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Press Pass | Ryan Nielsen on Evaluating the Defense, Implementing Scheme at Camp · Press Pass

0:04
Speaker 1: Really good for Tyson.
0:05
Speaker 2: It'll be a good fit, it'll kind of help him out.
0:07
Speaker 2: Can you kind of go into a little bit more
0:09
Speaker 2: on that and why your system will help Tyson and
0:12
Speaker 2: what you're trying to expecting happen.
0:14
Speaker 3: We try to when we look at the players, all
0:17
Speaker 3: the guys we have is we want to emphasize their
0:21
Speaker 3: skill set and so how we play that position and
0:25
Speaker 3: really the all positions.
0:26
Speaker 4: And I know you're talking about Tyson, but.
0:28
Speaker 3: We really want to do and put the player in
0:30
Speaker 3: the best position for him to have success so we
0:32
Speaker 3: can have success on defense and ultimately as a team.
0:35
Speaker 3: And so we've identified a few of those things in
0:38
Speaker 3: OTAs we're continuing. It's day one, day two today, so
0:41
Speaker 3: we're continuing to fundamentals and technique, but how he's playing
0:45
Speaker 3: and the proximity from the receiver and aggressiveness and things
0:48
Speaker 3: like this. That's what he does well, and so we
0:51
Speaker 3: want him to do the things that he does well,
0:52
Speaker 3: and then we're going to work on, you know, some
0:54
Speaker 3: of his deficiencies and things like that and try to
0:57
Speaker 3: make them continue an all around player.
0:59
Speaker 4: But we always want our.
1:01
Speaker 3: Guys to be in position where they're going to have success.
1:04
Speaker 3: We're gonna put them in the positions that that that
1:06
Speaker 3: they can do well.
1:07
Speaker 4: And so that's that's really what you're seeing on the
1:10
Speaker 4: field with him to do for everybody else, well, I
1:13
Speaker 4: think that's.
1:14
Speaker 3: You know, one of the things as coaches we try
1:15
Speaker 3: to we try to evaluate and that was a big
1:17
Speaker 3: thing in OTAs is what do these guys do well
1:20
Speaker 3: and then put them in that position. And so yeah,
1:22
Speaker 3: you'll see some position changes because we've identified that you know,
1:27
Speaker 3: maybe one guy plays a little bit better outside than inside,
1:30
Speaker 3: or one guy is a little bit better off the
1:32
Speaker 3: ball on the ball, and so things like that, and
1:34
Speaker 3: so we don't want to just be hey, here's exactly
1:37
Speaker 3: what you know, if you don't fit this, you can't
1:39
Speaker 3: play well.
1:40
Speaker 4: That's the game is. So it's changed so much.
1:43
Speaker 3: And spread out and a lot of one on ones
1:45
Speaker 3: and things like that, and so we we're always trying
1:47
Speaker 3: to there's gonna be some things where, you know, that's
1:50
Speaker 3: what we coach fundamentals, technique and get guys better. But
1:53
Speaker 3: that's what we're trying to do and in every position
1:56
Speaker 3: and with every player that we have.
2:00
Speaker 1: Time with Josh hain Dollens, But what have you learned
2:02
Speaker 1: from him in.
2:03
Speaker 5: A limited time, especially about maybe what he wants you
2:07
Speaker 5: to hear him for legacy.
2:08
Speaker 4: Wise, he's a he's a competitor. He really wants it.
2:13
Speaker 4: Putting in the time since he's been here, you.
2:16
Speaker 3: Know, last couple of days, you can really see the
2:18
Speaker 3: intensity the practice yesterday again day one, you know, so
2:24
Speaker 3: the consistency and things like that we're looking for. But
2:27
Speaker 3: he says all the right things. You know, he wants
2:30
Speaker 3: to be a great a great player. He wants to
2:33
Speaker 3: have a great defense and a great team. You know,
2:35
Speaker 3: you feel those things as he talks to the guys,
2:38
Speaker 3: you know, good teammate, things like that.
2:39
Speaker 4: So it really excited about him. I know you got us.
2:44
Speaker 1: Through OTAs, didn't use a depth chart. Is that going
2:47
Speaker 1: to bleed into training camp a little bit?
2:49
Speaker 4: It's gonna start like that.
2:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, So you'll see a bunch of combinations. Even yesterday,
2:52
Speaker 3: you know, we had you know, guys that you know,
2:55
Speaker 3: maybe we didn't play together in OTAs that we're out
2:58
Speaker 3: there and so we always you know, we're the best
3:00
Speaker 3: combination of players. And here's what we're looking for ultimately
3:04
Speaker 3: is when we evaluate did the player win the rep
3:07
Speaker 3: you know, at at each position. You know, it's it
3:10
Speaker 3: is the scheme and they're out there and they've they're
3:11
Speaker 3: playing corner or nickel or defensive end or de tackle
3:15
Speaker 3: or whatever it is, and to the player, and then
3:17
Speaker 3: how are they playing with the guys around them? You know,
3:19
Speaker 3: it's part of the evaluation process. So that will happen.
3:22
Speaker 3: You know, it's preseason's four, right, you know we're fundamentally
3:25
Speaker 3: what is camp? You know, master the techniques and champion
3:28
Speaker 3: the scheme of what we're doing. And then as it
3:31
Speaker 3: continues to go, then yeah, well it'll start to you'll
3:35
Speaker 3: see things and as cuts are made and guys are
3:38
Speaker 3: making the team and making plays, and you'll see it.
3:41
Speaker 3: It'll get tighter. And then you'll see that these guys
3:43
Speaker 3: are going to get some reps. And then when it
3:45
Speaker 3: gets to the game week, you had depth charts and
3:47
Speaker 3: all that stuff matters. But right now it's fundamentals, technique, scheme,
3:51
Speaker 3: you know, playing hard, being tough, you know those type
3:53
Speaker 3: of things.
3:53
Speaker 4: That's what the camp's about.
3:55
Speaker 6: Looking when you first got here, when you were first
3:59
Speaker 6: approached about this was a player that you identified and said,
4:02
Speaker 6: he fits my system. I want him here for the
4:04
Speaker 6: long term.
4:05
Speaker 4: Yes, it's got a great skill set when you when
4:08
Speaker 4: you evaluate him and what we do.
4:10
Speaker 3: On defense and our dB coaches and and you know,
4:13
Speaker 3: Chris and Corey and and Mic and those guys, and
4:16
Speaker 3: you look at you know, when we talked about, you know,
4:19
Speaker 3: what we're looking for at that position. He possesses a
4:23
Speaker 3: lot of those skill sets and those traits and so
4:26
Speaker 3: it's it's exciting that we're going to have him for
4:28
Speaker 3: a few more years. So uh, but again, he's we
4:33
Speaker 3: can we still think that he can, and we still
4:35
Speaker 3: know he can get better.
4:36
Speaker 4: Like that's the thing we want. All these guys, even Josh,
4:38
Speaker 4: you know, we.
4:39
Speaker 3: Push him to get better like all the and that's
4:40
Speaker 3: that's what we're here to do is and that's what
4:43
Speaker 3: part of camp is is, you know, get just get
4:45
Speaker 3: a little bit better every day. And then the first
4:48
Speaker 3: game of season. Let's go win the first preseason game.
4:51
Speaker 3: You know, let's let's let's take care of that first
4:53
Speaker 3: before we even get into the season.
4:55
Speaker 6: Because the team has played a lot of zone dictated
4:57
Speaker 6: by personnel, dictated by scheme in the past. There's a
5:00
Speaker 6: knock on whether or not he can be a man corner.
5:03
Speaker 6: What do you make of that?
5:05
Speaker 4: We'll see.
5:07
Speaker 1: You go back to like his Georgia tape.
5:09
Speaker 3: Or here here's the thing, Like, so we're evaluating all
5:14
Speaker 3: that right now. You know, we have good players on offense.
5:17
Speaker 3: If he can when he covers those guys and he can,
5:20
Speaker 3: then we feel like he's gonna have real good success,
5:23
Speaker 3: you know, during the season. So it's part of the
5:25
Speaker 3: evaluation process. But look, he's tall, he's long, he can run,
5:29
Speaker 3: you know, he's got he's got all those things. He's
5:31
Speaker 3: smart when you when you really talk to him, he's
5:34
Speaker 3: a he's a really good person, like he really cares.
5:37
Speaker 3: He wants to be really good, but he wants his
5:39
Speaker 3: teammates to be really good. So I think we've got
5:41
Speaker 3: a really good combination of our personnel on defense and
5:44
Speaker 3: those those guys they care about each other, Like we've
5:46
Speaker 3: got good the scouting department and and pro scouts and
5:52
Speaker 3: there they've done a really good job of accumulating these players,
5:57
Speaker 3: not just talent wise, but just as good people. Like
6:00
Speaker 3: they're awesome guys. It's so fun to be around them
6:03
Speaker 3: because they care so much about being good. And he's
6:06
Speaker 3: a big part of that.
