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July 25, 2024 12 mins
Seattle Seahawks linebacker and pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu sits down with Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain at the VMAC to talk about this new defense under Head Coach Mike Macdonald, how it benefits specific players, and starting Training Camp.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
Guy that I know has got superduper high standards for his play and the
Seahawks defense. A Chenn at NooSu is with us right now on the
radio program. How you doing,man, I'm good. How are you
guys? How many camps? Now? Was this for you? Is this
eight to nine camps for you?How many? Seven seven camps? You
ever get tired of it? Bythe way, No, well there's been
there's been some talk about getting ridof all the offseason stuff and just shoving

(00:24):
everything to training camp in the fall. Nah, you don't like that idea?
Why not? I feel like offseasonis where you get to, you
know, build that camaradie with yourteammates, man, spend more time around
them, see him and especially ifyou've got a new system, you know,
to learn and get a chance toget ahead. So yeah, I
appreciate everything that comes with it.Take us through the timeline of your last
twelve months in your recovery, AChenna, and just tell us, you

(00:45):
know, what were you like atthe end of the season. When did
you really feel like you could playfootball one hundred percent? Again? Yeah,
it was a long process, youknow, something I've never been through
before. But stay strong, trustingmy you know, coaches, my rehab
team. So it was good.I felt like I started feeling better around
April. That's when I felt,Okay, I can do this again.

(01:06):
I'm getting my strength back, youknow, no pain, so right,
I'm ready to go. Now thatit's August. We had a quarterback,
a guy that you know he's nolonger with us, Tavaris Jackson, play
with a torn peck back in theday, and I can just imagine how
painful. I mean, it justsounds like, oh my god, what
does that feel like? Honestly,would have happened is so much adrenaline.
It didn't even hurt, you know, I felt it hurt it. I'm
like, damn, what is that? And then when I just tried to,

(01:27):
you know, test it out,I have no strength. So well,
when you look at how the defenseplayed without you, you could make
a case these guys can't play ballwithout no channels. You know what I'm
saying. You know, I knowyou're not gonna say that, but but
you saw you watch a tape.You can't play. Obviously you're frustrated.
What did you see because the thingswent downhill after you got hurt? What

(01:49):
what did you think was the biggestthing that you guys were missing other than
number ten? But what did youthink the defense was missing in that second
half? I'm not sure. Itwas hard to say, you know,
when you're watching from and not beingon the sidelines, it's kind of hard
to say exactly. You know,you can only see certain what the TV
copy is. But you know,I'm sure guys you know, realize what
they went through and then how toughit was, and yeah, you know

(02:09):
that year is behind us all.You know, we're just trying to move
on from that, and you know, the organization thought it would be best
to clean house and start fresh.So I feel like, you know,
that's what we needed. It wasa fresh start. Yeah. So you
know, I'm happy to with everybodythat's in the building now and can't wait
to see a Flairs during the season. So this guy right here to my
right, who had a long NFLcareer as a quarterback, has taught us
on the year off theear that wehave the world's best defensive mind running this

(02:34):
football team. I mean, that'sthat's like, I mean, how would
you even know that? First ofall, like the numbers of what people
and at Michigan. Yeah, butthere might be somebody living in some country
somewhere that knows more than Mike thatwe don't know about. But the point
is, in relative terms, alot of people think he's the premier defensive
mind walking around the rock right now. So what do you see from him

(02:55):
that gives you that idea that man, this guy knows defense. Just the
way he talks about things and theverse tie that he shows, you know
he has he has he has avery very broad, broad, you know,
sense of view about things and howhe thinks about things and how he
makes offenses have to think about things. And he's always given us from an
offensive perspective to like, look,the offense has to do this, So
we're gonna do this, you know. So you know, just as this

(03:16):
is knowledge of how he just knowsevery kind of like a lot of things
about offenses and you know what worksbest. So you know, it's been
coming a lot during practices and wesaw a glimpse of it and ota so
you know, can't wait to reallyhone in on it. Well, the
Hawks d over the last ten yearshas been beautiful in its simplicity, right,
not a lot of movement, youknow, they play a lot of
the same coverages and they do itreally, really well. This seems like,

(03:38):
from what we've seen from Baltimore alot more complex. Is it more
complex? And what is the learningcurve to go from that defense? This
defense? Yeah, it's definitely alot more of a learning curve. You
know. There's a lot more thingsgoing on, a lot more moving pieces,
you know, and it's gonna takewhat we got going now. And
like we talked about earlier to theOTAs, that's what it's for, you
know, to be able to getthat head start, get that practice in,

(03:58):
get those reps in. That's what'sgonna take. The more repetition and
more chances we get to really youknow, go through it as a defense,
the more time we spent together,that's what's gonna make us great with
Channon to Wilt with us and Channa. A lot of talk about the versatility
the guys have up front, anduh, you know, we see big
Cat out there playing you know theseven and damn near the nine, you
know, and oh you know,you know, so what about the versatility,

