Latest / Bussin' With The Boys / Best of the Bus: Kalen DeBoer On Taking Over From Nick Saban + Implementing His Own Culture

Transcript

Best of the Bus: Kalen DeBoer On Taking Over From Nick Saban + Implementing His Own Culture · Bussin' With The Boys

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And we got this also sit with coach de Boor,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: who came from Washington, and we talked with him about
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: succeeding obviously arguably the greatest college football coach of all
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: time in Nick Saban. We talk a lot about his
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: transition from Washington, going from that, going from that national
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: title loss to getting the job with Alabama, some of
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the culture wrinkles he's bringing in Alabama. I can already
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: foresee headline coming out about you know, hey, they're.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Playing music now.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: They seem a little bit more loose at Alabama as
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: the culture. You can see some stuff already being created
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: out of that. But he talks about some of the
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: new things that he's bringing in Alabama, what got him
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the job, succeeding Nick Saban, and how you know, in
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: those interviews with the players, we asked them about how
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: it's been in springball with coach de bor So check
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: those out. You guys are gonna love this conversation with
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: coach to Boor, he was all time with the boys.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: But yeah, man, and shout out to the University of
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Alabama for letting us in. I know that we've tried
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: for a couple of times and usually it's a very
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: it's a tough place to get in. So we thank
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: you guys for allowing us to see your facilities. A
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: plus all around, Like you guys crushed it. You guys,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Tyler Booker gave us a tour. It was incredible. Again,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: you guys are gonna enjoy this interview. Oh yes, So,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: without further ado, Bakehogs, tiny kisses. Make sure Alabama fans,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: if you were new here, make sure you're subscribed to
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the Boys leave comments throughout the episode.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: But yeah, coach the boor yeah, I can't help. But
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: as the yeah you need some dad here, it's just like, uh,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: it's just.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Like I'm something with when Will and I met, there's
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: been a couple like that. I guess, look look at
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: the landing over here. So the dad hat. There's been
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: like a couple like the when I signed a contract
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: with the Titans, I like wore this boss hog outfit
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: all white, and I said, daddy's here, and so like
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: a couple of people in Nashville calling me dad for
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: a little bit. And then when Will and I met.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: That that what that's the origin story of the day.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: That's how starting. That's how I'm telling this, how I
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: was starting, and then uh, when.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: This story origin stories my first time here is the dad.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: You know you remember that, right, Delanny. That's right.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: I know that that is I know, I know that
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: that is a moment in time.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: It's a moment in time that I think of myself
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: When I look at the dad hats I think, wow, I.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Really did that.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and so when Will and I first met, I
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: had a very young daughter and then a bean, the bean,
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: and then now I have two kids. Will's Will's got
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: a daughter. So we came out dad hats man because
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: it's it's a it's a culture. People don't know. There's
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: all these dumb jokes about well people know because they
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: have dogs. You don't understand what it's like to have
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: a kid. So you actually have a kid. So it's
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: like a nice little groups. You're more than willing to
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: be in the group. If you want, we'll send you
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: a couple of hats.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I got two girls, girl dad. Perfect, we have girl dad,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: so we'll get you hooked up.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: When you were let's actually, by the way, Derek's calling
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: me back right now.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: I wanted to make sure because Jackson's video that.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Taylor had a tough loss Derek was texting and Taylor
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: tried FaceTime, and then he didn't answer Taylor's phone call.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: But he's responding and texting back and forth.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: The whole time.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: Seven years teammates. Seven years. Yeah, I tried to pull
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: it off, always at OTAs trying to get his raven friends.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and stuff like that.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: What do you want to start? Oh, I want to
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: start with your two daughters. When you had two girls,
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: did you think maybe one more, I'll go for a boy.
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: No, honestly no, I think once we got the younger one,
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: I think we were all good. Certainly would have been
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: fine with boys. And looking back on it though, and
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: now being a football coach, I think it's actually a blessing,
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: you know, having no pressure on any boy and having
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: to play football and just enjoying who they are. And
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: you know, man, they love the game and they love
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: being around the team and all that kind of stuff.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: And they both have totally different personalities and totally different
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: likes interests. But it's awesome being a girl.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Dad. Were you like myself?
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: I was let down when I saw the pink come
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: from the cake that we were having a girl.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: Oh, hey, not only he's true. No, he came his
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: wife came in with a cake at the bus and
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: when he saw that color, it was there was no
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: hiding it. It was true disappointment was going to get that.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: I was going to get a light.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: But as an athlete, which I can't wait to ask
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: you about, because you were a stud at Two Falls,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: were you hopeful for your for for the first kid?
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Were you hopeful that it was a boy?
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: I I honestly didn't have feelings one way or another.
