Mike McDaniel – June 6, 2024
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Thursday, June 6, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(CB Jalen Ramsey, I wanted to ask you how he’s looked so far this year? And time removed from last year, I know you guys were thrilled with his rate of recovery and all that, but did he still have another step in that recovery that he needed this offseason to get back to the Jalen Ramsey of old?) – “Yeah, I think from a physical standpoint, it is a big jump the following year just generally. Now, Jalen Ramsey is an exception as an athlete so you’re not really looking at it like it’s a big jump for him necessarily from an athleticism standpoint. I’m sure deep down in the subconscious the more reps that you have successfully executing without injury, the more inherent confidence or maybe conviction you can play with. He has come back this year really, really strong. We didn’t have this situation last year where he was in the spring time in team reps. I think the first 7-on-7 rep he made it known that he was there and he’s doing it in multiple of ways. Making plays in coverage, in the run game, from various amounts of spots. It’s cool because he helps – when he’s activated like that and he’s engaged and trusts his situation and is thriving, he’s a value adder for his teammates. He makes other people better by how they approach practice because the easiest layup that I have in my job is going at the beginning of practice and being able to say, hey, the wideouts were talking about ‘you better have your hamstrings ready, Jalen.’ Or just poke him. It’s like that Tyreek (Hill) level. Those guys are insane. ‘You said what?’ ‘Dude, I said I could dunk on you.’ I can’t even dunk, it’s not a big deal. But he’ll still get hot. It’s been very, very good for our team to have him out there and overall I think he falls into the bucket of a bunch of people that were attacking a scheme that although it’s new, it does have some layers that are similar to the schemes that we ran the last two years. But they’ve jumped in full-tilt and gotten a lot of things out of our offseason opportunities on the field and you could say he’s led the charge.”
(Following up on CB Jalen Ramsey in scheme and in general, he mentioned yesterday just about being a versatile piece again. I know that’s been a topic of staying on one side versus moving him around. I’m curious your thoughts on how he will be used in Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver’s scheme? And maybe using him how he wants to be used?) – “Well, it’s more about Jalen had experience in his career playing a ton of different roles. He thrives in that. When you have a full commitment from a player and the appropriate scheme and coaching where you want to emphasize that within your whole scheme, any time you can find a new way to take advantage of someone’s skill set, it’s hugely beneficial for the entire group when people are maximized and you have a unique skill set. There are not many comps (comparisons) to Jalen Ramsey. There are probably not any. So in that, thinking outside the box, finding different ways for him to thrive helps others thrive. And I think that’s something from a philosophical standpoint that is in line with my beliefs in football. One offseason you’re finding new ways to get someone the ball. It’s the same thing as putting him in different places to be at the point of attack and utilize all of his God-given gifts. It’s a good marriage. Something that one of the things that I thought was important for the overall orchestration of playing football, whether that’s offense, defense or special teams – having multiplicity, having the ability to dictate the terms. But the biggest thing that has come from this whole offseason is, for me, is the intention to have the highest functioning player-coach orchestration where guys are trusting where guys are coming from and really leaning into the coaching and seeing how far we can push each individual athlete. I think the coaching staff really on the defensive side led by ‘Weave’ (Anthony Weaver) but what Mathieu Araujo is doing and Brian Duker and the communication that is going over there. There’s not one player in the back end, including Jalen, that has any questions on the motivations on their coach. I’m very proud of this offseason because it’s hard in the NFL. There are so many different things going on with individual players and everyone has scars. So to be able to actually have the right coaching points and being able to reach the players is super important and that facilitation is evident to me through our practices. Jalen is moving around because he’s bought into it and all the players around him are pumped about it because they’re bought into what opportunities that presents for them.”
(I wanted to ask about your coaching staff since you mentioned some of the new guys. You had I believe double-digit turnover in terms of new hires, new guys coming in. What was behind that? I know obviously Vic Fangio leaving and wanting to give Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver his staff was a factor. But why so many new faces on the whole entire staff?) – “You alluded to exactly the orchestration. There were some movement that we had on offense and special teams, but by far the most was on defense. And you don’t necessarily go into the offseason looking at that’s going to be the case exactly like that. You start with who you hire as the coordinator. And then moving forward from that for me, if I’m expecting to have the appropriate relationship with the defensive coordinator, immediately we are talking about how are we empowering him with assistant coaches. And that conversation for ‘Weave’ (Anthony Weaver) and I in this case was very productive and a very clean production at that because I’ve known him since 2014 and he can understand what I would mean or what I would be alluding to and knows kind of my framework of belief systems. Then we go to each individual position. What do those players need? And then what does ‘Weave’ need? Which in there lies, what do I need? Going case-by-case across the board, consistency is always a great thing if you can have it. However, you have to prioritize what’s the most important thing for you. And the thing is, you have new coaches, any position group, you want to pick any one of them; they have a new coach for Phase 1. If the coaching-player dynamic is right, that’s new for about two weeks. And then what happens is the consistency of the coach that is in place, if he has consistency about how he approaches the job, it’s all of a sudden – it was three years ago the last time I had a different position coach. It can happen that fast. So in Year 3, I’m also much more well-versed in understanding what and identifying exactly what I believe to be necessary to properly do right by the dream that is the players that they have a finite window to be maximized. So the lesser of the two evils is finding a situation where I think we can best capture that really beautiful – it’s a beautiful relationship when it’s working correctly. It’s a challenge that you don’t like having and you prefer not having every year, but it’s one that is welcomed and embraced if you’re able to find the right people and put the right people together to facilitate the individual and team dream that we’re all shooting for. Because there are so many new people on the staff, you do have an inherent, heightened awareness of the relationships of the position coaches or position assistants with every individual because it’s newer. It’s so much more on the forefront of my thinking and one of the reasons that I’m happy about this offseason is because I can see the facilitation of the relationships in practice. I can see someone make a mistake in period one, and then in period five have it corrected and executing it the way we corrected. Those are manifestations of relationships that you either have or you don’t. They have to be earned and I think our coaching staff has really hit it out of the park. I’ve never been as happy with our position coaches and coaching staff in general as I have been this offseason. And I’ve been looking very closely at it, which is why I know it to be true.”
(Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver was telling us about these pickup basketball games that he’s organized. Do you get in on this?) – “No. I can’t hurt my street cred. Like right now, I talk a lot of noise and I get like, ‘is he good at basketball?’ Step on the court one time and that’s all lost. But it is a mastery of ‘shouldn’t be doing that athletes.’ But that’s kind of the little things are such big things in the game of NFL football where the parody is so immense and connecting in all sorts of ways. Whether it’s a little situation or big situation, those types of things, man, they have results. They render results. I had numerous players tell me probably in the second week of Phase 1 how they could tell the defensive coaching staff really liked being around each other. Probably because they were talking crap to each other about their pickup basketball games. Those things do render results. I prioritize staff connectivity and just connectivity with everyone in our working orchestration of our profession, players and coaches alike. I have since got the residual results of a team invested in each other that has gotten better every single time that we’ve done any football activity for sure.”
(I want to ask about two position groups: interior o-line and the d-line. Do you feel you have enough at those units right now? Could those be areas you might look to address in the coming months of training camp?) – “Like I’ve said before, (General Manager) Chris Grier is always working in (concert). I am very happy with our current orchestration of both those units. The offensive line, there’s a little more history and experience personally with all the guys involved. On the defensive line, there’s more new. So the guys are working to get things tied together with the entire defense in that regard just like the newer offensive linemen that we do have are working to master a new scheme. I’m very happy with the team. Open to competition. I think competition always breeds benefit for the Miami Dolphins just because it brings the best out of people. We’ll never shut the door on that, but I’m happy with the groups, their production, how they’ve been working together. Happy with both groups.”
(In the past, you’ve talked about the fan base being hungry for success in January. I wonder with the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, if they should go ahead and win those four more games, do you think, not within this building, but from the outside, does that put more pressure on the Dolphins to succeed in the playoffs?) – “I think there’s always pressure. We don’t need that to happen to feel pressure for that. I don’t see this job as a void of pressure ever. One thing I tried to articulate to the team at length that I think they’ve started to capture is the pressure exists because there’s a lot of people that want to do your job. Whatever job you have, a lot of people want to do it. So if you’re not performing the best in your opportunity, it’s tick, tick, tick for everybody, always. You get hired in this business to win games. I’m never not going to feel the pressure of that regardless of who does what. I think that’s important to understand. I take the time to kind of teach the team the history of the Dolphins and inform them of the past because I think it’s very important o know who’s rooting for them, why they cheer and what they’re invested in. Just knowing that, it that’s not pressure enough, then dealing with the wrong people, right? The whole team knows we have the capability and wants to earn that accomplishment for the fans, for the organization, for themselves, all those things. That’s something that no matter what happens, that is on the forefront of everybody’s mind. Because you also know being able to do that will be something special that you can’t replicate. And chasing that never stops and try to create a working atmosphere where you always have the pressure to do your absolute best. That is a simple thing or simple statement, but what does that mean? Doing our absolute best, you can control a lot of preparation. You can control a lot of decisions that can set you up for success. And that’s where your mind needs to be at. I think to me that the internal pressure that we put on ourselves far exceeds any cup or trophy or what any team is doing. But it is cool to see and you do get a nice reminder of what we’re all here to do and how you just cannot replicate the experience and the gratification of being able as a team to achieve things. So it is a nice thing to have at home to watch and we’re all rooting for them and fired up knowing how hard that is. And you appreciate that and you trying to take some of the tools that their team used to be the best version of the team on the national stage, to be in the final pairing. There’s great stuff from that. But pressure? If you don’t feel the pressure, you are oblivious to reality.”
