Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we've got your favorite football
Speaker 1: hipster's favorite coach with us. To start the show, I'm
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal. I'm with one of those football hipsters, Jordan
Speaker 1: rod Rieg and yes, Mike McDaniel, the offensive coordinator of
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Chargers, opening up the show with us.
Speaker 1: Are you aware of that your your football hipster popularity?
Speaker 2: Yes, I know.
Speaker 3: I think being yourself allows you vulnerable or of vulnerability,
Speaker 3: to have both people that cheer for you and and
Speaker 3: other people that hate you. So you know, you kind
Speaker 3: of I kind of entered in when I decided to
Speaker 3: be myself. I kind of know what the stakes are,
Speaker 3: so I appreciate that this is part of the population
Speaker 3: that isn't.
Speaker 2: Hating on me for now.
Speaker 1: Another way to say football hipster would just be like
Speaker 1: people that love ball, but like Jordan Rori, who you're not, but.
Speaker 4: You're the people who love football's favorite football coach. That's
Speaker 4: how I would have probably introduced you. Yeah, that's what
Speaker 4: chose a different one.
Speaker 1: I don't want to like you too much, Yeah, which
Speaker 1: was cool. I think you know you don't want to
Speaker 1: just start off just building you up. But what we'll
Speaker 1: be doing that you.
Speaker 2: That's a both were great elite compliments I very much appreciated.
Speaker 4: We're happy to have you here, Mike.
Speaker 1: You you've been here now a minute, Southern California. You know,
Speaker 1: you you had the interview for this job, and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm thinking watching you know, Herbert throw some dimes out
Speaker 1: there today about what it was like for you as
Speaker 1: a coach, looking at all those plays which you would
Speaker 1: you have talked about before you took the job, and
Speaker 1: watching what Justin Herbert did last year and what stood
Speaker 1: out the most to you that you could you could
Speaker 1: potentially take advantage of as this coach.
Speaker 3: Oh, I thought, uh, you know, it was just such
Speaker 3: an incredible opportunity, one that I had never had professionally.
Speaker 2: Where wait, I can you.
Speaker 3: Know, just the opportunity to coach these guys in particular Hymn,
Speaker 3: you know, is something that you know, I really appreciate having.
Speaker 3: You know, there's not many talents like that in all sports,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: Whether it's quarterback position or or regardless.
Speaker 3: And you know, I'm just glad that I've been chopping
Speaker 3: would you know for twenty years in this league before
Speaker 3: I had the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 2: So I wouldn't have regrets.
Speaker 3: So it's it's a I mean, I was it was
Speaker 3: a weird situation because you're on the heels of you know,
Speaker 3: I only know one way to attack a job, so
Speaker 3: my expectation is that, you know, I do a good
Speaker 3: enough job to keep it and then when you you'd
Speaker 3: think that you'd be pretty down when you when you
Speaker 3: lose a job, but you know, right in front of me,
Speaker 3: it was this opportunity to really do something that you know, uh,
Speaker 3: you're very blessed to even get the opportunity in your
Speaker 3: entire career.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was.
Speaker 3: You know, I think I said this before, but I
Speaker 3: feel I felt fortunate that I was prepared for the opportunity,
Speaker 3: you know, because it's, ah, this is uh, it's something
Speaker 3: that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if
Speaker 3: I if I wasn't ready for the moment.
Speaker 2: So it's it's it's been awesome.
Speaker 4: I'm glad you alluded to to some of like how
Speaker 4: you approach the job and how you approach I think
Speaker 4: football in general. Just covering you for for a couple
Speaker 4: of years, Mike, like, I always appreciated where you find
Speaker 4: ideas and how you think about doing new things within
Speaker 4: you know, really understanding who your players are and trying
Speaker 4: to do new, interesting things with them. And you're you're
Speaker 4: sort of like, you don't you don't really care where
Speaker 4: the net is cast. You just want to find cool
Speaker 4: stuff to do when you're watching these clips and you're going,
Speaker 4: I saw the quote where you went over every single
Speaker 4: one of Justin's plays and the concepts and all of that.
Speaker 4: Was there anything that really sparked or anything he does
Speaker 4: specifically that sparked an inspiration for you or got you
Speaker 4: thinking about how you want to design things, or really
Speaker 4: kind of got that juice flowing for you.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think with the breath of.
Speaker 3: The example, you know, I did not want to just
Speaker 3: take a leap of faith and base stuff on assumption.
Speaker 2: So watching it, you know, watched.
Speaker 3: All of his passes from his whole career, and I found,
Speaker 3: you know, plenty of examples where he was playing, he
Speaker 3: was distributing the ball with conviction early in the down,
Speaker 3: and then I saw so there was there was things
Speaker 3: you know that you know, in the in the years
Speaker 3: past that have been a staple of the offense that
Speaker 3: I could see that he could do. And then, you know,
Speaker 3: there was just he has a spatial awareness, a feel.
Speaker 3: You know, I was really taken aback with all the
Speaker 3: things that he could he could do extending plays and
Speaker 3: making plays and then just you know.
Speaker 2: There's some crazy crazy.
