Latest / Seahawks Press Pass / Jay Harbaugh: "This Is A Dream Come True"

Transcript

Jay Harbaugh: "This Is A Dream Come True" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: I'm Jay Harbaught, honored to be here, super thankful for
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: the opportunity and and uh just thrilled to be a
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: part of such a world class organization and and uh
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: extra special thanks to coach McDonald and and uh and
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: John Schneider. This is a uh just dream come true
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: and and really just been ecstatic to get going here
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: and and uh as this thing is building. So I
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: would love to get to know you guys, if you
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: wouldn't mind just introducing yourself when you ask the question
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: so I can get a sense of, uh of who's who?
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Jay, great girl and Newstreagain, how did you hit it
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: off with Mike McDonald that shared interest did you have
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: or what was the link that carried after he left?
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Uh?
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: So we we had known each other previously in Baltimore,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: So we've known each other for quite some time, probably
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: uh about ten years, and uh we were similar age
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: and and uh both you know guys that are uh
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: you know, obviously into football, but have some other interests
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: as well, and and uh, yeah, just a great person.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: He's really easy to get along with.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: So a guy that I kind of gravitated towards when
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I was in Baltimore with them.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Jay Timber the Associated Prus.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Were you looking to get back to an NFL position
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: at some.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: Point where your hobby in college with this career stuff.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: That you would open the date? It really was.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: It was the kind of thing where, you know, taking
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: this step, it really depended on it being the right
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: opportunity and h Michigan's place that I love dearly, and
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: and uh, I was not looking to leave there. There's
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: certain things that you know, I wanted to be a
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: part of and and obviously we were able to do
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: those things, which was very special. But you know, you're
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: always seeking out that next challenge, the next opportunity, and
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: you hope that those things jive with what's best for
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: your family. So all those things kind of aligned, and
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: then to be able to do it with with Mike
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: was something that was really special as an opportunity.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Cascade Esports dot Net.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Hey, what were some of those things that gravitated Mike
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: and you those things that kind of connected with Yeah,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: I think we probably have a little bit in common
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: personality wise, just in the sense that you know, maybe
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: not the the prototypical, over the top, loudest guy you
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: know on the fields, it's you know, some coaches are
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: are you get a little bit of everything right. And
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: and he's a guy who's just really cerebral. And I
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: found it very interesting when he was younger, because he's
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: obviously really smart, very measured in his approach, very thoughtful
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: when he speaks, and you know, you could just tell
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: this guy's going places, you know what I mean. And
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: when you pair that with the fact that he's a
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: good guy day in and day out, just hyper consistent,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: you know, those are the types of people that you
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: want to have as as your friends.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: John Boyle, Seahawks dot Com.
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: You obviously, given your family history, coaching is a pretty
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: natural line of work. Was there was that something you
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: knew early on, Hey I'm going to coach football, or
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: were there other things you wanted to do and you
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: just sort of cap like, how did you get into this?
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: I guess other than the obvious yes, interesting question. I'm
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: really thanking full to have not been you know, forced.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: You know that sounds a little crazy, but it wasn't
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: forced to coach, or wasn't like, hey, you're going to
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: coach and I was, you know, my parents gave me
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: space to be able to explore whatever I might be into.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: And then I got to a certain point, you know,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: towards the end of high school, and as kids are
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: going certain directions, the math guys are talking about doing
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: engineering and and you know, guys who like English are
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: talking about journalism and stuff. I was just kind of, hey,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: I like football, you know, and seeing my dad and
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: my grandpa and how rich their lives were, just relationship wise,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: and that was something that I realized, Hey, I really
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: want that. It looks like a great way to live.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: And was able to get a great start with coach
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Riley at Oregon State and then Baltimore after that.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: So it's been great.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: But having that, just that space to be able to
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: come to it on my own is something I'm very
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: thankful for.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: Curtis Crowtree Fox thirteens here in Seattle. What's your uncle
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: been able to impart to you about being a good
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: special teams coordinator? What do you have to do to
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: succeed doing this job in this level?