(04:21):
how do you fit in that?Give us an example of something where
you said that's pretty cool, likeI didn't know that they were gonna ask
him to do that, but hecan do what. I like that?
What what? What? What?What? What about that versatility? Yeah,
you don't know how the league is. It's all about matchups nowadays.
So you want to get your bestguys on the other team's worst guys,
and we feel like we have thepersonnel to do that all over across the

(04:42):
board, an the line, soyou know, you might see you know,
big Cat lined up outside. Youknow, the same thing the Chiefs
do with Chris Jones. You know, it's all about matchups. So you
know that's what the league is now. It's all about matchup. You see
wide receivers, you know, goingagainst bigger tight ends, going to gainst
smaller dbs. You know, it'sall about matchups and that's what we're trying
to create. Well, Channing newWolsa with us and just kind of picking
up on that. But I wantto go to the opposite side, because
you've got a brand new offense,a brand new offensive coordinator guy that we

(05:04):
know very well from his days atWashington, Ryan Grubb. What have you
seen from that offense that has madeyou go, WHOA? What the heck?
Was that it's something new on thatside of the ball. Yeah,
it's definitely something new. You know, they're got they got a lot of
temple going on over there everywhere ondefense, scram like you know. So
that's good. You know, that'show the league is. Everything speeding up
now. So it's good to seethat from our offense. You know,

(05:27):
they're they're they're looking very explosive.Man, everybody's getting the ball, everybody's
flying around. You know, Ginolooks crisp as ever. The running backs
look like they're hitting the whole hard. Old line is being more aggressive.
You know, they're coming off.So you know, he's putting all together
and I really like what I'm seeingthem from the offense. Give us a
breakdown on what you've seen from therookie Byron Murphy. Oh he looks great.
You know. Byron's really he's reallyhumble. You know people might think,

(05:47):
oh, first rounders, they got, they're very entitled. They don't
listen nobody but him. Man,he's ready to work. He comes in
humble, ask questions, smart,very responsive, willing to listen and takes
coaching really well. And so Byron'sgonna be a leader. It's gonna be
team. This is his defensive frontof the next few years when we're all
gone. So you know, he'she's just ready. He's learning from the
bigger guys, Jay and Reed,big Caddre and a big Hank, and

(06:09):
he's just gonna take over when itis his time. Man. But he's
he's ready to go. Churnan newelsowith us, and let's go back to
Mike McDonald. We talked some aboutthe scheme, but let's let's kind of
revisit on just the person here here. Here you got Pete Carroll was seventy
two, the oldest coach in theleague, and then now you go thirty
six years old the youngest. Isthat hard for the veterans to say,
like it's like that first meeting,like hey, prove it. Like what

(06:31):
was the thing when he came inwhere you say, okay, obviously it's
different than Pete, Yeah, butwhat was something some attribute about his leadership
style that you thought, Okay,this is gonna this is gonna work for
us. Yeah. When he firstcame in, you know, he wasn't
tried to be Oh, I'm thehead coach, this is my team.
You know, he was very humblewith us, you know, cracking jokes,
you know, getting everybody comfortable,showing humility, you know that,

(06:53):
And you love to see that froma from a new head coach. You
know, you don't want a headcoach that comes in thinking he's gonna just
have it this way, you know, not you know it's gonna be my
way or the highway. He's reallyyou know, community, he likes to
communicate with guys, talk to guys, get to know guys. Shows humility,
is very humble, and that's whatyou love to see from a head
coach. Yeah, you know,I feel like I'm gonna mention another Millenanism
over here in a second. Butwe asked him last week to give us

(07:15):
on the air with China the oneguy that could benefit the most from this
new look Seahawk defense, the newscheme. Before I tell you the player
he gave me. I want toask you that question, and maybe it's
you, Maybe you feel like youknow what I'm I'm with Mike's fit and
all that, is there one guyon this team that you feel like,
man playing for Mac is really gonnahelp that guy right there. I feel

(07:35):
like it's gonna be everybody, honestlydefense, because like we have like a
lot of young guys in the backseven mixed with a little bit of vets
in there, you know. Soguys like Spoon, guys like Reek Wooling,
guys like BMRV, guys like Mafe, you know, guys like DT.
We're gonna be rolling, We're gonnabe fresh, you know. So
we're gonna be using guys. He'sgonna give guys an opportunity and everybody's gonna

(07:55):
get their chance to shine, andeverybody's just learning, learning more football,
which is good for everyone. Well, I would tell you the one guy
that he mentioned you didn't name there. Julian Love was the guy he said,
and they did. The team justgave a new three year deal before
he even took a snap with thisdefense in the game. So what is
it about Julian Love that maybe theseguys see where they say, man,
we feel really good about what hecan do for us in this game.
They trust him, They trusted tomake plays. And that's the number one

