Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 134 | GM in Person Interviews, Youth Movement & Combine on the Horizon

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 134 | GM in Person Interviews, Youth Movement & Combine on the Horizon · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:17
Speaker 1: Welcome to Jagsan today. Kanani Stevens, Brian Sexton, and John
0:20
Speaker 1: Oser are with me. We've had an eventful offseason so
0:22
Speaker 1: far and that's going to keep continuing this week and
0:25
Speaker 1: into the month as well. Pretty excited. We got our
0:28
Speaker 1: big things for you today. Youth movement is big thing
0:30
Speaker 1: number one, because we got our coordinators introduced last week
0:33
Speaker 1: and this is going to be a young team going forward.
0:35
Speaker 1: But more than that, they're excited to be here.
0:38
Speaker 2: I say, you have an energetic staff, for sure, so
0:42
Speaker 2: maybe that's how I would look at it there. But
0:46
Speaker 2: in the sense of youth, I think you feel the energy,
0:50
Speaker 2: the excitement, the passion for football, for coaching, and the
0:54
Speaker 2: work that goes into making this thing ultimately where we
0:57
Speaker 2: want it to be. And I think that carries over,
1:00
Speaker 2: or not only into our interactions with each other so far,
1:03
Speaker 2: but I think that will show up in our relationships
1:05
Speaker 2: with the players and the relationships hopefully with everyone else
1:08
Speaker 2: in the building. So I think the energy there is palpable.
1:13
Speaker 1: That's no offensive coordinator Grant and Vinsky, Brian, you asked
1:15
Speaker 1: him that question, and they're excited to be hearing you.
1:17
Speaker 1: Steel energy.
1:18
Speaker 3: It's a lot.
1:18
Speaker 4: Different you can't miss it. The thing that stood out
1:21
Speaker 4: to me was for a young guy. Right when he
1:22
Speaker 4: walked in the room, It's like, wow, he's young, he's
1:25
Speaker 4: twenty nine years old, but he checked all the boxes.
1:28
Speaker 3: John.
1:28
Speaker 4: I mean, he had only been here for a few days.
1:31
Speaker 4: He's just barely immersed in the Jaguars, and yet he
1:35
Speaker 4: was able to talk about the fundamentals of the game,
1:37
Speaker 4: right the things that he believes in offensively, about coaching players,
1:41
Speaker 4: about developing players, about working with the quarterback. Young, Yes, aggressive, Yeah,
1:46
Speaker 4: it sounds like he is, but more importantly, well schooled
1:50
Speaker 4: and checks boxes that you hope a much older coach
1:54
Speaker 4: would be able to check. I think that's the thing
1:56
Speaker 4: that impressed me the most is he seems incredibly well
1:58
Speaker 4: prepared for the job.
2:00
Speaker 5: Fight his youth, Brian, I have news for you from
2:04
Speaker 5: here on out, for us, they're all young, and so
2:09
Speaker 5: I guess the point is that's fine. It struck me
2:12
Speaker 5: that Liam cohne Cone really wanted guys that he was
2:18
Speaker 5: comfortable with, regardless of age. And that's fine because once
2:23
Speaker 5: you get that staff together, these guys are your staff
2:26
Speaker 5: need to be working with them. From what you hear
2:30
Speaker 5: about both Yudinsky and Camp and early players relate to them.
2:36
Speaker 5: They have good relationships with players. Players like playing for
2:38
Speaker 5: these guys. Let's go with that. Let's start there as
2:43
Speaker 5: a base, I think is what the coaches are saying,
2:46
Speaker 5: and build from there. I think players will believe in this,
2:49
Speaker 5: and I think that's important after last year.
2:51
Speaker 1: Absolutely think setting the tone early is very important. So
2:54
Speaker 1: our second big thing today is gonna be in person interviews.
2:56
Speaker 1: They've got the coaching staff in place. Now it's heads
2:58
Speaker 1: to the front office. As we're looking at some of
3:00
Speaker 1: these GM interviewers and John, you've got the GM.
3:03
Speaker 3: Tracker on the website going.
3:04
Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit about what's gonna happen
3:05
Speaker 1: this week.
3:06
Speaker 5: Well, they had their ten interviews last week virtually. Ethan
3:13
Speaker 5: Waugh is in the process and is in the final
3:17
Speaker 5: stage along with five others. They will start the process
3:19
Speaker 5: of interviewing those on Wednesday.
3:22
Speaker 3: I expect it to be wrapped up by Friday.
3:26
Speaker 5: I think they expect to have a GM in place
3:28
Speaker 5: late Friday or Saturday ish somewhere around there. Look, Brian,
3:34
Speaker 5: everybody's I'm gonna lie emails abou Why is the process
3:36
Speaker 5: taking so long? You're not hiring a GM for February
3:41
Speaker 5: twenty seventh. You're hiring a GM for the next five
3:44
Speaker 5: ten years, right, So get it right and then let
3:47
Speaker 5: everything else take care of itself. I think they like
3:49
Speaker 5: the process so far. I can't tell you, Brian, that
3:52
Speaker 5: I know much about each individual candidate, because there's not
3:55
Speaker 5: much to know about these guys.
3:56
Speaker 3: These guys are all young as well. It's gonna be
3:58
Speaker 3: a young bunch.
3:58
Speaker 5: And what I hear they like the candidates so far.
4:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, listen, I don't know the candidates other than what
4:04
Speaker 4: I've read, like a lot of people who are watching this,
4:07
Speaker 4: what you've read, and what matters is that they get
4:09
Speaker 4: the right guy.
4:11
Speaker 3: The reason that they don't have to push the process
4:13
Speaker 3: along is because they've got Tony Bisselli in place. Right.
4:15
Speaker 4: They've had Ethan Waugh who's kept the scouting process, whether
4:19
Speaker 4: that's the pro side working the free agent board or
4:22
Speaker 4: the college side working to get the college board ready
4:26
Speaker 4: and ready for the combine next week.
