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Bengals Booth Podcast: So Special

Mar 28, 202433 min
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Episode description

It’s the “So Special” edition of the Bengals Booth Podcast as Dan Hoard discusses the NFL’s new kickoff rules and other important offseason topics with special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth podcast. The I'm Special So Special addition, as I discussed the NFL's new kickoff rules and a few other important topics with Bengals Special Teams Coordinator Darren Simmons. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official hr software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering

Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since the Larry Bird statue in Tara Hate, Indiana.

I was in tear this week to broadcast Cincinnati's game versus Indiana State in the NIT and while I was not surprised to see a Larry Bird statue outside of the arena at his alma mater, I was stunned by how tall it is. It's slightly more than seventeen feet tall from the sidewalk to the top of the basketball raised over his head. Now here's the fun part of the story. There's a statue of Magic Johnson at Michigan State that's twelve feet tall. The Larry Bird statue was

specifically designed to be taller than Magic's. Johnson won more NBA titles five to three, and when they went head to head in the finals, the Lakers won two out of three. But when it comes to statue height, Larry Legend reigned supreme. Now let's get to football. In twenty eleven, in an attempt to cut down on the number of injuries that occurred on kickoffs, the NFL moved the spot of the kickoff from the thirty yard yard line to

the thirty five. That led to fewer returns. Unfortunately, as kicker's legs became stronger, the kick return became a rarity. Last year, only twenty two percent of kickoffs were returned, and in the Super Bowl all thirteen kickoffs were touchbacks. As a result, the NFL dramatically changed the kickoff rule this week, adopting rules that were pioneered in the XFL.

Here are some of the key changes. The ball is still kicked from the thirty five, but if you kick it into the end zone or out of the end zone for a touchback, the ball goes out to the thirty yard line instead of the twenty five. That's meant to discourage teams from kicking it into the end zone. If you kick the ball short of the twenty yard line in the air or kick it out of bounds, the return team gets the ball at the forty yard line. The so called landing zone is between the twenty yard

line and the goal line. Any kick in that zone must be returned. Additionally, if a kick hits the ground in the landing zone and then bounces or rolls into the end zone, it can either be returned or downed, but if it's downed, the returning team only gets the ball at the twenty. That's meant to encourage returns. In order to make the kickoff safer, the coverage team lines up at the other team's forty yard line, twenty five

yards ahead of the ball. Nine members of the return team are lined up between five and ten yards away. They're in close proximity in order to cut down on dangerous high speed collisions, and those players can't move until the ball hits the ground or one of the two returners who have to line up in the landing zone. Finally, since nobody lines up close to the kicker on side, kicks must be declared in advance and can only be

attempted in the fourth quarter or over time. For those of us who having watched the XFL, it can all be pretty confusing. That's why I sat down this week for an in depth conversation with Bengals special team scoordinator Darren Simmons, who was heading into his twenty second season in Cincinnati. Darren, last year, nearly eighty percent of NFL kickoffs were not returned. Did you agree with the notion that a change was needed?

Speaker 2

Oh, I think it was absolutely necessary. I knew midway through the season that we can't keep doing what we're doing here and keep this play a relevant part of the game which couldn't affect the game.

Speaker 3

You know, normally.

Speaker 2

In a regular game, there are probably twenty five to thirty special teams plays total, and I review each of those with our team after the game. And yet you know, I start canceling out. I started deleting all the plays that are touchbacks, there's really nothing to coach off of the next thing, you know, there's twelve or thirteen relevant plays in a special teams game. So I knew we had to do something different than we just couldn't keep operating.

Speaker 3

We were operating.

Speaker 1

The NFL makes rules changes every year, but most of them are slight tweaks. This is a radical change. You've been coaching at one level or another for thirty years, basically, has there been anything remotely comparable?

Speaker 2

No, I don't think so. You know, we made some pretty cool radical changes in twenty eighteen. We eliminated the wedge. We eliminated certain types of double team blocks and trap blocks, and I thought that was pretty radical back in twenty eighteen. But this is going to be wholesale.

Speaker 3

You know.

Speaker 2

Ever since the rule passed, I've been hesitant to do a lot of extra work on this prior to it passing, just because I didn't know exactly which way it was going to go. But now that since the rules passed, I've been trying to get our playbook back in order, and this is the most change that I've had to make to the playbook since I first started, you know, way bay way back. So there is it's a substantial change. There's gonna be a lot that goes into it.

