When the schedule was released, what were your thoughts they considering your background the Jets opening up Monday night football against the forty.
Nine ers, I love it.
You know, what a great opportunity to play one of the best, if not the best team in football right now, one of the historic franchises and then obviously one that I played at for ten years and I was raised in that area, so it was a lifelong forty nine fan as well.
Could not be more excited.
You know, to be the best, you want to play the best, you want to beat the best, and what a great test early on.
So when you think about your career in San Francisco, what stands out.
Oh, just the teammates more than anything. You know, just had an amazing group of teammates and friends and created lifelong relationships there. And also to be part of such a historic franchise was it was a great honor. You know, when you walk in that building every day, there's five Super Bowl trophies that wait for you and and there's a high level expectation, and that's a great thing when you when you play there, and something we're trying to build here.
You've always downplayed it, but give me a scout and report on what Brick was like as a player after in the league and then in the back half.
Yeah, I was a two d and fifty pound first and second down linebacker, decent physicality, decent instinct. Was willing to play hard and prepare harder than most, I think, And it was funny as my as my my journey transitioned later in my career. We drafted Patrick Willis towards the back end of my career, so I went from this big first and second down linebacker to a guy that was had to play special teams. And to play special teams, I needed to lose a bunch of weight,
you know, so I could just run. And plus I was older at that time, and you don't get faster with age, I found, you know, And you know, so I became a special team player and more of like a third down coverage linebacker at the end of my career.
So it was.
Interesting that I got to do a little bit of all of it and really fortunate for that, you know, and really gained an appreciation for not only.
Defense, but special teams.
And I think sometimes guys don't always gain that same appreciation unless they've really played it.
What the funds of systems were you planning?
Shoot?
I started with Jim Mora, which was kind of the classic forty nine or system back with even the Bill Walsh days.
It was a playbook that had been there a long time.
I remember the first time I got there and they had me the playbook and no exaggeration, the playbook was that big and there was a million adjustments. And you can only imagine over the course of twenty years how many things had been built in that now many. There were so many reasons why there were so many checks, and when you played in it, you knew that. And I remember my first mini camp out there and I
was backing up Ken Norton Junior. He was the starter at linebacker, and I remember, first of all, like there's all this communication to start with, and then there is the emotion and there's seventeen more communications and I'm and I'm looking around like I.
Got to do that.
I'm remember to call my wife after one of our first practices, like this, this, uh, this journey is going to be a short one, I think for real, Yeah I did.
I did. But then, as with anything.
You work hard at it and you really, uh you grind and you and you study, and you and you put the time in and things start to slow down. It becomes, you know, the game that you always loved.
Do you think Jeff Albrick two hundred and fifty pounds first and second down specialty could be playing it Today's.
Oh absolutely not, no way. The game has gotten so wide open. There's just something I want.
To talk to you about as far as how what you grew up in from a philosophical standpoint and now where we are today and how that has had an impact on your coachure.
Oh yeah, this this, uh, the league has evolved in so many ways. The biggest part of that evolution is the fact that this game has become wide open, and it's so based upon speed and creating space, and from a defensive perspective, you need guys that can play within that space, which takes a lot of speed, a lot of range, a lot of athleticism, which was not the it was not my forte to say the least. But yeah, it's changed a lot in that way, and it's reflected
in the players that we have. We have a lot of really good, cool athletes, you know, and you've also seen I think especially the guys on the second and third level linebackers, safeties, corners from a defensive perspective, gotten smaller in a lot of ways too, you know, so they could be faster and more athletic.
Throughout your coaching career in the National Football League coaching college as well, we know that how has that even changed as well, not just from your playing career back with the Niners in the early two thousands, but maybe from your days in Atlanta.
Yeah, Like it was interesting the fact that I got to go to college very early on in my coaching career.
I think it really helped me because college always is kind of a preview of where the NFL is going, you know, and to be at UCLA those three years and really to see that brand of football that was it was all four open, five open, you know, these big open sets where they create a lot of space and there's obviously a huge emphasis in the passing game and maybe a little bit less emphasis in the run game. It really gave me a preview into what I was about to face coming back into the NFL and as
this game evolves into something similar to that. So definitely help from that that that perspective.
