Press Conference (Paris Johnson Jr)

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I think it's like you know howto write, like when you use your
right hand and you know how yourhandwriting should look. Was about taking the
reps to make sure matches, Iguess, you know, so just taking
the reps to get back to that. I think it is all what it
is. I mean, obviously,like he's one of my biggest supporters,
you know, so obviously you knowhe's he's he's excited about the opportunity for

(00:24):
me, you know, so I'mexcited about it. What did he help
you with? Every Oh a lot. He helped me a lot, even
feel like the first day, justtrying to help me get used to to
write tackle. He got my feetused to write tackle like my first dad
practice. I'm like, dude,I still feel he feel a little off.

(00:45):
I don't feel it's balanced in mystands. And he showed me the
small technique thing to do with myfeet, which I still do. You
even even though I left tackle justcan part of my routine. That was
part of my process and getting tomy stands. So stuff like that that
he taught me from day one andobviously in practice was fun. Just compete
and you know, it's just tomeet at the back of the pocket and

(01:07):
to dap each other back to everyrep like that was competing, you know
what I mean. So that's myguy, as much as you love him
on your the west side, howbittersweet? Is it a certain matters because
it would happened to him. Yeah, that's the thing. That's not how.
It's definitely how I and and that'show I thought about the transition would
go. You know, I thoughtit would be you know, homeson timing

(01:29):
and a cardinal his whole career.You know, you know you want to
play here forever, you know whatI mean when always talking about his plans,
So you know you you wish transitionslike one of those fairy tale like
to your time. But but againeither way, you know, we talked

(01:49):
about it. You know that that'sthat's the how it goes, you know.
But obviously you know he sees he'she's been one of my supporters.
Again, I affect everybody leads intheir own way, you know, not
everybody's the guys coming around like andthat's not everybody, right like I felt
for me, that's me specifically ongame day with the old line and after

(02:15):
we do one on one like that'smy like, well Hump did like like
that's my like big vocal time.I feel like I've talked to Hum about
this, you know, just recentlytalking about how what I want to do
for the room is I want tobring that Hump energy that he brought right
so last year. Of course sometraits have been doing it for years,

(02:37):
but the year when I spent line, he brought a lot of the energy
and excitement and the happiness in theroom was just his natural energy to where
I only had to focus on me, you know, I didn't have to
make sure other other guys are youknow, feel some type of way when
they came in here because Hump broughtthat. But out of Hump's not here,

(03:00):
but I saw what he did fora room. I want to be
that guy to make sure everyone's ampedto go to practice, everybody's hype.
Weren't taking and field team on periodand you know it's a low day or
something. You know, it's ait's a day, but like I wanna
make it feel like like, yeah, pre paris the tripper right now.
I wanna bring that cause that's whatwe hope did to each other. We
will hpe each other up. Dude, like dudes were about to get walked.

(03:22):
We're lit. So I wanna dothat. I wanna bring that energy.
I wanna make bring more guys youknow, to do that. You
know, Yeah, I wanted todo that from day one, you know,
I kind of I wanted to dothat from day one, from just
talking to him, and obviously it'sthat time. I spend the off season
before OTA started just being in myself, just thinking about what the room needs,

(03:49):
you know, because I know Iknew a new role as one of
the leaders, you know on myoffense, is that we need a guy
like that that's gonna make sure theold line is picked, the ready to
go. Every day I was heldaccountable little things I happened to practice.
People aren't saying anything. And howI may lead maybe different than somebody else

(04:09):
may lead. You know. Ilike to a practice at least like to
leave with positivity, you know whatI mean. So, but he the
energy yet went beyond just the hypeup, the deal on and stuff too.
So that's kind of how I wannabe s goal mine literally my whole
life. I want to be aNFL team captain, like specifically the NFL.

(04:30):
I wasn't a captain of high school. I wasn't a captain of college.
But I made a joke when Iwas in high school. It's like
there, I feel like I'm notgonna be a captain till I gets the
NFL. Yeah, but that wouldbe awesome, you know, but you
know, if it happens, i'dbe great. But not either way,
I wanna assume a role as acaptain from the perspect of the guys on

(04:55):
the team, individual awards, andto get back to that world. Yeah,
I mean, I can't say that. I mean, I guess the
biggest thing is that I felt likeit has felt like how it you used
to in the past. But itdidn't take just the first day OTAs.
It took training left and right oncethe season ended because I didn't know what
it was gonna be sure, Soit took a lot of reps just to

(05:20):
get back to feeling like myself forday one OTAs and then that whole first
week. But now like today,specifically just changing some small things with my
feet that I did today talking abouta line coach about some things I can
do with my feet to get tothat to sell at the traditional angle that
I love to set on felt evenI thought I felt, I thought I

(05:42):
felt great already by my okay,I felt even back up it. So
I'm even more excited tomorrow. Andnow I'm getting my feedback to how I
liked it the right side and onthe left side. So I'm excited.
I mean, obviously, I feellike in the league, whether I left
or right, are still going againstpremier guys. So obviously you have high
expectations for your left and your righttackle. But there's definitely, uh,

(06:05):
like the the level of energy andlike the expectations definitely take and the human
start, cause now can learn theblank side. That's the that's the tackle
role, you know. So soyeah, I would say in terms of
communication as far as just even outsidethe facility and just stuff like that,
like really creating that tackle quarterback bondeven more off the field, I think

(06:29):
has been something that's even been coolyears. I got a text one day
it's like, hey, like youplay left, and I was like,
yeah, you know, yeah,I've been training both. I've been training
both. You know. I Iaksed after the season They're like, honestly,
you know, we'll talk to youstill play in the season, And
I just gotta text me like dependingwhat happens with with the free agency then.

(06:51):
So I was like, you knowwhat, I had a whole season
right tackle, So if I getthe word, I'm going I'm standing right
tackle to do what I did before. I'm built on that bus. I
was like, I might as wellstrained the left tackle now as if I'm
going to be a left tackle,And I'd rather do that than training on
the right time and get the callhey you're the left tackle. I'm like,

(07:11):
oh, I didn't even switch onmy feet yet, you know what
I mean. So I'm like,let me just prepare in advance. I
was like, yeah, this guy, you know, I think occasionally on
third down there'd be a lot oftwists. I would just know like it's
a automatically coming. And I thinkthat was my mindset for like the first
half of the season, Like Ididn't have to go into a game and
with surprise like oh my gosh,they did that. I kind of figured

(07:32):
like, okay, like this isthis is the type of rush want to
get, Like this is how thisguy usually rushes. But I get the
vibe this is how the ends likethe rush. You know, tackles that
are you know, first year guyswho got the premier patch on. I
already knew what it was gonna be, already knew of every stuck and honestly
just knowing that it's kind of anadvantage too. So you're not you're not

(07:54):
you're not old. They brought thetwist of my side again. It was
never an Aaron donalick. You knowthey're coming out of minds, like three
plays and roll in two minutes.I knew that I was gonna happen,
you know what I mean. I'mwatching more than everybody else and he rarely
Elan goes out there on occasional thirddowns on the d M. I was
like, you know, it's gonnabe. He's gonna pick me, you
know what I mean, So factfact it's kind of it's also kind of

(08:16):
advantage in the way, but it'salso exciting, like, Okay, I'm
gonna get the hardest look. Youknow, those are real, real reps,
you know, in the bank.So really, I I really didn't
kind of process that. I waslike, hey, when they tell me
to let me know, but I'mjust gonna train it. I was training
all left to tas. I guessif I didn't hear anything about T's I

(08:39):
would have came in like so youknow what I mean, because just like
I'm cool training both continue. Iwould have been cool training both continually.
But I feel like anybody, anyposition will be like, okay, like
you want to as soon as possibleget your feet accountability at the time.
What do you say? Yeah,I mean he's quick. You know,

(09:03):
he can create a lot of spaceand uh small spaces, so uh it's
quick, you know, uh savvywith his route running, and you know
he's just he's just a hard worker. You know. You know there's some
plays where he knows he's not gettingthe ball and he's still still winning the
route. So you know, justto have that player, uh a a
player like that give that much effortuh on the field every play. It's
really really good to see you.And I think it's you know, really

(09:26):
uh gonna rub up on the otherguys too. I'm good. I'm about
the i'm'a get another. What's itlike working with uh some of the tight
ends that you guys happened room there. I know after Smithia straight just talked
about the versatility that a lot ofthe guys have, especially in that group.
Yeah, I mean we have adifferent uh uh, a lot of
you know, different guys in thetight end room. You know, Darnell
he brings sides to the room.Uh, Rodney Speed, Uh, Connor

(09:46):
he has a great awareness on thefield. Pat of course he you know,
he's a great all the round tightend. And then uh you know,
uh Crew, he's a he's abat. He's smart, he knows
what he's doing. So, Imean just all the guys in the room,
you know, they're smart and attentive, and they f I F I

(10:07):
feel like they've j are justice tolay offense. Well, so is it
what's been like working with Tom orfrom what's he been? Kind of work
on what you wants? Yeah,I mean Tom's been great. Uh just
his a tis attention to detail,the way he comes you know, in
each and every day. He comesin as the same guy every day and
uh to be hot ide And youknow, I don't think I've had to

(10:28):
coach that detailed, but as Tom, you know, he's very detailed in
terms of you know, practice refyou sending us uh the info, breaking
down each and every play and reallyjust really just focused on the detail.
To be honest, with you.I think, uh, that's the thing
that sets him apart. And youknow he's he pushed us to be hard
I mean our our indie periods oryou know conditions. So of course that's

(10:50):
good for us. But I meanhe's been great so far. So excited
to uh you know, allow thatour allow our relationship to grow, and
excited to work with vision. Andhere's what he's doing kind of compliment what
you're doing individually, you know,when you're away through the facility working with
you know, coaches, one onone anything like that. You said,
what is he what does he dohere? That kind of compliments what you
do away from the facility when you'retrying. I mean, I think he

(11:13):
does different stuff, So I think, uh, that's a good thing about
it. You know some stuff thatwe do here. Oh sorry, uh,
I don't you know, usually dooutside of the facility. So it's
good getting that different work in differentdrill work that I can you know,
implement into my you know, offseason program and stuff like that. So
it's good that I'm learned this stufffor sure. Deep all off efficiency times

(11:35):
the last year what what what whatis Art Smith in the offense talk about
you about trying to make make thatincorporate that into doing a big part of
his office. I mean, yeah, uh, I think we have fast
guys, guys that can get downthe field with speed. Uh, Guys
like Quiz Calvin, Scottie Van,you know, me and Rust. You
know, we've we've had a lotof deep off success and a lot of

(11:58):
explosive plays in the past. Soyou know that's just uh, you know
what, Yeah, I guess howour offense is built. To be honest
with you, but I mean,our job is to create explosives and you
know, push the ball down thefield. So anytime we get those ops,
we definitely wanna capitalize on those.Are your coach just arresting any part
of your mechanics and any money?But that I mean yeah, uh,
I think there's always room to improve, uh, mechanic wise and stuff like
that. So I think, youknow, Matt Baker, uh, he's

(12:22):
a poor quarterback assistant. He youknow, usually stays on me the most
about it. Okay, So Iappreciate the fact that he does that,
and I usually you know, makesure he doesn't make sure. I just
just stay on top of it,you know, as a whole and you
know, make sure, uh,my mechanics are always clean. Can you
talk about one particular element that they'restressing. It's it's different areas. To
be honest, I don't think it'sjust one specific area, but it's it's

(12:43):
different areas, justin in your opinion. Was there something that you wanted to
work on, maybe get better atwhen you got here at this point of
your career. I mean, like, like I said, there's you know,
no matter who you are, youknow there's always stuff to get better
at, always different areas. Nobody'sperfect in one area, so I think
you can continue to prove in allyour my game, you know me personally,
So I'm just focused on getting bettereacharhood. When we talked to a

(13:07):
Russ yesterday, he said that rustedthat he personally felt kind of revived,
you know, being in another stopin his career. Is there any of
that sense of maybe rejuvenation or feelingrevived. Obviously you haven't been in the
league for thirteen years, but isthere a new energy that you get being
in a different organization, going throughmini camp in a different way for the
first time. I think so,you know, just being around a new
team. Uh uh, an organizationthat's you know, just just with this

(13:31):
culture. You know, me beingin you know, two different places now,
you just I realize that, youknow, you don't get this culture
everywhere. I think Chicago, Ithink they are you know, kind of
changing the narrative now, But Imean this has just been the culture here
for so many years to where Imean you can see it. It's just
the way that you know, weattack issue every day and coach to you

(13:52):
know, he he stays honest aboutit. So I think just having that
and uh, you know, reiteratingthat you know each and every day,
that keeps guys in it soposing guysare ready to compete each and every day.
Is it easy to step into anorganization when there already is such a
culture that's been established for a longterm to kind of know where you fit
and know what's expected. Most definitely, I think, you know, especially

(14:16):
as a leader, as a playeron the team, you just don't have
to thank you for checking out thiscontent from posts at Sports. If you
watch this p on YouTube, pleaselike the video size least. Yeah.
I mean I think college football isdifferent, and uh, ideologies and understandings
and have changed, and I thinkthat. You know, the portal is

(14:41):
a variable, and I would saythat not him in particular, but I
wouldn't say everyone doesn't really know howto handle it properly. You see it
currently. I mean, it's justit's a variable that's new and how to
handle it. There's not a transcripton how to handle that variable. So
you just guys just trying to dowhat they think is right. That's all

(15:01):
they're really trying to do. AndI'm not saying they're right or wrong,
but he was trying to do thesame. And you know, I think
at the end of the day herealized he man made the wrong decision and
we connected on it. We talkedabout it, and you know, it
was a great opportunity to to rightor wrong. And obviously we're very glad
he's here. I've always believed inhim. We believe in him, and

(15:22):
he believes in himself and that's partof the just trying to understand what's my
path right. So uh, butyeah, it's been great steps have been
made. He's growing, but he'snowhere near where he knows he's capable of
being, and he's just probably oppressive. Cremiah. I love the way he
lives. I love the way heapproaches things. I love the way the

(15:45):
questions he asks. I love theway he makes mistakes and then correct mistakes.
It's very veteran, like, Imean, there's so much ball he
has to learn, Like he literallydoes things that are good. I'm like,
do you know why that worked?He goes coach, I have no
freaking idea, So like I'm tryingto teach him all of that why it
worked, So then you know theconsistency at which it works just goes through

(16:06):
the roof. And so but I'mvery you know, excited and proud of
the conversations we're currently having. AndI'm excited it for them to keep going.
By what power for you? Workingwith your color. I love working
with Chip Chip Is. I lovethe talking ball, I love the viewpoints.
I love I love the veteran thathe has, you know, uh

(16:34):
and uh. I love now likeI love all of it. I think
that you know, early on thebiggest impact, you know, just you
know, feeling perspective. I thinkin the run game has been awesome,
you know, and then you know, off of the run game, some
of the actions or or relief throwsor all that kind of stuff. I
love where it's at. I loveworking with them, and I would say

(17:04):
that I sleep a little better,all right. Uh No, it's it's
really a great combo because, likeyou know, we're obviously we're doing a
lot as a group. It's notjust Chip and I so but you know,
obviously Chip has an image and aview on things that I never had.

(17:26):
So to have that experience and tohave that viewpoint, I'm just trying
to absorb as much as i can, but then also highlight some things that
we've really done a good job ofand make sure those you know, nothing's
really changing, We're just trying toenhance. We're not changing, We're enhancing.
So where the things fit is perfect, you know, I think,
uh, you know, the restof the dynamics of search Chip can talk

(17:48):
about. But it's been it's beenawesome, So I'm excited about it.
We talked to a mecand you're justtalking about moving from slot to the house
side. You know how good he'sbeen in the slot is that is difficult
move for you guys, coaches toknow how good a guy is in on
one spot, but know that maybefor his long term future and the no

(18:08):
I wouldn't say it's anything on hisfuture, because he's capable of doing whatever
you want to get done. ButI'd say that it says more about the
room. I think it's it's thegrowth of you know, Brandon and the
growth grow of Bryson. That's really, you know, allowing my mind to
say, hey, Mech, beprepared. You're gonna move around a lot.
You're gonna come out of that slot, You're gonna be outside. We're

(18:30):
gonna create mismatches out there. Imean, his ability to move around is
critical. But I would say betweenMech and between Carnell Takes's ability to move
around a lot, it's gonna providea lot of flexibility for our room.
And uh and those top you know, six seven guys that are really doing
a good job right now. Progressthis spring for like a because yeah,
there's no time. That's one ofthose things. I'm sure where you has
balanced how much work does a needversus so much? Yeah? Heavy,

(18:55):
heavy emphasis on what work he needs, you know, versus anything else.
Uh. I rely on him.We have great dialogue back and forth.
It's a it's a two way conversation, and frankly, there's gonna be times
we're like, hey, Meg,what do you wanna do today? You
wanna go outside and you'n go insideand I don't care. So we're not
there yet. We will be there, but it's just more about, you
know, when the room is readyto start mixing things up. I would

(19:33):
say, there's got I mean,I make sure I bring in guys that
are able to do all, butI have not asked them to yet.
So the only guys that in ourroom currently I've asked to do that has
been Mecca and Carnell, And thoseare probably the two guys that I would,
you know, think heavily on doingmoving around a lot. I'm not
putting that on anybody else right now, not saying they can't, but at
this point, having two guys beable to swing, you probably don't need

(19:56):
much more than that. I needguys being experts at what they're good at,
so it it helps the offense.Don't be grant at everything and be
an expert at something and we canuse that to our to our advantage.
This year is different, like maybeyou guys who were more situational all.
Yeah, the room's always different,frankly, I mean from twenty eighteen and

(20:18):
then nineteen and through COVID and andthose guys, and and then the depth
of those guys, and then whereMec and Marvin and those guys were as
freshmen compared to you know, It'sjust it's always different, and uh,
I expect this one to be differentagain, I'm not sure at what level
yet. Last question in your relationshipbetween the TV rooms and your webs especially
you know, the back of theboards. I'm curious a DVD as a

(20:41):
leader just like you, you know, played at Ohio sakas of Intel experience.
I'm curious about how you've seen Timkind of build a different backs room,
especially on a recree Troba, theamount of successful guys and maybe kind
of the effective your recruit how that'skind of enhanced. He would probably know
more for that question through ten yearsin this league, so I'm excited to

(21:03):
see what he's got. How olddid you know Sorenson when he was assistant
here? And I have gotten toknow him a lot. That WIT's a
relationship, Madie. Right now,I know him pretty well. He was
always just a good dude around thefacility. He did our ball meetings,
so he's good in front of agroup He's a good leader. He knows

(21:25):
the scheme really well, which isgood. I was happy to see him
promoted. He called me in theoff season, we talked. I just
congratulated him, and I think he'sgonna bring something similar to what we had
with the Miko. It'll be good. Do you know Brandon Stanley well at
all? I mean, obviously Joeyplayed for him. I don't know too

(21:45):
much about him. I've obviously heardfrom my brother, but I don't even
think i've said high yet. Ihaven't ran into him yet, but I'm
sure i'll get to know him.When you say, it looks similar to
the Miko of the energy or system, maybe a little different energy, but
I think just knowing the system fromthe front to the back, I think

(22:07):
he knows how it ties in.And he's been around with some really good
coaches, so I think it'll bepretty pretty seamless, and I think we'll
be firing on all cylinders. You'rethree months removed from the super Bowl now,
so how have you? I guessdigested it, and I guess physically
everything good to go. Yeah,I feel really good. I think it's

(22:30):
been one of my better off seasonsof just kind of. It was a
long year, so I took itnice and slow to get back into it.
Not as young as I once was, so I'm taking a little a
little slower, but everything's great.I'm feeling as good as I felt.
I'm excited to actually get some practicein. Last year was kind of tough,

(22:52):
getting thrown in week one after Iwalked through, so that was another
reason I'm excited to be here isjust to get practicing a little bit in
season. Practice is one thing,but actually being able to work your stuff
and not have a game coming upis good. With the Super Bowl unfortunately,

(23:15):
I know how to bounce back fromtough losses, so it was rough
for a little bit, but no, just annoying when people bring it up.
Since the last season, we've seena Rock on TV commercials and on
the stage with Kluke Coombs and throwingout the first pitch in the Giants game.
But he seems like a guy that'stotally unaffected by celebrity, which he

(23:37):
has now. But what have younoticed in his leadership style and the way
he carries himself any difference at all. I think he's definitely getting a little
more vocal within the building. Anduh yeah, I mean I don't think
he's ever gonna change. I don'tthink he's somebody that's gonna change even when
he gets paid next year. Sohe's a man of faith and he kind

(24:00):
of reminds me of Scotti Scheffler,but except for just super humble and really
good kid. And yeah, he'sdefinitely famous. I don't just from watching

(24:22):
you saw Armstead get released obviously meantso much to the defensive line into the
team. I mean, Colin Johnwere pretty open that they were willing to
talk about trading deebo or are youat raft? Does that just another what's
that feel like in the locker roomwhen those sort of joels happened. I
didn't even know that happened and Iwasn't here, but you're talking about this

(24:49):
Armstead will in alarm Er released,So that's certainly one thing. Yeah,
it's a tough business, for sure. You have to have thick skin and
I haven't gone through that, butI think you just have to understand that
it is a business and the team'sgoing to try and get as good as

(25:11):
it possibly can with or without you, and you have to look out for
yourself. That's why you go throughholdouts and do certain things that seem selfish
in the moment, but it iswhat it is, and when everything's settled,
we're gonna come together as a teamand try and go get one Nick.
What's the overall feeling around the groupright now, Like, how much

(25:32):
does it feel like the excitement ofthe ramp up to the season, even
though it's early, it feels good. It's been a couple of days for
me, so I like all thenew guys. I'm getting to know everybody,
but I think the passes in thepast and we're ready to go.
Do you talk to me? Youtalk to be a all about handling the
business part of this. He's goingthrough something similar. Me chat a little

(25:53):
bit, but not too much aboutthe details. I just told him to
keep his head up and try andstay positive through it all. First impressions
when you heard about your schedule wouldbe in that Aaron Rodgers' first up,
It'll be fun. Yeah, it'sgonna be gonna be a good one.

(26:15):
Excuse me kind of alluded to this, but the fact that last year you
had to have that hold out forsomething that affected you somewhat early in the
season. If you hadn't had thatexperience, would you be here right now?
I mean, was that part ofthe motivation for being here early,
just to have the opposite of lastyear? Might be No, I don't

(26:37):
think that's one of the reasons.But I just talked to Kyle and he
kind of asked me. He kindof stated how he felt about why it
would be good for me to behere and asked if I agreed, and
I did agree. So it's notlike I'm missing too much. I think
I'm out here. It's a littleless workload than I'm doing back home,

(27:00):
so it's kind of a good activerecovery thing for me. And I'm getting
football stuff, football working specifically,so that's good. I'm not it's not
compromising my training at all, andI get to meet all the guys.
It's positive. Your brother let him. Oh no, he's he's there.

(27:25):
He's got a new regime over there. Did you first? I actually thought
I was coming next week until recently, so I was gonna have one more
week at home, but we're bothin California. Everything you could share about
Conn's reasons, reasons that you agreedwith here sent from the top, and

(27:51):
it doesn't get mixed up as it'smoving down the ladder, it's boom.
This is how we're doing things,and everybody's following that, and I think
it's a impressive the details that everybodyhave been on, has has been on
the effort and just the competitiveness thatthat's been going on over the last few
weeks. Yeah, it's it's it'sbeen great. How much do you appreciate

(28:15):
that the stop and just described theway Jim, Yes, I shouldn't eat
in the messaging doesn't eat mixed up. I appreciate that much. I mean
it's I guess it's easy to appreciatewhen you kind of see it working and
you see guys improving, getting better. I just think the details are really

(28:37):
important. You can pretend that leavingyour shoes a mess or your locker mess
isn't a big deal and what mattersis playing football. But I think all
those tiny details and things kind ofadd up and leak into the important stuff
like what you're doing on the field. So if you can have your toe

(28:57):
behind the line, or have yourlocker and order and all these things,
they kind of stack up into performingwell and and playing well when things count.
So you know, I appreciate that. It's it also hasn't been a
fight with the guys in the lockerroom. They buy in and you know,
it's a lot of young guys,and I think they're hungry to learn,

(29:18):
hungry to compete and win. Youknow. It's just an example,
whether it's we talked about first dayyou have your shoot, if you could,
if you could spend the time onthese small things when nobody's watching.
I think, like I was saying, it seems like it might not add
up too much, but I thinkin the long term it does. And

(29:40):
uh, it leaks into other things, whether you're doing your right assignment on
the field, being late to meetingsor all these things. If you hold
a standard and you you stay tothat standard, I think it benefits you
long term. Has been anything inhis training program we're working with you that

(30:03):
you feel will benefit your Yeah,yeah, definitely. He's been great.
He's a no nonsense kind of guy, but he's not an old school in
the sense that he's bringing his wayof doing things and that's the only way
to do things. He understands thatguys have been in the in the business
for a long time. Khalil meand we have a way of doing things,
and all he wants to do isadd to that and help you get

(30:26):
better and perform the best he can. He's he stresses it all the time
that he's a tool for us,And you know, he's been great.
The guys love him. The energybrings is awesome, and I think the
stuff that we're doing in the weightroom is great, a great addition to
stuff that I may do on theside or whatever that is. Yeah,

(30:48):
I think we I mean, wehad a presentation today with all the certain
measurables that are changing, and ifyou guys are in the meeting, you
definitely see how beneficial he's been tothe team so far. So obviously,
staying healthy is is a huge factorto anybody's success. I'd say it's plagued
us a little bit for a while. So yeah, I think he's he's

(31:11):
definitely incredibly beneficial. You like fullcover at the end of last season,
you might have been able to payYeah, No, I was not ready
to go last year. No,tried practicing, tried coming back, and
uh it was it was not good, but yeah, it was. Unfortunately,

(31:36):
the year wasn't going great and itjust was unnecessary risk for I mean,
my foot could have had some real, real issues if I came back
too early. So yeah, it'sbeen, it's been. It's been a
great off season. My foot's feelinggreat, toes, good, hamstring,
skod I mean, there was alist of things last year, my hand,
so all those things are good.Finger gout surgery on my finger,

(31:59):
so that's feeling good. Yeah,it's it's nice to be feeling better going
into year nine than you have sincemaybe five six years ago, which I've
said, I've said I've been feelinggreat the last couple of years. I'm
telling you it's a real deal thistime. But obviously anything can happen.
But I just feel it's fun feelingreally confident in your body and being able

(32:22):
to perform. So I could justgo out during practice and you know,
go balls to the wall and doeverything that I feel like I need to
to be able to prepare. It'sfun. My brother and whoever I trained
with my trainer Todd back home,I think they'd be really proud of how

(32:42):
I've been working this offseason and it'sjust exciting. Obvious pointing was the injuries.
I'm at the green bag game,you kind of I'm just pining.
Yeah, it was a bit ofa build up, a little bit of
an overreaction, but you know,it's just tough. It comes sometimes like
that, and I just felt feltreally defeated coming back, had a broken

(33:06):
hand. I'm like, oh,yeah, I get to play Boom first
series foot Pops. Thought I'd haveto get surgery, and all these thoughts
flooded through my head. Broke downa bit, and yeah, it just
hurts. You know, you're losing, You're getting injured. You've felt like
you prepared really well in the offseason, and then the year before you
had growing surgery, so you know, a lot of things build up.

(33:30):
Yeah, you don't get a breakif you're injured. Everybody wants to go
on. Fans are very nice,but no, I just I'm grateful that
I feel this way. I'm stillstill nicey Ripe twenty eight, so not
too old you had, but yeah, I'm just excited. I can't remember

(33:52):
what the original question was. Atthis point, you get something about my
body, how close you and Giftwere, How how frustrated was it that
you couldn't you know for one ofthose last three games. It was frustrating,
But I mean Gift was had myback the whole way. I think

(34:16):
for gift, for any but forfor the whole team, just to show
what it means to me. Itwould have been important for me to be
out there, but I literally couldn't. I tried to practice, injured my
footworse the very first play I wasand in practice, So no chance that
was happening unless I wanted to throwmy next season away as well. But

(34:37):
no, I'm just I'm proud ofhim for what he did with the team,
how he handled it, and Ineed to call him back. Actually
sorry, gif. Yeah, I'mhappy he gets to stay close by with
the with the Rams, and justproud of all we accomplished here together over
the years and we'll be close forthe rest of our lives. Was the

(35:00):
foot injury, It was the guybasically a foot sprang. Yeah, I
sprained one area of my foot.Then when I tried to return, I
sprained another area. Was able toavoid getting surgery, which is kind of
the main goal, but yeah,it was. It was tough when it
comes to the addition of but Dupreewhen he felt like he's kind of brought

(35:22):
to the to the room and couldbring on the field. Yeah, it's
when I heard we got my brothersome I don't know, maybe my brother
told me. I'm like, really, we just got budd Like, that's
no, that's no small pickup.He's a seriously elite pass rusher has had
some trouble with injuries as well,so I understand how that is, but

(35:44):
not only him as a player,but as a personality. I heard Khalil
just saying he's he's a fun guy. He's a funny guy and and to
have that in the room another vetis always a great addition. But I'm
just excited to have him into Leeand to be able to rotate like that
and drop off at all when wecome off the field is huge. And
maw Tuley's going into a second year. Just what do you what are you

(36:07):
kind of What are some of thematurity maturity areas you see from in you
know, I'm gonna say not much, and that's a compliment because he was
already mature in those areas. Imean, he's on it everything playbook wise,
always doing his job, working hard, just refining his technique and pass

(36:28):
rush. I mean, we don'thave the pads on right now, so
the real work will will begin.You know in six weeks now, so,
but yeah, I love Tulie.I've loved him since the first days
he's walked into the facility, andI know he's just gonna continue to get
better. What do you think ofthe addition of Joe Alt? Yeah,
yeah, I'm gonna need to beathim up a little bit in camp.

(36:51):
So he's so he's ready. Butno, I think anything to protect our
number ten is a good, goodinvestment. So he seems like a real
solid dude. Haven't talked to himtoo much. Great build, seems like
he has good hands, good feet, strong, We'll see. We'll see
in a few weeks when I laya helmet in his chin. Hell,

(37:14):
he holds up, but it'll I'lltake it easy on him. No,
Rashon's a beast. Did you knowcoach Harbond before he came here? And
if he did, just what werethose first couple of conversations like that?
Yeah, probably have crossed paths withhim. Maybe maybe not. Actually I

(37:36):
think what was it his first yearwhen I was a junior? So he
kicked his ass as usual at OhioState. No, No, they just
want a championships. I'd say theyprobably have the bragging rights right now,
I'm like the guy talking about hisold high school. Oh I remember we
used to kick No, no,yeah, no, the rivalry is dead.

(38:01):
I was just saying this morning,you know, nine years and kind
of forget about that. I'm nota great alumni. Sorry, sorry,
coach, But no, it's great. That's what's great about the NFL is
you just have guys from all backgrounds. You could hate their guts one one
year, and then you come onthe same team and your brothers and you're

(38:21):
all working towards one goal together.So our first talk together was great.
I just sat down with them,went up into his office and chopped it
up about life mainly and his opportunityhere and how much it means to him.
And yeah, I think he's aspecial guy. I think he's the
way he conducts himself. He's aninteresting cat for sure. And I'm still

(38:44):
still feeling them out. But onething you can't denies that he loves football
and his main goal is to winfootball games. So and that's what we
need. When you see him workingout with you guys and pushing slaves and
doing all this stuff, just howinteresting is that to see? Yeah,
I mean, he was a hewas a great player himself, and I
think he's always been you know,built like that lack of a better term.

(39:08):
But yeah, he's uh, he'spart of the guys, you know,
he's not this guy outside looking in. He he really, I mean
he voiced that to me, isthat his favorite part of all of it
is being with the guys and andthe connections he makes. So yeah,
to to see a guy like thatcome in and embrace it all and kind

(39:28):
of be part of it himself isimportant. Your initial impressions of Coachman during
the defensive, Yeah, it's funny. You go from old gift, old
gift to this little young guy who'smy age. I wouldn't want to get
thrown into a room with me,and Khalil was his age. But no,

(39:49):
he's been great. I love messingwith him a little bit. We
little sarcasm back and forth. Butno, he's great. He's uh,
very talks very fast, and Idon't as you know, so sometimes I
gotta be like slow down, coach, come on. But no, he's
great. I'm excited, you know, to get closer as the years.

(40:13):
As the year goes on, andI think he has he has a lot
of passion for the position, andall he wants to do is learn and
and help us to improve. SoI'm excited about him, and I mean
I do miss Giff. Obviously itwas a long time with him, but
I am excited to have a newface and kind of have that challenge for
me. You worked much with withJesse's dad, since I know he coached

(40:37):
linebackers in Michigan. Did you askabout Jesse? Did you ask about doing?
Okay, you asked about Jesse.Oh my god, I was talking
about freaking doing the whole time.You guys are so confused. No,
sorry, I thought we were.I thought I was. I thought you
mentioned coach Ronie. No, No, coach Mentor has been great as well.