Speaker 1

So the new NFL rule is a modified version of what they've done in the XFL for the last couple of years. Did you watch XFL games before there was any discussion of this coming to the NFL, just out of your curiosity?

Speaker 3

Yeah, I actually did it a year ago. You know.

Speaker 2

I was a part of a group of coaches that that the NFL brought up to the NFL films in Philadelphia, and we discussed changes a year ago, and so I knew this was the XFL model was on the back burner a little bit, and we couldn't really come to a great consensus a year ago. You know, when when the health and safety people brought up the XFL kick off to us as coaches, everybody kind of, you know, didn't really know what to think because I'd never really

seen the play. Thought I was kind of a gimmicky looking thing until you actually put the tape on, and uh, you know, if you pause an NFL kickoff play when the returner catches it versus what the XFL model looked like, then it wasn't all that dissimilar that they were actually actually relatively close to being the same, not exactly by a stretch of the imagination when you have players of different speed levels from the NFL model, but you know,

there was a lot to go off of. I've looked at every XFL kickoff, every play for the for the past couple of years, you know, and it's it's really about educating myself. What are the different schemes, what are the what are the different techniques that that they tried to employ, How would it how would it look for us? What are the things that we need to do differently

for our league relative to what the XFL did. And we think we come up with a plan that h or a model for us, the NFL hybrid model that you know, tries to satisfy as many of the deficiencies that we saw in the XFL play and make it a relevant, exciting play for us.

Speaker 1

Were there other I ideas that were close to being adopted? Was it a close call that ultimately all right, this is the one we'll go with.

Speaker 2

No, Because we had the same issue a year ago. You know, the health and safety people have come to us, you know, I feel like the Special Teams.

Speaker 3

Group gets attacked.

Speaker 2

It's every single year, like we're trying to, you know, fend off the lions, the health and safety people that are always coming to attack us for you know that. You know, and I do get it from a player safety standpoint. We are trying to keep the players as safe as we possibly can, right So I get.

Speaker 3

That part of it.

Speaker 2

And they have a job to do and we had at the same time, I have the job to do too. We're still trying to make this play exciting. And you know, there was a lot of issues that we discussed a year ago. We actually discussed you know, the USFL. There were two leagues, the USFL and the XFL. The XFL

used a model that we used. The USFL actually used our model, but they backed up and kicked off from the twenty yard line, and they were trying to create more speed and more space and give blockers or give cover players the opportunity to more room to beat blockers. And uh, that's actually, oddly enough, what the UFL has adopted. They adopted the us USFL model, But I think there's a reason why for that. The commissioner of the us

FL was Darryl Johnston. When those two leagues merged and combined in the UFL, Darryl Johnson is still the commissioners. They just adopted his rule from the USFL. So people are going to make a big deal about that. Why, you know, we took a model that they're not going to use in this other league, and and you know, I just don't think our health and safety people could ever wrap their head around us back in the kickoff up and creating more speed, more space, and more collisions.

And you know, I tend to agree with that. So that that that was the reason we kind of stuck with this XFL model. We thought we could make tweaks to it that would make it better for us. There were a lot of holes in what they did. You know, I give them credit. They did a lot of work on trying to get it off the ground, and they did and hopefully, I think we're going to have the

ability of the same things. If there are things that we don't like or are not working exactly like I wanted to, I think we're gonna have the ability to make small tweaks and adjustments. You know, maybe after the end of the preseason. If we go through the preseason and see things. Oh man, I wish we would have done this. I think we're going to give us the opportunity and maybe make some amendments if we need to, to try to make it better.

Speaker 1

Do you see college and high school football going to a rule like this or something like it in the years to come?

Speaker 2

Well, I think it all depend on what it looks like in our game. It seems to be a bit of a theme. You know, we tried to adopt what college football used and implement the fair catch last year and it really didn't have the desired effect.

Speaker 3

You know, it really would have. Did it increased touchbacks? We didn't.

Speaker 2

You know, there was nineteen hundred and seventy I think touchbacks last year and ninety fair catches, so you know,

we're talking about a little over two thousand plays. It really didn't matter, and we believe that the return percentage the league has told us the analytics people at the league office told us they believe the return for scenes will be somewhere upround eighty to eighty five percent, So you know, hopefully it will be about sixteen hundred more plays league wide, so little interesting to see.

Speaker 1

So instead of twenty percent being returned you're hoping more like eighty percent, all right, So I picked out a few specific things that I want to ask you about. If you have a traditional touchback, now the ball goes out to the thirty instead of the twenty five, is five yards enough to discourage most teams from just blasting it out of the end zone.

