Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | Liam Coen Announces Captains for 2025 Season
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Offensively, Trevor Lawrence, Robert Hainsey defensively, Foyer, Josh Heinz, Allen,
- 0:08Speaker 1: Jordan Lewis, specialist, Logan Cook. Those we are six captains
- 0:14Speaker 1: for the season. We'll probably do a game captain to
- 0:18Speaker 1: rotate in with those guys throughout the season, but those
- 0:22Speaker 1: will be the six captains for the season.
- 0:27Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, we did a team vote.
- 0:30Speaker 1: Before we left for the mini break there and all
- 0:34Speaker 1: of it. Nice thing is you didn't have to fudge
- 0:36Speaker 1: it to get kind of what you wanted.
- 0:38Speaker 2: It was pretty clear, pretty clear based.
- 0:43Speaker 1: On the votes and the ballots that these were the
- 0:46Speaker 1: six guys that got the most. There was a ton
- 0:48Speaker 1: of guys that you know, you could have bumped up
- 0:51Speaker 1: potentially just don't have enough spots, you know, you know,
- 0:53Speaker 1: you only have six of them. But it was cool
- 0:55Speaker 1: to acknowledge the amount of people that did receive votes
- 0:59Speaker 1: throughout the team, you know, that was that was nice
- 1:02Speaker 1: to see, especially some of the guys that maybe not
- 1:06Speaker 1: have ever been voted for in the past that did
- 1:08Speaker 1: receive some votes and kind of shows that that those
- 1:12Speaker 1: guys are making an impact. So it was it wasn't
- 1:15Speaker 1: hard to get to the six.
- 1:16Speaker 3: Guys for a little bit he plays inside, he's at
- 1:21Speaker 3: full capacity.
- 1:22Speaker 1: What defense, just the length alone is a is a
- 1:28Speaker 1: hard thing, you know to deal with as a guard,
- 1:30Speaker 1: especially in the pass rush and and then in the
- 1:32Speaker 1: run game when you you've got a three tech that
- 1:36Speaker 1: is can play with length and and kind of uh
- 1:42Speaker 1: shut blockers out in a lot of ways where that
- 1:45Speaker 1: can help the run defense. But you know he can
- 1:48Speaker 1: get an edge in the past game and when he's
- 1:51Speaker 1: rushing and moving the way he's moving, you know, he
- 1:54Speaker 1: can get an edge on people inside. So the experience
- 1:59Speaker 1: guy that's played a ton of snaps, ton of you know,
- 2:01Speaker 1: high level football, and you know he can be a
- 2:05Speaker 1: pain right for some guards that are going to try
- 2:07Speaker 1: to make first significant contact. And he does have a
- 2:10Speaker 1: little initial wiggle and he's got you know, multiple moves
- 2:14Speaker 1: that obviously allows him to have success.
- 2:16Speaker 2: So yeah, we're we're we need a lot out of him.
- 2:20Speaker 1: Wants your i mean, your first regular season game as
- 2:23Speaker 1: an NFL head coach chomping at the bid a little bit, Yeah,
- 2:26Speaker 1: you feel that energy kind of Yeah, I think so,
- 2:29Speaker 1: I mean, it was it's been a long kind of
- 2:33Speaker 1: I guess I don't know how many months has been
- 2:35Speaker 1: since I got hired, but you know, nothing else, like
- 2:39Speaker 1: obviously done so much work to get to this point,
- 2:42Speaker 1: and then now you're into the results truly matter, right,
- 2:48Speaker 1: And you know, we've talked so much about the process
- 2:51Speaker 1: that drives results that's got us to this point that
- 2:55Speaker 1: can't we can't.
- 2:56Speaker 2: Lose sight of that process.
- 2:58Speaker 1: And you know we used to kind of talk about
- 3:00Speaker 1: process over results. Well, those results matter, you know, So
- 3:05Speaker 1: the process in which we get to the games and
- 3:08Speaker 1: the way that we game plan, the way that we
- 3:10Speaker 1: operate throughout the week, the way that we communicate on
- 3:13Speaker 1: game day, that's the part that you're kind of anxious
- 3:17Speaker 1: to see how we handle a true game, right, Like
- 3:22Speaker 1: it was great to get some of those reps in
- 3:24Speaker 1: preseason and come out of it healthy because stuff showed
- 3:28Speaker 1: up that maybe if we wouldn't have played those guys
- 3:31Speaker 1: that you don't typically see.