(41:00):
Yeah, they've both been great.Sorry run that back. No,
he's been good. Uh yeah,very knowledgeable guy. Same thing. I'm
excited to get to know him moreas the year goes on. Have you
worked Have you worked much during theseason Jesse? Yeah? Uh no,
I have not. I don't knowif I've said one word to him,

(41:22):
but more words to come down theroad. Like you said, you've been
in year since twenty sixteen. Justwhat are some of this stuff? You
just someone on a ramble about thewrong guy for fifteen minutes walking. What

(41:45):
Yeah, what the heck? Soactually that's literally not this person. Yeah,
yeah, I figured out what's somethingthat you you worked unduring the off
season and an improve your game oris it something that you can Usually my
answer is pretty consistent that I justcontinue to try to prepare myself physically,

(42:12):
whether that's my sprint work or agilitywork and my lifting, but yeah,
just to get everything feeling great.I had dealt with those injuries, so
I had to kind of ramp itup with my finger and foot and all
those things. But now I'm I'mfull full speed out there, and I'm
just going to continue to do whatI know will prepare me for the season.

(42:36):
And I know I'm gonna get plentyof technique work and position work when
I'm out here. So for now, I'm going to spend these five weeks
really getting preparing my body's workouts.Competitive again, another year of competitive and
all that stuff. Yeah, yeah, it's usually too hot out there for

(42:57):
much competition. We're just trying tosurvive. But yeah, it's always it's
a it's a silent competition between betweeneach other. Be like peeking is like
what was his time? Was histime? But no, yeah, it's
always you can never have an offday when when you're out there and he's
he's warming up like a beat,like a freaking robot every day out there,

(43:19):
so there's there's no off days.Yeah, have you you and have
talked at all about I mean,any of this? Also when you were
having a contract thing, do youhave guys have to talk about that anybody?
Oh? Yeah, I mean it'sit's a conversation, not a not
really a serious conversation, but somethingthat's come up before. But yeah,

(43:42):
I mean it would be cool,It would be cool at some point.
I I always thought of myself beingsomebody that will play here and retire here,
which I think not many people doon one team, and I think
would be a cool thing to accomplish. But you never know. I'm gonna
worry about this year. First.Sorry, it's kind of we're going a

(44:05):
food story. But so you guyshave like the lowest or second lowest food
cacheria in the NFLPA survey last year, and you bet it moved to the
facility. Like, have you talkeda lot about food? And how he
did sometimes is it fine. Haveyou looking forward to the food upgrades at
all? Have you thought about itat all? Yeah? No, it's
Wolfgang Puck or whatever is the isthe word. Yeah, that's great.

(44:29):
I've been working with my chef forseven years now, so she's been great,
so I've never really had to worryabout that too much. But yeah,
my weight's good. I've been eatinga lot this offseason, so that's
good. But yeah, I'm excitedto maybe be able to Sorry Christina,
but maybe I won't need a chefnext year. I'll have my I'll have

(44:52):
my going on. See you gottasunk the best fit Cris Caps. Here
we go. Yeah, Drea,welcome to Seattle. Were you looking for
in free agency? I felt that'sa loaded question for real, for real,
Uh, you know, in termsof no pay system, teammates,

(45:16):
environment, city, all those kindof just like play into it. Besides
just uh the money thing. Iknow, financials always play a big role,
and I kind of steer you intothe direction you want to go,
but everything kind of plays into it. And how much did you reach out
to Shelby Drew knowing some of theguys you knew the play here last year
to get a sense for what whatSeattle might offer you. I mean,

(45:37):
not much right now, I'll talkto I'll talk to Shelby a little bit
about it. Mainly no one drew. Uh, just congratulate me, Bob.
Did you come together pretty quickly?I know you kind of time your
agreement on that first Monday and everythingthat come together really faster. Now,

(46:00):
it was a long day. Seattlecame in almost out of nowhere. We
had like a good set of teamsthat we're talking to, just trying to
like finalize what was going on.What was it the term is going to
be, you know, and Seattlecame in hot. They showed a lot
of interest and uh, they kindof motivating me to come here more and
more. And how similar will yourrole be, you know in terms of

(46:20):
playing what you did Denver. Idon't know that yet. I kind of
just mentioned previously. I don't knowmy role. I don't know the ins
and out yet. Once we'll getNO through the protocols and the NFLPA,
we'll we'll talk about NO, theschemes and everything. Right. Uh,
so welcome. When you were inDenver in the three four where did you

(46:42):
find yourself most comfortable and most effective. And I played a lot of different
positions in Denver. I mean earlierin my year, I played zero,
I played three, two one.I mean I'm definitely more comfortable in a
shaded position, mainly being a threetechnique and five technique. That's why I
found myself to be more comfortable whetherI'm staying it up or I'm not,
whether it's runner or pass. Uh, they'll seem to be my best my

(47:05):
best fits. And what is yourimpression of Pete Carroll's defense and whole environment?
Uh? From afar, it seemslike he he holds in on defense
a lot. Uh. I can'treally say too much about that. Yeah,
I don't. I know Pete Carrollvery little. So uh, I'm
just trying to figure out more andI'll give you a better answer later.
What's the reputation around the league outof the Seahawks? Uh, you know

(47:28):
Hard nos Hard had type of teamdefinitely on a little more lack side as
opposed to being stuck up or militarystyle, and which is definitely good because
then they this program is won.A lot of football games have been super
successful for many years, as longas I've been alive and as long as
I've been watching football, and definitelythis has been a good program. And

(47:49):
Pete Carroll has been a hell ofa coach for as long as I remember,
even back in his college days.So I'm looking forward to experiencing that.
Boyle. Yeah, a nice Ifyou don't know yet, you know
what your role is going to be, which is what what kind of player
you fans who haven't watched it timeof Denver, what kind of player getting?
Definitely a high motor, Definitely nota one trick pon any type of

(48:10):
player. I like to attack,you know, whether it's a first or
first through fourth down, I liketo attack. I'm always trying to apply
pressure. I'm definitely just a highmortar guy in my opinion. Brady either
Brady Henderson for ESPN, Nice tomeet you. That's what Yeah, this

(48:31):
is not a team that really makesbig splash signings in free agency. Did
you think going into it that Seattlewould be in play? Uh? No,
not at all. You just it'skind of like being a cure at
the county store. You know,I've got a whole bunch of different options
coming at you. Uh, hearinga whole bunch of different crazy things,
and uh, you know, youonly get to choose one, and this
is the place that that we bothchose each other. And I mean,

(48:52):
I'm loving Seattle so far. Youknow, I like these colors. What
what have you got to do withSeattle or see? Since not much?
Uh, just kind of just drivearound the city exploring. Uh, get
down to the market a little bit. I w I wanna get on a
little the Ferris will do some morelike touristy type of things. You know.
I'm I'm new to the city andI got a lot to learn about
the city. All that, right, Yeah, there's been a lot of

(49:16):
comparisons of you to Michael Bennett.I was wondering if you know Michael Bennett
at all and you think those areaccurate. Uh, I know it was
Michael Berger, then it n likenothing. I know nothing about him but
besides his his style of play.But uh, I'm honored to be considered
in the same conversation as him anduh style of play. You know,
He's a Hall of Fame type ofdeep lineman that I I've known about since
I was a a kid. Imean, last time he played here,

(49:37):
I was in high school. Soyou know, it's cool to it kind
of came full circle a little bitwatching him on TV and now I'm being
kind of compared to him in away, you know, y, I
mean, I'm not touching the surfaceof Michael Bennet. You know, he's
a Hall of Famer and I'm notthere yet. So you know, I
just gotta keep doing my due diligenceto to be a better player. Corvin,

(49:59):
Thanks, Welcome to Seattle. Iknow you get to play several seasons
for Vic Fangio and three four styledefense and Seattle's playing a similar system now
dating back to last year as adefensive lineman, what do you think is
most important to be successful in thatsystem? Maybe fundamentals or just playing style
to be successful. From what Ilearned, being gap sound and being patient

(50:22):
has always been the biggest thing,and that's how we've been successful when I
was in Denver, just kind oflike relying on each other. I know
that sounds kind of cliche, butlike there's kind of like the the realm
of being in the three four defense. You got to really really rely on
the guys behind you and the guyson the side of you to really make
their to do their job, tomake your job easier, Bob. Yeah,

(50:45):
well, uh, you your housestate bioffs that you didn't start playing
football till you were junior in highschool and largely played basketball till then.
That's what maybe I guess decided togo go play football. Then? Was
that artist away from basketball? No, No, I've always loved ball first.
Uh, it was just kind ofjust playing it out. You know,
I love a hoop, but youknow, football was definitely about calling.

(51:06):
Given I was a two hundred andsixty five pound power forward and I
was like sixty threes and changed,so you know, I kind of chose
the route that God gave me.You know, I'm not six eight.
Yeah, well, comes to Seattle, and you've been quoted, looking at
a couple of articles that he wasan undergog player, And can you just

(51:29):
talk a little bit about that thatwere that some of the US always kind
of counted out, But can youelaborate more than that just from a standpoint,
like I always get like over overshadowed, overlooked, whether it's in something
you know what I'm saying, Like, I feel like I do a lot
more than what can be sitting bythe eyes of the inexperienced you know,

(51:52):
Scout and I do a lot ofdifferent, different dynamic things that help make
place for others. You know,I'm definitely an active player. I'm always
doing something, whether in the runnerpass game, so you know, I
think that goes on another sometimes andI'm looking forward to putting people on notice.
Thanks Brady. What uh, whatdo you like to do outside of
football? Uh, big gamer,I'm definitely I've been getting to a lot

(52:16):
of chests lately, so just toexpand my brain. Uh, I'm trying
to get into reading. But ifit's not sports play that I'm really not
interested in reading that. What doyou think some of that will be able
to bring out out of your games? You keep trying to, you know,
just being more explosive, Probably moreyards for catch with the space that

(52:37):
he's putting us into, the moreyards, more yards have to catch,
more exposive, pick, more exposedto play for for not just only me,
but she and Ak and taste them. So I'm excited to be able
to be in the system. Iassume you think you guys can be a
lot more explosive than than you inthe last couple of years. Oh yeah,
of course. It brings a lotof different things, you know what

(52:59):
I'm saying, playbook, but justaccountability. I feel like that's gonna lead
us to success. They said,the language is a little a little shorter,
has it? Have you found thatthe language that you guys use Is
it about the same or is itit's kind of the same. Really,
it's it's a long long plays,but it's more understanding for sure. I
feel like you could get to thatmore understanding plays and uh, I feel

(53:22):
like that's that's the difference. Pterwas saying the other day, just kind
of like coming into this offense afterlike twenty years of Breeze and just kind
of how it was just kind ofbuilt on top of each other and on
top of each other. It's likekind of a lot to kind of take
in. Do you do you findthat they kind of turn it down to
something new, starting at like zerowith everybody. It's just a little bit
easier to kind of get everybody onthe same. Yeah, I feel like
it's way easier. Like you said, it was kind of more of a

(53:44):
Drew Brees style the last playbook,So all credit to them though they built
that around him, around his players. But uh, like I said,
it's it's more. Uh, thisplaybook is more for uh matchups, and
I feel like it's gonna be betterfor us or do you think it's gonna
really take advantage of your skill sets? Uh? Just building around the strengths

(54:06):
that I have. You know whatI'm saying, things that I can do
and things that she can do,uh, things that our players can do.
Is kind of focus on what wecan do and and building on that.
Uh. I feel like it's playingto the player strengths. So I
feel like it's gonna help us alot. Has been around the way this
offense will have a lot more speed, and how has that transition been so
far? I mean, like Isaid, it's building around the players strengths.

(54:28):
So of course we got speed uhuh with me or uh she and
ati receiver, so uh, justbuilding around that. Uh. Like I
said, playing to our strengths andbe able to capitalize off that. Feel
like it's gonna help us a lot. But most of like the up tempo
astract and you know, getting alot of plays in the less time.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, that's that's definitely gonna play a
big difference. Like I said,coming from the West coast, Uh,
they bringing that stand for an offensehere, So I'm excited to be be

(54:52):
able to be a part of that. For you personally, what what's uh?
What's the next level look like foryou? What do you what are
you trying to accomplish this? Yere? Uh? Just staying consistent man,
and a couple of ups and downslast year, just building off that.
It's always you always gonna work onthe physical part, but being able to
bounce back after a bad game themental mental aspect. Uh. Just learning

(55:13):
learned that last year and be ableto build on that this year is a
huge part. You know with MikeGon, do you take it upon yourself
to kind of be that voice inthe room or to take a step forward
even further as Uh? I meanit's not really. I mean everybody kind
of grown in the NFL, soit's just on you to be able to

(55:34):
have that standard. Like I said, I just try to do that lead
by example. I'm not really outspoken, but just lead by example, working
hard, trying to dominate every repand hopefully they follow out to that that
yards after the touch is that youfeel like that's the strength of yours that
maybe wasn't utilize. I don't knowif utilizes the right word, but you
could show more d Yeah, it'san offense that is built around that,

(56:00):
Uh, just catching the ball inspace, catching the ball over the middle
or even on the outside, uhwith with space and separation. Feel like
it's built around having yards have tocatch. So I'm definitely proud to be
in the system, like I said, and I'm excited. But is that
is that a mindset too, likebeing good at yards after the catch?
Like oh yeah, I mean ofcourse. I mean you don't want to
get tackled by the first person.And my mindset is trying to take every

(56:23):
take everything to the house, youknow, every touch. So uh,
I definitely got to do that moreand definitely try to work on that in
practice. Keeps a great dude man. Uh some some that I definitely needed,
some that he relates to me,uh just from backgrounds and uh he's

(56:44):
a great coach, great leader,Uh, motivational and uh like I said,
I'm excited to have him around andfor him to push me is everything
that I need. So something you'retalking about like mentally bouncing back, you
know from tough performances or whatever,like, did you like try to find
your resource just gonna help you figureout how to do that. Oh yeah,
I mean it's older guys. Uhuh tell me that's natural. Just

(57:07):
have bad games. But uh,just having the standard that I have for
myself and the expectations I have formyself gets hard sometimes. So just be
able to be hard on yourself butat the same time just let it go
and just bounce back for the nextgame is something that I learned last year.
You one of those guys that feelslike you should always have a certain

(57:27):
level of production. Are you okaywith those certain games where the defense is
so focused on you that other guyshave big games and you're just running good
routs? And yeah, I'd definitelybe one dimensional football. You need to
be able to throw the ball asmuch as run the ball. You know,
It's funny. Some people think I'man area guy. Some people think
I'm a wing tea guy. Somepeople think I want to run the ball
every down. You know, we'regonna We're gonna do what's best for a

(57:51):
house state, and that's that's kindof what our game plan is right now.
Right Austin were a podcast. Whenyou think about your first evaluations of
the quarterbacks and going through these fifteenpractices at how do you want to structure
that? I know that you andRyan have probably talked about that a good
amount, Like what's the right wayto set up a spring position battle?
How many reps does everybody need?What's sort of your plan? Just from

(58:14):
a general perspective, I guess yeah, you know, we're really detailed in
what practice looks like and how that'sgoing to operate. But I also think
you need to let the players go, you know, So I don't think
you need to to put shackles onthem, so to speak, and just
keep them constrained. I think yougot to let them go and you got
to let them operate. And wewere rotating I think everybody on every two
snaps today just and that was justwhat we're going to do on day one.

(58:35):
You know, we'll reassess it afterwe got through it, get a
chance to count up all the repsof how many plays, how many plays
each guy got, and did theyget more in seven on than they did
in eleven on? You know,and we'll go through that whole thing and
that'll be a constant flow in termsof how we're doing it. But I
think the best way people learn isthey learn by doing, you know.
So they've been great in the meetingrooms. They're sharp when you get them
on the board. They're really goodwhen they're watching film. But you got

(58:57):
to go out and you got toplay the game. And so the more
that we can put in those situationsto play the game, the better we'll
have an opportunity to evaluate them.Uh, ship, thinking of all of
these things, Uh, go back, so forward with Ryan's day. You
mentioned since you've done him since shewas a kid, what were your first
impressions back then? And then shecould come full circle to now, like

(59:21):
how do you how do you feelabout that? It's still the same way
he you know, even since hewas playing the little league, he was
the ultimate competitor, you know,and he was always trying to find a
way to win. He was greatat a lot of sports, Baseball,
basketball, football. You know,I got an opportunity to recruit him,
you know, so I coached himwhen I was at New Hampshire. I
recruit him out of high school.We all and we grew up really close

(59:42):
to each other. So the sameelementary school, same high school, same
junior high, same college. Youknow, so I've known him since for
for a really long time, butthat competitive fire burns deep with him,
and that's the one thing that I'vealways admired with him. And he's got
an amazing athletic brain in terms ofhow to process things and how to how
to put people in position to makeplace. He's always been that prototypical coach
on the field, no matter whatsport he was playing. So I knew

(01:00:05):
he was destined to be a coach, you know. And I was fortunate
in my career as a head coachto have him on my staff in a
couple of places, so I gota chance to see him work firsthand,
you know. I got to seehim work firsthand as a player and then
as a coach. So the successhe had is not is not surprising to
me. Is there for you seeingWheyan the success is at it? Yeah?
I think we all do that.I think we come from a unique

(01:00:27):
place in a really small hometown inNew Hampshire where we all take a lot
of pride to where we're from andand when anybody's successful coming out of there,
then you kind of take a littlepride that that's it's the upbringing that
we all had you know, inthe UTH sports program that we grew up
in in in every aspect, whetherit was football, baseball, basketball,
those coaches we had an amazing impacton us. And that's why we are
where we are right now. BillVerbinwick Ryan said he doesn't think of it

(01:00:53):
as you working under him, that'sworking with him. Fact is he's the
head coach. He makes me callsir though he just said can you do
that? Day one? And Iwas like, all right, right now.
But I mean he ultimately is thedecision maker. You've been a head
coach. How do you think that'sgoing to work. Do you think there'll

(01:01:15):
be any as close as you are, any kind of awkward moments the right
term, But when he's the ultimatedecider and you are working for him,
Yeah, I certainly understand my role. I'm not Alhaic, Like I'm not
I'm not in charge here. Yeah. Some people get that reference. Other
people don't get that reference. ButI'd certainly understand that, and I actually

(01:01:38):
kind of relish it because I reallylove the scheming part. I love the
individual part. I love being inthe meeting room of the quarterbacks and trying
to game plan. But everything wedo here is collaborative. You know.
The one thing that really struck mewhen I walked in this place is there's
an amazing coaching staff here, youknow, and if you get a chance
to talk to Larry Johnson just aboutfootball, or Tim Walton or Jim Knowles

(01:01:59):
or Brian Hartline or any of theseguys that are on the staff here,
it's it's a very collaborative effort.I think everybody's on the same page.
You know, it's not our offenseand their defense and it's Ohio State,
you know, it's it's Ohio Stateversus the twelve opponents that we're gonna play
during the regular season and then beyond. So it's it's really collaborative. And
that's the thing I like, justin the short time that I've been here,

(01:02:21):
is how collaborative everybody's been. Youknow, we're all trying to make
each other better and we're all tryingto develop this team. Touched on this
when you said, you know,you like to do what you want to
do and not My sense is you, in your perfect world, you'd like
to scribble plays on a napkin andnot deal with boosters, do deal with
all the stuff that coaches head coacheshave to deal with now, how much

(01:02:42):
of a factor was that in thisdecision you can just do football now that
that's not it. I mean,I enjoy I mean we've had some amazing
I've had an opportunity and everywhere I'vebeen to meet some amazing people that are
associated with the program. And there'speople that from my time at New Hampshire
or my time at Oregon. Iwas just with Film Night two weeks ago,
you know, and got an opportunityto spend some time with him and
his wife Penny, who are dearfriends of mine that have been great mentors

(01:03:06):
to me in my career. Andthere's a bunch of people that and UCLA
Terry Donnahue Andrea Donna who were awesometo me. Angela Mazzoni is a great
friend, Casey Wassman, Troy Yikman. There was a bunch of people at
UCLA that I really enjoyed, youknow, being around and talking with.
So I think sometimes everybody wants tomake a narrative of it's either this or
that's It's never that. It's neverjust all ball, it's never just all
recruiting, it's never just all boosters. It's a mixture of everything. But

(01:03:30):
I think the one thing that asthis position as a head coach kept moving
on is that if you look ata lot of them, they all become
more CEOs. You know, Ican't tell you how many coaches that have
called me since I made this decisionthat said I'm two years behind you,
brother, You know that are thinkingthe same exact way. And I think
it's all part of what we haveto do. I think we all need
to protect this game and promote thisgame, and I think there are some

(01:03:51):
rules that we need to get straightenedout so that people understand what it's about,
because the game is still about theplayers, and I hope that never
gets discounted. You know, it'sit's always been about the players, and
I think if we can keep thatat the forefront the people that are making
decisions on this, and I thinkGeene Smith is one of the best influences
in in the NCAAA, is tomake sure we keep that the main thing.

(01:04:13):
The main thing needs to be thestudent athletes. Com you know,
you're coming in at a time whereyou've been through some places where the expectations
are high. I understand it's alsocoming into a juncture where you know,
the three losses to Michigan, thenot making the playoff last year, the
urgency is pretty high here. Iguess just sort of what the perspective you

(01:04:35):
have on kind of the stakes thatthere are for Ryan this year and the
decision that then he makes to bringyou in to kind of help solve that.
Yeah, I think the expectations canbe no harder than they are in
your own brain, you know.And I think if you try to worry
about what other people are thinking intheir brains, you're going to get screwed
up a little bit. So,you know, I talked earlier the one

(01:04:55):
thing about Ryan that I know abouthim and has always been he's the ultimate
competitor. So he's got There's nowherethat has higher expectations of Ohio State than
Ryan does, nor the rest ofus that joined him in our part of
this and that are working with him. So you know, I don't think.
I think sometimes you can spend toomuch time thinking about those things.
You know, what you really haveto do is just as there's a big
sign as you walk into this place, it says when the moment, you

(01:05:16):
know, I think that's a realthing that we have to do as coaches
is to make sure that our playersaren't worried about what's going on in the
future, or or aren't worried aboutwhat's going on in the past, or
worry about can they get a littlebit better today, you know, and
can we make improvement? And Ithink the one thing that I've seen here,
and I've only been here for threeweeks, but there's a consistency to
the players approach when they walk inthis building every day, which is it's
unique. It's not like that everywhereelse. And it's one of the things

(01:05:38):
that I remark to Mick when Iyou know, he said, Hey,
what do you think? And Iwas like, it's impressive. It's impressive
the culture of the players that arein this program right now. But I
think it speaks a lot to theleadership there. There's a lot of older
players on this team, and they'veset the tone for the younger players,
and I think the younger players havedone a great job of followship and getting
right in line with that. It'snever over play calling to someone before what

(01:06:00):
does it mean to you? Iguess he technically did it to Bill when
he was here for a couple weeks. But what does that mean to you
to kind of be getting that responsibilityfrom him and he's calling essentially the offense
that you gave it. I guessin some way. Yeah, I still
think the play calling part will bea collaborative effort. And by that I
mean that if it's a good play, I called it, and if it's
a bad play, he called it. Because the great part is an assistant

(01:06:21):
coach, you can just point thefinger a little bit and just say,
hey, you know, I wantedto do this, but he trumped me.
So we haven't actually discussed game dayyet. You know, we'll see
how that operates. But everywhere I'vebeen it's been a collaborative effort. And
all of a sudden, someone that'scalling the plays isn't isn't like pulls one
out of left field that you hadn'tpracticed and hadn't been part of your offense

(01:06:44):
and said, hey, let's dothis. You know, we're not running
the annexation of Puerto Rico. Youknow, we're not coming up with something
special you know in the middle ofthe fourth quarter that we haven't done.
But I think it's the key toreally being successful on offense is is how
you game plan, how you putit all together, and then how you
practice and train for that so thatyou get a chance to execute it.
Because the player's confidence comes become comesfrom their demonstrated ability that they've done this

(01:07:05):
so many times in practice that whenthey get out on the field that this
is like that to them, youknow. And it's not that they do
it so they do it right.It's they practice it so much so that
they can't do it wrong. So, you know, I think it's that
whole part of it that is reallythe key to being a really good game
planning team, right Doug Lane ReefKingdom North Chip. When you had that

(01:07:27):
feeling when you were coaching the quarterbacksduring BOWLD, did you consider at that
point maybe resigning as the head coachand thinking like this is this is not
where I am anymore. I'll leaveand then I'll look to see what else
is out there. No, Inever thought about quitting anything, So,
you know, I just is therean opportunity that I think I can that

(01:07:47):
fit, you know, And Ithink that's the you know, it's no
different than when you're talking to arecruit about them make a decision on where
they're going to go to school.I think that where they should go to
school is where the best fit isfor them. So, you know,
I just entertained some opportunities and Ialways felt I felt like this was the
best fit. But I never thoughtabout quitting or not coaching. I'm gonna
coach. I'm gonna coach, andthen I'm gonna die. I mean,

(01:08:09):
that's how I think I think aboutthings. Is I can't picture that.
I know someone I was on theNike trip and they like, how much
longer are you gonna go? WhenI said I had to go another fifteen
twenty years. I don't think aboutI don't think about retirement. I don't
think about any of those things.That's just not kind of my mindset that
you know. I love football andin the as long as I can be
part of this game, then I'llbe part of this game. Just the

(01:08:31):
way things worked out with your departurefrom UCLA, is there anything that you
wish you had done differently, oranything you regret, or just that the
circumstances that presented themselves. Do youthink that you handled that departure the best
that you could have? Yeah,I mean I got an opportunity to tell
my players personally. You know,I think in this day and age of
the Internet, where they read itsomewhere else and you have to text message,
and you know, that was alwaysimportant to me that I wanted to

(01:08:53):
make sure I talk to my playersand explain the reasons of what I was
doing. I wasn't leaving to takea head coaching job somewhere else. I
wasn't thinking that the grass is greenerat another university. Was just in my
personal situation, this is what Iwanted to do. I wanted to take
an opportunity to go be a positioncoach and coordinator, and that's how it
fit. You know. What Iwas happy is that I always thought to

(01:09:13):
Sean Foster, I think the worldof them and I think he's a special
you know, and the fact thatthat they were they gave him the opportunity
to take over there was you know, it worked out. I didn't have
any say in that decision, youknow, I was gone, But I
always thought that de Shaun would bea great head coach, and I'm really
proud of him and happy that thathe got the opportunity to take that job
right behind him at your reputation asinnovator. Was part of the appeal of

(01:09:40):
this is that you get to getin the weeds a little bit. Uh
maybe not mad sciences, maybe tootoo strong of a word, because you're
working within the system. But wasthere an appeal of I get to get
my hands dirty here again and innovateand to get back to that side of
things. It was, but itwas really more important of who I get
to work with, you know,and so knowing you know, I've got

(01:10:02):
I know a lot of guys onthe staff besides Ryan also, so you
know, when I know what theirmindset is and what their values are and
how they do things, and soI want to be a part of that.
But there's a part of that.Yeah, how much of a teacher
you get labeled in the innovators.The teaching is a part of this.
How much is how a teacher areeve? And how patient are you?

(01:10:24):
Yeah? I think we're all teachers. I mean, education is the transportation
of knowledge, you know, Soit really doesn't matter what the coach knows.
It matters what the players understand,you know. So you have to
be able to make sure that whileyou're implementing things is what resonates with them.
And how does that come back tothem. So, you know,
a lot of our teaching styles thatwe've learned is more the socratic method of

(01:10:44):
there's a lot of questions, youknow, and a lot of check for
understandings, just to kind of findout where the players are coming from,
because it's what they know that that'sultimately going to win games, not what
we know. You know that we'renot playing the games. We're not stepping
across those white lines, you know, and your job as a coach is
to create an environment where they havean opportunity to be successful and then get
out of their way and let themgo do it. So I think the
teaching aspect is huge, and wecontinue to research, you know, some

(01:11:08):
of the latest trends in teaching tomake sure that we are transporting that knowledge
to our players. Second rolld Left, Steve Helwagan, twenty four seven Sports.
Yeah, coach just trees. Yougot five scholarship quarterbacks with differing levels
of experience from age and everything else. Not to annoyed him, but just
want to ask specifically about Will Howardcoming in after starting part of two years

(01:11:30):
at Kansas State. He just seemsto promote this idea that he's a football
player, you know above all else. Just how impressed are you with his
makeup, his experience, what he'sbringing to the table walking in here right
now? Yeah? Really impressed.You know that you don't have to talk
to Will for more than five minutesto kind of know where he's coming from.

(01:11:53):
He's really focused. You know,he knows he's got a short window
left in his college career and itreally wants to capitalize on what that is.
There's a maturity to Will, youknow. I I I really I've
had experience, my experience in inthis thing since the transfer portal opened in
college football is is some of thebest players I've had an opportunity to coach
award transfers. Sometimes when you're atrue freshman and it's five years out,

(01:12:15):
you know, it's like, hey, I got a ton of time,
you know. And sometimes when you'rea transfer, is that I've got nine
months, you know. So there'sa sense of urgency I think when you're
dealing with with transfers, and Ithink Will has exuded that since he's been
here. But the other thing thatI just in the short time that Will
has been here is how quickly he'sfit in with the entire team, you
know, and how much the therest of the players respect him. You
know, he was uh one ofthe Gold Award winners for his work in

(01:12:39):
the weight room in this offseason,so that says a lot for him coming
in here as a in a shorttime, being able to to win a
weight room award, you know,to start off, You guys hope to
have the number one internally externally atthe end of spring or I guess just
let it play out. I thinkit always every time I've been involved in
these, I think when they're organicis when it's the best. I don't

(01:13:00):
think you can anoint somebody or forcethe issue because the players know, the
players would understand. They see itevery single day, you know, and
there's a team chemistry part of thisthing too, So we're not gonna force
the issue. But I've always seenit play itself out. So I've been
fortunate that there's always gonna be somequarterback battles that at some point in time
at every school there's a quarterback battle, you know, and then and really

(01:13:21):
you gotta let them play it outon the field, and that's where it
has to That's that's where it hasto be decided just a couple Hey,
welcomes than we were excited to haveyou here. Thank you. I'm kind
of to talk about the innovative part. Ryan said that that's something that he's
always loved but working with you andnow he wants you to bring that here

(01:13:41):
and how it would fit with OhioState. Do you have any idea what
that's gonna look like yet or isit just way too early? I have
no idea now. I I thinkpart of it is is you're trying to
put the players in position to makeplays. So a lot of that comes
from getting to understand the players andwhat their skill sets are and how we
feature what their skill sets are,you know, and and the the one
thing after day one, I cantell you that there there's a lot of

(01:14:03):
skill set out there, you know. So that's that's what gets you excited,
you know, That's what That's whatyou jump out of bed in the
morning and you're excited to go towork because of the talent that you get
to work with. But the onething that's the most impressive is the work
ethic that goes along with that talent. You know, it's not just empty
talent. It's is you got somekids who want to I mean all of
them since I've been here, wantto work, so that that's what gets

(01:14:24):
you excited. But I think assessingwhat the skill set is you know that
we have available to us on theoffensive side of the ball is vitally important,
and then our job is to putthose guys in positions to make place
lots of pressure. I mean,you've experienced what it's like to coach national
championship, how over teams this programright now and moving into a situation where

(01:14:45):
you got to win quick and now. So does that feel like pressure here
for you or is it a littlebit of excitement or both? Well,
I've always subscribed to as pressure iswhat you feel when you don't know what
you're doing. So if you don'twant to feel pressure, then you should
know what you're doing, so,you know, I think it's it's part
of that, and I think partof our job with our players in terms
of the education process is getting themto understand that too. Is that you

(01:15:06):
know, it's it's about your preparation. It's about you and your development.
It's not about that you can't begoverned by what other people say. It's
it's what's my mindset and how amI intrinsically motivated? And then how do
I really compete against myself on adaily basis to get a little bit better.
You know, we got a littlebit better today because we get out
on the field today and got achance to do some football. And then
the challenges when we get back onthe field on Thursday. Can we be

(01:15:29):
a little bit better than we wereon Tuesday? And if we're doing that,
then we keep stacking good days ontop of good days, and I
think we'll be in good spot andwelcome, thank you. I'm gonna ask
about the pros and cons of coachingfrom the box and coaching from the field.
It's interesting to talk to some offsome coordinators. Tom Herman talking about
it. He swore he wanted tocoach from the box. Saw the game
so much better, sterile environment,not all the chaos on the field.