Speaker 3

Well, that wasn't the initial proposal. The initial proposal was taken out.

Speaker 2

To the thirty five, which would really, I think, help discourage that. But I think there was a couple of coaches on the competition committee that felt like that the thirty five yard line was too big of a penalty to the kicking team. Say it, you're at the end of a game and you kick a field goal with thirty seconds le after score a touchdown to take the lead, like, you want to have the ability to kick ball in the back of the end zone and take it out

of the returner's hands. And so I think they came to consensus that they would move it back to the thirty. So I think that'll be a bit of a feeling out process if you look at the you know, the league ultimately scoring has been slightly down the last couple of seasons and I think in an effort to help improve that, they'd like to see the kickoff return drive

start move up the field a little bit. It's been around the twenty five yard line about the same spot the touchbackspin for the last couple of years, so I think this is an effort also to move the drive start back up the field, give the offense a little bit of a shorter field to work on. So again, to answer your question, I think it's going to be it's going to be a fluid situation to see how teams try to manage that part of it.

Speaker 1

Since you watched every XFL kickoff, did most of the kickers try to kick it high and close to the sideline inside the ten? Or do they kick line drives that are hot to handle?

Speaker 2

Well, it's unique. So the XFL actually kicked off from the thirty yard line. They were five yards further back than what we were. But the difference is the XFL was a spring league, so they never had to deal

with weather. And I think for us, you know that there was a part of a thought that why wouldn't we kick off from the thirty yard kickers or better than theirs are, But you know, how do you explain that to teams like Buffalo and New England that are playing in the New York's or in those East Coast teams like that that are northern teams, that you know what happens when the weather gets to be really cold

and it's really windy in January and December. You know that sometimes it's going to be difficult just to get the ball past the twenty. So I think that there's going to be a lot of thought that goes into how you kick it. You know, Evan'll have no problem getting the ball down the field, you know.

Speaker 3

I think the.

Speaker 2

If you think about it, though, hangtime now really on a kickoff doesn't matter anymore.

Speaker 3

That that's the part.

Speaker 2

That I'm a little concerned about as we've we've kind of taken I think now what we're getting is a lot of they're gonna get a lot of field goal kicks on kickoffs because again, players can start on the touch or the catch, so hangtime doesn't matter. I think depth and accuracy is what's going to matter now, So you know, latterly horizontally on the field, where you put it and in depth is going to be a huge determinant.

But in the XFL, I would tell you that a lot of the kicks that the teams were probably the best in coverage were the kicks that were widest and deepest. There are a lot of kicks that these kickers are hit up to the ten or twelve yard line. That I mean, these returners are running, you know, the other way. They're on top of the cover team before the cover

team go and hit them. In some cases, So the XFL, the kicking team lined up at the thirty five, the return team lined up with the we're going to move back five yards. We're gonna be the kicking team is going to be at the forty to forty yard line. Seven players have to line up on the thirty five For US, two players can be within the next five yards from a thirty five to the thirty.

Speaker 3

So we're gonna be up the field a little bit more to give the cover players a.

Speaker 2

Better opportunity to get off blocks and still get off and make a tackle.

Speaker 1

I read one analyst who studied the XFL tape and said that the return is less about straight line speed and more about running back qualities like vision and shiftiness. Do you agree?

Speaker 3

I do agree? Yeah, I do agree.

Speaker 2

I do think though there are some there's some plays on there that where you can see the speed where the speed of the returner matters. I do certainly agree, though, because we're talking about a more confined area, confined box now that some of these players are being returned in. I do think that cutting ability of the returners and lateral movement like what you norm to see in Palmer turners is a bigger part of it, or it becomes

a more integral in the past. What you look for in some qualities you look for in a kickoff returner. You want big, physical, tough, straight line fastest guys you can find. You know, That's why Brandon Wilson was an effective player for US. Brandon Wilson was a running back in college at Houston who was big and tough and

physical and had great speed. And now I think you've got to have guys that you'd like to still have those same qualities, but the added dynamic is they got to be able to cut, They got to be able to jump around a cover player, jump around even a blocker for that matter, because the space is going to be less than what there used to be.

Speaker 1

Your kick returners from last year are still on the roster for now, tray Von Williams, Chase Brown, Chris Evans, Charlie Jones, who did it in college. How do you feel about that group and do you feel like you need to add a kickoff return guy.