- 3:33Speaker 2: So I'm glad that we did it.
- 3:35Speaker 1: You're definitely anxious as a head coach to kind of
- 3:38Speaker 1: get the ball kicked off and get into it. So
- 3:42Speaker 1: you're really just more so anxious and excited to see
- 3:45Speaker 1: how the guys go out and play, right, Like you
- 3:47Speaker 1: want to see perfect football. But we all know, it's football.
- 3:53Speaker 1: It's not perfect, right, It's an imperfect game, and you're
- 3:56Speaker 1: striving for perfection, which is probably the chase obviously.
- 4:00Speaker 2: But yeah, we're all excited.
- 4:02Speaker 1: I'm excited to kind of get in that stadium and
- 4:05Speaker 1: see how much we can pack it.
- 4:07Speaker 4: What is your relationship with Dave Canalis and knowing of
- 4:11Speaker 4: course you would be facing the Panthers week once since May,
- 4:14Speaker 4: but knowing that he was just the first year head coach. Yeah,
- 4:17Speaker 4: and because you succeeded him in Tampa, did you pick
- 4:19Speaker 4: his brain at all perhaps between January?
- 4:22Speaker 1: Yeah, Dave is always you know, I don't know him
- 4:24Speaker 1: like super well, but like when I got the Tampa job,
- 4:28Speaker 1: he was you know, very you know, he was cool
- 4:31Speaker 1: to just be able to reach out to holler at
- 4:33Speaker 1: his wife was really kind to Ashley as well. And
- 4:37Speaker 1: and then when I got this job, you know, we
- 4:39Speaker 1: got to talk to the owner's meetings for a little
- 4:41Speaker 1: while and just kind of picking his brain on some
- 4:44Speaker 1: of the things that you know, he felt like he
- 4:46Speaker 1: could improve upon as a head coach or things that
- 4:49Speaker 1: he thought went well. And you know, Shane Waldron was
- 4:51Speaker 1: with Dave and Seattle for a number of years as well,
- 4:54Speaker 1: so there's a natural communication there. I got a ton
- 4:57Speaker 1: of respect for Dave. He helped so much with the
- 5:01Speaker 1: bridge in Tampa. Like you know, their offense, there was
- 5:05Speaker 1: a lot of similarities. So when you get the Tampa job,
- 5:09Speaker 1: you're not starting from ground zero. And I've always appreciated
- 5:12Speaker 1: the energy and confidence that he gives to his players.
- 5:17Speaker 2: I don't know how much. Don't you been able to
- 5:19Speaker 2: look at him? Of Bryce Young?
- 5:21Speaker 1: But you know they sat Hi damn last year, brought
- 5:23Speaker 1: him back, played well, where do you see his biggest improvement? Yeah,
- 5:28Speaker 1: and we played against him twice last year, so I've
- 5:30Speaker 1: been able to see him a lot. I think you
- 5:33Speaker 1: see a guy that you know footwork that were really
- 5:37Speaker 1: trying to work on his lower half, you know, getting
- 5:40Speaker 1: him to play more in rhythm. But man, he can
- 5:43Speaker 1: he can hurts you in a few different ways. I mean,
- 5:45Speaker 1: you let that dude out of the pocket. He can
- 5:48Speaker 1: be a problem because he uses his legs as a runner,
- 5:51Speaker 1: but also he remains a passer as he does scramble
- 5:55Speaker 1: and move around. I always kind of thought he had
- 5:59Speaker 1: some like Stefph curry ish ability as a quarterback where
- 6:03Speaker 1: he can distribute it and when things are clicked. I
- 6:06Speaker 1: mean he improved a ton I thought last year over
- 6:09Speaker 1: the season. So you know, when they're able to run
- 6:12Speaker 1: it and establish the run game and get their mid
- 6:15Speaker 1: zone going and get him kind of on the move
- 6:18Speaker 1: and play in the position, you know, he can be dangerous.