(Just curious, have you met Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice?) – “I haven’t, but I’m a big fan of what he’s been able to do. Last year was really, really cool to learn about some of the stuff the team went through and how you kind of had to orchestrate various things this year. Seeing them have a bullseye on their back and how they’ve still been able to achieve, it’s been cool to see what that franchise done for last two years.”
(Your players have voted this cafeteria and nutrition plan as the best in the NFL. After speaking with a couple players about it, they indeed rave about it. You’ve obviously been on several teams around the league and seen several cafeterias. When you walk through the cafeteria downstairs, I guess what stands out about this facility to you?) – “You bring up a cool group of people who also embody much of what I felt when I first got the job. And what’s unique is having people very passionate about their role, as opposed to like, ‘Hey, I got this role so I can be with an NFL team, I can see Tyreek Hill every day,’ or whatever. That conviction and connectivity towards, ‘OK, I want to provide the best nutrition, make sure everything is clean, organized.’ People being upbeat and adding value to people’s days, that’s what you feel in the cafeteria. That’s what’s so cool about this organization and all the support staff is you have littered, whether that’s in the cafeteria, in the video room, the equipment room, our training staff, across the board you have people very committed to doing the very best in their role. Much like an orchestration of a football team, receivers prioritizing blocking when they’re getting paid for receptions, those types of things – that team you can feel they are wanting to do their job and seeing the value in their job that relates to the football team. Those individuals, you can tell that they take it very serious and enjoy coming to work. And the more people that you have enjoying work – you think about how much time you spend working, and if you can make that an enjoyable situation, it adds value to the overall group. You can’t measure how much people grow in those types of environments, it’s innumerable. So they do a great job. I think they’ve earned that reputation day in, day out, and it’s cool for them to get recognized. That’s why I’m fan of that survey, just because there’s departments that don’t get recognized that really should, and they’re definitely one of them.”
(To ask the obligatory question for this time of year, what’s your message to the players as they leave for the next seven weeks or so?) – “You just try to have them understand – since you’re not with them every day, you try to have them understand what the six weeks and their decisions, how it relates to the overall football team. There’s so often that – the work we put in is long and strenuous, and people do need life balance. But in that, there is a huge commonality that I think with the orchestration of what is currently orchestrated that when you get to the preseason, how much – or just you get to the season in general – how much is dependent upon those six weeks and you doing right by the team. What’s doing that, what’s doing right by the team? That’s showing up in shape for training camp, because if you show up in shape for training camp, check the box, we can work. All the things that you aspire for that season individually and as a team, those are on the table. If you don’t show up in shape and use training camp to get in shape, well one – that’s the No. 1 variable for soft tissue injuries. You get a soft tissue injury, then now you’re out two weeks and you haven’t even started getting back in shape until three weeks in, and how is your game going to develop. Or if you don’t get injured, trying to get Week 1 ready is very difficult because of the unique hurdles that preseason schedules provide where you have the bye week, there’s like three days off transition before the first game. And then you have different nuances the weekend before all of which make the ability to sustain the shape you’re in plausible – not getting in shape, there’s not enough reps. So illustrating how everything that you are working for on the table, how nothing – you can’t even venture to that journey if those six weeks aren’t appropriately attacked. That’s what I’m really getting at them, because that’s the one thing that everyone is depending on.”
(As a quick follow-up, do you have any plans for yourself over the next few weeks?) – “Oh man, you’re speaking to my wife directly because – bless her heart, she is so patient with me. But this idea of being present, intentionality and a deliberate way to go about each and every day, that makes planning in the future difficult. When it’s for my job, I’m all over it – months ahead, awesome. When it comes to – vacation has nothing to do with football. I can start thinking about it this afternoon, and apparently like hotels don’t love last minute things, or maybe stuff is more expensive, or maybe people just like to plan. I have no idea what I’m doing outside like a California trip, but we’ll probably going somewhere this weekend. We’ll just wait and see when we get to that. It will be all dad time – all dad time and husband time. It’s so important for me. In this profession, there’s so many sacrifices made by families during the season. You have to make that up and this is my one shot, so I go all in.”
(I wanted to ask you about your first year, you had a really aggressive defense. Second season, it was kind of stagnant and consistent. Is the thought to kind of marry both approaches?) – “And have the versatility to play to your player strengths, attack the opponent and have the versatility to play either game. I think that’s the biggest thing in football is you have matchups that are favorable and matchups that aren’t. Your ability to best address another team’s matchups sometimes is a philosophical alteration. If you can have a starting point where you can have very sound zoning defense with four-man rushes and ruled out run fits that also has the ability to show the same thing and pressure a ton, I think that gives you the ultimate versatility for all the different things that you’ll face in an NFL season because each week is so different with regard to what people are doing and how they’re doing it. So that was something that I think the players have picked up on, in terms of how there’s, ‘Oh, I remember this from here. This is kind of like this from here.’ It’s really helped the process. Outside of learning the new verbiage, it’s really helped the process for us getting guys to understand how we want to play and the way we want to play it. Because ultimately, all the defense, the idea is to get players to play as convicted and together with being fast, physical with elite technique. You can do that if the system is orchestrated and it’s taught the right way, and the guys absorb it and lean into that, ‘Hey, we can do whatever we need to do to get off the field.’”
(A couple of your players have told us this offseason that you’ve been kind of direct with them about the previous late season struggles, addressing that and attacking that as an issue. I’m curious, how do you coach that element outside of the experience of getting there in December and January again?) – “I think it’s important to – we’re talking about narratives to a degree – to understand narratives aren’t a bad thing. Narratives are based upon past and hedging opinions moving forward. So to me, I think it’s important to get in front of that and know what’s coming for players that are going to experience it directly and then leaning into that. I think it’s hilarious to say, ‘Now that you have pressure on you,’ in this business for the reason of, are you blindfolded with earplugs in? Like dude, it’s achieve now or watch out. Well, it’s the same thing in regards to, ‘Hey, things have happened.’ Those two things – the last two seasons – the seasons have ended a certain way, and about 30 to 40 percent of the team were part of it. The other portion of the team wasn’t. But what can we learn from all of this and how do we adjust what we do now to hedge our bet then and little things? You take – whether it’s a game or we need to finish the season better. You get what you emphasize. Well, why not find ways to emphasize finishing in everything you do? Obsess about it. Why not have for half the offseason, you’re trying to have staff meetings at different times during the day. I had every staff meeting I put at like 7:24 or 3:24 or 5:24 – the number 24. To you guys, it means nothing. That’s how many years it’s been since the organization has won a playoff game. We are going to hear about that come playoff time. You think? So to me, you do that to empower guys to know what’s coming. To understand it, to not run from it. Because if you’re going to achieve success where people are predicting failure, you’re going to have to go above and beyond. That is what every single player has done in their life at one point in time. Every player has flourished when people said they can’t in some way, shape or form. So it’s the same thing, just being intentional with it and understanding that I want this team to be very proud. This team is different than the years before. This is a different team. But I want these players on this team to make right of the journey of the last two teams. And that’s OK, well, those failures led to this success. And that’s how you have to look at it, because you are talking to almost half the room that’s like, ‘What? We what?’ That’s kind of how you have to adjust to the modern-day orchestration of the NFL where you’re staring at about 40 to 60 percent turnover almost every year. I think that’s how you attack it. You know what’s going to be said to you by your friends, or some media members come next December, let’s talk about it now. Yes, that’s not what you want said about (your team) – you don’t want (it) to be said, ‘You can’t finish. You can’t do that.’ You don’t want to hear that, but whatever. What if you heard you could? Does it change anything? Let’s go attack it and let’s go achieve something together. That’s the reason why I bring it up, just because I know no matter how much I tell people to not listen, it’s impossible not to hear the noise coming. There’s always going to be noise. Whatever, just address it and let’s do our jobs deliberately and with a mindfulness today that can be applied in the future.”