How much is this defense predicated on we do what we do as opposed to Okay, you're gonna line up, we're making adjustments off the way you're coming at us schematically.
I would I would say the foundation of who we are is we're going to do what we do. We take great pride in the fact that we got a great coaching staff that really instills technique and based fundamentals and principles that we can lean on and that we can really rely on to play the brand of defense we want to play. The beauty of that is when I get to address the group, I'm not sitting there talking about seventeen thousand different schematic things. I'm talking about finish,
I'm talking about toughness, I'm talking about technique. I'm talking about, to me, the real essence of football, you know. And I think that that's what makes us a little different than most. But at the same time, I'd say that we're not so stubborn as coaches that we don't provide a few wrinkles here and there to keep the offense
off balance, you know. And I think that we've really pushed ourselves this offseason to grow from a schematic standpoint, so we'll never lose our essence, and that's being based in great technique, great strain, great finish, great toughness, great violence.
Will never lose that.
But at the same time, I think our guys have really gotten to the point because there is a level of mastery that's been gained at this point, being that it's the fourth year within the system, that we can challenge a little bit more from a schematic standpoint without compromising the other stuff.
How has that playbook changed the one that you've got in two thousand now, a playbook that you give a rookie.
Right before it's first of all, it's digital. There is no more paper, it's just it at least ours, and this is not necessarily a reflection of the entire league. It's definitely smaller, you know. And I think what we've done a better job here than most places that I've been is especially for the younger guys, you know, speaking on that, when we hand them that playbook, we make
sure it's very simple from the beginning. We want to give these guys a great opportunity to really demonstrate who they are as players, as humans, as teammates, and sometimes when you bog them down with a ton you know, especially from a schematic standpoint, you lose the essence of who these players really are and you don't gain a true evaluation of them. So I think we do a better job of you know, that first iPad that we
give them. It's it's very it's very small as far as what we're asking them to learn.
But the continuity here you mentioned going into year four in the defense, I think you guys are so player centric that you're about giving these guys credit for what happens on the field, where you don't give yourself enough credit. That's not the way you go about your business. That's
not your personality. But like, there's some things that we have done in here telestration wise, what Bart's got breaking down coverages and the pass offs between the defenders where everybody's got to be on a string, and you guys have just got it down to a team.
Now.
Yeah, that is the essence of having success in the in the NFL, in my opinion, is continuity. And it's unfortunate that a lot of organizations they don't understand that, you know, like to play championship level football, it takes great players, number one, and it will never be any different than that great players.
And then.
On top of that, you need these great players to hear the same things over and over and over again to the point where it becomes just part of their DNA, and unconscious competence kicks in and guys are just reacting. They're not thinking anymore. And we're starting to flirt with that now in year four with this with this group. So it's a it's exciting. We've come a long way, but we still got a long way to go, and we've got the players that are that are capable of taking us to a whole nother space.
Personal personnel is completely different. But go back to your days and Seattle Repete. I think people saw the evolution there with the Seahawks and said, well, they're Cover three, they're lining up, that's.
What they're going to do in the back end.
Can you talk about how you guys approach it in the back end compared to maybe what a version of this defense wash it when it's started.
Right, But so yeah, Pete started with the cover three and that was what we ran there, and it was for all intensive purposes all we ran there, you know, and and it was the belief system was we're going to give these guys great fundamentals, tools, techniques, and we're going to let them make the playbook come to life. We're going to really just get out of their way. And that has not changed here at all. What we
play is is much different. But the essence of giving these players, these really good players, that we have the tools necessary to be successful in getting out of their way, that has not changed.
One thing that Robert has always stressed to me is that, hey, if you are defensive back, you got to win and mann situations on third down. Can you elaborate on that.
Yeah, So at the end of the day, like first down is important, second's important, We get that. And you don't play good ball on those the early downs, you're not going to play good overall defense. But when it's all said and done, you're going to get them to third and two to six more times than not.
Yep.
That's that's where this game is won. It's where this game is lost. And in those moments, yeah, you can throw curve balls and throw a zone in here or there, but it's going to come down to your ability to win the one on one matchup period and third and two to six when it's for all the marbles.
They know we're playing man.