4:27
Speaker 3: They haven't had to force it.
4:29
Speaker 4: And of course Tony's here, and all the football operations,
4:31
Speaker 4: whether it's strength and conditioning or medical training or video
4:34
Speaker 4: or PR any of that, it's all being maintained. So
4:38
Speaker 4: that's allowed them to make a good decision, not a hey,
4:41
Speaker 4: we got to get this done. What's the best decision
4:43
Speaker 4: for right now? This franchise, in its history, and you
4:46
Speaker 4: know this, John has always been in a position where
4:49
Speaker 4: it's made quicker decisions because they needed to get something done.
4:52
Speaker 3: This feels right. The pace is there.
4:55
Speaker 4: Let's make sure that we talked to ten, we whittle
4:57
Speaker 4: it down to five, and then we get the absolute
5:00
Speaker 4: person that fits with Liam, that fits with Tony, that
5:02
Speaker 4: fits with Shad, that fits with the franchise.
5:05
Speaker 3: There's no reason to rush it. Even if it went
5:07
Speaker 3: into next week, this would be okay.
5:09
Speaker 4: They don't have to worry about this. Everything is being
5:12
Speaker 4: taken care of. I just love the pace of it.
5:14
Speaker 4: It's so different than the way that this franchise is
5:17
Speaker 4: traditionally operated.
5:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, and one final thing before we move on.
5:20
Speaker 5: I think you know fans that are thinking, well, free
5:22
Speaker 5: agency is coming up soon. I'm not going to argue
5:24
Speaker 5: that free agency is coming up soon. And you'd ideally
5:29
Speaker 5: you would want the GM to have been in place
5:32
Speaker 5: a while back. They went four and thirteen last year.
5:35
Speaker 5: This is not an ideal situation. You're trying to get
5:38
Speaker 5: things right for the long term. If free agency, if
5:42
Speaker 5: the GM's coming in a little late on that, you
5:45
Speaker 5: have Liam Cohen, you have Tony Bisselli to operate that,
5:48
Speaker 5: and you have the information. That is the one thing
5:51
Speaker 5: you'd rather have. But trumping that, I would rather have
5:54
Speaker 5: the right GM for the.
5:55
Speaker 1: Long term, absolutely, right, guy is the most important thing
5:59
Speaker 1: when it comes to that. Our final big thing today
6:01
Speaker 1: is going to be off to Indy as we talk
6:02
Speaker 1: about getting those things in place in the front office,
6:04
Speaker 1: everybody here's going to be heading to Indianapolis for the
6:07
Speaker 1: combine next week because the draft is upcoming as well. Brian.
6:10
Speaker 1: When we look at something like that, when you're talking
6:11
Speaker 1: about the scouting that's already in place, is how much
6:14
Speaker 1: different will it be this year with the new coaching
6:15
Speaker 1: staff and scouting there.
6:17
Speaker 4: Well, they're gonna have to lean on scouts that they
6:18
Speaker 4: may not know quite as well, right, I.
6:20
Speaker 3: Mean, that's the thing.
6:21
Speaker 4: You don't change the scouting staff until after the draft,
6:25
Speaker 4: so they're gonna have to take a deep breath and
6:27
Speaker 4: look at the board. I would say, by the time
6:29
Speaker 4: you get to the combine, John, the board is eighty
6:32
Speaker 4: percent maybe eighty five percent set based on the scouting
6:35
Speaker 4: of these guys in their junior year and those that
6:37
Speaker 4: are seniors into their senior year, they kind of know
6:39
Speaker 4: where it's at. They're going to the Indie combine to
6:42
Speaker 4: be able to check some boxes is primarily a medical exercise.
6:45
Speaker 4: Now it's not as much about the timing. They've got
6:48
Speaker 4: a lot of that stuff down. So again, you'd love
6:51
Speaker 4: to have the GM in place at this point, but
6:53
Speaker 4: they do have a scouting staff that's been doing the work,
6:56
Speaker 4: and Tony knows those guys and Liam Cohen can lean
6:59
Speaker 4: on those guys until they get this thing in place.
7:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not sure.
7:04
Speaker 5: I think Brian's right, but the board is there in
7:07
Speaker 5: the sense that the players are on it. I think
7:10
Speaker 5: what's important to remember, but when the GM's coming in. In
7:12
Speaker 5: terms of the draft, so far, scouting is largely information gathering.
7:18
Speaker 5: You want your area of scouts and you want your
7:20
Speaker 5: next level to have the information in the building. Once
7:24
Speaker 5: the GM gets in place, once he puts his head
7:27
Speaker 5: together with the key decision makers, then they can start
7:30
Speaker 5: taking all this data and sorting it out. It's February
7:34
Speaker 5: twenty eighth when he gets installed. Say forget the combine,
7:38
Speaker 5: So much. You still got two and a half months
7:40
Speaker 5: to set your board, figure out what your draft philosophy is.
7:43
Speaker 5: I don't think timing on that is a big deal
7:45
Speaker 5: at all. I think sometimes we overestimate the combine because
7:50
Speaker 5: we go and it's on TV. It's a piece of
7:53
Speaker 5: the scouting process.
7:54
Speaker 3: But you know.
7:57
Speaker 5: Who's there and newness and it's etc. That's not a
8:02
Speaker 5: huge issue next week. Next week is going to be
8:04
Speaker 5: more about these guys getting to know each other and
8:07
Speaker 5: getting their feet wet with the Jaguars.
8:09
Speaker 4: And I think if you look at it objectively, the
8:12
Speaker 4: in person visits. I think a team gets thirty in
8:15
Speaker 4: person visits here on site, Yeah, on site, those matter
8:19
Speaker 4: more than the combine does the combine again, medical sum.
8:23
Speaker 3: Checks here and there.
