Thursday, February 15, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver
Mike McDaniel:
(Opening statement) – “This is an exciting day for me and the Miami Dolphins to be able to formally introduce Anthony Weaver as defensive coordinator. The whole process of it was real cool for me because it started as the person and who could have the biggest impact as a person. Then in the process, we got to get down to some nitty-gritty on some schematic football side of it that really allows us to build on what we’ve been good at and continue forward in 2024, which is what we are all focused on. So without further ado, Anthony Weaver.”
Anthony Weaver:
(I wanted to know what do you think your experience as a former player adds to the dimension as a defensive coach and just as a coach in general?) – “I think that’s been a huge asset for me just in general throughout my coaching career. Not necessarily for the ups of what I did while I played, but more of the hardships and adversity that I faced, because I can help coach guys through that so they can persevere and ultimately, hopefully, be better than I was at those same situations. That is probably the biggest asset for me as far as my playing career. Just having the ability to coach guys through those adverse situations.”
(I know a lot of people are wondering, you’ve spent the last couple of years in Baltimore and have experiences in Washington D.C. and Houston. In terms of the scheme that you’re planning to bring to Miami, when you foresee that, do you think you are going to be bound to one particular scheme? How do you kind of approach that?) – “Yeah, I think the scheme that we used in Baltimore is extremely multiple and flexible, and the foundation of what we’re going to do here will be from that. But the beauty in that is a lot of the things that they’ve already done here that they’ve had success in, we’re very similar there, so there should be a lot of crossover teaching. I think in this league, it’s hard to just pigeon-hole yourself as one particular thing because you’re going to face different situations throughout the entire year, whether it’s weather, injuries. There’s a multitude of factors and your scheme better be flexible enough to adapt to the players and adapt to whatever situation you may be in.”
(I read somewhere, correct me if I’m wrong, that you had a home in Ft. Lauderdale for a long time?) – “Yeah, I have. Since 2009.”
(Why?) – “Obviously it’s a beautiful part of the country to be in. I’m from upstate New York. So to come down to the sun, the beach and all of that stuff is obviously incredible. You want to be down here. It’s awesome. My wife and kids, they love it too. We bought this place in 2009. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, helped me find the place, and we kind of grew into it. It certainly won’t fit us all now because we didn’t have two kids when we first bought the place, so we will be selling it, but we’ve always loved it down here. It’s a tremendous community.”
(Who would you say is your greatest influence on what you believe and your fundamentals as a defensive coach?) – ‘I have a couple. The first one is Romeo Crennel. He is a guy that was very detailed in terms of techniques and fundamentals, and what he expected from the guys. But more importantly, off the field, he was extremely calm in the chaos. There are a lot of ups and downs throughout the NFL season. You have some guys that ride the roller coaster. I don’t believe that. I think when you do that, your players are going to react the same way. I try very much to be the same guy every day. I really don’t have to try. It’s truly just who I am. And then just constantly making sure we’re trying to get one percent better, which requires 100 percent effort every day. I think as long as you’re on that constant chase to get better, eventually you’ll get to where you want to go. So my first is Romeo Crennel. My second one has to be John Harbaugh. In my short three years with him, I saw how he walked and operated and constantly kept the pulse of the team. When he got up and addressed the team, he always had something in particular in mind and was very direct in what he was trying to get done. I have so much respect for how he walks and operates. It was much different than any coach I’d been around prior, and really confirmed what I was doing to myself. I was like, this is how I envision myself operating, and obviously it works, and you can have success doing it.”
(What is at the core of your overall philosophy as a leader, as a coach, as a teacher?) – “I think of coaching as service work. I subscribe to the thought that if you work in service, you should never get nervous. When I got into this coaching profession in 2010, in my mind I was like, I’m going to get in this because this game has been so good to me, and this is my opportunity to pay it forward. Whatever has happened as a result of that has truly been me trying to make sure that I can be a force multiplier with whoever that is around me. Every player, every coach, anybody whether they are in the cafeteria, in communications, in PR. I want to be in service to them and make sure they get my absolute best every single day.”
(When you look at the roster on defense, what unit or player excites you the most?) – “There are probably multiple guys on every level of defense that you can get excited about. Upfront, you’ve got the Zach Sieler, Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins – you got to love watching him. David Long at the linebacker position. Jevon Holland who is an absolute beast and playmaker out there running around. Jalen Ramsey. On every level of defense, there is somebody that you get excited about watching. I know there are guys I fail to mention and I apologize to all of them, but the opportunity to come here as a team that has had the success they’ve had, shoot, how do you pass on that? Mike (McDaniel) and that offense, they are going to put up points. That’s definitely going to happen. It’s our job to make sure we give up less points than the other team. We plan on doing that every time we get out there.”