We know we're playing man who can win, and to do that in those situations, you better have the right human beings. You better have the right guys that are capable of getting that accomplished.
And we have that here percentage wise. I don't have the numbers in front of me. I know you probably have them at the top of your head. More Man than twenty three, a lot more Man in twenty three than twenty one. Yeah, when this thing was started.
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, I'd agree with that.
I think we've provided a few more wrinkles that we had than twenty one, which is just I think that's the nature of you know, have been continuity. But yeah, like our ability to play Man in those windows has definitely gone up because of the human beings that we have. We have, in my opinion, the best trio of corners, you know, with Michael Carter and DJ Reid and Sauce obviously like those three I'll put against anybody in this league.
And then we have a guy and Tony Adams that when he's got a play man to man, has a has a corner skill set, you know, so great confidence is hit in his ability to do it as well. So in those winning moments, those are the guys that we lean on, and those are the guys that they win more than they lose, and those are the guys that are gonna help us become a championship level defense this year.
You can make the argument that Sauce Garner is the best cornerback in the National Football League after two years. Robert has discussed or described him as being a weapon, that he is a defensive weapon. Can you speak to hey potentially him traveling more in twenty four because Roberts said, you guys have done that in the past, and you've talked about it as well, but maybe we could see
it more this year. But you have that luxury because you do have these other guys you have a lot of confidence in starting.
With DJ Absolutely.
Yeah, Like had we not had DJ Reid, we didn't have Michael Carter, even Brandon Echles and and Stickers, the young guys and all the guys that we got, which we have great confidence in all of them. You know, Sauce has some he has some very unique qualities. You know, he's he's a guy that's obviously he's super long, and he's big, and he's bigger than most corners, but his transitions is for quickness. His speed is just so unique
for a guy so high cut and long legged. It doesn't make like physical sense to me most of the time when I really watch him, especially the line of scrimmage stuff and matching guys in and out of breaks. The matching stuff. It's a powerful tool, and it's, like you said, we've utilized it, you know, that we need to utilize, in my opinion, a little bit more, you know, just from the standpoint of like I think him and DJ are very comfortable corners, both excellent, both world class
and what they do. The thing with Sauce is he's also got a little bit of a reputation too across the league, and I really believe that that gets into quarterbacks minds at times, you know. So, no doubt, matching is as much about eliminating a great player on offense as it is steering the ball somewhere else where you want it, you know. So the beauty of our situation is, Okay, we'll match Sauce at times on their guy, and we'll steer the ball exactly where we want it. We want
them to throw the DJ. We want to throw them to Michael Carter. We want them to throw to Tony Adams, and we have great confidence and belief that look at the job done.
It's interesting over the years, isn't it how people have viewed the cornerback position, because I was afforded the opportunity to cover Revis when he was here, and you always had the option of, yeah, you can stick Revis on Megatron, or you can put him on the second receiver and you can double Megatron.
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, I think you always have that option, you know, like, and there's I think there's value to both of those mindsets. And I think at the end of the day, they always never boxes. You got to check and you got to make sure that at times you're doing that, but at times you're putting your best on their best.
What do you sense differently from Sauce here heading into year three? I can't even believe we're saying that he's head into year three. I knew you were high on him, but did you think he'd be to this level at this point so early?
I don't think anybody can ever really say that, you know, I think we can all hope and we definitely were super excited about the potential that we saw on him. But to say that he was going to become an all pro immediately and have such success so early on, I think it's it's just it's so rare, and it's it's a testament to the not just the player and the athlete.
That he is, but the human that he is.
Like he he is grounded in this mindset that the only way I get better is working and and and putting a time that's necessary. And he's committed to that, and that's the reason he's had the success. Aside from his physical talent, aside from all the stuff that God has given him, he puts the work in. This year, I've really felt a concerted effort to to be the leader that he's becoming. Like I've heard his voice way more vocal on and off the field in the meeting rooms.
I mean there is there was a unit meeting a couple of weeks ago where like he for all intensive point, he took the meeting over, you know, and and had a lot of feedback and and he was creating dialogue with the safeties, creating dialogues with the other corners, creating dialogue with the with the linebackers, and it's one of the was like just really proud moments as a coach, because you know, as we all know, the best defenses are our player run, they really are. Those are the
guys across the white line. Those are the guys in critical moments that got to win. And he's starting to emerge as that leader that's necessary for great defense.