- 6:22Speaker 1: So our rush plan has got to be extremely coordinated.
- 6:25Speaker 1: We've got to understand he wants to escape at times
- 6:28Speaker 1: and he does have a quick release, so we've got
- 6:32Speaker 1: to affect the quarterback in more ways than one. Playing
- 6:35Speaker 1: against the structured twice last year, can you go back any.
- 6:39Speaker 2: Of that or just new year?
- 6:40Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we definitely go back and look and and
- 6:44Speaker 1: because I don't think the overall structure will change, I
- 6:47Speaker 1: do believe that we will see some unscouted looks for sure,
- 6:51Speaker 1: whether it's a personnel grouping, whether it's a blitz or
- 6:55Speaker 1: a coverage or.
- 6:56Speaker 2: Something along those lines. I don't think.
- 6:58Speaker 1: They've probably altered their entire structure. So yeah, you definitely
- 7:03Speaker 1: go back and look at what was successful, you know,
- 7:06Speaker 1: twice last year playing those guys, and you know what
- 7:10Speaker 1: fits what we've done well up until this point that
- 7:13Speaker 1: we can kind of use those schemes or concepts, uh
- 7:17Speaker 1: to our advantage. But they've definitely added some players, you know,
- 7:21Speaker 1: VI a pro personnel pro free agency and in the
- 7:24Speaker 1: NFL in the.
- 7:25Speaker 2: Draft as well, So you're just curious to see how.
- 7:28Speaker 1: They're maybe going to utilize those players, if that impacts
- 7:31Speaker 1: and affects their defensive structure at.
- 7:33Speaker 2: All as well.
- 7:35Speaker 1: And maybe they don't know exactly what you guys are
- 7:37Speaker 1: going to do to get Yeah, I would think that
- 7:40Speaker 1: they probably have an idea watching the Tampa stuff that
- 7:44Speaker 1: it's you know, probably not going to go too far
- 7:47Speaker 1: off of that. You know, it's just more Okay, what
- 7:50Speaker 1: personnel groupings are we going to major in, especially early
- 7:54Speaker 1: on in the season in Game one, you know what
- 7:58Speaker 1: that looks like for us so and then the personnel
- 8:01Speaker 1: is obviously a little bit different. But yeah, I think
- 8:04Speaker 1: that both teams are able to go and look at
- 8:06Speaker 1: some of the stuff from last year and be able
- 8:08Speaker 1: to use that either to the advantage or Man, this
- 8:11Speaker 1: is something that we didn't do well that they took
- 8:14Speaker 1: advantage of that we need to improve upon so that
- 8:17Speaker 1: it doesn't happen again.
- 8:19Speaker 3: About Trevor, this game sometimes played in the gray.
- 8:22Speaker 2: How is he in that area there?
- 8:24Speaker 4: I mean, everything this structured game.
- 8:27Speaker 2: It's the offensive.
- 8:29Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, it's it's hard to tell, especially when
- 8:33Speaker 1: the bull you know, they haven't fully uh, it hasn't
- 8:37Speaker 1: truly occurred, right. We can almost set it up a
- 8:40Speaker 1: little bit in practice, but you know, practice is typically
- 8:44Speaker 1: pretty structured, as you kind of mentioned.
- 8:46Speaker 2: So I'm curious to see.
- 8:48Speaker 1: I'm excited to see how he you know, just goes
- 8:50Speaker 1: through and plays within the game, because you can dial
- 8:54Speaker 1: stuff up that is intended to go in what direction,
- 8:58Speaker 1: to to, to whomever, but maybe the coverage changes or
- 9:02Speaker 1: dictates it. And I'm eager to see kind of how
- 9:05Speaker 1: he'll handle those situations and handle all right, well, this
- 9:10Speaker 1: didn't work out exactly how we wanted it to.
- 9:14Speaker 2: How do you just find a completion? Right? Like that?
- 9:17Speaker 1: We have typically on each play five eligibles, right, and
- 9:22Speaker 1: so whether it's a check down, oh man, they give
- 9:24Speaker 1: us a completely different look. Wasn't what we wanted. Man,
- 9:28Speaker 1: just check the ball. Now we get four or five
- 9:30Speaker 1: yards and we keep the thing moving.
