Marion Hobby – May 9, 2019
Download PDF version
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Defensive Line Coach Marion Hobby
(The first obvious question is your reaction when DT Christian Wilkins was picked?) – “In coaching, you’re in the countdown. You know your pick is coming up. At 10, you say ‘I hope he takes him.’ At 11, ‘I hope they take him.’ At 12, ‘Take him.’ Then at 13, you go ‘Come on.’ You always get excited at that point. As a coach, you’re still watching the draft pretty much and it’s out of your hands a lot of times. You’re just kind of watching it as a fan, what’s going across the screen and what everybody is saying. It was an exciting time.”
(How would you describe DT Christian Wilkins’ personality?) – “Energetic. He’s going to have fun. He’s going to have fun at practice. He’s going to have fun in games. As the media, you’re going to enjoy Christian. The only time I really see him have a bad day is when we didn’t win. Other than that, his energy level, he’s consistent. That’s his personality. That’s the way he’s been since day one.”
(What did you think of his flying shoulder bump into Commissioner Roger Goodell?) – “It didn’t surprise me. I was surprised he didn’t get off the ground very high. (laughter) Roger was kind of surprised a little bit. When I saw his face and the excitement when he was drafted, when he came up and I could see him look up, I knew he was excited about being here too. When he got to speeding up going towards that stage, I said ‘Oh boy. There’s no telling what he’s going to be doing.’ It was good to see some natural enthusiasm. You could tell that he was really happy to be a Dolphin, and we were excited about it as well.”
(Last time we spoke, we talked about how you played for General Manager Chris Grier’s father, Bobby Grier, in New England and you guys have a relationship going back to those days. How much did you and Chris kind of talk about DT Christian Wilkins and his prospects and what kind of kid he is leading up to until you guys drafted him?) – “I’ll tell you what: as a staff, as an organization, we talked about these young men over and over again. Even when we graded them and everybody read their reports, there were a number of eyes that were on them. He knew I had a history with Christian because he used to come through (Clemson) some and he kind of knew who he was. So in writing my report, (I was) just being honest about him, who he was and what kind of person he was. I read in the big meeting just like everybody else did. Then they come down with ‘Do you think this guy can help us?’ ‘Yes.’ Do you put your name on him as a person?’ ‘Yes.’ It was all yes’s. That’s what put it over.”
(What are his strengths on the field?) – “He has a big-time football IQ. He’s a really smart football player. I know you could tell by his academics that he’s really smart, but he can transfer it onto the football field. He’s very athletic. I did coach him as a sophomore. We had an injury and they said ‘We’re going to move Christian to defensive end.’ I’m going ‘He’s 310 pounds. He’ll be out there, he’ll just be a block.’ And I’ll be danged, the sucker came out there the first couple days of practice and he really shocked me with his athletic ability and his awareness on the edge. He ended up getting accolades. He was all-conference at that position. He’s very athletic, he’s very instinctive, his energy level is great. I think I was just really surprised that he could walk out there and play defensive end. He could do it now. He’s already bargaining for everybody to catch the ball. He wants to run the ball. He wants to play tight end. That’s just his personality and he has the natural abilities to do it.”
(We’ve been covering a 4-3 defense around here for a long time. Can you help me understand a little bit about when a player who is 300 pounds, who has often played inside, is now asked to play the outside position on a 3-4? What are the responsibilities? How are they different?) – “That’s where the awareness comes in. Inside sometimes, you can be a bull in a china shop. You just have to knock everybody back and drive, and those mistakes don’t really show up as quickly. On the edge, those mistakes show up really quickly. From the bootlegs and the misdirections and the games that people play with your eyes – a coach used to always tell me if you trick the ends and trick the free safety, you’re going to get a big play. Those guys have to have some awareness to them. They have to play with their eyes, play with their feet, and he can do that. It’s hard. Just like you said, there’s very few that can. It’s almost easier to go from an end to a three-technique than to go from a three-technique to an end, just because of the awareness part of it. The end might take a beating down in there, but the instincts from going inside to outside.”