That's such a cool group. Like you said, you'll take him against anybody. And then Tony Odin heading up the cornerbacks. He such a quality coach in person. Let's talk about safety position. Robert has stressed competition there. Chuck Clark. We didn't have the opportunity to see him last year. What's it been like just having him back on the field during OTAs.
Yeah, it's been awesome.
A guy that's obviously got a ton of experience, played high level football in this league. I just it broke my heart last year, not just for us because obviously we were relying on him and we all thought he'd played a big role in our defense, but for the leader and the man that he is. He just stands
for everything that that we covered in this building. Toughness and love for this game and to be a great teammate, to be accountable, reliable's he's all of that, and he's got a level of maturity to him that's just so unique. Last year, he tears his acl and heartbreaking for himself. Most guys in those situations they go home, they spend time with their family, they rehabit at a local place near their family. Chuck, other than a few weeks here or there, he stayed with us the entire season, which
is so rare in this business. Stayed with us because although he had never played a game with us, he'd built this such strong connection with the players on our defense and especially within that secondary, especially within that safety room, and just wanted to be a part of it, wanted to be around it, and also had great respect and trust in our training staff and our in our in our weight room guys that that he this was the best place that he could be to get better and
become the player that we all know that he can be. So I'm just so excited for him to be with us this year. And there's a lot of competition in that room, and you know, we'll see who the two that emerged, But regardless of who emerges as the two starters, they're all have a significant role in our defense.
You mentioned as athleticism, and what impressed me last year in the summer was that he just played with the spark. He had this this there's this energy about him. We saw him progress last year on the field. What's his next step?
Yeah, that's not to be discounted. And I probably shouldn't have mentioned that first and foremost, that he is the ultimate energy giver that I've ever been around. Like really, oh, he's just his love for this game, his love for his teammates, it's just infectious.
It's every day. He never turns it off.
The edge he plays with, you know, the stuff he says to the offense on a daily basis, it's very entertaining. You know, Like if you don't get juiced up, and if you don't get excited about football when you're around him, then then you don't belong in this game.
You really don't.
And for him, it's just more time on task. The more he does this, because he works so hard at it, he'll just he'll inevitably just get better and better and better.
You know.
I know he would say that he needs to become a better tackler and and he will become a better tackler. I know that because every day he's out here, he's working on his tracking, he's taking the extra step, he's putting on bodies on bodies like he's he's doing everything necessary to make sure that he's the best tackling safety in this league.
Why is a ball financial Davis It?
I don't know. I do know, and I don't know.
He just has amazing instinct and he's got this nose for the ball that's just it's uncanny, you know, and he has I think there's an element to guys that like that are so doing it by the book, doing it by the playbook, and then there's guys that got a little bit of.
The censored version.
I'm trying to say, is it like a freelancing within the system, a little.
Bit a little bit of like, you know, he's got a little bit of a little bit of effort at times in the most positive a voice where it's like, I.
Know I'm supposed to be here, and I'm here, but I know the ball's going here.
And and he's one of those few guys that allows himself to go where he thinks the ball is going, you know. And he's been awarded for it a lot of times. I mean, he's by far, he's he's demonstrated as our best ball guy, you know, on defense. So you know when when we thought about the opportunity of potentially losing him this offseason, you know that that hurt my heart because he's such an integral part of what we do. You know, he's he's played so many roles
for us. He started here at safety, he started here at at at a variation of Nickel, He's he's played essentially linebacker for us at times. So he's such a critical piece to what we do. And at the same time, he's a game changer because he does get the ball quietly.
A lot of changes up front. You're talking about Quinn's there, foundational piece. We know that Salmon Thomas resigns, but you guys signed Lucky Foto, and then also Javon king Law a former Niner yep, and then on the outside, Bryce Off signs the Lucer deal with Philadelphia. You trade John Franklin Weris to Denver, and Hassan Reddick is here. So a lot of different faces. I know the expectations won't change, but what do you make of the different landscape there.
I'm so excited about this group and to get them together and to really spend time together.