8:24
Speaker 4: But when you get the guys that you're really interested
8:27
Speaker 4: in your building around, your coaches, on your board, talking
8:31
Speaker 4: to your people, that really is what matters the most.
8:34
Speaker 4: And the general manager will be here for that.
8:37
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
8:37
Speaker 1: Stay with Sara on JAGSZAM coming up after the break,
8:39
Speaker 1: we're gonna hear from your new coordinators. We'll start out
8:42
Speaker 1: with the defense after the break.
8:51
Speaker 6: My vision for us defensively, you want to be a
8:55
Speaker 6: tough fast, physical, violent at the point of attack. Team.
9:01
Speaker 3: What does that mean?
9:02
Speaker 5: All right?
9:02
Speaker 6: That means that you've got guys who take pride in
9:06
Speaker 6: not getting blocked. Everybody talks about running to the ball.
9:10
Speaker 6: I don't think there's another person in the world who
9:11
Speaker 6: believes in running to the ball more than I do.
9:15
Speaker 6: But you can't run to the ball if you don't
9:16
Speaker 6: get all blocked. And that is something that's gonna be
9:21
Speaker 6: celebrated in our room. It's gonna be celebrated in the
9:24
Speaker 6: culture of our team. You know, there's gonna be a
9:26
Speaker 6: you know, there's a point in every play where somebody
9:29
Speaker 6: tries to block you. Right, your passion to not stay
9:33
Speaker 6: blocked is really what makes plays on defense.
9:39
Speaker 1: Jaguar's a new defensive coordinator, Anthony Campanelli, and we kind
9:42
Speaker 1: of got to hear from these guys. You guys were
9:44
Speaker 1: here last week and it feels different. Obviously, we're gonna
9:47
Speaker 1: learn about these guys that think as things go along,
9:49
Speaker 1: and you can't win the press conference, so to say,
9:51
Speaker 1: but it is nice to hear where people's I don't
9:55
Speaker 1: know if it's allegiances or just what their focus is
9:57
Speaker 1: on when you talk about a defense. Obviously, everybody wants
10:00
Speaker 1: to be tough and physical, but violent and whatnot. But
10:03
Speaker 1: just to the focusing in on specifics for him as
10:06
Speaker 1: what I found was great to see.
10:08
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I thought Ryan Nielsen was a really
10:11
Speaker 4: good communicator, right, but he in hindsight, he didn't communicate
10:17
Speaker 4: the kind of information that we got in.
10:18
Speaker 3: Just the first press conference. Sure, he didn't share much
10:20
Speaker 3: for that, right.
10:21
Speaker 4: I mean, so when you hear him talk about violently
10:24
Speaker 4: shedding blocks, well, I mean, listen, that's the kind of.
10:28
Speaker 3: Detail that we're looking for.
10:30
Speaker 4: If you go back to the Packers defense last year
10:34
Speaker 4: and the game they played here, both Tony and Jeff
10:37
Speaker 4: were talking in pregame radio about how aggressive and how
10:41
Speaker 4: difficult this Packers defense was to compete against, and he
10:46
Speaker 4: basically explained it right there in that sound bite, which listen,
10:50
Speaker 4: there's some really good players on that side of the ball.
10:52
Speaker 4: They should not have been the worst defense in football.
10:54
Speaker 4: You get the sense he can turn it around pretty quickly.
10:56
Speaker 5: Look, there's only so many any talking points that any
11:03
Speaker 5: offensive and defensive coordinator can have in the first press conference. Right,
11:07
Speaker 5: You're going to attack, you're gonna be physical, You're going
11:10
Speaker 5: to try to play fast, I've never been around a
11:12
Speaker 5: defensive coordinator who wants to be passive and play slow,
11:16
Speaker 5: So you're gonna hear the same things. As my point,
11:20
Speaker 5: what coaching is is the ability to have players buy
11:24
Speaker 5: into whatever simple concept you're trying to get across to them.
11:29
Speaker 5: I like the fact that Campanelli talks a lot about
11:32
Speaker 5: being violent at that point of attack and shedding blocks.
11:35
Speaker 5: He's telling guys, this is what we're going to be about.
11:38
Speaker 5: You better play this way or you're not gonna fit
11:41
Speaker 5: in with what we're doing. Beyond any of that, everything
11:45
Speaker 5: you hear about this guy is players love playing for him.
11:49
Speaker 5: That tells me whatever that message is that we've all
11:53
Speaker 5: heard before, I don't care if we've heard it before,
11:56
Speaker 5: can you get it to the players and can they
11:59
Speaker 5: buy in? Everything you hear is that this guy can
12:01
Speaker 5: do that. Beyond that, I don't care what he said.
12:05
Speaker 3: I mean, he cares.
12:07
Speaker 5: All of what he said doesn't matter. This is a
12:10
Speaker 5: guy who can get players believing in him.
12:13
Speaker 3: This defense needs that well and everywhere he's been I
12:15
Speaker 3: mean I mentioned it last week. He's a legend.
12:18
Speaker 4: He and his brothers in the Catholic League in New
12:20
Speaker 4: Jersey and everyone you talk to talks about him from
12:22
Speaker 4: that point through college to the Dolphins to the Packers.
12:25
Speaker 4: So he's had an impact at every level of football
12:29
Speaker 4: and everywhere he's been people speak highly of him.
12:32
Speaker 3: That matters.
12:33
Speaker 5: You are a legend in the Kansas Catholic League, which
12:36
Speaker 5: is a different level.
12:37
Speaker 4: Actually Missouri, but yeah, at a very different level. Thank you,
12:40
Speaker 4: legend for a different reason.
12:41
Speaker 1: Kimpanelli had a couple interesting points I felt throughout his presser.
