Tony Oden – September 3, 2019
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Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Safeties Coach Tony Oden
(Obviously since we’ve talked last time, you have had a few changes in your room. How does it impact you as a coach when you lose some of those veteran resources whether it be S T.J. McDonald or some of the other guys you guys parted with?) – “One thing you do when you’re coaching and you’re teaching in general, you try to coach and teach everyone like they’re the starter, whether they’re playing 60 plays a game, 70 plays a game or they’re playing two plays a game, so when you lose people for one reason or another, the next guy’s ready to play. It doesn’t change the approach in regards to that, if you start with that philosophy. That’s kind of how we want to do it and how I’ve always adopted that way. Teach them all like they’re starters, so if somebody gets a hangnail or something like that, the next guy’s ready to play.”
(Obviously you gets lost a few veterans across the whole team when you made those moves, but it seems like your group – the DBs as a whole – still have more of the experience. Has that kind of increased the communication on the back end when you know those guys have been around a little longer than some of the others?) – “It always helps when you have a group that’s been around each other for a while. They know how to communicate. They know the strengths and weaknesses of each other, but if you start from Day 1 emphasizing communication, then you don’t lose a ton. Guys still have to learn to talk to each other in the way that someone else can receive it. When you talk to your friends at home, you may talk differently than you talk to someone at work. When you talk to someone new, you may talk to them differently until they have a chance to have a great rapport with you, then you may shorten the communication a little bit just because you know what he knows and you guys are on the same page. Sometimes it’s just a look, but guys know when they work together. Since Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) has been here, the one thing he’s preached is technique, fundamentals and communication. All that’s been on the plate or on-track since Day 1, so that part has been good. Guys have been working hard on that stuff in the offseason already. We have everybody in the room talking and communicating with each other, so we haven’t lost much in regards to that part.”
(We’ve probably asked you a bunch about S Minkah Fitzpatrick’s role throughout this whole offseason. I don’t know if you saw a few weeks ago, he kind of had his opinion a little bit on the strong safety part of his role. How do you kind of see his best void, and how do you fit that with what’s best for the team?) – “First thing I would say is it starts with the team and everything we do. We’re going to put people in position on particular calls, in certain situations, and what best fits the team. We try to teach all these guys all different positions, so this week they could be playing one position. Next week, they could be playing a totally different position; but until you get to that point, you have to see who can do everything, so you move people around a lot and put them in different positions to see what guys and teams can do what and where. We’re always going to do that. That’s going to be our philosophy to move around for matchup purposes, if we need that, or situational purposes, so that’s always going to be in a constant state of flux for our defense.”
(You look at a guy like CB Xavien Howard and obviously he got taken care of this offseason. You guys like him a lot. What do you think is his next step? Where do you see him as he can get here?) – “Just like with anyone, you have good attributes you feel about him. He works hard and those kinds of things, but there’s always growth of just learning the game and learning the little nuances of the game. Those are the things that people are always looking to improve on whether they’re a first-year player or an All-Pro guy, there are always areas of improvement in situational football. Down-and-distance, alignment, just little things like that. That’s just in general. With him specifically, I would say it would be the same things. He’s no different from anyone. He’s continually learning to grow. It’s one thing just go to cover a guy. It’s another thing to cover a guy because of the situation. Knowing the situation dictates as far as how far you may align off, whether you’re up, whether you’re off, how much time is on the clock, whether you’re keeping it in-bounds, whether you knock them out-of-bounds, when you’re going to strip the ball – all those kinds of situational things. that’s just across the board, just kind of in general. Guys are always trying to improve and stuff, and he’s no different from that.”
(Where do you think CB Xavien Howard’s situational knowledge is right now?) – “He’s strong. He definitely understands. He’s getting better every day. That’s something that players do throughout their entire careers until the last day they hang up the cleats – always try to improve situational awareness – but he’s strong. He understands his matchup from the guy he’s lined up against. He’s excellent.”
(Where do you think S Bobby McCain’s comfort making that position switch at this point in the offseason at free safety?) – “Well, that’d be a question for Bobby. I do see daily improvement and weekly improvement. He’s smart. He’s doing all the things that we thought he could do from a movement perspective and from a knowledge perspective. As far as his comfort, obviously he would have to answer that; but he looks he’s comfortable in the position.”
(You like S Bobby McCain there?) – “He’s doing well. He’s doing well. Like I said, we don’t know where he’s going to line up.”
(Keep the mystery a little bit?) – “(laughter) No, but that’s just what it is. We just don’t want to pigeon-hole our guys into traditional positions because that’s not what we are. We want to put the best 11 on the field for the situation, and they could be anywhere within that situation based off of matchups and those kinds of things, and I think that’s the best way. That’s a smart way to do it when you have guys that are versatile.”
(Have you guys contemplated the possible negative of that – of guys not knowing on a given Sunday where they might line up and maybe being uncomfortable with that part of the nature?) – “That’s part of practice. That’s part of knowing you have the right guys that are smart and can adjust. That’s why we have a group of guys that can adjust. You always take those kinds of things into consideration. When guys are comfortable with doing something, you can see it in his eyes. You’ll see it in his play. You can see it in his communication in the meeting room. We definitely wouldn’t just move a player just to move a player if he can’t get a job we need to get done in that situation. You’re going to move a guy if that’s best for our team and has the ability to get it done. That’s a testament to the guys that we have. They’re able to do that.”
(If we do end up seeing a combo of S Bobby McCain and S Reshad Jones, how do they complement each other well, do you think?) – “They’re both good football players. That helps. They’re both smart. They’re both physical, and they both have different skillsets. Because when you’ve got height, size and speed, they’re both a little bit different. I’m excited those guys be a part of our defense. When we move guys around, that helps us.”
(I don’t know how candid you can be with this answer, S T.J. McDonald was obviously a very good football player; but do you think the pairing of S Bobby McCain and S Reshad Jones is better in a pass-heavy league than T.J. and Reshad, who are both very good players but both natural strong safeties?) – “I don’t know necessarily about that, but I do know that the pairing of the guys that we have are all pretty good out there. They’re all complementary. We’re going to put them in positions to be successful for our team.”
(Do you have a feeling of whether S Bobby McCain is going to be a good NFL safety or too early to tell?) – “Bobby’s a good player. He plays hard. He’s smart. He plays fast, so you can add all those numbers up, and then you can make the conclusion at the end of the day.”
(Is S Minkah Fitzpatrick in your meeting room a lot, some?) – “They’re all in the room a lot. We move around a lot. A lot of moving parts.”
(We’ve seen the nickel and dimes, but I feel like this week you might have to put seen or eight in the back just to catch QB Lamar Jackson across the field?) – “(laughter) We may need a 12th or a 13th out there. He’s dynamic. He does a lot of great things. I think he’s managed the game well. You can see his progression in learning the game, learning his formations and kind of running that offense. He’s definitely a dynamic, exciting player.”
(Who are some players on this defense you feel like the other players gravitate towards and want to play for? Is it CB Xavien Howard, is it LB Jerome Baker, is it maybe DT Christian Wilkins is it another player? Who are some players on this defense you feel like the other players know or feel like they can gravitate around and they want to play for?) – “I think as a group, they’re all doing a pretty good job in the meeting rooms. I think they’re all still learning each other in regards to that, but I think they all kind of gravitate to each other. We encourage the communication in the meeting room, so they’re all talking. They’re all encouraged to communicate down-and-distance, personnel in the game, the situations. There’s not one voice. There are multiple voices there because we want them all to be able to understand the game at the same intellectual level.”