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: I really didn't better.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: Very politically correct answer, yeah, strong, well thought out answer.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: I was not gonna get anything mad with that one.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: I think it was meant to be. That's the way
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: I look at it.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: So you have a few records coming up as a
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: wide receiver, do you keep a highlight tape close by
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: just to let the boys know that you can dabble,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: that you can dabble with the best of them.
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: No, I don't. Nothing like what these guys are here
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: at this level. They would turn that on and have
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: a few laughs. So, uh, I'm proud of what we did.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: But as a team, but that level was a little different.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Than record in yards, receptions, touchdowns. You played some semi
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: pro ball as well, what as you were going through
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: as you were as an athlete going the semi pro
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Bawl route in that moment in time, are you sitting
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: there you're trying to gather tape to try to get
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: to the next level, or after you had a couple
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: of years, you're like, okay, I just I need I
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: need to start making a pivot going into the next thing.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, are you talking the football piece?
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, football piece.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah. From from with the football it was just you know,
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: indoor football there and Sue Falls enjoyed a couple of
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: years kind of right there at home, and I was
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: already on into coaching high school ball and kind of
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: onto while you're playing things while I was playing, so
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: you know, that was that was just a kind of
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: a side hobby. It's with you during those two years,
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: and got into the college coaching there at University suit
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: Falls and then kind of had to put everything else
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: on the back burner and move on with the career.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: Obviously, like coaching, you've done an amazing job, You're at
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: one of the most prestigious universities of all time. But
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: playing and realizing that, okay, this is the road's coming
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: to an end. Of my playing career, Like, how was
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: that transition for you? I know you were coaching already,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: but was there ever that point where you're like identity
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: crisis or anything like that.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: No, I don't think it was at that level. I
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: enjoyed the relationships, I enjoyed the friends. I knew that
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: there was definitely a ceiling and I had probably maxed
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: out that ceiling as a football player myself, and so,
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: you know, great times, but it was time to move on.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, proud though, you've been wildly successful as a head
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: coach in the NAI ranks, three national titles. I think
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: you were sixty five and three as a head coach
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: with Washington. I mean a two time coach of the year.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: I think you go was twenty five and three with Washington.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: What do you feel like you've cultivated, whether it's values,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: philosophies over the years to have that.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Much, to have this much success.
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: I always go back to when I was a player
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: at Two Falls. We were two and eight my freshman
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: year and we were fourteen to no national champs my
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: senior year, and I knew what the culture looked like,
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: what it felt like as a player the first year,
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: and also what it took to get there over those
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: four years, and I always just remember that, And it
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: was the relationships, It was the you know, just the
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: consistency you got from the people that were in the
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: building or on the team, and just the work that
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: it put in, and so it made it was fun,
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: which allowed you know, and I enjoyed the process, which
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: you know, I think our entire team did. And so
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: I try to make that what we have here, you know,
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: and wherever I've been, try to make an environment or
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: facilitate a you know, an atmosphere that's full of energy.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: You know that you know, you can find them driven people,
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: let them go do their thing, whether it's coaches or players,
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: and they enjoy each and every moment. They enjoy each
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: you know, everyone that's a part of it. And just
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: just let's go have some fun. Let's cut it loose,
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  Speaker 4: Let's make the most of every opportunity we get.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Turning back to your success at Washington, you were the
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: only coach to go eleven or more wins in consecutive
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: years and then you get the call from the Crimson Tide.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: You just competed for a national championship. What was your
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: thought process when that phone call did come.
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that was the timing of everything. I think is
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: what really makes it extra hard through all of this,
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: because my time at Washington is going to be for
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: me and my family probably the best time of our life.
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: You know, those two years there and the way we
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: were embraced from a community aspect to the team, to
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: just how much fun it was working with our staff.
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: It was a special time that I know we all
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: are going to cherish forever as a family and eating
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: individually as well. But you know, just the opportunity to
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: come here to Alabama knowing this program and what the
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: history was all about, and getting a chance to meet
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: Greg Byrne and just really hearing the vision, understanding the
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: interests and how excited he'd be to have, you know,
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: me leading the ball program. That meant a lot. And
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: you know, did a goutt a chance maybe over twenty
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: four hours to do a little bit of just kind
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: of investigating and kind of really thinking it through and
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: talking to a couple people that I'm close with, But
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: it just it just felt like, you know, this is
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: something that was too good of an opportunity, and it's
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: just been an awesome experience here these first three to
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: four months.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: Is that how quickly you had to make that decision?
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Was twenty four hours?
