5-1-24 - Mo Egger with Abdul Hodge

Former Bengals linebacker Abdul Hodge is the Tight Ends Coach at the University of Iowa, where he coached Bengals fourth round pick Erick All.

Abdul joined us to talk about his player on ESPN1530. 

Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.

Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen

Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Twenty five away from five o'clock.This is ESPN fifteen thirty. My names
Moeger. So one of the thingswe like to do if we can,
is after the Bengals have their draftsive through the players. And I always
think that people who are best positionedto talk about the individual players are the
guys who coached them at certain positions, their position coaches. So we get

(00:24):
the draft class and they gets done, and on Sunday morning, I'm sitting
down and I'm like, well,let's get eric Al's tight end coach on
tight end's coach at Iowa on andso I do the research. It's abdul
Hodge and then I go, wewait a minute, I know that name.
Is it the same guy that playedfor the Bengals in the late two
thousands And the answer is yes,he was a linebacker. Now he's the

(00:46):
tight ends coach at Iowa, whichis where eric All played last year.
And so it's awesome to have formerBengal and Iowa tight ends coach abdul Hodge
with us. It's good to haveyou coach what's going on now? Much
thanks for having me, glad tobe on. I appreciate you doing this.
So we're excited about Eric All andobviously somebody we're familiar with because he's

(01:06):
he's from this area. But ifyou and I were to sit down and
watch film, what's the first thingabout his game that you're pointing out to
me? This is is supposive missand physicality. I think when you turn
the tape on, AB's a guythat plays the game one hundred and ten
miles an hour and he gives youone hundred percent, and he's he plays
the game fast and physical, andthat's kind of what we loved about him

(01:30):
early on with watching him in avictim championship game a couple of years ago
when he played at Michigan and wehad an opportunity to get him here at
Iowa through the transfer portal, andthe way he plays the game, a
lot of passion, a lot ofspeed, a lot of physicality, and
I tell East to tell Scals,he's one of the most explosive players I've
seen play this game at that position. So you get him at Iowa and

(01:53):
obviously started his career in the Bigten at Michigan. Give me an idea
of some things that he he thathe improved upon from the time that you
got him to his departure for theNFL. Well, Michigan did a great
job developing them, so they signedhim out of high school. Michigan is
a program that you know that developedplayers, and especially at his position,

(02:15):
playing the tight end. At thetight end position, they use them a
little bit more in the passing game, primarily when he was at Michigan.
When he came here at Iowa,we got a chance to also develop him
a little bit more in a rungame. I'm not saying he couldn't run
blocked, but I thought he thatwas That was one of the phases of
his game and he can improve onbecause he's been He's an each I mean,

(02:38):
his ability in the passing game isuh is really great, but improving
in the run game, especially whenyou look at the NFL teams, most
of them running pro style system.So if you look at us offensively or
traditionally, we put guys in alot of different spots. You know they
can have you know, they canbe in line, they can be off
the ball, they could be splitout, and last year we also used

(02:59):
them as at the full back spotwhen we was in our thirteen to fourteen
personnel so I don't know if,like I told Eric, I'm not sure
what kind of system they're gonna they'regonna run, but they're not gonna actually
do anything that you haven't really gotbefore. So he's really comfortable being on
the ball, being off the ball, being split out at number number number
one in the slot, and alsoplaying fullback. I mean he also has

(03:20):
a lot of specialty value. Sohe's excited about it. I know he's
excited for him to go back home, and he's excited to get gone and
get to work. Where would yousay is maybe an area where between now
and the start of his rookie seasonof the started training camp, he needs
to focus on more than others.Well, he's coming off of an injury.
He got injured and has surge underhis knee week six of this past

(03:44):
season. So I think he's aheadright now. I think he needs to
continue that, continue his rehab andmake sure that stays on track. But
at the same time, he canget a lot of mental reps he can
get into, get in as soonas possible and start learning the system climate
it with a special teams coach,because that's going to be huge for him,
which he's a kid that wants toplay special teams. You know,

