Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / "We Before Me" - Coach Sarrett on the Jaguars' Offensive Line

Transcript

"We Before Me" - Coach Sarrett on the Jaguars' Offensive Line · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:05
Speaker 1: Soon.
0:07
Speaker 2: All right, welcome into this week's ozone podcast, and we
0:10
Speaker 2: are joined by not Kay Stevens today, but Mark Duffner.
0:14
Speaker 2: Always enjoy having you in this Mark, welcome, and John.
0:18
Speaker 2: Today's interview, which we'll do a little later, will be
0:22
Speaker 2: Jaguars offensive line coach Sean saraht looking forward to that,
0:26
Speaker 2: and you and I will talk about Sean later on
0:28
Speaker 2: in the show. But the first thing we do here,
0:31
Speaker 2: Duff is I call it six good minutes, three bad takes,
0:36
Speaker 2: because my takes are always bad on them. But we'll
0:40
Speaker 2: start this week, ota start next week. And we had
0:43
Speaker 2: the schedule released last week, so topic A would be
0:46
Speaker 2: the schedule. We've talked about it on a couple of
0:49
Speaker 2: different forums, Duff, But give me maybe the stretch that
0:53
Speaker 2: you're most concerned about, and I just talked about the
0:56
Speaker 2: schedule overall.
0:57
Speaker 3: I would say that, first of all, this stretch I'm
1:00
Speaker 3: most concerned about it starting with the Denver game before
1:03
Speaker 3: the bye, that five or six games that they've got
1:05
Speaker 3: where they've got the two they're going to be in
1:07
Speaker 3: London involved too, that against Houston in Philadelphia. But that's
1:11
Speaker 3: not so much it's just a caliber of the opponent.
1:14
Speaker 3: I'm talking about, and so Cincinnati will be a team
1:17
Speaker 3: that's in that stretch that's going to be. They think
1:19
Speaker 3: they've done some good things in the off season, had
1:22
Speaker 3: a good draft. You know, we'll see how it plays out,
1:24
Speaker 3: but they're determined to bounce back. So I think we're
1:26
Speaker 3: going to have a that's a rough stretch no matter
1:29
Speaker 3: whether we're playing here, every game, wherever the game's played,
1:31
Speaker 3: that's going to be a competitive group.
1:33
Speaker 2: How much I love talking to you because you were
1:36
Speaker 2: inside and you lived it for so long, so you
1:39
Speaker 2: understand how coaches really see a schedule, maybe compared to
1:44
Speaker 2: how fans think they might see it. What changes for
1:49
Speaker 2: a coach the day after the schedule comes out. Is
1:53
Speaker 2: it anything tangible that you're doing or is it more
1:57
Speaker 2: just okay, now I sort of know what the schedule
2:01
Speaker 2: is going to be.
2:01
Speaker 3: No hit change is tensibly big time once you know
2:05
Speaker 3: the order of the chronological order of the games. Now
2:09
Speaker 3: you've already done study of your opponents, but now you're
2:11
Speaker 3: really diving deep into those first games in terms of
2:15
Speaker 3: some of them maybe you didn't play before, so you're
2:18
Speaker 3: trying to get more depth as far as that's concerned.
2:20
Speaker 3: Now that you know, that's where it is in the season, so.
2:22
Speaker 2: You ratchet it up. If it's early in the season,
2:25
Speaker 2: then you spend more time in the old season.
2:27
Speaker 3: For sure, And because again you're going to start to
2:31
Speaker 3: implement some of those game plan thoughts or ideas and
2:34
Speaker 3: exposures of the opponent to your team. So you're going
2:38
Speaker 3: to do that in training camp. You're going to do
2:39
Speaker 3: that wherever you can, and maybe sometimes even in the
2:42
Speaker 3: OTAs is they're going to go through. Now some of
2:44
Speaker 3: those protections that you might see, pass protection, some of
2:48
Speaker 3: those pressures you might see from the early opponent. Trying
2:51
Speaker 3: to kind of sprinkle in, not necessarily by name, if
2:53
Speaker 3: you will, but get your tough things that you might face.
2:57
Speaker 3: You want to get some exposure to with your team.
2:59
Speaker 2: So why not circle the games that you think are
3:03
Speaker 2: going to be the hardest and focus on those teams?
3:05
Speaker 3: Well, well, first of all, you can, but I think
3:10
Speaker 3: it's more the more the chronological postures some of the games,
3:14
Speaker 3: you know, game six, game seven, that team's identity could
3:18
Speaker 3: shift some sure as the season goes on.
3:21
Speaker 2: Correct correct, Look, Okay.
3:22
Speaker 3: There's gonna be a lot of things that can change.
3:24
Speaker 3: So some of that, I mean it's okay, But I
3:26
Speaker 3: mean the focus is really going to be on that
3:29
Speaker 3: those first few games in terms of especially if that's
3:31
Speaker 3: a new opponent that you haven't seen, or a new
3:34
Speaker 3: head coach that's in that staff that's going to that team.
3:37
Speaker 3: Those are going to be the things you're going to
3:39
Speaker 3: look at real quick.
3:40
Speaker 2: And I know the answer, but some people viewing this
3:43
Speaker 2: might not. Did you believe the haircut?
3:46
Speaker 1: I did?
3:46
Speaker 3: No, I was. I was absolutely hook line and syncro
3:51
Speaker 3: on that one, for sure.
3:52
Speaker 2: And I got to admit I had been tipped beforehand
3:57
Speaker 2: that it wasn't real, but when I saw it, I
4:02
Speaker 2: was kind of not paying that close attention. I kind
4:05
Speaker 2: of had to check again to make sure it wasn't real.
4:07
Speaker 2: So it was. And I'm sure some people out there
4:09
Speaker 2: going with you idiots. Obviously it was real in retrospect, yes,
4:13
Speaker 2: but beyond whether you thought it was real or not.
4:17
Speaker 2: We've talked a little bit about it already, But to me,
4:21
Speaker 2: I've been around quarterbacks who wouldn't have been as comfortable
4:29
Speaker 2: in that environment. Oh well, I don't want to risk
4:31
Speaker 2: looking silly or somebody might make fun of this or
4:34
Speaker 2: something that's not Trevor at all. And I've always lead
4:38
Speaker 2: with a quarterback, much like a head coach, maybe like anybody,
4:40
Speaker 2: but really those two positions. If you're going to lead,
4:44
Speaker 2: you have to be who you are and not try
4:47
Speaker 2: to be somebody else. And Trevor, to me is just
4:50
Speaker 2: this guy who's so comfortable in his own skin. He
4:54
Speaker 2: leads by teammates wanting to be his teammate. If you
4:58
Speaker 2: follow me, I probably didn't say it. Well, you're right,
5:02
Speaker 2: what a guy to have leading this franchise.