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah? I mean I pretty much had to make the
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: decision if I was offered the job. You know, That's
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: really how it really comes down to, you know, and
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: you know, and I understand why. You know, in the
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: just the environment we're in college football, the timing of it,
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: you know, we're talking the middle of January, retaining a roster.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: I just the urgency that it needed to be to
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: keep the program moving forward. I completely understood why. You know,
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: Greg Burn told the team, you know, give me seventy
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: two hours, you know, and you know that was that
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: was that urgency if I was going to be the
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: football coach. I knew getting down here and being around
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: these guys and just being NonStop and trying to build
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: these relationships and keep things together in the first two
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: weeks while I was here, while I'm building the staff,
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: was going to be critical for our immediate and long
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: term future.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Were there nerves involved in the interview process.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Like you're going, you know, you have your success at Washington,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: You're going after this Alabama job. There's always that kid
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: in us. It's like you go to the next stage
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: you go to the next thing. Were there any nerves
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: involved in going after this job.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: No, not at all, because I had a great place
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: where I was at. You know, really it was more
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: about making sure that this was going to be a
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: good fit, that this is going to be a place
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: I could see, you know, myself, you know, being successful
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: and you know people that I was going to be
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: enjoying the journey with, you know, from Greg Burn to
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: others here in the athletic department at the university. So,
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: in all honesty, no, because I was at a great place,
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: and so you know, it's just a matter of really
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: thinking it through. And you know, I think the piece
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: that I truly to make sure it was I wasn't
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: getting caught up in the emotions of the ups and
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: downs of what we had just been through with the
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: season and trying to really take a step back in
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: a short amount of time and have some perspective on everything,
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: because you know, we had had such an amazing year
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: and you know, on a Monday night in the National Championship,
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: you know you're the wins taken out of your sales,
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: and you know you're trying to support your team and
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: your your staff but you know, I just wanted to
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: make sure I ain't caught up in that, and uh,
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: you know, taking a step back as much as I
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: could and in the moment was important.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: You've obviously had a lot of experience being being an
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: athlete yourself. You know, you set records, you go to
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: the nai A, you win national titles there, you uptake
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: into the Vision and college football realm, you win a
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Pack twelve title, you take a team to a national
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: championship in sports, like as athletes, coaches, everybody in the
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: performance world, you're always you know, you're moving, You're moving
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: up the ladder, You're coming in to succeed somebody like
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: arguably the greatest coach of all I'm in, Nick Saban.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: How has your experience moving up, you know, in your
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: journey helped you kind of not see these expectations you
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: come into a seat like Alabama and succeeding Nick Saban,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Is there anything with that that you think about?
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: Well, I think my journey in general is just something
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: I'm super proud of because I've always focused on just
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: where I'm at, And really it's never been about getting
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: to an Alabama or it was never even about getting
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: even to a Washington or Fresno State. I mean, go
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: on and on. It was about just coaching ball, loving
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: the moment we're in, you know, raising a family, and
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: doing it with other people that had the same like
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: minded interests as I had in all those areas, both
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: football and family, and so you know, just enjoying that
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: journey and joying that ride. But I think, you know,
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: coming here, I just can't say enough about again being
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: embraced by the community. You know, Coach Saban, he's so
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: respectful and how he's trying to handle and he wants
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: to see the program. You can just tell he wants
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: it to be great, and he he wants it to
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: continue to go this direction and and us continue to
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: build on all the things he's put in place. And
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: so he's almost been over the top, respect respectful, trying
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: to keep that distance, and you know, I want him,
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: you know, to always know that, hey, this is this
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: is our program. Because everyone who ever set foot in
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: these buildings, and that's alumni, that's former staff members, everyone
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: who made this place great are always gonna feel we
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: want I want them to be a part of it.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: When you like, when you play with other Alabama players,
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: it's like they've taken a drug or something like that.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: They're so obsessed with Alabama truly, Like there's literally times
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: I walk into the cafeteria and Rashaun Evans and Derek
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Henry are there's pointing people you lost to Alabama. You
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: lost to Alabama. Lot of pride there, they truly have,
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: like of any other team, the most school proud I've
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: ever seen anybody else. And so, now, like we'll just said,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: you're taking over for a guy that is arguably probably
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: the greatest college football coach of all time. You're walking
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: into a room where guys when they commit this school,
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: they're expecting to win national championships. So they don't argue
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: about how many games they win. They argue about how
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: many national championships They went, oh you only got two?
