Tony Oden – August 1, 2019
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Thursday, August 1, 2019
Safeties Coach Tony Oden
(The move of CB Bobby McCain, what led to that in terms of making him a safety and how has he done?) – “We’re trying to move all of our players around a little bit, as you can tell. We want our guys to know all different positions. He’s smart, he’s intelligent, he’s physical, he has some good athleticism and he’s doing well. He’s learning it. Who is to say that he’s going to be there all of the time? You just don’t know. Our guys are all playing different positions. That’s one of the things that we want to do is have guys have position flex(ibility) and those kinds of things, and our guys have embraced that. They’ve learned different roles and they’ve done a good job with that.”
(CB Bobby McCain has done a lot of things well but is there any concern with his size as a safety, if you have like a 6-foot-6 tight end matched up against him?) – “Well, it’s a concern any time you have a tight end that’s 6-foot-6, (laughter) whether it’s him or anyone else. But we have other things that we can do. I’m not concerned about Bobby and his height and size. He plays big, he plays fast, he’s smart, he understands situational football so he knows how to position himself if he finds himself in a matchup like that. I’m not concerned about that.”
(And do you want S Reshad Jones and S T.J. McDonald to be equally skilled at both strong and free safety so you can be versatile and multiple?) – “We want them all to be strong and skilled and play strong, free, inside, outside. We want them to know what the linebackers are doing. We want them to know what the d-linemen are doing. We want them to know all of the positions, all of the techniques and all of the communication so we can be multiple.”
(I know it’s team-first here and you have to leave the ego at the door as Head Coach Brian Flores has said, but did you have to talk to S T.J. McDonald and S Reshad Jones initially at the start of camp and say ‘Hey, look – if you aren’t in with the first team, don’t be bent out of shape by it?’) – “Well, Coach (Flores) has set the tone for our organization when he got here and all of our guys have bought into that. They always know that the team is first. He set the tone from Day 1, so we didn’t have to say much. Those guys knew. Those guys are professionals. They’ve been in the league a long time and they know exactly how it goes. They know how we rotate anyway, so there’s not a lot of conversation with that. They’ve done a good job of handling it. There’s no concern.”
(Where have you seen the biggest growth from S Minkah Fitzpatrick from last year?) – “Well, his hair was growing a little bit and then he cut that. (laughter) Other than that, he’s learning the game. When guys first come out, they kind of just get out there and they’re just concerned with getting lined up. Right now, he’s understanding the game and situational football – what’s the difference between first down and third down? What’s the difference between first down and third down? What’s the difference between third-and-2 and third-and-8? What’s the difference between the end of the half 2-minute (situation) versus the end of a game 2-minute (situation)? So situational awareness, understanding formations, understanding the personnel the offense has in the game – it’s little things like that that all of our guys are growing with but since you asked about him in particular, that’s one of his biggest growths right there.”
(Now the defensive back responsibilities have been split up obviously here. How are the meetings? Do you and Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks Josh Boyer meet collectively with all of the defensive backs or are safeties in one room and cornerbacks in another?) – “Well, we do it all. Sometimes as an entire defense, we meet together. Sometimes he may take one group of guys and I may take another group of guys. The one thing that ‘Coach Flo’ (Brian Flores) and those guys have been doing a good job of is that we’re not necessarily coaching a position, you’re coaching a technique. So it could be anybody in the room. We want to be able to go down and if something happens to (Defensive Line) Coach (Marion) Hobby or if Coach Hobby is going over to talk to defensive ends, I need to know what the defensive tackles are doing. If we talk the same language and we know the same things, it doesn’t matter who is in the room. So we split it up all of the time and it’s all hands on deck in regards to that.”
(On the occasion where the safeties and cornerbacks might be in different meetings, which one does S Minkah Fitzpatrick attend?) – “It could be either one, depending on the day. What’s today? Thursday? He may have been in the other room. It doesn’t matter. We just kind of keep it fluid in regards to that depending on what we’re doing that day.”
(Do you look at that as both starting safety jobs are open? Obviously you have three veterans with CB Bobby McCain, S Reshad Jones and S T.J. McDonald. S Minkah Fitzpatrick obviously can do multiple things. Is that your consideration, that both are open right now?) – “Well, all positions are open right now. There’s not a safety group, there’s not a linebacker group, there’s not a d-line group. It’s all positions. That’s one of the good things about our defense is that they are just spots on the field. You can line (up) anywhere. There’s not the traditional thing when you are talking about the safety position or the linebacker position. We’re all just competing for positions and competing to go out here and earn the right to play the next day?”
(Have you been on a coaching staff like this before where everything seems to be interchangeable?) – “Not to this degree, but it’s been refreshing. It’s humbling in one way because it forces you to learn on the run and learn all different things. It’s refreshing in one aspect because you do learn it all. You develop an ability to be able to coach it all and it is all interchangeable. Not to disagree, but I’m excited about.”
(Does that help you and your development as a coach?) – “Without question. Big time. Just knowing what everyone does. Sometimes you kind of pigeonhole yourself as a position coach and kind of focus on your guys and maybe the guys that may fit close to your guys; but here, you know everything. You know stunts, run gaps, run fits, the communication between the defensive tackle and the defensive end and all of that, so it’s been great.”
(Do players have to be smarter or study more in this system compared to other coordinators you’ve been with in your career?) – “I would say to a degree, yes, because you have to be able to play multiple positions. But that’s one of the things you look for in any organization. You want guys that are problem solvers that can make a poor decision a good decision on the field. We’re not out there playing, so they’ve got to be the problem solvers and we have to make the changes and the adjustments out there. So you’re always looking for that; but any time you add guys that play multiple roles, you want guys that have some kind of intelligence to be able to do that, and most of our guys do. Most of the guys in the NFL can, you just have to teach them right way and those kinds of things.”
(We’ve seen S Montre Hartage flash a little bit out here. What have you seen from him and where does he fit?) – “Well, he’s a rookie. All rookies, they’re learning; but he’s doing a good job. He’s getting better and better every day. He plays fast. He’s just learning how to communicate and those kinds of things. Getting lined up, he’s gotten better. Each day, he’s getting better. The alignment, the assignment, the communication, anticipation and all of those things, each day he just keeps checking the box like the rest of the guys. The other guys are doing well, as well.”