(01:15:49):
Some coaches you talk to the like, I want to be on the field
so I can look at my guysthat in the eye. Where are you
at as a as a coordinator?Honestly, And I've thought of this a
lot. I thought of it alot during COVID because we had the empty
stands, you know, So Ihad thought about just walking up into the
stands for a little bit because Ihad a better advantage. I've always believed
you can see the game better fromup above, but I believe you can

(01:16:10):
feel the game better from the field. So if there was any way we
could get a zip wire where youcould do both, you know, coach
called from there and then zip outof the field, get a chance to
talk to him, because it's adifferent deal when you're talking to the quarterbacks
on a phone, you know,than being able to look in their eye
and kind of see where they arewith it. And part of it is
the field part of it. Iremember when I coached Ryan once we were

(01:16:31):
playing Yukon and he got hit hardgoing out of bounds and he just walked
by me, and I was aplay caller, and he was like,
run the next play, and Ijust kind of looked at him. I
saw the look in his eyes becauseI don't think he could have thrown it,
you know, he was still tryingto get his win back. But
you wouldn't know that if you're upin the booth, you know, and
you call a pass play from upin the booth, and you're like,
how come we can't complete that?Well, he just took a shot going
out of bound. So it's thatfine line that I don't have an answer,

(01:16:54):
you know. I think I thinkit's feel on the ground and it's
see from up above. Maybe inthis day of technology, they'll figure it
out. But we'll see how thatthat that operates, and whatever Ryan feels
is the best for the team iswhat we're gonna do. So your teams
at Oregon were obviously know ever're playingat this assid pace and running a bunch

(01:17:15):
of plays for a minute and yep, maybe not act by a past pretty
fast. What rule do you seetempo and having an offense? And in
the state yea in college football andhas maybe changed. I think the game
is always evolving, you know.I think when I left in two thousand
and twelve to go to the NationalFootball League, Oregon was the only team
that was playing really really fast andhad shiny helmets. And when I came

(01:17:39):
back in twenty seventeen, everybody hadshiny helmets and everybody was playing fast.
So I think the game is alwaysgoing to go up and down, and
there's gonna be different cycles that itgoes through. I think tempo is part
of an offensive, but I don'tthink it's an offense in itself. I
think it's more of like if yougo to dinner, it's a side order.
You know, it's not the maincourse, but it's it's always good

(01:17:59):
to have it. So I thinkthere's times when you'll use it, but
you're you're not going to use itextensively the entire game, just like you're
not gonna throw the ball every singlesnap in the game. You're not gonna
run the ball every single snap inthe game. You know, there there's
there's not a game of absolutes anymore. I think that the ability to be
diverse and and have it as atool in your two box, so to
speak, uh is really how wewould look at using it. Here are

(01:18:23):
now more familiar with it then,I think. So, you know,
I think when you first started goingTemple, there were people in the NCAA
they want to outlaw, they wantto make an NCAA role that you had.
You couldn't do it, you know, and I'll I'll give coach Shaping
credit. I mean, I thinkobviously Nick was the first one to do
it. He wanted outlad and thenall of a sudden he adapted it and
said, all right, we likethis, you know, so we'll keep
it in. But it's I thinkpeople have it doesn't matter what you do.

(01:18:46):
There's there's cycles to this game,and then once people catch on to
that cycle, then it moves.You know, it's no different than for
three defenses and three four defenses.You know what is the rage when the
when the Giants won the Super Bowl, they were there were three for defense
and everybody, everybody says, wehave to do that. What people didn't
understand is they had Carl Banks andLawrence Taylor. It didn't matter what defense
they were running. I know,Gym's back there and Jim played against the

(01:19:09):
you know it was they could havebeen a four down defense and those guys
would have been great players. Butit's not the scheme. I think that
the coaches that do it the bestway is they insert their players and put
them in the best position to makeplays. And now, now will Temple
be part of it. It'll bepart of it, but it's certainly not
going to be the main course.Last question, Oh, thank you very
much, Jerry. Uh Number oneof there was a great moment there when

(01:19:31):
y'all were warming up. When youwere you were talking with Tim Walton and
Caleb Downs comes up and conversing andas you're in this kind of a two
part question, but number one,what was just your take on the talent
you saw on that field today onboth sides of the ball. Where where
would you rank it? Yeah,I'll rank it. I'll be very transparent.
As I was telling Tim and Calebwhat a great offensive player I thought

(01:19:55):
Caleb would be, could be andshould be. But I'm not the head
coach, so I always turned stretchas a as an offensive coordinator, I'm
always looking at the defensive players likeI could use him. Oh what could
I do if I had him?What could I do if I have him?
But I don't. I don't getto choose him anymore because I'm I'm

(01:20:15):
not. I don't have the pick. But I was just talking to him
about it. He's He's a greatyoung man. And if you watch,
if you want to watch a highlighttype watches, you know, I understand
I came up a rough season,but I don't think it's a step down
of where I can play. Youknow, I think when I'm at the
top of my game. I'm stillyou know, top five player in my
position, and you know I playeda run in the past and I bring

(01:20:39):
leadership and that's not anything I discome. You plan to be here for mini
camp and the start of training camp. Yeah, how difficult has it been
the last two weeks to not behere? I mean you said on your
podcast the first time you never notbeen at OTA. Yeah, it was
difficult, But like you know,the thing I got very frustrated with was
just question my communication with the team. You know, I uh was communicating

(01:21:03):
with guys left and right and youknow, front office, coaches, teammates,
and all I care about is howI am with my teammates. I
don't want them to ever think Idon't care about them or how I'm not
in it. And you know,you can say whatever you want about me,
but besides that, but I'll alwaysdedicate anything I can't do them,

(01:21:26):
and I don't want that to everyquestion Isaiya said that it felt like sometimes
you were holed up somewhere watching filmyou text yours. Well, like the
first day he was batting all upRuss's passes, so I had to let
him know. You know, uh, you gotta take advantage of that.
You gotta make sure guys are youknow, uh know that you you still
care and you still wanna be apart of this. Uh, you know,

(01:21:48):
just watching practice, there's a coupleof little things we're doing different,
whether I'm communicating with dumbbar or otherpeople, you know, Soviet of talking
with him and you you've given himthe points during the off season, just
constant communication. How do you seeyou grow as a person? You know,
as far as how he's approaching things, how he's getting ready for this

(01:22:09):
season from his rookie year. Uh, you know, I think the thing
with Keanu is he's more comfortable,you know, you know it since his
first time around the track. Youknow, it's actually like he can you
know, uh catch his feet underhim. You know, I always think
when you're in your rookie season,you're going from bowl game. I don't
even know, Wisconsin playing a bowlgame. Sorry Wisconsin, I don't even

(01:22:30):
know. But you know, personally, I just think when you go from
bowl game to training for the combineto you know, rookie minicamp to OTA's
the you know mini camp, Imean the training camp the regular season.
You really don't get a time toreally catch yourself. You know, he
understands the playbook. Now he canbe more vocal, you know. And
I think when my absence the otherguy's absence, you know, you need

(01:22:56):
guys like that to step up andbe ready for those opportunities. But serg,
you had the same you have duringthe season was a more thorough What
was just tightened down everything, youknow on my left side because I was
overcompensating a little bit, but youknow it was there wasn't anything that lingers.
You know, I'll say this,A growing is not like an a

(01:23:16):
c L. It's not like anything'sever going to get affected again. And
you know, you know, I'mfeeling good, able to do everything squat
and heavy with power and speed,so you know, it feels good to
get after again. What do youthink of what the team was able to
fee accomplish? Your off easily turnedto bring guys like Russian and things.
You know, I think they're allgood acquisitions. But you know, you

(01:23:40):
never want to be known as apaper champion, so can't win the off
season. I think the work getsdone out here on the field, gets
done in the classroom, Wow,it gets done training, uh, you
know, and then you see whereyou're at in training camp, and then
you build on that. You know, I think we got the right guys
in the building. It's just aboutputting a complete team on the field.

(01:24:02):
Cam, how center call? Isit to separate the business part of the
game in the actual football player inthe league? Uh? You know you
always wanna you always have to treatit like a business because you know one
day it's gonna end. Uh.And that's any job. Uh. It's
not like in college where you knowyou got four years guaranteed. I don't

(01:24:26):
know, well now you you don'tknow what nil and a scrap but the
transfer portal portal. But you know, you have to know I still have
love for this game, and Istill work my tail off and I still
put everything into it and that's notgonna change. But you have to know
what you bring to the team andwhat your what your value is. Cam,

(01:24:47):
you how did it feel to beout there with your teammates today?
Emotionally great? You know, wegot a new uh, we got a
new training staff and still learning thethe warm up a little different. Uh,
but uh, you know I lovedit. U, you know,
just getting after it, learning newguys, uh, going through the same
drills I've been doing by myself.Uh. I actually like having more people

(01:25:09):
around, cause like kind of gostart crazy, cra crazy. When it's
just you and another guy, You'relike, damn, I gotta go back
up for another rep already. Andso you know, it's nice to be
up here and get a chance toyou know, be with my guys.
Cam. Were you confident and beable to get done with your emotions?
Oh, I'm gonna i'm'll try toremain pretty neutral, cause you know,

(01:25:31):
I don't wanna, you know,be too either way. All I know
is I wanna be here. Butwe'll see what happens. Cause my last
year here, I I I I'vehad a great career here, but uh,
I'll look forward to play next year. Can you what that second surgery
you said it this time was onthe left side. It was the first
time around on the right side,right side during the season, left side,

(01:25:57):
and that was just tightening down mycorner. My corma saw. It
wasn't the same as my ad doctor. You know, you can ask doctor
Bradley, uh, doctor doctor Zuckerbronwho uh did the surgery as well.
You know, I if anything's gonnahelp me and it'll make me a lot
stronger. From hearing up, didyou think you were training with another guy
who you have kind of been Tyson? Oh, I've been training with him

(01:26:19):
for the last eight years. We'vealways trained together. We got a trainer
up north, uh Shadow Cole Haley, who's my guy, traded trained trained,
uh Heath Miller, Brett Keesel.The multitude of guys that I all
respect, and we've just been gettingafter canvas. Very few guys historically thirty

(01:26:42):
five that get paid big contract thatyou think that's held against you. I
think there's not a lot of historybehind it. But you know, for
me, I I look at asI'm not looking to be like anybody else.
You know, my game is differentfrom everybody else in this league.
You know, I like to think, you know, I can play the
run in the past, and thenthat's why I'm different, you know.

(01:27:03):
I remember last year Mike t justbrought to my attention. You know,
the thing that's really cool is youwatch powerlifters, and you know, my
game's built on powering technique, andthose guys go into their forties and so
you know, that's what kind ofresearch I'm doing behind the scenes. But
you know, I I we'll seewhat happens. There's not a lot of

(01:27:27):
history. But I'm here to makehistory and I'm here to you know,
and win another Super Bowl year andyou know, have a great season.
Do you have a set goal overyourself on how many years you want to
play in the NFL? Or doyou just take things year by the year?
You know, it was it wastough answering that question right after the
season. I will say this,guys, I I can't keep answering that
question right after the season. Thatis not fair to the season, That's

(01:27:50):
not fair to my family, youknow. But in my mind, I
got three years and I want tomaximize them. I wanna play at a
high level, and I wanna godeep in the playoffs. And you know,
we got a good team and I'mgonna do my part to be ready
for all those situations here. Ifyou plan on practice soon when you report
to latrob or is your possibility thatyou might pulled in and enforce the new

(01:28:14):
issuations? I I have not eventhought that far. I've taken a day
by day. Uh you know,uh uh. I told my agent and
we talked about it. I meanwe were cool coming out here. You
know, I'll be here for manyyou know, and then I'll be the
retraining parent. You know, Idon't know what the work entails, but
right when we get there, we'llwe'll cross that bridge. Why is it

(01:28:36):
a dog for you? Or remaina stealerver those three years? You know,
there was a conversation between me Omarand Mike t And there's certain guys
that are one helmet guys, youknow, and I wanna be one of
those one helmet guys. And youknow, there's a there's a hunger and

(01:28:58):
desire there. But that does meanjust hanging it up and calling a career
to me, I think, youknow, I got more bullets to fire,
and uh, you know, I'mexcited to do that. What's the
one? What did your impression ofhim? What does he do well that
you're like, Okay, yeah,this is this is the brother I want
to take. Card closes the bornyou be close part. Yeah, he

(01:29:18):
committed right after your visit. Imean, when you came down here,
was there a thought process that youcould commit. Did you come down with
an open mind or did you kindof have a feeling that this was gonna
be the weekend of your hand.I came down with open mine. I
didn't know about the most mating aroundthat, and then I got here.
I felt the family having her players. Of what was that moment like for

(01:29:38):
you? Talking to coaches, tellingthe player, telling your family? Just
what was that like for you?But it was great. I have a
mom, my dad, all mybrothers in the room and you know what
was that reaction? Well, myeverybody already really coming. So what was
coach last night? It was whenyou think of like just a or the

(01:30:00):
yeah, just an Ohio State back. You know, whether it's physicality,
like what are the first things thatcome to mind when you think of the
don't high shtate or any now speedof powers on and tell you about Yeah,
is that something that I mean youfeel like you have to you know
we're going or is that something thatyou're like, yeah, that's the kind
of back I am. I'm justgonna be next to mine in allives.
I think that's the top of backI am. But you yeah, well,

(01:30:21):
what are kind of a few ofthose things that you're like, yeah,
I need to work on, Likeover the course of the next few
months, ord of do just everythingmake sure, I keep all the details
while superie what a coach? SoI tell you that he likes about your
game? Is it right between thetackles? You speed? Well? What
is he like? He said youlike morrow fucker backfield hand man? He
liked that. I'm not what's kindof your main? I mean obviously as

(01:30:44):
an instinctive committed to this class.What's your pitch now to other recruits and
being like, this is why youshould join Ohio State stories mains. It's
a real family atmosphere. Yeah,everybody get the among everybody tucked into everybody
always something. What would you say? What you give any I mean he's

(01:31:05):
bring up to it. Well,I've always looked up to bull Jacks and
watching this film, do you uhthat's funny? Do you think that your
boy style Kamra, his forsic perspectiveand just the way that he really totally
good ball and that thing that whatyou want to grow into? I mean
I think I can I think spewthe power? Yeah? I think I

(01:31:28):
remember who are the main guys thatyou're you're talking to right now to join
the sport? I'm really talking toeverybody, uh for listening? Verment that
ought to commit and any guys thatyou want to join the class to anybody
at the top of your list,not I'm sorry if you've already got asked
this, but coming up here asa as a recruit, as a commitment'm
sre. What what did you wantto show today? What did you want

(01:31:49):
to get out of this experience?It wasn't nothing to show, nothing to
prove. I just wanted to thisone working with Goodlow. How did you
feel like that went? Obviously he'sstill relatively new here, but yeah,
he seems to bring up a littlebit of a different energy than than some
of these camps in the Path.I feel like it. Wally good Yeah,
do you sense that energy? Imean when you're out with him,
it's I feel intense energy. He'sdifferent than other guys though, right,

(01:32:11):
I mean kind of how do youwould you explain his coaching then some of
the other running back coach you mayhave worked with in the path. It's
just intense. It's sense like gogo go. Did did you talk to
coach talk on when he was ata organ? I did? Okay?
So when when didn't he didn't workand get Hi marketmer like Rufford around like
half of the season, like notso facts? Okay, I mean is

(01:32:33):
it was? He kind of thesame guy that he is now, so
just just in a new uniform basically. Yeah, Then you guys obviously added
Isaiah to the class, and there'sno secret they would like to add another
one. What are your thoughts onbeing in a class with three different running
backs like that? I have noproblem being in the class or another.
But what what do you like aboutIsaiah? I don't know, you've never

(01:32:57):
met him, but you just damnon the first Okay when you committed.
Who were some of the guys thatyou said to you heard from thee in
particularly about after they going up?I'm not really a couple of linebackers.
Take me on, Reste. Doyou want to black appreciate this? Obviously

(01:33:25):
we got a couple of before youget married. I'm curious about how you
put so higher straight. I meanit's pretty he started pretty good. But
I mean in terms of the guys, don't you want to join? How
you you're a great? Right Sea? What do you want out of a

(01:33:51):
quarter half in your class? Like? What I want to specifically like,
yeah, this was one of theworst great did what's your person? Rochester

(01:34:30):
oh, thank you brothers music toSting, You're very much to thank you
very much, per S did thankyou once again. You're talking to Monson
and Kelly about that joke like thatCOM's the first time I met him.

(01:34:58):
Know, we just find it reallywell. Yeah, what do you think
you can bring in for the problem? You know we were yet so like
you a lots to is a lockas what's been like for you just moving
up to California being out of funto day this is a little honestly like
day love help me a des yeahslike different being and out of state recruit

(01:35:27):
here versus when you were just Yeah, it's definitely different. So it's f
herest year the new generation of recruitswhere I don't think anybody outside looking a
question is the strength of your commitment, Like you're locked into the last day
you send it over and over,but you're making visits around the country,
You've seen other schools. It's it'salmost a totally different mindset. In nineteen

(01:35:50):
that was like the first year wewere making a transition, and then you
know COVID hit and then you know, every year it just seems like there's
something else and I could just cometo the conclusion every year is going to
be different and we have to adapt. But there's certain things that we're not
going to change. There's certain valueswe're not going to change. It just
you know, you know, principlesthat have you know, stood the test

(01:36:10):
of time. And I shared thiswith a group before when I started doing
some some research as we were doingsome some of our recruiting you know,
introductions and some of our you know, talks about you know, the traditions
of Ohio State. We talked abouthow Ohio Stadium was built, you know,
and when you when you when youdo your research on that one hundred
years ago, you know, folkshave the idea of building a stadium over

(01:36:35):
sixty thousand people, and that's becauseof what Chick Harley was doing. And
you know, they had a woodenbleachers over here, and all these people
started coming in and the idea ofbringing in a stadium that of our sixty
thousand people at the time was like, this is crazy. What is college
football turning into? And they insteadof going to the state or going to
the school the community, they wentto the community to raise the money they

(01:36:55):
raised over at the time over amillion dollars well, now fast forward one
hundred years and the conversation still mightbe like, what is college football doing
right? And in this situation thenI l we had to turn to the
community for help, and Bucky Nationshowed up again in a big way.
So, although the landscape is changing, I don't know if you know,
one hundred years later, if it'sthat much different. It's just in a

(01:37:17):
different time, in a different youknow, set of issues that we're working
through. But I think it's exciting. I think there's a lot of positives
to it. I do. Ithink that we're taking the next step with
the revenue sharing to try to institutionalizesome of it, which would be big
for us. Reminds, Yeah,every years got question. It seems like

(01:37:42):
this year's team has fewer questions.Off it's a linear as specifically, if
you look ahead to really more thana month, what are the real questions
that you have in your mind aboutposition bat? Who's kay? I would
say. On offense, you know, we've got to square away the quarterback,

(01:38:03):
as you know, I feel like, you know, the offensive line
on the right side, we've gotto solidify that. I feel like we
got to build, you know,enough depth at receiver that we feel like
we can put in five or sixin the game and feel good about it.
On defense, I think we're stilllooking to figure out, you know,

(01:38:26):
who are going to be the guysinside, you know, the the
third, the fourth, the fifth, defensive interier, a linement that we're
gonna put in the game. Andthen same thing just just I would say
depth, a little bit of safety, just to kind of see who those
next guys are. They're going tostep up and so we know it's going
to be a long year. We'regoing to need everybody, and and so

(01:38:46):
in a lot of those areas it'sdepth. Uh, special teams wise,
you know, punter is going tobe you know that that is significant.
You know we just brought in Nickand you know, so there'll be a
battle there. So I'd say thoseare probably the areas we're focused on the
most. Ryan just to fall onthe offensive line, there was I think
a school aplogy. You guys mighthave looked for a transfer in that post

(01:39:09):
spring window. Did you guys dothat? Did you guys not find the
guy or were you just confident theguys you have, just like you know,
in January, if if we're goingto bring somebody in, it's to
fill a hole. We're not justgoing to bring somebody in to bring somebody
in, Like at all positions,we'll always look to see what's out there.
We did evaluate some of the guysthat were out there, and you

(01:39:32):
know, you know, we feltlike coming out of it as we evaluated
it. You know, there wasa couple of guys that you know,
we checked on, but but ultimatelylike based on where we were and some
of the young guys that are comingup, you know, we felt like
we saw some progress in the offensiveline in the spring. So you know,
it wasn't there wasn't as many folksin the portal, you know,
in after the spring. So welooked at it, we identified it,

(01:39:55):
we did our due diligence, butyou know we're gonna go with through.
We have now second road bill usright. You're it was interesting that you
have two of maybe the top fiveors of guys in Sport and then a
bunch of guys who haven't plenty uhmaybe similar that I don't want question,
but did you consider trying to addthere? Understanding that probably the difficult to

(01:40:15):
sell we can have such telling howto bring somebody of these experiences, like
what were those conversations like and howdid you settle on being comfortable with you
know, Trey and well, likeyou said, you know, I think
we're we will get some experience therewith those two guys. And then you
know, we felt like coming outof the spring that James and Sam both
did a nice job and you know, we're gonna have to play them and

(01:40:35):
they're gonna have to you know,take on a little bit of that.
You know, we have you know, started having conversations with Caleb Downs.
I was part of the recruiting processof possibly you know, doing a little
bit of running back as well.It's something that he wanted to do.
So we've been having them in someof the meetings and some of the individual
drills as a possibility there if youknow, needed so down the road to

(01:40:57):
continue to build depth at that position. But you know, I think,
you know, we feel like,you know, if you have you know,
four strong running backs going into it, then you know that's gonna be
that's gonna be enough to carry theseason. I do think that the quarterbacks
will run the ball more this season, so that should take some carries away
from them. But to your point. You know, James and Sam are

(01:41:17):
gonna have to step up to theguys that we can count on. Save
that for another day. Yeah,just fall up on it. Is he
capable of stepping in and being runningback? I mean, obviously, we'll
see. We'll see. We talkedabout in the recruiting process, you know,

(01:41:40):
the first time around and more specificallyin the second time around, and
so he's you know, he's beenaround a little bit just to get a
feel for it. We did verylittle in the spring. We did I
think we pitched them an option orsomething like that in the spring just to
kind of get them going. Butyou know, we'll see, we'll see
where that goes. We don't havea specific plan right now, but we
do want to introduce him to thatjust the same thing like Lorenzo Styles has

(01:42:03):
played your seer where he did thatat Notre Dame. You know, he's
out there a little bit just kindof learning. It's healthy. You know,
you're seeing it from the other sideof the ball. This time of
year, you can get away withthat a little bit, a little bit
in the preseason. Where it goes, we'll see, but you just never
know. And we're trying to putsome contigency plans in place because it could
be a long season. Yeah,this is my forty fourth year cover of
house today. I don't remember everexpectations like this in the summer. There

(01:42:26):
were some of them were almost asbig. Sure do you sense that too,
And what is that pressure like asyou're working through a summer. Yeah,
And people have asked me that Igo back to the expectations every year
are the same. I mean,it's just the truth. When opening press
conference, I said, you gotto beat the team up north, and
when every game after that, that'sjust the expectations. And when you come
up short, you know you've gotto figure out a way to get those
things fixed. I think we havedone that. But the expectations are the

(01:42:49):
same every year. Pressure is thesame every year. I just like the
pressure when you've got a really goodteam behind you. So that's what we
got right now. And you know, we know it's going to be a
lot season. We know we're workingtowards. But I will say this about
this team, Well, well,we've been talented. That's there's been times
in the past we've been talented.I don't know since I've been here,

(01:43:09):
if we've been this talented and thisexperience together with guys that have played a
lot of football, fourth and fifthyear guys, and that doesn't matter.
We'll go next door Stephen play.Since you brought it up, maybe maybe
this is his talk because it's summerCommas so you can now just have conversations.
Maybe we're making a big out ofnothing long term situation, but we've

(01:43:30):
seen it around college football at leagueguys playing both sides of the ball.
I'm doing it quite well right Travishun is doing it out in Colorado,
and Kayln Dallas has been apartment returns, so we see what he could do
with the ball. But there's alsothe stamina aspect of it. I get
into a sixteen game season, soI'm not saying it's penty forty snaps or
something like that, But what abouthis athleticism what he brings to the table,
and let you know that if youwanted to explore it a real game,

(01:43:53):
he could last and still be aneffective seety Yeah, yeah, we'd
have to see all that he didit in high school. But we've got
some really good running backs in aroom, so it's not something that we're
planning on doing. But uh,we all we are going to you know,
work on a little bit Caleb.Caleb enjoys that part of it.
We did agree that that was somethingthat we were going to look into.
Where it goes, I don't Idon't really know right now, but I

(01:44:14):
know that he has the capability todo it. He has the athleticism and
do it, and you know,we'll kind of see where it goes,
see see how he does, andyou know, maybe hand the ball to
a little bit of the preseason becauseagain, it's going to be a long
season. We have to make surewe have continuocy plans in place. But
I know it's something that he enjoyshaving the ball in his hand. So
even during their first time around therecruiting process, we even talked about him

(01:44:35):
coming in as a as an offensiveplayer. Ultimately we think his ceiling is
highest on defense. But you know, but I also agree. I think
that having you know, guys goon this side of the ball and just
see it, listen to meetings isreally healthy for the development. So we're
going to do that. Regardless,your defensive recruiting right now is maybe further

(01:44:58):
along and it's been in the yearspast, and I think we difus questions
about it in the past. Wayis this a product of seeing it over
the last couple of years and nowit's not just telling you guys, hey,
this might look like this. They'reseeing it in real time. Yeah,
you know, we talked about itwhen Jim first came in, and
I think Tim walls an unbelievable jobas well in the back end, and
you know, Matt stepped right inand James and Larry. I think they're

(01:45:19):
all doing a great job. Butlike you said, you know, it's
one thing to talk about it.That's theory testimony is this, look at
this is this is what we're doing. And then I think you're seeing a
lot of guys just excited about playingin this defense and think they see the
capabilities and the flexibility too. Youknow, right now, the way we
play, excuse me, the waywe play right now is based on you

(01:45:39):
know, we have four really talenteddefensive linemen that are really good, and
we got a lot of that tothose positions. But there's also flexibility with
some of the things Gym's done inthe past that you know, we're definitely
looking at and some of the recruitsthat we're looking at who brings some versatility,
pass rusher, you know, wehave that jack position and those type
of things. So that's exciting aswell. And I think you're seeing a

(01:45:59):
lot of the it's you know,really get fired up when they get here.
People. Yeah, coach, Ithink your first years, your identity
was was very far from an AWFUstandpoint and air it out type team.
Look at the key best talent andthe playmakers you have there, Hause your
identity changed. I guess what doyou think the identity is of this twenty
point four. Well, we'll seeas we go, but you know,

(01:46:21):
we know what we need to doto play in the big games. That's
never changed. And we have tobe able to stop the run, run
the football, take care of theball, and there'll be opportunities to throw
the ball that'll that'll happen, butyou know we're gonna have to, you
know, do those things to winclose games and play situational football. But
I think you know, you won'treally get a feel for what the identity

(01:46:43):
of the team is until we getinto probably the beginning of October, you
know, and I think we allhave ideas of what it could go.
But you know now that we're playingin a playoff format. Just like a
lot of those NFL teams sometimes,you know, they don't really quite understand
their identity until they get about halfwaythrough the season. I don't think it'll
take that long. But you know, we're able to play some games and
kind of work through some things.And I don't think our defense is going

(01:47:05):
to change a bunch in terms ofwhat we did last year. I mean,
it's a lot of the same guysback. Could look a little different
on offense. Have you got timefor two more? Go to dougly Maries?
Okay? Right? You lose animportant recruiting staffer to promotion at Michigan
just the second time, so Mu'sgone to Michigan this offseason. How do

(01:47:27):
you react to something like that?Is something that someone like that would take
information that was started here that couldhelp the Michigan or burt O high stages,
which the reaction to that, Yeah, all good questions, And you
know, I just I want totalk about the guys that are here,
you know, the staff members thatare here, the coaches that are here,
the players that are here, theones that are Buckeyes. Joe Dugen

(01:47:51):
with the scheduling change that was announcedyesterday, Alan Wind, they come together.
Didn't have anything to do with theexpanded the playoffs. Maybe a little
different. Yeah, you know,I don't know all that came in came
with it. I know it gotpresented to me a while back, and
you know I was on board withit. So yeah, I mean,

(01:48:11):
I think, you know, wedo have to look a little bit different
at our scheduling as we move forwardbased on the way the format is at
the end of the season. That'squickly about the linebackers got in here a
little bit late. How do youfeel about your linebackers? Cody seems like
he always ease the betrims, likehe's lucky as a starter. CJ.
When do you see his role beingSonny? When you see his role being
gay and all this guys? Yeah, good versatility all those guys, Rvel

(01:48:33):
Reese, Like you said, CJ, Gaye, Sonny, Cody. You
know I'm missing a couple, I'msure, but like that was that,
yeah, Rvel, Yeah, Imean these guys are very versatile guys.
You can see the length on them, and you know they do a good
job in terms of like fitting theruns. They can know how to ship

(01:48:55):
runs right now, so they knowhow things should operate, and I guess
time making sure those other guys getready and get caught up the speed in
a timely fashion. It's great.Uh, he's taking a great step forward
the like I said, he's thenext guy up man. I mean he's
been extremely you know, important onthe growth of our secondary because now you

(01:49:17):
know we're working him inside some Uhhe's played outside at both corner spots.
You know, he got that itfactor, you know what I mean.
So so we look what he bringsthe energy to competitiveness. We got to
build off the last year uh andexpand the role for him and make sure
he's uh, he's ready to go. But he's been doing great. What

(01:49:44):
is your Uh, we're just authenticreally not giving a lot of recruiting talk.
It is what it is. Wetry to shoot straight, honest communication,
honest assessment, the character, thevalue, the work at it,
and the main things the competition.You got to compete. If you don't

(01:50:06):
want to compete, it's not gonnabe the place for you, because that's
the that's the thing that will getus where we need to go, is
competition in the room and those guyshere love to compete. We sell that
we're looking for guys who embrace that, who chairs being in those spots,
and you can take time to grow. You know, you don't have to

(01:50:27):
have the the pig mentality of problemof instant gratification. You know, you
can develop and grow so and sometimesyou may be behind a guy that's a
really good player. Is nothing wrongwith developing and growing and playing when your
time is right, and if thetime is right right now as a freshman,
like what was Jermaine, then youplay early, you know. So
we try to also sell that,you know, we care about them as

(01:50:49):
people and try to prepare you forlife after football. So it's bigger than
just football. We're going to prepareyou for life, whether it's the NFL
or on with a regular career inthe workforce. We want you to prepare
you as a young man, andwe try to sell that and preach that
to the parents to remain and havingthat in fact that you mentioned and rolling
all these different spots, do youanticipate you know, there wasn't a lot

(01:51:12):
of rotation among the cornerbacks last yearwhen everyone was healthy, and do you
anticipate maybe rolling him through the restguys here with the long first season potentially.
Yeah, we play it by here, you know what I mean,
We see how it goes by thetime we get in the camp. But
you know, obviously he's earning hisstripes, so you know what I mean,
when you earn your stripes, youknow, our job to create opportunities
for you, you know what Imean. We have to see how it
goes with all that other stuff,you know, once we get closer to

(01:51:32):
the season and we'll get into thegame plan stuff. But he's doing a
great job, and he's he andhe's taking a great step forward. Tim
the way that you can build werethe way he kind of established right now,
it seems like it's been the relationshipsand kind of building minds. And
I'm curious, is that something thatyou came in here with the like a
couple of years ago, with theintention of doing or is it something that

(01:51:54):
you're like has kind of been cultivatedover the course of your time as a
position here. No, it's beenthere for a while. I've been doing
that for a long time. It'sall about relationship. If you develop real
relationship and your authentic and your communicationand you have honest feedback and you have
the you know, direct teaching.The guys that have value and character and
they appreciate that stuff, they'll embracethat. So but they have to know

(01:52:16):
your care and you have to knowthat it's real, and they have to
know that you you're really concerned abouttheir well being as a young man.
And when you get close to themand spend a lot of time with them
off the field, you could coachthem hard and you can. You can
and you can. You can saytruthful things to them and then they'll embrace
it and you can have real conversationbecause you know the only goal is to
help them get better as a youngman. Years ago, the receiver room

(01:52:40):
is so far ahead of the cornerroom, getting kind of skewed that evaluation
sometimes, How is that dynamic changein these two years? Fist group's gotten
older and you can more talent.Yeah, it's done balanceduff a little bit.
Now. That goes with great competition. We have the uh we go
against the best receivers in college football. So that helps escalate your growth process
because if you don't figure it outreal fast, sugar embarrassed. So that

(01:53:01):
competition, But what happened with thateye guys start competing, eye guys start
growing. Eye guys got better andnow is even up a little bit.
So will you get really good workat practice to day? You know what
I mean. So it's competitive,it's fun. Those guys both on both
sides of the ball care about eachother, so it's great competition. And
they're all real, real close,So you know, I mean, it's
that stuff that gets us better,that will prepare us for Saturday. Said

(01:53:26):
my first day of practice, Actuallyreceivers kind of got them. Well,
no, it's just it's gonna competitive. Man. They got the best group
in the country that you're going againstevery day, so you have to bring
it every day, you know whatI mean. So they we got a
great quarterback room. We've got agreat receiver room. The running backs are
really good. So when you outthere going against them, it's deep,

(01:53:48):
so you have to be ready forit. And obviously, man, we're
seeing a lot of good stuff withwith with Day and coach Kelly doing over
there, and so it prepares youa lot and it helps us grow.
Watching recruity or wide receiver room kindof like a part of your recree picks

(01:54:08):
like these are the guys you getto play, yeah, always, because
you know that's where you get betteriron shoppings iron So you know, you
get to see that every day atpractice. That helps you grow. It's
no better uh thing to go againstevery day than to see that on a
daily basis. Also besides looking atoh, we just moving a lot of
guys around. You watch that practice. We have a lot of guys in

(01:54:29):
there right now. You know,we probably have three or four different guys
in there. Obviously Lorenzo's in there, Jermaine is in there, k Miles,
we we have we have about fouror five guys moving around right now.
We just try things out in springball, see where the fit,
you know, see what things worktogether. So there's probably some more guys
in there. You know. Wemove it around and try to just get
the right fit throughout the end andsee how it goes by the time we
get ready to start the season.He can run an he's strong, you

(01:54:54):
know, I mean, he's fast, Uh, very serious about his business.
Uh. He's big, it's twohundred pounds. He can run.
He's strong, he's conscientious, youknow what I mean. He's starting to
grow and he's starting to get getbetter with it. You know what I
mean. So we looked for bigthings for him to spring. What do
you want to see from this spring? Keep competing, you know what I
mean. Now he's made the transition. Competing today you know what I mean.