(When I start watching film – again, I’m not a coach, just layman’s eyes – is it going to be hard for me sometimes to figure out there’s a lot of movement and this guy is inside this play and outside this play, and this guy is standing on this play and hand down on this play. How much confusion should I expect for myself?) – “That’s why (Christian Wilkins) has to study. That’s why coaches, we have to put him in those positions. You have to keep putting him in positions over and over again and don’t give him too much. He’ll let you know – ‘Hey coach, that’s enough.’ Or you’ll see that player start to play slow. You know he’s a fast-twitch player, you know he’s active, and then you still see him play slow. As a coach, you say ‘Maybe we have to back off of him because he’s not playing fast.’ It might be a little too much for him. Then, some guys, when you’re talking to them they’re nodding their head going ‘I got it, I understand it.’ If he’s ever done it before, it makes it a little bit easier. If he’s never done it, then that kind of changes the game. He’s coming from Clemson. Coach (Brent) Venables’ defense is multiple. He’s been in a 3-4, he’s been a head-up nose guard, he’s been a stand-up (end). He’s come from a system where he was asked to do a lot, so I think the transition is going to be easy – not easy, because the guy across from him is better on a week-in and week-out basis.”
(Are you going to go in with him gradually increasing what you ask of DT Christian Wilkins, or because of his high football IQ and the fact that he’s done everything already, that you can pretty much throw him in there and if you want to do that, you can do it from the start?) – “Yeah. I’ll probably give him a hug tonight and tell him welcome here; but pretty much, here’s the playbook. Let’s get it.”
(DT Christian Wilkins said you were real hard on him at the meeting, that you were the hardest. What did you do to this guy in the meeting?) – “I wouldn’t call it hard. I would say just demanding. I’m never going to attack him as a human. I’m never going to attack the character. They say you get what you expect, and what you expect is what you’re coaching. Sometimes, you have to, I guess, speak loudly to get guys to do what you want. Christian, the guy works hard for you. He gives you all kind of effort. He’s yes or no, so he’s very respectful. Mean is not close to the word, but him being a young guy, okay.”
(Did DT Christian Wilkins ever give you a wet willy or pinch your but like he has done to other assistants?) – “Probably. Not the wet willy, no. I’m going to have to talk to him about the wet willy. That’s not good. (laughter) I’m telling you, you’re going to love visiting with him. Watch yourself on the wet willy. (laughter) He’s a fun-loving guy. You can tell (Dabo) Swinney didn’t take it any way (negatively). It’s kind of his personality. I have to smile when I say Christian Wilkins. I just naturally smile, because I know he would come into meeting rooms early in the morning and his personality is good. He’s coming in like he’s been up for four hours – ‘Hey, what’s going on guys?’ I talked to some of the other defensive linemen and said ‘I promise you, you’re going to really like Christian, not just because he can help you on the field, but you’re going to like him as a personality.’”
(What’s your favorite DT Christian Wilkins story?) – “This is the one he hates the most. This is probably when he said I was mean to him. We played the University of Pittsburgh and they kept running the shovel pass. I think they ran it 12 times his way. I think he stopped the last one. He got to the sideline and I told him ‘I think I’m just going to take you out of the game from now on.’ I told him I’ll make him go back to nose guard or something. That’s the only one he reminds me of the most. I forgot all about it, but that’s the one that got to him the most, I believe.”
(I guess you know probably better than others how to get DT Christian Wilkins going and what bothers him?) – “Yeah. That’s the advantage you get when you get them when they’re young. When they’re 18- and 19-years-old, you kind of find those pressure points. Some guys, you yell at them and that motivates them. Some guys, you yell at them and they go in the opposite direction. Some guys, you just keep hitting the remote and it’s just kind of agonizing, just rewind and ‘Alright coach, I get it.’ It’s just different ways of getting guys’ attention. As long as they try to do what you ask them to do. I have to have tough skin, they have to have tough skin, because we’re all still fighting for one goal.”