(08:16):
thing with these coaches. You've gotto be able to earn their trust or
else you ain't gonna be able toplay. And Julian has proved that he's
been consistent, trustworthy, communicates andhe just plays hard. You know,
he's not the most vocal leader,but he leaves by example and how he
performs on that field, and hedeserves every opending he got. And you
know, he just deserved a topone hundred player pro bowler last year,
so that, I mean, thenumbers speak for itself. So really happened

(08:37):
to have Julian for the next fewyears and can't wait to get rolling with
him. You know, last questionas you go. You know, we
talk about the twelves. You've playedin front of the twelves and how much
they can impact the opponent offense.Right in a new system that's complex,
a lot of disguising, a lotof communication in a way you're never gonna
say, hey, I want thetwelve to shush, But is what about

(08:58):
the challenges of communication and in ourhome stadium because of the twelve? Yeah,
well, like, how do youguys handle that challenge? Just got
to just push how to push throughit? You know, that's when you
come up with maybe hand signals oryou gotta run up to the guy and
literally tell them like yo, thisthis ah. You know, we appreciate
the twelve You guys, we witnessedit last year and we played the Panthers.
I think they had like five orwas it last year two years ago?

(09:20):
We had like five or six offor false stars on them in a
row. I'm like, whoa,Like this is real, like so we
can't wait to have that crowd backthere and just have them behind us.
Really gonna help us a lot thisyear. Yeah, what was the game,
Dick when the Giants came like twelvewhatever false starts is way back in
the day. You didn't get crazyman. All right, listen, good
stuff, stay healthy, all right, kick ass and we'll talk soon,

(09:41):
Buddyes, next for coming over.Thanks guys, you bet you chenna to
won't shuit with us on the radioshow for a few minutes here on ninety
three three kJ IRFM stopping by thesalo. And first of all, I'm
just glad that Hugh Millen came overhere and made it through the entire interview.
Thank you for sticking around. Iheard about that. Yeah, that's
great. There's nobody here but you'repulling you away. There's no big dignitary
asking you for your time, Sothanks for sticking around for the whole thing.

(10:03):
The head coach didn't come over andstart talking. So uh uh no,
what a great visit with uh Na. Yeah, he's uh they need
him big time on this team.Oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna pull out.
I got it in my backpack.The numbers in the first nine weeks
defensively and and the drop off whateveryou think it was, You're gonna be
shocked to hear the numbers of howbad like they were Patriots second half type.

(10:28):
There there were there was there wasstats where were dead last in the
second half of the year, likedead last, And I think dfl Hugh.
I think Leonard Williams gets condemned forthat sometimes, and I think it's
more the guy that was sitting righthere, not Leonard Williams being there was
this guy not being well. Ifor my part, I've I've mentioned Leonard

(10:48):
Williams with those stats and every timeI've said, well, it also coincided
with Nuo Sue, And I thinkthe point was what with Leonard Williams,
we can say this there was nota huge statistical impact. In fact,
while he was playing it was nowthat that doesn't indict Leonard Wims maybe it

(11:09):
would have been even worse. Imean, you could give up five hundred
yards a game and you could say, well, well, without Big Cat,
you'd give an up six hundred yards, right like like like you could
always I'm not I'm not saying thatit's hard to isolate variables and something.
You know, Gino Smith, Ican throw you red zone stats in Gino
Smith, Well is it the protection? Is it? Is it the right?
You know, it's hard to isolatevariables, but we can look and

(11:31):
we can say, okay, isthere correlation and then try and make some
inferences that are reasonable. Yeah.Yeah, Well this is gonna be the
ad D show of record today,I'm telling you right now, because we're
gonna bounce around all over the place. We're gonna be going dogs, Seahawks,
Mariners. We just spent twenty minutesthere talking some Seahawks and talking to
Chenna. Let's come back. Ihad a conversation guys about an hour or

(11:54):
so ago with Jedfish. All right, I want to play this for you
guys. Come back and respond.I thought he killed it today at the
press conference. What it really meansprobably not much, but he was the
opposite of whatever Deshaun Foster was yesterdayjet Fish. We're gonna hear from him
from Big ten Media Day and thenrespond to it. And then Jerry Brewer
is gonna apparently join us from Paris. Right but from the o'clock in the
morning, one o'clock, what arethe odds of him being awake? Honestly,

(12:16):
he'll be awake. Okay, whatare the odds that you know?
There's he's coherent being consumed the lastthree hours. You know how like when
you get in a car, yougot to blow into the thing to get
the car to start. Can wedo that? Jack? So he's got
to he's got to give you ablow before he goes on the air.
I'll join us at Ford jet Fishfrom media Day Big ten Media Day.
Coach of the Dogs joins next onninety three three kJ IRFM.
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