(I think I know the answer to this, but do you feel that as well personally? Year 3, you’ve got to win a playoff game this year?) – “When I got hired, I said it in like my first team meeting – it was 22 years at the time. Just because yeah, you don’t hire someone for moderate success or failure or anything. You hire them to win and I know we have to do that. Nothing has really changed. I don’t feel pressure that way, because I feel way enough pressure having the job in general. I don’t need any – there’s not any more to. You’re hired for a reason and you understand that, and you’re trying to help be a part, facilitate and be a part of a team that can succeed in the failures of the previous 22 or 24 seasons. I knew what I was signing up for with this job. For me to not think that we need to win would be – what, so I’m entitled to the job? That doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s going about business, trying to maximize guys day in and day out, get the team as good as they can and lean into your teammates to go try to achieve something that will mean a lot to a lot of people.”
(The new kickoff rules. What have those brainstorming sessions been like? How much have you gotten involved with Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman?) – “It was pretty cool, because you talk about – what I think is cool is that you’re going to have a play in the game that people are forecasting however many more live plays we’re actually going to see. But the framework of the play is area of innovation I think we will see early. I think we will see it throughout the entire year. I can see somebody with the new rule and the amount of space that can be created by the non-negotiable element of not moving until the ball is caught, those things make it a pretty impactful play where you could be at the 21-yard line, or the 40 (-yard line) like that. (snaps fingers) So in that, I can see there will be cool things looking forward all the way to the Super Bowl next year. You have two weeks to prepare for an opponent. You can comb more league-wide tape, and there will be a play in that game in this phase that I think will probably be a big influence on the overall outcome. It’s a big needle mover in terms of yards which forecast points. We’ve been having conversations from schematic to the varies ways you want to use personnel. I think it opens up your roster because the lack of distance or the reduction of distance for the coverage teams makes it less substantial of an investment overall. So it may be guys that traditionally have been starters on defense or starters on offense, I think it gives you more flexibility to get starters on that unit for various reasons. Overall, it wouldn’t shock me if, shoot, every No. 1 receiver and every No. 1 running back in the league is raising their hands to return kicks Week 4.”
Frank Smith – June 5, 2024
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Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(The offense ranked No. 1 in the league in total yardage last year, then in the offseason you add skill position players like TE Jonnu Smith, WR Odell Beckham Jr., RB Jaylen Wright in the draft. I’m not going to say what’s the expectation, but how excited are you about the opportunity to maybe take even another step in the next level?) – “Yeah, the guys were able to get here has been awesome. The reality is that we look at, alright, past success doesn’t dictate any future outcome. So it’s basically for us, OK, what did we learn from the season, where are areas that we need to grow? Acquiring the new guys, how can they help us and maybe do some different things that we haven’t done in the past? That’s what this time of year is for, the development of growth and getting yourself ready for training camp. But overall, it’s been an outstanding spring with the guys really committing and working hard. We’re very fortunate with all the guys we were able to get here and just what we were able to build this spring and what we’re looking forward to for camp.”
(I like that when you said that past success doesn’t determine your future. So how does the No. 1 offense from a year ago get better? How does No. 1 get even better?) – “I think it’s just when you have the new guys coming in and just getting everyone connected with our offensive identity and how we want to play, with our motioning and understanding why, how we’re going to do it, our run game, how everything’s built, I think it’s just ultimately for us, you have to always look at, like, each year is different. So as we acquire the guys for this year and then we’re going into the offseason to teach our approach, the philosophy, how we try and move the pieces to attack the defense. I just think it’s just you always look at the reset of the process, and you really for us coaches as we end the season, we evaluate what we went through with last season, where can we get better, and then now we’re implementing it. Ultimately where we can get better – individual techniques, understanding of things, maybe in-season we had some gameplan plays that we liked, get more manpower on it to be able to make it into our core, just stuff like that. But I think ultimately, it starts with our individual process, how can we each individually get better, and it starts with us coaches through the offseason and now working with the guys just to get better at techniques.”
(So in times like these where spring practice, OTAs, minicamp where if you’re learning a new system time might be spent on more install than refinement; I guess how are practices divided up when you’ve got the same corps together for the past three years?) – “Our approach is maybe a little different than other places that I’ve been in or just any of us, is that we try and make sure that we understand how to play fundamentally sound within our position. So not as much – the scheme is going to come, but it’s making sure that in spring, we have this time where really you have two weeks of Phase 1 where you’re in the classroom, three weeks of Phase 2 with you’re not going against anyone. Those three weeks are the first time you really don’t have an opponent or someone you’re going against. So in OTAs, you have an opponent – the defense. So we really use that Phase 1, Phase 2 to really focus on, OK, how can I get better as a player, so we make sure that we communicate areas that we think we have proven the growth and have the dialogue with them. So we use those three weeks as like, OK, is it releases, top-of-the-route separation techniques, blocking or motion block, whatever it is specific, then you build into the scheme. So we start with the person, how we can improve, then we add the scheme as we go. So it’s kind of like reverse. A lot of people rush the scheme and then you’re kind of learning what I need to do inside of it as opposed to OK, we deconstruct and go the individual alright, and build what we need to do, as we like lightly layer scheme and then we push the scheme as we get into really get into the group work in Phase 3 in OTAs.”
(So it’s taking advantage of a period where you don’t have to worry about, like you said, beating an opponent or what your opponent is doing. It’s a time where you can kind of be introspective and say…) – “Exactly. So it’s like, we could block an opponent on cans and air. But as opposed to, we can use the time to get better at maybe something that the season tape showed us that individual would get better at. Or new guys are coming in, these are the things that we’re going to require at the position, or new things we’re looking at from our studying of ourselves or other offenses and defenses in the league, through all that approach. So that’s kind of how we use the time. A little different than other places, but that’s how we feel we can build for each player specifically because we use the time to how we can best get better in it.”
(How would you assess the progress of T Patrick Paul through the offseason program?) – “It’s been like all guys coming out, especially linemen, it’s getting used to our terminology, the different guys you’re playing with. And then also for us, fundamentally, just some differences from college to us here. But overall, he’s working his butt off with Butch (Barry), ‘Lem’ (Lemuel Jeanpierre) and Roman (Sapolu) in the meeting rooms, getting the work in practice, spending extra time developing the camaraderie, especially with the older tackles. So everything so far we’ve seen, it’s not – offensive line play, as always, you’re going to see it’s going to grow and it’s going to be – to the observer, you might see what looks like a good play there or a bad play here. But inside of it is like, we can see the build of the fundamental things that we think are going to be necessary. And he’s done that as through the process where, hey, you learn sometimes as a rookie through negative plays as much as you learn positive plays. So his approach has been awesome so far and really excited to continue this growth now that we’ve seen through spring to when we get back to camp and really build. Especially when you get to get pads on, because that’s really where linemen learn, like you’re hitting a surface that maybe isn’t what reality is going to be when the training camp comes. So it’s like you’re trying to make sure you teach the habits that are necessary when the real surface comes and that’s the pads and stuff like that.”
(When you interview for to be a head coach, what does that do for you? What does that do? I mean, I guess it’s kind of an ego boost and it raises your profile around the league. What does it do for you and what has it done for you?) – “My kids think I’m a lot cooler. (laughter) I don’t know, I think you guys know with me, I just think the whole process through that was very humbling for me, because I just – the years you put in to get right at the precipice of like, wow, your dream and why you get into it. Obviously, that’s why I got into coaching, but it also reminds me, hey, just because you had that opportunity doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed again. So it’s make sure that for me, the reminder of every day to just stick to whatever is necessary today and be as present as I can to help the people that have given me the opportunity to be in this position. But yeah, it was an interesting experience, I learned a lot. And I think it’s helped me be better here for Mike (McDaniel) and Chris (Grier) and just everyone with the program, because when you get challenged to think broader, it helps now when you go back to narrow, kind of being able to maybe see things because you had to think about things. Things that maybe you never would have thought about before you thought about, but you had to really narrow down. So very humbling and I’m very appreciative to all the people here that allowed me to be in this position.”
(Without giving away too much did you go into any interviews with videos and the big notebooks and “here’s what I can do” and that kind of thing?) – “No, the initial process is very structured. So if I gave the whole gauntlet of all the stuff, as you guys know me, that would have been a very long day. So maybe in the future, but it was all a very great process. And just really for me, just excited to (be) here and see what we’re going to do again, because you got to reset the process. Nothing’s guaranteed any day – we’re in the NFL.”
(How much of an advantage, if any, or what’s the impact of having practically everybody on the offensive coaching staff being back, most of the guys for a third season?) – “It helps just with communication, anticipation, like when we’re trying to get things done, just guys more quick to like get more in tune with each other. Especially in-season, that’s where the real growth comes because the of knowing of workflow or problem-solving as we go into it. I just know this spring, we’re able to anticipate certain things more or just knowing that on Wednesday, it’s this structure of the day, so this is coming so we can be in front of certain things. So the stronger the relationship, the longer the relationship, the better communication. And that’s something we hallmark around here is our ability to communicate with each other.”
