Anthony Campanile – December 29, 2022
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Thursday, December 29, 2022
Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile
(I am sorry to ask you about a guy who’s not playing, but – and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer explained to us with LB Channing Tindall, it’s simply a case of veterans being ahead of him. I do wonder, and we didn’t have a chance ask Josh to this, but did you and him ever discuss at some point in the last few months a specific pass rush package for Channing because right after the draft, there were a lot of pundits who said this is a guy who might be able to help on a specific pass rush package?) – “He was in there a little bit when we played Chicago, so he had little bit of a role in that regard in that game. But yeah, I think week to week, you’re always kind of discussing that in terms of personnel. Who’s the best to do what, who’s situationally available and I think Channing does have a skillset where eventually he’s going to be able to contribute that way.”
(As the top draft pick on the team who’s not getting snaps on defense, have you at times just sit down with him and just explained to him what’s going on, why the situation is the way it is?) – “I think you always want to be transparent with the players and talk to them about (things). I always feel like being approachable as coaches, that’s very important, right? So you always have those discussions with anybody, but Channing is constantly trying to put his best foot forward and contribute each week. He’s doing everything we’re asking him to do. Like I said, there’s some other veteran players in the room right now who are in that role, in a similar role to him. So he’s just trying to compete and find his way that way as well.”
(How would you assess LB Jerome Baker’s season and how he’s progressed?) – “Yeah, I think he’s doing a lot of things for us. He’s always kind of been in that role here. A lot of multiplicity to what we ask him to do. I think that’s what makes him different than a lot of other players at his position in this league. We ask him to do a bunch of different things in terms of coverage, sometimes contributing to pass rush, playing on the ball, off the ball. And it takes a really smart guy to do that. His season is obviously unfinished. He’s got two more big games to play here, but I think he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and he’s always – he’s a tireless worker, I’ll tell you that. He’s always trying to self-critique and get better every day. So an awesome guy to coach, obviously a great human being and a ton of talent. I think he’s looking forward to this weekend as well.”
(It seems like you haven’t asked LB Jerome Baker to play on the edge as much, is that correct? Compared to last season?) – “Maybe in terms of reps doing that, playing on the edge. That may be true. I’d have to look at that, to be honest with you. But yeah, there’s some games where he probably did more of it than others. I don’t think he did very much of that last game, but in some in some previous games, we asked him to do that probably a little bit more.”
(What are some of the key teaching points to your unit handling a physical runner like Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson?) – “You’ve got to run your feet on contact and it’s a team tackling mentality against a guy like this. So he’s never down. You look at this guy and you watch his body of work over the course of his career and certainly this season, and he’s a guy that finishes runs. So you’ve got to gang tackle, you’ve got to get off blocks, you’ve got to be physical. He’s a physical back. And I think he’s a very good player and our players are aware that.”
(If LB Bradley Chubb plays, will he definitely be in a cast? And if so, how much will that impact his ability to bring down a ball carrier?) – “I don’t know that in terms of what his get up will essentially be. But I think a lot of guys, if that was the case, have played like that. We’ve had guys play like that this season as well and I think a lot of that stuff in tackling is kind of just getting squared up, getting your body on people and then throwing your arms, throwing the upper cuts through contact. So when that’s the case for most guys, if that’s what they have to do in terms of wearing a club or something like that, yeah, I think everybody’s always been able to be functional that way.”
(There’s some spots where it’s obvious to play LB Elandon Roberts. Obviously on a third-and-short. He plays a ton in your base. Some spots where it’s obvious to play LB Duke Riley with his skillset. How much week to week is there a dilemma for you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and Outside Linebackers Coach Ty McKenzie, as far as breaking up snaps between those two? Is that a weekly thing you have to give a lot of thought to?) – “I think usually the game dictates that to be honest with you. How the game is being played and you go into a game obviously speculating these situations are probably going to play this way. And then in the game, maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. And then that usually dictates how we situate our personnel each weekend, so it’s some of it, yeah, you have a decent idea of going in. And then sometimes the game plays a little bit differently and hey, this guy ended up playing more snaps than we thought he would. Or less.”
(When your guys are having a good game, an effective game, what are you seeing on the stat sheet? And what are you seeing as far as things that don’t appear on the stat sheet?) – “I think communication certainly is the No. 1 thing that’s not going to obviously appear on the stat sheet. But when we’re having a good game, that’s really what it is. You see guys flying around. And I say this a lot, that big plays or positive plays defensively are often executed because of anticipation and being able to take the meeting room to the game. And if I have a little bit of an idea or some clarity that, ‘hey, this is one of two things right here as opposed to one of 10 things, I’m going to be able to react a lot faster.’ And I think when we’re communicating that way, we’re playing fast and we’re playing good football. In terms of the stat sheet, to me, it could be anything. But a lot of it to me is are we flying around? Are we getting off blocks? Are we playing with a mentality that it’s not okay to get blocked? You’re finishing tackles, finishing the ball and attacking the ball. Those are the things that really are the tenets of what we believe in. And when we’re playing good defense, that’s the stuff that is showing up consistently.”
(To build off that question, and kind of like a bigger picture question, how do you as a coach especially as analytics and deeper stats become more prevalent in the game – how do you balance, especially when you’re kind of evaluating the players, how do you balance that and the film and obviously you want to say the film is what matters the most, but sometimes maybe
your eyes may be deceiving you…?) – “You’re saying in the context of our own players, not the opponent? Like just evaluating your own players?”
(It could be the opponent, it could evaluating your own players, just…?) – “I think every NFL team probably uses it to a degree in evaluating their opponent, getting ready for a game, for sure. But in terms of your own players, I think when you’re looking at that, there’s really two things. There’s a production grade. Who’s producing? Who is maybe showing up on a stat sheet like that, right? That guy’s out there for 50 plays and his production grade is very high, as opposed to a guy who’s out there for 90 plays and his production grade is very low, right? You may be executing your job, but maybe there isn’t as much production from time to time. Those are things you kind of look at after every game.”
(I was going to ask you about your Christmas spread and what was on the table for Christmas?) – “Oh, we went crazy. We went crazy. Christmas Eve is the big one for us. Seven fish. Yeah, you got to do that. So it’s wild. You guys could probably imagine. But you always see food Christmas Eve. Forget it. Go crazy. So that was great. It’s great to be with family and be around. It was nice.”
(Did you definitely use seven fish?) – “Yeah, I know, I think some people are kind of slacking there a little bit going with like four or five. No, you’ve got to go with seven. You’ve got to do the whole bit. You’ve got the baccala, the whole thing. The house smells like baccala for three days.”