5:04
Speaker 3: Oh, without a doubt. I mean, like you just said,
5:06
Speaker 3: I mean I've been highly impressed, you know, getting to
5:09
Speaker 3: watch this guy as exclusively as I have since like
5:14
Speaker 3: last training camp up to now, and watch how he
5:17
Speaker 3: interacts with his teammates, watch out he interacts with his coaches,
5:20
Speaker 3: and watch how he interacts with the fans and numerous
5:23
Speaker 3: not look at me type ways, a very humble way,
5:27
Speaker 3: if you will, And the way he handled this was
5:31
Speaker 3: as good as it possibly can So Jacksonville fans should
5:34
Speaker 3: be very pleased and excited that they've got a guy
5:37
Speaker 3: that has the talent and has a personality and the
5:41
Speaker 3: makeup that Trevor Lawrence has at quarterback.
5:44
Speaker 2: Final hot topic, I'll give my hot take on this,
5:48
Speaker 2: and you will disagree because you're a coach. OTA start
5:51
Speaker 2: next week. I sort of believe that OTAs are maybe
5:55
Speaker 2: the most overrated part of the NFL season. I think
5:58
Speaker 2: they're two They're too much, they're too emphasized. We talk
6:03
Speaker 2: about them too much. We have to have something to
6:05
Speaker 2: talk about as a coach. Sell me on why my
6:09
Speaker 2: take is wrong.
6:11
Speaker 1: Well, I think that.
6:14
Speaker 2: I can.
6:15
Speaker 3: I can agree with you on some of what you
6:17
Speaker 3: just said in a lot of ways. But I think
6:19
Speaker 3: the coaches there's areas that you want to improve on,
6:23
Speaker 3: and and as you reflect on the previous season, you
6:25
Speaker 3: study the previous season, and if we can have more time,
6:28
Speaker 3: a little more time to work on improving the players'
6:32
Speaker 3: personal skills, playing skills, if you will, or some areas
6:37
Speaker 3: of our team that we've got to get better at,
6:39
Speaker 3: and we can get more true time and focus on that,
6:43
Speaker 3: maybe to improve the understanding and the foundation of the
6:46
Speaker 3: why we're doing certain things. I think it's a good
6:49
Speaker 3: thing I always worry about. You know, we put so
6:53
Speaker 3: much into these players and spend so much time with
6:55
Speaker 3: them sometimes that you know you can overdo it, that
6:58
Speaker 3: they can they'll lose their attention turn you off, and
7:01
Speaker 3: so that's always a concern. But I think where good
7:05
Speaker 3: teachers rise up in situations like this, where you seize
7:10
Speaker 3: the moment to something that's not just polony and just
7:13
Speaker 3: going through the motions or taking up time things that
7:15
Speaker 3: the players can understand are going to help make them
7:17
Speaker 3: and the team better.
7:19
Speaker 1: It's a good thing.
7:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll qualify my take a little bit. Fans who've
7:24
Speaker 2: had to listen to me for years or know where
7:25
Speaker 2: I'm going with ye to me, they're vitally important for quarterback,
7:32
Speaker 2: for young players and for a new roster correct coming together.
7:36
Speaker 2: Sometimes if a guy has been with a head coach
7:39
Speaker 2: for five years, I wonder if the veteran guy needs
7:43
Speaker 2: OTAs the same way that a young kid coming in. Uh,
7:46
Speaker 2: but we ain't going back to where they're not.
7:49
Speaker 3: Well, and I would I would say to you that
7:51
Speaker 3: you know, you've seen numerous examples of where veteran players
7:55
Speaker 3: sometimes are maybe not in attendance and sometimes you know,
8:00
Speaker 3: not disclosed. Who makes that decision is that the player?
8:03
Speaker 3: Is that the because these aren't mandatory, is that the
8:07
Speaker 3: coach with them. I can understand some of that. Sometimes
8:10
Speaker 3: the veterans just being around in them and putting their knowledge,
8:14
Speaker 3: their and their experience and their wisdom to the player
8:16
Speaker 3: is very helpful. So I think there's a place for it.
8:19
Speaker 3: I really do. Like you just said, young players timing
8:24
Speaker 3: with the quarterbacks. But you know, and actually in a
8:27
Speaker 3: lot of ways the way that practices are shorter in
8:31
Speaker 3: some cases, so you're trying to keep your players healthy,
8:35
Speaker 3: you're trying to keep them fresh. Having a good organized
8:38
Speaker 3: plan of efficient production and what you do is important.
8:43
Speaker 3: And if you can demonstrate that, your players will respond
8:46
Speaker 3: to you for that.
8:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny. Fewer and fewer players. I remember when
8:50
Speaker 2: they first started twenty twenty five years ago, a lot
8:54
Speaker 2: of veterans in a lot of places didn't go. You
8:57
Speaker 2: see that much less now there's much higher participation. Favorite
9:00
Speaker 2: story of all time edri and James, who I covered
9:02
Speaker 2: in Indianapolis, never went to OTAs. It was always a controversy,
9:08
Speaker 2: And he said, I only stayed two years at the
9:10
Speaker 2: University of Miami, but I was there long enough to
9:12
Speaker 2: know what voluntary means.
9:15
Speaker 3: Well done by him, So, by the way, I'd say
9:18
Speaker 3: he made some good decisions because he was a heck
9:20
Speaker 3: of a heck football.
9:21
Speaker 1: Yeah.
9:21
Speaker 2: Well, and that's really the position to me, that there's
9:23
Speaker 2: a couple of positions that it's less important for if
9:26
Speaker 2: you can tote the rock, as they say, you can
9:29
Speaker 2: tote the rock. Uh, and you want less wear and
9:31
Speaker 2: tear in your body was his theory, and he didn't
9:34
Speaker 2: like going in. He wanted to be in Miami.
9:36
Speaker 1: All right.
9:37
Speaker 2: We will jump now to the Ozone interview with Jaguars
9:40
Speaker 2: offensive line coach Sean Sarett. I appreciate you doing this, coach.
9:44
Speaker 2: I know OTA's and off season seems low key, but
9:48
Speaker 2: for you guys, it's really not. So I appreciate you
9:50
Speaker 2: doing this.
9:50
Speaker 4: Oh, you know, this is the world man, these guys
9:53
Speaker 4: and you know when you when you get these guys
9:55
Speaker 4: back in the building, just to get the camaraderie back,
9:57
Speaker 4: you know, especially coming off the season the way it did.
10:00
Speaker 4: Just get everybody back in the room and get back
10:02
Speaker 4: to work and it's lovely. You know, It's something those
10:05
Speaker 4: guys really enjoy.
10:06
Speaker 2: The mood around this franchise has been up and the
10:10
Speaker 2: energy has been real since you guys got here and
10:13
Speaker 2: it started twenty five. Is there a difference this off
10:17
Speaker 2: season that you feel or I guess the better question
10:21
Speaker 2: would be tell me the difference this off season compared.
10:23
Speaker 4: To last Well, as we all know, the culture here
10:27
Speaker 4: has changed, you know, and that's something you know, tip
10:30
Speaker 4: your hat to, you know, Coach Cohen and those guys.