12:45
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about forcing turnovers. That was
12:47
Speaker 1: a huge issue for this team last year, but then
12:49
Speaker 1: two years ago we saw the beginning of the season
12:51
Speaker 1: they were close to leading the league in turnovers. So
12:54
Speaker 1: to have that same roster and have that issue, he
12:56
Speaker 1: talked a little bit about what the focus needs to
12:58
Speaker 1: be with turnovers.
13:00
Speaker 6: I also think that the guys that have great ball
13:03
Speaker 6: awareness and the guys that strain that as a team,
13:06
Speaker 6: you know, the units that really strain that. It's you
13:09
Speaker 6: go back and look at it. How many attempts are
13:11
Speaker 6: you making on the ball, whether that's punching the ball right,
13:14
Speaker 6: whether that's violent contact on the ball, how I'm clamping
13:18
Speaker 6: on a tackle. All those things can factor in to takeaways.
13:21
Speaker 6: And to me, you have to do a really really
13:23
Speaker 6: good job studying that and presenting that information visually to
13:26
Speaker 6: the players. Get as many great visuals for them. Knowing
13:29
Speaker 6: how people carry the ball, right. Is a guy late
13:32
Speaker 6: to the tuck after he catches the ball. Does he
13:34
Speaker 6: carry the ball on his inside arm near sideline? Is
13:36
Speaker 6: the guy switches the ball in traffic? Is the ball
13:38
Speaker 6: off his body? Is he an elbow outrunner? Those are
13:40
Speaker 6: the guys that you want to target, and you want
13:42
Speaker 6: to target them in specific ways. So that to me,
13:46
Speaker 6: there is a little bit of a I don't want
13:48
Speaker 6: to say a science to that, but certainly a technique
13:51
Speaker 6: and a coaching philosophy to that.
13:54
Speaker 1: I'm going to get into the weeds a little bit there,
13:55
Speaker 1: but what I like to hear is talking about us
13:58
Speaker 1: teaching them the specific ways to go about the Obviously
14:01
Speaker 1: former regime Ryan Nielson wasn't as descriptive to us, so
14:03
Speaker 1: maybe he was saying those messages to the players and
14:05
Speaker 1: just not to us. That's fair, but to also hear
14:07
Speaker 1: this coming forward and just being aware that they're going
14:10
Speaker 1: to be focusing in on, you know, doing your job,
14:13
Speaker 1: so to speak. But it's not necessarily simplified version, it's
14:16
Speaker 1: it's doing what needs to be done.
14:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, the turnover thing's key. I mean it's they had
14:20
Speaker 5: twenty seven and twenty two and twenty seven and twenty three.
14:23
Speaker 5: They forced they had nine last year, which you almost
14:26
Speaker 5: have to try to have that few. And so I
14:32
Speaker 5: liked what he said about this is a defense that's
14:35
Speaker 5: going to face the quarterback more. Really to me, the
14:40
Speaker 5: key with turnovers as far as forcing them on defense,
14:46
Speaker 5: if you're playing disruptive up front, and if you're in
14:49
Speaker 5: a situation where you have the other team in situations
14:52
Speaker 5: it doesn't want to be in generally speaking, you're going
14:55
Speaker 5: to get more turnovers than if you're not playing well
14:58
Speaker 5: on early downs and not getting them that situation. So
15:02
Speaker 5: if everything else that he's teaching, if they're disruptive and
15:06
Speaker 5: the offense isn't liking what it's feeling, then turnovers will happen.
15:11
Speaker 5: If you're not playing well, they're gonna have nine again.
15:13
Speaker 4: You know, we talked about Liam and Grant on the
15:16
Speaker 4: offensive side, and really the measuring stick being the quarterback.
15:19
Speaker 4: I couldn't help listening to him and especially talking about turnovers,
15:22
Speaker 4: thinking that Mason Smith and Jordan Jefferson are those two
15:26
Speaker 4: players for him on defense getting push in the middle
15:29
Speaker 4: of the defensive line, which will let your outside rushers,
15:34
Speaker 4: you know, your josh Heinz Allen and tray Von get
15:37
Speaker 4: after the quarterback, which will create more turnovers. Those two guys,
15:41
Speaker 4: and if they added defensive tackling the draft, it's a
15:43
Speaker 4: good draft for defensive tackles, especially at the top. Getting
15:47
Speaker 4: that push and this guy's shedding blocks and creating havoc
15:51
Speaker 4: in the middle of the defense, which we saw from
15:53
Speaker 4: Green Bay last year. That'll create the turnovers. I mean again,
15:56
Speaker 4: I don't want to say that it's a quick turnaround,
15:59
Speaker 4: although to go for twenty seven to nine happened pretty quickly,
16:02
Speaker 4: so maybe the reverse can be true as well. But
16:04
Speaker 4: Mason Smith, Jordan Jefferson, and whoever else is in that
16:07
Speaker 4: defensive tackle group seems to be the lynch pin, the
16:10
Speaker 4: leverage point for this defense creating more turnovers.
16:13
Speaker 1: It's not going to be a complete rebuild with the situation. Obviously,
16:16
Speaker 1: you're not coming in from the ground floor. There is
16:17
Speaker 1: stuff here that he's going to be working with. He
16:19
Speaker 1: said as much when he talked about it, and Campanelli
16:22
Speaker 1: was in Green Bay last year after spending a lot
16:24
Speaker 1: of time in Miami, and he talked about going to
16:26
Speaker 1: a new team and kind of working through that process.
16:30
Speaker 6: That kind of happened in Green Bay last year. To
16:31
Speaker 6: be honest with it, for me, I was in Miami
16:33
Speaker 6: for a bunch of years and went there and as
16:35
Speaker 6: Jeff and I were kind of riving it down to
16:37
Speaker 6: the studs and our defensive staff was building it from
16:39
Speaker 6: the ground up. You always evaluate what's in the building,
16:42
Speaker 6: you know what I mean, what do the guys do
16:44
Speaker 6: well and how does that fit into our scheme? And
16:47
Speaker 6: I think great coaches always have the ability to be
16:51
Speaker 6: malleable with the scheme to fit what the players do best.