6:07
Speaker 2: There seems to be a lot of guys behind Campbell
6:09
Speaker 2: and Darby in that secondary a lot of young guys.
6:12
Speaker 1: How would you assess the depth there and how it's
6:14
Speaker 1: shaving up?
6:15
Speaker 4: It's good depth, you know.
6:16
Speaker 3: And again it's day one and so yep, there's gonna
6:21
Speaker 3: be some position battles, and what we're really focusing on
6:24
Speaker 3: is getting all of those guys reps and they get
6:29
Speaker 3: different players on offense and then truly that's a true evaluation.
6:33
Speaker 3: So here, what that means is if you go out
6:36
Speaker 3: there and you play the two corners and they're playing
6:39
Speaker 3: against the first team offense every single play, then do
6:42
Speaker 3: you are you really evaluating the second, third, and fourth guys?
6:45
Speaker 3: And so what we want to do is, hey, maybe
6:48
Speaker 3: whoever's whoever's up next, Hey, they're going to get some
6:51
Speaker 3: reps against the first and then the next guy is
6:53
Speaker 3: going to get some reps, and then we can get
6:54
Speaker 3: a true evaluation of the depth at that position. And
6:58
Speaker 3: did hey maybe we had this guy third or fourth,
7:02
Speaker 3: he's playing a little bit better. If we wouldn't have
7:04
Speaker 3: put him in there, if those guys wouldn't have had
7:08
Speaker 3: the depth chart, and hey it's stuck and you can't
7:10
Speaker 3: play against those guys, then we would have never seen
7:13
Speaker 3: what they can do against you know, our our first
7:15
Speaker 3: or second second team. And so that's what we're doing
7:17
Speaker 3: right now. As that continues to go, and then you'll
7:20
Speaker 3: start seeing we'll start having a depth chart. But this
7:24
Speaker 3: is three four weeks away now, like we've got some
7:27
Speaker 3: time to evaluate.
7:28
Speaker 4: Ran.
7:28
Speaker 2: Is that a Fellows philosophy change here or in the
7:32
Speaker 2: NFL in general that it used to be, Hey, ones
7:36
Speaker 2: versus ones, twos versus twos, or have they been doing
7:39
Speaker 2: stuff like that for a while.
7:41
Speaker 3: It's probably just an organizational philosophy, you know, talking with
7:47
Speaker 3: coach and Trent about like how we want to evaluate
7:49
Speaker 3: and things like that. I just think it's really important
7:52
Speaker 3: that everybody gets an opportunity. And you guys all know
7:57
Speaker 3: the stories of Hey, this guy's buried in the depth chart,
8:01
Speaker 3: he gets this opportunity and all of a sudden he
8:03
Speaker 3: becomes this great player, right, and so we want to
8:05
Speaker 3: evaluate and give those guys chances that And then here's
8:09
Speaker 3: the other thing too, it's a long season. Injuries happen.
8:14
Speaker 3: It's just part of the game. If if the second
8:17
Speaker 3: or third team guy never gets in, then how do
8:20
Speaker 3: you know how he's going.
8:21
Speaker 4: To perform when he's actually in a game.
8:23
Speaker 3: And so that's where hey, we're continually to rotate and
8:27
Speaker 3: you'll see, you know, you may see Josh out there
8:30
Speaker 3: with a guy he's never played with, you know, whoever
8:34
Speaker 3: that is. And then once we get to the season
8:37
Speaker 3: and we've got you know, the guys going to the game,
8:40
Speaker 3: we should all feel confident that anybody who's dressed is
8:43
Speaker 3: able to go in and perform and help us win
8:46
Speaker 3: that game.
8:46
Speaker 4: And that's the ultimate goal.
8:48
Speaker 6: Trus Gibson, a guy who has been opened that he
8:52
Speaker 6: almost signed here a year ago, ultimately comes here this year.
8:54
Speaker 6: What have you seen from him so far as far
8:57
Speaker 6: as competing for me that third fourth pass rusher position.
8:59
Speaker 4: Sure, yeah, he had a good day yesterday.