(When you went back and evaluated the season, great success earlier in the year. It maybe a little tougher to get production late. What was the difference, do you think, in your mind?) – “It isn’t just one thing that we looked at. I mean, ultimately, you take in certain segments of the year, but then you look at the entirety, and for us, it’s just OK, it’s making sure that we’re maximizing each week, because a game in November or December, losing can impact the end of the season. So it’s just making sure that what we’re doing at the end of the season, making sure that we’re setting the foundation now to make sure that we can carry things longer through the season. I wouldn’t say there’s really like one thing, because we did have a lot of success. But I mean, ultimately, for us, it’s just the execution. The last game of the season was tough, obviously going up there in the weather.”
(I was going to ask you if the No. 1 thing you learned is not playing in 30-below weather?) – “That normally helps to be able to play here. (laughter) I think that day we flew to Kansas City it was like 82 here, and when we landed it was like minus-20. I mean when you’re scraping frost off the press box, it isn’t ideal. But ultimately, I think it teaches you how important each week is, because the execution, our overall communication as a group, each week impacts our ability to play here at home and in the playoffs.”
(Power running in those situations. It’s cliché, you’re able to run the ball and it travels. Was that something you saw that hey, maybe this is somewhere we need to get better? There’s a lot of cold cities in the AFC to have to play that power running game.) – “Yeah, with running the football, it does translate into the postseason. But the big thing for us is making sure we maximize each week so if we’re playing in the playoffs we ideally would like to play at home. You’re having 100-degree temperature variants and you’re coming out of your stance frozen. Hence why helmets were cracking and whatever the hell was going on down there.”
(People were losing fingers in the stands actually.) – “Yeah, it was nuts. I’ve never seen Arrowhead that empty in all those years in the division. But ultimately, it’s like, OK, that was last season. What did we learn? What are the areas that we think – and that’s always we start this time of individually, position wise, end of the unit, end of the team. So right now as we went through Phase 1 to Phase 2 individual to position groups down to the unit, now what do we get through the offseason to make sure we tailor for training camp. What areas do we want to really to improve on? So that’s constantly – you’re always looking at your process to how structuring, teaching, evolving. And now with training camp, and the way the timing that happens, making sure it’s very specific to where we feel we want to go for next season.”
(Just one football to go around. How difficult is it to find that balance in making sure that everyone gets their touches? Especially with this upcoming season.) – “Well that’s the fun part of the job on offense is trying to make sure you use all the guys to their best abilities. That’s the fun part of making sure we have options for all guys and different concepts and all that. We’re very conscientious of that, just trying to make sure we have opportunities to get the guys the ball, whether it’s handing it off or jet motions or throwing and running backs getting carries. It’s a fun challenge. All this is one giant puzzle that we’re always solving, and that’s why you get into coaching – to try and make it work.”
(When you look at the possibilities, do you ever foresee this offense having three 1,000-yard receivers or tight ends?) – “I mean the ultimate goal for us is – statistics can be great, but our ultimate goal is to win a championship. And how do we do that? That’s to make sure we have efficiency in what we’re doing and we’re scoring points. However statically that yields, great. But ultimately our job is to make sure we gain yards, score points so we can win the game so we can win a championship. How stats play out is not really like we’re looking at that chasing that. We’re chasing each week is going to be a different challenge on how to win, and that’s really ultimately what we’re trying to do – each week, what is going to be necessary? You lean on guys some weeks and other weeks you’re going to need another ready to go. Especially if people try to take away the passing game, you have to lean on the – it works hand in hand together.”
(Curious what you got out of the Panthers head coach interview job last year? And maybe how you take that going forward in your own career?) – “For specifically that one, that was first conversation and I kind of learned how it went. It was interesting how the process goes and the communication with an organization and your vision towards things. We talked about it before, but ultimately it came back to when you go through all that, what I learned is it really made me appreciative of the program we have here and people we have here, because I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the guys here or the people I’ve worked with in my past. It just reinforces to me how fortunate I am to be here and why I’m here today – to do the job I need to do today. Yeah, there’s no guarantees it’ll ever come back again. My kids thought it was awesome, and they still talk about it. I’m like, ‘Yeah, it was great, but Dad’s got a job to do today, and that’s to make sure that we’re at our best for whatever is required for the day.’”
(If you guys lead the league in offense again, I bet you’ll get more of those interviews.) – “(laughter) Maybe, if it happens, it happens. It would be awesome. But ultimately the job is to do the job today. I always kind of – a friend of mine owns his own company in Chicago, and we’re talking about just certain things. The best way you can be successful in the future is to make sure you maximize today and you focus on today and the needs of today, then you work it to the best it needs to be done.”
Anthony Weaver – June 5, 2024
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
(How would you describe what you’ve already gotten accomplished from your arrival to today?) – “I think collectively as a team, we’re just trying to chase the best version of ourselves every day. Defensively, I’m just so happy with the way the guys have attacked this offseason, just in terms of their professionalism and their approach to every day. Every day that they come in here, you see that they attack the day with the right purpose and intentionality to go out there and just get better, which has been awesome.”
(A few of the guys have talked about the energy that you bring. I don’t want to be cliché but you’re a relatively young guy so you bring energy. How do you approach bringing energy to the film room, the practice field, etc.?) – “First off, I appreciate you saying I’m relatively young. The greys don’t necessarily reflect that. (laughter) I tell guys that time plus energy equals production. If you’re going to put in the time and you do it without energy, you’re just not going to be that productive. But when you combine the two, which you’re going to be here anyway, and you bring some juice, you’re going to get the most out of your day. I think, fortunately, we have a bunch of guys on this team, particularly defensively, that have that naturally. It’s innate in them. Then the guys that sometimes lack that, they bring them along with them. I just love being around the guys in general, just because of their work ethic and their habits. So for me, they think that may come from me. Shoot, I’m feeding off of them just as much as they are feeding off of me. It’s been awesome, just the synergy of it all.”
(Your linebackers have the ability to go forward, backwards, sideline to sideline, and it seems like that’s kind of intentional, especially with the two guys that came in this year. What does their diverse skill set across LB David Long Jr., LB Jordyn Brooks, LB Anthony Walker Jr., what does that do for a defense to help expand what you can do?) – “First off, I love that room. If you talk about a room that brings juice and attacks the day every single day, it’s them. And it’s led by (Linebackers/Run Game Coordinator) Joe Barry, who does a tremendous job with them. In this league, with the way offenses are trying to attack you both vertically and horizontally and trying to space out the entire field, you better have linebackers that can do that. It’s not like back in the day when I was playing and you’re getting a lot of lead and iso and you better have a guy who is going to thump and throw it up in there. The league has kind of transitioned away from that. You still need physicality there but at that position, you better have athletes. Fortunately, I think we have a bunch in there.”
(With the defensive line, obviously there are a number of different guys and a number of different body types. How versatile do they have to be? I know you are going to do multiple fronts, but do you have to have varying skill sets in that group?) – “Yeah, absolutely. I think you need to have the right balance of guys that I like to call grinders. Guys who go there and change the math in the middle, whether that’s with mass or elite technique. And then you need those guys that are kind of in between, that are tweeners, guys that can both do that yet are athletic enough and have the skillset to both win and pass rush, whether that be with power or finesse. You’re always looking for the right balance and combination of that and making sure you have enough of each. I think we have that. I think a lot of the guys may not necessarily be household names, but I think they’re all guys that have had a taste of production in this league and their best years are probably yet to come.”
(When you’ve coached defensive line, you’ve used a heavy rotation. That’s what you’re known for. Is that just your approach that you believe they’re best in waves?) – “Yeah, it’s kind of like the tsunami approach. I’m half-Samoan, I lived in Hawaii for a little while. They always say the first wave of the tsunami does damage, but the second wave does the most damage. So for me, sometimes people get overly concerned about who is starting the football games – that means nothing to me. I want to know who is finishing the football games. I think you’ve got your best chance at finishing football games when guys are fresh. You can’t do that at every position – particularly when there are bigs out there running around in this heat, you’re going to want to rotate them a little bit.”
(Beyond you coming in, there’s also a lot of new assistants under you on the defense. Can you explain your thought process behind the turnover and some of those guys specifically? What makes them the right fits?) – “I love this staff. I think our players feed off of our collaboration and the way we work together. One, we do play staff basketball every Tuesday and Thursday so if anybody is interested in looking at a very non-athletic basketball game that looks like a 40+ league, you can come watch us on Tuesday and Thursday. It’s pretty ugly. The wives are not happy with us right now, because we all come home with injuries. We have a full injury report if anybody is interested. But between me and Mike (McDaniel), we obviously wanted to build a group of guys that not only had FBI – football intelligence – but more importantly, we wanted a bunch of guys that actually cared about their players. And I think from top to bottom, we have that. To me, ultimately on every team, the teams I’ve been a part of that actually care for one another, where they hung out outside of the building and they cared about their families, their wives, their girlfriends, their kids, like that’s transcending. So now when you’re out there playing next to somebody, you’re not just playing for him but you’re playing for him and his family and everybody he cares about too. I think as a staff defensively, I’m always trying to feed into that and making sure that we’re as close as we could possibly be, because when adversity does inevitably hit, those are the types of guys you want to be in the foxhole with.”