Speaker 2

Well, I think you saw uniquely enough. I think you saw what Pittsburgh did yesterday. Pittsburgh signed Quaduroll Patterson, and you know, I think if he still has gas left in the tank, I haven't studied him in a bit, but if he does get he's the prototypical guy that you're looking for. He's a big, physical guy that hopefully you get to him before he can get really going

because he's a tough guy to bring down. Because now the difference is I think, you know, we're going to have the jousting of the cover players or the sumo wrestling match of the cover players trying to get off blocks, mean while the return players were holding them, and you got a big two hundred and twenty five pound guy that runs in the low four fours trying to run past him or throw them. So I do think that there's going to be more value placed on that position

what's been in the past. I mean, I think I think We had seventeen kickoff returns total last season, and so that's got to become a big part of, you know, helping us swim field position. I like the shiftiness that obviously that Charlie has, you know, from his pump return background. I'd like you know, I told I told Charlie right after he texted me right after the real pass, hees, what do you think of the rule?

Speaker 3

And I said, well, you better be in the weight room.

Speaker 2

You're gonna get hit and you've got to be able to to be able to physically enough to withstand those hits. And so I think it'll be unique to see what he how he comes back. He's ready for that, and it'll be unique to see with Chase Brown, you know, he's kind of the type of guy you're looking for, a guy that does have really, really good speed and hopefully he's got enough. I think he does have enough cutting ability and uh uh. He certainly has the toughness

to do that stuff. And of course we have experienced guys in Travon and Chris who can do it as well too, so but you're gonna need You're gonna need multiple guys. You know, in the past we've lived with just one, just one guy back deep. Now you're gonna have to have two and uh, you have to have two legitimate guys back there.

Speaker 1

Well with Darren in a moment. But first, a quick reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Scattering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.

You mentioned only seventeen returns last year, you only had to cover thirteen returns in your first year as the Bengals Special teams coordinator, the Bengals returned seventy four kickoffs and defended more than seventy. How does this change time on task? Are you going to have to spend much more time at practice working on kick return kick coverage?

Speaker 3

Well, I don't. I don't think that a lot of that will change for us.

Speaker 2

We really didn't change the way we practiced because it's it's difficult for me to control.

Speaker 3

You know, when you go into a Sunday, Like the past couple.

Speaker 2

Of seasons, it's difficult for me to control what's the weather going to be, what is the situation dictating the game. So we still practiced because I think a lot of there's a lot of carryover from even the techniques that you teach on kickoff coverage to the how they equate the punt coverage. It's still running in a field lane, it's still playing with specific leverage, and it's it's playing good team defense and team coverage there to know what the guy at the left and what the guy to

your rights. But so I don't think it will change a lot, you know, on a weekly basis for us. It'll certainly be a big point offs for us throughout the off season here because there's going to be a lot of change in could change for music coach, I'm having to go, I'm gonna have to change the way we teach this play now.

Speaker 1

With blockers engaging coverage, players who aren't running at top speed, will returns become more like running plays?

Speaker 3

Well, I think there's I think there's some truth to that.

Speaker 2

You know, what I worry about is because we're in such close proximity, you know, a kickoff or term play used to be about timing.

Speaker 3

You know, this block has to occur, uh, or I should put it this way.

Speaker 2

Kickoff for term plays in the past are very close to some running plays on offense, like where you double team one defensive lineman and how that that the other offensive linement comes off to block a linebacker and the track of the running back matters very much because for the timing of that second offensive lineman to come off to the linebackers the track a running back takes and

then time me how that'll happens. It's very similar to what a kickoff for turn player, what a kickoff or turn play was in the past.

Speaker 3

Now with the proximity.

Speaker 2

Of these players, you know, being within five yards of each other, it's a lot like offensive line play. And what I worry about is if there's too many single blocks that you know, in the past, officials have judged kickoff for turn plays a lot tighter than what they do offense and defensive line play. Meaning if the hands get outside the framework of the body, you're getting called for holding it. And I worry, I worry a lot

about it. With the penalty rate will go up. It's going to go up because you're gonna have more plays that matter. But I just don't want I don't want to overtake the game. So it's gonna be interesting to see how that that part gets officiated.

Speaker 1

Do you have buddies in the XFL that you've been talking.

Speaker 3

To, Well, not yet, not to this point.