Speaker 3: I watched all of his passes, so you got you
Speaker 3: got about fifteen you know, fifteen throws sixty seventy yards
Speaker 3: down the field that you know you're not sure is possible,
Speaker 3: and to see the clip, so you know, I think
Speaker 3: for me it was the feeling has just been both
Speaker 3: excitement and focus because you know, I think the like
Speaker 3: I said before, you don't get these opportunities and I
Speaker 3: and you know, I think it got me me watching
Speaker 3: all the film got me super motivated to make sure
Speaker 3: that I worked with Jim and and the t's were
Speaker 3: crossed and the eyes were dotted on the staff because
Speaker 3: I figured, Okay, well, if I can get all the
Speaker 3: right position coaches to to really buy in and push
Speaker 3: and teach and create relationships with these guys, it will
Speaker 3: be an opportunity to you know, I love football. I
Speaker 3: love creating competitive advantages for players, and you know it's
Speaker 3: something that you know, I looking at the you know,
Speaker 3: professional athletes that this is a game about them and
Speaker 3: they work their whole lives to get a finite window
Speaker 3: and you have, you know, you're blessed with this opportunity
Speaker 3: and pack them.
Speaker 2: And I wanted to make sure that, you know.
Speaker 3: I was in the best space to do that, and
Speaker 3: I thought, I think it started with the staff, obviously,
Speaker 3: with Jim, Joe and John Spanos all being supportive, and
Speaker 3: you know, it's I think we put together an unbelievable
Speaker 3: offensive staff which is really allowed. I mean, there's been
Speaker 3: how I would say, probably five things a day over
Speaker 3: the last five practices that you know, we've been able
Speaker 3: to try that I've never done before, you know, And
Speaker 3: you know, I think it the the It really opens
Speaker 3: your eyes to a lot of different schematic things and
Speaker 3: just different opportunities. That makes I mean, I'm living the
Speaker 3: dream right now.
Speaker 4: Can I ask you about that too? When you come
Speaker 4: out here, you look at this roster every every time
Speaker 4: I'm out here, I see, first of all, the size
Speaker 4: of all of this players. Even your skills are like
Speaker 4: some of the Omar and Hampton is like one of
Speaker 4: the most giant humans ever. And you know, but you
Speaker 4: also have speed, and I'm looking at the personnel options
Speaker 4: you have. You could play with a fullback, you could
Speaker 4: play with multiple tight ends, you could do all these
Speaker 4: different kinds of things, and you have speed, and you
Speaker 4: have the quarterback. And I'm wondering, like, where do you
Speaker 4: go when you start to build with these players? What
Speaker 4: options do you see in terms of you mention it yourself?
Speaker 4: You like to create advantages, whether it's personnel or concept
Speaker 4: with these players, but also their ability and exploit space.
Speaker 4: So where does your mind go and can you kind
Speaker 4: of take us through how you think about putting these
Speaker 4: guys in those positions?
Speaker 3: Well, I think the most important thing, you know, the
Speaker 3: thing that I don't think about is I don't think
Speaker 3: about inventing stuff. If you stay true to your core
Speaker 3: of what is your job and for me as I
Speaker 3: see it, to create advantageous situations for all these players,
Speaker 3: then your kind of solution oriented reverse engineering issues and
Speaker 3: what in this time of year, what what's really cool
Speaker 3: is we you know, I'm just trying to facilitate all
Speaker 3: different personnel groups and be able to you know, like
Speaker 3: like we we are very confident in ultimately being able
Speaker 3: to play in whatever personnel group is. Uh, you know,
Speaker 3: you're not dictated by we can be dictated by the personnel,
Speaker 3: the defense and what guys do we want to exploit,
Speaker 3: what guys do we want to stay away from?
Speaker 2: What what things?
Speaker 3: You know that sometimes base defense is way different than
Speaker 3: nickel for when you're playing an opponent or vice versa.
Speaker 3: So I think, for me, I'm not trying to I'm
Speaker 3: just trying to, UH with the coaching staff, make sure
Speaker 3: that we are at the top of UH our our
Speaker 3: game from a technique and fundamental standpoint across the board,
Speaker 3: whether we're doing ten personnel or thirteen, you know, and
Speaker 3: just to give ourselves some options as we you know,
Speaker 3: go into the regular season, because that's what I see
Speaker 3: from this group.
Speaker 2: And what's been so cool is.
Speaker 3: Your you have a lot of solution or you have
Speaker 3: a lot of solutions on the roster, and it's going
Speaker 3: to be a lot more difficult for I could be
Speaker 3: as varied as I've ever been.
Speaker 2: In personnels, which which makes you harder to.
Speaker 3: Practice and prepare for as an opponent and hopefully creates
Speaker 3: more of those advantageous situations for all the guys.
Speaker 1: Do do you have a hand in that in that
Speaker 1: team building, because you know, you look on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: there's a guy called Strange that comes along with you
Speaker 1: from Miami. And then you just look just watching practice today.
Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of variety, but you know, Charlie Kohlar
Speaker 1: is in the mix. Of course Djoku is in the
Speaker 1: mix there. It's just it's a big team out there,
Speaker 1: and I'm thinking, like, is this do you have a
Speaker 1: big hand in that vision of what happened?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, fortunately the powers that be, both Jim
Speaker 3: and Joe allow my voice to be heard.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: I will say that one of the reasons this this
Speaker 3: place was so attractive to me personally was because of
Speaker 3: you know, uh, most specifically the last couple of draft classes.
Speaker 3: You know, the players they're drafting or the players that
Speaker 3: on the other side of the country I was targeting,
Speaker 3: and and you know, and and so I knew there
Speaker 3: was a lot of like minded.
Speaker 2: Uh you know, really evaluation.
Speaker 3: And then you know, I don't I'm not the general
Speaker 3: manager or head coach.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: So I'm very fortunate that they want to hear me.
Speaker 3: And we're all fortunate because we were very uh consistent
Speaker 3: with in and there was a lot of agreement in
Speaker 3: this off season when it came to the free agency
Speaker 3: and draft, uh and so I think that, you know,
Speaker 3: it's one of the reasons I feel very fortunate to
Speaker 3: be here, and one of the reasons this team has
Speaker 3: a great chance to be successful is because you have
Speaker 3: everyone moving in the same direction, which is one thing
Speaker 3: that I knew was a non negotiable for me in
Speaker 3: my next opportunity.