(The media used to play pickup basketball every day in the middle of the day and then we would shower and come back. There were too many torn ACLs and MCLs.) – “I’ve got a sleeve on right now, and that is not just from normal wear and tear.”
(So who is the worst fouler?) – “There’s a rumor that it may be a d-line coach of ours. He claims everything is clean. I can’t say. You’ve got to go to the tape to find out. But fortunately there is nobody out there that limits him to six. (laughter)”
(What have you learned about Head Coach Mike McDaniel in terms of the best way to mesh with him as you get to know him?) – “So I’ve actually known Mike since 2006, and the thing I respect most about him – people think he’s unique, that he’s a breath of fresh air to the profession but to me, he’s who he’s always been and that’s what I respect most about him. I’ve been around guys that have been put in that position where they now have some power and authority and you see them kind of change who they were from a personality standpoint. He’s the exact same guy I’ve known for a long time. He’s a better version of the guy he was in 2006.”
(How competitive do you think training camp will be? I know sometimes guys share their plays prior to practices and sometimes guys just kind of want to win the day. What’s your approach to that?) – “I think always, particularly when you’re going against one another, you want to be competitive. There are a bunch of alphas out here. When you’re practicing against your team, you want to be competitive and not combative. So we’re always trying to walk that line and I think our guys do an excellent job of that.”
(You’ve played and coached for the Ravens. You’ve coached on some great staffs in Houston. You’ve been under Romeo Crennel. Where do you get your influences from?) – “From all over. You take bits and pieces from everybody along this journey, both the good and the bad. The most positive influences I’ve had have probably been with Romeo Crennel, Mike Macdonald, Wink Martindale, Rex Ryan, Urban Meyer – the list goes on and on and on. Then in taking bits and pieces of them, you’ve always got to stay true to yourself and who you are. I’m truly appreciative for all of the experiences along the way that have helped shape who I am, and in the process, I hope to have that same influence on some of the guys that now work under me.”
(You had an opportunity to be a defensive coordinator in Houston. What did you learn from that experience there that helped shape who you could become now?) – “I learned so many things from that experience because there was a lot of adversity thrown at us in that particular year. I’m talking about COVID-19. I’m talking about a head coach getting fired midseason and how you’re going to try to right the ship and keep it all together. And then just the schematic tweaks, how the offenses tried to adapt as we’re changing and trying to protect some of the players that we have. There were so many lessons learned there. Ultimately when we were let go and I had opportunities to go elsewhere and potentially coordinate again, I chose to go to Baltimore to see how that dinner was being made, because they were doing a lot of good things there. So I took a step back in order to take a huge step forward, which we hope pays dividends here in Miami.”
(We talked to CB Kendall Fuller earlier. How does his skill set align with what you ask of the corners?) – “You talk about a guy that has tremendous football IQ, that knows his skill set, can take all of the pre-snap information that is given to him and then apply it. He’s played in every coverage scheme known to man. Just his vet-savvy, his presence, the professionalism that he shows every day is going to have a tremendous influence on all of these guys. Then when you combine both with Jalen Ramsey and the influence he can have on some of the younger corners we have – the Cam Smiths of the world, the Ethan Bonners – I’m just so grateful for him being here. He’s such a calming presence back there at the corner position.”
Danny Crossman – June 5, 2024
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(So do you have an open tryout for the kickoff job? I know some special teams coordinators have had safeties and linebackers. What’s your plan?) – “We’re still – as everybody is – we’re looking at a lot of different things, but to me, I still think that the advantage for the kickoff team where you can gain an advantage is to have a kicker. Because the advantage is the ball on the ground before it’s touched by the returner which enables the cover team to go, and non-kickers are going to have a little bit more difficulty trying to hit that ball consistently.”
(What have brainstorming sessions been like with something that’s so new to different special teams units across the league?) – “It’s been fun. There’s so many different avenues and aspects you look at and some things you think you’re really going to like, and then by the time you get out on the field and start looking at them, you’re like, ‘What was I ever thinking?’ And then there’s things that maybe you didn’t like and then once you’re out there, you’re executing and you’re seeing it live, you’re like, ‘Maybe that’s something we want to build on.’ But to me, the main part of this play is really two things: No. 1, it is going to be a play that starts unlike any play has ever started. It starts with the ball either being caught or the ball hitting the ground as opposed to every other play it’s either the snap or what we’re all used to – the ball being kicked, so that’s a completely different animal. Secondly, the space aspect – completely different; however, once all that stuff – you take all that out – you’re still doing the same thing. You’re still blocking, getting off the blocks and tackling, however that space differential may enable you to use and maybe look at some different players.”
(What type of body types are we talking about now since it’s mostly close quarters?) – “Honestly right now, we are looking at everything and anybody. We are not eliminating anyone when it comes to position groups that maybe weren’t part of that aspect over the last couple years. We’re back to looking at some of those people.”
(So do you want athletes? Do you want blockers?) – “Ideally your blockers are athletes, or your athletes are good blockers. But it’s a combination of are we saying could it be offensive linemen? Yeah. Could it be tight ends? Yeah. Could it be linebackers? Yeah. The numbers of eligible players that we have hasn’t changed. We’re still going to have the same active list, so you still are working off the same nucleus of these are the only bodies you have. But I do think that some of the aspects of the play may enable some guys that haven’t been part of the play now to become part of the play.”
(I’ve heard the theory that teams are basically not going to unleash what they’re doing during the exhibition season and they’re going to save it for the regular season. Do you think that that’s true or fair?) – “I don’t know and we’re not there. I haven’t begun to even think about that yet. We’re still weeding out what we like, what we don’t like, what we think can gain us an advantage, what are we going to prepare for that we think other teams may try. So right now this whole spring has been a real – it’s been a great experience because we’re looking at things and doing things that I never thought I’d be doing.”
(How does the XFL’s film come into play here?) – “It was a good starting point, but then everything changed. For them, everything was 10-on-10 within five yards and that was it. We have a little bit more maneuverability and flexibility in terms of upfront, being able to have two guys off, being able to have two returners, being able to move those guys wherever you want them as long as they’re starting inside the 20, to be able to take one of those guys and add them to the front and have no limitations on where you can put that guy to enable some more double teams and traps. So we have a lot more flexibility in what we do, but it was a great starting point to be able to put tape on him and say, ‘Wow, I never thought of that,’ or ‘Wow, that could be a real, real problem.’”
(What was your input on this whole process? Did you speak up to talk to all those guys?) – “Oh yeah, it was a great thing. That was probably the nicest thing about it. As special teams coaches, we’re the one group that has a great camaraderie and communication as a group, but then yet, on Sunday, we’re the only guys that go out there and try and beat the other guy. The offensive line group, they think they’re all the tight, but they don’t compete against one another. So to be able to sit there in a group, in multiple groups, small groups, big groups, and be able to talk about thought. There were some great things brought up, and there were some things that were brought up and people were – like anything else – ‘No, I don’t like that.’ It was a great seminar as a group.”
(On the returners, does it change the body type, the speed, power, breaking tackles?) – “Until you know what balls you get, I don’t know. Because we don’t know what we’re getting yet. We don’t know if people are going to – are they going to kick it high and deep down the middle? Are they going high and deep and outside? Are they going to kick line drives? Are they going to try and kick knuckleballs? Until you know what you’re getting, I don’t think you can answer that. I still think it’s going to be – you want talented guys. You’ve got to be able to make guys miss, you’ve got to be able to close space in a hurry, you’ve got to be able to make somebody miss in a phonebooth. And if you can do those, everybody wants more of those guys. So we’ll see.”
(What do you think Week 1 will be like ultimately? Will it just be a tremendous element of surprise?) – “I think it all depends on what game you’re watching. I really believe that. If you’re watching Thursday night, the opener in Kansas City, and then you watch all the games Sunday and then you watch what’s happening on Monday night, based on what games you’ve watched, you could see four or five completely different approaches both on the kickoff and the return based on what game you’re watching. If you sit there Sunday and you watch a 1:00 p.m., a 4:30 p.m. and an 8 o’clock Sunday night game, you could see a whole lot of different things.”
(And any indications early on what could be best alignment in the 20-yard receiving zone? I don’t know we can’t disclose what we’ve seen you guys do so far, but?) – “I know what I’m thinking, and it’s really based on where the advantages come from and trying to defend those advantages. I’m talking about the advantages of the kickoff team and how we want to try and help ourselves.”
Zach Sieler – June 5, 2024
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
DT Zach Sieler
(Since Christian Wilkins has moved on, who is in line to be the NFLPA rep?) – “I don’t know who’s in line. I know we had a couple of guys last year that were alternates. So I don’t know if one of them is going to want to take that role on, I think a couple will.”