(01:55:14):
Start going in that transition is alljust like having Jermaine last year.
You throw him in the fire,you let him go, you compete,
you go. By the time weget out of the end of training camp,
Ye'll be then figured it out.You have all that, but now
you just throw it all at him. Compete, continue to grow, continue
to learn. He has the skillset, he has the length. Now
you just got to put it alltogether. And it takes time to do
that, and hopefully you see thatby the time we get in the training

(01:55:35):
camp. Seems like midway through springand kind to click for Jermaine last year
and he started to see him.It could not be more hacker to be
here, super havy, be hereat there out two as well or right
to work. Hello everybody, there'sRobinson University of Missouri. I just want
to thank mister Bill Willmant to yourcoach Gannon for this amazing opportunity. I'm

(01:55:59):
glad to be here. Mark ArvinHarrison right next to me. So peel
great. I'm really excited and I'mexcited for this journey. See you fifteen

(01:56:24):
here in town. Marvin, whendid you know the Cardinals were going to
select you? Did you know beforethey called or was there an agreement in
place before? No, I didnot know until I got that phone call
from the Arizona Cardinals. Marvin Richardsigns Fox ten. Welcome to the valley.
I know kind of tweeted to you, tweeted out to you once you

(01:56:45):
got drafted. What was it liketo get a message from the franchise quarterback
and what kind of thoughts have youhad about teaming up with this guy in
the near future? Ye, yes, sirs and great you always wanted to
support and love from your quarterback andthe cause of great player. I'm excited
to play with him and it's gonnabe my job to make his job easier.
Darius Darren Irban from Azycardinals dot Com. I know that a lot of

(01:57:10):
players these days aren't sticking in oneschool, uh for a long time,
and you did it for five years. I mean even Marvin did it for
three Like, what what went behindthat and why was it meaningful? For
you to stay at one school.Yes, at Missouri, you know,
we had some tough seasons, butwe were really built with an edge energy,
details good in emotional consistency, andI just found myself just trying to

(01:57:30):
grow and get better each year andalso as a team, you know,
win more games each year. Andthat was my that was my home,
I was my family. I wasblessed to you know, get two degrees
as well off the field, andI just love Missou two degrees. Wow.
Marvin Bob Mcbob McMahon and Arizona Republic, congratulations. Thank you to both

(01:57:53):
of you. You're known as allbusiness, and I want to know how
that's going to serve you well inthis league. From per standpoint, your
brand, everything you do in adaily preparation, there's a lot that goes
into being all business. Tell mewhat that is to you. Yeah,
I mean that's just being a pro. It's kind of raised and grew up
to do and keep the same mindset, same attitude that I've had throughout my

(01:58:16):
whole career. Once I get here, continue to work hard, be consistent
and discipline you know, and allthat I do. So I'm looking forward
to putting the work. Hey,Marvin Josh Wayne ESPN. What were the
best pieces of advice your dad gaveyou about being an NFL player? I
mean, yeah, it takes alot of work, a lot of preparation.
You know, from Monday to Saturday, it's all work, and then

(01:58:40):
Sunday should be the easy part.I go out there and have fun,
ready to put the work in.So I'm gonna starts with the work first,
and then when Sunday comes, isRieka benefits. Hey, Darius Howard,
balls are from cards wire. Ican't help but notice that ring on
your finger. Is that a cottonbowl ring? Yes, it is the
cotton bower. You showed it toMarvin very quickly. No, I I

(01:59:03):
was telling Marva. You know,he was glad he didn't play. The
whole week leading up. You know, you see Ohio State. Everybody said,
okay, Marvin Harrison, and nowhe's is he gonna plays? To
go play? He didn't play,so you know we left out. So
Hey, Marvin Paul KELBC Cardinals Broadcasting, do you believe that receivers have to

(01:59:23):
earn the trust of their quarterback andif so, what does that usually require?
Absolutely, you got to earn thetrust of the quarterback, and I
think it starts, you know,every day in practice and being consistent.
Really, you can't just do itone day. Can't you do it for
one week? Has to be youknow, done over and over and over
again. I think that's how trustis earned. So no matter where you
get picked, when you're first receiversround seven, doesn't really matter. Have

(01:59:46):
to go and earn trust for thequarterback, your coaches, your teammates.
So it all starts in practice.What's going on, guys, Good to
see again, Tyler Drake, there'sno sports systems for Darius. What's the
feeling of just being able to representat your school as that first round pick
and what kind of impact can thathave for those guys following in your footsteps.
Yeah, it's awesome. I feellike I'm setting the standard going forward.

(02:00:08):
But that's name was Zoo is knownas Delon Zoo, so I'm just
added to the family. But nowI feel like I'm setting the standard for
my younger teammates that this is attainableif you work really hard, be consistent,
and really get trust your strength coach. I feel like every program is
built off the stremp coach and thatdevelops all the habits on and off the
field. Darius Zachershmanezi Cardinals dot Comright over here, JJ mentioned that he

(02:00:30):
loves the violence that you play with. You mentioned the different tendencies that you
picked up. The emotional consistency isthe great. How do you balance that
the violence with discipline on the field? Honestly, just through preparation and practice.
I'm a big guy. I'm abig believer in inside hands, so
that's why I'm always working my handplacement and then I lift weight, so
you know, that's all connected.So I'm just trying to be focused on

(02:00:54):
my technique as much as possible.Hey, Marvin over here, David Brand
with the Associated Press. You knowa lot of rookies come into the league
and they get a little bit ofleeway. It's like, oh, he's
young, he needs to grow andstuff like that. But obviously you're gonna
be expected to be the guy herereally quickly. How do you deal with
that pressure? How do you goabout just so much being expected of you

(02:01:16):
so quickly? I mean, yeah, I have high standards for myself,
but I'm just gonna go in thereand try to work, you know,
the best I can. I justwant to help the team win really,
so without that role I play,you know, come September, let me
just do my best, you know, do that role now. This one's
for both of you, guys.The fans want to know who you guys
are on the inside. I don'tknow how much you're willing to reveal to

(02:01:39):
us today. A lot would benice. Could you tell us what you
like to do away from football?What what pisses you off about things,
and you know what what makes youroll. I'm pretty simple. I like,
you know, be in my apartment, watch the movie. If I
go out and I go to arestaurant, get some food. But other

(02:02:00):
than that, I only do toomuch. And then I'm pretty easy going.
Guys, so I try to nothingbother me too much. Yeah,
I'd say the same thing. Areal chill guy, just really obsessed with
football. But outside of football,Like I said, I got my two
degrees. I got my undergrad hospitalitymanagement and the minor and business I got
my masters and Positive Culture with sinceFLA leadership. So just thinking about being

(02:02:23):
well rounded. And then I dophilanthropy work. I started my own nonprofit
foundation, Darius Robinson Helping Hands Foundation, but really just football and then everything
else. Honestly, congratulations, guys, Welcome to the Valley. I'm Robbie
Baker with Fox ten. Darius,This is for you. After the draft
last night, you had a greatresponse about how your process and preparing for

(02:02:45):
a game, just kind of wonderingwhere your love for kind of the grind
comes from, and then your lovefor that process comes from. I would
say my junior year, because Iplayed little league ball off and on.
But I got my junior year andI was playing high school and my whole
goal is just to earn a scholarship. But during that process really fell in
love with the game, full inlove with working out relationships with teammates,
and now it's kind of like myadvice and I can't let it go and

(02:03:08):
just kind of finding ways to alwaysget better, you know. Luke g
Linting here with twelve Sports. Congratsboth of you walking to the valley.
This one's for you, Marvin.I'm curious your thoughts or what was that
conversation like with your dad after yourname was called and you were able to
be drafted by this organization and howsurreal is it for you to be following
on your own father's footsteps, butin your own way. Yeah, I

(02:03:28):
mean it was very brief actually,just in the second graduations, I walk
up to the stage and then Ihad to do a bunch of interviews afterwards.
So I don't think it's hit bothof us yet. I don't know
what's happened. I think, youknow, one of Michaels always make him
proud, so I hope I didthat. Marvin bo Brock pH and X
Sports. When do you anticipate catchingyour first passes from Kyler Murray? I

(02:03:50):
don't know. I don't know.I guess we'll see and hopefully as soon
as possible. Darius, you mentionedphilanthropy, and I know there's been talked
about how you took some of thennil money to do get back to school
for the kids in Colombia. Wherewhere did that belief in doing those things

(02:04:10):
come from? I say my family, my brother and my mom really instilled
that into me and to me ata young age, just give back your
blessings to others. And my fifthyear at Misazoo is the best year of
my life, so why would Inot share my blessings with others? So
that's what really motivated me to dothat and now being in NFL, you
know, my goals to do threeevents each year. I just give back
because you know, it's life outsideof football and bigger blessings out there.

(02:04:33):
Marvin, you obviously played with anumber of highly drafted receivers at Ohio State.
What sort of feedback have you gottenabout the NFL from them? And
you know, a boy making thetransition in the league itself. Yeah,
it's a long season. I thinkgoing from in a twelve game record season
you have in college to was itseventeen games now? And you got three
preseason, I feel just the biggestchallenge the game states the thing obviously the

(02:04:57):
we're all skilled and very talented athletes, so the mental part is probably the
biggest thing and the biggest change fromthe college to pros. Marvin, what's
your timeline for hiring an agent?Right over here on the way part right?
You haven't hired an agent? Whyis that? Is there a timeline
to hiring one? And are yougoing to sign the NFLPA licensing agreement.
I'll continue talking to my team.We do what's best for me. I'm

(02:05:19):
moving forward. We just take itone day at a time. I just
got drafted, So I'm trying toenjoy the moment and be happy while I
can at the moment. Hey Marvin, we'll say Romaro, Arizona Republic,
Welcome. Man, Can you justkind of share a little bit about you
touched on it briefly here, butjust a little bit more about growing up
with your dad and you know,the experiences you had in Indianapolis and games

(02:05:40):
and so on and so forth.Yeah, I mean, there's no better
role model, coach mentor that youcan have hip. All the way through
our college we were captains together OhioState, so we shared a lot of
we shared a lot of time theretogether. And then before Pro day he
came up and we threw that nightbefore Pro Day and we've I mean,
we've stayed in touch. I feellike pretty well, he's just an awesome

(02:06:02):
human and even a better teammates.If I could ask you quickly, what
did you make of what he wasable to do after you saw him and
you played with him the year beforeand he came on and did what he
did his rookie year? What didyou make of what he was able to
do in his rookie season? Man, I just to be honest with you.
It was no surprise to me oranybody in that Ohio State facility.

(02:06:25):
Just we knew how to do aspecial and when he got the chance,
got over with the right people andthe right coaching staff. The dudes unbelievable.
Brian Bearfield, Hey, Kay,welcome to Houston. Brian Bearfield,
big sarch media for everybody just calledme storage, as you could tell by
the hats. So kay, Idon't want to take you back down memory

(02:06:48):
lane for just one second. Ijust looked up some of your stats.
So you were in high school.You were running back one thousand and four
in the seventy seven yards. Yoursenior year, seventeen touchdowns, linebacker,
hundred three tackles, four inter sessions. You broke your high school scoring record
in basketball overall athlete. Even whenyou got to Ohio State, you didn't

(02:07:10):
really you were like a hybrid.They didn't really know where to put you
until you ended up at tight end. So I say all that to ask
you what the Houston Texans are gettingan athlete who's willing to play anywhere and
everywhere they need them. Correct?One hundred percent. Yeah, that's one
hundred percentred percent correct, no doubtabout it. I'll do whatever we got
to do here to win ball games. And I mean they got awesome players,

(02:07:31):
awesome coaching staff, so just supersuper blessed here. How much did
that how much does that background helpyou or help you to get through you
know, college and now get youto where you are today? Uh?
I think every day I've been thrownin a million different directions, pulling in
a million different directions. And tobe honest with you, I mean,
nothing's ever gone like how it's supposedto on pin the paper in my life

(02:07:55):
and my coaching career, so Imean my playing career, excuse me,
And it's just I think I'm justI feel like I'm battle tested and I
feel like I'm ready to go.Thank you. Yeah, cool, Cool,
You're unmute any better? Katie gotme? Yeah, I got you

(02:08:20):
now. Cole Thompson USA today TexansWire, Congratulations are getting drafted. I
just heard you kind of mentioned alittle bit about coaching. You're talking about
your coaching career, not your playingcareer. Do you want to get into
coaching afterwards when you're done playing football? No? No, No, it's
a lot of emotions going through mybody right now. So regardless. No,

(02:08:43):
I'm not playing on getting coaching.I'm playing on just playing as long
as I can. Just a quickfollow up, and you look at a
guy like Tamiko Ryans, who isa former player that is very close to
the league, only has been outfor about seven years. What does it
mean to be playing for somebody who'stranslated over to this new side of things
but also understands what a player goesthrough on the daily basis. I think

(02:09:05):
that makes the biggest difference in theworld. And I think you can tell
by the way the players respect himand just how and the job he's done
in the short time he's been there. I mean, the dude's unbelievable.
He seems an unbelievable person. I'mjust really really excited to be able to
plan n Nathan cod You. HeykCody Davis from Sports Illustrated. You and

(02:09:26):
I met at the NFL COMBA.By the way, Yeah, I would
like to know, man, whatare what type of tight end are the
Houston Texans getting. Man, I'lltell you what they're getting. Just a
complete utility player. Basically, I'mgonna do whatever you ask me to do
at one hundred percent h one ndeverything I got every single time, and

(02:09:48):
just I'm gonna be the exact glovein the locker room. I'm gonna be
a dude people can come to whenthings go wrong, and I'm so excited
to help his team anyway I can. Kim. Hey, Kate, it's
Kim Davis for Chalk Talk. Congratulationson getting drafted by the Texans. Kind
of following up on what Cody justask you from your conversation with CJ.

(02:10:11):
I know he's spoken of high youhave his staff, but what do you
know about this just from what you'veseen this offense? And although you're utility
player, what excites you most aboutit other than obviosly playing with CJN.
I just think one. I thinkDalton Schultz is a great player. I've
watched a lot of his film growingup and just even the last couple of
years study a lot of what hedoes, especially was on the Cowboys and

(02:10:33):
now just to be able to learnfrom a guy like that and take notes
and tips how he handles life andeverything, it's gonna be awesome for right
now, in long term down theroad. And one quick follow up,
what do you know about the cityof Houston? Have you spend any time
here? No? No. Itrained in Brisco, Dallas for a little
bit for a couple of months,and then that was really about it.

(02:10:54):
Other than that, I've never reallybeen to Houston, but I mean,
I'm really excited to come. Allright, thank you the recording media,
you too, Aaron, Hey,Kate. Uh. When it comes to
blocking, some tight ends embrace it. Some do it because it's part of

(02:11:15):
the job. What's your mentality toforward blocking? And I have a follow
up? Man, I love blocking, Uh, I do. I'm gonna
throw my face in the fire chanceI can get. I might always be
pretty, but I promise you're gonnaget every ounce of power I got.
And the draft process as a provenguy, did you go on a lot

(02:11:35):
of visits? Did you work outprivately? We are someones that you remember,
And what kind of level of activitydid you have with Texan's Combine meetings,
et cetera. Yeah, thank you, Yeah, we had. We
had a formal at the combine.Uh. And I've always, like I
said, always talked to CJ closely, so just having that and then just
throughout the prox we had a couplezoom calls here and there, and other

(02:11:58):
than that. I mean, Itry coach Mick and coach at the train
coaches up there with training a groupof me, Tommy Iickenberg, and Still
Chambers, my roommates that we livedwith in the afternoon, and that was
really about it. We just trainand play ball at that point. And
the other teams, did you goon trips and things like that. We
took one local visit to the Bengals. That was it. We have time

(02:12:20):
for a couple more. Go ahead, sarge, Oh Kate, I know
that you know, we asked youa lot of questions about playing with CJ.
But you've been scouted as a tightend but can also be linked out
to the wide receiver position. Beingat Ohio State for as long as you
were, what did you pick upfrom a lot of those great Ohio State

(02:12:41):
wide receivers that came through the timeyou were there. You just watched,
I mean, you watch those guysgo about how they handle releases, how
they handle their feet atop in theirroutes and everything like I mean, for
me, I've never played it inmy life. So starting you were literally
started from square one, absolute squareone. So learning slowly with them and
them this is a business and youhave to do what's best for his career

(02:13:03):
and his future as well. Soyou know, obviously he has familiarity with
Joe Brady had one of his bestseasons with them, So you know,
I think he's gonna be a bigpart of their offense and continue to grow
as a receiver. You know,it's a lost for o Room because he's
a dynamic playmaker. He can playinside and out and just his energy.
Man, I think he really becameone of the favorite teammates on the team

(02:13:24):
because he kept things light, buthe also was a really hard worker and
and made plays when we need himto. So on a personal standpoint,
I'm definitely gonna you know, misshim having him in the building, and
he's kind of like the guy youI get to talk to and and he's
like my best friend. But onthe other hand, I get to see
him, you know, continue totake steps in his career. Uh,

(02:13:45):
he's still very young, so hehas a lot of good football ahead of
him. Literally mhfse and be differentfor the offense. And yeah, yeah,
we haven't honestly even started an installyet, so I haven't even got
a lay of the land quite yet. I'll probably take a look at just
got our I pass within the lastfew days, so I'll try to take

(02:14:09):
a sneak peek at what we havelooking for. But you know, I
know with him talking to zach Ertz, he does a great job of trying
to get his playmakers involved, whichI think we have a really good group
of guys from the running backs toreceivers and some solid tight ends as well.
So I'm just looking forward to seewhere I fit into that. And
you know, I think with him, his biggest things is making sure the

(02:14:31):
playmakers are making plays and trying tofit the scheme around that, which is
always good to hear, good tosee too. This offense, yeah,
yeah, it's definitely, you know, an adjustment obviously when you're learning a

(02:14:52):
new offense, and it's kind ofthe same mentality I take into last year
in years past, where you kindof just want to take a day one
approach, kind of erase what you'velearned in the past. But at the
end of the day, I think, you know, schemes in the NFL
are relatively similar. Is just thenames and the formations that may be a
little different. So just getting usedto the terminology and Cliff's offense is just

(02:15:16):
going to be something that's an adjustmentfor all of us. But the good
thing about it is I got somegood time on my hands to really put
some work in studying when I leavethis place, so I could come in
here when we have walkthroughs and whenwe start to put our helmets on,
we can really hit the ground running. So so far it's we haven't learned
anything yet. But my approach isthe saying, try to take good notes

(02:15:37):
in there, ask good questions,and then study on my own at night.
You like to go to the Yeah, yeah, I think I got
some really good work down in Florida. Is just working on my footwork,
just being better at the top ofmy routes, sharper on my speak us

(02:16:00):
dig routes out routes, and justbeing cleaner with my footwork at the top
of the routes. I think,you know, with a little bit of
zone covers that we've seen in thepast with some teams kind of running more
too hot show, you're gonna geta little bit more of catch technique where
guys are kind of sitting at thetop of your route. So I want
to be better at being efficient togeting out of those routes when the guy's
kind of sitting at my depth,whether it's a fifteen yard comeback or a

(02:16:22):
twelve yard crowl route, you know, being able to get out efficiently so
I can keep create and keep theseparation within my route. So obviously I'm
always still working on my ball skillsand making sure I'm just catching a lot
of footballs and the off season,but just really being better at the top
of the routes and you know,sharper out of my cuts is something that

(02:16:43):
I think I can improve on.Good to see you too. You know,
you're obviously the leaders of this teamand captain and with so many new
faces, new players, locker room, what is the challenge you're going to
have and in that locker room,Yeah, because there's so many Yeah,

(02:17:03):
I think I think that's really startedwith coach Quinn in the way he's really
integrated everybody over the first two days. I think we haven't even got into
x's and those quite yet. We'vejust really begin to know one another.
Getting out there with Chad and thestrength coaches and getting some good workouts in
just kind of creating a foster inan environment where everybody's the same and continuing

(02:17:24):
to have a competitive environment. Ithink that brings out the best in one
another. And obviously, you know, you have guys like Zach Ertz who's
played a lot of football and wona championship, Marcus Marriota, obviously,
Bobby Wagner, who's a future Hallof Famer. So you got some guys
who have been brought in here whoknow what it's supposed to look like at
this level. And for myself,I just want to continue to add my

(02:17:45):
value and be even more vocal thisyear than I have in the past,
especially with possibly a new quarterback comingin. I think that can really help
our offense. Have you know,some more unity with the guys who know
what it looks like, helping bringingthose guys, the younger guys alone.
I don't know, if you hada chance to watch d conference, he
didn't want to use the word rebuild. Yeah, the changes going on with

(02:18:09):
this franchise, all the new changesand new coaching staff, all the new
players. Is there a certain wordyou use or how do you view everything?
Honestly, I just think of itas a as a new year.
Just talking to Sam Cosmy, Uh, we've been here for a few years,
so it's a lot of new faces. I think, you know,
this is probably the most I wouldsay turnover we've had in the last few

(02:18:33):
years. So there's guys coming fromall different areas, walks of life,
and but I think the one thingis the same. They're all coming in
looking for an opportunity to compete,take another step in their careers, and
prove that they're one of the bestplayers at the position. And I think
coach Quinn has emphasized that we're goingto have the opportunity to prove ourselves.
Whether you're a ten year vet ora second year player. You know,

(02:18:56):
this is a clean slate for everybody. So I think it's just about getting
on the same page, enjoying comingin here and working together and also just
pushing each other in these workouts,and then when we start getting on the
field, uh, really get thatcompetition going. Try to simulate as we
go along in this off season processof how the games are going to be.

(02:19:20):
Hey, how are you doing.Good to see you too. Yeah.
I think Coach Quinn has really assembleassembled a very unique group of coaches.

(02:19:41):
There's multiple head coaches, there's multiplequarter uh coordinators that have come from
different places, and so you haveguys who have a lot of football experience,
some have played, some have coachedin big games, and then you
bring in, you know, thethe talent that we have defensively and offensively,
and I just think you can feelthe unity and the sameness and the

(02:20:03):
message that he's trying to preach toour team, and it's we're gonna be
tough and we're going to be competitive, but we're also going to have fun.
And he like I think he saidin Your Guys' interview, he said
he likes to do you know,hardship with good people. So I think
that's fun. You know, aguy like me likes to put my nose
down and grind and work. SoI know him and I are going to

(02:20:24):
continue to hit it off, andyou know, it's just my job to
help bring other guys along with me. Thank you more your next step as
a vocal leader. Yeah, whatdoes that mean to you? I think
for me, I've I've grown alot in my vocal leadership. I think

(02:20:48):
I try to always find the balanceof when to say something, when not
to say something. I think Inever want I've always wanted to be a
person when I say something that meanssomething like you don't want to be You're
giving all the motivational speeches, butyou're not backing up with your play or
you're you're talking so much you kindof your message is drowned out. And
so it's kind of continued to findthat balance of when to say things and
when to kind of just take astep back. But I think I've I've

(02:21:11):
gotten a really good feel of howto do that. I think obviously with
a new coaching staff, you justtry to understand what they how they want
things done, and you try to, you know, bring what you do
well into that, and you alsotry to encourage the guys who haven't taken
those steps in their career to dothat as well. So I think for
me it's just really starting in myposition group, I think we have,

(02:21:33):
uh still a very young group,kind of inexperience for the most part,
but I think we have a lotof talent in there, and it's just
my job, in Bobby's job,and to continue to bring that group along
as we go throughout this season.What is I guess, Yeah, approach.

(02:22:03):
Yeah, I hit it really hardthis offseason, so I kind of
started training a little bit after theSuper Bowl, so I got a good
six to eight weeks into where Ifeel football ready right now, which is
great for me because you know,obviously we're probably having a mini camp at
the end of this month, sothat'll be I'm already in football shape,
So that's that's exciting to know thatI'm ready to be able to run routes

(02:22:24):
and get going with our quarterbacks andget going with our system. So you
know, as this off season goeson, I just trust to plan that
Chad and the guys have here.I want to be here for all the
workouts and things like that and bea part of the team building and just
continue to learn the playbook as westart to install things and be at a
point where I could go out thereand be confident in my game what I've
worked on this offseason and and putthat into how that fits into this offense.

(02:22:48):
So I always try to pride myselfon knowing multiple positions, just to
be flexible for the team and beflexible for myself, so I'll be ready
for whatever they wherever they put me. One. I'm surprised you're going to
have a new quarterback this year.Yeah, yeah, you never well,

(02:23:13):
I don't say never, but it'sit's always tough seeing like someone you build
a really good relationship with go onand move on in their career, and
especially your quarterback, because as areceiver, you want to continue to try
to build that chemistry, you knowwhat I mean. That was only our
first year playing with one another,and I feel like him and I had
our uh we made some great playsand we had some you know, room
for growth, and I think thatcomes with any new quarterback receiver relationship and

(02:23:37):
so but to see him go ina situation where we have a chance to
compete and play under a really goodquarterback in Geno, you know, I
think he'll he'll really like playing withreceivers like uh, well, throwing the
receivers like Locket and and Jas andSmith and Jig. But in d K,
you know what I mean. SoI think he's going in a situation
where it's more mentally dame thing though, like least side was always my uh

(02:24:01):
best side back in Carge, butsince I got to uh polways been playing
right. But you know, it'sa it's a good challenge for me and
I can show people I can actuallyplay right and left. So it's a
versatily thing. So I'm happy aboutit. There, you moved around the
life throughout your career where there's jumboside you know, tackle I guess in
the sentence and playing book and lefton the right side. You think you

(02:24:22):
kind of benefit from focusing a littlebit more on the right center, Uh,
a little bit, but you know, there is a new system that
we have, like I like playingmy mindset most in the right, but
also have my mind set and lefttoo, just in case something does happening
to like you know what I mean, like coughtwind or you know, Pete
of course, but I'm always gonnabe ready for left no matter what.

(02:24:43):
How quickly have you felt like youpicked up this new system that you're working
in there? It Oh, it'sa we actually pretty up picked up pretty
well cause it's the same system thatI'm used to back in the state,
cause we more like spread back atI say, so, you know,
it's pretty good. One of thoselike the draft process all seasons. A
lot of people outside the buildings arereaders get the right tack, yeah,
a lot of yeah, alright,now, A lot of people in the

(02:25:05):
building were like, we have theright time. All the people get motivated
by that. You follow it likeif you been make you do it,
though I don't I read into ita little bit. But also the same
time, like they not here ofcourse, but I don't really care what
they say. I know what Ican do, and the team know I
what I can do, so theytrusting me right now and I'm not gonna
live in right now. How hardor how easy is that to compartmentalize that

(02:25:28):
and use that as fuel going forwardrather than to kind of marinated it,
uh, I j I just keepthe seats. Everybody knows that one person
I don't really care for him atAlso, that's all good, but it's
all love. I love uh outsideof this, but you keep doing me?
Keep it better, keep on thesenights, doe what I can do
there? You've been a outspoken aboutyour support of Zami, and obviously it's

(02:25:50):
just his chance now to beat thedog. Wait, what is it about
him that you bought in so early? The reason why I bought it some
earliest cause us I was at ahouse they always taught us to actually to
getting and ever since I got here, i'm'a always wanna go get and I
gotta picked late. And I alwayswanna prove people wrong. You know,
I think prove people wrong all mylife. I don't want to keep doing

(02:26:13):
it. What's gong which like it'spoor, just like we don't put it
like the set you feel like acommunity this year nine day difference, nine
day difference from my first year,in my second year to now, like
now, my guy, I knowI can play. I know I can
go into one of the best,especially match anybody else that we wanna play
this year, and I know whatI can do. So all gotta do

(02:26:35):
now is as you meet my potentialand should do it and help everybody else
out the team as well. You'vepracticed a lot against Malcolm and he's really
come into his own. What isit about Malcolm that's helped him make that
next step? There? Man,Malcolm, he's quiet, he doesn't really
say too much. He comes tothe work every day, do what he
does, and he works hard.He doesn't plait twice at anything. Yeah,

(02:26:56):
he'll get mad over a coch rest. But also at the same time
that like he has mentality of atall, Like he's he don't really care
what y'all ain or anybody else thinksfor real. So it's just like,
alright, just keep going. That'show everybody is on the team about ty
raising too. You guys that thesame mindset. He does have the same
mindset. What a little a littlenervous, but uh nah, he nah.