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: I got Yeah, which class was better? Was there any
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: point for you where you sit down, you sit in
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: the nice chair that Nick Saban once sat, and you go, oh, fuck,
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: like this is this is I mean, there's gotta be
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: a level of like, this is a lot of responsibility.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: And you're walking into a room of these guys signed
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: up to be coached by Nick Saban and now you
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: have come in you're like, we're gonna run this, this
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: is gonna be our offense. And keeping these kids around,
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: especially with Nil, there's got to be a lot of
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: tremendous you know pressure on that.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, you know what you signed up for.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: And I guess it just always goes back to everyone's
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: human and I think that being around these guys, you
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: understand the reasons why they came here into this program,
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: and it's Alabama football. It has a lot to do
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: with coach Saban. You know, the guys in their commitments
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: to be in here, but they are just so proud
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: of this program and they want to be the ones
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: that carry on the legacy of this place. It's been
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: fun being around the alumni that that do have that pride.
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: I feel that, and it's you know, it's not an
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: ego thing. It's pride, you know. And these guys that
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: are in this program that chose to stay here over
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: the last couple of months, they believe in this place
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: and they know what we can accomplish. I have an
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: appreciation that they understand that it's really about them and
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: them sticking together. And the ones that stayed, man, they
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: are they are resilient. They're hard headed in some ways
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: because they man, we got to win a championship. We
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: got a chip on our shoulder, and you know, people
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: think we're going to fall off because of the transition
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: and all that. So it's been fun locking arms with
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: them and you know, helping them realize their goals and
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: the reasons that they came here and help it help
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: us through and make this progress.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: Jalen Milroe was quoted by saying, you prove that you
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: were the right man for the job every single day
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: during springball. What is your relationship with him?
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: He's been He's special. He just has a heart of gold.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: He wants it so bad, both personally and also for
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: this program. He's you know, takes on the responsibilities of
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: being the quarterback at Alabama with such grace. He's there
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: for others. He's willing to give as much as he can.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: Sometimes I'm you know, just always checking in with him
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: to make sure he's good because he gets pulled in
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: a lot of different directions. But in the end, he
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: loves getting out there. He loves the game of football.
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: I mean we've talked about that a number of times.
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: He just loves everything that surrounds it, from the teamwork
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: and the leadership that he is asked of him to,
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: you know, just working on the daily skills. He loves
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: the film. He just loves so much about the game itself.
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: And you know, it's fun being around guys that are
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: willing to put in all the things and make the
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: sacrifices needed to go be great.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: When you walk into the team meeting room for the
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: first time. What was your message to the team when
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: you first took the job. It's a great question.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: Well, yeah, that was That was Friday night, and and
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: I knew that this was a group that had been
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: through a lot just in the past couple of days.
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: You know, I don't remember exactly what that message was.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: It was a whirlwind for me and my family as well,
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: just a few hours earlier, you know it kind of
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: I had pretty much been off for the job, you know,
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: been through my emotions, uh within in regard to you know,
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: everything of Washington still certainly and even come close to
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: getting through that. But knew that the team just needed
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: to hear that. I was excited about, you know, joining them,
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: meeting them, meeting them where they're at, and getting to
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: know them and appreciated their patience because with all the
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: noise that was around the program and and all the
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: noise that they were probably hearing individually, and you know,
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: being pulled in different places and going different different directions,
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: they just, uh, you know, their belief in Alabama was
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: something you could tell and feel right away. And there
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: was there's a connection with a few of the guys,
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: and I think those guys quickly just uh, you know,
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: held the team in place. There were some staff members
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: here that did a great job, but you know, that
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: was that was a meeting I think, just to to
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: get in there and tell you know how excited I
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: was to be a part of this special place I have.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: I have another one.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: I was just I wanted to ask him about his
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: very first phone call when he heard that he got
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: the job.
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I I felt like it was kind
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: of going in that direction. So it wasn't necessarily a surprise,
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: but it was you know, I think it was just
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: more about being honored to to you know, to have
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: that responsibility to be the head coach here. It's just
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: something again I won't take lightly. And you know I
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: had thought through, you know, the night before just if
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: this opportunity came up working just talking through with my family,
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: you know, you know what that would all mean and uh,
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: you know the moving and the life changes and stuff
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: that we'd be going through. So but from a program standpoint,
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: it's just such an honor and a privilege.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I want to talk about the big dogs for a second,
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: the Hogs. How has it been for them transitioning in
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: this offense? Because they they obviously ran a lot of
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: zone read with Jalen in the backfield last year. But
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: it seems like, you guys, from what I was told
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: in the small little snippet, is you guys going more
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: zone outside zone type stuff. How have they been picking
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: that up? Because for me, transitioning from like a duo
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: gap scheme type offense into like the zone was like
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: at one point I wanted to quit. I was like
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: this is horrendous, and then and then quickly I was like,
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: this might be the best offense you can possibly be in.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: How have they handled that transition?