10:32
Speaker 4: They had a vision. These guys bought into the vision,
10:36
Speaker 4: and now we're enforcing it and they are enforcing it.
10:38
Speaker 4: They're holding each other accountable. They know what it's going
10:41
Speaker 4: to take, you know. You know, we try not to
10:44
Speaker 4: look past and last year. You know, you know, when
10:47
Speaker 4: you really think about last year, I'll tell my guys this.
10:49
Speaker 4: I said, Hey, the only thing somebody remembers about you
10:52
Speaker 4: is we lost first round the playoffs against Buffalo. Nobody
10:55
Speaker 4: knows how many games you won. No, maybe it was
10:58
Speaker 4: anything else, you know, So that's something they're taking the heart.
11:01
Speaker 4: They know this is a new season and it's anybody's
11:03
Speaker 4: ballgame now.
11:04
Speaker 1: It's a fresh start.
11:06
Speaker 2: You mentioned the culture, but you've been around enough teams
11:10
Speaker 2: around the NFL to know the differences in teams. What's
11:16
Speaker 2: unique about this team, and I don't mean necessarily got
11:19
Speaker 2: twenty six, Yeah, but since you guys sort of took over,
11:22
Speaker 2: there's there's an energy, there's a direction. Uh, you can
11:28
Speaker 2: put a finger on.
11:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really truly believe this.
11:31
Speaker 4: If you if you can get a group of guys
11:33
Speaker 4: working towards the same goal and then they have that
11:35
Speaker 4: idea of it's it's a weave before me. And that's
11:38
Speaker 4: what this team really has done. That they're all bought
11:41
Speaker 4: into that, you know, and they're they're not you know,
11:43
Speaker 4: and when they see somebody lacking in that aspect, they're
11:45
Speaker 4: going to say something about it. You know, we're gonna
11:47
Speaker 4: hold everybody accountable. And that's one thing I think these guys,
11:49
Speaker 4: that's one thing I've even seen grown over the last
11:52
Speaker 4: two years. Last year, maybe I have to say something,
11:55
Speaker 4: I don't need to say anything. Now these guys have
11:57
Speaker 4: took hold of it.
11:57
Speaker 2: They don't say something to players, say something to.
12:00
Speaker 4: Correct you know, say something, you know, to alignment that
12:02
Speaker 4: maybe it's kind of open.
12:03
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have to say. Now. They're policing themselves. Now.
12:07
Speaker 4: They know the standard, they know what's required to be here,
12:10
Speaker 4: and they're doing a hell of a job of it.
12:12
Speaker 2: Mark Duffner, who coaching the NFL forever and does some
12:15
Speaker 2: stuff with us UH, mentioned the other day something that
12:18
Speaker 2: was interesting to me about even rookie mini camp. There
12:22
Speaker 2: was an efficiency uh, an energy not wasting moments. Uh.
12:30
Speaker 2: That really struck him. And you know he said, if
12:32
Speaker 2: it's if it's that way with rookie mini camp in
12:34
Speaker 2: second year, think about it's going to be with you know,
12:37
Speaker 2: the guys who've been around here a while. Is that Liam?
12:40
Speaker 2: Is that just the entire approach?
12:44
Speaker 1: Uh?
12:44
Speaker 2: Because it is real. You notice that if you've been
12:46
Speaker 2: around other NFL practices.
12:48
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, and it starts with Liam, it does. You know,
12:50
Speaker 4: that's something he wants us to be. He wants us
12:52
Speaker 4: to be efficient. We don't need to be starting a
12:55
Speaker 4: new year talking about something that these guys already know.
12:58
Speaker 1: Movie we're not. We're not at course one oh one anymore.
13:01
Speaker 4: We're the next level, you know, So we're not going
13:03
Speaker 4: to sit here and waste time on stuff.
13:05
Speaker 1: Where these guys are.
13:06
Speaker 4: I'm saying something to them about how to hit a
13:08
Speaker 4: block that they know how to hit. You know, I
13:11
Speaker 4: may critique them a little bit on them, maybe there's
13:12
Speaker 4: steps or something, but they know this hit.
13:14
Speaker 1: We're moving forward. You know, it's the next level. Got you.
13:20
Speaker 2: In general, the offensive line as you guys go into
13:24
Speaker 2: this season, certainly an efficient year last year had a
13:31
Speaker 2: great games and I would say market improvement from the
13:34
Speaker 2: previous year. What's your focus going into this year? Where
13:37
Speaker 2: do you want to see these guys get better? And
13:40
Speaker 2: you can't stay everywhere?
13:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I know.
13:43
Speaker 4: You know, as you go back and you really dive
13:46
Speaker 4: into the tape of like the previous year and you
13:48
Speaker 4: see stuff.
13:49
Speaker 1: It's just the idea of being that consistent force the
13:52
Speaker 1: whole year, okay.
13:53
Speaker 4: You know, And it's the idea of being able to
13:55
Speaker 4: you know, number one, keep the quarterback clean in the
13:57
Speaker 4: passing game and you want to rush for over a
13:59
Speaker 4: hundred yards a game. I mean, that's the standard. And
14:02
Speaker 4: you know, if we if we can stick to that standard,
14:04
Speaker 4: you're having a prett damn good day. So that you know,
14:06
Speaker 4: when you look at it, you see you see plays
14:08
Speaker 4: like that, and maybe you see a play of like
14:11
Speaker 4: like Limb brings it up sometimes about the iron jaw
14:14
Speaker 4: the quarterback. Well, there's a play where we kind of
14:16
Speaker 4: cut a guy loose and Trevor holds in there against
14:18
Speaker 4: Denver and he just down the field and knocks it
14:22
Speaker 4: on the guy for the big game and then the
14:24
Speaker 4: quarterbacks getting hit and then all of a sudden you're
14:26
Speaker 4: just like he's iron jaw.
14:27
Speaker 1: But that doesn't need to happen, you know.
14:29
Speaker 4: It's like little things like that that we got to
14:31
Speaker 4: be on top of just to keep him.
14:33
Speaker 2: Up right, got you? And I ask you a couple
14:35
Speaker 2: of probably unfair questions about them anyway, Yeah, if you
14:41
Speaker 2: had to describe your offensive line, how would you do
14:46
Speaker 2: it in a few sentences?
14:50
Speaker 4: You know, they're they're they're a flexible group. They can
14:52
Speaker 4: play multiple positions, which is kind of hard in this league.
14:55
Speaker 4: Usually when you go to these teams, you know, you
14:57
Speaker 4: don't see him, you know, able to take a left
15:00
Speaker 4: tackle playing at center one game and then playing plucking back.
15:03
Speaker 1: Out the left tackle.
15:05
Speaker 2: The characteristic.
15:06
Speaker 4: Yes, Yes, And I think that's that's very you know,
15:09
Speaker 4: it's hard to find.
15:10
Speaker 1: You know.