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a big question.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I mean there's there's just so much and and being
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: able to observe him over the years and be around
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: him and and watch him work day in and day out,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: and then watch the guys that uh, you know, he's
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: trained and hired in Baltimore.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: There's countless things, and really.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: It's just it's the cool thing about special teams. And
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: one of the things that I suppose would answer the
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: question is that it's just football, and it's all those
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: things all in one. It's offense, it's defense, it's all
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: all those things you love about the game, you know,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: wrapped up into into one phase. And you know it's
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: it's just a lot of fun and all the things
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: that would make you good at any other aspect of
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: coaching in terms of the discipline, the love, the the accountability,
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: the teaching, the fundamentals, like all those things carry over.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: So it's a probably a tough question to answer, but
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: I can't can't thank him of enough for how much
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: he's over the years.
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: Bob can do it with the Seattle Times.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Is there.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: I guess the rules are a little bit different college
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: and NFL.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: With some of the things special teams wise and stuff
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: like that. I don't know that is that is there
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: gonna be much of a difference, I guess, And what
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: you did there that you will have to transport in
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: the NFL or.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there's so there's a lot of a lot
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: of differences rule wise, not only in just terms of
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: the gameplay and officiating that type of thing, but also
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: the just the structure of what you're allowed to do
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: and not allowed to do. Obviously, the punt punt is
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: the big one in terms of who's allowed to be,
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: you know, downfield when the ball is punted, that sort
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: of thing.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: College is kind of just.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: A free frall and uh, there's a little bit more
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: rigidity to the NFL system. So that's one kickoff, kick
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: return is the same way. So College has evolved a
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: little bit and is probably following suit with some of
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: the chains the NFL has made. But to answer your question,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: there'll be things that will certainly have to be different.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: And I'm thankful for having you know, been in Baltimore
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: and been around the NFL enough to have an idea
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: of all those things of what works, what doesn't work,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: and all that. And then our assistant Devin fitz Simmons,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: who just came aboard. He has about ten years in
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: the league and super experienced, crazy, smart, awesome football coach,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: So really thankful to have him aboard too to be
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: able to help in that transition.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: And Fox their team as well. How's the relationship with
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: the two Husky coaches that you're working with? Now you
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: have to hide your smile around those guys.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Those those guys are great guys and great coaches. So
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: uh yeah, I try to be gracious in terms of
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: the trash talk, but you know, it's it can emerge
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: here and there. We got a couple, uh, a couple
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: of good back and forth. But those guys are fantastic coaches.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Obviously recruited against them, coach against them, and just most respectful.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: I'm really excited for the chance to work alongside him. Now,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: there was there an opportunity to go.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: To LA and with your dad or was or did
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: you want to sort of breakaway and start doing.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Your own thing a little bit?
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Uh?
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: The the the uh working with my dad was you know,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: at Michigan was probably the best best nine years of
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: my life. And that was something that was really special
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: to me and an opportunity that people, you know, not
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: everybody gets that that chance to do what they love with,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: you know, with a mom or a dad or an
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: uncle or whatever it might be. That's really special and
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: I'm really thankful for that, that chance that I had
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: you know, it was. It was kind of the thing
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: where I would never I would never have wanted to to,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: you know, go my own way unless it really made sense.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: And all the ways I kind of talked about earlier
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: with this franchise, the direction that I know that Mike's
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: gonna take it, what all the fantastic people in the
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: front office being so proven and excellent at what they do,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: so it just kind of made sense, and uh, you know,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: really thankful for the time that we were able to
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: have together at Michigan.