It's I was just telling.
Coach Sla this morning, I just there's a part of me once on I just want to fast forward to training camp, you know, because I really I want to get these guys in pads and I want to I want to play real football with them, you know, and
see what we got it in. But I'm just so excited about the entire group, so grateful for all that Bryce did for us, because you just it's he's a world class pass rusher any any won and critical moments and and he'll be missed and and JFM is a guy that was really near and dear to my heart.
I love not just the football player, but I really got to see him grow as a human being here, you know, and become a different guy and a and a leader and just embodied everything that we we uh that we love around here about football and uh and
he'll be missed as well, you know. And but for us to get Solomon Thomas back is huge because he is our he is our ambassador strain and he lives it every day and he's another energy giver in the highest level, just like Ta And to bring a guy in like Javon Kiinlaw, a big, explosive, violent athlete that, in my opinion like has not played his best football yet and the NFL does not know who this man can be.
And he's about to show the entire world exactly who he is. And in my opinion, that's a top d tackle in this league.
So you like him coming out?
I did loved him like he was going to be our pick in Atlanta. Really he was, and then they jumped in front of us and they and they took him.
But I'll tell you the Kyle about him at league meetings. It's jumping around to the breakfast tables. I don't see coaches breakfast, and he said, frankly, we would have liked to get them.
Yeah. Absolutely, Yeah.
There's been an element of injury and an element of opportunity that have just for another reason was it was not right, and that's nobody's fault, you know. But he's he's going to have good health there and he's going
to have opportunity. And with the combination of those two things, and plus now that he's he's got some experience in this League, and the beauty of it is he's staying in the same front system, he'd be able to just he's uh, like, I don't want to say too much because I want him to really demonstrate it with his actions.
But you're excited, You're clearly excited about super excited.
Yeah, super excited and Lakey as well, Like he's another guy that he's one of those guys that embodies strain, toughness, violence, and when you play in a lot of multiple fronts and you're playing in a lot of different techniques, it's hard sometimes to just demonstrate that all the time. This front that we have is made for guys like him that just go and they go hard and they're violent, all the things that he embodies. So I'm I'm super excited about Laky as well. So it's, uh, it's been
an exciting addition, you know, to this group. Hassan as well, Like obviously he's uh, you know, he's a guy that's going to change this in a lot of ways.
His sack production.
Is it's unreal, you know, and his ability to really finish games and winning critical moments. He's he's a guy who's going to add a definite another elementary.
We're taping this during LTAS. What makes him a unique pass rusher? Why, like you just talked about his production, it's got fifty and a half sacks the last four years, I mean lyeing them up. He's going double digits, right. Why does he constantly get there? And also he takes the ball away?
He does It's unreal. Yes, it's a it's combination a lot of things. You know.
Coming from Temple, he did a little bit of everything there. He played off the ball, he played all on the ball, and I think when he was he was coming out, nobody knew really what he was going to be or could be, or what position he should necessarily play the majority of the time. And then obviously Arizona drafts him, and Arizona initially they try to utilize him the same way that Temple did, where he was off the ball, on the ball, doing a little bit of everything, not
really becoming a master of anything at the time. And then finally they started to transition him to more of a d N you know, DPR pass rushing mode. And at first all you saw was speed, and you saw a guy just run around tackles, and when he got there, He's a guy that was so cognizant of the ball that, like you said, he took the ball off a lot of people.
But as we all know, like.
In time, when people really learn your game, speed isn't going to be enough, you know. And to really see him evolve of these last couple of years and really create an arsenal of moves, he's a guy now that he can counter inside, he can beat you outside with speed. He's got an element of power that he's developed, which you have to have to have to be a successful pass rusher. And at the same time, his ability and knack for the ball has never changed.
So he's just.
A growing, evolving player that And I know this sounds crazy with the guy that's got fifty sacks in his resume, but I don't think anyone's seen the best version of him.
I think last year he played good football.
I think you get this guy seven eight more opportunities to go forward in a game. You'll see that on the stat sheet and we'll feel that in the game.
Fair enough, Jermaine Johnson, you mentioned saus Gardner before stepping up as a leader. Yep, kind of sense the same thing from him now entering year three as well.