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: I think that I think it's been great. I think
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: that really it's not that far off from what we
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: what they did before. It's just a matter of where
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: your tendencies, where your priorities, you know how many reps
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: you're practicing a certain concept versus another based on compared
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: to how they did it before. We certainly got to
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: use Jalen's skill set and you know, have him be
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: a threat to with the ball as much as possible. Uh.
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: And so you know, I don't feel like there's as
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: many changes as maybe you know some of the guys.
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: I think, you know, it's been seamless. Coach Cap has
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: done a great job. He's well versed in all the
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: schemes that we've done before, as well as being able
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: to help the guys translate things you know that they
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: had done technically of you know, language wise in our offense.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: Just that translation. He's he's super super sharp, and you
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: know his relationship with these guys. You can see it
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: coming out as the spring's gone on, and just how
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: much better they got from practice one to practice fifteen.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: I think it's probably the position group that if I
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: had to pick one or two, they would certainly be
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: in that mix. As far as the improvements that they've
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: shown here in the spring.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: When you're looking at when you're recruiting guys, like everybody's
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: got all the tangible things, the surface level things, what
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: are some intangibles or some values or character things that
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: you look for, like when you're recruiting guys to a
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: place like Alabama.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's you know, you know, toughness is
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: always going to be something that I think is just
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: critical of what doesn't matter where you're at. I think
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: the game was meant to be played that way. The
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: championship teams have that mental toughness, that physical toughness that
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: you have to have. But I think there's also the discipline,
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: accountability along with just you know, a personality that's kind
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: of like wide eye, just excited to learn, excited to grow.
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: I just feel like they haven't arrived and that there's
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: a there's a there's there's not a ceiling that they're
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: they're looking at and they're far from it if they
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: if they think there is, and so it's just a
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: matter of you know, growth mindset and you know, guys
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: who want to come in here and be a part
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: of something, not just you know, it's all about me.
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: And you know, so we always talk about in terms
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: of our non negotiables being family, accountable, and toughness, and so,
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: you know, I think I hit on as all three
• 21:48
  Speaker 4: of those and just doing it the right way, do
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: it with class, integrity, and also, you know, while you're here,
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: making sure we get that degree as well.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: A couple of fun questions, You got a couple. I
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: got a couple of fun ones.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Okay, oh hang on, let me go on, let me
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: go one more serious boy.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, what traditions of Alabama do you that you've learned
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: about that you're keeping and keeping part of the program.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: And what are some things culture wise, tradition wise do
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: you feel like you're bringing to Alabama.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: That's a that's a really good question. And I think
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: that everything. I don't want to say every day I
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: learned something, but I think, you know, there's a there's
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: been many times you're like, Okay, I think I got this,
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: understand I think I understand this. I understand that you
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: know what's important, what's been done for decades, what's been
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: done just maybe over the last year, you know, and
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: understanding this was this sounds like something they really like,
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: But is it really a tradition?
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: And so you know, just I think guys just the
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: pride they have in some of the simple things. Uh,
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: you know how they look and you know how we
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: practice and you know, tucking shirts in and for workouts
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: and practice. I mean, those are just things that just
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: the pride of the place, uh that come out. Obviously,
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: there's the walk you know that we had and that's
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: special and you know seeing those guys do that a
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: a was was really cool. But you know, the fourth
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: quarter program is something these guys just really believe in.
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: And so a lot of these traditions are things that
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: just are are they're so accustomed to. And I could
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: go on and on, but you know, keeping some of
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: those things and and still bringing in the things that
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: I think have been been good. If it adds uh,
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: it adds to our culture and it's something that you
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: know the guys might enjoy. You know, we're going to
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: balance that between you know, hey, these are really important
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: aspects of Alabama football, and these are some of the
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: things that have worked for me. And you know, I'm
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: not married to a lot of things. But I think
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: it's more about the feel and the energy and what
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: can what can we bring to add to what's already here?
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Did I read did I read something about thunderstruck?
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's with the with the out out in our
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: game day, you know, the walk.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: That is that yours? That of it?