(What was the biggest lesson you took from your first stint as DC in Houston in 2020?) – “One, try not to take a job when there is a worldwide pandemic. (laughter) Two, problems are gifts. With all the adversity we dealt with throughout that season, although we didn’t get the results on the field we wanted, I felt like that unit as a whole always stayed together and fought their butts off to the bitter end. I take a tremendous amount of pride in that. What did I learn? I learned one, problems are gifts. But two, you better be multiple enough in your scheme, like I talked about earlier, to handle whatever situation arises. Whether that’s injury, COVID, whatever that might be, you better make sure you have answers schematically.”
(You mentioned DT Christian Wilkins. Was one of the conditions I’m only taking the job if Christian Wilkins was playing for us?) – (laughter) “I love coaching good players, and obviously he is one of them. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I know that he’s positioned himself, obviously, for a huge payday, and as an ex-player, I completely understand the business of the league. I love Christian and would love to have him, but man, we’ll see.”
(You’ve now played in a different era, and you’re coaching in this unique era. How would you compare this era of players to what you’ve played in?) – “Well they make a lot more money with the NIL, first and foremost. You may not see me if I made that NIL money back then. (laughter) But I think overall, the players are the same. You hear guys saying, ‘this decade of players, they’re soft,’ and all this stuff with social media. The players are the same. They want to be coached hard and they want to be loved up, and that’s what I believe in. I believe in coach them hard and love them up, man. Usually when you do that, they tend to respond for you.”
(Problems are gifts is an adage of yours. Have you heard of adversity is an opportunity yet around the building?) – “I have not heard that one yet.”
(Those sound very similar.) – “Now most of the coaches have been off, so.”
(My question is because Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about the person starting with you first, I’m curious about your experience on that side of coming in here and meeting McDaniel and the staff and just your experience with getting to know the guys?) – “So I’ve known Mike (McDaniel) since 2006. He was a QC (quality control) in Houston when I played there. Who you guys see on a week-to-week basis is who he has always been. I had a tremendous amount of respect when I played under him directly, but I just saw his work ethic as a veteran player at that particular point. Then when I had the opportunity to coach with him in Cleveland, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s special.’ It took the rest of the world a little bit longer to see that than I did. Some other head coaches along the way, I tried to get them to hire Mike, (and they) wouldn’t listen. (laughter) But hey, to their detriment. From a coaching standpoint, philosophically, we believe in the same things. We believe in – I’m going to go back. Do you guys remember Clarence Brooks? Clarence Brooks, he coached here defensive line back in early 2000s, something like that. He’s since passed, rest in peace, but Clarence used to say, ‘This game has been and always will be about the players,’ and I believe that wholeheartedly. As an ex-player, I know how finite this career is, and because of that, I take my responsibility in a leadership position as a defensive coordinator extremely, extremely important. I don’t want to waste anybody’s very finite time in this league. Because of that, man, we want to be great in all that we do.”
(What is your overall philosophy at this present day on the blitz, how often to use it, when to use it?) – “Blitzing is truly – it’s got to be calculated and not reckless. I’ve been around both guys. I’ve been around guys that just call it and let’s see what happens. Let’s throw flies in the windshield and see what sticks. Then I’ve been around guys that have been more calculated in that, and I believe you have to be calculated and not reckless in blitzing. Because when you do blitz, you’re obviously leaving your under coverage and secondary vulnerable. So whenever we do blitz, it’ll be with intent.”
(What are some of your fondest memories as a player?) – “Probably my fondest memory didn’t come in the National Football League. It actually happened at the University of Notre Dame. I was an 18-year-old freshman. It was my first game, and I was fortunate enough to start. I was truly a product – you talk about great coaching, I had an incredible coach in high school, Blaise Juliano. He played defensive end in the Canadian Football League. So going into Notre Dame, my technique and fundamentals were leaps and bounds above more freshmen walking in at that particular point. So you talk about stressing the importance of technique and fundamentals, it started there. I learned that early. But that first game, we’re playing the University of Michigan. They had just won the national championship. They had a tackle who was a preseason All-American named Jon Jansen. So I’m starting this game, 18 years old. You can imagine, butterflies in my stomach. I’m just glad we weren’t wearing white pants, let’s say that. (laughter) The first half, I am lined up like a yard off the ball because I so scared of my coach yelling at me for being offsides. But the second half, I forced a fumble, and we end up winning the game against the national champions and our entire student section rushes the field. So, I just think every game’s going to be like that. It wasn’t, obviously, but that memory will be forever sketched in my mind.”