Yeah, like he's a you know, to be a leader, you got to walk the walk, and you got to demonstrate with your actions before you say anything, you know, because I see way better than I hear.
And he's a guy that.
I don't say this lightly, you know, especially with a guy like Sally on our roster, who is as hard working as anybody I've ever been around. That he is we call stack monsters. When the balls thrown the defensive line's out of the stack. I would challenge any coach in this league or player in this league to say that you can't find a better stack monster than Jamie Johnson. So here's a guy that he's got crazy talent because he's long, he's fast, he's powerful, he's violent, he's really
starting to understand how to rush. But at the same time, he's earned the right to be a leader because of his work, ethic and the stuff that takes no talent. His effort is strained, his ability to come out of the stack every time. That's what's really earned the stripes to stand up and demand things of his teammates and hold them accountable. And it's going to be fun this year to watch him continue to grow in that role.
I think you kind of have to have this. You're going to be playing between the white lines every Sunday. But he's got kind of f you mentality out there.
And it's unique because in this setting you would say he's very docile. In this setting, you'd say he's got like some cool casualness to him, you know, because he is.
He's cooler than me. You know, it's not very hard to do.
But he's got some like as they say, he's got some swag to him, the way he carries himself. And in my experience, typically those guys that are casual and cool and swaggy, they might not always demonstrate that high level strain and toughness and grit. But he plays like a guy with no swag. You know, he plays like a guy that's got no casualness, no coolness to him. You know, he plays like the I.
Told him this multiple times last year that we broke this down. We had bart break this down in here. Telestration Wise, it was a game that you guys lost. He didn't play up to your standards, but it was by the goal line you probably remember to play. Is that Zach Martin, perhaps the best guard in the National Football He's pulling and Jermaine took him on and it's set.
I don't remember who made the tackle, but the play that just stands out is there's Jermaine saying, yeah, I know he's coming, I'm meeting him and they're not getting in.
And that's every play. That's every play.
Like we play nine techniques, as everybody knows, and that means that a lot of times tight ends have to try to block our ends. And I've seen him make tight ends tapping games, you know, definitely cringing, definitely flinching, definitely closing their eyes by the fourth quarter.
All right, let's go back.
To the linebacker position.
CJ.
Moseley, heart of the defense. He takes a restructure, wants to be here. That's awesome. Let's talk about the team MVP twenty twenty three. Quincy Williams, you go ways back with him, yep. Can you talk about this linebacker defender coming out of Murray State and perhaps you're scouting evaluation of him.
Yeah.
Before I talk about Quincy, just really quick about Quinnen and CJ. Like, yep, Just so that everyone understands, none of this works without the.
Two of those human beings the heart.
They are the absolute heart and more than where they're located in our defense, just all they embody, all they stand for, the standard and the level of play each week that they they come with and they're the way they prepare.
Really the way they.
Operate within our building is just so unique and uncommon, and we would not be the defense without those two human beings.
All right, So if you want us go there? Do you think quinnin takes note of Aaron Donald retiring because he's all team. He wants to win. He was drafted here and that's the number one thing for Quinn Williams, no doubt. But with that being said, if you're a competitor too and you want to be thought of on a different level, I think it would be natural to say, listen, man, I want to be known as the best defensive tackle in national.
Footballer, No, without a doubt, and I think that he's capable of that, and I think he's very close to that.
I think whether he'd admit this or not, I think that, like an Aaron Donald retiring might piss him off a little bit from the standpoint, like I want to be I want to be the best et with that guy playing, you know, and and that's he's definitely capable of that, and he's close to it, and it's going to be really fun to watch him become that, you know, and and there's no doubt in my mind that at the end of this next season that there's nobody in the in the NFL that will be able to say differently
that he is going to be the best d tackle in all the NFL this year.
So let's go back to Quincy.
Quincy.
Yeah, he is a I've loved him since Murray State. Like I'm in Atlanta and uh I got an opportunity to work him out at University of of UAB in Birmingham, his hometown, and uh spent a day with him out there. First of all, he almost broke my arm in a as he hit me with a blocking shield and tore the ligaments off of my forearm. Because like he's he's
a very unique guy. And it's funny when these young guys get around him outside that maybe maybe guys that aren't completely familiar with the NFL game, but you see Quincy and he's and he's short statued and and.
