RB Raheem Mostert
(You got some kickoff returns today. I’m just curious how kick returning and being a running back pairs up together and how it helps you do one or the other?) – “When you’re out there, kickoff return is just like being at a running back position. With this offense the way it’s drawn up, you’re able to read holes and everything like that. I just try to mimic that in the kickoff return game. That’s something I’ve been doing for years. Even growing up, being a special teams type of guy, leading into the role of running back, I’ve always tried to teach myself that the game is simplified when you’re able to go out there and run plays and stuff like that in the kickoff return game. So just getting back out there – I haven’t been back there in a couple of years so it was refreshing to get back out there and be able to take those returns.”
(You’re excited. You’re smiling. How fun is it to be back out here with the pads back on. What was today like?) – “First off, let’s just say today was hot. I usually don’t sweat, so if you see a couple of things of sweat coming down my face, that means I was either working of it was extremely hot. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to enjoy this weather. How can you not? I was telling Coach Embree (Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree) that when we were out in California, we were spoiled in that weather. Coming over here, it’s a little bit of a change. But at the end of the day, it’s good weather and being out here is fantastic. I’m always going to put a smile on my face. I’m just that type of guy. Once you get to know me, I like to have fun, and I don’t put the pressure on myself a lot because with anything in life, when you start to put pressure on yourself, it tends to lead you in a direction where you’re not comfortable and you’re not being able to perform at the highest levels that you want to or accomplish goals. Me, I just come into the building. I’m thankful to be in the building and go out here and play football like I’ve been doing for 20-something odd years.”
(You don’t sweat?) – “I don’t sweat. I have to have a real good workout in order to sweat. But as you can tell, I’m drenched. I’m just trying to get used to this weather and being back home and being back in my home state. It’s all a plus. It’s just going to get me better.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel had some interesting comments today. He was talking about going from being an offensive assistant to head coach, and how he’s trying to be self-aware about making sure that he’s that even though he’s the play caller, that he doesn’t lock himself in a room and become an introvert, and change the way he interacts with all the players. That spoke to me about what I perceived to be his emotional intelligence. Knowing him well, give me some insight if you can on his emotional intelligence.) – “His emotional intelligence, he’s very emotionally connected with the players. For him to be in a position where he went from assistant coach to head coach and having that role for the first time, it just shows you the type of connection he’s trying to build here with the team. We all go out here and we put on and do whatever we got to do for ourselves, for our family, and for the organization, and Mike instills that in us. He helps with those attributes. Without the emotional connection and the ties, you can’t really sit here and say that somebody is going to be successful like the way Mike has thus far in his career. It’s only right that we keep that train going.”
(Everybody shows people and the way they care about them in their own way. How would you describe the way Head Coach Mike McDaniel shows people he cares about them?) – “Doing the simple things. Being honest, upfront, and real with them. I think that’s the biggest thing that you have to account for when being a head coach. Not to bash any other coaches out there, but at the same time, you have to understand that we’re players first and then we’re fathers and husbands and uncles and all of that good stuff. You have to treat all of the players as men. When you’re able to do that, you’re going to get a group of guys that want to fight for you. That’s what Mike’s been able to do thus far. Just showing what he can do. At the same time, we do have games that we have to win as well. That’s the most important thing. And if you can get everybody to gel together and win some games, that speaks on the type of coach that he is.
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel talks a lot about how he wants players to be themselves. Do you think he leads by example?) – “Oh, yeah. I tell my wife all the time, Mike was quirky today. It’s one of those things where he’s implementing who he is in the team meetings, out on the field, in the meeting rooms. You just got to realize that and embrace it. It may be corky and funny to somebody else, but honestly that’s just how he is. That’s the person that he is. I’ve been with him for six years, so I know.”
(Has the bar been raised for quirkiness level?) – “He already set the bar high. You can’t go any lower. It’s going to keep getting high honestly. It’s fun to see.”