(02:27:18):
He has definitely grown up a lotfrom his like first year here to
now, like he has. Buthe's he's growing up a lot mentally too.
Until you guys are reimagining the offensiveline a little bit with you out
there bright side, yeah, uh, farm there next to you on the
on the ost side too, andthen drafting the guys on the line.
Yeah, how long exciting is thatto be part of something that's that's kind

(02:27:39):
of being you know, having thattrust but also being reinvented a little bit.
That's crazy, you know, butme and doing those like they gonna
keep placing us, of course.But all the same time, we gotta
keep going, you know, wecan't just really think about what they did.
All we gotta do is staying aboutwhat what came to do with be
a better in fourteen as well.Sorry, they don't put a lot on
the off side. How long wereyou never working together? Uh? Working

(02:28:03):
pretty well? You know, youguess, say the rest of we had
like a a little rooking moment alittle bit, but you know, yeah,
you know, those those tougher conversations, those ones where we might disagree
when we do agree, where wherehe's got his two cents on it,
which is, you know, alwaysthe best two cents I've heard. But
me being who I am, youknow, I'm I'm I'm gonna throw my

(02:28:24):
two cents in there, you know. So that's just uh, it's been
awesome, man. We he's he'sa you know, a resource for me,
just a person that I can alwaysbounce my thoughts off of. And
now, you know, just ayear you said, thirteen months. Now
I feel more comfortable just you know, bringing certain things that you know,
you never you never wanna come offtoo strong. But I'm a curious guy.
I got a lot of questions.I like, I like football a
lot. I like to talk talkthe games. So you know, come

(02:28:46):
to find out, he's the exactsame. So we uh, you know,
we get along well, and anduh, we're gonna keep keep building
that relationship. Sometimes in this league, playing you know, eighteen games,
they tryna make a twenty. Youknow, that's like it sound like a
little a little fever dream to behonest. But but but uh, if
we can find a way to kyou know, stay up right out there,
keep keep airing on his feet.You know, I'm I'm excited for
that and uh everything that comes withit. But uh, but yeah,

(02:29:07):
like I said, man, that'sit's it's harder said than uh or harder
done, and said, I guessyou know, it's one of those things.
It's like that's a lot of games. You know, all of a
sudden take a lot of hits.They take a lot of hits where they're
not looking, and it's just howcan we keep him healthy? Yeah?
Yeah, are you when do youthink? I do you ever see the
room now? Positions and you guyshave made when I want healthy and get
everything, Like yeah, you know, I'm excited to see it at at

(02:29:28):
full health. You know, we'vei haven't got to see all the all
the guys out there at once.And and you know, it's one of
those positions where every day is somethingmight happen to Nick up. You know,
it's just a a tough position tostay out there at all times.
But I feel like we got agreat group and and the number one thing
is how can we stay healthy?How can we you know, I'll be
out on the field, and Ithink having depth like this and the group

(02:29:50):
we have is gonna help us.Having guys that can do different things,
that can go catch ball over themiddle, all types of things that it's
gonna take some of the strain offoff all of us. You know.
It's it's a good group. SoI'm excited to to, uh, you
know, get out there. Ifeel like we haven't had the whole whole
thing together, but you know,come season time, morel and it's gonna
be exciting. What about the godsyour old number? Yeah, yeah,

(02:30:11):
like yeah, man, he's uh, it was a brute and then once
he catches the ball, I meanhe's got great instincts of where the defense
is. I think the title onthis team is really good too. And
I think that I can come inhere and make a big difference, you
know, and we can win alot of football games. You know.
So that was my that was partof my decision. Your achilles how sough

(02:30:35):
was that I'm one hundred percent nowand it was like a walk in the
park. It's like a sprained ankle, you know. It was very easy,
you know, because I had theknee. The knee was pretty hard,
you know, and the achilles wasI would say it's easy, you
know, just because that's just mymentality, and it was. It was

(02:30:58):
pretty easy to me. But youknow, I've had these injuries and it's
been storm like the past two years, you know, having haveing like good,
great games. The next thing,you know, hurt and then you
know, so got got the injuryprone out there, you know. But
I think the storm is over with, you know, you know, and
I think I'm I'm gonna gonna takeoff now, you know, and there

(02:31:22):
will be no setbacks and the injuryprone thing will be gone out of the
window again. Yep. Howso're gonnabe back? I am. I am
excited. You know. He doesa lot of great things, and he's
a great person and we have agreat relationship. It's gonna be it's gonna
be a fun year. We're gonnahave a lot of fun. We're gonna

(02:31:43):
do a lot of great things.So I can't wait. Take here waiting.
The injuries you've had, is thatjust bad luck? Is every Is
there anything you've can attribute to beyondjust misfortunately? Yeah, it's just unfortunate,
you know. But God has aplan always, you know. So
I don't know what the plan exactlyis, you know, I don't know,

(02:32:05):
but whatever plan it is, it'sfor me to be here. You
know. I had a great rookieyear. I didn't really have the volume
as other people my rookie year,but I still had a great rookie year.
Six yards of carry, you know, things like that. I think
it was like nine touchdowns ten includingthe playoffs. And so there's always been

(02:32:26):
like, all right, guy,let me show my talent shine a little
bit. Like even when I hadthe knee. So I had the knee,
right, A lot of people don'tknow, like I didn't get hurt
again. Whenever I got you know, got cleaned up. So I went
down in twenty one, right,had the injury, the knee injury,
and then came back later the nextyear and I played the first few games

(02:32:46):
and it just feel there was alot of scars issue in there. So
I had to get it cleaned up. I didn't get hurt again. I
could have played the whole year,but I got it cleaned up so I
can feel like me. And soafter I got that cleaned up. First
two games back from the injury,I had over one hundred and twenty yards
rushing right and then went on hadgreat, great ending of the year,

(02:33:07):
you know, one hundred total yardsin the playoff game we lost, which
I hate the most. Stays,don't marry me. I don't want to
win. But then come back thenext year hurt again like torn achilles.
So two really unfortunate injuries. Butthat's just God's plan, you know.
And I think that the storm isnow over, you know. And I
do think that I'll be able toshine my light to the whole world.

(02:33:30):
Are you concerned that you have thatlabel you can't stand? See? I
could care less because I do.I know this out there because as it
should be, it should be.I got hurt two major injuries back or
not back to back years. Butyou know, so I haven't been on
the field as much as I should. That's true, that is true.
But it's not like I'm having theselittle little dinky injuries and sitting out.

(02:33:58):
It's something I can't control, literally, So that's why I'm not bothered by
it. Like, yeah, Iam injury poem. You could say that,
you know, But I do thinkthat the Chargers are getting a guy
that's gonna be healthy from now on, you know, God willing, and
it's gonna be great. And Ido think that it's gonna be It's gonna
be a great However, many yearshere, when you've been on the field,

(02:34:20):
you've been highly adopted, yea fivepointy years for very average for your
career. Like knowing that when you'reout there you're very adopted, how much
confidence does that give you that reallyall you need is is not what you
need all the confidence in the world, you know. The way I work.
I wouldn't say just from the numbers, but just the way I work,
my work ethic, you know,and my relationship with Jesus is like

(02:34:43):
I have the most confidence when Istep out there because I do know,
like if he grants me the health, it's over with. I don't think
I would be you know, Ithink it will be a great year or
whatever a couple of years. However, many years he grants me great health,
you know, And I think justthe work ethic, my prayer and

(02:35:03):
all that stuff, that's what helpedme have that confidence. With the numbers
will be there and they might behigher after this year. You know what
I'm saying, And it's crazy tothink about it because I I had six
or six yards per carry, youknow, so we'll see you looking forward
running behind this line put together.Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I
played with Bradley. I played withhim. You know, I know the

(02:35:24):
Slater, I know all the Iknow all the guys you know, and
I'm excited. I think it's likeI said earlier, it's a talented group.
You know. We just got toput together win some games. Cause
that's what I came here for it, or I wouldn't. I wouldn't say
part of the recruitment. But likewhenever I decided I was gonna sign,
it was great to have him inthe room. What's your relationship, Yeah,

(02:35:46):
we're great. We're we have agreat relationship. That's he's like my
brother, So I think compliment eachother very well. You know, he
can do a lot of stuff too. You know, we got a lot
of people think he's just power power, power, but I think he has
some other parts of his game two, which it'll be great because I feel

(02:36:07):
like I could do everything, andwhen one get tired, we can roll
it in. We keep rolling winsome games. So when you the two
of you get going, well,how do you think that's gonna look for?
What would like? What will bethat partnership kids back there. I
know that's a hard question. Howdo I think I think it'll look beautiful.
You know a lot of people callthis a passing league, but I

(02:36:30):
think you got to run the ballto win the super Bowl. You know,
if you look at the team towin the Super Bowl, they can
run the ball, they can controlthe clock, and so if we're both
good, it'll look great, beautiful. How would you describe the Gregor running
the offense? I would I woulddescribe it as, you know, a
great offense. I think he givesa quarter he's going to give the quarterback

(02:36:54):
a lot of options. He's goingto get the running back a lot of
options. He's gonna give the receivera lot of options, you know,
and I think it'll be I thinkit's gonna be great. His offense is
gonna be amazing. When we talkedto him a minute, you know,
I was like, why are youthen will build something good rushing offenses throughout
your career? You know everywhere you'vebeen and you said that one part of
it is just you gotta call place. You got a call run place as

(02:37:16):
a running back. You know howmuch confidence, how much site does it
give you? You know, youhave a play caller that's gonna stick with
it and allow you and the offensiveline to get into your resident. Gives
me a lot of excitement. Youknow, it's gonna be Like I said,
it's fun to play at his offense, you know, And I think
he does have some good things inthe past game too, But like you
said, he sticks with the run, and that's that's the identity you You

(02:37:39):
want an offense that has an identity, right, you won't be looking everywhere
else to find your your identity youwant, you want to have it,
and so I think his offense hasthat and the guys he builds and puts
in there, it complements that identity. So I think it's gonna be great.
You mentioned your one hundred percent now, so you'll be full go for

(02:38:00):
train. Look, I ain't gonnaanswer any of the if it's up to
me. Yes, Look, becauseI had this problem like three two years
three years ago. I'm thinking I'mfull go, I think I'm ready to
go, and the next thing youknow, I'm on pup Like hey,
look some story above my prey paygrade. So but I don't know.

(02:38:20):
Hopefully I can start. I thinkI'm ready to start, you know,
at the beginning of training camp,but that's not up to me. As
I've learned, I wouldn't say that. I think I've been I've been in
some great organizations, and I thinkthis this organization is a great organization,
and the training staff is great,and so they just want what's best for

(02:38:46):
me, you know, and they'rethey're taking care of me, which that's
what you want in an organization,and so that's where that comes from,
which I appreciate it, Like Ireally appreciate that, you know, because
I'm the type of guy, likeI work really hard, so maybe sometime
I'm blind to you know, thedanger of something, you know, So
I appreciate it. But like Isaid, if it's up to media,

(02:39:07):
I'm out there. But never know, with any frustration for you during the
heading into free agency, you know, dealing with with rehab and not you
know, having won a full seasontape or production to go out there,
is there any part of that whereyou're like God, which you know,
had hit the open market with adifferent situation, you know, Nah,
I like it. I like,how would I say this? I like

(02:39:33):
it the hard way, but notyou know, I like it the hard
way. I like it. Ilike trial and tribulations. So I mean
the dice that I was given therole was I was coming off of Achilles,
and that was that was the lowestplan. So it was beauty in

(02:39:56):
that, Like I was comfortable.I was caught like there was multiple teams,
you know, I wasn't. Itwasn't like I didn't have any other
team. But I was comfortable andsitting back and just enjoying the process,
letting myself get fully healed. Sowhenever that team, whoever I would sign
with, who now is the Chargers, is going to get the best me,

(02:40:18):
you know. And I think peopleall around the league know that,
like, Okay, this guy,Okay, it's a high risk, high
reward type thing, right, noteven a high risk, hilar rice,
because you it's a business, right, So I got hurt last year,
so not as much money needs tobe throwing there. But I think everyone
around the league knows that whenever Iam on the field, the numbers don't
lie, and so they know that, and a lot of teams were like,

(02:40:41):
all right, here. You cangive you this, but we want
you to be healthy. So whenI'm healthy, it's gonna be great.
The chance that I've been giving here, I'm so grateful and I know that's
gonna be. They won't be theywon't regret it. Are you the type
of person that likes unity for me? You know? So I'm excited about

(02:41:03):
it. Who else did he helpyou with? Everything? Oh? A
lot. He helped me a lot, even from like the first day,
just trying to help me get usedto to write tackle. He got my
feet used to write tackle. Likemy first day practice, I'm like,
dude, I still feel he feela little off. I don't feel as
balanced in my stands. And heshowed me the small technique thing to do

(02:41:24):
with my feet, which I stilldo even even though I left tackle.
Just kept as part of my routine. That was part of my process and
getting in my stands. So stufflike that that he taught me from day
one and obviously in practice was fun. Just compete with him, you know.
It's just to meet at the backof the pocket and to dap each
other back to every rep like thatwas competing, you know what I mean.

(02:41:46):
So that's my guy. As muchas you loved him once your the
West Side? How bittersweet is itin a certain matters because it would happened
to him. Yeah, that's thething. That's not how it was.
Definitely how I n in And that'snot how I thought about the transition will
go. You know, I thoughtit would be you know, homesoone timing,
but the cardinal his whole career.You know, you know you want

(02:42:09):
to play here forever, you knowwhat I mean when always talking about his
plans, so you know, youyou wish transitions like one of those fairy
tale like it's your time. Butbut again, either way, you know,
we talked about it. You knowthat's that's the how it goes,

(02:42:30):
you know. But obviously you knowhe sees he's he's been one of my
biggest supporters. Again, I affecteverybody leads in their own way, you
know, not everybody's the guys comingaround and that's not everybody, right,
Like I felt for me, that'sme specifically on game day with the O

(02:42:50):
line after we do one on one, like that's my like buhump did like
like that's my like big vocal time. I feel like I've talked to Hump
about this, you know, justrecently talking about how what I want to
do for the room was. Iwant to bring that Hump energy that he
brought right so last year. Ofcourse some traits been doing it for years,

(02:43:13):
but the year while I spent onhim, he brought a lot of
the energy and excitement and the happinessin the room was just his natural energy
to where I only had to focuson me. You know, I didn't
have to make sure other other guysare, you know, feel some type
of way when they came in herebecause Hump brought that. But out of

(02:43:33):
Hump's not here, but I sawwhat he did for the room. I
want to be that guy to makesure everyone's amp to go to practice,
everybody's hype, were taking and fieldteam on period. You know it's a
low day or something. You know, it's it's a day, but like
I want to make it feel likepre paris the Tripper right now. I
want to bring that because that's whenwe and Hump did to each other.

(02:43:54):
We will hpe each other up,dudes like dude about to be walked through
and we're lit. So I wantto I wanna bring that energy. I
wanna make bring more guys, youknow, to do that. You know,
yeah, I wanted to do thatfrom day one, you know,
I kind of I wanted to dothat from day one from just talking to
him, And obviously it's that time. I spend the off season before OTA

(02:44:18):
started just being in myself, justthinking about what the room needs, you
know, because I know I knewa new role as one of the layers,
you know on my offense, isthat we need a guy like that
that's gonna make sure the old lineis picked up, ready to go every
day and it was held accountable.Little things aren't happened to practice, People

(02:44:41):
aren't saying anything. And how Imay lead maybe different than somebody else may
lead. You know. I liketo a practice at least like to leave
with positivity, you know what Imean. So, but he the energy
yet went beyond just the old hypedup the deal line and started too.
So that's kind of how I wannabe go literally my whole life. I

(02:45:01):
want to be NFL team captain,like specifically the NFL. I wasn't a
captain of high school. I wasn'ta captain of college. But I made
a joke when I was in highschool. So I did. I feel
like I'm not gonna be a captaintil I get to the NFL. Yeah,
but that would be awesome, youknow, but you know, if
it happens, i'd be great,but not either way, I wanna assume

(02:45:26):
a role as a captain from therespect of the guys on the team individual
word to me and to get backto that way. Yeah, I mean,
I can't say that. I mean, I guess the biggest thing is
that I felt like it has feltlike how it you used to in the
past. But it didn't take justthe first da oltas. It took training

(02:45:48):
left and right once the season ended, cause I didn't know what it was
gonna be sure, So it tooka lot of yeah reps just to get
back to feeling like my s forday one OTAs and then that whole first
week, but now like today,specifically just changing some small things with my
feet. I did say talking abouta line coach about some things I can

(02:46:09):
do with my fee to get tothat the to sell at the traditional angle
that I love to set on.Felt even I thought I felt, I
thought I felt great already by mokat, I felt even better of it.
So I'm even more excited tomorrow.Now I'm getting my feedback to how I
liked it the right side, andI'm on the left side, so I'm
excited to teach. I mean,obviously, I feel like in the league,

(02:46:31):
whether I left or right, you'restill going against premier guys. So
obviously you have high expectations for yourleft hand or right tackle. But there's
definitely uh like the the level ofenergy and like the expectations definitely taking the
human start, cause now connected theblack side that stuff that's de tackle role,
you know. So so yeah,I would say in terms of communication

(02:46:56):
as far as just even outside offacility and just stuff like that, like
really creating that that tackle quarterback bondeven more off the field, I think
has been something that's even been cool. I got a text one day and
I said, Hey, like youplay left, And I was like,
yeah, you know, yeah,I've been training both. I've been training
both. You know. I askedafter the season. They're like, honestly,

(02:47:20):
you know, we'll talk to yousome play in the season and I
just gotta text me, like dependingwhat happens with with the free agency then.
So I was like, you knowwhat, I had a whole season
right tackle. So if I getthe word, I'm going I'm standing right
tackle. I don't used to dowhat I did before. I'm built on
that bus. I was like,I might as almost trained a left tackle
now as if I'm going to bea left tackle, and I'd rather do

(02:47:43):
that than training on right tackle andget the cro Hey you're the left tackle.
I'm like, oh, I didn'teven switch on my feet yet,
you know what I mean. SoI'm like, let me just prepare in
advance. I was like, yeah, Lesky, you know, I think
occasionally on third down there'd be alot of twists. I would just know
like it's amutomatically, And I factthat was my mindset for like the first
half of the season, Like Ididn't have to go to a game and

(02:48:05):
with surprise like oh my gosh,they did that. I kind of figured
like, okay, like this isthis is the type of rush want again,
like this is how this guy usuallyrushes. But I get the vibe,
this is how the end's like therush. You know, tackles that
are you know first year guys whogot the premier patch on. I already
knew what it was gonna be,already know of every stunt and honestly just

(02:48:26):
knowing that it's kind of an advantagetoo, So you're not you're not you're
not old. They brought the twistof my side again. It was never
an Aaron Donald like, you know, they're coming up with minds like three
plays in a row and two minutes. I knew that that was the way
it happened. So, you knowwhat I mean, I'm watching more than
everybody else and he rarely Elan goesout there on occasional third downs on the
d N. I was like,you know what's gonna be, He's gonna
pick me, you know what Imean, So fact fact, it's kind

(02:48:50):
of a it's also kind of advantagein a way, but it's also exciting,
like, Okay, it was thetwo guys, this talent and this
this background at the top of that. Through your discussions with Bryan, I
guess the interview process were about howyou might approach this and what do you
think is mean the key element You'regetting the most out of those because you
got two guys. This ain't myfirst rodeo, no. I know a

(02:49:15):
lot of people look at say,well, this guy only been on the
field for three years Westernon, Tuckyand Oregon. Just because I didn't have
the title of a running back coachwhere I was at the Memphis, I
never carried myself that way. Iwas carrying myself as a running back coach.
I approach every day that way.So at Memphis we had Darren Henderson,

(02:49:35):
Patrick Taylor, Tony Poller, Kennygame Well, Tonyo Gibson. I've
seen talented backs and I've seen thembeing able to function with one another.
So I hear that all the timeabout well, this ain't my first rodeo.
Same thing out there at Oregon webuck Gervery Norwich and George James.
You go look at their numbers.They all functioned well together. We learned

(02:49:56):
how to play as one. Sothis ain't my first rodeo. So Plus,
I know those two kids because Ihave recruited on when they was in
high school. So I'm up forthe challenge and the responsibility of it all
right behind it, Dan Hope Carlos, just what is your kind of coaching
philosophy? How do you get thebest out of your running backs? I
get the best out because I lovethe young men. My main focus is

(02:50:16):
to change the hearts and minds ofthem and they'll play for me. I
had just got through reading Coach Trestle'sWinners Manual, and it's some day that
I took from that book. Youhave your purpose and you have your goals,
all right. My purpose is toserve and pour into the young men.
Now, my goals is a footballcoach. All of them are take
care of themselves. So that's oneof the ways. I'm just real relationship

(02:50:39):
based in a very detailed at thisposition. I know y'all heard me say
it before, and I'm gonna keepsaying. This is the worst coach position
in football. It's terrible. Guyshire anybody to coach his position and recruiters.
CARLS. Locker is not a recruiter. I'm an elite relationship builder,
but I coached this position. I'ma ball coach, so that's who I
am. So I'm a pouring toyou kids. I think they kind of

(02:51:01):
seeing it now and I jumped inday one. I'm ready to coach.
The phrase, you know, softbatched cookies. Where did that phrase come
from? Kind of what was funny? Boy? Let me tell you about
that. Boy. I've been calledeverything but the name the child of god
by the people at the other placesI left, so that I've been getting
Pillsbury needs to give me a dealbecause I've been getting I've been getting some

(02:51:24):
dms and textas and some of it, some of them have been so funny.
The saftbat's cookie thing came from justhaving a frame of mind, a
mental toughness. It had nothing todo with guys getting in the portal and
anything. Now most people say I'ma saftbatched cookie for leaving there, but
actuality I'm not. Because it takesgreat strength to make a decision to leave

(02:51:46):
a place. No, a weakminded person wouldn't be able to make the
decision I made, So it tookgreat strength to do that. So I'm
telling you, if I literally inmy dms, it's some It's some great
comedians out here that have been sendingme like tons of cookies, and I'm
like, it's funny. Right behindhim, Tony Urban, how are you
going about the assessment of the talentin the room over the past week or

(02:52:09):
two? How much is that onfield off field? Like, what's the
process of getting to know who youhave as players? Well? I broke
down well, me being a guythat loves the running back position, and
I already broke those kids down becauseI recruited him out of high school.
You know, Q is from whereI'm from and Montgomery. I was one
of the first guys to offer himjust watching him, great contact, balance,

(02:52:31):
creative runner, great hands and Trey. I recruited him out of Virginia
exceptional short air of your bursts andquickness and things that I'm gonna help him
get better on. And then Irecruited James Peeples out of out of San
Antonio, Texas. I knew whathe was gonna what he was gonna be.
TC and Sam. Those two kidsI'm getting to know and I'm gonna

(02:52:52):
help them improve that game. Butwe got different runners in there. I
like to call myself, I'm inlove with this position, so I get
the break down runners and help theirgame. So talented, talented room,
very talented. Uh far back uh. Jeremy Birmingham Podcast Couch. How do
you swear the fact that the softBast cookies are actually the best cookies?

(02:53:13):
To philiprit mix and going. Thoseare way better than the country chips and
white through the Gal Turman. Imean, do you do you have to
first find a balance there or somewhere. Well, for me, I'm actually
not eating any cookies. Now,I'm just saying I'm not eating any cookies
this year. I gave it upfor a fast, So no sweets for
me for the whole year. Thatsomething I gave up. So they the

(02:53:37):
term the south bast cookie term.Look, guys, I actually took that
from I represent the high school coachesof Meths, Tennessee. I actually took
that from a guy named coach Slocum. He used to always say that soft
bast cookie. I actually stole thatfrom him. I give him credit for
it, and I tell him allthe time he said, you I should
have branded that, cause you donetook it and ran away with it.
But that's just where that comes from. That that Now I was standing.

(02:54:01):
As you get to a high stadium, you start to look around the country.
Every Oregon's a big place. That'sa that's a major job. Really,
How how do you think if veryyour opposite of logo under run the
blocko when you get out out ofliving free and trail, how does that
change the way that you feel you'reeither received or or does it add a
different level to it to just feelinglike I can go anywhere and get anybody

(02:54:26):
in there. And that's the sameestthing for me. This is a great
place. Oregon is a great placetoo. But guess what, whatever I
put on, I know what I'mgoing to represent for me. I N
I N I know who who putme here? Uh? I know I
represented something higher, you know?Like I told you, I know what
my purpose is. My purpose isto poorting to people. So whatever logo

(02:54:50):
I have on, I'm still gonnabe doing the same thing. So this
is a great logo. Great logoby well another logo every day it's across
I see around my neck. Iknow what I rep is it? So
that's the greatest logo I could everwear. So it don't matter what other
logo I have on. I gotthat one on. I'm been going to
any house and be a recruit.Uh uh deep righte. Cara tiqu Robinson

(02:55:11):
and the athletic from which you youmentioned the time at Memphis and them it's
four NFL running backs you mentioned therewho you learned from that time that you
that you take over to managing thegroup, and kid, what did I
learned from them? I just buildinga just teaching the kids. We live
in such a selfish world though,and I can tell the kids all the

(02:55:33):
times, it's gotta be much morethe football. The ball gonna go flat
one day. As I always say, what being in that room there at
Memphis is, it wasn't four fiveteaching them how to be a b by
being one. I tell you themin all time, it doesn't cost you
anything to celebrate another man's success.So teaching them how to be one,
and then once they learned to beone, they function and they feed off

(02:55:56):
one another. So that's what Ilearned from being there in Memphis. Alight
in front of any row, Carlostarted your career in law enforcement, kind
of influence you as a coach andkind of shape where you are. Oh
well, I just got through talkingto somebody about that today. When I
first got in this profession and Igot my own room in Western Tech,
I was asked, No, howwas I was gonna be able to handle

(02:56:22):
my room? I said, Man, I had a part with fifty one
inmates. You talking about me havinggot six or seven guys? Are you
kidding me? I'm talking about mehaving to do traffic stop, So going
on domestic you know, violeence calls. It's simple, easy. No people
donna know what you care. Alsoknow, you gotta have a certain demeaning
about yourself. So when I walkinto a room, it's the reason why

(02:56:45):
I go train every morning. Thisis when it's same thing when I was
a police officer. You look acertain way kind of deter people from doing
certain things. So that reason whyI go train every morning. I'm gonna
look just as good as my boyslook. So uh it helped out a
lot. In other words, Uhfrom Rol right Austin Ward. Uh the
podcast, Uh, Carls, Welcometo Columbus. What would it mean to

(02:57:07):
I don't know, revolutionize the wayrunning backs are coach? What does that
take? I ain't even I'm notgonna say revolutioniz. It's just some good
It's some good running back coaches outhere. Everybody's different. It's some great
coaches out here. I just wantthe head guys who say that on these
jobs to not just hire guys.Just know, all coaches on your staff

(02:57:28):
should be great recruiters, not justsome running back coach. We coach a
position. We developed players as well. I just want the coaches to realize,
Hey, you know what let melook and be thorough about this guy
that I'm hiring for this job.Is he teaching the position? Is he
development the position? Because you're notgonna hire anybody just coach quarterbacks, are
you. Well, it shouldn't belike that for the running back position either.

(02:57:50):
And I'm only passionate about it causeI played it. I love it,
so it's the only position I wantto coach. Could I coach other
positions? Yeah? I played dBin college too, but I love the
running back position so and I justwanted to see it coach well. Ten
May podcasts. Yeah, a millionquestions. Oh that's a couple of number
one, when you when you whenyour wife whatever? You got the message
stuff? Or are we moving again? What was What was her reaction?

(02:58:13):
Nah, she's just new. Guyhad give us, gave us a new
assignment, she w It was neverlike we're moving again. Let me tell
you guys something I grew up.My mom was in the military, so
I lived everywhere. I lived inPanama of South America. I'm used to
picking up and moving. I livedin Fort Roley, Kansas, Montgomery's home
Meph's my second home, so I'mI'm used to moving now. My wife.
It was different for her, butshe's just new guy that gave us

(02:58:37):
a new assignment. So it's timeto go. What did uh? What
did coach they tell you when heheard you that he wants out of you?
That may be different. It's notslamming somebody else, But what did
he say he wanted you to bringto the running back room? I think
he did his research on me.He said he wanted the guy to to
develop the position. And that's nottaking a shot at the coach that was

(02:58:58):
here who I'm friends with. Hesaid, they want somebody to really get
I like our edge guys that wepicked up, and I'm excited to work
with him. Do you know muchabout how we played against him? Leonarfloyd
And what's what's been kind of yourearlier read on him? Uh? I
think he's super skilled, russier,Uh well, good length, and he's

(02:59:18):
more athletic than I even realized.And I think guys like him when they
come to our scheme are the bestis brought out of him. So I'm
excited to see what potential he has. He's year nine, so I feel
like you as a d lineman,you can keep improving all the way through

(02:59:39):
uh ten years in this league,so I'm excited to see what he's got.
How old did you know sores anduh when he was assistant here?
And have you gotten to know hima lot better? What's the relationship made
you right now? I know himpretty well. He was always uh,
just a good dude around the facility. Uh. He did our ball meetings,
so he's good in front of aa group. He's a good leader.

(03:00:01):
He knows the scheme really well,which is good. I was happy
to see him promoted. He calledme in the off season, we talked.
I just congratulated him, and Ithink he's gonna bring something similar to
what we had with the Miko.It'll be good. Do you know Brandon
Stanley well at all? I mean, not as a Joey playing for him.

(03:00:22):
I don't know too much about him. I've obviously heard from my brother,
but I don't even think i've saidhigh yet. I haven't ran into
him yet, but I'm sure i'llget to know him. When you say
it looks similar to Miko, theenergy or system maybe a little different energy,
but I think just knowing the systemfrom the front to the back,

(03:00:46):
I think he knows how it tiesin and he's been around with some really
good coaches, so I think it'llbe pretty pretty seamless, and I think
we'll be firing on all cylinders threemonths from from the super Bowl now,
So how have you? I guessdigested it and I guess physically everything good
to go. Yeah, I feelreally good. I think it's been one

(03:01:09):
of my better off seasons of justkind of It was a long year,
so I took it nice and slowto get back into it. Not as
young as I once was, soI'm taking at a little slower, but
everything's great. I'm feeling as goodas I felt. I'm excited to actually
get some practice in. Last yearwas kind of tough, getting thrown in

(03:01:33):
Week one after I walked through,so that was another reason I'm excited to
be here is just to get practicinga little bit in season. Practice is
one thing, but actually being ableto work your stuff and not have a
game coming up is good. Withthe Super Bowl unfortunately, I know how

(03:01:54):
to bounce back from tough losses,so it was rough for a little bit,
but now it's just annoying. Plebring it up. Since anel last
season, we've seen a rock onTV commercials and on the stage with Kluke
Coombs and throwing out the first pitchin the Giants game. But he seems
like a guy that's totally unaffected bycelebrity, which he has now. But

(03:02:16):
what have you noticed in his leadershipstyle and the way he carries himself any
difference at all. I think he'sdefinitely getting a little more vocal within the
building. And uh yeah, Imean, I don't think he's ever going
to change. I don't think he'ssomebody that's going to change even when he
gets paid next year. So he'she's a man of faith and he kind

(03:02:39):
of reminds me of Scotti Scheffler,but except for just super humble and really
good kid. And yeah, he'sdefinitely famous. I don't just from watching

(03:03:03):
Armstead get released obviously meant so muchto the defensive line into the team.
I mean, Colin John were prettyopen that they were willing to talk about
trading Deebo or are you at you? Does that just another what's that feel
like in the locker room when thosesort of joels happened. I didn't even
know that happened and I wasn't here, but you're talking about this offseason,

(03:03:28):
armstead in alarm Er released, sothat's certainly one thing. Yeah, it's
a tough business, for sure.You have to have thick skin and I
haven't gone through that, but Ithink you just have to understand that it
is a business and the team's goingto try and get as good as it

(03:03:48):
possibly can with or without you,and you have to look out for yourself.
That's why you go through holdouts anddo certain things that seem selfish in
the moment, but it is whatit is, and when everything's settled,
we're gonna come together as a teamand try and go get one Nick.
What's the overall feeling around the groupright now, Like, how much does

(03:04:09):
it feel like the excitement of theramp up to the season, Even though
it's early, it feels good.It's been a couple of days for me,
so I like all the new guys. I'm getting to know everybody.
But I think the passes in thepast and we're ready to go. Do
you talk to me? You talkedto be at all about handling the business
part of this, and he's goingthrough something similar. We chat a little

(03:04:31):
bit, but not too much aboutthe details. I just told him to
keep his head up and try andstay positive through it all. First impressions
when you heard what your schedule wouldbe in that Aaron Rodgers' first time it'll
be fun. Yeah, it's gonnabe gonna be a good one kind of

(03:04:54):
alluded to this for the fact thatlast year you have to have that hold
out an effect you somewhat early inthe season. If you hadn't had that
experience, would you be here rightnow? I mean, was that part
of the motivation for being here early, just to have the opposite. No,
I don't think that's one of thereasons. But I just talked to

(03:05:18):
Kyle and he kind of asked me, h, he kind of stated how
he felt about why it would begood for me to be here and asked
if I agreed. And I agree. So it's not like I'm missing too
much. I think I'm out here. It's a little less workload than I'm
doing back home, so it's kindof a good active recovery thing for me.

(03:05:41):
And I'm getting football stuff football workingspecifically, so that's good. I'm
not it's not compromising my training atall, and I get to meet all
the guys. It's positive. Howdid Joey kick the news your brother,
did you have to? Oh?No, he's he's there. He's got

(03:06:03):
a new regime over there. Iactually thought I was coming next week until
recently, so I was gonna haveone more week at home. But we're
both in California. As I've comein and thought we were going to lose
or have a bad year, Ifelt like every year when I tell you
things are feeling good and I feeloptimistic, it wasn't a lie. But

(03:06:28):
yeah, I think things are aredefinitely, like I said, trending in
the right direction. Everybody's on thedetails. I'm sure it's a word that
you've heard a million times, soyeah, I think it just feels like
it feels like coach is leading theteam the way it should be led.