Speaker 2: So it yes and no.
Speaker 3: I mean, they don't have to ask and they don't
Speaker 3: have to listen. And you know, I think it wasn't
Speaker 3: like I was standing on a soapbox preaching. It was,
Speaker 3: you know, I'll have conviction with my opinion, and they
Speaker 3: happened to share it. So it's been a tremendous off
Speaker 3: season that way.
Speaker 4: I had this theory last year there was a lot
Speaker 4: of injuries, and obviously seems knock on wood, of course,
Speaker 4: seems like things are going really, really well in camp
Speaker 4: so far in terms of health here. I thought that
Speaker 4: the Chargers were because of that roster building and because
Speaker 4: of some of the things they were willing to try
Speaker 4: offensively and defensively, a really great combinationation of where football
Speaker 4: is going right now and where it was like thirty
Speaker 4: years ago too, at the same time, all in one place.
Speaker 4: Can you speak to that a little bit, and what
Speaker 4: you think this team is that's so representative of where
Speaker 4: football is right now.
Speaker 2: Well, I think you have, you know, all three phases.
Speaker 5: You have.
Speaker 3: Systems that you know, are coordinated in a evolution, always
Speaker 3: evolving fashion.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of.
Speaker 3: Unique players on this roster in all three phases that
Speaker 3: have skill sets that allow you to do things that
Speaker 3: are different.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: The the first thing that comes to mind is you
Speaker 3: have a player like Derwin James, you know, and there's
Speaker 3: a He's able to play three to four different positions
Speaker 3: in different personnel groups in all situations.
Speaker 2: They can play light, they can play big on defense.
Speaker 3: You know, I think uh coach Ficken has been as
Speaker 3: good as they've they get in the return game and
Speaker 3: he has a lot of a lot of juice there
Speaker 3: to be multiple and do some creative things.
Speaker 2: And then you know, we're not pigeonholed into.
Speaker 3: We have a lot of really good players that you know,
Speaker 3: the my job is to make sure that they're maximized
Speaker 3: and that they're all involved. And you know that's my
Speaker 3: my type of problem solve problem solving party. You know,
Speaker 3: like that's that's.
Speaker 6: Sounds like a good time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a good time.
Speaker 3: You know, I think you know the you're not a
Speaker 3: football team, a football offseason, a football season is not
Speaker 3: You're not searching for all roses and no problems.
Speaker 2: It's actually the opposite.
Speaker 3: You want a situation where people can thrive by flourishing
Speaker 3: together in times of turmoil. And I think that you
Speaker 3: know this, this team is really hungry, and it's you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not sure if the team's more more hungry than
Speaker 3: I am or vice versa, but that's it was a
Speaker 3: great fit in that way because, uh, there there was
Speaker 3: a lot of uh.
Speaker 2: Like ambition moving forward.
Speaker 3: So I think, uh, you know this, this group of
Speaker 3: people has a great chance to be their very best
Speaker 3: version of themselves in December and January by stacking days.
Speaker 3: You know, just by the nature of the leaders on
Speaker 3: the the best players on this team are elite human
Speaker 3: beings that are the that are the the benchmark for
Speaker 3: how you want your star players to act. So I
Speaker 3: think that gives us an opportunity to uh continue to
Speaker 3: chop wood and be our best football team when we
Speaker 3: need to.
Speaker 6: Be, and all that variety in multiplicity.
Speaker 1: It gives you a chance to just mess with all
Speaker 1: the fantasy football players a little more love that all
Speaker 1: all the people out there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I I feel like I feel like I
Speaker 3: said something about fantasy and my press conference simply because
Speaker 3: I've learned over the years that if there's an off
Speaker 3: season question about running backs, it's always the same thing.
Speaker 3: But realistically, like, uh, no, one has to worry. If
Speaker 3: a players playing really well, I'm not going to take
Speaker 3: them out.
Speaker 6: It's a good, good idea.
Speaker 1: That's why business, that's why he's the football hipster, his
Speaker 1: favorite coach. I appreciate you, Mike McDaniel and my favorite
Speaker 1: football hipster, Jordan.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: You guys are top tier and that's why I'm in
Speaker 3: the sea It talk to you guys because you guys
Speaker 3: really care about what you guys do.
Speaker 2: And I appreciate that. Appreciate that, Mike.
Speaker 5: We appreciate you again.
Speaker 1: Appreciate Mike McDaniel joining us. That made me so happy
Speaker 1: checking that off the bucket list. Just one of those
Speaker 1: guys I wanted to wanted to interview, and I love
Speaker 1: that he is comfortable city and awkwardness. That's my that's
Speaker 1: my happy place. Yeah, I felt it in making other
Speaker 1: people awkward. I mean even when we first said hi
Speaker 1: to him. I shook his hand. I'm like, hi, Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 1: I don't think we've ever really met. Maybe we said
Speaker 1: hello once and he was like, of course you are
Speaker 1: in educated reporter of facts. And I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: I'll take that.
Speaker 7: Greg.
Speaker 4: Greg's astis al to just call him this now.
Speaker 1: I'm putting that on the business card, educated reporter of Facts.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna have Cameron Dicker coming up after the break.