- 9:32Speaker 2: So that'll be a really.
- 9:34Speaker 1: Important for Trevor, especially in a week one where you're
- 9:38Speaker 1: you don't know what you're gonna get, right, we have
- 9:40Speaker 1: an idea you can go off the tape and the
- 9:42Speaker 1: stats and all that. It gets thrown out the window
- 9:46Speaker 1: at times, especially in week one, so it'll be very
- 9:49Speaker 1: important for him to be able to live in that.
- 9:51Speaker 1: Gray Man, This isn't exactly what we were hunting up.
- 9:54Speaker 1: How can we continue to find a completion and take
- 9:57Speaker 1: care of the football?
- 9:59Speaker 2: A is it playing the star?
- 10:00Speaker 1: Travis? Yeah, we're still working through it right now. You know,
- 10:06Speaker 1: you obviously miss a lot of time there that you
- 10:09Speaker 1: know can impact playing anybody. Nonetheless, a rookie that misses
- 10:14Speaker 1: quite a bit of time. So what that usage looks like.
- 10:17Speaker 1: We're still working through.
- 10:18Speaker 3: You mixed the match like every teams are camped. You
- 10:21Speaker 3: liked the five you got together and they created some coesion.
- 10:24Speaker 1: Yeah, that's been the goal, is kind of for the
- 10:27Speaker 1: last ten days or so whatever. It's been to have
- 10:29Speaker 1: that the cohesiveness with those guys. And you know, at
- 10:34Speaker 1: the end of the day, those those five need to
- 10:36Speaker 1: play as a group, as a unit communicate more than
- 10:40Speaker 1: anybody else.
- 10:42Speaker 2: And I have been pleased.
- 10:43Speaker 1: You know, you're just you're never sure what you got
- 10:46Speaker 1: till you go play a game and people actually have
- 10:48Speaker 1: to tackle and tackle the ball carriers.
- 10:52Speaker 2: And you have to go execute at a high level
- 10:54Speaker 2: snap in and snap out. So what does that look like.
- 10:56Speaker 1: I'll be able to kind of say a little bit
- 10:58Speaker 1: more after week one, but uh, I've been pleased with
- 11:00Speaker 1: their continuity thus far.
- 11:02Speaker 2: Right. Have you you talked about how he's not gonna
- 11:06Speaker 2: be able to catch you by surprise.
- 11:08Speaker 4: Have you kind of seen him approach this season kind
- 11:10Speaker 4: of through training canters?
- 11:12Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think we all saw that there
- 11:13Speaker 1: were some highs and lows throughout you know, training camp.
- 11:16Speaker 1: I thought obviously when he goes to the Miami Joint
- 11:18Speaker 1: and kind of did what he did there, and last
- 11:21Speaker 1: few practices, I thought last week, I thought he had
- 11:24Speaker 1: a really good week last week. So you know, it'll
- 11:27Speaker 1: be important to continue to be able to get him
- 11:30Speaker 1: involved early, especially so you know, for any skill player,
- 11:35Speaker 1: you really want to try to get them a touch
- 11:37Speaker 1: early so that those guys can get into the game
- 11:40Speaker 1: feel like they're in the game and not kind of
- 11:43Speaker 1: being taken away, if you will. And obviously they have
- 11:46Speaker 1: a really good corner on defense over there and Horn,
- 11:49Speaker 1: so that's gonna be.
- 11:50Speaker 2: A great matchup.
- 11:51Speaker 1: And and you know, how do we get BT either
- 11:55Speaker 1: over there one on one with him or move them around,
- 11:56Speaker 1: whatever it is. But I think the last few practices
- 12:00Speaker 1: have been better for him.
- 12:02Speaker 3: In the first game, you were kind of setting the tone.
- 12:04Speaker 2: For the years.