(03:06:48):
It has a feel of being backin college, you know, with with
coach ierber Meyer, and you knowthe message is sent from the top and
it doesn't get mixed up as it'smoving down the ladder. It's boom.
This is how we're doing things,and everybody's following that. And I think
it's impressive the details that everybody havebeen on, has has been on the

(03:07:09):
effort and just the competitiveness that that'sbeen going on over the last few weeks.
Yeah, it's it's it's been great. How much do you appreciate that
the stops described with the way jingleswe shouldn't eat in the messaging, does
they eat mixed up? I appreciatethat so much. I mean, it's

(03:07:33):
I guess it's easy to appreciate whenyou kind of see it working and you
see guys improving, getting better.I just think the details are really important.
You can pretend that leaving your shoesa mess or your locker mess isn't
a big deal, and what mattersis playing football. But I think all

(03:07:54):
those tiny details and things kind ofadd up and leak into the important stuff,
like what you're doing on the field. So if you can have your
toe behind the line, or haveyour locker and order and all these things,
they kind of stack up into performingwell and and playing well when things
count. So you know, Iappreciate that. It's it also hasn't been

(03:08:18):
a fight with the guys in thelocker room. They buy in, and
you know, it's a lot ofyoung guys, and I think they're hungry
to learn, hungry to compete andwin, you know, It's just an
example, whether it's we talked aboutthe first day you have your shoot,
if you could, if you couldspend the time on these small things when
nobody's watching. I think, likeI was saying, it seems like it

(03:08:41):
might not add up too much,but I think in the long term it
does, and it leaks into otherthings, whether you're doing your right assignment
on the field, being late tomeetings or all these things. If you
hold a standard and you stay tothat standard, I think it benefits you
long term. It's it been likeworm Ben Herbert, who has there been

(03:09:05):
any anything in his training program we'reworking with you that you feel will benefit
your later Yeah, yeah, definitely. He's he's been great. He's a
no nonsense kind of guy. Buthe's not an old school in the sense
that he's bringing his way of doingthings and that's the only way to do
things. He understands that guys havebeen in the in the business for a

(03:09:26):
long time, Khalil me and wehave a way of doing things, and
all he wants to do is addto that and help you get better and
perform the best you can. He'she stresses it all the time that he's
a tool for us, and youknow, he's he's been great. The
guys love him. The energy bringsis awesome, and I think the stuff
that we're doing in the weight roomis great, great addition to stuff that

(03:09:50):
I may may do on the sideor whatever that is. Yeah, I
think we I mean, we hada presentation today with all the certain measurables
that are changing, and if youguys were in the meeting, you definitely
see how beneficial he's been to theteam so far. So obviously, staying
healthy is is a huge factor toanybody's success. I'd say it's plagued us

(03:10:13):
a little bit for a while.So yeah, I think he's he's definitely
incredibly beneficial. What are you fullyre cover? I know at the end
of last season you might have beenable to pay Yeah. No, I
was not ready to go last year. No, tried practicing, tried coming
back, and uh it was itwas not good, but yeah, it

(03:10:39):
was Unfortunately the year wasn't going greatand it just was unnecessary risk for I
mean, my foot could have hadsome real real issues if I came back
too early. So yeah, it'sbeen, it's been. It's been a
great off season. My foot's feelinggreat, toes good, hamstring, skod
I mean, there was a listof things last year, my hand,

(03:11:00):
and so all those things are good. Finger gut surgery on my finger,
So that's feeling good. Yeah,it's it's nice to be feeling better going
into your nine than you have sincemaybe five six years ago, which I've
said, I've said I've been feelinggreat the last couple of years. I'm
telling you it's a real deal thistime. But obviously anything can happen.

(03:11:22):
But I just feel it's fun feelingreally confident in your body and being able
to perform. So I could justgo out during practice and you know,
go balls to the wall and doeverything that I feel like I need to
to be able to prepare. It'sfun. My brother and whoever I trained
with my trainer Todd back home,I think they'd be really proud of how

(03:11:48):
I've been working this offseason, andit's just exciting. The pointing was the
injuries on the Great Big Game.You kind of you I'm just going,
yeah, it was a bit ofa build up, a little bit of
an overreaction, but you know,it's just tough. It comes sometimes like
that, and I just felt feltreally defeated coming back, had a broken

(03:12:11):
hand. I'm like, oh,yeah, I get to play Boom first
series foot Pops. Thought I'd haveto get surgery, and all these thoughts
flooded through my head. Broke downa bit, and yeah, it just
hurts. You know, you're losing, you're getting injured. You've felt like
you prepared really well in the offseason, and then the year before you had
growing surgery, so you know alot of things build up. Yeah,

(03:12:35):
you don't get a break if you'reinjured. Everybody wants to go on.
Fans are very nice, but no, I just I'm grateful that I feel
this way. I'm still still nice. Ripe twenty eight, so not too
old yet, but yeah, I'mjust excited. I can't remember what the

(03:12:58):
original question was at this point,something about my body, how close you
and Gift were, How how frustratingwas it that he couldn't you know for
one of those last three games.It was frustrating, but I mean Gift
was had my back the whole way. I think for Gift, for any

(03:13:22):
but for for the whole team,just to show what it means to me,
it would have been important for meto be out there, but I
literally couldn't. I tried to practice, injured my footworse the very first play
I was and in practice, Sono chance that was happening unless I wanted
to throw my next season away aswell. But no, I'm just I'm

(03:13:45):
proud of him for what he didwith the team, how he handled it,
and I need to call him back. Actually sorry, GIF. Yeah,
I'm happy he gets to stay closeby with the with the Rams and
just proud of all we accomplished heretogether over the years, and and we'll
be close for the rest of ourlives. It was the foot injury.

(03:14:07):
It was this guy a foot sprain. Yeah, I sprained one area of
my foot. Then when I triedto return and I sprained another area.
Was able to avoid getting surgery,which is kind of the main goal,
But yeah, it was. Itwas tough when it comes to the addition
of but Dupree, when he feltlike he's kind of brought to the to

(03:14:28):
the room and could bring on thefield. Yeah, it's when I heard
we got my brother some I don'tknow, maybe my brother told me.
I'm like, really, we justgot Bud, Like that's no, that's
no small pickup. He's a seriouslyelite pass rusher has had some trouble with
injuries as well, so I understandhow that is, but not only him

(03:14:50):
as a player, but as apersonality. I heard Khalil just saying he's
he's a fun guy. He's afunny guy, and and to have that
in the room another vet is alwaysa great addition. But I'm just excited
to have him and Tuley and tobe able to rotate like that and not
drop off at all when we comeoff the field is huge. And now
Tooley's going into a second year.Just what do you what are you kind

(03:15:13):
of what are some of the maturitymaturity areas you say from him? You
know, I'm gonna say not much, And that's a compliment because he was
already mature in those areas. Imean, he's on it everything playbook wise,
always doing his job, working hard, just refining his technique and pass
rush. I mean, we don'thave the pads on right now, so

(03:15:37):
the real work will will begin,you know, in six weeks now.
So but yeah, I love Tuli. I've loved him since the first day.
He's he's balked in the facility andI know He's just gonna continue to
get better. What do you thinkof the addition of Joe Old. Yeah,
yeah, I'm gonna need to beathim up a little bit in camp.
So he's so he's ready. Butno, I think anything to protect

(03:16:01):
our number ten is a good,good investment. So he seems like a
real solid dude. Haven't talked tohim too much. Great build, seems
like he has good hands, goodfeet, strong, We'll see. We'll
see in a few weeks when Ilay a helmet in his chin, how
he holds up. But it'll I'lltake it easy on him. No,

(03:16:26):
Rashon's a beast. Did you knowcoach Harbond before he came here? And
if he did, just what werethose first couple of conversations like that?
Yeah, probably have crossed paths withhim. Maybe maybe not. Actually I
think what was it his first yearwhen I was a junior? So he
kicked his ass as usual at OhioState. No, No, they just

(03:16:52):
want a championships. I'd say theyprobably have the bragging rights right now.
I'm like the guy talking about hisold high school. Remember we used to
kick No but no, yeah,no, the rivalry is dead. I
was just saying this morning, youknow, nine years and kind of forget
about that. I'm not a greatalumni. Sorry, sorry, coached,

(03:17:16):
But no, it's great. That'swhat's great about the NFL is you just
have guys from all backgrounds. Youcould hate their guts one one year,
and then you come on the sameteam and your brothers and you're all working
towards one goal together. So ourfirst talk together was great. I just
sat down with them, went upinto his office and chopped it up about
life mainly and his opportunity here andhow much it means to him. And

(03:17:41):
yeah, I think he's a specialguy. I think he's the way he
conducts himself. He's an interesting catfor sure. And I'm still still feeling
them out. But one thing youcan't denies that he loves football and his
main goal is to win football games. So and that's what we need.
You see him working out with theguy and and pushing slaves and doing all
this stuff. Just how interesting isthat to see? Yeah, I mean

(03:18:05):
he was a he was a greatplayer himself, and I think he's always
been you know, built like thatlack of a better term. But yeah,
he's uh, he's part of theguys. You know, he's not
this guy outside looking in. Hehe really, I mean he voiced that
to me. Is that his favoritepart of all of it is being with

(03:18:26):
the guys and and the connections hemakes. So Yeah, to to see
a guy like that come in andembrace it all and kind of be part
of it himself is important. Yourinitial impressions of Coachman during the defensive ski.
Yeah, it's funny to go fromold gift, old gift to this
little young guy who's my age.I wouldn't want to get thrown into a

(03:18:50):
room with me, and Khalil washis age. But no, he's been
great. I love messing with hima little bit. We little sarcasm back
and forth, but no, he'sgreat. He's uh, he's very talks
very fast, and I don't asyou know, so sometimes I gotta be
like slow down, coach, comeon. But no, he's great.

(03:19:15):
I'm excited, you know, toget closer as the years, as the
year goes on, and I thinkhe has he has a lot of passion
for the position, and all hewants to do is learn and and help
us to improve. So I'm excitedabout him, and I mean I do
miss Giff. Obviously, it wasa long time with him, but I
am excited to have a new faceand kind of have that challenge for me.

(03:19:39):
Worked much with with Jesse's dad,since I know he coached linebackers in
Michigan. Wait did you ask aboutJesse? Did you ask about doing?
Okay, you asked about Jesse.Oh my god, I was talking about
freaking doing the whole time. Youguys are so confused. Oh sorry,
I thought we I thought I was. I thought you might coach Rony No,

(03:20:01):
no, coach Mentor has been greatas well. Yeah, they've both
been great. Sorry, run thatback. No, he's been good.
Uh yeah, very knowledgeable guy.Same thing. I'm excited to get to
know him more as the year goeson. Have you worked Have you worked
much during the season, Rick jessest Yeah, No I have not.

(03:20:26):
I don't know if I've said oneword to him, but more words to
come down the road. Like yousaid, you've been in year since twenty
sixteen. Just what are some ofthis stuff? You just someone on a
ramble about the wrong guy for fifteenminutes walking what Yeah? What the heck?

(03:20:52):
So actually that's literally not the person. Yeah, I figured out something
that you you worked undering the offseason, something named brogar game, or
is there something that you can Usuallymy answer is pretty consistent that I just

(03:21:13):
continue to try to prepare myself physically, whether that's my sprint work or agility
work and my lifting. But yeah, just to get everything feeling great.
I dealt with those injuries, soI had to kind of ramp it up
with my finger and foot and allthose things. But now I'm I'm full

(03:21:33):
full speed out there, and I'mjust going to continue to do what I
know will prepare me for the season. And uh, I know I'm gonna
get plenty of technique work and positionwork when I'm out here. So for
now, I'm going to spend thesefive weeks really getting uh preparing my body

(03:21:54):
workouts competitive again, another year ofcompetitive and all that stuff. Yeah.
Yeah, it's usually too hot outthere for much competition. We're just trying
to survive. So but yeah,it's always it's a it's a silent competition
between between each other, be likepeeking, He's like what was his time?
Was his time? But no,yeah, it's always you can never

(03:22:18):
have an off day when when you'reout there and he's he's warming up like
a beat, like a freaking robotevery day out there, so there's no
there's no off days. Yeah,and you you and him talked at all
about I mean, I mean thiswhen you were having a contract thing.
Do you have a guy get totalk about on anybody? Yeah, I
mean it's it's a conversation, nota not really a serious conversation, but

(03:22:43):
something that's come up before. Butyeah, I mean it would be cool.
It would be cool at some point. I I always thought of myself
being somebody that will play here andretire here, which I think not many
people do on one team, andI think would be a cool thing to

(03:23:03):
accomplish. But you never know.I'm gonna worry about this year first.
Sorry, it's kind of we're doinga food story. But so you guys
have like the lowest or second lowestfood cceria in the NFLPA serveye last year,
and that it moved to the facility, Like you talked a lot about
food and how you did some time. Is it fine? Have you looking

(03:23:24):
forward to the food upgrades at all? Have you thought about it at all?
Yeah? No, it's Wolfgang Puckor whatever is the is the word
Yeah, that's great. I've beenworking with my chef for seven years now,
so she's been great, so I'venever really had to worry about that
too much. But yeah, myweight's good. I've been eating a lot

(03:23:46):
this offseason, so that's good.But yeah, I'm excited to maybe be
able to Sorry Christina, but maybeI won't need a chef next year.
I'll have my I'll have my I'llhave my Wolfgang Puck food and that'll be
good. So yeah, I'm excitedabout the move, found a new spot,
Excited to kind of learn the areaand all that, even though I

(03:24:09):
won't ever leave my house. Notyou not do a lot of the facility,
just a chef doing it all.You all eat here sometimes you know,
it's may not be the best setup, but they'll prepare your food.
That's that's plenty good. I'm aman airic character, shout out. No,
they work harder than literally anybody inthe entire facility. So they may

(03:24:33):
not have the best means back there, but they've they freaking worked their butts
off, and to this after liketwenty years of breeze and just kind of
it was just kind of built ontop of each other on top of each
other. It's like kind of alot to kind of take in. Do
you do you find that they kindof turn it down to something new.
We're starting to like zero with everybody. It's just a little bit easier to
kind of get everybody on the same. Yeah. I feel like it's way

(03:24:54):
easier. Like you said, itwas kind of more of a Drew Breeze
style, uh the last playbook,so uh all credit to them though they
built that around him, around hisplayers. But uh, like I said,
it's it's more. Uh, thisplaybook is more uh for uh matchups,
and uh, I feel like it'sgonna be better for us. How
do you think it's gonna really takeadvantage of your skill sets? Uh?

(03:25:18):
Just building around the strengths that Ihave. You know what I'm saying,
things that I can do and thingsthat she can do, uh, things
that our players can do. Iskind of focus on what we can do
and and building on that. Uh. I feel like it's playing to the
player strengths. So I feel likeit's gonna help us a lot around the
way. This offense will have alot more speed. And how has that
transition been so far? I mean, like I said, it's building around

(03:25:41):
the players strengths. So of coursewe got speed uh uh with me or
uh she and ati receiver, souh, just building around that. Uh.
Like I said, playing to ourstrengths and be able to capitalize off
that. Feel like it's gonna helpus a lot, well most of like
uh the up tempo astract and youknow, getting a lot of plays in
less time. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's definitely
gonna play a big difference. LikeI said, coming from the West Coast,

(03:26:01):
Uh, they bringing that stand foran offense here. So I'm excited
to be able to be a partof that. For you personally, what
what's the next level look like foryou? What do you what are you
trying to accompli this year? Juststaying consistent, man, a couple of
ups and downs last year, justbuilding off that. Uh, it's always
always gonna work on the physical part, but be able to bounce back after

(03:26:22):
a bad game. The mental mentalaspect, Uh, just learning learning that
last year and be able to buildon that this year is a huge part.
You know with Mike go on,did you take upon yourself to kind
of be that voice in the roomor to take a step forward even further
as Uh, I mean it's notreally I mean, everybody kind of grown

(03:26:43):
in the NFL, so it's juston you to be able to have that
standard. Like I said, Ijust try to do that lead by example.
I'm not really outspoken, but justlead by example, working hard,
trying to dominate every rep and hopethey follow out to that yards after the
catch? Is that you feel likethat's the strength of yours that maybe wasn't

(03:27:05):
utilize. I don't know if utilizesthe right word, but you could show
more. Yeah, it's it's anoffense that uh is built around that.
Uh, just catching the ball inspace, catching the ball over the middle
or even on the outside, uh, with with space and separation. I
feel like it's built around having yardshave to catch. So I'm definitely proud

(03:27:26):
to be in the system, likeI said, and I'm excited. But
is that is that a mindset too? Like being good at yards after the
catch? Like? Oh yeah,I mean of course. I mean you
don't want to get tackled by thefirst person. And my mindset is trying
to take every take everything to thehouse, you know, every touch,
So uh, I definitely got todo that more and definitely try to work
on that in practice. Great dude, man, Uh, some some that

(03:27:52):
I definitely needed, some that herelates to me. Uh just from backgrounds,
and uh he's a great coach,great leader, Uh, motivational and
uh. Like I said, I'mexcited to have him around and U for
him to push me is everything thatI need. So when you're talking about
like mentally bouncing back, you knowfrom tough performances or whatever, like,
did you like try to fund yourresources? Gonna help you figure out how

(03:28:15):
to do that? Oh? Yeah, I mean it's older guys. Uh
uh tell me, Uh that's natural. Just have bad games. But uh,
just having the standard that I havefor myself and the expectations I have
for myself gets hard sometimes. Sojust be able to be hard on yourself
but at the same time just letit go and just bounce back for the
next game is something that I learnedlast year. You one of those guys

(03:28:39):
that feels like you should always havea certain level production. Are you okay
with those certain games where the defenseis so focused on you the other guys
have big games and where you're justrunning good bouts and the Uh yeah,
I definitely was It was like thatearly in my career, especially in college.
Uh, But I found out it'sjust about winning really, you know.

(03:29:00):
Uh, I I understand I cameup a rough season, but I
don't think it's a step down ofwhere I can play. You know,
I think when I was at thetop of my game, I'm still you
know, top five player in myposition. And you know, I played
a run in the past, andI bring leadership and you know that's not
anything I discome. Can you doyou plan to be here for Mini camp

(03:29:22):
ram the storagere in the camp?Yeah? How difficult has it been the
last two weeks to not be here? I mean you said in your podcast
the first time you've never not beento Ota. Yeah, it w It
was difficult, But like you know, the thing I got very frustrated with
was just when people questioned my communicationwith the team. You know, I
uh was communicating with guys left andright, and you know, front office,

(03:29:45):
coaches, teammates, and all Icare about is how I am with
my teammates. I don't want themto ever think I don't care about them
or how I'm not in it.And you know, you can say whatever
you want about me, but besidethat. But I always dedicate anything I
can't but you and I don't wantthat to every question. Isaiya said that

(03:30:05):
it felt like sometimes you were holdup somewhere watching film. You textedry you
missed this or you want that.Well, like the first day, he
was batting all up Russ's passes,so I had to let him know.
You know, I, uh,you gotta take advantage of that. You
gotta make sure guys are you know, uh know that you you still care
and you still wanna be a partof this. You know, just watching

(03:30:26):
practice, there's a couple of thingswe're doing different, whether I'm communicating with
Gunbar or other people. You know, Tovie, so you're that You're also
talking with him and you you've givenhim pointers during the off season, just
constant communication. How do you seehim grow as a person, you know,
as far as how he's approaching thingsand how you're getting ready for this

(03:30:46):
season promos is rook. Uh.You know, I think the thing with
Keanu is he's more comfortable. Youknow, you know, it's not his
first time around the track. Youknow, it's actually like he can you
know, uh catch his feet underhim. You know, I always think
when you're in your rookie season,you're going from bowl game. I don't
even know Wisconsin playing a bowl game. Sorry, Wisconsin, I don't even

(03:31:07):
know. But you know, personally, I just think when you go from
bowl game to training for the combineto you know, rookie mining camps,
OTAs, the you know mini camp, I mean the training camp the regular
season, you really don't get atime to really catch yourself. You know,
he understands the playbook. Now youcan be more vocal, you know.

(03:31:28):
And I think when my absence,the other guy's absence, you know,
you need guys like that to stepup and be ready for those opportunities
you had you during the season wasa more thorough What was just tightened down
everything, you know on my leftside cause I was overcompensating a little bit,
but you know it was it wasn'tanything that lingers. You know,

(03:31:52):
I'll say this, uh, agrowing is not like an a cl It's
not like anything's that we're gonna geaffected again. And you know, you
know, I'm feeling good, ableto do everything squat and heavy with power
and speed, so you know,it feels good to get after again.
What do you think of what theteam was able to ACCOMPLISHHI some offseason return
to bringing guys like Russian and things. You know, I think they're all

(03:32:13):
good acquisitions, but you know,you never want to be known as a
paper champion and so can't win theoff season. I think the work gets
done out here on the field,gets done in the classroom, It gets
done training, you know, andthen you see where you're at in training
camp, and then you build onthat. You know, I think we

(03:32:35):
got the right guys in the building. It's just about putting a complete team
on the field. Camp. HowPenther colleges it to separate the business part
of the game in the actual footballplayer. Uh, you know, you
always wanna you always have to treatit like a business because you know one
day it's gonna end. Uh.And that's any job. Uh. It's

(03:32:58):
not like in college where you knowyou got four years guaranteed. I don't
know, well now you don't evenknow what nil and scraping the transfer portal
portal, But you know you haveto. You know, I still have
love for this game, and Istill work my tail off, and I
still put everything into it, andthat's not gonna change. But you have

(03:33:20):
to know what you bring to theteam and what your what your value is.
Yeah, we all did a feelto be out there with your teammates
today. Emotionally great. You know, we got a new uh, we
got a new training staff and stilllearning the the warm up a little different,
but uh, you know I lovedit. Uh, you know,
just getting after it, learning newguys. Uh, going through the same

(03:33:41):
drills I've been doing by myself.Uh. I actually like having more people
around, cause like kind of gostir crazy crazy when it's just you and
another guy, You're like, damn, I gotta go back up for another
rep already. And so you know, it's nice to be up here and
get a chance to you know,be with my guys. Cam were you
confident and people will get done withyour emotion. Oh, I'm gonna I'll

(03:34:05):
try to remain pretty neutral, causeyou know, I don't wanna be too
either way. All I know isI wanna be here, but we'll see
what happens. Is my last yearhere, I've I've I've I've had a
great career here, but uh,I'll look forward to play next year.
Can you with that second surgery,you said if this time was on the

(03:34:28):
left side. It was the firsttime around on the right side, right
side during the season, left side, and that was just tightening down my
corner. My corma saw. Itwasn't the same as my ad. Doctor.
You know, you can ask doctorBradley, uh, doctor doctor Zuckerbron
who uh did the surgery as well. You know, I if anything's gonna

(03:34:50):
help me and it'll make me alot stronger. From hearing up and you
said you were training with another guy? Who have you kind of been?
Tyson? Oh, I've been trainingwith him for the last eight years.
We've always trained together. We gota trainer up north. Uh shout out
Cole Haley. He's my guy,traded trained, trained, Uh, Heath
Miller, Brett Keesel, the multitudeof guys that I all respect and we've

(03:35:15):
just been getting after Cam. He'svery few guys historically thirty five that get
paid big contracts. You think that'sheld against you. I think there's not
a lot of history behind it.But you know, for me, I
I look at as I'm not lookingto be like anybody else. You know,
my game is different from everybody elsein this league. You know,
I like to think, you know, I can play the run in the

(03:35:37):
past, and then that's where I'mdifferent. You know, I remember last
year Mike t just brought to myattention. You know the thing that's really
cool is you watch powerlifters, andyou know, my game's built on powering
technique, and those guys go intotheir forties and so you know, that's
what kind of research I'm doing behindthe scenes. But you know, I

(03:36:00):
I We'll see what happens. There'sthere's not a lot of history, but
I'm here to make history and I'mhere to you know, I win another
super Bowl here and you know,have a great season. Do you have
a set goal for yourself or howmany years you wanna play in the NFL?
Or do you just take things hereright here? You know it was
it was tough answering that question rightafter the season. I will say this,

(03:36:22):
guys, I I can't keep answeringthat question right after the season.
That is not fair to the season, that's not fair to my family.
Uh you know, but in mymind, I got three years and I
wanna maximize them. I wanna playat a high level and I wanna go
deep in the playoffs. And youknow, we got a good team,
and I'm gonna do my part tobe ready for all those situations here.

(03:36:45):
Do you plan on practice when youreport to Latrob or is your possibility that
you might pull in and enforce thenegotiations? I I have not even thought
that far. I've taken a dayby day. Uh you know. Uh,
I told my agent and we talkedabout it. I mean, uh,
we were cool coming out here.You know, I'll be here for
many and then I'll be there fortraining band. You know, I don't

(03:37:07):
know what the work entails, butright when we get there, we'll we'll
cross that bench. Why is ita dodge for you or Romain a stealer
for those three years? You know, there was a conversation between me Omar
and Mike T And there's certain guysthat are one helmet guys, you know,

(03:37:28):
and I wanna be one of thoseone helmet guys. And you know
there's a there's a hunger and desirethere. But that doesn't mean just hanging
it up and calling her career.To me, I think, you know,
I got more bullets to fire anduh, you know, I'm excited
to do that. What's the meaningy one? You and Russell Wilis are

(03:37:48):
gonna be out there with Walter Man. Uh what Waltipayton Man of the Year
past? So I saw Russ's onsocial media. Uh, but I haven't
had a chance to see it.Uh. I'll let that surprise happens when
it happens. But you know,it's cool to have another Walter Payton Man
the Year winner. You know,I think it's an honor to be there.

(03:38:11):
And I'll say one thing, Iwon't be here. I'm just telling
you guys, So it's not abig deal. I won't be here because
I have to do a Walter Paytonmanly your thing on Thursday. So it's
not like I'm skipping, all right. But you know, it's an honor
to be with Russ, and youknow, you know it's in honor of

(03:38:31):
doing things in the community and doinggreat work. And you know, the
cool thing is, as much aswe get quarterbacks and going through these fifteen
practices, how do you want tostructure that? I know that you and
Ryan have probably talked about that agood amount, Like what's the right way
to set up a spring position battle? How many reps does everybody need?
What's sort of your plan just froma general perspective, I guess, yeah,

(03:38:54):
you know, we're really detailed inwhat practice looks like and how that's
going to operate. But I alsothink you need to let the players go,
you know, So I don't thinkyou need to put shackles on them,
so to speak, and just keepthem constrained. I think you got
to let them go and you gotto let them operate. And we were
rotating I think everybody on every twosnaps today just and that was just what
we're going to do on day one. You know, we'll reassess it after

(03:39:15):
we got through it, get achance to count up all the reps of
how many plays, how many playseach guy got and did they get more
in seven on than they did ineleven on? You know, and we'll
go through that whole thing, andthat'll be a constant flow in terms of
how we're doing it. But Ithink the best way people learn is they
learn by doing, you know.So they've been great in the meeting rooms.
They're sharp when you get them onthe board, they're really good when

(03:39:35):
they're watching film. But you gotto go out, you got to play
the game. And so the morethat we can put them in those situations
to play the game, the betterwe'll have an opportunity to evaluate them.
Thinking all of these things go backso forward with Ryan Day. You mentioned
since you've done him since she wasa kid, what were your first impressions

(03:39:56):
back then? Then she could comefull circle to now do you feel about
that? It's still the same wayhe you know, even since he was
playing little league, he was theultimate competitor, you know, and he
was always trying to find a wayto win. He was great at a
lot of sports, baseball, basketball, football, you know. I got
an opportunity to recruit him, youknow, so I coached him when I

(03:40:16):
was at New Hampshire. I recruitedhim out of high school. We all
and we grew up really close toeach other, so same elementary school,
same high school, same junior high, same college. You know. So
I've known him since for for areally long time. But that competitive fire
burns deep with him, and that'sthe one thing that I've always admired with
him. And he's got an amazingathletic brain in terms of how to process
things and how to how to putpeople in position to make place. He's

(03:40:37):
always been that prototypical coach on thefield, no matter what sport he was
playing. So I knew he wasdestined to be a coach, you know.
And I was fortunate in my careeras a head coach to have him
on my staff in a couple ofplaces, so I got a chance to
see him work firsthand, you know, I got to see him work firsthand
as a player and then as acoach. So the success he had is
not is not surprising to me,that is it is there? Where do

(03:41:01):
you see Ryan the success at?Yeah? I think we all do that.
I think we come from a uniqueplace and in a really small hometown
in New Hampshire where we all takea lot of pride to where we're from
and and when anybody's successful coming outof there, then you kind of take
a little pride that that's it's theupbringing that we all had, you know,
in the U sports program that wegrew up in in in every aspect,
whether it was football, baseball,basketball, those coaches we had an

(03:41:24):
amazing impact on us, and that'swhy we are where we are right now.
BI Columbus Dispatch. Ryan said hedoesn't think of it as you working
under him, that's working with him. Fact is he is the head coach.
He makes me call him sir thoughhe just said can you do that?
Day one? And I was like, all right, right now?

(03:41:46):
But I mean he ultimately is theis the decision maker. You've been a
head coach. How do you thinkthat's going to work? Do you think
there'll be any as close as youare, any kind of awkward moments the
right But when he's the ultimate deciderand you are working for him, Yeah,
I certainly understand my role. I'mnot al Haag like I'm not.

(03:42:07):
I'm not in charge here. Yeah, some people get that reference. Other
people don't get that reference. ButI'd certainly understand that, and I actually
kind of relish it because I reallylove the scheming part. I love the
individual part. I love being inthe meeting room of the quarterbacks and trying
to game plan. But everything wedo here is collaborative. You know.
The one thing that really struck mewhen I walked in this place is there's

(03:42:30):
an amazing coaching staff here. Youknow, And if you get a chance
to talk to Larry Johnson just aboutfootball, or Tim Walton or Jim Knowles
or Brian Hartline or any of theseguys that are on the staff here,
it's it's a very collaborative effort.I think everybody's on the same page.
You know, it's not our offenseand their defense and it's Ohio State.
You know, it's it's Ohio Stateversus the twelve opponents that we're going to

(03:42:52):
play during the regular season and thenbeyond. So it's it's really collaborative.
And that's the thing I like,just in the short time that I've been
here, how collaborative everybody's been.You know, we're all trying to make
each other better and we're all tryingto develop this team. You've touched on
this when you said, you know, you know you like to do what
you want to do and not Mysense is you, in your perfect world,

(03:43:13):
you'd like to scribble plays on anapkin and not deal with boosters,
don't deal with all the stuff thatcoaches head coaches have to deal with now.
And how much of a factor wasthat in this decision? You can
just do football? No, that'snot it. I mean, I enjoy
I mean, we've had some amazingI've had an opportunity and everywhere I've been
to meet some amazing people that areassociated with the program. And there's people

(03:43:35):
that from my time at New Hampshireor my time at Oregon. I was
just with Phil Night two weeks ago, you know, and got an opportunity
to spend some time with him andhis wife Penny, who are dear friends
of mine that have been great mentorsto me in my career. And there's
a bunch of people that at UCLA, Terry donnahe Andrea Donna who were awesome
to me. Angela Mazzoni is agreat friend, Casey Wasserman, Troy Aikman.
There was a bunch of people atUCLA that I really enjoyed, you

(03:43:56):
know, being around and talking with. So I think sometimes everybody wants to
make a narrative of it's either thisor that. It's it's it's never that.
It's never just all ball, it'snever just all recruiting. It's never
just all boosters. It's it's amixture of everything. But I think the
one thing that as this position asa head coach kept moving on is that
if you look at a lot ofthem, they all become more CEOs.
You know. I can't tell youhow many coaches that have called me since

(03:44:20):
I made this decision that said,I'm two years behind you, brother,
you know that are thinking the sameexact way, and I think it's all
part of what we have to do. I think we all need to protect
this game and promote this game,and I think there are some rules that
we need to get straightened out sothat people understand where what it's about,
because the game is still about theplayers, and I hope that never gets
discounted. You know, it's it'salways been about the players, and I

(03:44:43):
think if we can keep that atthe forefront the people that are making decisions
on this, and I think JeaneSmith is one of the best influences in
in the NCAAA, is to makesure we keep that the main thing.
The main thing needs to be thestudent athletes. You're coming in at a
time where you've been through some placeswhere the expectations are high. I understand

(03:45:03):
it's also coming into a juncture where, you know, the three losses to
Michigan, the not making the playofflast year, the urgency is pretty high
here. I guess, just sortof what perspective do you have on kind
of the stakes that there are forRyan this year and the decision that then
he makes to bring you in tokind of help solve that. Yeah,

(03:45:24):
I think the expectations can be nohigher than they are in your own brain,
you know. And I think ifyou try to worry about what other
people are thinking in their brains,you're going to get screwed up a little
bit. So, you know,I talked earlier the one thing about Ryan
that I know about him and hasalways been he's the ultimate competitor. So
he's got There's nowhere that has higherexpectations of Ohio State than Ryan does,
nor the rest of us that joinedhim in our part of this and that

(03:45:45):
are working with him. So youknow, I don't think. I think
sometimes you can spend too much timethinking about those things. You know.
What you really have to do isjust as there's a big sign as you
walk into this place, it sayswhen the moment, you know, I
think that's a real thing that wehave to do as coaches, is to
make sure that our players aren't worriedabout what's going on in the future,
or or aren't worried about what's goingon in the past, or worry about
can they get a little bit bettertoday, you know, and can we
make improvement? And I think theone thing that I've seen here, and

(03:46:09):
I've only been here for three weeks, but there's a consistency to the players
approach when they walk in this buildingevery day, which is it's unique.
It's not like that everywhere else.And it's one of the things that I
remarked to Mick when I you know, he said, Hey, what do
you think, And I was like, it's impressive. It's impressive the culture
of the players that are in thisprogram right now. But I think it
speaks a lot to the leadership.There's a lot of older players on this
team, and they've set the tonefor the younger players, and I think

(03:46:31):
the younger players have done a greatjob of followship and getting right in line
with that. It's never ended overa play calling to someone before. What
does it mean to you? Iguess he technically did it to Bill when
he was here for a couple ofweeks, But what does that mean to
you to kind of be getting thatresponsibility from him and he's calling essentially the
offense that you gave it? Iguess in some way. Yeah, I

(03:46:52):
still think the play calling part willbe a collaborative effort, and by that
I mean that if it's a goodplay, I called it, and if
it's a bad play, he calledit. A great part. As an
assistant coach, you can just pointthe finger a little bit and just say,
hey, you know, I wantedto do this, but he trumped
me. So we haven't actually discussedgame day yet. You know, we'll
see how that operates. But everywhereI've been it's been a collaborative effort,

(03:47:15):
and all of a sudden, someonethat's calling the plays isn't isn't like pulls
one out of left field that youhadn't practiced and hadn't been part of your
offense and said, hey, let'sdo this. You know, we're not
running the annexation of Puerto Rico.You know, we're not coming up with
something special you know in the middleof the fourth quarter that we haven't done.
But I think it's the key toreally being successful on offense is is
how you game plan, how youput it all together, and then how

(03:47:37):
you practice and train for that sothat you get a chance to execute it.
Because the player's confidences comes from theirdemonstrated ability that they've done this so
many times in practice that when theyget out on the field that this is
like that to them. You know, it's not that they do it so
they do it right, it's theypractice it so much so that they can't
do it wrong. So, youknow, I think it's that whole part
of it that is really the keyto being a really good game planning team.