(04:04):
when he first got here, hewas on our starting punt return. He
was on the on the back lineof kickoff return. So he's a kid
that, hey, coach, Iwant to play special teams and I want
to I want to play offense.So he's going to do whatever it takes
to help the team win, whichyou love that about the kid from Grace
Mile. Love to play the game, and he plays again the right way.
But this process for him, Itold him, don't you know,

(04:27):
just continue to rehab, continue tomake sure you stay on track with that,
because that's the that's the most importantthing. If he's one hundred percent,
you're going to get a really greatfootball player because he can play football
and he's not He does a lotof things, not youly on the field
in a passing game, but alsoin the running game. You know,
the you've you've kind of been throughthe process of of making the lead from
college football to the NFL, andso you're you're familiar with how this works

(04:49):
as a position coach. Now,what what questions did teams, whether they're
the Bengals or or other squads,what what what questions do they have for
you about Eric? Uh, that'show he picked up the system, Like
how how is he in the classroom? Because they know you have the physical
capability, so how does he learn? It was an important part of that

(05:10):
a lot of questions. That wasone of the most important questions that a
lot of the different teams or scoutsmanasks, like how does he learn?
How is he in the room?How did how did you know coming from
the coming in as a from Michigan, from the from the via the transport
portal? How did he acclimate atIowa? And I told him he did
an amazing job. The guys lovedhim. He had a great smile.

(05:32):
He loves playing football. You know, he's he's a different guy off the
field, but when he gets onthe field, he's very intense. He's
passionate, and he loved what hedoes. And he's a he's a tough
kid physically and mentally so. Andin our system, we moved them all
around a lot of different spots,similar to what he did at Michigan.
I thought he did a great jobpicking up our system and hitting the ground
running. So we put him ata lot of different spots. We put

(05:55):
him at the why we put himoff the ball at the f we put
him at the fullback spot, weput him backside as the So he's a
guy that you can move around andplay different positions. And he runs like
a wide receiver, so he gotthe physical capabilities of a tight end.
So you can use him as amichmatch on cornerbacks and linebackers and safeties.
And he's a great kid and Ilove having him in the room and he

(06:17):
was he was awesome. You gotto coach Sam Laporta and then you get
to coach Eric All are are theresimilarities between the two? Absolutely? Absolutely,
First and foremost, when Eric gothere on campus, Sam was one
of the guys that hosted him onhis visits, so those two kind of
kicked it off. The other Theother thing was Sam was a guy that

(06:42):
can play every position on the footballfield. I'm talking about a receiver and
tight end. So we moved themaround at all four or five spots,
okay, and then you can playin multiple systems and they're really good in
the run game, and Sam wasreally good in the passing game. As
you can see this past season withthe Detroit Lions, it's very similar where
he has huge upside and athletic abilityin the passing game. But if you

(07:06):
turn on that tape, and Iwould tell scouts, turn on the tape
and watch how physical he is inthe run game, especially when he's pulling.
He's the lead blocker, like he'splaying fast, he's playing violin,
He's playing physical, and that's hisgame. And when you have a guy
like that, like sham Ma Porter, you have a guy like that for
er call. They're not livcate towhat you can do with them from an

(07:28):
offensive perspective because they are weapons inthe passing game. But when it's time
to run the football, okay,you can put them at the point of
attack and they'll also get a jobdone. Abdul hodges with us. So
walk me through this. You're alinebacker, you played in the NFL,
you played here, you were ona good team in two thousand and nine.
How do you go from playing linebackerto coaching tight ends? Great question.