- 12:05Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's it is important for sure, like
- 12:10Speaker 1: we want to go in and set the tone one
- 12:13Speaker 1: hundred percent. I wouldn't say I want these guys to
- 12:17Speaker 1: put an all or nothing approach into the first game
- 12:19Speaker 1: just because, shoot, you don't know how any season is
- 12:22Speaker 1: going to play out, but it is important for us
- 12:24Speaker 1: to get the ball moving a little bit in terms
- 12:28Speaker 1: of playing the way that we want to play. Whatever
- 12:31Speaker 1: the result is, we've got to live.
- 12:34Speaker 2: With that ultimately.
- 12:35Speaker 1: But if we show you know, coming out playing with
- 12:38Speaker 1: great energy, execution, playing tough, is it going to be perfect?
- 12:42Speaker 2: We all know it's not.
- 12:43Speaker 1: But it is important for those guys to be able
- 12:47Speaker 1: to get some confidence, okay in a game setting. All right,
- 12:51Speaker 1: these systems and these fundamentals that I've been getting coached
- 12:53Speaker 1: on for months now work right. I mean, ultimately it's
- 12:57Speaker 1: come comes down to when there's shown in provement and
- 13:00Speaker 1: you do execute in all three phases, it helps create
- 13:04Speaker 1: more buy in for what you're trying to do. And
- 13:06Speaker 1: now they're listening and you have their attention. So it
- 13:09Speaker 1: is very important. I wouldn't say if you know, the
- 13:13Speaker 1: season's lost if we don't, you know, have the much
- 13:15Speaker 1: success that we would like to have. But you definitely
- 13:18Speaker 1: want to see that jump that we're talking about in
- 13:22Speaker 1: terms of the physicality, the toughness, the nature that we
- 13:25Speaker 1: want to play the game. That's really what I'm looking for.
- 13:27Speaker 1: And to see how we respond to adversity, because there's
- 13:30Speaker 1: going to have something's going to happen in the game
- 13:33Speaker 1: that doesn't go our way, and I'm more so I
- 13:36Speaker 1: want to see how we respond to that, and that'll
- 13:39Speaker 1: help me as we move throughout the season seeing how
- 13:42Speaker 1: we do that, and that helps guys come together as
- 13:44Speaker 1: well as a team.
- 13:46Speaker 3: People seeing games where call plays and then being head
- 13:50Speaker 3: coach the same time, anything changed for the first one
- 13:52Speaker 3: or the second one for.
- 13:53Speaker 4: You, any issues, you know, any issues.
- 13:55Speaker 1: That came up or anything like that. And now, yeah,
- 14:00Speaker 1: I mean I definitely enjoy calling plays, so it's it's
- 14:03Speaker 1: hard not to.
- 14:05Speaker 2: So, yeah, I didn't.
- 14:07Speaker 1: Nothing truly came up that was man like, this is
- 14:11Speaker 1: we can't handle this because I'm not on the right
- 14:14Speaker 1: headsets or you know, we've got an ability to speak
- 14:17Speaker 1: to people on all channels on the deals. So I
- 14:22Speaker 1: thought that part was good to be able to work
- 14:24Speaker 1: through some of those kinks and and get through it
- 14:26Speaker 1: where it's like, man, I'm calling plays. Then I got
- 14:30Speaker 1: to flip over and be on the defensive side, which
- 14:32Speaker 1: was just different for me, like having ever been on
- 14:34Speaker 1: the defensive side.
- 14:35Speaker 2: Of the headsets before.
- 14:36Speaker 1: So to just be on that side not speak much,
- 14:41Speaker 1: you know, you want to let Campy and those guys
- 14:43Speaker 1: coach and call it and give them some space while
- 14:47Speaker 1: also being there for them in case we need timeouts,
- 14:50Speaker 1: in case we need to be able to communicate a
- 14:52Speaker 1: situation that could occur. So it's more just lending support
- 14:57Speaker 1: when you aren't calling the plays and making sure that
- 15:01Speaker 1: you're on top of the clock management the time out.
- 15:03Speaker 1: So we're gonna go for two? Are they going to
- 15:05Speaker 1: go for two? Just getting ahead of some of those
- 15:07Speaker 1: situations when you're not calm plays that players always.
- 15:11Speaker 4: Tell you about.
- 15:11Speaker 2: You just here a break communicator.