(What’s an example of something Head Coach Mike McDaniel has done or said that made you say that?) – “Interviews. When you talk to him about interviews, he says what he has to say and does what he does. That’s the type of person he is. I can’t right off the bat give an example. But I know if you go type in Mike McDaniel interviews, you’ll see a whole list on YouTube of all the good stuff and good content that he puts out there. It’s all fun. It’s all good to see too.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that he announces the speeds from practice every day. How motivating is that for you guys as players?) – “It is motivating. It’s a competition at the end of the day. I know that I’m the fastest on the field. We’re not going to speak about two of the animals or whatever because they are not really that fast when it comes to a car. (laughter) But yeah, it’s funny to see those things and be able to compete at a level that we all race and have fun. I’m pretty sure I clocked a good time today. We’ll see what tomorrow brings in meetings and we’ll go from there.”
(What’s the fastest you’ve been timed so far?) – “The fastest I’ve been timed is a 20.8 (miles per hour). Tyreek (Hill) clocked a 23. I think I got a 23 today on a kickoff return. We’ll see though. (laughter)”
LB Duke Riley
(What have your experiences been this training camp and what are some things you’ve been working on to really solidify your role on this defense?) – “Just enjoying the process, enjoying still being in it Year Six. Enjoying still being back with a lot of the same guys. Familiar faces, familiar defense. Just working on taking it day by day, meeting by meeting, practice by practice, second by second. That’s all I can do. Not looking back, not looking forward. Just trying to improve every single day in every single thing that I do.”
(What do you think about year six and going into that. What does that mean to you, and everything you’ve gone through in your football life?) – “I look at it like I’m an older guy. I’m a guy that should be in some situations, not all situations, but in some situations counted on to do the right thing. I’m looked at as a guy that whenever my name is called, I’ll be the guy to do my job, to make sure that it’s done 100 percent. That’s what I’m focused on is just making sure I do my job for my team, to make sure I put my team in the best situation that they can be.”
(On the other side of the football, what have you seen from QB Tua Tagovailoa and how he’s performed this season so far?) – “I’ve seen a lot of growth. I’ve seen a lot of camaraderie . (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) does a good job. He’s an offensive-minded coach, so he’s taking care of the offensive side. We usually stay to the defensive side. Even in defensive meetings, we don’t see the offense really until it’s time to go against them on the field. They are electric. There is a lot of speed, a lot of weapons for Tua and that’s a great thing. It’s like you got this guy covered, but then there is somebody else you’ve got to worry about as well. That’s a good thing that Tua has is there’s a lot of weapons. He’s doing a great job. I love Tua. He’s a better person than anything. He’s a guy that’s going to hit you up almost every day throughout the offseason to see how you’re doing throughout the week. I love Tua as a person, not even as a football player. I obviously love him as a football player, but Tua is a great person and a great friend to me.”
(Speaking of Tua, there was plenty of pressure looks out there for him today. How do you think he did against those?) – “I think he did a good job and I think it’s really good that we’re giving him those looks. We obviously as a defense have a lot of looks and we show a lot of different things and we’re making it harder for him. I feel like we’re giving him some of the hardest things he’ll see throughout the season so I think will help him throughout the games and in like-game situations.”
(What do you think about the linebacker rotation and the depth that you guys can produce at the beginning of the season as opposed to mid-year last year where you guys kind of struggled?) – “I think it’s good. Like I said before, just using guys in certain situations. I think it’s really good that we got a lot of the guys back. We all know the system, we all work together well. We all encourage each other every single day to be better, and we’re pushing each other. It’s great. It’s competition and we all love it.”