(07:53):
I've you know, been blessed tobe around some really really great coaches
and mentors and around a lot ofgreat system. So when I at Iowa,
Norn Parker, he was a defensivecoordinator. He was our linebacker coach.
So when you have when you're playinglinebacker for the coordinator, defensive coordinator,
offensive coordinator. In my case iswith the defensive coordinator, he's coaching

(08:15):
the linebackers. Well, you're notjust going to learn your position, which
you're going to learn the entire defenseand you're going to learn the offense as
well too from a defensive perspective.When I when I went from Green Bay
to Cincinnati, coach Jeff Fitzgeral,he is a really great coach. He
was very detailed. He was reallyhigh on the techniques and fundamentals of the

(08:37):
game. He was highling little thingsto demeanor, being a great teammate,
being a great leader, being accountable, all the things that's going to separate
guys at the collegiate and the NFLlevel. So when I got done coach.
When I got into coaching, Iwas coaching at linebackers at University of
South Dakota and then obviously coach Farancereached out to me and there was opportunity

(08:58):
for me to at tight end.But when you when you peel it all
back, there's a lot of similaritiesbetween playing linebacker and playing tight end because
you're you're involved in the run game, you're involved in the passing game,
and then it's you know, whenit comes down to it, the techniques
and fundamentals may vary, but thefundamentals are the same. So in on

(09:20):
defense, you still got to getoff blocks and you got to tackle.
On offense, you got to beable to sustain blocks, and you got
to be able to get open inthe passing game. And advance of football.
And then I've been able to bearound some great coaches here that's giving
me the information I need to goand coach that position. But one when
I peel it all back, guyslike coach Jesse, Jail, nom Parker,

(09:41):
of course Sarnce, coach Moss whenI was with the Packers, I
take something from all of those guysand then I put it into those guys
in the room. But it's aboutthe technique and fundamentals. It's not about
schemes. It's about the people.It's about having a right demeanor, doing
the little things right, and beinga great teammate and and putting the work
in, working hard and executing systemand being more consistent on the on the

(10:03):
on a on a consistent basis.So here I am coaching the tight ends
and loving it, enjoying what I'mdoing at a place that has become really
well known for tight ends. BeforeI let you go, since you were
a Bengal, give me one ortwo of your favorite memories playing for that
nine team, which was really good. You played in the playoffs for the
Bengals. What's your favorite couple ofmemories as a Cincinnati Bengal. I would

(10:26):
say that year. The one thingthat sticks outed when we swept the division.
Yes, we beat Green Deal upand green I'm us beating Green Bay
up in Green Bay. To gothrough that division undefeated and we had it.
We beat Pittsburgh twice, Browns twice, you know it's Ravens twice.
And then that when we had upup there in Hinesfield was was huge that

(10:48):
year. So to be able togo up and do that and say,
hey, we went undefeated in thisdivision, which is one of the best
divisions and in football, I thinkwas a great thing. But what I
remember most is coach Lewis, CoachMarvin Lewis. What I remember the most
are coach Jeff Fitzgerald and the guysthat was in the room. You know,
your teammates and the guys that youbuilt relationships with. There's not so

(11:11):
much a football part of it,but there was a lot of great guys
in that locker room, a lotof great coaches to this day that we
still connect and make sure we're checkingin on each other and we're friends.
It's a cool story. Your coachingcareer is off to a great start.
Eric All. We can't wait towatch him. I appreciate the insight.
Thank you so much. Appreciate itany time. Thank you, you got

(11:33):
it. Abdul Hodge eric All's tightends coach that was good at the University
of Iowa. Abdull played for theBengals. He was joined the team in
eight was cut before twenty ten,but was on that nine team and played
in nine games that year. Playedin the playoff game. I remember a
forced fumble on an ed reed puntreturn, Abdul had. So, yeah,

(11:54):
I'm sitting there Sunday and kind oflooking at you know some some people
we could get on, and I'mlike, man, I know that name.
Former Bengal Abdul Hodge tight ends coachat Iowa had Sam Laporta last year,
Eric All. This year, EricAll drafted by the Bengals, one
of two tight ends taken by Cincinnatithis past weekend. It is a thirteen
away from five o'clock. The firstever Big twelve champion at the University of

(12:18):
Cincinnati is going to join us atU five point twenty on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports Station. Hey there,what's through to