execute your fundamentals. Coach Caldwell gave a great presentation today.
We try to have coaches rotate through and talk about fundamentals,
and he just really just crushed it today. I just
thought it was unbelievable for him to talk about in
(09:52):
all these years that he's been coaching. I think he
said it's forty seven years or something like that, that
the consistent best players down in and down out, regards
this of how they feel they execute with great technique
and great fundamentals.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
You haven't wanted to talk much about the last year
what happened Bryser this season?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
And yeah, I mentioned him, but you.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Must have had some kind of confidence in him that
you know he would be able to handle that situation,
And you know, did it ever surprise you with how
well he handled that and battle back?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
I wasn't surprised.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I just he revealed a lot of his character in
that process and showed great leadership. He stayed in front
of the team, he did not take a seat in
the back, you know, and just kind of let this
thing play out. He continued to lead and he was
sending a message very clearly to me, this is my
team and I respect it, you know, And that's exactly right.
This this is a place where we want to create
(10:47):
an organization and a football philosophy where this team belongs
to the players. We're all doing this together, but it
becomes most powerful when those guys own it in the
locker room and.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
The guys about kind of this edgy undercurrent that were
from them. Do you feel that and if so, what
do you think that is stemming from?
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, I think it's just the decision and a commitment
to each other and a commitment.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
To a style of football.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
It's a physical game, and if you want to be
a great team, you have to play with physicality. You
have to play with toughness and great effort. It has
to start there before anything else, before the schemes, before
creativity and all those things.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Forget about the special plays.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Can we just play physical on the every down, first
and ten or second and five in the middle of
the field, and can we do that for four quarters
or however long it takes.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
You know?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And that's what I feel from the guys. That's what
I felt from this camp. It was a physical camp.
There was a lot of great just collisions, great tough
play up front, you know, as we've built the front
play getting it the way we wanted to. And then
you know, bringing a guy in like Trey Merrick who
just is an absolute hammer play in and play out,
like he's trying to hit somebody on every play. It's
(11:54):
almost like he feels like it wasn't he didn't earn
the play if he hadn't hit somebody on that play.
And so I just love that the guys are really
grasping that and taking a hold of that mentality.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We're gonna take two more questions. See you look good,
but oh okay, you.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Mentioned a big hits for Mayork. You had some guys
last year that started.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Wrapping up some personal fouls.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
But these pics of hits, and have you seen anything
out of him or talk to him about not kind
of crossing that one?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I really just know it's about positioning. I think that
you know right when when a when an offensive player
is on your right side, it should be a right
shoulder hit that takes the.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Helmet out of the hit.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
If you cross and you try to hit with your
left shoulder, now the head gets involved, and I just
seen you know, I've seen Tray just really be conscientious.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
About his body position.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And it really goes back to just kind of the
start of the play, knowing what leverage you're supposed to
play with and using your teammate. So those compression tackles
happen with two people at times, you know, and and
then the third guy comes in there with the secure tackle,
you attack the ball.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And so that's.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Kind of I've seen him kind of work through those things.
I haven't seen him kind of just like fly recklessly
with his head down. He's got his face up, you know,
and he's he's just making physical plays. And it's not
just at the tackle, but it's also when people are
trying to block him.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
You know, he just shows up physically.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Back to being sort of a player led team. You
talked about sort of power of that earlier. Was there
a moment maybe in one of your previous stops where
you noticed that that had sort of clicked in And
if it's not here yet, what sort of signs are
you looking for to sort of make that.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Transition.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I think it goes back to my playing days, playing
on the teams that were the best we had a
connection and there was a level of care. It mattered.
It really mattered to us that we got everything right.
It mattered to us that we were on our assignments.
Whether it was a walkthrough, whether it was in the
classroom or in practice or in the games, it just mattered,
(13:53):
you know, spending all that time in Seattle and watching
that team really be built, you know, over the course
of years, I just can recall all offensively, just kind
of the accountability that was present, and defensively as well,
whether it was a walkthrough or practice, if there was
a past concept where a guy was open, it's it
was like immediate chatter, immediate communication about Okay, who's got
(14:16):
this here, who's supposed to be up on top of this,
who's supposed to be in the flat. And it's that
level of care that that I'm seeing being built here.
And it's about the guys connecting like they've kind of
taken it on their own. They get together before they
go out, before every drill, the defense gets together, they
talk to each other. It's like they're reminding themselves, here's
the standard. Let's go do it again, you know, and
(14:37):
that's gonna that really mimics in between drives when you
get together, you know, and and they have their chance
to get back out on the field, that they go
out there as one connected to be able to work
through beams.
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