(Does having that group back enable you to get more vulnerable with each other? And to really work as a unit?) – “Being with people longer, it’s easier to have, I guess you could say more uncomfortable conversations with people. It’s really rare because we know how to work. A lot of guys in the room are older. We have one rookie in the room with Channing (Tindall) and we’re definitely bring him along. But most of the guys are four, five, six, seven years in. We already have a standard set in the room of how we’re going to come to work every day and how we’re going to bring each other along. I don’t think there is a day that we come to work and everyone in the room isn’t trying work as hard as they can and do their job and bring each other along. It’s constant. When I’m in, I’m helping the guy next to me, and they are helping me. In the game, there are so many things moving at one time, and we’re constantly helping each other get in a better position. We’re constantly celebrating each other’s wins. I think that’s what it’s all about. We’re happy for each other. We’re very vulnerable like you said, and we really have a great relationship with each other.”
(Having the one rookie in LB Channing Tindall, and now you going into year six, how special or what’s your perspective on seeing a guy go through a process that you’ve already gone through?) – “It’s a beautiful thing, to be honest with you. Me being the guy that I am, I know when I came in as a rookie, I was competing. I came in with a young linebacker corps and those second-year guys, I was competing with those guys. They were learning as well. The fact that I’ve learned a lot in this league. This is my third team, I’ve been around a lot of good veterans, I’ve been around a lot of good players. It’s like I can teach him. I always tell him every single day to make sure you write down everything you hear because at the end of the day, we’re getting information that coaches – I love the game so much that one day I may coach it. So I’m getting so much information and I’m getting some of the most elite information from these coaches so I try to write down as much as I hear. Even if I hear the same thing, I’m writing it down again. I feel like if I write it down so much, I won’t be able to get it wrong. I don’t do it until I get it write, I do it until I can’t get it wrong. Just constantly creating that repetition, and those habits of taking notes and film study and things that coming from college and the NFL, especially in the SEC like Channing was, the game speed is kind of similar. But the anticipation and the knowledge of the game has to go a step up. I think he’s doing a good job. I think he has a lot of potential and I love being the guy that helps the younger guys. Not even the younger guys, the older guys and everyone that I can. I love being that guy.”
(Do you like being a leader?) – “Yes, ma’am.”
(Do you have a notebook? What kind of notes?) – “I actually don’t have a notebook because I had it when I first got into the league. But I have an iPad. I bought an iPad and I have this app that I have every single note that I have taken from 2018 from every single coach. Instead of having it in a paper form, I have it in an iPad form where I can go back to 2018 OTAs, 2018 training camp, 2018 season from the Falcons. I have all of my Philadelphia notes. I have all of my notes from last year from every defensive coordinator I played with and every special teams coach I played with. I can go back and write down and look at everything that they said because I’m writing down the stuff that they’ve done. That’s going to be my edge one day if I want to become a coach one day, if that’s the route I want to go.”
(You said you love QB Tua Tagovailoa as a person. Do you feel like he’s been able to be that person more this year or show that person?) – “I don’t know how to say this but I feel like he’s coming out of his shell more. I don’t want to sound like he was in a shell, but he’s getting more comfortable. He’s in his third year. He knows a lot of the guys are counting on him and a lot of the guys on the team have always believed in Tua. There has never been a doubt in anyone’s mind. I think he’s getting a better feel of the game and the players and the repetition. I think he’s an amazing person like I said. We talk more on the golf course than we do out here in the building. I think that’s the best part about it.”
(Was it kind of an uncomfortable environment because it wasn’t as supportive of QB Tua Tagovailoa overall at times?) – “I wouldn’t say that. It was just different in it’s own ways. I think that this year with this team, a lot of the same guys back. We brought in more talent, brought in more weapons. I just think that the old veterans that they brought in (Terron) Armstead, Tyreek (Hill), they are bringing their own type of certain energy to the table. I think everybody is doing their part, playing their part.”
(How is your golf game?) – “Tua can get me. He got me. (laughter) He’s actually been teaching me because I wasn’t a real golfer but I’m definitely getting better. He’s Tua. Just how he does football is how he does anything. He wants to be perfect. He’ll practice and work at it. He’s definitely out there way more than me hitting golf balls. But that’s offseason stuff. Right now it’s straight ball. I think he’s a great person and a great human. He’s our quarterback. We’re going to protect him at all times.”