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Was that a Bama thing? That's Bama. I mean that goes,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: that goes hard, struggles hard. It is a good song.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a it's a classic football song.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: What's a core value? Not a core value, but what
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: is like a non negotiable thing that you've brought with
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: you to Alabama as far as a culture deal, this
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: is how we're gonna go about business.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: Honestly, there's I mean there's probably the guys would probably
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: the probably guys would probably say there's a lot of things.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: You know what would the players say something that's something
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: a wrinkle that's been thrown in.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: Well, I actually I can't think it's something that. The
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: one that made some waves early in the spring was
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: you know, we play music in practice, you know, so
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: that was something that hadn't been done before. So not
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: that I feel like you have to, but I think
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: there's a lot of benefits that can come from it,
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: you know, trying to you know, well, first of all,
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: the juice and energy the vibe that can it can create,
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: but also I think there's ways you can utilize it
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: for even you know, distractions, right, you know, and so
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: you know, there's a lot of distractions on game day,
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: right one hundred thousand people, there's music playing in the stadium,
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: and so I think there's a lot of things we
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: actually and I tell these guys, I'm intentional on telling
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: them the things that maybe I'm trying to do someday
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: when I feel like they're even super locked in, you know,
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: just cranking it up a little bit louder to see
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: if see if they can work through that and uh,
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: you know, listen a little harder, you know, communicate a
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: little better, you know, hand signals and stuff. You know,
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: you always practice noise stuff. Uh, you know throughout the
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: week especially you know, home and away, depending on your
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: offense and defense. But uh, you know, those are just
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: some of the things that I think are our benefits
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: of that. That was something that hit the i know,
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: the waves a little bit and our guys, our guys
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: enjoyed it, you know, and enjoyed it, and again it's
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: been a.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Positive its As players, I think we can all agree
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: with the music is the music?
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Is the music?
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: Are you taking requests or is this a set playlist?
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Not?
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: Ye, there's we have specific people and it's been it's
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: been transferred on. Uh, Robbie, my guy from Washington, he
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: started it, and I'm like, you know, we gotta have
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: the clean versions. We gotta have that.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: We got around brown practice. But uh, you know you
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: know that that and I think he's kind of pushed
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: it on. So they'll certainly take requests. Yeah, and at
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: some point I'm sure they'll get the themes of the
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: day or themes of the week and uh and so forth.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: So you mentioned something about tucked in shirts and basically
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: details of how you operate around the facility, on the
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: practice field and everything else.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like you got those.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: You feel like you had some of those ideas when
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: you talk all the way back to I was on
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: a two and eight team, losing team, and then I
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: was part of a national championship team when you played,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: like how those locker rooms look differently and what it
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: takes to win and even if they Hey, I might
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: sound ridiculous saying you have to have your tucked in shirt,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: but there's a way, I promise you, if you just
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: trust me, these are the things that it takes over
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: and over consistently to get to the top.
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: You gotta think Saban's a tucked at shirt guy.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Got to Yeah, it's great, but being a part I mean,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: we've all been a part of bad locker rooms.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: We've been a part of good locker rooms.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: And what good culture looks like in bad culture looks
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: like we were a lot of have earrings.
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well I think I think, I think
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: is what all these things whenever you're talking about you know,
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: those type of uh you call it non negotiables or
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: whatever they are. I think it always it always goes
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: back to pride in who we are and that you're
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: willing to be a part of a team. And and
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: it's not a sacrifice, but man, looking good for us
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: is important. And this is one of the things that
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: we think is about looking good and looking unified and
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: and looking the way you're supposed to when when you're
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: representing Alabama, you know, whether it's in the weight room,
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: whether it's on the practice field or on game day,
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: you know, and so you know what what your facility
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: looks like, and are you picking up after yourself? Those
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: are just like those are classy things you should do
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: as just a human being, right, and it shows that
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: you know the simple things. We're not going to overlook
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: those and just be out there and focused just on
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: the football part. And you know, I know many programs
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: and many people have said the same thing, and I
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: truly believe it. How you do anything is how you
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: do everything, and those things right there, and how you
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: treat people. We're on the road, you know, I have
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: no doubt that these guys are gonna, you know, travel well,
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: you know, represent themselves in our program in a first
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: class way, home way wherever they're at on their own,
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: doesn't have doesn't have to just be when we're together
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: as a team. But those values come out in those
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: type of actions and those type of things that you
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: feel are important to your program.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: How you do anything, how you do everything, phenomena, phenomenal
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: unless you want some good I'm.
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: Nervous questions, Yeah, well I just don't want to.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm nervous too. When you say you're nervous,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: three of.
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: Us down the line. Now that awkward is really important.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: There's playing everything.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: Out of play as I got to because I don't
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: want to be in that. I'm not gonna be nasty,
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: but I want to. I want to talk about I
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: do want to talk about Michigan a little bit. If
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: that's okay. And but you've said there's there's pain there,
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: and I don't want to go in a direction that
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: this has been a fun interview, it's been a good time,
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: and I just don't want to ruin the interview. So
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: I'll I'll pivot and we'll just talk about the SEC
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: for a second. All Right, A lot of bad dogs
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: out here, a lot of strong dogs out here, a
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: lot of strong head coaches. If it really came down
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: to it and you had to fight these head coaches,
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: do you think you're losing to any of the head coaches?
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: Man, I'm not even going there.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: There, we won't do any.
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: Didn't work.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: Who's a who's a head coach?