Speaker 1: But we've watched all of practice. The interview took place
Speaker 1: here in El Segundo at the Chargers facility, and then
Speaker 1: we did the interviews, and I just thought we'd take
Speaker 1: some takeaways from practice today. Anything that you saw that
Speaker 1: that stood out to you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's Charlie Colar season. Yeah, honestly, I mean the
Speaker 4: tight end, you know, he was. I think again, if
Speaker 4: if you really love football, you'd be paying attention to
Speaker 4: where football is going right now, or at least will
Speaker 4: go in the next year or so. He was a
Speaker 4: very very popular free agent signing. And it's clear that
Speaker 4: Mike McDaniel wants to use him all over the formation
Speaker 4: and he gets open and Justin Herbert dots and dots
Speaker 4: it on him. He it was it was Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4: It was fun. He had one that he just dropped
Speaker 4: right over the top of his shoulders as he was
Speaker 4: getting a little bit of separation. Was covered fine by
Speaker 4: the dB. Obviously a mismatch, but justin Herbert just dropped
Speaker 4: it downfield over his both of his hands and he
Speaker 4: caught it. It was it was the easiest thing. It
Speaker 4: looked like the two had ever done. It was incredible.
Speaker 1: I reference with with Mike McDaniel about that, the comment
Speaker 1: he made about, you know, sharing the the carries at
Speaker 1: running back, But I'm more can you know, thinking about
Speaker 1: like how are they going to share this at tight
Speaker 1: end in terms of how much each guy plays and
Speaker 1: how are they used. I would personally be surprised to
Speaker 1: your point, like if Colar isn't the most important one, Yeah,
Speaker 1: because the way he moves at his size. I think
Speaker 1: there's a feeling that Baltimore let one get away that
Speaker 1: they never really took advantage. He has like four hundred
Speaker 1: five hundred career passing yards and you see the way
Speaker 1: he's moving today, and then you put him on the
Speaker 1: field depending on how big you want to be within
Speaker 1: Djoku who is out here today, and then Ronda Gadsdon,
Speaker 1: who had a great rookie season, and you know it's
Speaker 1: not gonna be as good of a blocker, but he
Speaker 1: had an incredible catch, Like the best throw and catch
Speaker 1: of the day was on a one on one roll
Speaker 1: from Herbert to Gadsden.
Speaker 6: And like he moves incredibly.
Speaker 1: We already know that, and so Colar to me, is
Speaker 1: gonna be kind of the most important move piece that
Speaker 1: that it's all built around. And he's in motion all
Speaker 1: the time, Like this is gonna be a big Jordan
Speaker 1: football dork tight edd.
Speaker 4: I know, I'm starting to feel a little tingly, honestly,
Speaker 4: because it's so cool to watch the emotions too, and
Speaker 4: I like watching Mike McDaniel coach this offense, and Chris
Speaker 4: O'Leary has been running I think a lot of very
Speaker 4: so it looks like Jesse Minter's defense. You know, they're
Speaker 4: rushing some of that Nascar package look with the extra rusher,
Speaker 4: and they're doing a lot of stand up alignment on
Speaker 4: the outsides and and the you know, Derwin James is
Speaker 4: everywhere as we would expect. But when I'm watching the
Speaker 4: offense and I'm watching Mike McDaniel coach, he likes to
Speaker 4: stand in the back of the defense and make sure
Speaker 4: that the timing of the motions are correct. And that
Speaker 4: was something I had eyes on today that was so
Speaker 4: fascinating to me, because this is gonna this offense is
Speaker 4: going to get people with timing too, and with some
Speaker 4: of the things that maybe break a defense's rules of
Speaker 4: where they think they're going to align at a certain
Speaker 4: time in the in the pre snap motion. And then
Speaker 4: obviously the gaps all change too if it's a tight
Speaker 4: end or a running back going emotion like that, which
Speaker 4: they are, and it's it's so fun to watch. And
Speaker 4: something that Mike said that really stuck out to me
Speaker 4: was every personnel is available to him. I mean, this
Speaker 4: team also has fullbacks. Let's not forget this team.
Speaker 1: Has spot for Scott Matlock on the team. I don't
Speaker 1: know for sure, he's become a little bit of an
Speaker 1: extra plays he's a fullback. By yes, they have Alecan.
Speaker 4: They have Alecan Gold, who Mike brought with him from Miami.
Speaker 4: And then they have all these tight ends, and then
Speaker 4: they've got receivers who are dudes. Like they're really really positive,
Speaker 4: positive group and improved a lot last year in my opinion,
Speaker 4: and what I love that he said was it anything
Speaker 4: from ten to thirteen, And then you know he's obviously
Speaker 4: thinking about twenty one, twenty two as well, where it's
Speaker 4: like anything. They can do anything they want, and I
Speaker 4: hope they get a chance to because health is always
Speaker 4: going to be the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I if we had all the time in the
Speaker 1: world for him, I was like going to be like,
Speaker 1: do you know the offensive line curse of the Chargers,
Speaker 1: Like are you aware that you're gonna be looked on
Speaker 1: as the saviors? So far, so good this camp. They're
Speaker 1: trying to figure out their their left guard. It's really
Speaker 1: funny every year because Charges fans are so obsessed with
Speaker 1: the offensive line. It's always like an interior line battle
Speaker 1: that they care about, Like we don't care about the
Speaker 1: wide receivers, the tight ends in an interior line battle, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, Auasca I believe is the one listed
Speaker 1: as a starter.
Speaker 6: He gave up two sacks to day was not a
Speaker 6: good day for him.
Speaker 4: Well, I was talking to somebody on the side about this,
Speaker 4: and Jake Slaughter, Coyote Ouasca, and Trey Pipkins are all
Speaker 4: still competing. That job has not been decided yet, but
Speaker 4: over the last several practices they have been competing all
Speaker 4: at that left guard spot. Is the only spot on
Speaker 4: this offensive line where there still is a big question
Speaker 4: in an open competition.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's there's this is a roster and we'll
Speaker 1: wrap up with our takes in a little bit.