15:11
Speaker 4: I think that that we've done a great job building
15:13
Speaker 4: that line since I've got here, and that you know,
15:15
Speaker 4: hats off to you know, the GM and that you know,
15:17
Speaker 4: recognizing the right type of player that we need and
15:20
Speaker 4: get that right guy in that room because that if
15:22
Speaker 4: you know, this room is not built for everybody. You know,
15:25
Speaker 4: certain guys will come in and if they don't fit,
15:27
Speaker 4: then they they'll be gone.
15:29
Speaker 1: That's just the nature of it.
15:30
Speaker 4: Why Because if they don't fit with us, they don't
15:34
Speaker 4: fit in our culture what we're trying to get to.
15:36
Speaker 4: And just goes back to like I said, the we
15:39
Speaker 4: before me, they're not on the boat with.
15:42
Speaker 2: Us, got you? And it's it's easy to see that
15:45
Speaker 2: pretty quickly.
15:46
Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, you do.
15:47
Speaker 4: You know, especially now you know with the I hate
15:50
Speaker 4: to say this, but at the espn R, now you know,
15:52
Speaker 4: it's guys that want they want they want to you know,
15:54
Speaker 4: they want.
15:55
Speaker 1: To be a video. They want to look good, play good.
15:57
Speaker 4: And I get all that, man, but when it comes
15:59
Speaker 4: down to it, you got a job to do. And
16:01
Speaker 4: how do you get better at your job? Will you
16:03
Speaker 4: work at your craft? So you've got to treat every
16:06
Speaker 4: practice like it's a game day. You got to treat
16:08
Speaker 4: every every meeting like this is the last meeting before
16:11
Speaker 4: we go out on the field. This is important. And
16:13
Speaker 4: I always say it to a guys. I say, hey, man,
16:15
Speaker 4: we got to finish every meeting. We gotta finish every drill.
16:18
Speaker 4: We got to finish in the weight room. You're always competing,
16:21
Speaker 4: and that's the thing you want to build that idea
16:23
Speaker 4: of toward them, so they're always competing against each other. Hell,
16:26
Speaker 4: we compete in the meeting room. If I say something
16:29
Speaker 4: wrong with it'll be the first one say, hey, coach,
16:30
Speaker 4: I thought, but that's not right right?
16:32
Speaker 1: And they they're on top of it, which I love.
16:34
Speaker 2: I Got You three Better, three Best was such a
16:39
Speaker 2: key thing all off season when Liam was talking, do
16:42
Speaker 2: you do that generally on the offensive line?
16:44
Speaker 1: Yes?
16:46
Speaker 2: And I won't have to share everything with that, but generally,
16:51
Speaker 2: how much can you tell me about how that went?
16:53
Speaker 1: Well?
16:54
Speaker 4: That's really when you devour into the tape and you
16:57
Speaker 4: go from you stop watching pretty much the scheme heart
17:00
Speaker 4: and you're watching the individual and you're watching everything from
17:03
Speaker 4: his steps to maybe he's half a click slow coming
17:07
Speaker 4: out of a stance I see, is he has he
17:10
Speaker 4: there's an em maybe two emmy's on the film, too
17:13
Speaker 4: many of them, And you're like, what's the breakdown here?
17:15
Speaker 4: What's the disconnect? I gotta find the disconnect why this
17:19
Speaker 4: is happening on this play, Why we can't figure it out,
17:21
Speaker 4: why we can't step right on this play? And I
17:23
Speaker 4: got You got a dis second, and then you got
17:26
Speaker 4: to do it over phases, just like we're doing right now.
17:28
Speaker 4: You've got phase one phase two, Phase three. Well, I
17:30
Speaker 4: got three phases right here where I can dissect this
17:33
Speaker 4: thing down. Put it in the film, put it on
17:35
Speaker 4: the field, put it in the meeting room.
17:37
Speaker 2: And that's what the off seasons for it. Yes, correct,
17:40
Speaker 2: just digging on that sort of a detail.
17:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then and then you're getting back into the
17:44
Speaker 1: scheme as well.
17:45
Speaker 2: Okay, got you. Now, it's interesting you said it because
17:48
Speaker 2: I was going to ask about that. You've got an offense,
17:52
Speaker 2: and it's probably dating back to last offseason, but you've
17:54
Speaker 2: got an offense. And then as an offensive line coach,
17:58
Speaker 2: you have to fit the offensive into a scheme. If
18:01
Speaker 2: you know what I'm getting that, whether it's gap running
18:04
Speaker 2: with its zone running, what's the art or the process
18:09
Speaker 2: to that. I mean, Leana comes into the offense, yep,
18:12
Speaker 2: But you've got to get these file offensive linemen. Maybe
18:14
Speaker 2: they're better gap guys, maybe the better zone guys.
18:17
Speaker 4: Is that a.
18:18
Speaker 2: Process of making sure that what you're teaching offensive line
18:22
Speaker 2: fits the scheme? And I'm probably not getting at that
18:25
Speaker 2: very well, but I think it's it's maybe something people
18:28
Speaker 2: don't really realize how difficult it is to work.
18:30
Speaker 1: No, I totally get it. You know, the outside.
18:33
Speaker 4: I sees that, and you think, man, you watch these teams,
18:36
Speaker 4: you know, you think of the forty nine ers, they're
18:38
Speaker 4: a big outside zone team, right, stuff like that. Really,
18:42
Speaker 4: as you work with your guys in the off season,
18:44
Speaker 4: and I really felt this way in every team I've
18:47
Speaker 4: been on, you really don't find out who you are
18:49
Speaker 4: until you get the training camp.
18:51
Speaker 2: Right.
18:51
Speaker 1: What plays are you running well at that time?
18:54
Speaker 2: That's when you can hit, right, those.
18:55
Speaker 4: Are the ones you want to hit, you know. And
18:57
Speaker 4: it's a deal, like even if you go back and
18:59
Speaker 4: watch it, I mean, you're gonna see some teams. They
19:01
Speaker 4: may be one thing early and then all of a
19:03
Speaker 4: sudden they start getting stopped on it. Well, they got
19:06
Speaker 4: to get better at something else. Because defenses, I mean,
19:09
Speaker 4: they're not dumb either. Now they're running their cold course,
19:11
Speaker 4: then they're they're they're running self scouts, and they're watching
19:13
Speaker 4: our tape and everything else.
19:15
Speaker 1: You know. So that's an idea of trying to get better.
19:17
Speaker 4: But the thing is, though I always think less is more,
19:20
Speaker 4: you know, and and I don't think you need a
19:22
Speaker 4: whole lot of schemes, but you want to be good
19:25
Speaker 4: at a handful. And I always go back to, like
19:27
Speaker 4: what coach Munchak used to say to me when I
19:29
Speaker 4: was at Pittsburgh with him. He'd always say, we always
19:31
Speaker 4: want to carry a little six pack and out out
19:33
Speaker 4: of every formation.
