Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | Grant Udinski on Opportunity To Be Jaguars OC, Trevor Lawrence and Run Game
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: How are you guys? Obviously it's a great opportunity for you,
- 0:03Speaker 1: especially being as you know as you are. Did you
- 0:08Speaker 1: have any I don't know any misgivings because you weren't
- 0:11Speaker 1: gonna be the play caller or did you feel hey,
- 0:14Speaker 1: if it's a coordinator job, I can I can learn
- 0:17Speaker 1: from a guy who's done it and done it well. No, No,
- 0:20Speaker 1: no misgivings at all. This is a phenomenal opportunity to
- 0:22Speaker 1: work with the guys here, the staff here, the organization here.
- 0:26Speaker 1: So once I found out about this opportunity, I probably
- 0:29Speaker 1: don't have enough word to describe how fired up I
- 0:31Speaker 1: was to be able to work with with Liam and
- 0:33Speaker 1: the rest of the staff. So I know that element
- 0:37Speaker 1: that part of it. The play calling won't be a
- 0:38Speaker 1: part of my role, but I'm looking forward to to
- 0:41Speaker 1: support and help the team win in any way. I
- 0:42Speaker 1: can obvious connection that you sort of had with Liam.
- 0:48Speaker 1: Was it was direct? Was it indirect? How you know?
- 0:51Speaker 1: Cause I think all when you interviewed for these things,
- 0:54Speaker 1: it's always somebody's either recommending him or there's a direct relationship. Yeah,
- 0:59Speaker 1: I think there's an element of all of those things
- 1:02Speaker 1: that come together. I think Ultimately, that's probably a little
- 1:05Speaker 1: bit of a question for Lea more so than me,
- 1:08Speaker 1: But I think he takes into account the indirect recommendations,
- 1:12Speaker 1: but the direct relationship is ultimately probably most important in
- 1:15Speaker 1: my opinion, and from my perspective, at least, my relationship
- 1:19Speaker 1: with him, because he's the guy who I'm gonna be
- 1:21Speaker 1: working with every day, and he's the guy who's gonna
- 1:22Speaker 1: have to deal with me every single day. So if
- 1:26Speaker 1: that's not good, then that's not a recipe for a
- 1:28Speaker 1: good product. Why did you want to work with plays
- 1:31Speaker 1: specifically with about him or the offense that was really
- 1:34Speaker 1: the track for Well, that'll be a long list too,
- 1:37Speaker 1: So probably the same reasons that he's hired here, not
- 1:41Speaker 1: just his track record, but what he's done with quarterbacks,
- 1:43Speaker 1: what he's done with offense, what he's done the run game,
- 1:45Speaker 1: the past game. There is an added benefit of us
- 1:48Speaker 1: seeing things similarly, you know, philosophically or schematically, but in
- 1:53Speaker 1: terms of the football stuff. There's a wide array of
- 1:57Speaker 1: things that I can learn from him and hopefully that
- 1:59Speaker 1: I can bring him and add to this team and
- 2:01Speaker 1: to our offense. But from the football side of it,
- 2:06Speaker 1: we see things very similar in terms of how we
- 2:08Speaker 1: want to do things and how we want to attack
- 2:09Speaker 1: things philosophically, you know, talk about being fundamentally sound, talk
- 2:13Speaker 1: about attacking on offense, situational masters, and the most importantly
- 2:17Speaker 1: being tough. So having that shared identity and that kind
- 2:20Speaker 1: of shared vision, that alignment from the top all the
- 2:22Speaker 1: way down throughout our staff is a big deal to me,
- 2:24Speaker 1: and I know it's a big deal to us collectively.
- 2:27Speaker 1: And then on top of that, like I said, he's
- 2:29Speaker 1: got to deal with me every single day, whether he
- 2:30Speaker 1: likes it or not. Now, so there has to be
- 2:33Speaker 1: some level of the person, the human being, the guy
- 2:35Speaker 1: that he is, that comes into play that makes me
- 2:38Speaker 1: ultimately so excited to be here and work with him
- 2:40Speaker 1: and everyone else here on Trevor and how do you
- 2:45Speaker 1: establish that relationship Channey And Yeah, I'm beyond fired up
- 2:51Speaker 1: to work with Trevor. Like I said about Lee, I'm
- 2:53Speaker 1: probably the same thing with Trevor. I don't have enough
- 2:55Speaker 1: words to explain how excited I am for the opportunity
- 2:58Speaker 1: to work with him. The relationship side of it is
- 3:01Speaker 1: something that takes time, not just me getting to know him,
- 3:04Speaker 1: but him getting to know me. This is a collaborative process.