Speaker 6: But they find guys.
Speaker 1: And that's why I wanted to ask Cameron Dicker coming
Speaker 1: up about like the way this coaching staff develops players,
Speaker 1: except on the offensive line, I would say, And they
Speaker 1: have a new offensive line.
Speaker 4: Coach who which berry.
Speaker 6: You could just.
Speaker 1: Hear him everywhere, just f bomb after f bomb. This
Speaker 1: was one of the loudest coaching practices I've ever been
Speaker 1: to in terms of like coaches are just yelling the
Speaker 1: whole time in like even more. And then one of
Speaker 1: the choir like, it was a chill crowd here today
Speaker 1: it's a hot day. It's a nice crowd, a very chill,
Speaker 1: chill crowd. But one thing I wanted to make sure
Speaker 1: I mentioned, which has been the story for this camp,
Speaker 1: was a key messador stepping in as their third ed
Speaker 1: drusher maybe will wind up starting for them in terms
Speaker 1: of the amount of snaps that he plays alongside Tully
Speaker 1: tu Leipolow two and Khalil Mack and that look, he's
Speaker 1: a twenty six year old rookie. And I talked to
Speaker 1: Matt money Smith our friends, and it's just unfair like
Speaker 1: he beat Joe Alt a couple of times in the
Speaker 1: last practice and you just don't see that, including out
Speaker 1: of mac in Tulli Poload two and that I think
Speaker 1: for the people that have been around here each and
Speaker 1: every day, the number one story is like, oh wow,
Speaker 1: we got a dude in Mesador. So yeah, you watch
Speaker 1: a dafe Oway leave. I think there's some feeling they
Speaker 1: might have gotten an upgrade there, and so that is
Speaker 1: a really good trio on the front end for them
Speaker 1: to then mix the coverages on the back end.
Speaker 4: I had to number check Messador a few times because
Speaker 4: I kept forgetting that that was a rookie.
Speaker 6: He's a beast.
Speaker 4: He's a freaking dude. Man. Well. The other funny thing,
Speaker 4: I mean, we talk about this a lot coming out
Speaker 4: of Chargers camps with the size of this team, when
Speaker 4: when we're talking about just being physically imposing, we were
Speaker 4: standing over watching running back drills and you were reminding yourself,
Speaker 4: you know what numbered everybody is and you're like, oh,
Speaker 4: Mari and Hampton, and then it was like, oh, we
Speaker 4: don't even need to remind ourselves what number Omrion Hampton is.
Speaker 4: He's the biggest freaking guy out here.
Speaker 6: He really is.
Speaker 1: And his speed there was one kind of swing pass
Speaker 1: during the team drills where he was coming straight at
Speaker 1: me on the other side, and his speed is just
Speaker 1: it's different. So to Mike McDaniel's point of like, if
Speaker 1: he's playing well, I'm not going to take him off
Speaker 1: the field. They'll be enough room I think for everyone
Speaker 1: in this backfield. Keaton Mitchell is probably the play two
Speaker 1: right now. I think that's kind of been how camp
Speaker 1: is evolved in Kamanivedelle behind them, but they're all they're
Speaker 1: all going to play, And yeah, I thought Herbo.
Speaker 6: You know, he always looks good in camp.
Speaker 1: I mean, he is not gonna look bad, but I
Speaker 1: do like his footwork and that's something I kept an
Speaker 1: eye on.
Speaker 6: He is is really good on his feed.
Speaker 1: Their offensive line did not like look great today, especially
Speaker 1: on the in tier, so he was having to move
Speaker 1: and open up his pocket and I just love the
Speaker 1: way he looks and plays.
Speaker 4: On the handoffs are tighter too. I was texting you
Speaker 4: about this. I noticed this because I got to be here.
Speaker 4: You know, I come visit this camp every once in
Speaker 4: a while, and I just notice the handoffs are way
Speaker 4: tighter in terms of like they're happening instantly, and they're
Speaker 4: The fake in them is very very good. When it's
Speaker 4: whether it's a fake motion handoff or a play action,
Speaker 4: they are a lot they're happening. The act of it
Speaker 4: is happening a lot quicker, which is a Mike McDaniel thing.
Speaker 4: And it's also the timing of them seems very very
Speaker 4: predicated and specific, and that's happening a lot cleaner and
Speaker 4: tighter to me as well, which is good. Anything that
Speaker 4: gets a defense to hesitate is good for these guys.
Speaker 1: McDaniel saying that they're trying things that he's never tried
Speaker 1: before is fascinating, and I saw a couple of them.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't reveal what it was, but just
Speaker 1: the run game is going to be creative. It always
Speaker 1: is when it comes to Mike McDaniel. Okay, we've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about the Chargers, We've preview the AFC West.
Speaker 1: We are going to throw it to the break here
Speaker 1: on the other side of the break, we are gonna
Speaker 1: have a great conversation with right now the best kicker
Speaker 1: in the AFC. I can't put him over Brandon Aubrey,
Speaker 1: but the best kicker in the AFC. After the break,
Speaker 1: all right, we are here, of course, still in El Segundo,
Speaker 1: and we're with a man who inspired a Chargers fan
Speaker 1: just about fifteen feet away from us to yell out
Speaker 1: best kicker in the league. And look, there are numbers
Speaker 1: that support that the all time leading percentage in terms
Speaker 1: of field goal kicker in NFL history right now, Cameron Dicker, welcome.
Speaker 6: To the show.
Speaker 5: Appreciate you, crazy, thank you.
Speaker 1: I know, is that something earlier in your career You're like,
Speaker 1: I must don't want to hear that, because it's gotta
Speaker 1: be hard to stay at ninety four percent.