19:35
Speaker 2: You know, it's funny, guys. My next question what it
19:38
Speaker 2: might teach you.
19:40
Speaker 4: He taught me to be a good football coach, but
19:42
Speaker 4: he taught me to be a better person. And you know,
19:44
Speaker 4: and just watching him handle the room, it was like
19:48
Speaker 4: watching the CEO of a major business. And it's just
19:51
Speaker 4: the way he was a people person. He could handle people.
19:54
Speaker 4: He knew how to push your button, to push your
19:57
Speaker 4: buttons without like even realized that he was doing it.
20:00
Speaker 4: I thought it was just a master craft, you know,
20:02
Speaker 4: which I thought was special.
20:03
Speaker 2: Because that's probably the most you know, offensive line coaches
20:10
Speaker 2: and offensive line groups are maybe the most unique group
20:16
Speaker 2: on the team, you know, usually dealing with more guys
20:20
Speaker 2: than most position groups. What's the art to handling that room?
20:25
Speaker 2: Because you can't always be a hard ass? Yea, you know,
20:28
Speaker 2: there's got to be some friendship there, some trust. Oh yeah,
20:32
Speaker 2: but you also do have to be a hard you know.
20:33
Speaker 2: So is that just a daily learning thing for you?
20:38
Speaker 4: I mean, it is a daily learning thing like you're saying,
20:40
Speaker 4: But it's also it's an idea because once you show.
20:43
Speaker 4: One thing we're trying to do is I show them
20:45
Speaker 4: that I care about them, which I do, but also
20:48
Speaker 4: I just.
20:49
Speaker 1: Want what's best for them.
20:50
Speaker 4: Okay, I'm not trying to put them in situations where
20:53
Speaker 4: you know, they look bad or they they don't play
20:56
Speaker 4: their best. When they play bad, I feel bad about
20:58
Speaker 4: myself first first and foremost. You know, I didn't coach
21:02
Speaker 4: them well enough that week. So when it comes in
21:04
Speaker 4: and I'm talking and we're going through the film, it
21:06
Speaker 4: starts with me.
21:07
Speaker 1: It doesn't start with them. I didn't do my job
21:09
Speaker 1: that week.
21:10
Speaker 4: I didn't have them prepared to maybe play against some
21:12
Speaker 4: of these NFL you know aliens that you see out there,
21:16
Speaker 4: you know. So it's just one of those deals of
21:19
Speaker 4: like week to week.
21:20
Speaker 2: Gotcha. And we talked about Mike. Is he the biggest influence.
21:25
Speaker 4: And my coaching profession. He has been, But there's been
21:27
Speaker 4: some other guys as well, you know. You know, Mike
21:30
Speaker 4: Tomlin was huge for me. You know, those guys there
21:32
Speaker 4: in Pittsburgh, Randy Feintner, Todd Haley, all those guys that
21:35
Speaker 4: I you know, I worked there with and then you know,
21:38
Speaker 4: then go back to the when I was in college,
21:40
Speaker 4: David Cutcliffe and then Matt Matt Luke, who's the offensive
21:43
Speaker 4: line coach at Clemson right now. Those kind of guys
21:45
Speaker 4: I had been around. They you know that I learned
21:48
Speaker 4: them under them as a little pup, you know, So
21:51
Speaker 4: you know I took something from everybody.
21:53
Speaker 2: To be honest with you, when did you know you
21:55
Speaker 2: wanted to coach?
21:57
Speaker 4: I was finishing playing football at Kent State University and
22:01
Speaker 4: I was sitting there with the idea, well, I love
22:05
Speaker 4: this game, but I'm not good enough. And I came
22:08
Speaker 4: to the realization I wasn't good enough to go to
22:10
Speaker 4: the next level. How do I keep this game part
22:13
Speaker 4: of my life?
22:14
Speaker 1: And the whole idea was for a year, right, I did.
22:17
Speaker 4: I went to Streetsboro High School in Ohio and I
22:20
Speaker 4: was coaching there and went from there to Marshall University
22:25
Speaker 4: as a graduate assistant.
22:26
Speaker 2: So did you visualize NFL or did you just?
22:30
Speaker 1: I did not? Yeah.
22:32
Speaker 4: You know what's funny was, you know you're sitting there
22:34
Speaker 4: when you first start and you're just like, man, I
22:36
Speaker 4: just you know, it'd be awesome to be the old
22:37
Speaker 4: line coach at Marshall University. That was like the ultimate goal,
22:40
Speaker 4: you know, and you just sit there and then all
22:42
Speaker 4: of a sudden you get an opportunity to go to
22:44
Speaker 4: other places and you meet the right people, and then
22:46
Speaker 4: all of a sudden, the Steelers thing kind of falls
22:48
Speaker 4: in front of you and you go take a chance
22:50
Speaker 4: on it. And then you sit there and then you
22:52
Speaker 4: don't realize you're setting in the room with like legends
22:55
Speaker 4: like Dick Lebou and then those guys you're just like wow,
22:58
Speaker 4: you know, and then you know, takes a second, don't
23:00
Speaker 4: really realize because you're always working toward that next goal.
23:02
Speaker 4: And that's something that I've also you know, I've tried
23:05
Speaker 4: to tell these young guys, now, wherever you end up
23:08
Speaker 4: and wherever you're coaching at right now, you want to
23:10
Speaker 4: do the best job you can at that job right
23:13
Speaker 4: Don't worry about the next job.
23:15
Speaker 1: You know.
23:15
Speaker 4: That was something that David Cuckliff put in and put
23:17
Speaker 4: in our heads as young coaches, and he was telling.
23:21
Speaker 1: The truth on it.
23:22
Speaker 4: It was that and then like Mike Munch, I just say,
23:24
Speaker 4: don't look at some other guys walk you know what
23:27
Speaker 4: I mean by walking his path, because you know his
23:31
Speaker 4: path may be totally different. Maybe he didn't have to
23:33
Speaker 4: grind through the sessions, you know, grind through the jobs
23:36
Speaker 4: or whatever it may be.
23:37
Speaker 1: So don't look at that thing. Look look at your.
23:39
Speaker 2: Path and how you do with players, right, just be
23:42
Speaker 2: yourself correct.
23:43
Speaker 4: And those players here they know it. They get the
23:45
Speaker 4: same Sean every day of the week. And you know
23:49
Speaker 4: they know I can I'm hard at times, which I'm hard,
23:52
Speaker 4: but I'm fair.
23:52
Speaker 2: You know.
23:53
Speaker 4: It's one of those deals that you know, I'm going
23:54
Speaker 4: to hold them accountable, but I'm also going to hold
23:56
Speaker 4: him to a standard because I see the talent that
23:59
Speaker 4: they have and at the end of the day, I
24:02
Speaker 4: just want them to be able to take that talent
24:04
Speaker 4: and put it on film because the end of the day,
24:06
Speaker 4: that's their walking, talking resume, you know, for that next job.