Speaker 2

Like I said, I didn't want to put the cart before the horse, Uh, not knowing how the specifically was was going to come out. Obviously, I've stayed and I've tried to keep Katie. I'm on the coaches Committee, Katie's on the competition committee. I've tried to share with her things that we've talked about. She shares some with me, the things that they talk about on the competition committee, the issues and and so I've stayed in pretty close dialogue with her. But yet I didn't know which way

it was going to go. I really didn't until I think there's a ground swell support for it, you know, on Sunday and Mondays.

Speaker 3

It's it's it's you know.

Speaker 2

It's also interesting to see whatever the commissioner wants, he seems to.

Speaker 1

Get is well compensated, know if that's a good.

Speaker 3

Or bad thing, But he seems to get what he wants.

Speaker 1

Well, he was born in my hometown, So I have to support Roger Goodell with two returners back there, will you have more reverses and throwback passes and stuff like that in your playbook.

Speaker 2

Well, I think that's something that that's a very interesting part to look at now because everybody's going to be down at the same level and if you can get enough guys to squeeze the one side of the field. Is there throwback plays that that the factor in. There were several of those that were executed, you know, relatively well in the XFL that are you know, there's obviously examples of that are on tape as to how the work. But you have to have the guys that can execute that.

You have to have the guys can throw, You have to guys that can catch back there, back deep. So again, we'll try to look at all those things to see what works best for us.

Speaker 1

All right, let's hit on some topics that do not have to do with the new kickoff rule. I was in the building a few days ago. I saw Brad Robbins working out what do you want him focusing on in the off season?

Speaker 2

Well, everything I think he needs to improve in every fast of his game. I think as a young punter a lot of time, young players in general, their biggest improvement should come between year one and year two because

they know exactly what to expect. They know what a training camp feels like, they know what OTAs feel like, then what an end season feels like, and how they deal with you know, things physically in their bodies and how can they keep enough gas in their tank the punt from you know, the beginning or the beginning of August all the way through you know, the end of January. So I think it was an education for him on

how the NFL game works. I think, just in just simple terms, consistency is something he's got to improve on immensely, you know.

Speaker 3

He uh he.

Speaker 2

He got off about as tough as start as you could possibly get off to in some difficult conditions in Cleveland year ago, and it was it was wendy, and it was raining, and we had a pun eleven times. So he got indoctrinated real fast what the NFL games like and and he had some bright moments. I think if you would ask him, he'd probably reiterate the same thing I do, and that we've got to improve. We got to improve quickly here to get us up into where we need to be. We've got to get field

position flipped. He's got to get his gross average higher and more consistance. I thought he did a solid job with some of his directional punting. He did good with some situational punting. You know, we had two rookie gunners for the biggest portion of the year or two. And if you want to count Tyson Anderson as a rookie, he really is, and Andrea Yoshivash and then you got a rookie punter. So you know, there's certainly things that we need to rectify to in the plus fifty years,

you know, we didn't. I don't think we executed well enough, whether it was the pont, whether it was the gunners down the ball in the plus fifty that that part's got to be better. We got to get balls down inside the ten, down inside the five yard line. So there's there's a Believe me, there's a ton of room for improvement from really all fats, not just him.

Speaker 3

From the coverage too.

Speaker 1

I think it's hard for us meeting fans and media to judge somebody's holding ability. It seemed okay. Was it good? Was it exceptional? How did he rate in that area?

Speaker 2

I thought he was good, you know, I I, uh, that was something. I think that that factored into it for me. You know, obviously he held for the uh Lou Grosen winner and Jake Moody at Michigan, so heat held for a high, high level kicker for several years at Michigan, and knowing the expectation of what was going to be asked to him with us having Evan here. Uh, you know, I felt very good about what he did, and even after the season, I still feel good.

Speaker 3

I thought he did a good job with that.

Speaker 2

I thought, uh, Cal does a good job of setting the plate form, but you know, I thought Brad did a really good job of executing it. He takes a very SHITU and you know, really for for him, it's half of his job. You know, the last time I checked, we got to score points. You score more points in the opponent to win the game. So, you know, a huge portion or even probably of the most important part of his job is holding the FOREV and getting him set up to have success.

Speaker 1

You've been asked many times since the end of the season about having competition at punter and training camp, and you've said that you would like to see that right now, the Bengals have ten draft picks. Is the organization okay with potentially drafting punters in back to back years?

Speaker 2

Well, I think if it improves your team, why not. You know, if you find something that helps you win a game or a couple of games, you know, I don't, I don't see any thing wrong with it. I think we did what we had to do last year and taking Brad, and we did take him, and I don't, I don't.