(03:48:00):
So I can write Doug Lane maree Kings of the North Chip.
When you had that feeling when youwere coaching the quarterbacks during Bold Operation,
did you consider at that point mayberesigning as the head coach and thinking like
this is this is not where Iam anymore. I'll leave and then I'll
look to see what else is outthere. No, I never thought about
quitting anything. So you know,I just is there an opportunity that I

(03:48:24):
think I can that fit, youknow, And I think that's the you
know, it's no different than whenyou're talking to a recruit about them make
a decision on where they're gonna goto school, think that where they should
go to school is where the bestfit is for them. So, you
know, I just entertained some opportunitiesand I always felt I felt like this
was the best fit. But Inever thought about quitting or not coaching.
I'm gonna coach. I'm gonna coachand then I'm gonna die. But I

(03:48:48):
mean, that's how I think Ithink about things. Is I can't picture
that. I know someone I wason the Nike trip and they like,
how much longer are you gonna go? When I said I'd I to go
another fifteen twenty years. I don'tthink about I don't think about retirement.
I don't think about any of thosethings. That's just not kind of my
mindset that you know. I lovefootball and in the as long as I
can be part of this game,then I'll be part of this game.

(03:49:09):
Just the way things worked out withyour departure from UCLA, is there anything
that you wish you had done differently, or anything you regret, or just
that the circumstances that presented themselves.Do you think that you handled that departure
the best that you could have.Yeah, I mean I got an opportunity
to tell my players personally. Youknow, I think in this day and
age of the Internet where they readit somewhere else and you have to text

(03:49:30):
message, and you know, thatwas always important to me that I wanted
to make sure I talk to myplayers and explain the reasons of what I
was doing. I wasn't leaving totake a head coaching job somewhere else.
I wasn't thinking that the grass isgreen or at another university. Was just
in my personal situation, this iswhat I wanted to do. I wanted
to take an opportunity to go bea position coach and coordinator, and that's
how it fit. You know.What I was happy is that I always

(03:49:52):
thought to Sean Foster, I thinkthe world of them, and I think
he's a special you know. Andthe fact that that they were they gave
him the opportunity to take over therewas you know, it worked out.
I didn't have any say in thatdecision. You know, I was gone,
But I always thought that that Shaunwould be a great head coach,
and I'm really proud of them andhappy that that he got the opportunity to
take that job right behind it atyour reputation is innovator. Was part of

(03:50:18):
the appeal of this is that youget to get in the weeds a little
bit, uh maybe not mad scientists, maybe too too strong of a word,
because you're working within the system.But was there an appeal of I
get to get my hands dirty hereagain? And innovate and get back to
that side of things. It was, but it was really more important of
who I get to work with,you know, and so knowing you know,

(03:50:41):
I've got I know a lot ofguys on the staff besides Ryan also,
so you know, when I knowwhat their mindset is and what their
values are and how they do things, and so I wanted to be a
part of that. But but there'sa part of that. Yeah, how
much of a teacher you get labeledan innovator. The teachings are part of
this. How much it is howthe teacher are even how the patients are.

(03:51:03):
Yeah, I think we're all teachers. I mean, education is the
transportation of knowledge, you know.So it really doesn't matter what the coach
knows. It matters what the playersunderstand, you know. So you have
to be able to make sure thatwhile you're implementing things is what resonates with
them and how does that come backto them. So, you know,
a lot of our teaching styles thatwe've learned is more the Socratic method of
there's a lot of questions, youknow, and a lot of check for

(03:51:24):
understandings just to kind of find outwhere the players are coming from because it's
what they know that that's ultimately gonnawin games, not what we know.
You know that we're not playing thegames. We're not stepping across those white
lines, you know. And yourjob as a coach is to create an
environment where they have an opportunity tobe successful and then get out of their
way and let them go do it. So I think the teaching aspect is
huge, and we continue to research, you know, some of the latest

(03:51:46):
trends in teaching to make sure thatwe are transporting that knowledge to our players.
The second or left Steve Helwagen twentyfour seven Sports. Yeah, coach,
just trees. You got five scholarshipquarterbacks with differing levels of experience,
age and everything else. Not toannoyed him, but just want to ask
specifically about Will Howard coming in afterstarting part of two years at He is

(03:52:09):
a stage He just seems to promotethis idea that he's a football player,
you know, above all else.Just how impressed are you with his makeup,
his experience, what he's bringing tothe table walking in here right now?
Yeah? Really impressed. You know, you don't have to talk to
Will for more than five minutes tokind of know where he's coming from.

(03:52:31):
He's really focused, you know,he knows he's got a short window left
in his college career and it reallywants to capitalize on what that is.
There's a maturity to Will, youknow. I really I've had experience.
My experience in this thing since thetransfer portal opened in college football is some
of the best players I've had anopportunity to coach ward transfers. Sometimes when

(03:52:52):
you're a true freshman and it's fiveyears out, you know, it's like,
hey, I got a ton oftime, you know. And sometimes
when you're a transfer, is thatI've got nine months, you know.
So there's a sense of urgency Ithink when you're dealing with with transfers,
and I think Will has exuded thatsince he's been here. But the other
thing that I just in the shorttime that Will has been here is how
quickly he's fit in with the entireteam, you know, and how much
the the rest of the players respecthim. You know. He was uh

(03:53:15):
one of the Gold Award winners forhis work in the weight room in this
offseason, So that says a lotfor him coming in here as a in
a short time, being able toto win a weight room award, you
know, to start off, youguys hope to have the number one internally
externally at the end of spring orI guess just let it play out.
I think it always every time I'vebeen involved in these, I think when

(03:53:35):
they're organic is when it's the bestthat. I don't think you can anoint
somebody or force the issue because theplayers know the players would understand. They
see it every single day, youknow, and there's a team chemistry part
of this thing too, So we'renot going to force the issue a but
I've always seen it play itself out. So I've been fortunate that there's always
gonna be some quarterback battles that atsome point in time at every school,

(03:53:58):
there's a quarterback battle. Know inreally you I feel like in the league,
whether I left or right, you'restill going against premier guys. So
obviously you have high expectations for yourleft and right tackle. But there's definitely
uh, like the the level ofenergy and like the expectations definitely taking the
human spect because now connected the blockslike that stuff, that's the tackle roles,

(03:54:22):
you know. So so yeah,I would say in terms of communication
as far as just even outside thefacility and just stuff like that, like
really creating that tackle quarterback bond evenmore off the field, I think has
been something that's even been cool.I got a text one day as a
head like you play left, andI was like, yeah, you know,

(03:54:46):
yeah, I've been training both.I've been training both. You know.
I asked after the season. They'relike, honestly, you know,
we'll talk to you some play inthe season. And I just got a
text on like depending on what happenswith with the free agency then. So
I was like, you know what, I had a whole season right tackle,
So if I get the word,I'm going I'm standing right tackle.
I don't need to do what Idid before. I'm built on that bus.

(03:55:09):
I was like, I might asalost train the left tackle now as
if I'm gonna be a left tackle. And I'd rather do that than training
on the right time and get thecall hey you're the left tackle. I'm
like, ooh, I didn't wannaswitch on my feet yet, you know
what I mean. So I'm like, let me just prepare in advance.
I was like, yeah, let'sguy. You know, I think occasionally
i'm third down, there would bea lot of twists. I would just
know like it's I'm annomatically coming.And I think that was my mindset for

(03:55:33):
like the first half of the season, like I didn't have to go into
a gaming with surprise like oh mygosh, they did that. I kind
of figured like, okay, likethis is this is the type of rushman
again, like this is how thisguy usually rushes. If I get the
vibe, this is how the endslike the rush you know, tackles that
are you know, first year guyswho got the premier patch on. I

(03:55:54):
already knew what it was gonna be, already knew over every stunt and honestly
just knowing that it's kind of anadvantage too, so you're not you're not
you're not old. They brought thetwisted my side again, it was never
an Aaron Donald like they're coming outof minds, like three plays in a
row two minutes. I knew thatit was the way happen. So,
like you know what I mean,I'm watching more than everybody else and he
rarely England goes out there on occasionalthird downs on the d M. I

(03:56:16):
was like, you know what it'sgonna be. He's gonna pick me,
you know what I mean. Soin fact fact it's kind of it's also
kind of an advantage in the way, but it's also exciting, like Okay,
I'm gonna get the hardest look,you know. So those are real,
real reps, you know the bang. So really, I'm not I
really didn't kind of process that.I was like, hey, when they

(03:56:39):
tell me to let me know aboutI'm just gonna train it. I was
training all left, so ta's Iguess if I didn't hear anything about ta's,
I would have came in like what'syou know what I mean, because
just like I'm cool training both continue, I would have been cool training both
continually. But I still not,like, what's it been like for you
to see the early stages of howhe challenges people of how they respond to

(03:57:03):
h I mean yeah, I meanat the end of the day, I
think we're all grown men in here, so you know, you should automatically,
you know, take accountability for youknow, everything you do on the
field, whether it's something good,whether it's something bad. And I think
everybody's responded well to that, soyou know, I think that does nothing,
but you know, makes everybody betterallowed to her teammates to you know,
put more trust in to whoever itis has taken accountability at the time.

(03:57:28):
What I uh, what does youseem the guy accountable? Sea?
Yeah, I mean he's quick.You know, he can create a lot
of space and uh small spaces,so uh it's quick, you know,
uh Savva with his route running,and you know, he's just he's just
a hard worker. You know.You know there's some plays where he knows
he's not getting the ball and he'sstill still winning or out. So you
know, just to have that player, uh a a player like that give

(03:57:48):
that much effort uh on the fieldevery play, it's really really good to
see. And I think it's youknow, really uh gonna rub off on
the other guys too. I'm good. I'm bout the I'm what's it like
working with uh? Some of thetight ends that you guys happen in the
room there. I know after Smithiastraight just talked about the versatility that a
lot of the guys have, especiallyin that crip. Yeah, I mean
we have a different uh uh alot of you know, different guys in

(03:58:11):
the tight end room. You know, darn now he brings sides to the
room, Uh, Rodney Speed,Uh Connor. He has a great awareness
in the field. Pat of coursehe you know, he's a great all
a round sight end. And thenuh, you know, uh crew,
he's a he's a bat. He'ssmart, he knows what he's doing.
So, I mean just all theguys in the room, you know,

(03:58:31):
they're smart and intensive and they've if I feel like they're j a justice
to the offense. Well, so'sit. What's been like working with Tom
or from what's he been kind ofworking? What you want? Yeah,
I mean Tala's been great. Uhjust his a tis attention to detail,
the way he comes you know,in each and every day. He comes

(03:58:52):
in the same guy every day anduh to be onside and you know,
I don't think of how to coachthat getailed. But as Tom, you
know, he's very detailed in termsof you know, practice with you,
sending us uh the info, breakingdown each and every play and really just
really just focused on the details,to be honest with you. I think,
Uh that's the thing that sets himapart. And you know he's he

(03:59:15):
pushed us to be hard. Imean our our indie periods or you know,
conditioning, so of course that's goodfor us. But I mean he's
been great so far. So excitedto uh you know, allow that our
allow our relationship to grow, andexcited to work with and is what he's
doing kind of compliment what you're doingindividually, you know, when you're away
from the facility working with you know, coaches one on one or anything like
that. He said, what doeshe what does he do here that kind

(03:59:37):
of compliments what you do away fromthe facility when you're training. I mean,
I think he does different stuff,So I think, uh that's a
good thing about it. You knowsome stuff that we do here. Oh
sorry, uh, I don't youknow, usually do outside of the facility.
So it's good getting that different workin different drill work that I can
you know, implement into my youknow, off season program and stuff like

(04:00:00):
that. So it's good that I'mlearned him stuff. For sure, you'd
deep all of efficiency numbers as anytimes. That was really the last year
what what? What? What is? Uh Argia Smith in the offense talk
about you about trying to make makethat incorporate that into being a big part
of this offer. I mean,yeah, uh, I think we have
fast guys. Guys that can getdown the field with speed. Uh,
guys like Quez, Calvin, ScottieVan, you know, me and Rest.

(04:00:24):
You know, we've we've had alot of deep all success and a
lot of explosive plays in the past. So you know that's just uh,
you know what, Yeah, Iguess how our offense is built. To
be honest with you, but Imean, our job is to create explosives
and you know, push your balldown the field. So anytime we get
those ops, we definitely wanna capitalizeon those. Are your coach you have
arresting any part of your mechanics andany way fun that I mean, yeah,

(04:00:45):
uh, I think there's always roomto improve, uh, mechanic wise
and stuff like that. So Ithink, you know, Matt Baker,
Uh, he's a poor quarterback assistant. He you know, usually stays on
me the most about it. SoI appreciate the fact that he does that,
and I usually you know, makesure he doesn't make sure I just
just stay on top of it,you know, as a whole, and
you know, make sure mechanics arealways cleaned. Can you talk about one

(04:01:07):
particularly element that they're stressed. It'sit's different areas to be honest, I
don't think it's just one specific area, but it's it's different areas. Justin
in your opinion, was there somethingthat you wanted to work on, maybe
get better at when you got hereat this point in your career. I
mean, like like I said,there's you know, no matter who you
are, you know there's always stuffto get better at, always different areas.
Nobody's perfect in one area, SoI think you can continue to prove

(04:01:30):
in all aired in my game,you know me personally, so I'm just
focused on getting better. When wetalked at Russ yesterday, he said that
rusted that he personally felt kind ofrevived you being in another step in his
career. Is there any of thatsense of maybe rejuvenation or feeling revived?
Obviously you haven't been in the leaguefor thirteen years, but is there a
new energy that you get being ina different organization, going through mini camp

(04:01:52):
in a different way for the firsttime. I think so, you know,
just being around a new team,uh an organization, let's player,
but to stay on day one thatI think that our scheme is going to
be this, this or this,it's you know, that's going to be
a work in progress. As westart to get familiar with what the player's
skill sets are and then what wecan do. And it's always a combination
of what you have upfront and thenwhat you have out back. And I

(04:02:13):
know we've got a couple of reallytalented running backs behind them, so you
know, it's something that we're goingto look at. But I also know
you can't be one dimensional in football. You need to be able to throw
the ball as much as run theball. You know, It's funny.
Some people think I'm an area guy, some people think I'm a wing tea
guy. Some people think I wantto run the ball every down. You
know, we're gonna We're gonna dowhat's best for a house state, and
that's that's kind of what our gameplan is right now, right Austin were

(04:02:35):
a podcast. When do you thinkabout your first evaluations of the quarterbacks and
going through these fifteen practices at howdo you want to structure that? I
know that you and Ryan have probablytalked about that a good amount, Like
what's the right way to set upa spring position battle? How many reps
does everybody need? What's sort ofyour plan just from a general perspective,

(04:02:56):
I guess yeah, you know,we're really detailed in what practice looks like
and how that's going to operate.But I also think you need to let
the players go, you know,So I don't think you need to put
shackles on them, so to speak, and just keep them constrained. I
think you got to let them goand you got to let them operate.
And we were rotating I think everybodyon every two snaps today just and that
was just what we're going to doon day one. You know, we'll
reassess it after we got through it, get a chance to count up all

(04:03:18):
the reps of how many plays,how many plays each guy got, and
did they get more in seven onthan they did in eleven on? You
know, and we'll go through thatwhole thing, and that'll be a constant
flow in terms of how we're doingit. But I think the best way
people learn is they learn by doing, you know. So they've been great
in the meeting rooms, they're sharpwhen you get them on the board,
they're really good when they're watching film. But you got to go out and

(04:03:39):
you got to play the game.And so the more we can put them
in those situations to play the game, the better we'll have an opportunity to
evaluate them. Ship thinking all ofthese things go back so forth with Bryan
Day. You mentioned that you've noticedsince you was a kid, what were
your first impressions back then? Andthen she come full circle to now like

(04:04:03):
how do you how do you feelabout that? It's still the same way
he you know, even since hewas playing little league, he was the
ultimate competitor, you know, andhe was always trying to find a way
to win. He was great ata lot of sports, baseball, basketball,
football. You know. I gotan opportunity to recruit him, you
know, so I coached him whenI was at New Hampshire. I recruited
him out of high school and weall and we grew up really close to
each other, so same elementary school, same high school, same junior high,

(04:04:26):
same college. You know. SoI've known him since for for a
really long time. But that competitivefire burns deep with him, and that's
the one thing that I've always admiredwith him. And he's got an amazing
athletic brain in terms of how toprocess things and how to how to put
people in position to make place.He's always been that prototypical coach on the
field, no matter what sport hewas playing. So I knew he was
destined to be a coach, youknow. And I was fortunate in my

(04:04:50):
career as a head coach to havehim on my staff in a couple of
places, so I got a chanceto see him work firsthand, you know.
I got to see him work firsthandas a player and then as a
coach. So the success he hadis not is not surprising to me.
Is is there where you seeing Ryanthe success is at? Yeah? I
think we all do that. Ithink we come from a unique place and
in a really small hometown in NewHampshire where we all take a lot of

(04:05:13):
pride to where we're from and andwhen anybody's successful coming out of there,
then you kind of take a littlepride that that's it's the upbringing that we
all had, you know, inthe U sports program that we grew up
in in in every aspect, whetherit was football, baseball, basketball,
those coaches we had an amazing impacton us, and that's why we are
where we are right now. Uh. For gir Bill Rabinwick Columbus Dispatch,

(04:05:33):
Ryan said he doesn't think of itas you working under him, that's working
with him. Fact is he isthe head coach. Reading off, he
makes me call him sir though hejust said can you do that? Day
one? And I was like,alright right now? But I mean he
ultimately is a is the decision maker. You've been a head coach. How

(04:05:54):
do you think that's going to work? Do you think there'll be any as
close as you are? Any kindof awkward mumbas the right term. But
when he's the ultimate decider and youare working for him, Yeah, I
certainly understand my role. I'm notal haag like I'm not in charge here.
Yeah. Some people get that reference. Other people don't get that reference.

(04:06:16):
But I'd certainly understand that, andI actually kind of relish it because
I really love the scheming part.I love the individual part. I love
being in the meeting room of thequarterbacks and trying to game plan. But
everything we do here is collaborative.You know. The one thing that really
struck me when I walked in thisplace is there's an amazing coaching staff here.
You know, And if you geta chance to talk to Larry Johnson

(04:06:37):
just about football, or Tim Waltonor Jim Knowles or Brian Hartline or any
of these guys that are on thestaff here, it's it's a very collaborative
effort. I think everybody's on thesame page. You know. It's not
our offense and their defense and it'sOhio State, you know, and it's
it's Ohio State versus the twelve opponentsthat we're going to play during the regular
season and then beyond. So it'sit's really collaborate. And that's the thing

(04:07:00):
I like, just in the shorttime that I've been here, is how
collaborative everybody's been. You know,we're all trying to make each other better
and we're all trying to develop thisteam. Touched on this, h you
said, you know, you liketo do what you want to do and
not My sense is you, inyour perfect world, you'd like to scribble
plays on a napkin and not dealwith boosters, do deal with all the
stuff that coaches head coaches have todeal with now And how much of a

(04:07:24):
factor was that in this decision?You can just do football? No,
that's not it. I mean Ienjoy I mean we've had some amazing I've
had an opportunity and everywhere I've beento meet some amazing people that are associated
with the program. And there's peoplethat from my time at New Hampshire or
my time at Oregon. I wasjust with Phil Night two weeks ago,
you know, and got an opportunityto spend some time with him and his
wife Penny, who are dear friendsof mine that have been great mentors to

(04:07:48):
me in my career. And there'sa bunch of people that and UCLA,
Terry donnahe Andrea Donna who were awesometo me. Angela Mazzoni is a great
friend, Casey Wassman, Troy Aikman. There was a bunch of people at
UCLA that I really enjoyed, youknow, being around and talking with.
So I think sometimes everybody wants tomake a narrative of it's either this or
that. It's it's it's never that. It's never just all ball, it's
never just all recruiting. It's neverjust all boosters. It's it's a mixture

(04:08:11):
of everything. But I think theone thing that as this position as a
head coach kept moving on is thatif you look at a lot of them,
they all become more CEOs. Youknow. I can't tell you how
many coaches that have called me sinceI made this decision that said I'm two
years behind you, brother, youknow that are thinking the same exact way,
and I think it's all part ofwhat we have to do. I
think we all need to protect thisgame and promote this game, and I

(04:08:31):
think there are some rules that weneed to get straightened out so that people
understand what it's about, because thegame is still about the players, and
I hope that never gets discounted.You know, it's it's always been about
the players, and I think ifwe can keep that at the forefront the
people that are making decisions on this, and I think Jean Smith is one
of the best influences in the NCAAA, is to make sure we keep that

(04:08:54):
the main thing. The main thingneeds to be the student athletes. You
know, you're coming in at atime where you've been through some places where
the expectations are high. I understandit's also coming into a juncture where,
you know, the three losses toMichigan, the not making the playoff last
year, the urgency is pretty highhere. I guess, just sort of

(04:09:16):
what perspective do you have on kindof the stakes that there are for Ryan
this year and the decision that thenhe makes to bring you in to kind
of help solve that. Yeah,I think the expectations can be no higher
than they are in your own brain, you know. And I think if
you try to worry about what otherpeople are thinking in their brains, you're
going to get screwed up a littlebit. So, you know, I
talked earlier the one thing about Ryanthat I know about him and has always

(04:09:39):
been he's the ultimate competitor. Sohe's got There's nowhere that has higher expectations
of Ohio State than Ryan does,nor the rest of us that joined him
and are a part of this andthat are working with him. So you
know, I don't think I thinksometimes you can spend too much time thinking
about those things. You know.What you really have to do is just
as there's a big sign as youwalk into this place that says when the
moment, you know, I thinkthat's a real thing that we have to

(04:10:00):
do as coaches, is to makesure that our players aren't worried about what's
going on in the future, oror aren't worried about what's going on in
the past, or worry about canthey get a little bit better today,
you know, and can we makeimprovement and I think the one thing that
I've seen here and I've only beenhere for three weeks, but there's a
consistency to the players approach when theywalk in this building every day, which
is it's unique. It's not likethat everywhere else. And it's one of
the things that I remarked to Mickwhen I you know, he said,

(04:10:22):
Hey, what do you think,And I was like, it's impressive.
It's impressive the culture of the playersthat are in this program right now.
But I think it speaks a lotto the leadership. There's a lot of
older players on this team, andthey've set the tone for the younger players,
and I think the younger players havedone a great job of followship and
getting right in line with that.He's never handed over a play calling to
someone before. What does it meanto you? I guess he technically did

(04:10:43):
it to Bill when he was herefor the couple weeks, But what does
that mean to you to kind ofbe getting that responsibility from him and he's
calling essentially the offense that you gaveit. I guess in some way.
Yeah, I still think the playcalling part will be a collaborative effort,
and by that I mean that ifit's a good play, I called it,
and if it's a bad play,he called it. Because the great
part is an assistant coach, youjust hen point the finger a little bit

(04:11:05):
and just say, hey, youknow, I wanted to do this,
but he trumped me. So wehaven't actually discussed game day yet. You
know, we'll see how that operates. But everywhere I've been it's been a
collaborative effort, and all of asudden, someone that's calling the plays isn't
isn't like pulls one out of leftfield that you hadn't practiced and hadn't been
part of your offense and said,hey, let's do this. You know,

(04:11:26):
we're not running the annexation of PuertoRico. You know, we're not
coming up with something special you knowin the middle of the fourth quarter that
we haven't done. But I thinkit's the key to really being successful on
offense is is how you game plan, how you put it all together,
and then how you practice and trainfor that so that you get a chance
to execute it. Because the player'sconfidences comes from their demonstrated ability that they've

(04:11:46):
done this so many times in practicethat when they get out on the field
that this is like that to them. You know, it's not that they
do it so they do it right, it's they practice it so much so
that they can't do it wrong.So, you know, I think it's
that whole part of it is reallythe key to being a really good game
planning team. Can Doug Lane maree kingly north Ship When you had that

(04:12:07):
feeling when you were coaching in quarterbacksduring Bold that preparation, did you consider
at that point maybe resigning as thehead coach and thinking like this is this
is not where I am anymore.I'll leave and then I'll look to see
what else is out there. No, I never thought about quitting anything.
So you know, I just isthere an opportunity that I think I can

(04:12:28):
that fit, you know, AndI think that's the you know, it's
no different than when you're talking toa recruit about that make a decision on
where they're gonna go to school.I think that where they should go to
school is where the best fit isfor them. So, you know,
I just entertained some opportunities and Ialways felt I felt like this was the
best fit. But I never thoughtabout quitting or not coaching. I'm gonna
coach. I'm gonna coach and thenI'm gonna die. But I mean,

(04:12:50):
that's how I think I think aboutthings. Is I can't picture that.
I know someone I was on theNike trip and they like, how much
longer are you gonna go? WhenI said I to go another fifteen twenty
years. I don't think about Idon't think about retirement. I don't think
about any of those things. That'sjust not kind of my mindset that you
know. I love football and inthe as long as I can be part
of this game, then I'll bepart of this game. You have just

(04:13:13):
the way things worked out with yourdeparture from UCLA, is there anything that
you wish you had done differently,or anything you regret, or just that
the circumstances that presented themselves. Doyou think that you handled that departure the
best that you could have? Yeah, I mean I got an opportunity to
tell my players personally. You know, I think in this day and age
of the Internet where they read itsomewhere else and you have to text message
him, you know, that wasalways important to me that I wanted to

(04:13:35):
make sure I talk to my playersand explain the reasons of what I was
doing. I wasn't leaving to takea head coaching job somewhere else. I
wasn't thinking that the grass is greenerat another university. Was just in my
personal situation, this is what Iwanted to do. I wanted to take
an opportunity to go be a positioncoach and coordinator, and that's how it
fit. You know. What Iwas happy is that I always thought to
Sean Foster, I think the worldof them, and I think he's a

(04:13:58):
special you know. And the factthat that that they were they gave him
the opportunity to take over there wasyou know, it worked out. I
didn't have any say in that decision. You know, I was gone,
But I always thought that Deshaun wouldbe a great head coach, and I'm
really proud of them and happy thatthat he got the opportunity to take that
job right behind him. You haveyour reputation as innovator. Was part of

(04:14:20):
the appeal of this is that youget to get in the weeds a little
bit, uh maybe not mad scientists, maybe too too strong of a work
because you're working within the system.But was there an appeal of you get
to get my hands dirty here againand innovate and to get back to that
side of things. It was,but it was really more important of who
I get to work with, youknow, and so knowing you know,

(04:14:45):
I've got I know a lot ofguys on the staff besides Ryan also,
so you know, when I knowwhat their mindset is and what their values
are and how they do things,and so I wanted to be a part
of that. But but there's apart of that. Yeah, yeah,
how much of a teacher you getlabeled in the innovator The teachings are part
of this. How much is ishow a teacher are you and how patient

(04:15:05):
are Yeah? I think we're allteachers. I mean, education is the
transportation of knowledge, you know.So it really doesn't matter what the coach
knows. It matters what the playersunderstand, you know. So you have
to be able to make sure thatwhile you're implementing things is what resonates with
them and how does that come backto them. So, you know,
a lot of our teaching styles thatwe've learned is more of the Socratic method

(04:15:26):
of there's a lot of questions,you know, and a lot of check
for understandings just to kind of findout where the players are coming from,
because it's what they know that that'sultimately gonna win games, not what we
know. You know that we're notplaying the games. We're not stepping across
those white lines, you know.And your job as a coach is to
create an environment where they have anopportunity to be successful and then get out
of their way and let them godo it. So I think the teaching

(04:15:46):
aspect is huge, and we continueto research, you know, some of
the latest trends in teaching to tomake sure that we are transporting that knowledge
to our players. Coach, justcurious, you got five scholarship quarterbacks with
differing levels of experience, age andeverything else. Not to annoyed him,

(04:16:07):
but just want to ask specifically aboutWill Howard coming in after starting part of
two years at He is a state. He just seems to promote this idea
that he's a football player, youknow above all else. Just how impressed
are you with his makeup, byhis experience, what he's bringing to the
table walking in here right now?Yeah? Really impressed. You know,

(04:16:30):
you don't have to talk to Willfor more than five minutes to kind of
know where he's coming from. He'sreally focused. You know, he knows
he's got a short window left inhis college career and it really wants to
capitalize on what that is. There'sa maturity to Will, you know.
I really I've had experience, Myexperience in this thing since the transferportal opened
in college football is some of thebest payers I've had an opportunity to coach

(04:16:52):
ward transfers. Sometimes when you're atrue freshman and it's five years out,
you know, it's like, hey, I got a ton of time.
You know. Sometimes when you're atransfer, is that I've got nine months,
you know, So there's a senseof urgency I think when you're dealing
with with transfers, and I thinkWill has exuded that since he's been here.
But the other thing that I justin the short time that Will has
been here is how quickly he's fitin with the entire team, you know,

(04:17:14):
and how much the rest of theplayers respect him. You know.
He was one of the Gold Awardwinners for his work in the weight room
in this offseason, So that saysa lot for him coming in here as
a in a short time, beingable to win a weight room award,
you know, to start off tohave the number one internally externally at the
end of spring or I guess justI think it always every time I've been

(04:17:37):
involved in these, I think whenthey're organic is when it's the best.
I don't think you can anoint somebodyor force the issue because the players know
the players would understand. They seeit every single day, you know,
and there's a team chemistry part ofthis thing too, So we're not going
to force the issue. But I'vealways seen it play itself out. So
I've been fortunate that there's always goingto be some quarterback battles that at some

(04:18:00):
point in time at every school there'sa quarterback battle, you know, and
then and really you got to letthem play it out on the field,
and that's where it has to that'swhere it has to be decided. Hey,
welcome, and we we're excited tohave you here. I'm kind of
to talk about the innovative part.Ryan said that that's something that he's always
loved about working with you, andnow he wants you to bring that here

(04:18:22):
and how to fit with Ohio stake. Do you have any idea what that's
going to look like yet or isit just way too up? I have
no idea, you know. Ithink part of it is is you're trying
to put the players in position tomake plays. So a lot of that
comes from getting to understand the playersand what their skill sets are and how
we feature what their skill sets are, you know, And the one thing

(04:18:42):
after day one, I can tellyou that there's a lot of skill set
out there, you know. Sothat's that's what gets you excited, you
know, That's what That's what youjump out of bed in the morning and
you're excited to go to work becauseof the talent that you get to work
with. But the one thing that'sthe most impressive is the work ethic that
goes along with that talent. Youknow, it's not just empty talent.
It's is you got some kids whowant to I mean all of them since

(04:19:03):
I've been here, want to work. So that that's what gets you excited.
But I think assessing what the skillset is you know that we have
available to us on the offensive sideof the ball, is vitally important.
And then our job is to putthose guys in positions to make place.
You've made places good lots of pressure. I mean, you've experienced what it's
like to coach National Championship call overteams this program right now and moving into

(04:19:26):
a situation where you got to winQuicken now. So does that feel like
pressure here for you or is ita little bit of excitement or both?
Well, I've always subscribed to aspressure is what you feel when you don't
know what you're doing. So ifyou don't want to feel pressure, and
then you should know what you're doing. So, you know, I think
it's it's part of that, andI think part of our job with our
players in terms of the education processis getting them to understand that too.