24:11
Speaker 2: We talked a little bit about the versatility. Is that
24:14
Speaker 2: something that you came here believing was important. Has it
24:21
Speaker 2: sort of grown because Liam's big on it and you know, uh,
24:26
Speaker 2: just having those options in case of injury, having that versatility.
24:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it got really big here and it
24:33
Speaker 4: really came to light with Liam. You know, he said it.
24:36
Speaker 4: You know, we're sitting there looking at our guys. We're like, man,
24:38
Speaker 4: we got more than five guys here that can play
24:41
Speaker 4: play at a high level.
24:42
Speaker 1: You know.
24:42
Speaker 4: Usually, you know, in the other teams I've been with,
24:45
Speaker 4: you usually have the sixth or seventh guy, and then
24:47
Speaker 4: you're actually training one of those guys to be the center.
24:50
Speaker 4: And you're just like, oh, man, I hope, hope somebody
24:52
Speaker 4: doesn't go down today because you got to put one
24:54
Speaker 4: of these guys in. Well, we yeah, somebody's snap, right,
24:57
Speaker 4: you got to take the snap. Just like I can
24:59
Speaker 4: remember one game in Pittsburgh we ran out of tackles.
25:02
Speaker 4: We're gonna put a tight end at tackle. You know,
25:04
Speaker 4: I don't want that situation at all. And just here,
25:08
Speaker 4: it's been such a blessing in that manner because these guys,
25:11
Speaker 4: like you said, very versatile, they'll go and they don't.
25:14
Speaker 4: They don't bitch him moan I asked him. I say, man,
25:16
Speaker 4: I say, look at the left tackle, like you gotta
25:18
Speaker 4: go play guard.
25:19
Speaker 1: Right. There's not like why it's like okay, right.
25:22
Speaker 2: It's easy to say that to players. The other thing
25:24
Speaker 2: for them to sort of accept and embrace it correct,
25:27
Speaker 2: which leads to Cole Van landing, Yeah, is he sort
25:31
Speaker 2: of the definition of it. I mean, I don't want
25:34
Speaker 2: to overlook other guys. Yeah, but that was such a
25:38
Speaker 2: unique year that he had being able to play all
25:40
Speaker 2: of them.
25:40
Speaker 1: Its center. Yeah.
25:42
Speaker 4: You know, we're talking to these free agents that we
25:44
Speaker 4: have in the room right now, you know. And I
25:47
Speaker 4: remember the first depth chart I threw up last year guy. Yeah, yeah, okay,
25:50
Speaker 4: And you know I told him this morning and I
25:53
Speaker 4: was like, you know, we're talking about Cole a little
25:55
Speaker 4: bit now, you know, And I said, I threw the
25:57
Speaker 4: depth chart up, the first one of the year, and
25:59
Speaker 4: he's the fifth.
26:00
Speaker 2: Tackle right now.
26:02
Speaker 1: He's buried in the depth chart.
26:04
Speaker 4: And he was a guy I was training at center
26:06
Speaker 4: and I was trying to find a place. Here's a
26:08
Speaker 4: guy didn't didn't bitch, he wasn't getting reps, he didn't bitch.
26:12
Speaker 4: He just continued to work. He bought it his time,
26:15
Speaker 4: and then when he's time, that showed. And the later
26:17
Speaker 4: in the later part of the season, he bawled out.
26:20
Speaker 4: And what did he do. He made a lot of
26:21
Speaker 4: money for him, so you know.
26:24
Speaker 2: And it's uh, it was also very much a case
26:28
Speaker 2: of this team last year went into it saying, if
26:34
Speaker 2: you compete and you're the best guy to play. You're
26:36
Speaker 2: gonna play? Yeah, And it really came out in cold
26:39
Speaker 2: right yes, because before the season, nobody would thought he'd
26:41
Speaker 2: be the start.
26:42
Speaker 1: Never.
26:45
Speaker 4: Even yeah, exactly me. I'll be the first one to
26:47
Speaker 4: say it. Me coming into the spring, watching the tape
26:49
Speaker 4: that I had watched the year before, I would have
26:51
Speaker 4: never thought he'd be the starting left tackle, and he
26:54
Speaker 4: proved me wrong.
26:55
Speaker 2: It was the first one, and that all franchises would
26:57
Speaker 2: keep an open mind, like a correct we're really gonna
27:01
Speaker 2: let the best player play.
27:02
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, And it's gonna be that way again this
27:04
Speaker 4: year at the end of the day, man, because these
27:06
Speaker 4: guys know. And that's one thing I think Liam and
27:09
Speaker 4: James have done a great job of is creating competition
27:12
Speaker 4: in that room.
27:13
Speaker 1: You can't competition, real competition.
27:16
Speaker 4: We can't. They know, they can't relax, and it just
27:18
Speaker 4: keep coming. These these young guys that we brought in,
27:21
Speaker 4: they already see it on on the field. You're like, dang,
27:23
Speaker 4: this guy's big, this guy's strong. Wow, this guy's fast. Okay,
27:26
Speaker 4: I see what You'll see what y'all done here?
27:28
Speaker 1: Now?
27:29
Speaker 2: Yeh, final thing before we hit the end, tell me
27:35
Speaker 2: about sweet feet.
27:37
Speaker 1: It's funny. I thought I had lost it.
27:39
Speaker 4: And we actually have a guy here on the Bill
27:43
Speaker 4: Walsh Minority Internship, Zach Banner, and he was with me
27:49
Speaker 4: in Pittsburgh and he got in the building here on
27:52
Speaker 4: on Monday, and that was the first thing out of
27:54
Speaker 4: his mouth.
27:54
Speaker 1: He said, sweet feet.
27:55
Speaker 2: Because because James Harrison brought it to Pittsburgh.
27:58
Speaker 1: Right.
27:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, to back up, it started in Kent State when
28:02
Speaker 2: you're in college. Yeah, because he had good feet as
28:04
Speaker 2: an offensive line Yeah.
28:05
Speaker 1: Actually, believe it or not. I know it doesn't look
28:07
Speaker 1: that way now.
28:08
Speaker 4: I had I had really good feet in college, and
28:10
Speaker 4: I was going through the bags one day and a
28:12
Speaker 4: defensive ends Sean Armstead, called me sweet feet, and it
28:15
Speaker 4: kind of stuck. So I was there in Pittsburgh and
28:18
Speaker 4: it was like many years later. I was there in
28:20
Speaker 4: the interview. I was sitting there with Todd Haley, Dick
28:23
Speaker 4: Lebou and those other coaches, and I could see James,
28:27
Speaker 4: which I hadn't seen since college. Yeah, I played with
28:30
Speaker 4: him at Kent State. He's coming in the door, kind
28:32
Speaker 4: of walks in the meeting room. He's looking at Mike
28:34
Speaker 4: Tom and talking to him for a second. I'm like
28:36
Speaker 4: kind of slunched over in the corner, you know, the
28:38
Speaker 4: new guy on the job interview, kind of like just
28:40
Speaker 4: not all of a sudden, he double looks me and
28:43
Speaker 4: he goes, what the hell's sweet feet doing here?