(Who are those alternatives?) – “I can’t think off the top of my head honestly, but I know I know them. Everyone has done a great job here and Coach McDaniel does a great job with them to make sure we are talking to everybody and on the same page.”
(LS Blake Ferguson is one.) – “That’s it, yes. He’s done a great job. I know he’s excited. I think he’d be a great representative for us.”
(What has it been like working with this group?) – “It’s been great. It’s been awesome learning Coach (Anthony) Weaver, his system, how he sees defense, playing with these guys behind us and kind of building as a unit this offseason. It’s been great all around honestly. ‘DBs’ talking, I’m hearing them loud behind us. The linebackers are really communicating upfront, and then us upfront as a D-line kind of working together and learning to play off of each other.”
(Have you been talking to any of the new guys?) – “Yeah, it’s been great. (Jordyn) Brooks has been great talking to him. He’s obviously directly behind me, so he’s always talking. (Jordan) Poyer, it’s cool to hear him back there relaying calls, which could affect us or not affect us each play, which is really good to get that communication back down.”
(Have you hung out with them outside?) – “I have not. I have a little busy. I have a little 11-week-old baby. My wife and I have been a little busy. It’s been great to get to know him, and I’m excited for camp. Being here with those guys and being here this season. Hopefully we can get back to those Thursday night hangouts.”
(With this defense, how helpful is it for you that you’ve been in the Baltimore system? And is it much crossover compared to what you’ve done in the past?) – “That was five years ago and a couple of coordinators ago. Some things have kind of triggered in my head, like ‘Oh yeah, I remember that call,’ or ‘I remember how that was played or what we looked for when we did those reps.’ So it’s been really cool to kind of circle back to that as a veteran and kind of take it with a different perspective. I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s why we’re doing that.’ Sometimes as a rookie or young guy, you don’t really know what’s going on or why you’re doing something, you just have to make sure you’re doing it to the best of your ability. Especially me, I was obviously not in the best spot in Baltimore just from a growth perspective. I wasn’t growing at the rate I should’ve been, so it’s cool having grown down here, learning football more, playing better to come back and circle around to play in this defense is a lot of fun.”
(There is supposedly a lot of rotation. How does that impact you from a chemistry standpoint? I know you and Christian Wilkins, you guys didn’t need to talk to know what you guys were doing.) – “We didn’t, and there’s nothing that beats that. Raekwon (Davis) was the same boat. We could get out there – I was with those guys for three or four years. It’s going to take time, make sure we’re talking on and off the field, hanging out and getting to know how those guys see ball, how they want to play and how we can play off of each other. And building that rotation will help, too, with keeping each other fresh and ready for the fourth quarters and stuff like that, long drives.”
(Are you expecting a lot of early season attention? We know Christian Wilkins isn’t going to be there. We don’t know if LB Bradley Chubb or LB Jaelan Phillip are going to be there. Do you think offense are going to really hone in on you early in the season?) – “I don’t know about that. I’m not other offenses. I think it’s going to be a – I mean, there’s 11 guys. There’s a lot of guys out there that can make plays. I think we’re going to do a great job, kind of like Omar (Kelly) asked, with the rotations and kind of rolling guys through in different packages and whatever we’re doing. I think it’s going to help really making ourselves multiple on defense.”
(How would you describe defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s personality and approach?) – “It’s been really cool getting to know him. Obviously being a former player and also him coming from Baltimore – I see a lot of crossover from that and that Baltimore mindset. It’s been cool circling back to that and kind of feeling him out and just again how he views football and how he is off the field, on the field. Building that rapport with him has been really fun.”
(Does it help that he’s a former player?) – “It’s great having a former player as a coach. It could be any level, even if you’re playing high school. I tell this to guys that I talk to that are younger – high school, college, it’s still the same game. The coaches are going to coach the same. If they are good, they are going to coach you the same way. Obviously, there are some bad eggs here and there, but’s always good to have a coach that’s played. I know defensive line coach (Austin) Clark played and a lot of other guys have played prior to coaching.”
Terron Armstead – June 5, 2024
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
T Terron Armstead
(What has this offseason been like for you?) – “It’s been great. It’s been great. Spent a lot of time with the family, training, getting fully healthy. Feeling well.”
(Where are you body-wise?) – “Feel great. Ready to go.”
(Last time we spoke with you was when you were in Orlando when you were wavering on what your future would hold. Can you take us through that process? What you considered and how you came to the decision you did?) – “Yeah, just a ton of self-reflection. Analyzing the season as a whole, looking through the film, all those good things. I sat with some family, made some decisions, but ultimately this is where I belong. This is where I’m supposed to be. I love where we are as a team. I love our opportunity we have in front of us. We left a lot on the table last year, and it’s time to finish.”
(Are you entering this season feeling like it is your last?) – “No idea. I enter every season with full commitment, locked in. I don’t try to look past that at all.”
(Why is Year 12 going to be your best?) – “It’s my approach, my mindset. It’s definitely going to be my best season. I’m looking forward to having an All-Pro year. Locked in, throwing people out the stadium, going crazy. That’s our mindset up front.”
(Can you give us an idea of what the process is getting ready for a season? From end of year to September?) – “Yeah, end of season you take some time off, of course. You reflect the season. You look through, watch film, see things you could’ve done better, see things you could’ve done better as a whole. Then you get into the training part of it, more so rehab to start early on. At this time now, you get into training. My training routine may be a little different than it was five years ago. A lot more Pilates, yoga, body work than years prior running sprints and gassers and stuff like that, so it changes.”
(What are you doing to ensure you play a full, healthy season?) – “The only thing I can do is control what I can control. All the things that I’ve mentioned and nutrition, mobility, flexibility, strengthening. Everything science tells you and putting my best foot forward. I go out there and play with physicality and violence, we’re going to let it roll like that.”
(With T Patrick Paul here, obviously most guys know that they have to mentor their replacement. I know you don’t have an issue with that. What do you want to pour into him to help him be the player he has the potential to be?) – “Any and everything. Every tool that exists for him to be successful and successful for a long time is what I’m going to give him and everybody else in that room. I’ve had a short time with Patrick (Paul) so far. I’ve seen some great things on the field, impressive for sure. Got a lot to learn, a lot of areas to improve in, but you see it – for sure you see the potential. You see why he’s here. Smart young man, but any and everything that I can possibly give, show, say, see is going to be offered to him.”
(When you got into the league, who poured into you?) – “Yeah, I had some great vets. Jahri Evans, Ben Grubbs, Zach Strief, Drew (Brees), I had some great vets. Those guys – I really leaned on my OGs, and they showed me the way.”
(Quite the offensive line you guys had over there in New Orleans.) – “Oh yeah, wasn’t bad.”
(When you talk about T Patrick Paul and learn new techniques and learn this new offense, it’s different than most offenses in the league. What can you give him from your experience of trying to learn new techniques and of playing on the offensive line?) – “Take your time. That’s probably the biggest thing I’m going to have to emphasize to the young man. We’re not going to try to learn the whole thing, read the whole dictionary in one day. We’re going to take small wins. I gave him a couple of things to focus on every day. As we start getting into hands and knocking hands down and hand placement, things to do with the hat, your feet, all that, that takes time – it’s a progression. But I told him I consistently want to see him win a set every day. Every play he controls where he gets in his set with his base, with his foundation ready to go. So just small wins, he’s eager to learn everything. Just kind of make sure it’s a process.”
(How far out do you forecast that? Because obviously he wants to have an impact on the team this year, but ideally he’s around for the long haul at left tackle. How do you kind of forecast getting that stuff down for this season versus the benefit of his entire career?) – “It’s a progression. It’s a progression. But once you consistently can do certain things over and over and over where it’s subconscious, you don’t have to think about certain steps in certain positions, then you move on to the next. But until then, you don’t. And that can happen sooner or later depending on the movement and the player. So he’s doing a lot of good things really well for a young guy. Some things you’d like to see more, but it’s coming because he’s willing to. He’s going to put the work in.”
(Sometimes players get injured because they haven’t done things to prevent injuries. When you were describing some of the things you’ve gone through, it sounds from this point of view that you have covered as many bases as you can. Do you feel like you have? Is there anything more you could’ve done other than have better luck sometimes?) – “You know something you let me know. (laughter) The durability has been my Achilles heel, it’s been my issue. But me as a professional and as I pour everything into my game, that’s just what I do for a living. I try to check all boxes, for sure. But you get landed on from behind while you’re pass blocking, there’s no yoga class that’s going to prevent that. You know what I mean? Do everything that I can to be ready and I will for sure, and then we play football.”