WR Trent Sherfield
(I’ll ask you the question I asked RB Raheem Mostert because you guys have obviously known Head Coach Mike McDaniel for a long time. Every time we have a press conference, he says something that surprises me and I can’t believe a coach said that. Today, he talked about how he wants to be self-aware, that even though he’s the play-caller he doesn’t ever want to be perceived as introverted. He wants to make sure that he has that connection with the players and when he passed by the hallway, he’s still able to connect with them. Tell me about this guy’s emotional intelligence. What do you think about it?) – “I think it’s very, very high. To me, what stands out to me is that he’s the same guy that he was in San Fran. He didn’t come here, get a head-coaching job and then all of a sudden just change. He’s been that way. He’s been that same guy. He’s going to keep you on your toes. He wants to be player interactive. He’s a player-first coach. He’s very aware. He’s aware of his surroundings. He’s a very, very intelligent person. I’m grateful to be playing for him again. The thing that I can respect the most is that he’s still Mike. You can go up and talk to him at any time. He’s not somebody who is going to shield off and doesn’t want to talk or anything like that. He’ll ask you about your family and anything outside of football. That’s the type of person that he is, for sure.”
(I know it’s hard sometimes to think of like a great story or a specific example on the spot because there are so many stories. But can you think of a moment where you were impressed with something you saw or heard that made you feel like he really cares about people?) – “I can’t really think of anything specific. I’ll say one thing that I do notice a lot is when I was in San Fran, we would have the family come to camp just like how we have today, and he was the first one over to his family with his kids, his wife and even today, it was the same exact thing. You could just tell that he’s family-oriented, even with his own family. And he considers us his family as well, too. I think he takes the same exact approach.”
(On if he’s noticed any changes in Head Coach Mike McDaniel from being offensive coordinator to now being head coach) – “No. I have not. The only thing is just calling the plays with a walkie-talkie in his hand. I think that’s it. From a characteristics standpoint, he’s still the same guy, still the same individual. Like I said, player interactive. He’s always going to keep you on your toes, going to toss out a funny joke here or there and that’s Mike. That’s something that you have to respect about him.”
(What’s the benefit to having a coach who is a little more player-friendly? Because a lot of times NFL coaches … like Bill Belichick off the top of my head. So what’s the benefit of having a coach that…) – “I think the benefit is honestly you get the trust from the players. I think you get a little more vulnerability from the players. When I say that, I mean the players are able to go to Mike because Mike’s door is always open. That’s what he always says. We can go to Mike and talk to him about anything. We might want to do this differently or whatever the case may be, Mike is all ears. He’s willing to listen. I think that’s the benefit of having a coach like that because he wants to listen to the players. He wants to do it the players’ way, and also do it his way, but he wants to bring it together and make it a family thing.”
(What’s your favorite thing about working with QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “I think my favorite thing about working with Tua is his response. I think that’s my favorite thing. Tua can go out and he can make a mistake and the very next play, he’s out making a much better play – an eye-popping play. I’ve worked with Tua all summer this offseason and it was great to learn from him. He’s a great leader, a great quarterback, and I can’t wait to get out there and play with him.”
(Do you think this season QB Tua Tagovailoa can kind of respond to some of the adversity that he’s had?) – “Absolutely. I think the naysayers and everything are totally in the back of his mind. I think Tua just focuses on himself and getting better day in and day out. Obviously with the weapons that we have now, it’s only going to exemplify the type of quarterback that he is. Tua has been working. Shoot, he faced adversity even at Alabama. So this nothing new to him. It’s just a testament to how he comes day in and day out, shows that he’s willing to work and shows what type of player and what type of leader that he’s going to be.”
(Have you heard QB Tua Tagovailoa play the guitar?) – “No, I haven’t. I have not seen him play that yet. I would love to see that, but I haven’t.”