(How important is it for you to get those memories for the players that you’re going be in charge of?) – “It’s everything. Ultimately, yeah, you get paid a king’s ransom to play this game. I think everybody involves in this business knows that. But I’ve never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. So at the end of the day, we’re not dying with our money. But when we’re sitting there, hopefully you have some incredible memories to look back on and cherish and that’s what I’d love to create here with Mike (McDaniel) and the team.”
(Some other assistants have been hired on defense. Can you tell us what you like about each, whether it’s Joe Barry, Ryan Crow, Brian Duker?) – “So Joe Barry, obviously, is a tremendous football coach. Most recently he was the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. Back in 2021 when I left Houston, me and Joe spent a lot of time conversating about the potential of joining up with the Chargers under Brandon Staley. That didn’t come to fruition, but through those conversations, we formed a friendship. Over the years, we’ve always kind of kept in touch, and then through mutual friends, I’ve obviously heard nothing but incredible things about him. So to add him to our staff with his wisdom and intellect and knowledge is a tremendous win for us as a team and then for me individually, as a guy that’s just been in it and most recently calling it. Brian Duker, who we just hired as pass game coordinator, we worked together in Cleveland in 2014 and 2015, and then he has familiarity with the scheme that we want to run, because he was with Wink Martindale in Baltimore for a number of years, as well. I think he’s just a tremendous football mind, young kind of up-and-coming coach, has great ideas. Obviously, you see his team with Detroit, they just lost in the NFC Championship game. He does a tremendous job there. I think it was a huge, huge opportunity to get him. Ryan Crow, you look at Tennessee’s outside ‘backers, Harold Landry – I can’t even remember who else is out there, but all they did was produce and get after the quarterbacks and set dominant edges, which is exactly what we want to do here at the outside ‘backer position. But with that being said, I do think Ryan Slowik did an awesome job doing that a year ago with the outside ‘backers. I view Ryan (Slowik) as a tremendous asset because he’s coached on every level of the defense, so when you have that guy – one, he’s incredibly selfless, so he’s actually going to help us in the secondary as well. I really look forward to working with Ryan and trust his football acumen in general. The last guy I think we’ve added so far is DeShawn Shead, who played corner, played behind Richard Sherman in Seattle, won a championship and has since been in coaching. Shoot, you look at Seattle and what they’ve done there, particularly at the DB position, I mean there’s a lot of good ones. I feel like when you talk to him, you can just feel the impact that he’s had on them. So he’s a younger guy, he’s got all the energy, and he can relate. You talk about ex-players being able to relate to current players and being out there talking from a vantage point of ‘I’ve done this, here’s how you can help yourself.’ He obviously provides that, too. So I’m excited about everybody, man. And most importantly to me, they’re all incredible football minds but more importantly, they’re good people. When you’re in the midst of the season, the season is long and arduous for a reason. You’ve got to be tenacious, because it exposes the frauds. When you get to Week 13, 14, 15, 16, you better have guys you want to be in the foxhole with, and I believe everyone on this staff and everyone we’ve hired to this point, are those guys.”
(You mentioned Ryan Slowik. Is he staying on and do you know in what role yet?) – “Yes, he is certainly staying on. He is a very valued asset for us. He is going to be helping us in the secondary. What his exact title is, I’ll let Mike (McDaniel) talk to you about that. We’re still working through it. But I love Ryan (Slowik) man, and the conversations I’ve had with him so far, he is juiced about it. He’s excited.”
(Are you an upstairs or a downstairs type guy?) – “(laughter) I’m a downstairs guy, man. I need to feel what’s going on in the game, feel how the players are reacting to the situation and hopefully be a positive influence in whatever reaction that is. I don’t think you can have that same effect from up in the booth.”
(What did your experience interviewing for head coaching jobs teach you about the process and then teach you about yourself?) – “I think about the process, I thought, ‘Oh, this is it?’ In my mind, I’ve been around this game now for a long time, and if I can’t talk about football, what in the world can I possibly talk about? That process in itself, I am grateful for the opportunity. It certainly is not my be-all end goal. I want one thing, selfishly, to win a championship. That’s it. Whatever else happens after that will happen as a byproduct of my service to the team and the players.”