(Is there kind of a eureka moment when it came to making your decision to come back? Like “Alright, yeah, I’m going to miss this too much. I have to come back.” Was there something that was kind of the tipping factor to come back versus not?) – “Just that burning desire. That burning desire, the love for it. Watching the film, watching the things that I did to finish the season. Had a strong six, seven weeks to finish the season into the playoffs. And it’s just – man, there’s a lot we can do as a team that we left on the table. It’s time – we got to clean the plates this time.”
Patrick Paul – June 5, 2024
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
T Patrick Paul
(I know it’s been very early in minicamp, but what have you learned since you’ve reported to rookie camp? Technique stuff, footwork, staying low – what are two or three things you’ve picked up?) – “Honestly the first thing I’d say is just playing fast. This is a very fast offense as everyone knows. Just playing fast and understanding the coaching and understanding the playbook. I’d say that, playing fast.”
(When you say fast, this team has a fast passing game. QB Tua Tagovailoa releases the ball very quickly. You don’t have to maintain your blocks very long, do you? I’m not saying you don’t have to be as good, but that speed, that quick release is that different? Does that do anything as a left tackle do you have to make any kind of adjustment?) – “No, I’d say that ball is ball, really. With the pass sets, it’s kind of just make sure your guy doesn’t get to the quarterback. So with that, just winning at all costs. Not really thinking about when the ball is being released, but just know you’re going to man that guy down even if it’s held for 10 seconds.”
(Any vets kind of take you under their wing, or is there someone you picked something really important up from already?) – “I’d say the whole o-line room. The whole o-line room, they’re very good at teaching me and teaching all of the rookies that we have how the standard is, what to do, and what not to do. I’d say the entire room, they just all are helpful and impactful.”
(Tell me about being tutored by T Terron Armstead. What is that like? What has he shared with you?) – “He’s a mentor of the game, so I’d say just the knowledge on what to focus on each day. One of the things he told me that I can relate to is the small victories every day. Win your set. Don’t just try to get it all done in one day. Just stack days and improve 1 percent each day.”
(Is he someone that you possibly emulate on the way up? You saw what made him such a great tackle) – “Of course, yeah. I’ve watched him throughout his career. I love watching offensive tackles, and he’s one that I studied in college. It’s surreal being here right now.”
(You’ve also got T Kendall Lamm whose got a lot of experience, somebody that I really like talking to. Tell me about being there with T Kendall Lamm also, what has he passed along to you?) – “Kendall (Lamm) – Mr. Tenure. (laughter) He’s a master of his craft. He’s a great person, very smart, very intelligent. He shows up every day and he gets after it. That’s someone that I respect a lot, and he teaches me a lot of stuff every day. Just seeing how he’s been able to consistently up his game is something that is very impressive to me. I love it.”
(What’s your plans between now and training camp? Are you going to stay here? Are you going back home? Who are you going to be working with? What are you thinking?) – “I’ll probably be in Houston working out. Working out with my o-line trainer up there, and then come back here and work out with the guys up here.”
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
T Patrick Paul
(I know it’s been very early in minicamp, but what have you learned since you’ve reported to rookie camp? Technique stuff, footwork, staying low – what are two or three things you’ve picked up?) – “Honestly the first thing I’d say is just playing fast. This is a very fast offense as everyone knows. Just playing fast and understanding the coaching and understanding the playbook. I’d say that, playing fast.”
(When you say fast, this team has a fast passing game. QB Tua Tagovailoa releases the ball very quickly. You don’t have to maintain your blocks very long, do you? I’m not saying you don’t have to be as good, but that speed, that quick release is that different? Does that do anything as a left tackle do you have to make any kind of adjustment?) – “No, I’d say that ball is ball, really. With the pass sets, it’s kind of just make sure your guy doesn’t get to the quarterback. So with that, just winning at all costs. Not really thinking about when the ball is being released, but just know you’re going to man that guy down even if it’s held for 10 seconds.”
(Any vets kind of take you under their wing, or is there someone you picked something really important up from already?) – “I’d say the whole o-line room. The whole o-line room, they’re very good at teaching me and teaching all of the rookies that we have how the standard is, what to do, and what not to do. I’d say the entire room, they just all are helpful and impactful.”
(Tell me about being tutored by T Terron Armstead. What is that like? What has he shared with you?) – “He’s a mentor of the game, so I’d say just the knowledge on what to focus on each day. One of the things he told me that I can relate to is the small victories every day. Win your set. Don’t just try to get it all done in one day. Just stack days and improve 1 percent each day.”
(Is he someone that you possibly emulate on the way up? You saw what made him such a great tackle) – “Of course, yeah. I’ve watched him throughout his career. I love watching offensive tackles, and he’s one that I studied in college. It’s surreal being here right now.”
(You’ve also got T Kendall Lamm whose got a lot of experience, somebody that I really like talking to. Tell me about being there with T Kendall Lamm also, what has he passed along to you?) – “Kendall (Lamm) – Mr. Tenure. (laughter) He’s a master of his craft. He’s a great person, very smart, very intelligent. He shows up every day and he gets after it. That’s someone that I respect a lot, and he teaches me a lot of stuff every day. Just seeing how he’s been able to consistently up his game is something that is very impressive to me. I love it.”
(What’s your plans between now and training camp? Are you going to stay here? Are you going back home? Who are you going to be working with? What are you thinking?) – “I’ll probably be in Houston working out. Working out with my o-line trainer up there, and then come back here and work out with the guys up here.”
Mike McDaniel – June 5, 2024
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So is this three-day minicamp turning into a two day? Is that a possibility?) – “I do see a reality where I could be inspired to adjust the tempo of tomorrow. Not the actual occurrence of tomorrow, tomorrow will still exist for sure. But I kind of leave that open to the players and what type of painters do we have at the canvas? Are they going to inspire me to paint a different picture for tomorrow? We’ll see, but I think the most important thing is that I think the spring can be made out to be a lot of different things. You can make it what your collective group decides to make it, and if at any time you’re getting things out of a May or June day that has residuals for the regular season, that’s kind of the litmus test. I’ve been seeing that littered throughout orchestration of practice – yesterday was really good. So whether I hope, or the players hope, or both, that intentionality today is what we’re looking for. If we don’t get it right, we’ve got another opportunity.”
(On a day like today, I guess in minicamp where there’s no pads, what do you look for from your offensive and defensive linemen? Is it different on the interior than on the edges on both sides of the ball?) – “There’s so much stuff right there that I love. I think there’s a whole balancing act when you’re trying to orchestrate football without pads. However, this balancing act, if you prove adept at it, is monumental over the course of a season. You’re talking about having to not have pads on to get football work. You do the math on how many allocated padded practices you have during the season. Bottom line is if you’re a good football team, you have to be able to play football without pads well, and that takes an orchestration of understanding technique and fundamentals, but also how to protect the team and there’s a fine line. You’re trying to achieve hat placement and you’re trying to maintain your gap, but not trying to bury your teammate if you have them in a vulnerable position. All of those things are a work in progress. I pretty much talk about it daily to the team and show clips on how we can execute our fundamentals and technique while protecting each other. I think it’s a little more complicated on the edges of the defense, particularly the way that we attack defenses offensively and the way we attack offenses defensively. It’s kind of a similar mindset of who’s going to set the edge, so you have to do a lot of orchestration in terms of teaching on how to get stuff out of it and not develop bad habits but get better. And then internally, the biggest thing is not having the competitive fires fuel things that don’t help us play football well. What do I mean by that? Holding when you get leveraged or shoving a guy that’s maybe at an impasse right around the ball carrier, those types of things. You have to really put the team first while in a competitive individual situation. So it’s really good teaching because the benefits of it, you see throughout an entire NFL season.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Odell Beckham Jr. We’ve been kind of looking forward to seeing him out there. Will we see him this week? And if not, why not?) – “Well, so the head-to-toe camo for him has worked well? You guys haven’t seen him? He’s been right in the middle of the field. (laughter) No, I think – these are always funny. Everybody is excited to see players when they first get here specifically, and a player of that caliber, everyone is pumped up. But systematically what we try to do is learn the player and develop a relationship with them and adjust to their body on their timeline so we can have the most beneficial, communicative relationship of maintaining health. Long story short, working into playing with the Miami Dolphins, between myself and (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) we decided you guys were going to have to wait. But that’s just due to the individual process that we are very consistent with when new guys come to the team. We take nothing of assumption and make sure when guys are on the field, there’s no setbacks. We’re obviously applying that to him.”