9:02
Speaker 3: Uh Tenacity, toughness, he's got a little bit of twitch.
9:06
Speaker 3: It's really good. You know, you have to have it
9:08
Speaker 3: at that position. He's got good length, he's got a
9:10
Speaker 3: good skill set. We've got a little bit you know,
9:13
Speaker 3: bend and hoop. He can do that. He's he can
9:15
Speaker 3: rush with power. And so it's a good competition, you know,
9:17
Speaker 3: after those couple of guys, and you know, I really.
9:21
Speaker 4: Feel good about it.
9:22
Speaker 3: Every position group we've got some competition. And so he's
9:24
Speaker 3: fighting just you know some other guys that are right
9:27
Speaker 3: there battling with them. And so uh, expect the best
9:30
Speaker 3: out of him in in the next few weeks, and
9:32
Speaker 3: we'll really see how.
9:34
Speaker 5: Do you balance teaching and watching versatility as opposed to
9:39
Speaker 5: not letting a guy master The one thing is there
9:43
Speaker 5: is there a little bit of a game, and they're
9:44
Speaker 5: figuring out what he had.
9:46
Speaker 3: When you watch football today, there's so many things that
9:49
Speaker 3: players have to do, right. It's not like it used
9:51
Speaker 3: to be twenty years ago where everybody was in ie
9:54
Speaker 3: formation and running downhill and play action pass right. We're
9:57
Speaker 3: playing spread out game, shift, trades, emotions, and so players
10:00
Speaker 3: today have to do more, and so yes, we want
10:03
Speaker 3: them to.
10:04
Speaker 4: We're gonna we're gonna.
10:05
Speaker 3: Find out what they do well and help them at
10:08
Speaker 3: what they don't and and so that now you're you
10:11
Speaker 3: you hope the player becomes a well rounded player and
10:13
Speaker 3: is able to play so many like you know, the
10:16
Speaker 3: nickel position. You look twenty years ago, the nickel position
10:20
Speaker 3: it and so now that you know, let's talk about
10:23
Speaker 3: the nickel right now. Now he's got to play man,
10:25
Speaker 3: he's got to play zone, he's got to fit in.
10:26
Speaker 4: The box, he's the bubble. He's got to carry deep ball.
10:29
Speaker 3: I mean that guy's skill set, he's got to do
10:32
Speaker 3: so many things, and so uh, you know, that's why
10:35
Speaker 3: you have some dB coaches and and and you're you're evaluating,
10:40
Speaker 3: but you're you're teaching him. He's got to be able
10:42
Speaker 3: to do all those things. He's got to be able
10:43
Speaker 3: to do all those things well.
10:45
Speaker 4: But it's always about, hey, what do they do well?
10:47
Speaker 3: And then what do we have to help the player
10:50
Speaker 3: get better at?
10:53
Speaker 1: What's the challenge I guess with playing different guys, But
10:58
Speaker 1: but then you also want to build industry between one
11:01
Speaker 1: collective unit. How do you sort of balance it where
11:04
Speaker 1: you want to put into third strainers, but you still
11:06
Speaker 1: want to get those starters, you know, some time to
11:08
Speaker 1: play together.
11:09
Speaker 3: Sure, it's a good question. It kind of takes care
11:12
Speaker 3: of itself. Where the camp is so long that those
11:15
Speaker 3: guys get enough the accumulation of reps. I'm going to
11:21
Speaker 3: guess that we had twelve hundred reps over seven weeks
11:28
Speaker 3: of camp. Six weeks of camp, you know, one of
11:30
Speaker 3: the places, and so that's a lot of reps, and
11:32
Speaker 3: so those guys get enough reps together.
11:34
Speaker 4: It's such a you know, the community is such a.
11:37
Speaker 3: Long, long process. You know, like today, yesterday we had
11:40
Speaker 3: thirty thirty eight reps. Today we'll have I think it's
11:45
Speaker 3: fifty four total reps.
11:46
Speaker 4: And it just keeps adding up and adding up and
11:48
Speaker 4: adding up.
11:49
Speaker 3: And there's only so many players you have in so
11:50
Speaker 3: many combinations, and so those guys will be out there
11:53
Speaker 3: together and then by that time we're meeting and you
11:55
Speaker 3: got walkthroughs. I mean, it's such a they're around each
11:58
Speaker 3: other so much. The chemistry is built over time.
12:01
Speaker 2: Ryan, you've been around this thing now for a little bit.