28:46
Speaker 1: So then that stuck, Yes, yes, stuck.
28:49
Speaker 2: That hits the place it's not gonna leave.
28:51
Speaker 1: It doesn't leave.
28:52
Speaker 2: It got you. Well, there's probably no better compliment for
28:55
Speaker 2: an offensive lineman once you dig through it. Yeah, because as.
29:00
Speaker 1: Long as I'm being called something, I'm happy.
29:04
Speaker 2: The last thing we do on this called the ozone five.
29:10
Speaker 2: Five quick fun questions, Sean, was your last binge watch?
29:15
Speaker 1: Last Ben's watch was The Boys? Okay, and there's one
29:20
Speaker 1: episode left.
29:20
Speaker 2: Sorry, Okay, guys.
29:21
Speaker 1: I'll watched it all the way up. There's two.
29:23
Speaker 4: I'll watched it all the way up to the two
29:25
Speaker 4: last episodes. There's two episodes left. Last one comes out tonight.
29:28
Speaker 2: Fantastic, Yeah, on the way in in the morning podcast
29:32
Speaker 2: or music neither silence? Really?
29:35
Speaker 1: Yeah?
29:35
Speaker 2: Why is that it's my moment.
29:36
Speaker 4: To reflect on anything that I need to get done.
29:40
Speaker 4: I kind of most of the time have the music
29:43
Speaker 4: completely off and I'm trying to drink as much water
29:45
Speaker 4: as i can on the.
29:46
Speaker 2: Drive got you got you sport other than football that
29:49
Speaker 2: you were good at wrestling? Okay, if the coaches were
29:56
Speaker 2: involved with Iron Jag, who.
29:58
Speaker 1: Wins against the players?
30:01
Speaker 2: No, amongst each other.
30:03
Speaker 4: Amongst the coaches. Well, I hate to say it, but
30:05
Speaker 4: we got some. We got some coaches I think could
30:08
Speaker 4: still line up now. Our tight end coach, Rich Angola,
30:12
Speaker 4: Holy crap. Yeah, he's put together now.
30:15
Speaker 2: Okay. Got the person that you wouldn't be in the
30:20
Speaker 2: NFL without?
30:23
Speaker 4: I would say it's Scotty Montgomery. He's the currently the
30:27
Speaker 4: wide receiver coach at Detroit. He got me the interview
30:31
Speaker 4: at the Steelers here. I worked with him at Duke
30:33
Speaker 4: University and met him there, started a relationship with him.
30:37
Speaker 4: He left, went went to Pittsburgh, was there for a year,
30:41
Speaker 4: had an opportunity for a job there.
30:43
Speaker 1: He called me, I wouldn't be here for people like him.
30:46
Speaker 2: It's a people business.
30:47
Speaker 1: Is a people business.
30:48
Speaker 2: Sean. Can I thank you enough for doing this. We
30:51
Speaker 2: appreciate you doing the ozone podcast and look forward to
30:54
Speaker 2: the season.
30:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, me too, looking forward to get started.
30:57
Speaker 2: Fantastic buddy, appreciate you. Yep, thanks all right, Duff, you
31:01
Speaker 2: don't know Sean that well. And I really didn't any
31:05
Speaker 2: either until I spoke to him, But you do know
31:08
Speaker 2: what a job he did last year and the quality
31:11
Speaker 2: of coach he is.
31:12
Speaker 3: John I thought, truthfully, I thought he and his offensive
31:15
Speaker 3: assistant coach did a tremendous job. I mean when I
31:18
Speaker 3: saw the way that they handled injuries and how they
31:21
Speaker 3: moved players around, and the players when they got moved
31:24
Speaker 3: around performeder those that hadn't been on the field regularly
31:28
Speaker 3: came up and played, and how well they played. I
31:30
Speaker 3: was amazed by it. And you know, sometimes I've been
31:33
Speaker 3: on a lot of clubs where they're you know, a coach,
31:36
Speaker 3: well he's a left guard, he can only play left guard. Well,
31:39
Speaker 3: you know, I saw the versatility and the and the
31:42
Speaker 3: the value that he should he and those players established
31:45
Speaker 3: in terms of playing guys at multiple positions, you get
31:48
Speaker 3: such great hidden depth. I was highly impressed with what
31:52
Speaker 3: this group did last year, you know, on the offensive line,
31:55
Speaker 3: and how they handled the adversity, whether it be injury
31:58
Speaker 3: or whether it be play or whatever the case. Maybe
32:00
Speaker 3: week after week they got better. This is an outstanding coach.
32:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, So much of how they approach offensive line around
32:07
Speaker 2: here goes back to what Liam and James experienced Liam
32:11
Speaker 2: con and James Gladstone. I think it was twenty one
32:14
Speaker 2: with the rams of memory serves where they were just
32:17
Speaker 2: decimated on the offensive line and they were never going
32:20
Speaker 2: to get in that situation again. Some of its versatility,
32:23
Speaker 2: some of us having guys in that room, but everybody
32:26
Speaker 2: sort of knows you have to have offensive line. They
32:29
Speaker 2: lived it, so it's a high priority position for him.
32:32
Speaker 2: The last thing we do here, duff I asked questions
32:36
Speaker 2: to myself in the ozone mail bag. We'll talk about
32:41
Speaker 2: it a little bit. We'll probably go two or three
32:43
Speaker 2: today to get out quickly. But Steve from Jacksonville writes,
32:47
Speaker 2: since you were around the Jaguars more than most, does
32:50
Speaker 2: the team feel focused on building upon last year's breakout success.
32:54
Speaker 2: It appears there's a workman like approach and paying attention
32:58
Speaker 2: to details. I would answer, yeah, I don't know that
33:01
Speaker 2: I've ever been around a team that didn't feel like
33:04
Speaker 2: it was taking a workman like approach in OTAs, but
33:07
Speaker 2: I guess just talk about that you're around a little bit.
33:11
Speaker 2: This team feels professional, workmanlike. I know they're in year
33:17
Speaker 2: two of this, it almost feels like they're advanced through
33:21
Speaker 2: year two, if that makes any sense. With their level
33:25
Speaker 2: of detail and efficiency.
33:26
Speaker 3: No question about it. And I saw it in person
33:30
Speaker 3: just about a week ago when I watched a rookie
33:32
Speaker 3: mini camp. This was their second practice was on Saturday.