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: And this, you know, out of respect for the head coach,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: like who's the head coach? You would love to obviously
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: win the game, but you're you've obviously competed in your
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: own journey to get to you know, Washington. Maybe it
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: happened in Washington, maybe it hasn't happened yet, but that
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: you would, you know, love to be across the sideline
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: on it. You kind of pinch yourself, like, Yo, I'm
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: coaching against so and so.
• 30:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I mean, I think a lot of
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: those coaches are are here, and I guess I even
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: just going back, you know, the last two years, UH
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: has so much respect for you know, these coaches that
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: have been doing it for many years, the coordinators working
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: their way up, just very similar to the journey I've
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: been on. And so I've I've stolen a lot of stuff,
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: just like every coach does from from everyone. We've watched
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: the film, We've watched the you know, cutups in the
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: off season, and so you know, you know, you learn
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: how you learn what to do, you know, maybe not
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: what what not to do sometimes, you know, uh as
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: far as like handling your team, uh, you know, publicly,
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: socially and all that. So there's a lot of these
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: just are pretty much the coaches in this conference that
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: have nothing but respect for and you know, I know
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: that every Saturday, you know, you got to be at
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: your best. And that's how it is. I think at
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: Alabama anyway, everyone's gonna bring their a game. You know,
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: We've had conversations about rivalries, and we've had a lot
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: of teams and people that I know, and they felt
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: like Alabama was their rival, you know, just because you know,
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: it was such a big game each and every time
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: that game was played. So I'm excited about, you know,
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: lining up and you know, being challenged to be my
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: best each and every week against all these coaches.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Is there a coach that, as you're progressing through your
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: learning curve as a an offensive coordinator, a head coach,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: whether it's a mentor or a coach out there that
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: kind of jumped out at you when you're learning about
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: situational ball and how to you know, if you saw
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: somebody else in it one way, you kind of dove
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: into their tape all season long, they kind of helped
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: you along the way.
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: I think, you know, there's been coaches, especially when I
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: was a coordinator and after i'd been a head coach
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: for five years at small college and you know, I
• 31:56
  Speaker 4: think about the leadership aspect and how you know, Chris
• 32:00
  Speaker 4: Creighton at Eastern Michigan, it was just, you know, I
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: just learned so much on how bringing a team together
• 32:05
  Speaker 4: happened there. I think about Jeff Tedford and how you know,
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: we're there were one and eleven before we got there,
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: and it was you know, we're not gonna We're gonna
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: take our guys and we're gonna maximize what they can be.
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: And the next year, you know, you're ten and four
• 32:19
  Speaker 4: and then twelve and two and really had nothing to
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: do with bringing a bunch of portal guys in. It
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: was taking who you had right there, believing in them,
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: putting some structure and organization together some you know, offensively.
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: I learned a lot, you know, during those two years there.
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: And then you know Indiana, you know, being thrown in
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: the mix there with you know, just being part of
• 32:41
  Speaker 4: the Big ten and being challenged to be your best
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: at the Power five level. And so you know Tom Allen,
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: you know, so you know, he just the passion he
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: brought out stuck with me, you know, and how he
• 32:52
  Speaker 4: dove into the relationships with the guys, and so it
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: is something at every place along the way. I think
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: it's a lot of times the people you work with
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: each and every day, the position coaches that I continue
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: to learn from. I'm learning from something from our coaches
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: right now. You know, hired an amazing staff, and to me,
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: that's the key. Has never stopped learning, never stopped growing
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: up at your staff.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Nick Sheridan, he and I played together in college. What
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: have you seen from him? From who Sheridan Sharonick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: What have you seen from him in college?
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was, I was a young boy, he was
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: a senior. Yeah yeah. What have you like seen from
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: him to make him the man for the job to
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: be the OC?
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: Well, first of all, working backwards, he's done an amazing
• 33:33
  Speaker 4: job this spring, just pulling everything together. He's he's more
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: than ready for this opportunity. You know. The cool thing
• 33:41
  Speaker 4: about him is that he he was patient. You know,
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: there's opportunities he certainly could have had over the last
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: couple of years, you know, because he is someone who
• 33:50
  Speaker 4: is known as a very bright mind, understands the game
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: on another level. But we had a chance to work
• 33:56
  Speaker 4: together in twenty nineteen at Indiana and he, you know,
• 33:59
  Speaker 4: from from an ego standpoint or just an unselfish standpoint,
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: move from quarterbacks to tight ends and you know, for
• 34:07
  Speaker 4: me to come in and coach quarterbacks, which I feel
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: is a big piece of being an offensive coordinators being
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: in that room every day, you know, but learning and
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: working with him, I remember just thinking how bright he
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: was for considering, you know, his age and how many
• 34:23
  Speaker 4: years he had actually been at high level of football
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: already at that time, then two more years at Washington,
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: you know, where again he's just right there. You know,
• 34:35
  Speaker 4: brings a lot of ideas, brings a lot of just
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: game planning thoughts, helping you pull everything together. It's details,
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: but it's also a big picture all mixed in one.