Speaker 6: That's outrageous.
Speaker 7: I mean, it's nice right now, but at the end
Speaker 7: of the day, like you said, I'm hoping kick a lot,
Speaker 7: a lot more so many more years to come, hopefully
Speaker 7: a couple hundred more field goals to come, and so
Speaker 7: it's like it's great, but yeah, we'll see where it's
Speaker 7: at at the end of the career.
Speaker 4: That's great. We saw you in your hat fielding punts.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I'm not you caught most of them. We
Speaker 4: won't talk about. Maybe the hands a little bit pretty good.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so yeah, I don't know. I'd say compared to
Speaker 7: average people, I'm up there is one of the better.
Speaker 4: But it just I always am curious about. I feel
Speaker 4: like kickers and specialists in general can be like ultimate
Speaker 4: vibes people and kind of keep the vibes locked in
Speaker 4: when for a team, I always feel like you always
Speaker 4: want to talk to them, and you know, when they're
Speaker 4: at their locker, when you guys are making up games
Speaker 4: to play on the sideline during you know, workouts or whatever.
Speaker 4: And what is it like for you being out here
Speaker 4: being a leader on this team now you've been here
Speaker 4: for a few years, and to kind of be that
Speaker 4: that vibe guy out here in the beachat running around.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's awesome.
Speaker 7: First I thought you were about to ultimate athletes, which
Speaker 7: and I couldn't believe that you just said just vibes guys,
Speaker 7: But so ultimate athletes and vibes guys, I think that
Speaker 7: I take it as an opportunity to kind of have
Speaker 7: fun with these guys. Remind people that we're here to
Speaker 7: enjoy our time. I mean, I've been cut from three
Speaker 7: different teams. I've experienced what it's like being the undrafted
Speaker 7: guy in the room and so making sure those guys
Speaker 7: can get to enjoy their days because you're only here
Speaker 7: for as many days as you can, be right, and
Speaker 7: so enjoy every opportunity you have on this field and
Speaker 7: just hanging out learning from some of the best of
Speaker 7: the best in the business. And it's just, yeah, that's
Speaker 7: kind of the role I've tried to tried to take
Speaker 7: with this team.
Speaker 1: People don't realize this, but like Chargers, RAMS is a thing,
Speaker 1: and since you brought up, you know that you've been
Speaker 1: cut a few times. Your your first spot, you know,
Speaker 1: was the Rams as an undrafted rookie and you were
Speaker 1: with them through much of their summer into training camp.
Speaker 1: Do you ever think like, as they're just rolling through
Speaker 1: new kickers a week after week and like it's a
Speaker 1: big problem for them, that's like, oh, you made a
Speaker 1: mistake there, Rams.
Speaker 7: I mainly think, not my problem. It was awesome being there.
Speaker 7: I knew I was going there and wasn't going to
Speaker 7: be playing that year. More than likely I was told
Speaker 7: they'd keep me around as a guy for the season,
Speaker 7: and then they weren't gonna be able to pay their
Speaker 7: guys that were there, and everybody knew that, and so
Speaker 7: I was like, great, I'll fill in as either a
Speaker 7: kicker or a punter wherever they see me grow more.
Speaker 5: And then at this point I don't really care. I
Speaker 5: don't really pay attention to.
Speaker 1: Them, because, yeah, Rams Chargers. I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: a thing as much among the fans. Maybe a little bit,
Speaker 1: but I feel like with the organizations, but the Chargers,
Speaker 1: you know, have won up the Rams there on kickers
Speaker 1: and on facilities. I love this facility, and I completely
Speaker 1: agree they beat them there. You had such an interesting
Speaker 1: start to your career. I think about, like, how do
Speaker 1: you have the confidence to go out there? And then
Speaker 1: I think about how your career started. I don't know
Speaker 1: if any player in NFL history has started a career
Speaker 1: with game winning kicks. I believe in your first two
Speaker 1: games four different franchises, first Eagles where you're filling in
Speaker 1: for Jake and then here, like, do you feel like
Speaker 1: that super charge everything? Like if I can do that
Speaker 1: in my first two games, ever, like that is what's
Speaker 1: helped get me.
Speaker 6: To the point I'm at now.
Speaker 7: It was pretty wild, I would say, just because like
Speaker 7: my first two games, two different conferences, two game winners,
Speaker 7: two different special teams, Player of the Weeks, and the
Speaker 7: conference says like, I don't think that's ever been done.
Speaker 7: I don't know if it'll ever be done again, because
Speaker 7: it's just such a unique thing. And I think for
Speaker 7: specialists in the life we live, you have to be
Speaker 7: ready for the opportunity when God opens that door for you.
Speaker 7: And so for me, preparing, being ready to just go
Speaker 7: out there do what I do and have fun smile
Speaker 7: doing it was the number one thing for me, And
Speaker 7: so I was just putting positions where I had the
Speaker 7: opportunity to go excute.
Speaker 4: That's a nice way to put it, and I respect that.
Speaker 4: But also, fans know how good you are. I mean,
Speaker 4: you're like a cult hero here is like really you people.
Speaker 4: You have like a following, like and it's so cool
Speaker 4: to me to watch because you're all so just really
Speaker 4: you. You're just authentically you. I've been a fan of yours
Speaker 4: since the Edna Mode Halloween costume.
Speaker 5: Just very clear, good one.
Speaker 4: That was a really really good one. It was I was, yeah,
Speaker 4: it was it was so iconic and obviously iconic character
Speaker 4: in our in our history. But I feel like too,
Speaker 4: I mean, you're just yourself, and how have you felt
Speaker 4: the fans embrace you? And like the organization, you got
Speaker 4: a lot of people. We just had one in this chair, Mike,
Speaker 4: who they're also very authentically themselves all the time.