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I had a two-part question. First thing was with OL Michael Deiter, do we know if he’ll be ready for the regular season or is it a long-term thing? My second question, one thing we don’t yet know about you as a head coach, we saw something last night that made me think of this. You’re probably aware WR Preston Williams tweeted “Just want an opportunity, shaking my head.” When a player who wants more chances at practice does something like that, do you say something to the player? Do you let it slide? Do you throw him more passes? Do you bake him a cake? What’s your reaction in general when a guy says something like that?) – “Wait, so those are two separate questions, right?”
(They are, so I’m going to pay more in the piggy bank.) – “Alright, so can we go back to the first question? OK, here. To best organize this efficiently, you have two questions. First question.”
(OL Michael Deiter, is he out long term, or will he be ready…) – “I don’t have concern right now with the information that we have about the regular season. So we’ll just let the week play out and see where he’s at at the beginning of next week. Next question was?”
(On WR Preston Williams with his tweet about just wanting an opportunity. What’s your philosophy as a head coach? Do you say something to him and say this is not a good idea? Or do you just let it slide? Does it affect how many passes you throw him?) – “There are – the most pressing needs of the football team – I don’t necessarily see within social media. So I don’t prioritize that necessarily. I do, however, prioritize opportunities for players to follow their dreams. One of the things that (Wide Receivers Coach) Wes Welker and I strongly connect on from our journeys, which were the exact same – we were the same athlete by the way (laughter) – is that we hold with a lot of esteem and responsibility preparing people and giving them opportunities. It’s also the – really looking to the players, too, to understand that every time they’re on the field, the way we do things, it’s a tremendous opportunity for them as well as their teammates who they’re depending on to execute and operate at a high standard. I wouldn’t – people care. People want to do good, so I get that and I don’t really hold much weight to all of that.”
(There was a lot of talk around the league this weekend about guardian caps and the usefulness and if they’re so important, why they do we only wear them for a couple of weeks and are they leading to bad habits. Do you have any stance on it? What do you see from the usage of them? Are guys using them the right way? Do you see the value from…?) – “Once things become mandate, I try not to let things occupy my brain space, whether or not it’s the value of it. It makes sense – it makes sense to me in preparation why it became a mandate, so I don’t really operate outside of that debate just because that’s kind of a wasted brain space for me and for the players. So it’s rule, you’re going to wear them, so I don’t really have a feeling pro or against because of that.”
(How is WR Erik Ezukanma doing?) – “The rookie – the strife of a rookie in the National Football League is so often underestimated and understated. You have to realize that grown men who have been playing NFL seasons for an extended period of time that have been making a living for their family and doing so within the confines of a certain scheme, that is a lot of ground to make up when you enter the league as a rookie. So I’ll start by saying all players, really, by and large, the biggest thing is getting better all the time. You’re not staying stagnant. It’s not if but when you make mistakes, how do you correct them? Rookies especially, I try not to get ahead of myself and look at, ‘Well, he can do X, Y or Z in a month when the regular season starts.’ It’s specifically and it’s no more truer than for rookies, are they improving on things? Are they making the same mistake twice? That’s one exciting thing about Erik, is that he is learning a completely new language at a different speed and temp. The rookie trials are hilarious, I don’t know why it’s not talked about more. The speed of the game, the pass rush, you don’t have much time – the quarterback doesn’t have that much time to operate in the NFL game and nine times out of 10, every rookie receiver that starts minicamp, every single year lines up like four yards off the ball when they’re off the ball. It’s like, that shows you how far they have to come, so it is a tough thing to accomplish, to be able to, in a short period of time. But I’ve been very encouraged with how he’s handled himself and corrected things. The mistakes are changing, they’re not the same ones and that’s what you want. So I’m, happy about that.”