16:55
Speaker 6: So yeah, that's part of it. And then as you
16:58
Speaker 6: go for sure, like as your roster changes, you know,
17:01
Speaker 6: sometimes it affords you the opportunity to do a little
17:03
Speaker 6: bit more so or less.
17:05
Speaker 1: John, we heard from the head coach a lot of
17:07
Speaker 1: players not plays right. And when you talk about when
17:10
Speaker 1: he's talking about building his scheme here, he wants to
17:12
Speaker 1: utilize what he has at his availability, but also being
17:15
Speaker 1: flexible right when you play certain teams, maybe adjuster style.
17:18
Speaker 1: It's not being rigid and saying we're going to do
17:20
Speaker 1: this no matter what. And having that adaptability, I think
17:23
Speaker 1: it would be really big for this defense to not
17:25
Speaker 1: just be doing one thing no matter what if that
17:28
Speaker 1: doesn't call for.
17:28
Speaker 3: That, yeah, I mean.
17:30
Speaker 5: And talking to him a couple of weeks ago, I
17:35
Speaker 5: asked him about the scheme and any kind of laugh
17:37
Speaker 5: and I started laughing. To me, he said, look, I
17:39
Speaker 5: understand what you're asking. I understand fans win a new scheme.
17:45
Speaker 5: The reality is they play some four to three, they
17:48
Speaker 5: play some three four. Within that, everything's hybrid. To me,
17:54
Speaker 5: how do you use Trayvon? How do you use Eric Armstead?
17:59
Speaker 5: Can you move those guys inside a little bit? It
18:01
Speaker 5: sounds like Armstell, We're back inside. Yes, it's players, not plays.
18:06
Speaker 5: How you use those guys matters very much. I think
18:09
Speaker 5: the thing I'm optimistic about is with run defense, which
18:13
Speaker 5: I think is the key. You have to get the
18:15
Speaker 5: run stop first. He's really good at that. He was
18:18
Speaker 5: the run game coordinator. If you can get that stopped,
18:23
Speaker 5: then you can get out of that thirty two range
18:25
Speaker 5: they were in. If you get out of thirty two,
18:29
Speaker 5: then you're marginally better. And this team lost a bunch
18:31
Speaker 5: of games by seven points or less. So getting a
18:34
Speaker 5: little better at something the coach maybe can have a
18:36
Speaker 5: huge influence on I'm optimistic about that small detail of that, Brian.
18:41
Speaker 4: So just theoretically where the Checkers are drafting, there could
18:46
Speaker 4: be a defensive tackle right, the kid from Michigan, Mason Graham.
18:50
Speaker 4: I don't think it's likely anymore because I think a duel.
18:51
Speaker 4: Carter's performance in the College Playoff lifted him way above five.
18:57
Speaker 3: But those are two players.
18:58
Speaker 4: You think, well, we just drafted a couple of pass
18:59
Speaker 4: rusher if we just drafted a couple of defensive tackles,
19:02
Speaker 4: I'll be really interested to see just how multiple right,
19:05
Speaker 4: because that's a coaching word, multiple, they will be if
19:08
Speaker 4: one of those two guys is there for them, because
19:11
Speaker 4: you can never have enough great defensive front guys, and
19:16
Speaker 4: they're going to change things up. Last year we saw
19:19
Speaker 4: Trayvon with his hand on the ground and another really
19:22
Speaker 4: good season from him. They're willing, it sounds like, to
19:26
Speaker 4: take a player and it doesn't matter whether they've got
19:29
Speaker 4: three defensive tackles. If this guy's really good and he's
19:31
Speaker 4: a three technique, or you can put him, you know,
19:33
Speaker 4: in an inside gap, sup take him. They are calling
19:36
Speaker 4: to put a scheme together players over plays, it doesn't matter. Well,
19:40
Speaker 4: we already have a defensive tackle. Well, who doesn't need
19:42
Speaker 4: a great defensive tackle?
19:44
Speaker 1: Absolutely can always have more.
19:46
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, it's the same thing with them to do
19:48
Speaker 4: a Carter right. I mean, you have two great pass
19:49
Speaker 4: russes on the outside.
19:50
Speaker 3: Who doesn't need a third?
19:51
Speaker 4: Old story about the Patriots and the Giants in that
19:53
Speaker 4: Super Bowl back in two thousand and eight.
19:55
Speaker 5: So yeah, there's no position on this roster out really
19:59
Speaker 5: outside along snow and punter where you can't improve a
20:03
Speaker 5: position group with a Pro Bowl player like Brian Thomas
20:06
Speaker 5: junior Trevan Walker.
20:07
Speaker 3: I love those guys. If you add one.
20:09
Speaker 5: More player to their group that are really good, you
20:11
Speaker 5: can find a spot form on the field. So it's
20:13
Speaker 5: wide open on the draft on that front.
20:15
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
20:16
Speaker 1: All right, we talk defense, We're going to switch the
20:17
Speaker 1: offensive side of football coming up after the break. Here
20:19
Speaker 1: in jags Am, Move the Freight, Move the Freight. Magellan
20:28
Speaker 1: Transport voted the coolest office space in Jacksonvilla. Play online
20:31
Speaker 1: at www dot Magellan Logistics dot com. Going back into
20:37
Speaker 1: jags am as, we got to hear from the coordinators
20:39
Speaker 1: for the first time. Last week we talked about defensive
20:42
Speaker 1: side of Football's talk about the offensive side of football,
20:44
Speaker 1: because that has been the focus for much of this offseason.
20:46
Speaker 1: You got your offensive head coach, and now you've got
20:48
Speaker 1: a pretty young guy, Grant Edinsky, twenty nine years old,
20:51
Speaker 1: taken over as your offensive coordinator for the first time.