33:36
Speaker 3: I think they started practice on Friday, but I went
33:39
Speaker 3: out and saw the Saturday practice, and from the start
33:42
Speaker 3: to the end, it was crisp. It was organized, it
33:45
Speaker 3: was moving. There was no wasting time in terms of
33:47
Speaker 3: setting up drills, whether it was individual, whether it was
33:51
Speaker 3: routes on air, whether it was some unit work. I
33:54
Speaker 3: mean across the board, it was efficient. And so I
33:56
Speaker 3: mean they looked like a mid season team and this
33:59
Speaker 3: was just rookies the first time out there. Translates that absolutely,
34:02
Speaker 3: it does. It's an indication of really what the attitude
34:05
Speaker 3: and what the focus is. And so I think this
34:09
Speaker 3: team's you know, I liked what I saw from a
34:12
Speaker 3: maturity level of the team last year. I think there's
34:14
Speaker 3: unfinished business. I think they didn't you know, they have
34:17
Speaker 3: a little bit still a little bit of a chip
34:19
Speaker 3: until the way this season ended. I think they enjoyed
34:21
Speaker 3: and learned and recognize the value of winning. And how
34:25
Speaker 3: felt that how good that felt for not only the
34:27
Speaker 3: team in the locker room, the organization, but the community.
34:31
Speaker 3: I think there's a real good focus that this group's
34:33
Speaker 3: got right now as we go into the twenty six season.
34:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been since ninety eight and ninety nine since
34:38
Speaker 2: they've made the playoffs two years in a row, which
34:41
Speaker 2: is sort of how you, I guess, define sustainability. I'm
34:46
Speaker 2: with you. There's something about this that feels sustainable to me,
34:51
Speaker 2: and you know, you never know until you see it.
34:52
Speaker 3: Ye, Well, I think it's a you know, I think
34:55
Speaker 3: there's great communication from Liam Tony James. You know, all
35:00
Speaker 3: this has been talked about, but I think it's real
35:02
Speaker 3: and I think and I feel it when I'm around
35:05
Speaker 3: that group and when I watched this team and I
35:07
Speaker 3: watched this coaching staff work together. So I mean, I
35:09
Speaker 3: think there's a real Sometimes you know, you're it's like
35:13
Speaker 3: your hand, if your hands open like this, things are
35:15
Speaker 3: going in a lot of different directions, and you see
35:17
Speaker 3: that in the way the team performs. I think this
35:19
Speaker 3: team is like a clinch fish right now. Everything is
35:21
Speaker 3: strong and together and and uh, you know, they're determined.
35:25
Speaker 3: They they realize that they've got moreto accomplished, they liked
35:29
Speaker 3: what they got done. They've kind of felt good about
35:31
Speaker 3: but realized that hey, we're just you know, we're starting
35:34
Speaker 3: over again. We've got a lot to prove and we're anxious.
35:36
Speaker 1: To do it.
35:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think they know that last year was
35:40
Speaker 2: in a fluke, which sort of gives you the confidence. Yeah,
35:44
Speaker 2: they're like, this is real. Keeps things focused, you can
35:47
Speaker 2: get it done. So Charles from Riverside Wrights, it looks
35:51
Speaker 2: pretty crowded at running back for the Jags. Chris Rodriguez,
35:54
Speaker 2: Bechell Tooton, DJ Dallas, the quin Allen Junior, a Mera Abdullah,
35:58
Speaker 2: Jamari Taylor. It's a lot of names, six guys in
36:01
Speaker 2: the preseason competing. Any thoughts on how this position will look, Duff.
36:06
Speaker 2: I expect Alan, Touton and Rodriguez to be the main core.
36:11
Speaker 2: I'd be stunned if they're not around. I think Taylor's
36:16
Speaker 2: got a shot the rookie coming in to be a
36:19
Speaker 2: practice squad guy, and I think Abdullah might fill the
36:24
Speaker 2: same role. We've talked about it a little bit already
36:29
Speaker 2: in different forms. But Abdullah and Taylor to me are
36:33
Speaker 2: fascinating because of how the practice squad correct works now.
36:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, the application to practice squad where these guys
36:40
Speaker 3: can be I think three Timeshay can come off the
36:42
Speaker 3: practice squad and be active and you know, fit in
36:46
Speaker 3: relatively to perhaps scheme wise or injury wise. I mean,
36:49
Speaker 3: I think it's brilliant right now, you know, and the
36:52
Speaker 3: emphasis that continues to be a focus here of having
36:56
Speaker 3: a feared running game, a very productive running game, which
36:59
Speaker 3: in fact is going to help number of people. It's
37:01
Speaker 3: going to help our quarterback, any quarterback. It helps, it's
37:03
Speaker 3: gonna help that. It's going to help the offense. It's
37:06
Speaker 3: ball control offense, helps your defense, it's the best defense
37:08
Speaker 3: you got. So there's so many applications of having a
37:11
Speaker 3: strong running game starting with a very strong running back room,
37:16
Speaker 3: if you will. I think it's a brilliant move. And
37:19
Speaker 3: I remember I've had to stop at Dula along the way.
37:22
Speaker 3: He's quality backs. I mean, as you mentioned the running
37:26
Speaker 3: back rookie out of Virginia Taylor, I think I see
37:29
Speaker 3: a lot of where he can help. And so I
37:31
Speaker 3: think we've got a good group right now. And that's
37:33
Speaker 3: something you don't want to worry about.
37:34
Speaker 2: You don't have to.
37:35
Speaker 1: You know, they've eliminated.
37:36
Speaker 3: Potential worry sport spots, if you will, especially on the offense,
37:40
Speaker 3: as you look at the application of free agents, the draft,
37:44
Speaker 3: et cetera. So I like the weapons that we've got
37:48
Speaker 3: and the variety of weapons we've gotten, Let's go get them.
37:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a subtle change that people who don't follow
37:54
Speaker 2: league super closely may I realize. But before COVID, I
37:59
Speaker 2: think the oldest guy you having a practice squad was
38:01
Speaker 2: about second year veteran, very little playing experience. After COVID,
38:05
Speaker 2: they've loosened that where you can have veterans on the
38:08
Speaker 2: practice squad. To me, it was a way that the
38:12
Speaker 2: league could sort of expand rosters without technically expanding rosters
38:17
Speaker 2: and therefore having to be a CBA issue. But it's
38:21
Speaker 2: allowed veterans teams to have some experience. I think it's
38:26
Speaker 2: been a good change for the league, but an interesting,
38:29
Speaker 2: subtle way of expanding the roster.
38:31
Speaker 3: Without a doubt, And I think it's been a plus
38:33
Speaker 3: for everybody. It's been a plus for the player, uh,
38:36
Speaker 3: you know, themselves, it's been a plus for teams, it's
38:39
Speaker 3: been I mean it's been Frankly, I think it was
38:41
Speaker 3: something that we wished as coaches you had a long
38:44
Speaker 3: time ago and now to have that possibility, Uh, it
38:48
Speaker 3: just makes everything better as far as your you know,
38:50
Speaker 3: the ability for your team to execute and get better.
38:53
Speaker 2: Duff, you make everything better. When you were part of
38:58
Speaker 2: Jaguars Media, you made this podcast better. Thank you to
39:01
Speaker 2: Shaun Sarah, thank you for your insight into this as always,
39:04
Speaker 2: and thank you everybody for listening and joining the ozone podcast.