- 15:13Speaker 3: And then we get kind of a look at that
- 15:15Speaker 3: into high Where did.
- 15:16Speaker 2: That come from? When did you kind of developed? Though
- 15:19Speaker 2: that's still not something every might have.
- 15:22Speaker 1: Well communication major you mess you know, uh no, you
- 15:27Speaker 1: know it was at a young age. I think I
- 15:30Speaker 1: had a great example of it with my dad being
- 15:34Speaker 1: a coach, and I don't know if he was a
- 15:37Speaker 1: player's coach or not. I think he probably was in
- 15:39Speaker 1: a lot of ways. I mean, our players, his players
- 15:43Speaker 1: were constantly at our house all the time, whether he
- 15:46Speaker 1: was coaching in high school or college, and kind of
- 15:49Speaker 1: getting to those relationships a little bit more on a
- 15:53Speaker 1: different level. And then obviously going to work for Sean
- 15:56Speaker 1: where you know, in twenty eighteen, I got in that
- 15:58Speaker 1: building and I saw an example of the coolest place
- 16:02Speaker 1: I'd ever been where you just saw everybody in the
- 16:06Speaker 1: building we're working towards one common goal and there was
- 16:10Speaker 1: really very little to any people trying to pull at
- 16:13Speaker 1: that or bring people in a different direction. So I
- 16:16Speaker 1: thought that was a pretty cool example to see a
- 16:19Speaker 1: guy that did call plays as an offense a head
- 16:22Speaker 1: coach and still be able to get in with the
- 16:25Speaker 1: defense and with special teams and create relationships and bonds
- 16:29Speaker 1: with guys to ultimately see, you know, show them you
- 16:32Speaker 1: care that you do care about them a little bit
- 16:34Speaker 1: more than just surface level conversation. So I think once
- 16:38Speaker 1: you do that for me, that's helped me be able
- 16:42Speaker 1: to communicate a little bit more honestly with them because
- 16:46Speaker 1: they know that there is a investment in the relationship.
- 16:51Speaker 1: It's not just like, all right, hey, you didn't get
- 16:52Speaker 1: the job done. This isn't good enough. Leave it at that. Well,
- 16:56Speaker 1: it's like, okay, how can we get the best out
- 16:59Speaker 1: of each player, each coach, each staff member in order
- 17:02Speaker 1: to invest in that. Once they're invested, they typically will
- 17:05Speaker 1: let you coach them harder.
- 17:07Speaker 3: Carolina, with Carolina trading feeling and placing Cocher on I R.
- 17:13Speaker 2: Does that massively change how you prepare for the supporting
- 17:16Speaker 2: want of it? You know, I think you know t
- 17:19Speaker 2: Mac being a rookie. We know we liked him coming
- 17:23Speaker 2: out of the draft.
- 17:23Speaker 1: We know what some of those trades are that he
- 17:25Speaker 1: can do with some of the one on one opportunities
- 17:29Speaker 1: as well. And then Laget can really run big, physical receiver.
- 17:32Speaker 1: And you know Hunter renfro Is won in the slot
- 17:36Speaker 1: here for years. So what does that look like? I
- 17:39Speaker 1: think they'll probably remain within what they do. Probably, I
- 17:43Speaker 1: don't know if it'll drastically change how they operate. Maybe
- 17:47Speaker 1: we'll see a little bit more twelve thirteen, Just for
- 17:51Speaker 1: depth reasons alone for sure, So I don't think it'll
- 17:55Speaker 1: drastically change things for us.
- 17:57Speaker 2: But you know, Coker is a good place.
- 18:00Speaker 1: He did a lot for them in terms of the
- 18:02Speaker 1: run game blocking, but also he has some wiggle and
- 18:05Speaker 1: could run, So you know, Cocher and Hunter different players.
- 18:10Speaker 1: I think that's probably where you'll see a little bit
- 18:13Speaker 1: of a different unit usage out of those players. That
- 18:17Speaker 1: will and can affect how we play a little bit,
- 18:19Speaker 1: but I'm not sure it'll have a huge, drastic, you
- 18:23Speaker 1: know issue on the game plan.
- 18:26Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you guys.