20:54
Speaker 1: So he talked a little bit about what is going
20:56
Speaker 1: to be the main project, which is not project, but
20:58
Speaker 1: the main point of his job is going to be
21:00
Speaker 1: working with Trevor Lawrence.
21:02
Speaker 2: The physical talent you can see and you guys probably
21:05
Speaker 2: have had more time watching it than even me over
21:07
Speaker 2: the course of the past couple of years. The most
21:10
Speaker 2: exciting thing for me is the guy and the person
21:14
Speaker 2: as I've started to form this relationship, because, like I said,
21:18
Speaker 2: the quarterback position is still played by a person. It's
21:20
Speaker 2: still human being back there who's got to stand back
21:23
Speaker 2: there and navigate tight pockets and hits and escape and
21:27
Speaker 2: deal with eleven, you know, ten other guys in the
21:29
Speaker 2: all eleven on defense and make those decisions and snap judgment.
21:33
Speaker 2: So the person that we're getting to deal with and
21:35
Speaker 2: work with on a day to day basis is super
21:38
Speaker 2: exciting for me because listen, if we're up here spending
21:42
Speaker 2: as much time as we do trying to pour ourselves
21:44
Speaker 2: into somebody, He's the type of guy that you want
21:46
Speaker 2: to invest time in.
21:49
Speaker 1: John. We've talked before about when this job came open,
21:52
Speaker 1: there was a lot of football people that want and
21:54
Speaker 1: work with Trevor Lawrence like they see him as you know,
21:56
Speaker 1: the talent that we've seen from him and what he's
21:58
Speaker 1: possibly capable of getting to with the right scheme around him,
22:01
Speaker 1: the right people around him. And it feels like he
22:03
Speaker 1: now has the right people around him that want to
22:05
Speaker 1: work with him like that.
22:06
Speaker 3: Yep, it does.
22:07
Speaker 5: And I think the team that was around him before
22:12
Speaker 5: had his best interest and developed him in spots. It's
22:17
Speaker 5: tough because again we've heard frankly too many intro pressers
22:22
Speaker 5: around here, right, so we have experience listening you're looking
22:27
Speaker 5: for something real to hang on to, and fans right
22:29
Speaker 5: me all the time, Well they're saying the same things
22:31
Speaker 5: over and over again. Well, yes, they say.
22:33
Speaker 3: The same things over and over again.
22:34
Speaker 5: I think with Yudinsky, what was impressive is not so
22:37
Speaker 5: much what he said, but his track record in Minnesota.
22:41
Speaker 5: When you read about him, his relationship with around blink.
22:46
Speaker 3: JJ McCarthy was very close.
22:50
Speaker 5: It's the sort of thing that a quarterback can develop
22:53
Speaker 5: trust and lean on. He's going to be all in
22:56
Speaker 5: with Trevor all of those things. Brian. I don't know
22:59
Speaker 5: how it plays out because we haven't seen it, but
23:02
Speaker 5: it does sound like this guy has the football knowledge,
23:06
Speaker 5: the diligence, the passion to be Trevor's guy and to
23:10
Speaker 5: bring him along in terms of always being there, always
23:16
Speaker 5: not advocate, but always being a source of information. Does
23:19
Speaker 5: he have the ability to translate it into a way
23:23
Speaker 5: that Trevor easily understands and can take onto the field.
23:26
Speaker 5: I think that's what we'll find out.
23:27
Speaker 3: A couple thoughts.
23:28
Speaker 4: You know, for all the analytics that and numbers that
23:32
Speaker 4: play into professional football, it's about relationships, Yeah, I mean,
23:35
Speaker 4: it's about people.
23:37
Speaker 3: And it sounds as if Grant has the.
23:39
Speaker 4: Ability to form great relationships with people for a young guy.
23:43
Speaker 4: That's important. You love that with a young quarterback that
23:46
Speaker 4: you have here. Also the experience that he has. You know,
23:49
Speaker 4: last year, Sam Darnold, a high pick, top five pick
23:53
Speaker 4: by the Jets, discarded that you know, went to the Panthers,
23:56
Speaker 4: went to the Niners. Had bounced around, was in his
23:58
Speaker 4: fourth spot in six years, and they got the best
24:01
Speaker 4: out of him right in a desperate situation because remember,
24:04
Speaker 4: you know, their quarterback, the guy that they drafted all
24:07
Speaker 4: of a sudden can't play and they don't know that
24:10
Speaker 4: they can count on Sam Darnold. So he was part
24:13
Speaker 4: of Kevin O'Connell and that crew on the offensive side,
24:17
Speaker 4: getting the most out of a guy who had potential
24:20
Speaker 4: but who hadn't to that point shown it. Well, I mean,
24:23
Speaker 4: he's perfect to come here and to work with Trevor Lawrence.
24:27
Speaker 4: At least, it seems like he's perfect. I'll go back
24:31
Speaker 4: to what I said at the beginning. He forms good relationships.
24:34
Speaker 4: That's the thing I've been told about him. That's the
24:36
Speaker 4: thing that he has shown people. If that's the case,
24:39
Speaker 4: I think he's off to a good start already.
24:41
Speaker 3: Yeah.
24:41
Speaker 5: And frankly, we're talking about somebody who's twenty nine and
24:46
Speaker 5: has been in the league four or five years, So
24:49
Speaker 5: there's not much for us to analyze based on what
24:52
Speaker 5: has happened already. All we have is what we've heard
24:55
Speaker 5: about it and why he has been brought in. Everything
25:00
Speaker 5: I have seen and heard from him I like very much.
25:02
Speaker 5: I can see how Trevor could relate to this, So
25:05
Speaker 5: I think it'll be a positive. Now he's got to
25:07
Speaker 5: go prove that, yes, can't.
25:08
Speaker 1: Be the up and coming guy without you know, being
25:10
Speaker 1: the up and coming guy.