Speaker 7: I think a really cool thing with the organization. I think,
Speaker 7: starting with Jim Harbaugh, you have a guy who is himself.
Speaker 7: People see him in his interviews, think his clips are
Speaker 7: hilarious what he says, but are like, is he always
Speaker 7: that way? And it's like, yes, he is. This dude
Speaker 7: is like an amazing human being, super weird guy, but
Speaker 7: like the most loving weird guy ever.
Speaker 5: Right. I always say he's like your best friend's weird dad.
Speaker 7: He's like he loves you so much, but you're just
Speaker 7: like he can say whatever, and you're just like, WHOA, where'd.
Speaker 5: This come from?
Speaker 7: But I think having people like that allows you to
Speaker 7: be yourself and feel more comfortable doing things in the building.
Speaker 7: And then the fans, everybody's been awesome. I try to
Speaker 7: have fun, keep it light through social media, through whatever
Speaker 7: it is, and so it's it's fun to see people
Speaker 7: embrace that and enjoy it with it.
Speaker 4: Would you have I mean, are you already planning the
Speaker 4: Halloween costumers every year? You kind of bring the heat.
Speaker 7: With that, I would be honest. It happens like week of. Yeah,
Speaker 7: I'm like, week of, I order four costumes. I'm like,
Speaker 7: what am I getting on the edge. One that I
Speaker 7: haven't done yet that I really want to do is
Speaker 7: the new boot goofing uh and I have the outfit,
Speaker 7: I don't have the boots, so I need white boots.
Speaker 5: If somebody has white boots.
Speaker 4: If you're listening, If you're listening, yeah, send Cameron Dicker
Speaker 4: some new boot goof and white boots.
Speaker 5: Those would be sick, genuine ostrich leather.
Speaker 6: The spirit Halloween in my neighborhood open last week.
Speaker 1: I was like a little early here, bro, like, I'm
Speaker 1: not ready to turn that page. But they're open. It's
Speaker 1: all happening. People, people prep the pros like you. You
Speaker 1: mentioned Harbot being himself and I was thinking, because you know,
Speaker 1: you've had perspective of the different coaching staff, so you've
Speaker 1: been here, you know, since the beginning now of Jim Harbor,
Speaker 1: and I feel like one of his secret weapons is
Speaker 1: he's really good at building a coaching staff and developing
Speaker 1: a coaching staff and choosing the right people. And I've
Speaker 1: seen it with older coaches he's been around for a while.
Speaker 1: That's where they lose their fastball. It's not finding like
Speaker 1: the right coaching staff because they stop like learning.
Speaker 6: Can you tell me from a player's perspective?
Speaker 1: And you're involved, obviously in special teams and seeing all
Speaker 1: the different coaches, like what his staff's what makes it
Speaker 1: unique of like the staffs that that he brings.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think the hard thing with that is when
Speaker 7: you're playing good football, you're gonna lose a lot of
Speaker 7: your support coaches because they're gonna go get elevated roles
Speaker 7: at other teams that you can't really turn down in
Speaker 7: those positions. But what's really cool is he finds guys
Speaker 7: that brings something unique each and every day.
Speaker 5: I think. I mean, we have an O line.
Speaker 7: Coach who just yells like everybody knows who's yelling that
Speaker 7: the whole time.
Speaker 5: It doesn't even seem.
Speaker 7: Like he's speaking, but everybody has their own energy and
Speaker 7: really just gets after it with the players and so
Speaker 7: being able to know what type of players you have
Speaker 7: in the rooms and then what coach is going to
Speaker 7: fit with them?
Speaker 5: And it's really cool how he's been able to build that.
Speaker 4: I like that as a mentality here. I agree with Greg.
Speaker 4: I think that sometimes when you're evolving and the game
Speaker 4: is changing so often, I mean, you guys just went
Speaker 4: through a massive change with special teams, with some of
Speaker 4: the new rules and things like that. The game itself
Speaker 4: systemically is just it collides against itself and then things change, right,
Speaker 4: and some of these coaches here, I would argue, this
Speaker 4: is a perfect incubator for like what the league is,
Speaker 4: what's happening right now, and what's going to be happening
Speaker 4: years from now.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 4: I know when it sounds very galaxy brain for the
Speaker 4: guy who does his job and does it very very well.
Speaker 4: But I think you have, and specialists in general, have
Speaker 4: this bird's eye view of the ecosystem overall and what
Speaker 4: it is. So what kind of a like a learning
Speaker 4: and teaching environment is it?
Speaker 5: Man?
Speaker 4: I know, I just threw a lot of Galaxy brain
Speaker 4: at either.
Speaker 6: I think it was a lot.
Speaker 7: I think we were a really good job as a
Speaker 7: team of educating everybody on what's going on.
Speaker 5: Yeah, throughout like unique times in the game.
Speaker 7: So every day we have a teach the game segment
Speaker 7: where it's like fifteen minutes a day where we're in
Speaker 7: a team meeting room and like I'm learning things like
Speaker 7: I don't care about what's going on at this point
Speaker 7: in the game, but I'm sitting there learning like okay,
Speaker 7: if he throws, like I can't touch us on the sideline,
Speaker 7: Like I know my rules. And so they do a
Speaker 7: really good job teaching guys, keeping guys engaged with that,
Speaker 7: and making it a fun atmosphere for all of us
Speaker 7: to be in here. I think again, like you brought
Speaker 7: up the building earlier, I think having a really nice
Speaker 7: facility where guys want to be is a really huge thing.