- 3:08Speaker 1: There are no dictatorships or anything like that in this
- 3:11Speaker 1: business or on our team. Just like we're collaborative as
- 3:15Speaker 1: a staff, we're collaborative with our players. So ultimately, if
- 3:19Speaker 1: the players come first, players and most players over plays,
- 3:22Speaker 1: like Liam's probably told you, guys a number of times,
- 3:25Speaker 1: and if that's true, then we have to be willing
- 3:28Speaker 1: to go above and beyond and do whatever it takes
- 3:30Speaker 1: to put them in the best position for success. And
- 3:32Speaker 1: part of that is committing the time and effort and
- 3:35Speaker 1: resources to forming those relationships. You look at some of
- 3:39Speaker 1: the other players that the Jaguars have one offs right now,
- 3:42Speaker 1: let's stands out. I think that's still something that we're
- 3:46Speaker 1: looking at. As we put all this stuff together and
- 3:48Speaker 1: you get to know guys and get to learn guys,
- 3:51Speaker 1: you don't want to come to any premature conclusions on
- 3:54Speaker 1: guys based on the past because you're focused on the
- 3:56Speaker 1: present and moving forward. But just like I to talk
- 4:00Speaker 1: about with Trevor, you're excited about the opportunity to work
- 4:03Speaker 1: with the potential that you see in these guys, whether
- 4:05Speaker 1: it is upfront, out on the edges, receiver position, tight
- 4:08Speaker 1: end position, the backs. Trevor basically down the line across
- 4:12Speaker 1: the roster, there's a lot of excitement and tools and
- 4:14Speaker 1: pieces that you can create a vision for within our
- 4:18Speaker 1: system in a multitude of ways, and using those guys
- 4:21Speaker 1: to attack defenses in creative and innovative ways. Where like
- 4:24Speaker 1: I said, if we're trying to maximize our chance of
- 4:26Speaker 1: players success, building things around those guys and what they
- 4:30Speaker 1: do well and taking advantage of that potential to get
- 4:32Speaker 1: the most out of them. So our goal will to
- 4:36Speaker 1: bring the best out of each guy and hopefully take
- 4:38Speaker 1: that talent that you see and are so excited about
- 4:40Speaker 1: and make each guy kind of have the best year
- 4:43Speaker 1: of his career respectively, whatever that may look like. But
- 4:46Speaker 1: it's that individual process first of bringing out the best
- 4:49Speaker 1: in those guys and that talent, and that will hopefully
- 4:52Speaker 1: create a good product as a whole collectively. Being with
- 4:55Speaker 1: a Sean last year in Minnesota, because what is it
- 4:57Speaker 1: about him that makes him such a possive addition to
- 5:01Speaker 1: the staff with you guys, Yeah, Sean brings a lot
- 5:04Speaker 1: to the table in terms of, once again, football wise,
- 5:07Speaker 1: the same thing I talked about with the coaching staff,
- 5:10Speaker 1: whether it's schematic, philosophically, football wise, the alignment there from
- 5:16Speaker 1: Liam all the way to myself and down throughout the staff.