(Pads come on today, how much does that give you a real sense of the run games with more physical blocking in practice?) – “So pads are obviously a big deal, it’s a big part of football. But one thing that I stress to the team this offseason that I truly believe is that if you practice the right way without pads, it’s less significant when they come on. That doesn’t mean they’re not significant; it minimizes how significant it is. I’m very happy with how we practiced without pads, because we deliberately approach it as though we would have it. You put yourself in position to either block or tackle, obviously, it’s not the same and you can’t deliver on the force as much. So it is a very valuable thing. I would have been disappointed if I would have really been eager for the pads to come on. Like ‘Wow, we really can get a look at this.’ I would have been disappointed. The players have really owned how they’ve practiced without pads, so I’m excited but it’s just another step in the process. There are some valuable run-game trench stuff that comes from the backs being able to brace contact. That’s super valuable. So yes, it does help evaluate the run game from blocking stuff. I don’t expect it to change drastically because of the way that we’ve approached and attacked technique on both sides of the ball.”
(Yesterday when we were talking with DT Raekwon Davis, he was mentioning how much better he feels having slimmed down and his quickness and so forth. I’m wondering what you see from him in that regard? Also last week, OL Austin Jackson was saying some of the same things. Were there many players that were asked to slim down for this training camp?) – “It was kind of a concerted effort by the coaching staff, both starting with (Offensive Coordinator) Frank Smith and (Defensive Coordinator) Josh Boyer, but trickling down to each and every position coach and their assistants that the idea is to show them a vision of what we want to be. On both sides of the ball in both retrospects, it behooves a player to be at the maximum athleticism – their maximum explosion, their maximum speed with flexibility, all of those things. We did, I think, a good job in the offseason kind of really painting that picture for them, and it’s to the player’s credit that they’ve said, ‘You know what? I’m all into this. I’m all in for this. My career does mean something to me, and I don’t want to have regrets after my career, saying what if I was X, Y or Z?’ So that’s the thing – it wasn’t like a straight mandate you have to go and be this that or whatever. It was kind of a play on my firm belief that players, just like coaches, just like people, they want to be their best. So if you show them without a shadow of a doubt that X gets them to that spot, if they’re the right type of people that you’d want to have on the team, they will respond and get to that point that best fits their physical prowess.”
(The team announced it was going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the undefeated 1972 team and obviously Larry Csonka spoke to you guys. I’m just curious as you kind of were growing up in the game just what did you know about the 1972 team, and now that you’re a member of the organization, what have you learned about that team?) – “I remember vividly 11 years before I was in the womb. (laughter) No, who doesn’t – you’re talking every single year of my life, like clockwork. Chris Berman, ESPN, graphics – they evolved over time, but the champagne bottles pop – it’s kind of in the narrative and that’s what’s unique about that team, is that it carries annual credence when everyone fails to duplicate what they did. So I think it also goes to show that particular team; one thing that I think is something that each and every player in the league and every team – but most importantly this team – understands is what one year and one team can do, the ramifications that can have for the rest of your life. That’s the thing that’s really overwhelming to me is these people are bonded forever. I was talking to Larry (Csonka) about some of his nonverbal communication with some of the people he played with on that team, how that’s still present today. It’s like the wife look like – or whatever. You can talk without talking. And how powerful and cool is that to ever be present in the moment in your life knowing that it’s going to have residuals for the rest of it. I think that’s something that we should be proud of as a team, that we understand and are proud to be coaching this team when we’re celebrating it and to be able to be connected with them in one way, shape or form is a privilege to us that we do not take lightly.”
(I did not mean to insinuate that you were born or alive during that time, by the way. Just making sure.) – “Yeah, I mean I thought I’d been aging all right, but… (laughter)”
(Along those lines, did you ever cross paths with Coach Shula?) – “I did not unfortunately, no. Obviously I wish I would have. It would have been an honor, but really there were a lot of years that I was a Broncos fan and I was like, ‘wow, they’re better than us.’ (laughter) There were a lot of years that was occurring. But no I unfortunately did not.”