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: Jay Berdie Henderson from ESPN wondering what you remember about
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: when your dad was with the forty nine ers and
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: what that Seahawks forty nine ers or.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: If he was like, yeah, intense, intense. That's one of
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: the I was actually thinking about that the other day that,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: you know, one of the differences college to pro you
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: get the just the crazy intensity of the rivalries. Right
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: being a part of the Michigan Ohio game, that's something
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: that's such a cool privilege. And you know, there's certain
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: NFL matchups and interdivision matchups that have that same feel,
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: and that's certainly one of them. I don't know if
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: that answers the question but it just feels it feels
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: like it just feels like that, like it's it's personal,
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: it's a it's a little bit more than just a
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: regular game, you know, kind of the way that Baltimore
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and Pittsburgh is that kind of thing. So excited to
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: uh to be a part of that game.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: Those games back then when your dad starts.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: To go one of them in in San fran Yeah, yeah,
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: I was in. I was in college during h during
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: I think two of those two of his years, So
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: I was busy.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: How difficult is coaching college football become? Recruiting and maintaining
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: you're recruiting your own guys as.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Well as what else?
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: And what was high school?
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: And was that a.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Factor at all? Really?
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Stuff? Yeah, you kind of uh.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Answer the question a little bit and within the question there,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: college is awesome. It's it's different, it's changed. It doesn't
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: make mean it's not awesome. There's there's additional challenges. Like
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: you said, you you you end up spending just more
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: time on some other things that don't you know, exactly
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: have to do with the product on the field, and
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: they do. That's why you have to The talent acquisition
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: is such a huge, huge, thing. So there's no there's
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: no way to shortcut that. But you know, I think
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: when you look at how you spend your days, yeah,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: you're gonna anything that has to do with the players
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: that are coming to the building.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: It's that's paramount to your success.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: So once once, uh you know, nil becomes a thing
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: and now you have to recruit your own roster more. Yeah,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: you're gonna naturally spend a lot more time on that.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: So it's different, but you know, it was also different
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: in twenty ten than it was in nineteen ninety and
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: you know, decades before that. So I don't think in general,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: I don't think change is necessarily a bad thing, and
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: I think the direction that's going for the players as
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: a is a fantastic thing. I think we can find
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: you is how I understand the rules. Uh uh.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: The assistant coach who's coming.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: To Yes, Devin Fitzimmons. He's coming from Carolina. He's been
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: with Arizona, Detroit and India as well.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: As Yes, sir, Radio, you're your dad won everywhere he's
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: gone and he's went fast.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: What what have you kind of taken from him observed
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: from him that.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: You can kind of bring with you here.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Uh, that's another one. That's that's tough. There's just there's
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: so much. I mean, for him, it's it's the thing
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: that you realize right away is that everything every decision
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: about you know, scheme about players, about uh, schedule, it's
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: just based on one thing, which is what helps us win,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: what gives us the best chance of winning games. And
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: as common sense is that seems you know, you don't,
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: you don't necessarily always see that be the case in
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: terms of decision making and in sports. And it's very practical,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: very simple. But I think that the consistency of which
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: he's able to have that mindset, the discipline to stick
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: to it, stick to the plan, that's huge. And the
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: only other thing I would say is just really like
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: a relentless commitment to the fundamentals of football of really
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: good quarterback play.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: And blocking and tackling.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: You know, the vast majority of games, no matter how
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: complex they seem, they'll come come down to those basic factors.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: And and he was always able to to really put
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: his finger on those things and where we can improve
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: of the big the big things that are going to
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: be uh just really high leverage improvements that you can
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: make that are gonna, you know, help turn the team
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: around fast.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: How would you say you like him?
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: And how would you say you're kind not like him? Uh? Uh,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: You'd have to ask other people that probably I don't know.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: If I'm I'd be a very good person to ask.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: It's it's tough to uh to talk about how you're different.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: But I know one thing I would I would be
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I'd be thrilled if people would say that I was
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: like him in in any way. I have that kind
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: of respect for him, and and uh just gratitude for
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: amazing that he is and what he's done for me,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: and and uh the incredible opportunity that I had had
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: to learn uh from him day in and day out
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: was uh just amazing and I something I could never
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: pay him.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Back for.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Anything else.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Thanks awesome, Thanks everyone, Nice to meet you all.