- 5:19Speaker 1: But also the type of guy is the energy brings,
- 5:21Speaker 1: the relationships he forms the players, the relationships he forms
- 5:24Speaker 1: about staff players. You're gonna get a genuine, hard working,
- 5:27Speaker 1: caring guy that that's going to go above and beyond,
- 5:29Speaker 1: just like hopefully the rest of us will to bring
- 5:31Speaker 1: out the best in the players and each of us
- 5:33Speaker 1: as staff members. The great thing about our relationship and
- 5:36Speaker 1: kind of having that foundation there is he can be
- 5:38Speaker 1: honest with me. I can be honest with him. I'm
- 5:40Speaker 1: not going to be perfect and I'm not going to
- 5:42Speaker 1: pretend to be perfect. So you need to have those
- 5:44Speaker 1: relationships and open and honest communication so that way people
- 5:47Speaker 1: can tell you when I screw something up or misspeak,
- 5:49Speaker 1: and thankfully I can lean heavily on Sean to do
- 5:51Speaker 1: that for me. And then those three years in Minnesota
- 5:54Speaker 1: with Kevin, Just how much did he influence you and
- 5:58Speaker 1: what you really learn about coaching game? Im? Yeah, well,
- 6:02Speaker 1: how much time do we have, but he he influenced
- 6:06Speaker 1: me in probably more ways than I even recognize. To
- 6:09Speaker 1: be honest with you, in terms of the game, seeing
- 6:14Speaker 1: the past game, seeing how you build an offense, seeing
- 6:17Speaker 1: how you teach an offense and build that progression, and
- 6:20Speaker 1: then most importantly probably the quarterback position, how you develop
- 6:24Speaker 1: that starting from the ground up, laying the foundation and
- 6:27Speaker 1: scaffolding things in a true progression that allows those guys
- 6:31Speaker 1: to learn and grow in an environment that maximizes their
- 6:35Speaker 1: chance of success. So I could probably go on for
- 6:38Speaker 1: hours about what that kind of process looks like, But
- 6:41Speaker 1: from a football standpoint, he kind of covers all the
- 6:44Speaker 1: bases in terms of you learn things explicitly and implicitly
- 6:48Speaker 1: in terms of just concepts or certain schemes and philosophies,
- 6:54Speaker 1: but all the way down to the detail on how
- 6:56Speaker 1: those concepts are executed, or how those concepts are implemented,
- 6:59Speaker 1: or how those content acepts our game plan. I think
- 7:01Speaker 1: that's something that he does at a really high level,
- 7:03Speaker 1: and the results kind of speak for itself with him
- 7:06Speaker 1: and this success he's had there in Minnesota and even
- 7:09Speaker 1: even prior to that, and then on top of that,
- 7:13Speaker 1: my role, I was in a very fortunate position to
- 7:16Speaker 1: be with him and spend so much time with him,
- 7:18Speaker 1: seeing the connector that he is and the type of
- 7:20Speaker 1: person that he is, and the impact that he has
- 7:22Speaker 1: on people's lives, not just in the meeting room and
- 7:25Speaker 1: with us as coaches or with the players, but even
- 7:28Speaker 1: beyond with the entire organization from everybody in that building.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Everyone that walks through that building feels his impact and
- 7:34Speaker 1: his presence and the culture that he's set there, and
- 7:37Speaker 1: that pays dividends and kind of has a ripple effect
- 7:40Speaker 1: beyond his immediate reach. It from the outside, it looks
- 7:45Speaker 1: like a very youthful staff. Does it feel that way
- 7:47Speaker 1: when you guys are getting together? Does it feel like
- 7:49Speaker 1: a young staff? And what's the advantage of having a
- 7:53Speaker 1: staff of younger guys. I probably wouldn't describe it like that.
- 7:57Speaker 1: I would say we have an energetic staff for sure,
- 8:01Speaker 1: So maybe that's how I would look at it there.
- 8:03Speaker 1: But in the sense of youth, I think you feel
- 8:08Speaker 1: the energy, the excitement, the passion for football, for coaching,
- 8:13Speaker 1: and the work that goes into making this thing ultimately
- 8:15Speaker 1: what we want it to be. And I think that
- 8:18Speaker 1: carries over not only into our interactions with each other
- 8:21Speaker 1: so far, but I think that will show up in
- 8:23Speaker 1: our relationships with the players and the relationships hopefully with
- 8:27Speaker 1: everyone else in the building. So I think the energy
- 8:29Speaker 1: there is palpable different than maybe the staff that you
- 8:32Speaker 1: started on in Carolina in twenty twenty. Every staff is different,
- 8:36Speaker 1: Every staff is unique. Certainly, at the end of the day,
- 8:39Speaker 1: football is still played by people, It's still coached by people,
- 8:41Speaker 1: so it's individuals. So it's certainly different in some ways.