(How will analytics inform the decisions you make throughout the course of the game?) – “At this point in time, I think you’re a fool not to listen to some of the analytical data, and there’s so much positive uses of it. Some of it needs to be filtered absolutely, but if you’re not at this point in time, you’re behind. We certainly want to make sure we’re staying ahead of the trends.”
(You were asked earlier about your favorite memory as a player. A natural offshoot of that is what’s your favorite memory as a coach?) – “Oh man, there’s a lot of them there. My favorite memory as a coach? It’s funny because a lot of them happened this past year in Baltimore. We had a special group that I thought was really committed to one another, disciplined, loved each other. I think it was a love that was a genuine, mutual care for one another that was often transcending, where we won games purely off they didn’t want to let each other down. Ultimately, that’s what you’re building towards. Did we fall short of our goal? Yes. But in terms of memories, when Tylan Wallace returned that punt return in overtime against the Rams, I’ll tell you what, I ran around and celebrated so much. The first thing I realized was I need to do more cardio because I was exhausted. (laughter) But just that child-like exuberance – I’m 43-years old. When does that happen? I’m not like Brett Favre and Drew Brees where I have 20 friends and can go put on my Wranglers and go play football. That doesn’t happen in real life. So to have that experience and knowing what that kid had gone through. His first year he was hurt in and out. Second year, hurt and out. Now people start to question is this guy a player? And to have him have that moment in that situation was awesome.”
(What do you envision with a guy like CB Jalen Ramsey?) – “I mean, it’s Jalen Ramsey, come on now. (laughter) You talk about prototype corners, he is that. Size, length, speed, competitiveness. The thing about him is I think he is your ultimate chess piece. So to have him just sit outside and be a field corner or boundary corner or something like that is a detriment to him. We got to find ways to move him around where he can be most impactful. We’re committed to doing that.”
(What’s it like knowing that while you don’t have to worry about WR Tyreek Hill on Sundays, you have to worry about him Wednesday, Thursday and Friday?) – “Yeah, I’m going to tell him to make sure he’s rested for Sunday first and foremost. (laughter) As a competitor, you want to face the best every day. And ultimately, you’re just going to be better as a result. All of our guys in the secondary, they should be excited and up for the challenge and know they are never going to face anyone faster come Sunday.”
(I wanted to ask you about the Ravens mentality and process. I’ve always admired how they’ve played. Just physical, in your face. And I know a lot of that comes from John Harbaugh. But how do you build that brand of defense?) – “Yeah, I think the one thing about that place is, and it probably started a long time ago with Ray Lewis and that squad. Every single person who has stepped in that building since tries to live up to that standard. So that probably has a lot to do with it. From a scouting standpoint and ultimately I think it’s the same thing here, you want to make sure you get guys with high football character. I believe for the most part we have that here. When you watch the film, these guys play hard. I saw Bradley Chubb run down against Denver 30 yards down the field and force a fumble. Big guys don’t do that. So the effort level, the want to, is here. I think taking that next step to being recognized like how the Ravens play is just doing it for the long-term. But I think the foundational pieces you want in terms of internal grit and grind, our guys have that. Our guys have that. We just need to make sure we’re doing in down in and down out for multiple seasons.”
(You mentioned LB Jaelan Phillips and LB Bradley Chubb. Have you been able to interact with them since you got the job? And how are they doing on their rehab?) – “Yeah, I don’t want to talk about medical situations or anything like that. I’m not a doctor. I have spoken to both of them. Obviously I’m extremely excited to be around them. They’re tremendous players and better people. I’ll tell you what, I saw Jaelan Phillips the other day and he had his shirt off, and I almost went and put a sweater on him. (laughter) I mean he is chiseled, right? Oh my goodness. (laughter) But man, just super excited. They have great personalities. They’re people you want to be around. You can tell they’re going to make everybody around them better by just being out there.”
(What’s your approach or philosophy on player development?) – “I think you need to be grounded in your technique and fundamentals. It starts there. So every coach who’s on the staff certainly believes in that. Guys that have been here, you see that with their guys on tape. Once you’re sound there, that allows you to unleash whatever God-given ability you have. Without it, sometimes you can be flailing around a little bit. I call that like the story of the prodigal son. He leaves, things get awry, comes back home and your dad is sitting there with open arms. Your technique and fundamentals are the same way. If you go awry from it, things can get crazy. Come back to your technique and fundamentals, it will be sitting there with open arms, and things will get right.”