(04:19:47):
Is that you know, it's it'sabout your preparation, It's about you and
your development. It's not about thatyou can't be governed by what other people
say. It's it's what's my mindsetand how am I intrinsically motivated? And
then how do I really compete againstmyself on a daily basis to get a
little bit better. You know,we got a little bit better today because
we get out on the field todayand got a chance to do some football.
And then the challenges when we getback on the field on Thursday,

(04:20:10):
can we be a little bit betterthan we were on Tuesday? And if
we're doing that, then we keepstacking good days on top of good days,
and I think we'll be in goodspot. Chip and welcome, thank
you. I'm gonna ask about thepros and cons of coaching from the box
and coaching from the field. It'sinteresting talk to some off some coordinators.
Tom Herman talked about he swore hewanted to coach from the box. Saw
the game so much better, sterileenvironment, not all the chaos on the

(04:20:30):
field. Some coaches you talk tothe like, I want to be on
the field so I can look atmy guys in there in the eye.
Where are you at as a asa coordinator? Honestly, And I've thought
of this a lot. I thoughtof it a lot during COVID because we
had the empty stands, you know, so I had thought about just walking
up into the stands for a littlebit because I had a better advantage.
I've always believed you can see thegame better from up above, but I

(04:20:51):
believe you can feel the game betterfrom the field. So if there was
any way we could get a zipwire where you could do both, you
know, coach called from there,then zip down of the field, get
a chance to talk to him,because it's a different deal when you're talking
to the quarterbacks on a phone,you know, than being able to look
in their eye and kind of seewhere they are with it. And part
of it is the field part ofit. I remember when I coached Ryan

(04:21:11):
once. We were playing Yukon andhe got hit hard going out of bounce
and he just walked by me,and I was a play caller, and
he was like, run the nextplay, and I just kind of looked
at him. I saw the lookin his eyes because I don't think he
could have thrown it. You know, he was still trying to get his
win back. But you wouldn't knowthat if you're up in the booth,
you know, and you call apass play from up in the booth and
you're like, how come we can'tcomplete that? Well, he just took

(04:21:32):
a shot going out of bound.So it's that fine line and I don't
have an answer, you know.I think I think it's feel on the
ground and it's see from up above. Maybe in this day a technology,
they'll figure it out. But we'llsee how that that that operates, and
whatever Ryan feels is the best forthe team is what we're gonna do so
your team's at the organ were obviouslyno, we're playing this assid pace and

(04:21:56):
run a bunch of plays for aminute and you not act by as fast
and you said s s pretty fast. Yeah, what rule do you see
tempo and having an offense and inthe stay? Yeah, in college football
and has it maybe changed? Ithink the game is always evolving, you
know. I think when I leftin two thousand twelve to go to the
National Football League, Oregon was theonly team that was playing really really fast

(04:22:18):
and had shiny helmets. And whenI came back in two thousand seventeen,
everybody had shiny helmets and everybody wasplaying fast. So I think the game
is always gonna go up and down, and there's gonna be different cycles that
it goes through. I I thinktempo is part of when those two kids,
cause I recruited on when they wasin high school. So uh,
I'm mouth of the challenge and theresponsibility of it. Uh right behind it,
Damn Hope eleven Warrior Carlos, Justwhat is your kind of coaching philosophy?

(04:22:42):
How do you get the best outof your running backs? I get
the best out'em cause I lovethe Maya. My main focus is it
changed, Uh, the hearts andminds of'em, and they'd played for
me. I had just got throughwe reading Coach Treels was Windess Manual and
it's someday that I took from thatbook. You have your purpose and you
have your goals, all right.My purpose is to serve and pourant to

(04:23:04):
the young man. Now my goalsis a football coach. All of them
are take care of themselves. Sothat's one of the ways. I'm just
real relationship based and I'm very detailedat this position. I know y'all heard
me say before, and I'm gonnakeep saying. This is the worst coach
position in football. It's terrible.Guys hire anybody to coaches position and recruiters.
CARLS. Locker is not a recruiter. I'm an elite relationship builder,

(04:23:27):
but I coached this position. I'ma ball coach, so that's who I
am. So I'm pouring to thesekids. I think they kind of seeing
it now and I jumped in dayone. I'm ready to coach, and
I'm gonna use the phrase that cookies. Where did that phrase come from?
Kind of what was this boy?Let me tell you about that boy.
I've been called everything but the namethe child of God by the people at

(04:23:48):
the other places I left, sothat I been getting pills Hey, Pillsbury
needs to give me a deal,cause I've been getting I been getting some
DM and texts some of it.Some of them have been so funny.
The sawbat's cookie thing came from justhaving a frame of mind, a mental
toughness. It had nothing to dowith guys getting in the portal and anything.

(04:24:10):
Now most people say I'm a saftbat'scookie for leaving there, but actually
I'm not because it takes great strengthto make a decision to leave a place.
No, a weak minded person wouldn'tbe able to make the decisions I
make, So it took great strengthto do that. So I'm telling you,
if I literally in my DMS,it's some It's some great comedians out
here that have been sending me liketons of cookies, and I'm like,

(04:24:32):
it's funny. Right behind him,Tony, how have you going about the
assessment of the talent in the roomover the past week or two? How
much is that on field and offfield? Like, what's the process of
getting to know who you have asplayers? Well, I broke down well,
me being a guy that loves therunning back positions, and I already

(04:24:52):
broke those kids down because I recruitthem out of high school. You know,
Cue is from where I'm from.And Montgomery was one of the first
guys to offer him just watching him, great contact, balance, creative runner,
great hands and trey. I recruitedhim out of Virginia exceptional short air,
your bursting quickness and things that I'mgonna help him get better on.

(04:25:14):
And then I recruited James Peoples outof t out of San Antonio, Texas.
I knew what he was gonna whathe was gonna be. TC and
Sam. Those two kids I'm gettingto know and I'm gonna help them improve
the game. But we got differentrunners in there. I like to call
myself, I'm in love with thisposition, so I get the break down
runners and help their game. Sotalented, talented room, very talented,

(04:25:38):
Uh far back uh. Jeremy BrookinghamPodcast Couch. How do you swear the
fact that saw fast cookies actually thebest cookies? To Philip Burt Max and
or those are way better than thecountry chips and white things with terity,
I mean, do you do.You have to first find a balance there
or someone. Well, for me, I'm actually not eating any cookies.

(04:26:00):
Nah, I'm just saying I'm noteating any cookies this year. I gave
it up for a fast or nosweets for me for the whole year.
That's something I gave up. Sothey the term the south bast cookie term.
Look, guys, I actually tookthat from I represent the high school
coaches of Myth, Tennessee. Iactually took that from a guy named coach
Slocum. He used to always saythat south bast cookie. I actually stole

(04:26:22):
that from him. I give himcredit for it, and I tell him
all the time he said, youI should have branded that, cause you
done took it and ran away withit. But that's just where that comes
from. So that that now wasstanding as you get to Ohios stand and
you start to look around the country, any Oregon's a big place. That's
a that's a major job with Howhow do you think that rare you opposite
of logo under jazz brand blocko whenyou get out out of living free and

(04:26:45):
trail, how does that change theway that you feel you're either received or
or does it add a different levelto it to just feeling like I could
go anywhere and get anybody in theempty And that's the sagest thing for me.
This is a great place. Oregonis a great place too. But
guess what, whatever I put on, I know what I'm going to represent

(04:27:08):
for me. I N I NI know who who put me here?
Uh? I know I represented somethinghigher, you know. Like I told
you, I know what my purposeis. My purpose is to porting to
people. So whatever logo I haveon, I'm still gonna be doing the
same thing. So this is agreat logo, great logo, but I
wear another logo every day. It'sacross I see around my neck. I

(04:27:30):
know what I represent. So that'sthe greatest logo I could ever wear.
So it don't matter what other logoI have on. I got that one
on. I'm going to any houseand be a recruit. Uh uh deep
right camera tiqu Robinson and the Athleticso which you you mentioned your time in
Memphis and themis for NFL running backs. You mentioned there who you learned from

(04:27:52):
that time that you that you cantake over to manage you to grow and
keep. What did I learn fromthem? I just building up just teaching
the kids. We live in sucha selfish world though, and I could
tell kids all the times, it'sgotta be much more to football. The
ball gonna go flat one day.As I always say, what being in
that room there at Memphis is,it wasn't four five teaching them how to

(04:28:17):
be about about being one? Itell you them in all time, it
doesn't cost you anything to celebrate anotherman's success. So teaching them how to
be one, and then once theylearned to be one, they functioned in
They feed off one another. Sothat's what I learned from being there in
Memphis. In road cross hearted.Your career in law enforcement kind of influence
you as a coach and kind ofshape where you are. Oh well,

(04:28:40):
I just got through talking to somebodyabout that today. When I first got
in this profession and I got myown room in Western Tech, I was
akeed. No, how was Iwas gonna be able to handle m my
room? I said, Man,I had a power with fifty one inmates.
You talking about me having six orseven guys? Are you kidding me?

(04:29:02):
I'm talking about me having to dotraffic stops. So going on domestic
no violence calls, it's simple easy. No, people won't know what you
care. Also know, you gottahave a certain demeaning about yourself. So
when I walk into the room,it's the reason why I go train every
morning. This is when it's thesame thing when I was a police officer.
You look a certain way kind ofdeter people from doing certain things.

(04:29:25):
So it's reason why I go trainevery morning. I'm gonna look just as
good as my boys look. SoU it helped out a lot. In
other words, uh from right AustinMore the podcast Carls Welcome to Columbus.
What would it mean to I don'tknow, revolutionize the way running backs or
coach? What does that take?I ain't you know. I'm not gonna

(04:29:48):
say revolutionized, just some good.It's some good running back coaches out here.
Everybody's different. It's some great coachesout here. I just want to
head guys who say that on thesejobs to not just hire guys. No,
all coaches on your staff should begreat recruiters. Not just a running
back coach. We coach a position. We developed the players as well.
I just want the coaches to realize, hey, you know what, let

(04:30:11):
me look and be thorough about thisguy that I'm hiring for this job.
Is he teaching the position? Ishe developing the position? Because you're not
gonna hire anybody just coach quarterbacks,are you. Well, it shouldn't be
like that for the running back positioneither. And I'm only passionate about it
cause I played it. I loveit, So it's the only position I
want to coach. Could I coachthe other positions? Yeah? I played
dB in college too, but Ilove the running back position so and I

(04:30:33):
just wanted to see it coach well. Too many podcasts, Yeah, a
million questions. All that's keupule Numberone? When you when you when your
wife whatever? You got the messagestuff? Or are we moving again?
What was What was her reaction?Nah, she's just now. God that
give us, gave us a newassignment, she w It was never like
we're moving again. Let me tellyou guys something I grew up. My

(04:30:53):
mom was in the military, soI lived everywhere. I lived in Panama,
all South America. I'm used topicking up moving. I lived in
Fort Roley, Kansas, Montgomery's homeif it is my second home, so
I'm I'm used to moving now.My wife it was different for her,
but she just knew guy that gaveus a new assignment. So it's time
to go. What did what didcoach they tell you when he heard you

(04:31:14):
that he wants out of you.That may be different. It's not slamming
somebody else. But what did hesay he wanted you to bring to the
running back room. I think hedid his research on me. He said
he wanted the guy to develop theposition. And that's not taking a shot
at the coach that was here whoI'm friends with. He said they didn't

(04:31:34):
want somebody to really get the guysgoing. I can only be me,
and I told him that coach,I'm gonna be me every day now because
see, my mindset is when Istep in this building, I got one
mindset. That's to do my jobso well that the living, dead or
unborn can do it any better.So when I leave it, that's what

(04:31:55):
my mindset is. Hopefully I'm herefor a long time, but only God
knows that. But that's my mindset. Every day step into the hayes Son,
that's my mindset. I'm gonna domy job so well living everyone doesn't
really know how to handle it properly. You see it currently, I mean
it's just it's a variable that's newand how to handle it. There's not
a transcript on on how to handlethat variable. So you just guys just

(04:32:18):
trying to do what they think isright. That's all they're really trying to
do. And I'm not saying thereright or wrong, but he was trying
to do the same, and uh, you know, I think at the
end of the day he realized manmade the wrong decision and we connected on
it. We talked about it,and you know, it was a great
opportunity to to to write or wrong. And uh, obviously we're very glad
he's here. I've always believed inhim. We believe in him, and

(04:32:40):
he believes in himself and that's partof the just trying to understand what's my
path, right. So uh butyeah, it's been great steps have been
made. He's growing, Uh,but he's nowhere near where he knows he's
capable of being. He's just reallya price caremia. I love the way
he lived. I love the wayhe approaches things. I love the way

(04:33:03):
the questions he asks. I lovethe way he makes mistakes and then correct
mistakes. It's very veteran like.I mean, there's so much Ball.
He has to learn, like heliterally does things that are good. I'm
like, do you know what thatworked? He goes, coach, I
have no freaking idea, So likeI'm trying to teach him all of that
why it worked, so then youknow, the consistency at which it works

(04:33:23):
just goes to the roof. Andso but I'm very you know, excited
and proud of the conversations we're currentlyhaving, and I'm exciting it for them
to keep going by what power foryou working with I love working with Chip
Chip Is. I love talking Ball. I love the viewpoints, I love

(04:33:48):
I love the veteran that he has, you know, and I love Yeah,
like I love all of it.I think that, you know,
early on the biggest fact, youknow, just you know, feeling perspective.
I think in the run game hasbeen awesome, you know, and
then you know, off of therun game some of the actions or relief

(04:34:11):
throws or all that kind of stuff. I love where it's at. I
love working with them, and Iwould say that I sleep a little better,
all right. No, it's it'sreally a great combo because, like

(04:34:33):
you know, we're obviously we're doinga lot as a group it's not just
Chip and I so but you know, obviously Chip has an image and a
view on things that I never had. So to have that experience and to
have that viewpoint, I'm just tryingto absorb as much as i can,
but then also highlight some things thatwe've really done a good job of and
make sure those you know, nothing'sreally changing, We're just trying to enhance.

(04:34:56):
We're not changing, we're enhancing.So where the things fit, it's
perfect, you know, I think, uh, you know, the rest
of the dynamics and search Chip cantalk about, but it's been it's been
awesome, so I'm excited about it. We talked to a Mecca. They're
just talking about moving from slot tothe house side. You know how good
we've been in the slot is thatis difficult move for you guys's coaches to

(04:35:19):
know how good a guy is onone spot but know that maybe for his
long term future and the no.I wouldn't say it's anything on his future,
because he's capable of doing whatever youwant to get done. But I'd
say that it says more about theroom. I think it's it's the growth
of you know, Brandon, andthe growth grow of Bryson. That's really

(04:35:41):
you know, allowing my mind tosay, hey, Mech, be prepared.
You're gonna move around a lot.You're gonna come out of that slot.
You're gonna be outside. We're goingto create mismatches out there. I
mean, his ability to move aroundis critical. But I would say between
Mech and between Carnell TAS's ability tomove around a lot, it's going to
provide a lot of flexibility for ourroom. And uh and those top you

(04:36:02):
know, six seven guys that arereally doing a good job right now.
Progress look like this spring for Meccabecause there's no times think it's one of
those things. I'm true where youguys balanced, how much the worst does
a need versus too much? Yeah, heavy, heavy emphasis on what work
he needs, you know, versusanything else. Uh. I rely on
him. We have great dialogue backand forth. It's a two way to

(04:36:22):
it's a two way conversation. Anduh, frankly, there's gonna be times
we're like, hey, Mac,what do you wanna do today? You
wanna go outside? You gona goinside, and I don't care. So,
uh, we're not there yet.We will be there. But it's
just more about you know, whenthe room is ready to start mixing things
up, I would say, there'sgod. I mean, I make sure

(04:36:53):
I bring in guys that are ableto do all, but I have not
asked them to yet. So theonly guys that in our currently I've asked
to do that has been Mecca andCarnell, and those are probably the two
guys that I would, you know, think heavily on doing moving around a
lot. I'm not putting that onanybody else right now, not saying they
can't, but at this point,having two guys being able to swing,

(04:37:15):
you probably don't need much more thanthat. I need guys being experts at
what they're good at, so itit helps the offense. Don't be great
at everything and be an expert atsomething and we can use that to our
to our advantage. This year isdifferent, like maybe guys were more situation.
The room's always different, frankly,I mean from twenty eighteen and then

(04:37:36):
nineteen and through COVID and and thoseguys, and and then the depth of
those guys and then where Meca andMarvin and those guys were as freshmen compared
to you know, it's just it'salways different. And uh, I expect
this one to be different again,and I think guys like him, when
they come to our scheme are thebest is brought out of them. So

(04:37:57):
I'm excited to see what potential hehas. He's year nine, so I
feel like you as a d lineman, you can keep improving all the way
through ten years in this league.So I'm excited to see what he's got.
How old did you know Sorenson whenhe was assistant here and you've gotten
to know him a lot that it'sa relationship made right now. I know

(04:38:19):
him pretty well. He was alwaysjust a good dude around the facility.
He did our ball meetings, sohe's good in front of a group.
He's a good leader. He knowsthe scheme really well, which is good.
I was happy to see him promoted. He called me in the offseason.

(04:38:40):
We talked. I just congratulated him, and I think he's gonna bring
something similar to what we had withthe Miko would be good. Do you
know Brandon Stanley well at all?I mean, obviously Joey played for him.
I don't know too much about him. I've obviously heard from my brother,
but I don't even think i've saidhigh haven't ran into him yet,

(04:39:00):
but I'm sure i'll get to knowhim. When you say it looks similar
to Miko, the energy or thesystem, maybe a little different energy,
but I think just knowing the systemfrom the front to the back, I
think he knows how it ties in. And he's been around with some really
good coaches, so I think it'llbe pretty pretty seamless, and I think

(04:39:26):
we'll be firing on all cylinders.You're three months removed from the super Bowl
now, so just how have you? I guess digested it, and I
guess physically everything good to go.Yeah, I feel really good. I
think it's been one of my betteroff seasons of just kind of it was
a long year, so I tookit nice and slow to get back into
it. Not as young as Ionce was, so I'm taking a little

(04:39:52):
a little slower, but everything's great. I'm feeling as good as i've felt.
I'm excited to actually get some practicein. Last year was kind of
tough, getting thrown in week oneafter a walk through, so that was
another reason I'm excited to be here, is just to get practicing a little
bit in season. Practice is onething, but actually being able to work

(04:40:15):
your stuff and not have a gamecoming up is good with the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, I know how to bounceback from tough losses, So it
was rough for a little bit,but not just annoying when people bring it
up. Since the last season,we've seen a Rock on TV commercials and

(04:40:37):
on the stage with Kluke Coombs andthrowing out the first pitch of the Giants
game. But he seems like aguy that's totally unaffected by celebrity, which
he has now. But what haveyou noticed in his leadership style and the
way he carries himself any difference atall. I think he's definitely getting a
little more vocal within the building.And uh yeah, I mean I don't

(04:41:00):
think he's ever going to change.I don't think he's somebody that's going to
change even when he gets paid nextyear. So he's he's a man of
faith and he kind of reminds meof Scotti Scheffler, but except for just
super humble and really good kid.And yeah, he's definitely famous. I

(04:41:30):
don't just from watching Armstead get releasedobviously meant so much to the defensive line
into the team. I mean,Colin John were pretty open that they were
willing to talk about trading Deebo orare you at draft? Does that just
another what's that feel like in thelocker room when those sort of joels happened.

(04:41:51):
I didn't even know that happened andI wasn't here, But you're talking
about this offseason armstead in alarm orleast, so that's certainly one thing.
Yeah, it's a tough business,for sure. You have to have thick
skin, and I haven't gone throughthat, but I think you just have

(04:42:15):
to understand that it is a businessand the team's going to try and get
as good as it possibly can withor without you, and you have to
look out for yourself. That's whyyou go through holdouts and do certain things
that seem selfish in the moment,but it is what it is, and
when everything's settled, we're gonna cometogether as a team and try and go

(04:42:37):
get one. What's the overall feelingaround the group right now, Like,
how much does it feel like theexcitement of the ramp up to the season,
Even though it's early, it feelsgood. It's been a couple of
days for me, so I likeall the new guys. I'm getting to
know everybody but I think the pastis in the past and we're ready to
go. Do you talk to me? You talk to be at all about

(04:42:57):
handling the business part of it.We chat a little bit, but not
too much about the details. Ijust told him keep his head up and
try and stay positive through it allimpressions. When you heard what your schedule
would be in that Aaron Rodgers' firsttime, it'll be fun. Yeah,

(04:43:19):
it's gonna be from your perspective,how much did that factor just knowing what
he was doing and kind of maybeyeah, you know, it did factor
in a little bit, but itis it's a personal decision, and it
was a quick process. Honestly itwas. It was a week week,
two weeks. Uh, figured itout and moved on. And it's something

(04:43:44):
I really haven't thought of at allover the last few months. I've just
been trying to prepare and I'm feelingreally good, really good things are going
really great back home training. Soyou know, got that under got it
behind me, and moved on.Since you've been here, does it feel
different, yeah, you know,it's not like these last eight years have

(04:44:08):
come in and thought we were goingto lose or have a bad year.
I felt like every year when Itell you things are feeling good and I
feel optimistic, it wasn't a lie. But yeah, I think things are
are definitely, like I said,trending in the right direction. Everybody's on
the details. I'm sure it's aword that you've heard a million times.

(04:44:30):
So yeah, I think it justfeels like it feels like coach is leading
the team the way it should beled. It has a feel of being
back in college, you know,with coach Ierban Meyer, and you know,
the message is sent from the topand it doesn't get mixed up as
it's moving down the ladder. It'sboom, this is how we're doing things,

(04:44:52):
and everybody's following that. And Ithink it's impressive the details that everybody
been has has been on the effortand just the competitiveness that that's been going
on over the last few weeks.Yeah, it's it's it's been great.
How much do you appreciate that thestoppers described the way jingles yeah we should

(04:45:18):
eat in the messaging? Does theymixed up? I appreciate that. I
mean it's I guess it's easy toappreciate when you kind of see it working
and you see guys improving, gettingbetter. I just think the details are
really important. You can pretend thatleaving your shoes a mess or your locker

(04:45:41):
a mess isn't a big deal,and what matters is playing football. But
I think all those tiny details andthings kind of add up and leak into
the important stuff, like what you'redoing on the field. So if you
can have your toe behind the line, or have your locker and order and
all these things, they kind ofstack up into performing well and and playing

(04:46:03):
well when things count. So youknow, I appreciate that. It's It
also hasn't been a fight with theguys in the locker room. They buy
in, and you know, it'sa lot of young guys, and I
think they're hungry to learn, hungryto compete and win. You know,
it's just an example, whether it'swe talked about the first day you have

(04:46:26):
your shoot, if you could,if you could spend the time on these
small things when nobody's watching. Ithink, like I was saying, it
seems like it might not add uptoo much, but I think in the
long term it does, and uh, it leaks into other things, whether
you're doing your right assignment on thefield, being late to meetings or all

(04:46:47):
these things. If you hold astandard and you you stay to that standard,
I think it benefits you long term. Ben, has there been anything
in his training program working with youthat you feel will benefit you later?
Yeah, Yeah, definitely. He'she's been great. He's a no nonsense

(04:47:07):
kind of guy, but he's notan old school in the sense that he's
bringing his way of doing things andthat's the only way to do things.
He understands that guys have been inthe in the business for a long time,
Khalil me and we have a wayof doing things, and all he
wants to do is add to thatand help you get better and perform the
best you can. He's he stressesit all the time that he's a tool

(04:47:30):
for us, and you know he'she's been great. The guys love him.
The energy brings is awesome, andI think the stuff that we're doing
in the weight room is great,a great addition to stuff that I may
may do on the side or whateverthat is. Yeah, I think we
I mean, we had a presentationtoday with all the certain measurables that are

(04:47:52):
changing, and if you guys arein the meeting, you definitely see how
beneficial he's been to the team sofar, so obviously staying healthy is is
a huge factor to anybody's success.I'd say it's plagued Dust a little bit
for a while. So yeah,I think he's he's definitely incredibly beneficial.
When were you fully re covered,I know at the end of the last

(04:48:15):
season you might have been able toYeah, No, I was not ready
to go last year. No,tried practicing, tried coming back, and
uh it was it was not good, but yeah, it was. Unfortunately,
the year wasn't going great and itjust was unnecessary risk for I mean,

(04:48:37):
my foot could have had some real, real issues if I came back
too early. So yeah, it'sbeen. It's been. It's been a
great off season. My foot's feelinggreat, toes good, hamstrings good.
I mean, there was a listof things last year, my hand,
so all those things are good.Finger gout surgery on my finger. So
that's feeling good. Yeah, it'sit's nice to be feeling better going into

(04:49:02):
your nine than you have since maybefive six years ago, which I've said,
I've said I've been feeling great lastcouple of years. I'm telling you
it's a real deal. This timebut obviously anything can happen. But I
just feel it's fun feeling really confidentin your body and being able to perform.

(04:49:22):
So I could just go out duringpractice and you know, go balls
to the wall and do everything thatI feel like I need to to be
able to prepare. It's fun.My brother and whoever I trained with my
trainer Todd back home, I thinkthey'd be really proud of how I've been
working this offseason and it's just exciting. Pointing was the injuries, I'm the

(04:49:48):
great big game you kind of you, I'm yeah, it was a bit
of a build up, a littlebit of an overreaction, but you know,
it's just tough. It comes sometimeslike that, and I just felt
really defeated coming back. Had abroken hand. I'm like, oh,
yeah, I get to play Boomfirst series foot Pops. Thought I'd have

(04:50:08):
to get surgery, and all thesethoughts flooded through my head. Broke down
a bit, and yeah, itjust hurts. You know, you're losing,
You're getting injured. You felt likeyou prepared really well in the offseason,
and then the year before you hadgrowing surgery, so you know a
lot of things build up. Yeah, you don't get a break if you're

(04:50:30):
injured. Everybody wants to go on. Fans are very nice, but no,
I just I'm grateful that I feelthis way. I'm still still nice.
Ripe twenty eight, so not tooold yet. But yeah, I'm
just excited. I can't remember whatthe original question was at this point,

(04:50:53):
you get something about my body closeyou and Gift were, how how frustrating
was it that he couldn't you knowfor one of those last three games.
It was frustrating, but I meanGift was had my back the whole way.

(04:51:14):
I think for Gift, for anybut for for the whole team,
just to show what it means tome. It would have been important for
me to be out there, butI literally couldn't. I tried to practice,
injured my foot worse the very firstplay I was and in practice,
So no chance that was happening unlessI wanted to throw my next season away

(04:51:34):
as well. But no, I'mjust I'm proud of him for what he
did with the team, how hehandled it, and I need to call
him back. Actually sorry, Gif. Yeah, I'm happy he gets to
stay close by with the with theRams, and just proud of all we
accomplished here together over the years andand we'll be close for the rest of

(04:51:56):
our lives. It was the footinjury. Was this guy sprain? Yeah,
I sprained one area of my foot, then when I tried to return,
I sprained another area. Was ableto avoid getting surgery, which is
kind of the main goal, Butyeah, it was. It was tough
when it comes to the addition ofbut Dupree when he felt like he's kind

(04:52:18):
of brought to the to the roomand could bring on the field. Yeah,
when I heard we got my brothersome I don't know, maybe my
brother told me. I'm like,really, we just got budd Like,
that's no, that's no small pickup. He's a seriously elite pass rusher has
had some trouble with injuries as well, so I understand how that is,

(04:52:41):
but not only him as a player, but as a personality. I heard
Khalil just saying he's he's a funguy. He's a funny guy, and
to have that in the room anothervet is always a great addition. But
I'm just excited to have him intoLee and to be able to rotate like
that and not drop off at allwhen we come off the field. Is
huge and now too, he's goinginto a second year. Just what do

(04:53:03):
you what are you kind of whatare some of the maturity maturity areas you've
said from him? You know,I'm gonna say not much, And that's
a compliment because he was already maturein those areas. I mean, he's
on it everything playbook wise, alwaysdoing his job, working hard, just
refining his technique and pass rush.I mean, we don't have the pads

(04:53:27):
on right now, so the realwork will will begin, you know,
in six weeks now. So,but yeah, I love Tulie. I've
loved him since the first day he'she's walked into the facility, and I
know he's just gonna continue to getbetter. What you think of the addition
of Joe Old, Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna need to beat him up

(04:53:47):
a little bit in camp. Sohe's so he's ready, But no,
I think anything to protect our numberten is a good, good investment.
So he seems like a real soliddude. Haven't talked to him too much.
Great build, seems like he hasgood hands, good feet, strong.
We'll see. We'll see in afew weeks when I lay a helmet

(04:54:11):
in his chin, how he holdsup, but it'll I'll take it easy
on him. No, Rashon's abeast. Did you know coach Harbond before
he came here? And if hedid, just what were those first couple
of conversations like that? Yeah,probably have crossed paths with him. Maybe

(04:54:32):
maybe not. Actually I think whatwas it his first year when I was
a junior? So he kicked hisass as usual at Ohio State. No,
no, they just want a championships. I'd say they probably have the
bragging rights right now. I'm likethe guy talking about his old high school.
Oh I remember we used to kickNo but no, yeah, no,

(04:54:57):
the rivalry is dead. I wasjust saying this morning, you know,
nine years and kind of forget aboutthat. I'm not a great alumni.
Sorry, sorry coached, But no, it's great. That's what's great
about the NFLS. You just haveguys from all backgrounds. You could hate
their guts one one year, andthen you come on the same team and

(04:55:18):
your brothers and you're all working towardsone goal together. So our first talk
together was great. I just satdown with them, went up into his
office and chopped it up about lifemainly and his opportunity here and how much
it means to him, And uh, yeah, I think he's a special
guy. I think he's the wayhe conducts himself. He's an interesting cat

(04:55:40):
for sure. And I'm still stillfeeling them out. But one thing you
can't denies that he loves football andhis main goal is to win football games.
So and that's what we need.When you see him working out with
you guys and pushing slaves and doingall this stuff, just how interesting is
that to see you interactive? Yeah, I mean he was. He was
a great player himself, and Ithink he's always been, you know,

(04:56:03):
built like that, lack of abetter term, but yeah, he's uh,
he's part of the guys. Youknow, he's not this guy outside
looking in. He he really,I mean he voiced that to me,
is that his favorite part of allof it is being with the guys and
and the connections he makes. SoYeah, to to see a guy like
that come in and embrace it alland kind of be part of it himself

(04:56:27):
is important. Your initial impressions ofCoachman during the defensive Sam, Yeah,
it's funny to go from old gift, old gift to this little young guy
who's my age. I wouldn't wantto get thrown into a room with me
and Khalil I was his age.But no, he's been great. I

(04:56:48):
love messing with him a little bit. We little sarcasm back and forth.
But no, he's great. He'suh, very talks very fast, and
I don't as you know, sosometimes I gotta be like, slow down,
coach, come on. But no, he's great. I'm excited,
you know, to get closer asthe years. As the year goes on,

(04:57:11):
and I think he has he hasa lot of passion for the position,
and all he wants to do islearn and and help us to improve.
So I'm excited about him and meand I do miss Giff. Obviously
it was a long time with him, but I am excited to have a
new face and kind of have thatchallenge for me. Worked much with with

(04:57:33):
Jesse's dad since I know he coachedlinebackers in Michigan. Did you ask about
Jesse? Did you ask about doing? Okay, you asked about Jesse.
Oh my god, I was talkingabout freaking doing the whole time. You
guys are so confused. No,sorry, I thought we I thought I
was. I thought you mentioned coachRonie No, no, coach mentor has

(04:57:56):
been great as well. Yeah,they've both been It's sorry run that back.
No, he's been good. Uhyeah, very knowledgeable guy. Same
thing. I'm excited to get toknow him more as the year goes on.
Have you worked Have you worked muchduring the off season? Rick jesse
St, Yeah, uh no,I have not. I don't know if

(04:58:18):
I've said one word to him,but more words to come down the road.
Like you said, you've been inyears in twenty sixteen, Just what
are some of this stuff? You'ssomeone on a ramble about the wrong guy
for fifteen minutes walking what Yeah?What the heck? So actually that's literally

(04:58:47):
not the person. Yeah, yeah, I figured out. What's something that
you you worked undering the off season? Something to improve your game or is
there something that you can Usually myanswer is pretty consistent that I just continue
to try to prepare myself physically,whether that's my sprint work or agility work

(04:59:12):
and my lifting, but yeah,just to get everything feeling great. I
dealt with those injuries, so Ihad to kind of ramp it up with
my finger and foot and all thosethings. But now I'm I'm full full
speed out there, and I'm justgoing to continue to do what I know
will prepare me for the season.And I know I'm gonna get plenty of

(04:59:37):
technique work and position work when i'mout here. So for now, I'm
going to spend these five weeks reallygetting preparing my body workouts competitive again,
another year competitive and all that stuff. Yeah. Yeah, it's usually too
hot out there for much competition.We're just trying to survive. So but

(04:59:59):
yeah, it's always it's a it'sa silent competition between between each other,
be like Peeking's like what was histime? Was his time? But no,
yeah, it's always. You cannever have an off day when when
you're out there and he's he's warmingup like a beat, like a freaking
robot every day out there, sothere's there's no off days. Have you

(05:00:22):
you and him talked at all aboutI mean, I mean this as when
you were having a contract thing.Do you have a guys have to talk
about anybody? Oh? Yeah,I mean it's it's a conversation, not
a not really a serious conversation,but something that's come up before. But
yeah, I mean it would becool, it would be cool at some
point, I uh, I alwaysthought of myself being somebody that will play

(05:00:48):
here and retire here, which Ithink not many people do on one team,
and I think would be a coolthing to accomplish, but