- 8:44Speaker 1: There are probably some ways that it's similar, but ultimately
- 8:47Speaker 1: every staff you're on is different. Even year to year,
- 8:48Speaker 1: you typically have a guy leave. It's just like players
- 8:51Speaker 1: on the coaching staff. It's never going to be the
- 8:53Speaker 1: same exact staff every year, so there's certainly some differences.
- 8:57Speaker 1: Not to get too far ahead of players, but what
- 8:59Speaker 1: are your thoughts on broad Thoms Junior and just the
- 9:01Speaker 1: prospects of having or nothing like that. Yeah, excitement once again,
- 9:05Speaker 1: so probably that'll be the same thing I answer for
- 9:07Speaker 1: probably ten of these questions is excitement overall, like we
- 9:12Speaker 1: talked about with the players, and the opportunity to work
- 9:14Speaker 1: with these guys. He's one of the guys where you
- 9:16Speaker 1: watch the tape and it's hard to stay seated watching
- 9:20Speaker 1: his tape just in terms of the excitement and the
- 9:22Speaker 1: tools and the ability that he has and the potential
- 9:25Speaker 1: there for you saw the results this year, but the
- 9:27Speaker 1: potential for growth beyond this year, and the different ways
- 9:30Speaker 1: you can use him to attack defenses in a multitude
- 9:33Speaker 1: of ways. You mentioned being excited about working with Trevor.
- 9:39Speaker 1: What stands out that you're excited about. There's a lot
- 9:43Speaker 1: that stands out. Once again that the physical talent you
- 9:48Speaker 1: can see and you guys probably have had more time
- 9:50Speaker 1: watching it than even me over the course of the
- 9:52Speaker 1: past couple of years. The most exciting thing for me
- 9:56Speaker 1: is the guy and the person as I've started to
- 9:59Speaker 1: form this relationship, because, like I said, the quarterback position
- 10:03Speaker 1: is still played by a person. It's still a human
- 10:05Speaker 1: being back there who's got to stand back there and
- 10:08Speaker 1: navigate tight pockets and hits and escape and deal with eleven,
- 10:12Speaker 1: you know, ten other guys in the huddle, all eleven
- 10:14Speaker 1: on defense and make those decisions in snap judgment. So
- 10:18Speaker 1: the person that we're getting to deal with and work
- 10:20Speaker 1: with on a day to day basis is super exciting
- 10:23Speaker 1: for me because listen, if we're up here spending as
- 10:27Speaker 1: much time as we do trying to pour ourselves into somebody,
- 10:29Speaker 1: he's the type of guy that you want to invest
- 10:31Speaker 1: time in. We'll talk a lot about the quarterback of
- 10:33Speaker 1: the passing game, but the running game last year for
- 10:36Speaker 1: the jaggarsus inconsistent. How important is it to kind of
- 10:39Speaker 1: develop that trump plane and have that running game on offense. Yeah,
- 10:43Speaker 1: we'll be multiple and we want to be a complete
- 10:45Speaker 1: offense in the sense that we have the ability to
- 10:48Speaker 1: attack defenses in a variety of ways, whether that is
- 10:52Speaker 1: in the run game or the pass game or screen game,
- 10:55Speaker 1: whatever that may be. You need to kind of have
- 10:57Speaker 1: all the tools in the bag and then find the
- 10:59Speaker 1: way to to make those players to take those tools
- 11:02Speaker 1: and fit them to the players that you have. So
- 11:05Speaker 1: it comes down to how can we how can we
- 11:08Speaker 1: take what our guys execute, what our guys execute well,
- 11:10Speaker 1: and put those players in the best position for success.
- 11:14Speaker 1: So the run game is a piece of that without
- 11:16Speaker 1: a doubt, because we never want to become one dimensional.
- 11:19Speaker 1: We always want to be dictating and having the ability
- 11:21Speaker 1: to run the ball and run on our terms and
- 11:23Speaker 1: be attacking. Like I talked about earlier, kind is predicated
- 11:26Speaker 1: on the ability to do that, down in and down out.
- 11:31Speaker 1: Good Thank you guys,