He might not look like.
The prototypical like linebacker from the NFL. But don't get it twisted. There's not a more explosive linebacker in the NFL right now playing, you know. And I definitely felt it that day when I worked him out. He made
me very sore. But I still remember I was also working him out with another player that was at UAB, and we got in the classroom as we always do when we work these guys out, and to you know, get an idea about their level of their ability to learn and uh articulate the defense they were playing, but also help us see if they can absorb and articulate
the defense that that that we play. And uh, I remember it was like yesterday, the way he got up on the board and the UAB linebacker was struggling a little bit with learning it, and the way he took the meeting over and kind of started to teach him and put in his own words and and so I was blown away by the athlete. But I also became blown away with the mind, his love for this game. And now that I've got an opportunity to really be around him, he's a guy that just.
He's he could be the.
Best linebacker in the NFL right now, you know, and and and it's funny because a lot of guys they get paid when they become that when they become pro bowlers, they become all pros and their level of work and
dedication still good, but it might not be great. Like I've seen this guy go the other way, like he got a taste of success and he wants more, like we've we've talked about all the time, Like he got a good bag of money, but he's in store to get a really big bag of money now because he is really he pulled apart from the group last year as far as the entire NFL's linebackers, you know, and I think he's going to take another step this year.
Speak to that. Why did he pull apart?
Why is he different?
Because just so willing to work. It's just so rare when you got a guy with his athletic skill set. He's explosive, he's fast, he has the profile that I love. We're a little bit short stature because you're changing direction and your natural leverage for striking, but he's got extremely long levers, which a lot of people don't know that.
He's you know, thirty three plus inch arms, so the combination of the athleticism, the body that he has, and now the brain that he has on top of the desire, the love and the ability to and you know, the work ethic. He's just going to continue to grow and keeps on.
What are you saying to the files out here in the spring when Rogers is looking down the right sideline coming back throwing a no look across the medal, or he's rolling right on a boot coming back throwing sixty five yards down the field.
I love it, you know, because it just makes you so tight from the back ends perspective. When you're not playing against a quarterback of his caliber, you can get loose with your details at time. I'd like to say that as coaches, we see everything all the time. We make sure every detail is just perfect all the time,
and we try our best to do that. But there is nothing better than instant feedback of a quarterback getting you on something because your details were just a little bit off, you know, So to have him test us on a daily basis, it just makes us that much better.
How much fun are you having? This is center year four for you? Like you said, the continuity, yep, you took some lamps I'll never forget that New England game. I don't remember the score, but you said we could do some quick fixes here and it might help in the short run. It's not going to help in the long run. Yep, you stuck to your guns. And now
here you have this unit and the potential. You got to be talking inside that meeting room that we should be the top defense in the National Football League.
That's got to be the expectation run without a doubt.
You know, I'm speaking on them, whether I'm having fun or not, Like I don't know if I've ever had more fun coaching this game.
It's just it's just so rare.
And I've said this before but I'll say it again, is the character of that room is unlike anyone I've ever been around, from top to bottom. Like you cannot be you can't be in it. Can I say, asshole?
You can't. You can't be an asshole on this defense.
You can't. You can't be a self promoter. You can't be a guy that's all about yourself. You can't be selfish. You can't. If you are, you'll stand out like such a sword thumb. You'll get ostracized very quickly. Life will not be fun for you, you know, because the guys won't won't allow it. They won't, they won't put up with it. The fact that we have this group that is just we have such good human beings the DNA. These guys are so right, they're so committed to the process.
It doesn't matter what we're doing, it doesn't matter meetings, walkthroughs, practice, like I got to go out there and coach. I don't have to know them, I don't have to push them, I don't have to like Their level of self motivation and the way they hold each other accountable is from a collective unit is unlike anything I've ever been around. So because of that, it just makes it. It's such a joy to coach these guys.
It really is.
Well, it's such a joy to always talk to you. Thanks for coming up here. Enjoy your trips coming up here.
Thank you.
This summer man get away, I will get away and then we'll see you back here at training camp.
Time to go. Thanks brother, Thank you.