• 34:45
  Speaker 4: And then he's just such a great relationship builder. He's
• 34:49
  Speaker 4: got great personality. Guys I think enjoy being around him.
• 34:53
  Speaker 4: He leads in a way where he's firm, you know,
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: he's got his things that he's feel strong about. But
• 34:58
  Speaker 4: he also you know, enjoys, enjoys, you know, just the
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: camaraderie and enjoys working together with the staff. And he's
• 35:04
  Speaker 4: done an awesome job having the entire staff all feel
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: a part of it, you know, And that's I think
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: been a big part of my success over the years
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: is having you know, the strengths and of everyone and
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: tapping into their strengths, you know, be why we were successful,
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: whether it's offensively or as a full team with.
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: Guys that are working under you, and you become such
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: a cohesive group. Especially with all the success that you've had,
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: Guys are eventually going to leave. They're going to go
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: to you know, find they're going to elevate themselves and
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: try to become head coaches just like you. When you
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: see yourself having the success you did at Washington and andever
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: we will have here, do you keep something in the
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: back of your head, be like, all right, if this
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: guy goes and I have these two guys in my
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: head as are always a constant game plan of a
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: depth chart of who you would want to fill those spots.
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, in a way, it kind of happened
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: here already. You know, Ryan Grubb was was the offensive coordinator,
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: you know, Washington with US and and coming here and
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: then got the opportunity to be with the Seattle Seahawks.
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: And you know, there are guys that I would love.
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm strong on trying to keep the continuity
• 36:01
  Speaker 4: of your system. Of course, the people is where it
• 36:04
  Speaker 4: all starts, but the continuity of the system. And and
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: I know offensively that continuity of our system will always
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: exist because it's the system that you know, we've built
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: over over many years now. But both sides of the ball,
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: there certainly is a method. And I've done this at Fresno,
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: did this at Fresno State, did this at Washington, where
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: there's there's some depth to our staff. Guys, many guys
• 36:29
  Speaker 4: who have called games as coordinators at the power five
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: level on both sides of the ball, guys who you
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: know are just low ego willing to come in be
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: part of it right now. And you know, again hopeful,
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: I hope we are so successful to where those opportunities
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: come up for our staff. You know, that's how I
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: got to the place where I'm at. And you know,
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: I'd be pretty hypocritical if I didn't say that, if
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: I didn't want to root for these guys to get
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: their opportunity someday as well.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite post game you will after
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: a win, whether it's a post game you like, I
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: always love the post game cigar, post game beer, post
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: game milkshake, post game burger.
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: Something with the family, Yeah, maybe indulge on a meal.
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's always with the family. It's always And you know,
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: you play day games, you play night games, so it's
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: never it's never the same, but uh, you know, it's
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: always with the family, you know. And if if it's
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: a day game, you'd love to have the staff over.
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: And I think that's one thing I'm excited about here
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: is just proximity and where we're all going to be living.
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: You know, when you have that time, just continue to
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: grow our group together. I'm really excited about that. But
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: you know, I think you just get you're so exhausted,
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: usually from a game and the things that go into it.
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: Winning a football game at the college level is hard.
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: I don't care where you're at. It takes everything, and uh,
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: you know, enjoying it for that little moment before you
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: flipped the sunday started all over again. I think that's
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: a big part of the process. So trying to take
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: a deep breath and just enjoying what happened that day
• 38:04
  Speaker 4: after a win is a big part of I think
• 38:06
  Speaker 4: the process.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: M I think, thank we feel good man. That was awesome. Yeah, yeah, man.
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: All over the country and really appreciate you guys coming
• 38:16
  Speaker 4: to see us.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I was nervous about being here. Yeah.
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: I mean you walk in the door and you look
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: at a bunch of rings and watch it immediately and
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: you're like, oh my god, we're in the present.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: You're in the Mecca. But yeah, thank you very much.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Everybody's been awesome to us, and thank you for this interview.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: It's been incredible.
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: We really do.
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: Appreciate it, and I mean I appreciate that respect because
• 38:36
  Speaker 4: I know where you guys played too, you know, and uh,
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: you know that's that says a lot about you guys.
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: So thanks for thanks for coming and coming to join us.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, absolutely, coach, thank you man, And we'll hook
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: you up with the dad. We'll hook you up with
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: some dad.
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: I need it, I need it. I'll take it.