(Overall, how do you feel about the d-line right now?) – “I’m feeling good. Those guys, they’re working hard for me. They’re trying to do what they’re asked to do. In this phase two, I do a lot of demonstrating, and they’re pretty strong guys. They beat me up a little bit. I think they’re working hard. They’re picking up the system pretty good. We had a good day today of guys knowing what to do, and that’s big – the discipline aspect of it. I’ve been pleased with the work.”
(I’m doing something on the AAF guys who are on this team – DT Joey Mbu. He’s a guy who had been in the NFL. He goes to the AAF. What do you think the AAF did for him? Was it more a confidence thing? Was it more getting snaps?) – “He has to be getting snaps because repetition is the best teacher. These guys hadn’t played since January and this guy has been playing, so he comes in a little bit of better shape. He’s not working out the wrinkles because he’s coming in from a situation where he played a game on Saturday and was here on Thursday. That’s been encouraging. You can see his movements and everything. You can tell that he’s in better ready football shape than he would be if he was just hadn’t played.”
(Do guys along those lines – the AAF guys, undrafted free agents – is this a better opportunity with the Dolphins on defensive line than on other teams?) – “We’re looking for good players. We’re looking for good players that fit what we do, that fit within the scheme that we do. If they’re coming from the AAF, we don’t care. We’ll evaluate them like we did any other free agent. We evaluated them and we thought this guy could fit and does some things good for the Miami Dolphins, so that’s why those guys are here.”
(What have you seen from DE Charles Harris in phase two?) – “Good. He has that big thing on his hand because his wrist is bothering him a little bit, but he’s active. He’s very conscientious of his assignment and what he wants. He’s kind of quiet, but he’ll ask questions and he wants to know what he’s supposed to be doing so he can play fast. I’ve been very encouraged with him and his effort and getting up there in the front. He’s not a loud leader, but I can hear him talking to the other guys, especially when it gets a little hot out there. We’ve been doing a little bit of running and he kind of sticks out a little bit.”
(This might be kind of a weird question, but when you have a guy that can stand up – he can be down or up – does he end up getting coached by both the d-line coach and the linebackers coach or is that guy really just all yours?) – “He gets coached by everybody. That’s one thing that (Head) Coach (Brian) Flores mentioned to me early – and (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Patrick) Graham – because we are very multiple. The guys are different per snap. Sometimes (Linebackers) Coach (Rob) Leonard is going to have them. Sometimes I’m going to have them. We always made it clear, we have eight coaches out there. That’s a lot of eyes. If you see somebody’s not doing something right, don’t feel bad about correcting (them). I’m not a corners coach, but if a corner comes up and says ‘Coach, should I be inside leverage on that?,’ just from being in meetings, I should have an idea. Everybody is kind of working together. When you’re multiple like that, like you mentioned, (they are) jumping around.”
(So stretching and drills, how does a guy that can stand up know which group to go with?) – “I tell him ‘Pick your one, get stretched and let’s go.’ He knows. Everything has a depth chart. When you’re multiple, in this package you’re here, in this package you’re here. This is the NFL: the best of the best, the smartest of the smartest, the best of the best.”
(What’s your best DT Christian Wilkins story?) – “He has some good ones. He has some that I’m sure he doesn’t want me to mention. He has some embarrassing ones too. I think we played Pittsburgh. They ran the same play at him 12 times and he only made one play on it. I got on him about it afterwards, told him I was going to move him back to nose guard.”
(Did you remind DT Christian Wilkins about that after you drafted him?) – “He reminded me of it. He was like ‘Remember that time?’ I said ‘Oh, yeah, that’s right.’ I said ‘You missed it 12 times, didn’t you?’ He said ‘Yeah, I remember that.’ His energy level is going to run from practice to the game. He is what you see. He comes from a good family. His mother did a great job with him. His coaches have done a great job with him. He understands football. He loves football. I won’t embarrass him, but I have a lot of them (stories).”