12:04
Speaker 2: Here these guys, how how do you feel like they've
12:07
Speaker 2: received you and what you guys are trying to accomplish as.
12:10
Speaker 4: A staff really good?
12:11
Speaker 3: You know when when you go into the unit meetings
12:13
Speaker 3: and you talk to the players and really what you're
12:16
Speaker 3: emphasizing and they're really you feel like the players have
12:19
Speaker 3: really bought in and listening, and if you ask them
12:23
Speaker 3: for something, hey we've got a better effort in this,
12:25
Speaker 3: or aligning a little bit quicker. You see it, you know,
12:28
Speaker 3: And so that's that's all you can ask for as
12:30
Speaker 3: a coach.
12:32
Speaker 4: You know.
12:33
Speaker 3: One of the things is players they they don't they
12:37
Speaker 3: don't care what you know until they know how much
12:40
Speaker 3: you care. And our staff spending time with the guys,
12:46
Speaker 3: it's been really important. We have good guys. I love
12:50
Speaker 3: to be around our players. They're they're they're they're really cool.
12:54
Speaker 3: Uh guys, they care so much and you just you
12:59
Speaker 3: hope that that comes across to them, that that you
13:02
Speaker 3: you really care about them on and off the field.
13:06
Speaker 4: You know that that's what it's about.
13:08
Speaker 3: You know, this journey is so you know, it's it's
13:10
Speaker 3: it's a long but we're this team is only together.
13:13
Speaker 3: One of the one of the players, said that this
13:15
Speaker 3: team will only be one year together. You know, some
13:18
Speaker 3: of the staff will leave, some of the and you
13:20
Speaker 3: want it to be so good for these guys this
13:23
Speaker 3: one year, like you know, win play the best that
13:26
Speaker 3: you can and so hopefully that comes across to the guys.
13:32
Speaker 3: You try to get that across to them that man
13:35
Speaker 3: really care about you as a person, as a player,
13:38
Speaker 3: and that's why sometimes we're coaching you hard or you know,
13:41
Speaker 3: we're putting you in averse situations that we want you
13:44
Speaker 3: to be the best. You know, and so when you
13:46
Speaker 3: ask them to, hey let's run to the ball, Hey
13:49
Speaker 3: let's give a little bit better effort that they're and
13:51
Speaker 3: you see in that on tape, you know, And so
13:54
Speaker 3: yesterday was a perfect example. Hey, let's let's align a
13:56
Speaker 3: little quicker, you know. So expect to go out there
13:59
Speaker 3: today and the guys down in their stances and a
14:01
Speaker 3: line a little quicker, and then you know, next day
14:03
Speaker 3: it might be something else. But you know, overall, it's
14:06
Speaker 3: been it's been a blast to be with these guys.
14:08
Speaker 3: It's just day one, you know, I'm fired up. I
14:10
Speaker 3: can't wait to get out there. I mean, it's like
14:12
Speaker 3: it's like, let's get going. But it's been really cool.
14:16
Speaker 3: Love these guys, they're they're awesome, awesome guys, and love
14:20
Speaker 3: spending time with them.
14:21
Speaker 2: Your defense is they've had a lot of success in
14:23
Speaker 2: the red zone. You go out there yesterday three interceptions
14:27
Speaker 2: in red zone work, what do you attribute that to.
14:30
Speaker 3: We've got some really good red zone teachers. Chris ra
14:33
Speaker 3: Shard is phenomenal, learned a lot from him.
14:36
Speaker 4: In the red zone.
14:39
Speaker 3: We've got just some philosophy things that think have success
14:44
Speaker 3: against offenses.
14:47
Speaker 4: And then really our players.
14:51
Speaker 3: Do a really good job understanding situational football in the
14:54
Speaker 3: red zone, meaning what type of plays, we get the
14:59
Speaker 3: offensive playbook t down a little bit. The run game
15:02
Speaker 3: is a little bit more direct, quarterback runs, things like
15:06
Speaker 3: that happen, and our guys really understand, like these are
15:08
Speaker 3: the plays that we have to defend. So just a
15:12
Speaker 3: combination of those things. But you know, it was again
15:16
Speaker 3: day one, you know, and let's go do it again.
15:19
Speaker 3: That was the whole point yesterday is hey, look, takeaways
15:22
Speaker 3: in the red zone like that changes football games, huge place.
15:25
Speaker 3: Let's do it again today.