25:11
Speaker 3: First.
25:12
Speaker 1: We also heard him talk a little bit. You know,
25:14
Speaker 1: he's talking about working with all the players on the team,
25:16
Speaker 1: but obviously Brian Thomas Junior had a breakout rookie season
25:18
Speaker 1: and just what he's looking forward to with working with.
25:21
Speaker 2: Him, Like like we talked about with the players and
25:25
Speaker 2: the opportunity to work with these guys. He's one of
25:27
Speaker 2: the guys where you watch the tape and you're it's
25:30
Speaker 2: hard to stay seated watching his tape just in terms
25:33
Speaker 2: of the excitement and the tools and the ability that
25:35
Speaker 2: he has and the potential there for you saw the
25:38
Speaker 2: results this year, but the potential for growth beyond this year,
25:41
Speaker 2: and the different ways you can use him to attack
25:43
Speaker 2: defenses in a multitude of ways.
25:46
Speaker 1: I mean, if your eyes don't light up when you
25:48
Speaker 1: think about Brian Thomas Junior, is probably something wrong with you.
25:50
Speaker 1: But I'm excited for maybe the creativity that they can use.
25:54
Speaker 1: When you talk about, you know, getting some of these
25:56
Speaker 1: younger offensive lines it's just how they utilize the talent
25:58
Speaker 1: that they have. Obviously, Brian Thomas Junior is a huge
26:01
Speaker 1: talent and going into a second year, what they can.
26:03
Speaker 3: Be able to do with him.
26:04
Speaker 4: Listen, the thing that stands out the most about Thomas
26:06
Speaker 4: is is that he makes defensive coordinators restless. They don't
26:10
Speaker 4: sleep very well the night before the game because you know,
26:13
Speaker 4: he is an explosive playmaker. We had many of those
26:16
Speaker 4: around here, and to have a guy like that, if
26:19
Speaker 4: you come into the offensive coordinator, that has to give
26:21
Speaker 4: you incredible confidence.
26:22
Speaker 5: Yeah, and all Jaguars fans, the most Jaguars fans are
26:27
Speaker 5: familiar with Brian Thomas Junior. Well, you know, Liam Cohen
26:31
Speaker 5: and Yudinsky, they had their own stuff to do last year, right,
26:36
Speaker 5: So they get here and they've probably seen some highlights
26:38
Speaker 5: of BTJ. But I can sort of imagine Yudinsky sitting
26:42
Speaker 5: there and like going through the highlight reel and at
26:46
Speaker 5: times just kind of going.
26:47
Speaker 3: That's pretty cool. Yeah, oh all right, we can do that.
26:50
Speaker 5: So for me a football standpoint, what BTJ brings this
26:57
Speaker 5: team that it hasn't had very much in his friends history.
27:02
Speaker 5: Defenses can game plan all they want and once the game.
27:07
Speaker 5: He can still do something that you can't game plan for.
27:11
Speaker 5: That's what wins games in the NFL. Now it's become
27:14
Speaker 5: a league of above the x's and oh's playmakers. He
27:18
Speaker 5: can do that, and I'm sure this coaching staff sort
27:24
Speaker 5: of watches him and every every now and then it's like, hey, cool.
27:27
Speaker 3: All right, let's go go do your thing, which is fine.
27:30
Speaker 5: I mean that's not really football one oh one stuff,
27:34
Speaker 5: but that's the kind of stuff that's gonna win you
27:36
Speaker 5: two or three games a year. Build around that, and
27:41
Speaker 5: I can't be more excited to watch Brian Thomas Junior
27:43
Speaker 5: in the future.
27:43
Speaker 4: Listen, you, when you show up and you've got a
27:45
Speaker 4: promising young quarterback with a Lamborghini at his disposal in
27:49
Speaker 4: Brian Thomas Junior, I mean, put him in the car
27:51
Speaker 4: and let him go. There's a lot of things that
27:54
Speaker 4: you can do. And there's other pieces on the offense
27:56
Speaker 4: as well, and of course they'll add to that. But
27:58
Speaker 4: the quarterback and receiver combination, I mean, you saw all
28:02
Speaker 4: those years in the ending with with Peyton and Marvin
28:04
Speaker 4: and Reggie.
28:05
Speaker 3: When you've got that, everything else is possible.
28:09
Speaker 1: When Leam Colin came in, he said he's going to
28:11
Speaker 1: be the one calling the plays. Does that matter at
28:13
Speaker 1: all with the first time coordinator. Does it help him
28:14
Speaker 1: because he can focus on some other things or do
28:16
Speaker 1: you think it'll just be collaborative altogether?
28:18
Speaker 5: Oh? I think it certainly seems like you know, Cohen
28:25
Speaker 5: will have the final say play call. He's the real coordinator, right,
28:31
Speaker 5: so it certainly gives Grant Yudinsky a chance to grow
28:36
Speaker 5: within that everything you hear. I don't think it's any
28:41
Speaker 5: question this guy is on the fast track. He's going
28:43
Speaker 5: to be a head coach someday. So does it matter.
28:47
Speaker 5: Sure it matters because it matters who calls plays, But
28:50
Speaker 5: I don't think it necessarily diminishes Edinsky's value to it.
28:55
Speaker 5: It will mean his roles different in some coordinators on
28:58
Speaker 5: game day.
28:58
Speaker 3: And I'd be interested to see how this one.
29:00
Speaker 4: Obviously we've all, you know, kind of watched it around
29:02
Speaker 4: here the last couple of years.
29:04
Speaker 3: But you've got a first time head.
29:06
Speaker 4: Coach who is accustomed to calling plays, but he's also
29:11
Speaker 4: the head coach. Right There's the defense, there's special teams,
29:14
Speaker 4: there's a lot of elements. So I'm gonna be interested
29:16
Speaker 4: to see just how much he delegates to Yudinsky as
29:22
Speaker 4: he goes through the process. It's to be determined because
29:25
Speaker 4: we don't have anything to base it on.