(WR Tyreek Hill said earlier that him and WR Jaylen Waddle are the fastest duo in the NFL. First of all, obviously that’s seen as a luxury having that much speed, but can you talk – are there any difficulties in scheming that up, having that much speed on the field?) – “It’s kind of like the difficulties – the guy who has three yachts has deciding which yacht to pick. No, there’s not difficulties with that. It’s very desirable. We’re very fortunate and whether – I think competitive players that are willing to go out and say, ‘yeah, we’re the fastest in the league,’ – those are guys that are competitive that are willing and want to prove it. And regardless of skillset, you have players like that on your team and you feel pretty good about it. There’s no – you don’t need a shed a tear for our problems with our speed decisions, but to me I think – they talk about their speed a lot which is cool, but they’re also fast football players that block, that do the things that teammates need to do. When they’re called upon to be a fast electric decoy, they do that. I think that they’re not fast guys, they’re fast football players and that’s the coolest part about them and why we don’t really have issues.”
(Speaking of Tyreek, do you agree that they’re the fastest duo in NFL history?) – “I agree that I’m excited to see them prove one way or the other that being the case. (laughter) I’m definitely not going to say that they’re not, but I’m definitely not going to say they are either. That’s for them to prove, which they know and they’re excited about, but that’s for them to prove on Sundays.”
(What was your reaction on QB Tua Tagovailoa’s bomb to WR Tyreek Hill?) – “What was my reaction? My reaction was they did exactly what I told them to do. (laughter) No, that’s not the first time and it won’t be the last that they’ll connect like that. I was pumped because the exciting part to me was that Tua did it at the appropriate time. He wasn’t just throwing a long ball. He read the defense and that’s what he felt and he did it with conviction. If you guys watch it, he did it in one-hitch timing which is kind of how we want the quarterback to do it, but the reaction was what’s the next play because I think everyone would be disappointed if we were satisfied with that. That’s what we’re supposed to do when it’s there and let’s go execute the next play.”
(Who has the fastest timed speed in training camp so far?) – “It’s funny because every time that Tyreek (Hill) isn’t the fastest guy on the practice field, I make a huge deal with the team. I build it up like, ‘Tyreek, congratulations, man. You’ve been working so hard. You got third.’ (laughter) ‘Like, we’re all so happy for you.’ And he gets… but I did it enough where it pushed him to – Tyreek entered into the 23s (miles per hour) which you don’t really see that often at practice and all this speed talk is just making him go faster, so write what you will.”
(You’ve talked a lot about how you see your job as maximizing the dreams of everyone in the building. You’re in the building, too. I’m curious what conditions do you feel help you to best maximize your dreams?) – “Honestly, I don’t talk about it much, but the people that hired me – I’m talking about the owner Steve Ross, Chris Grier, Brandon Shore, Tom Garfinkel – and this atmosphere with everyone in this building provided the perfect atmosphere for me to be who I was. It was what kind of what was described to me they kind of needed and they knew when they were hiring me that they were hiring me and not some version copycat of somebody else, so I think this place more so than I’ve ever felt really in my career; I feel most at home, most myself, which is for anyone kind of speaks to the type of culture we’re hoping to perpetuate. There’s an attachment to that and there’s a feeling that you can be your best self and get the most out of you in those types of situations.”
(What’s been the biggest adjustment for you personally going from offensive coordinator to head coach in training camp?) – “I mean, there’s been no adjustment. (laughter) The biggest adjustment – I’m very conscientious of the people that I don’t get to have heavy discourse with on a day-to-day basis, but who still their days are affected by how I treat them. So as an offensive coordinator, I think you can get a little more cerebral and focused and introverted with conceptual things, football X’s and O’s. And as a head coach, I think it’s very important that you don’t lose yourself within yourself in that way because somebody passes your office in the hallway and you are thinking about something, you just give them a little nod and that’s out of character of how you usually address them, now you’ve just negatively impacted their day for the rest of it which isn’t – to me, that’s not me doing a good job. My job is to maximize, not to ever inhibit. So that is a change. I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of people do that at a high level and have been on the other end of it, but it is something that I have to be mindful of every day. Otherwise I’ll be mad at myself and none of us want that.”