Speaker 7: And then obviously we live in probably the greatest place
Speaker 7: an NFL team is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's really hard to visit. You know. It's like
Speaker 4: it's like just the breeze the ocean being there. I
Speaker 4: can smell it like a taco truck in the distance.
Speaker 4: It's just really a tough scene.
Speaker 5: It's a really hard life out here.
Speaker 1: Not as much like weed smell at the old San
Speaker 1: Diego charters at Qualcomm Stadium that was like aggressive there,
Speaker 1: but still but still some you you've now been in
Speaker 1: the division a while, What is your like least favorite
Speaker 1: stadium to visit or just like, which are the fan
Speaker 1: bases that you go to get after you guys the most,
Speaker 1: like the most back and forth.
Speaker 7: I don't think there's been anything like too crazy bases.
Speaker 7: I mean, it's kind of fun to listen to people.
Speaker 7: The Chief's locker room is like the worst away locker room.
Speaker 4: We go into the purpose.
Speaker 7: Yeah, like it's fine, it's whatever, But you have your
Speaker 7: own little stool. It's the Chief's little logo on it.
Speaker 7: One day, I kind of want to take a stool.
Speaker 7: It would be kind of funny to have, but I
Speaker 7: don't know if it'll fit in my bag. So I'm
Speaker 7: trying to figure that out.
Speaker 4: Just sort of spitballing here. Maybe you just wear it
Speaker 4: is your Halloween costume this year. Maybe you are the
Speaker 4: little Chief stool.
Speaker 5: That could be an interesting one.
Speaker 4: Yeah, not not many people. Not many people get it.
Speaker 4: I don't think. Yeah, maybe you know, don't ask me.
Speaker 4: You're you're the artist here, you're the artist. I'm just
Speaker 4: a fan.
Speaker 1: So we've heard you had or at least had I
Speaker 1: don't know if it still exists, like a swim club
Speaker 1: in the facility that we.
Speaker 5: Did have a Charger swim team.
Speaker 7: It's been about a year and a half since swim
Speaker 7: team met together.
Speaker 4: What happened?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 4: There was the drama.
Speaker 5: Guys just go different ways.
Speaker 7: Fights break out, you know, like swimming is intense sport
Speaker 7: and so what you see guys together on the football field,
Speaker 7: but when it comes to the pool, people get really serious.
Speaker 7: And people couldn't handle that. I was at number one.
Speaker 4: Ah, well we did here. You were a team USA,
Speaker 4: you had you were all decked out in the gear, right.
Speaker 4: Do you think that hurt some feelings anywhere.
Speaker 5: Or that they didn't have the same gear.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that they weren't.
Speaker 7: Like maybe that's the thing. Maybe I need to get
Speaker 7: us matching stuff and then people would enjoy it. But
Speaker 7: mine would say number one, and then I put everybody
Speaker 7: else all there.
Speaker 1: I could see how your attitude, yeah, at some point
Speaker 1: might rub them the wrong way. The greatest swimmer in
Speaker 1: this building, I mean, so you're trying to like build
Speaker 1: up you know, kickers or athletes too, and you came
Speaker 1: here having never played football, and by here I mean
Speaker 1: the United States.
Speaker 6: I don't think a lot of people know that you
Speaker 6: grew up in Shanghai.
Speaker 1: Right before like until you were about eleven years old,
Speaker 1: had you ever had any like interest knowledge of football
Speaker 1: or anything or it was just like throw them out
Speaker 1: there and you just could do it right away.
Speaker 5: I watched one football game.
Speaker 7: It was who was It was the Cardinals Steelers in
Speaker 7: the Super Bowl, like two thousand and eight, two thousand
Speaker 7: and nine, whatever it was.
Speaker 5: We were on a.
Speaker 6: Ski trip in in Arizona.
Speaker 7: We were in a ski trip somewhere. Didn't even finish
Speaker 7: the game. I think I turned it on right before halftime,
Speaker 7: watched a halftime show, and then I think I went
Speaker 7: back to do whatever I was doing.
Speaker 5: But I played one year of football in China. Was
Speaker 5: an o lineman.
Speaker 6: Oh.
Speaker 5: I was like, the sports sucks. This isn't for me.
Speaker 5: Oh line wasn't for me.
Speaker 6: Because they had a little American football going.
Speaker 7: We were the first year of the Shanghai Dragons. That's
Speaker 7: pretty sick team.
Speaker 4: That's a sick game.
Speaker 5: Yeah, pretty sweet.
Speaker 7: But it was literally maybe thirty guys and we were
Speaker 7: both teams, two Shanghai Dragon teams. We'd all pracks together
Speaker 7: and then play against each other on the weekends. So
Speaker 7: pretty interesting.
Speaker 1: That is an incredible journey to the point where you're
Speaker 1: at now, where you got all these stickers on your jersey.
Speaker 1: I didn't know the NFL is doing that now it
Speaker 1: has an all pro sticker, a block of granite sticker.
Speaker 2: I don't even know if it's jis, it's just Jim.
Speaker 4: Which one was Harbor? Yeah, Walter Payton, Man of the Year.
Speaker 4: You know, you like to do a lot of work
Speaker 4: in the community.
Speaker 5: Very very cool. The coolestwollow on here. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4: Well he's got a cape, I mean capes, but he
Speaker 4: does have a cape on.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he put a cape on and delivered for us.
Speaker 1: Thank you Cameron dicker uh for joining us. Thank you,
Speaker 1: of course to Mike McDaniel for joining us earlier in
Speaker 1: the show. We will be back in the feed next
Speaker 1: myself and Nick Shook with our power ranking show.
Speaker 6: We will see ev