Speaker 3

I feel like it was a good choice.

Speaker 2

I obviously I'd like the production to be higher than what it was.

Speaker 3

I was. I was under the expectation to probably be a little better than that, And but I'm not.

Speaker 2

I'm actually excited to to get to work with him for the whole offseason again, excited to see where he the improvements that he's made on his own, you know, not only physical improvements, but even mental improvements and levels of confidence improvements. But if it also means that, you know, we have to put a draft pick on competition for him in here, then if that's what it takes, that's what it takes for us to improve.

Speaker 1

I know you go to pro days to study specialists, what about core special teamers? Is that a big part of your draft prep?

Speaker 2

Sure it is, you know, I've been studying evaluating the returners, you know, obviously with my eye more towards the kickoff return portion of it, which has not always been the case in the past because really with the limited number of plays. But now these kickoff returners are a bigger part of what I watch, and the next transition, I'll go to his position players that play other phases, And again,

I think that that could have some effect. Maybe I don't know for sure yet, but it could have some effect on the way that we make up our roster.

Speaker 3

A little bit. You know.

Speaker 2

I do know that you only keep forty eight guys active on game day, so it's not like we can keep all fifty three. But you know, maybe we it changes a little way, maybe a little bit, the way that our roster structured on Sundays. Maybe we keep you know, a six linebacker instead of a six receiver or or I don't know, who knows, I don't know, we don't I don't think anybody really knows how that's going to

plan out yet. But but yes, in terms of the valuation process, I do look at other players, especially in positions of need for us, you know, like safety or even a linebacker, tight end.

Speaker 3

All those.

Speaker 2

Things come into play for us. And then if there's ever any you know, if we have a couple of linebackers who are great at about the same level, well, who's the better special teams player who can bring more value to our roster? And so I think that comes into play.

Speaker 1

Ampa McPherson is going into the final year of his rookie contract. There are seven kickers in the NFL right now making more than five million dollars a year. Do you know if discussions have begun about extending Evan.

Speaker 2

No, I think that that thing will. I don't know that for a fact. I try to stay out of that area as much as I can. I do recognize it's a it's a relevant part, is a relevant part for him, but I try to stay out of that area as much as I can, and I just try to get him to make as many kicks as he possibly can. Obviously, somebody that we have a high degree of affection for, he's done a good job here for us.

He's been he's been really superb for us in the clutch, and I think he recognizes, you know, what's at stake for him. I think he's recognized that since day one. You know that he wants to be, you know, a big part of this franchise and a big part of our success. And hopefully that'll hopefully something can get done.

Speaker 1

All right, final topic, you have a new assistant. Cold Anderson left with Brian Callahan for Tennessee to become his special teams coordinator. You have hired Ben Jacobs, who's been in Washington for the last last four years, as your assistant. Now, he was a core special teams player in his playing days. What impressed you about Ben in the interview process?

Speaker 2

Well, I think it's intensity. I mean he oddly enough, Ben was on our practice squad here for a week or two during one of those seasons early in his career. But you know, I've watched him from afar, from having coached against him, from all the different places he's been, whether it be a Carolina or you know, just the various places that he played, and he played with a level of recklessness and intensity that it's hard to find.

And I've also watched him coach on the field in the same settings, whether it be in preseason games or you know, he's actually been the special teams coordinator for several of these postseason college bowl games, you know, the Shrine Bowl, even at the Senior Bowl, and so I've watched him coach from AFAR and I also, you know, obviously the way that the commanders play too on special

teams is a direct reflection of what he brings. And so I've always respect to the toughness and the physicalness that the way that the Commander's played, I know he's had a hand in that, and so that affects also my opinion of what those guys do and how those guys are. And so I think that I'm excited for our players to get to know him a little bit.

They'll see his passion, They'll see that he's transitioned from his playing days, and I think he understands now his job is to get those guys to play with the same toughness, the same same physicalness that he did, only at the higher level it with better execution. So no, I'm really excited that we got Ben. I think you'll fit well with our players, and you know, and with me too, So I'm excited.

Speaker 1

I've taken a lot of your time. I really appreciate it. I'm fascinated by the new kickoff role. I think it's going to be fun to watch this year. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again, well, thanks for having me.

Speaker 2

I always enjoy, always enjoy talking with you for talking football.

Speaker 1

That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Corps, Proud to be the Bengals Official HR software provider, by all to five or future Proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.

If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast

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