29:26
Speaker 1: Maybe a find one to watch though, and hopefully goes
29:28
Speaker 1: very very well.
29:29
Speaker 3: Stay with us here.
29:30
Speaker 1: We will tell you a little bit about what's coming
29:31
Speaker 1: up next week at the combine. Jeg XAM brought to
29:38
Speaker 1: you by Fresh from Florida. It is always in season.
29:43
Speaker 7: The cons the organization made it very clear they wanted
29:48
Speaker 7: me here and that was a big part of where
29:51
Speaker 7: we are going forward. And so I had that going
29:55
Speaker 7: I did get some interest, but ultimately we wanted to
29:58
Speaker 7: be here. The organization wanted us here, and so it
30:02
Speaker 7: was it was a clear cut deal for my family
30:05
Speaker 7: and I. This was the best situation. Blend in with
30:08
Speaker 7: this new crowd of staff and and and make the
30:12
Speaker 7: best of it here and let's get let's.
30:14
Speaker 2: Let's do this.
30:15
Speaker 1: See that's a familiar face. He'd far a well special
30:17
Speaker 1: teams coordinator. He's going to be staying here. And I mean,
30:19
Speaker 1: you got a couple of pro bowlers on. I think
30:22
Speaker 1: that's fair. Yeah, and drafted one of the best kickers,
30:25
Speaker 1: h absolutely, so he'll be sticking around, which is great.
30:27
Speaker 4: You know Rick Oscelin, who was a longtime writer for
30:29
Speaker 4: the Dallas Morning News, used to it was a labor
30:32
Speaker 4: of love for him. He compiled and created his own
30:35
Speaker 4: rating for special teams. I'm not sure anybody does it
30:38
Speaker 4: now that he's retired, But I was talking to some
30:41
Speaker 4: guys in Dallas and they were talking about it, and
30:43
Speaker 4: they were kind of putting their own system together, and
30:46
Speaker 4: they thought that the Jaguars special teams would be top
30:48
Speaker 4: five based on their performances, whether you're talking about the kicker,
30:52
Speaker 4: the punter, the return against I mean, can you remember
30:55
Speaker 4: an appreciable punt return against this team?
30:58
Speaker 3: There wasn't.
31:00
Speaker 4: You can look at PFF and some of these different
31:02
Speaker 4: rating sources, but the bottom line is is that people
31:05
Speaker 4: who know special teams around the league look at the
31:07
Speaker 4: job that he farwell did and think he's one of
31:10
Speaker 4: the better coaches in the league.
31:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, there are some coaches, it's rare in this league
31:14
Speaker 5: now that sort of transcend staff and wind up staying
31:20
Speaker 5: with a franchise for a long time. He's farwell on
31:24
Speaker 5: special teams around here. Seems like that guy now, I
31:28
Speaker 5: think he might be a coach someday. Like he's that
31:30
Speaker 5: kind of guy who can reach, he can lead special
31:33
Speaker 5: teams coaches Harbaugh and you know what came out of
31:36
Speaker 5: that area. So he may have a brighter future beyond
31:42
Speaker 5: just being a special teams guy. But he also might
31:45
Speaker 5: be a guy who's in one place for a long time.
31:47
Speaker 5: I know the Jaguars love him, and as they should.
31:49
Speaker 3: There's a lot to love about him. He really is.
31:51
Speaker 4: He can explain it. He's very involved in it. Was
31:55
Speaker 4: very involved in the kickoff transition last year. Is that
32:00
Speaker 4: process again this year? Just well respected arountally.
32:03
Speaker 1: Absolutely so. Things are moving quickly now, felt like the
32:05
Speaker 1: back end of the season is very slow. Now. We
32:07
Speaker 1: got a lot of things coming at once. The gim
32:08
Speaker 1: interviews this week combine next week. John, would you say
32:12
Speaker 1: twenty something years you've been going, So what are we
32:14
Speaker 1: looking forward to next week?
32:15
Speaker 3: Yeah?
32:15
Speaker 5: My first one was oh one, and I guess we
32:18
Speaker 5: missed one during COVID, which is sort of a blur. Yeah,
32:24
Speaker 5: Liam Cohen and I believe the new general manager, if
32:27
Speaker 5: he's in place, may speak. I don't know on the
32:31
Speaker 5: last part. And it's a good chance to talk to
32:36
Speaker 5: Liam Cohen about the new coordinators, the direction. We haven't
32:40
Speaker 5: really talked to him in about two or three weeks.
32:44
Speaker 5: Sometimes the Combine can feel a bit stale because you've
32:48
Speaker 5: already talked to the head coach.
32:49
Speaker 3: There's that much change.
32:51
Speaker 5: This year for me, the highlight will be talking to
32:53
Speaker 5: Liam about everything that's going on right now and the direction,
32:57
Speaker 5: because it's moving fast.
32:58
Speaker 4: And if it feels fast now, hold on, it's going
33:00
Speaker 4: to feel a whole lot faster because you get back
33:02
Speaker 4: from the Combine and you're just a week or two
33:04
Speaker 4: away from the start of the new league year, which
33:07
Speaker 4: is free agency, and then it is just downhill all
33:09
Speaker 4: the way to the draft.
33:11
Speaker 3: Absolutely right.
33:13
Speaker 5: Until last year was downhill.
33:15
Speaker 3: I just mad in terms of the speed, just right,
33:19
Speaker 3: all good stuff.
33:20
Speaker 1: JP and John will be with you guys next week
33:22
Speaker 1: for Jagsam from the Combine. All our shows will be
33:24
Speaker 1: from the Combine in Indianapolis, So enjoy that coverage from
33:28
Speaker 1: next week and we'll be back here in studio the
33:29
Speaker 1: week after that.