(Early on in your coaching career you had the chance to work with Andre Johnson and seen his work ethic in the offseason. What is it about Andre Johnson’s work ethic that you took away from that time and that experience from Houston to try to bring it to the receiver corps in Miami?) – “It’s not the Canes shirt, but you’ve got Canes colors on… There’s no disrespect, it’s more than Andre Johnson went to the U and just recognizing strong question. You’ve been on tilt for this, haven’t you? You’ve been holding that in the holster. I love the example of a very talented player that made the most of his NFL career, that has no regrets because he combined that talent with ambition and desire of development. 2006 we got to Houston; I’ll never forget it. I give him a hard time whenever I see him, but that first year in 2006 – obviously great player, best player on our team and did some great stuff for us – but the whole year as position coach, Kyle Shanahan would just show him Steve Smith highlights and how he caught the ball and it just used to irritate Andre. And so that first offseason we ever had him like going into our second year, he went into the lab, went and trained and came back like almost on a man on a mission just to prove Kyle wrong about how he was catching the ball and like, ‘Steve Smith does this? OK, I’ll do this.’ And he came out the gate in 2007, two really strong games, ended up getting injured. Came back, had a good season and then had the career-changing numbers the following season in 2008. So you watched it live speed happen, you watched him do it through work tied with unbelievable gifts. I think for all players, I wouldn’t be doing an injustice at all by really looking at the way Andre handled his career and making that the standard for how people – like you have whatever talents you have available to you and regardless of how talented that is, being able to maximize those talents by the way you approach the game, it’s inspiring. He was the first player that I ever was fortunate enough to be around that was the best talent and the hardest worker.”
(Why Steve Smith though?) – “Well, 2006, that was – two-part – the prime of Steve Smith’s career. He was doing a ton of things with YAC based on how he caught the ball, so smaller dude, but he would aggressively attack slants with his hands. Andre had great hands, but he would catch with his body all things even at that time. And so then showing the residual effects of how Steve caught the ball both annoyed and motivated ‘Dre’ (Andre Johnson) to the point of a lot of hours of training and the great thing was, ‘Dre’ you proved us wrong. We win, you know? So everybody won, it was good.”
(We saw how they were used last year, but I’m curious how you would characterize the competition between the running backs right now and what do you think about what you’ve seen from RB De’Von Achane so far?) – “I think we are very fortunate to have a group of running backs that really from across the board, it’s hard to even say top to bottom because there’s such great competition and you wouldn’t be doing justice to the entire group if you were trying to crown this person or that person, but the whole group, pretty much led by Raheem (Mostert), it is of quality and depth as good as I’ve been around and been around a lot of good groups. I think the position in general, we have a lot of skill sets that their ability to affect the game is multiple so that we’ve been getting a lot of the guys different work within the offense at different places just to kind of expand their game. I think that I have literally spent zero time trying to forecast that room because I recognize supreme competition when I see it, and the great news is instead of saying what I believe or forecast, I get to just watch and allow the players determine all that for us. I know one thing; we’re going to get the best version of each individual because of that room and the way they embrace the competition while encouraging each other and having a strong relationship with teammates within that position groups is non-negotiable for those guys. All of those guys really, really lean into the fact of we want everyone to do their best and that’s where I want to succeed, not because somebody else fails. So I think that character – there’s residuals to that. I think that for your team, it’s a big deal when you have competition that’s healthy because you get the best versions of people and it manifests itself across a lot of positions, I think.”
(I know that players can sometimes use these and training camp practices to kind of tweak their game to get better, step back to take two steps forward. But how do you guys balance the evaluation of a player – maybe you’re trying to work on some things versus ultimately deciding who makes the 53-man roster?) – “That’s a tricky, tricky thing that we try to break down here with our coach-to-player relationships and what I mean by that is players are conditioned to say, ‘Well, a correction or a caveat to your game means that that’s bad.’ So you’re trying to for us in this offseason, is establish the healthy relationship boundaries of no, you want a coach to have something to help you and you want that – not criticism – more attention to your game and whether it comes in a negative or positive light, if you’re constantly bringing up how people respond and paying attention to that and they can feel that it’s more about – like for me, I want to see the next target towards a receiver after he drops a pass. I’m much less concerned about that pass that he dropped in the spring. I know he’s trying to catch it, but what I do find out that you can’t really substitute is, alright, well when something bad happens which will inevitably happen every single time he plays football, how is he going to respond. And when players start to understand from each position that that’s what we’re focused on, you get the right type of energy that’s not short-term result based. ‘Oh, there’s an incompletion,’ you start cussing. Or if it’s good, ‘OK, I can take the pressures off.’ No, this is a big-picture assignment. We’re trying to attack things with a game-like mentality more so than our opponents and then work through those residual added game reps, is the whole kind of mindset and I think practice becomes real fun when you’re using it not having it define you for the short term.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Tua Tagovailoa. In the practices that we have been here, he either has not attended or he has not participated in 11-on-11s. If that trend continues while the contract negotiation continues, how could that potentially impact the offense?) – “I would’ve had an ulcer and a panic attack if I tried to forecast anything that comes to my plate on a daily basis. I haven’t extrapolated in that way. What we’ve been focused on is communicating with each other. The knowns are that Tua’s representation and our front office are negotiating a contract. As a player, Tua, and myself as a coach, what should our focus be on? Right, wrong or indifferent, we’re going to be held accountable for the ultimate product. Whatever way you want to see it, the piper has to be paid, so to speak, so how can we make sure that we are delivering on what we’re bound and determined is non-negotiable of developing this offseason. Well, maybe it makes more sense to, in this situation, do 7-on-7 or pass. Well, that’s an opportunity, if you take more reps, if we’re identifying specific things in our game that we’re trying to improve. That can’t be a complete substitution over time. There is something at some point that I think it’s important for us to communicate and get in front of when we’re not able to follow through with our ultimate objectives. But that’s what him and I have discussed and are fully focused on in our conversations, which is how do we improve certain things about our game. I think we found ways to do that in our current orchestration and that is not, like everything in life, infinite. At some point in time, that will be important, but for me to think that’s on the radar of even being a possibility of an issue, I’m not worried about that being the case. I also can’t say that wouldn’t be the case. Again, I try to stay in my lane to do what Tua is counting on me to do, which is get him better in every way, shape and form, and that’s what we’ll be doing today.”
(Speaking of QB Tua Tagovailoa, there’s a lot that’s been said about his slimmer physique. His teammates have had some jokes as well. I’m curious, from your perspective, on the field, how have you seen this version of Tua and maybe the movement aspect translate?) – “Seems stuck. I’m OK not being the tallest guy or the most physically-imposing. But to have a lesser joke, and I caught wind of ‘Reek’s (Tyreek Hill), and that was so strong that I was literally mad. ‘Man, I should have thought of that joke. It’s so topical.’ (laughter) But I think when your standard is that the same is worse and you’re trying to chase the best version of yourself, you find different things. We were problem solving last offseason, he went full-tilt into that, that rendered some great results. There were also some unintended consequences of the strength. Honestly, it’s just Tua trying to find another level of his game and another level of being a professional. It happens to a lot of players where all of a sudden you become pseudo-dieticians several years into your career but definitely not at the start. Seeing ways that he could maintain the strength but create some more flexibility and power, or however you want to look at it – who is the dude who drives the ball far on the PGA Tour, (Bryson) DeChambeau? So he just channeled his quarterback version of that, I guess. (laughter) It wasn’t to correct something that needed fixed. It was an opportunity to get better, in his mind I think. And ultimately, we’ll see how he does at read option and if he’s trying to be an option quarterback, how svelte is svelte? (laughter) But anything that helps you attack your job and solve problems – problems that he’s more aware of now than he was last year or the year before, just in terms of being a problem-solver at your position – you learn different things and you find value in different things. I think he’s maturing as a professional and really going after the annual offseason of ‘How do we get better?’ Not if.”
(A common refrain kind of talking about the evolution of QB Tua Tagovailoa is that last year was the bulkier version of him stayed healthy and led the league in passing. How do you balance that aspect with maybe the new version of him that may not be as bulky? The health with the mobility doesn’t always seem to…) – “It was a very concrete thing that we were trying to solve last year with regard to physical preparation. That was his ability to be available as much as he can. But more importantly, for him to have the life that he wants and to play the quarterback position, and how to keep himself healthy, we identified the ground as the big opponent that we had to defeat. So strength training those particular things while also drilling stuff for the first time, we saw unbelievable results in terms of every situation that he was presented with. He was able to provide the technique and he had the strength to do it. So you don’t know what that is. It was uncharted territory to kind of like work on training stunt doubles or something how to fall. That was uncharted territory, but you establish the strength and how to protect yourself so now you can go back to what are the things that help me do my job to maximum ability, not shortchanging any sort of strength. He is really taking his diet serious. And he hasn’t done things to lose weight, he’s done things to be in shape. I would be pumped about where he’s at now, maybe predisposed to a hair of body shaming from last year if you want to do that retroactively. But to be fair, not many people were going about things that way to be as proactive with something of that nature with jiu-jitsu. He was training jiu-jitsu and calling it something else I think at one point – judo. But he really went after it and then you find out new things. Just like every year, we’re trying our best to do the best football plays. We learn more about football plays and defenses and stuff, and we do new plays the next year a little bit. That maturation I think is an example of how he is as a professional, and understanding what his job is to the team and to the franchise. He’s going after it and controlling all of the things that he can control.”
