Speaker 1: Hike and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The I Think a change A
Speaker 1: change would do you good. Addition, as we visit with
Speaker 1: a player and a coach who are changing teams this year.
Speaker 1: The player is offensive lineman Xavier sua Philo, who joins
Speaker 1: the Bengals after four years in Houston and two years
Speaker 1: in Dallas. The coach is Al Golden, the former head
Speaker 1: coach of the Temple Owls and Miami Hurricanes, who is
Speaker 1: now in charge of the Bengals linebackers. And speaking of change,
Speaker 1: nearly everybody in that group is new to the Bengals
Speaker 1: this year. Those conversations are coming up. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel
Speaker 1: and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your own tablet or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since finding the right golf ball.
Speaker 1: I have no idea if my favorite golf ball fits
Speaker 1: my swing speed or is technically the one I should
Speaker 1: be using. All I know is that when I use
Speaker 1: the Calloway Chrome Soft brand, I feel more confident. And
Speaker 1: that's the key, right. Maybe it's because they're expensive and
Speaker 1: I'm a sucker for marketing. Who knows, but the Callaway
Speaker 1: Chrome Soft is my current favorite. If you would like
Speaker 1: to try one, just get a tea time after me
Speaker 1: and search the woods to the right on any hole
Speaker 1: that requires a driver. Now, let's get to football. My
Speaker 1: first conversation this week is with one of eight unrestricted
Speaker 1: free agents who signed with the Bengals in the offseason,
Speaker 1: offensive lineman Xavier sua Philo, who reportedly got a three year,
Speaker 1: nine million dollar deal. Xavier was a two time All
Speaker 1: American at UCLA before being selected with the first pick
Speaker 1: of the second round in the twenty fourteen NFL Draft
Speaker 1: by Houston. After coming off the bench as a rookie,
Speaker 1: Xavier started for three seasons at left guard for the
Speaker 1: Texans before joining the Cowboys as a free agent. He
Speaker 1: began each of the last two years in Dallas as
Speaker 1: a backup before moving into the starting lineup due to injuries. Now,
Speaker 1: the six four, three hundred twelve pound lineman is a
Speaker 1: Bengal and is expected to replace John Miller as Cincinnati's
Speaker 1: starting right guard. I spoke to Sue Philo this week
Speaker 1: from his home in Arizona. Xavier described the free agent
Speaker 1: process this time around and how things came together with
Speaker 1: the Bengals. It was a pretty quick process. You know,
Speaker 1: got done and really the first day, and it was
Speaker 1: awesome relief. It was really grateful for it. But once
Speaker 1: your contract is up with a team and you're not
Speaker 1: quite sure what happened and you hit the market, you know,
Speaker 1: anything can happen. I've done it twice, and so you know,
Speaker 1: I was just very very excited that, you know, the
Speaker 1: Bengals called and can't wait to get out there. After
Speaker 1: you signed, I asked Zach Taylor if he expected you
Speaker 1: to be the starting right guard, and he didn't hesitate
Speaker 1: in saying yes. How do you approach the season knowing
Speaker 1: that the job is there for the taking? Well, that's
Speaker 1: the ship is. You know, the kind of faith that
Speaker 1: you're coach has to you. That's awesome. But you know,
Speaker 1: coming out there, you know that you said that it's
Speaker 1: there for the taking, you have to take it. You
Speaker 1: know everything's turned that way, and I know that it's
Speaker 1: not going to be easy, you know. Ever, coming in
Speaker 1: to a new place with a new system, with other
Speaker 1: players to compete, you know, And so that's what I'm
Speaker 1: planning to do. And I'm very, very excited. We're visiting
Speaker 1: with Xaviers Sue a Philo. You're twenty nine years old,
Speaker 1: so you're not exactly old, but it's a very young
Speaker 1: offensive line. Trey Hopkins is twenty seven. Everybody else is
Speaker 1: twenty five or younger. Will you look to lead this group? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I hope to, um lead by example and see how
Speaker 1: it goes. Like I said, I'm coming in new and
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of guys. You know. You
Speaker 1: mentioned Trey. You know, Stay's a good player, and he's
Speaker 1: a center, you know, and um, you know, being the
Speaker 1: starter and running that room. You know, I'm sure he'll
Speaker 1: continue to do what he's good at, you know. And
Speaker 1: so for me, I just like to come in and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, learn, earn everybody's respect, and then uh compete
Speaker 1: and win games. Xavier suffered up broken fibulous in the
Speaker 1: next to last game of the year. Broken bones. He'll obviously,
Speaker 1: but were you worried about the timing in the final
Speaker 1: year of your contract? You know, I wasn't too worried
Speaker 1: about it. I was just worried about the recovery. You know,
Speaker 1: I've never broken a bone before, knocked on wood and
Speaker 1: so um, you know, I have faith, and uh, I
Speaker 1: just thought the timing was it just kind of sucked.
Speaker 1: You know, boning in the offseason. You know, it's nothing
Speaker 1: that somebody wants, but it also is part of our
Speaker 1: game and injuries happen. And firm believer, and you know,
Speaker 1: basically it's kind of how you manage those and mentally
Speaker 1: and physically, you know, kind of determined on exactly how
Speaker 1: quickly your rehab goes and how I guess tolerable it is.
Speaker 1: You have primarily played on the left side in college
Speaker 1: and in the NFL, the anticipation is the right side
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. Have you practiced much on the right side?
Speaker 1: And how big of a challenge is that as a guard?
Speaker 1: As a guard, switching side isn't always easy. But you know,
Speaker 1: fortunately for me, I've had to wrap it both sides.
Speaker 1: And even though like you mentioned, I've primarily played on
Speaker 1: the left side and cause in the NFL in games,
Speaker 1: I've done a lot of reps and taking a lot
Speaker 1: of work on the right side, especially in practice, in
Speaker 1: some preseason and stuff, and so you know, getting comfortable
Speaker 1: there in a game, you know, something that's going to
Speaker 1: have to be by experience. But I definitely so good there.
Speaker 1: End up getting in a right handed stands to do
Speaker 1: things on the right side. Is It's not foreign to me.
Speaker 1: The Bengals were very successful in the second half of
Speaker 1: the season last year with a pin and pull rushing attack.
Speaker 1: Had really paved the way for Joe Mixon to have
Speaker 1: a big second half. Does that fit your strengths? Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm an offensivelnement. I love running the ball. We always do,
Speaker 1: and we know that. You know, a lot of stress
Speaker 1: gets taken up the quarterback and the rest of the offense.
Speaker 1: You know, if you're able to run the ball successfully,
Speaker 1: and so starting with the big guys up front, part
Speaker 1: of protection is being able to run the ball. And
Speaker 1: having a big chunk back that I fixed in. You know,
Speaker 1: it definitely helps. I've been fortune the buck for some
Speaker 1: good facts in my career, so you know, to me,
Speaker 1: that's very important. And I love running the ball too.
Speaker 1: We're spending a few minutes with Xavier suet Filo. The
Speaker 1: Bengals were among the most active teams in the NFL
Speaker 1: and free agency, including signing your former Houston teammate DJ Reader.
Speaker 1: What are the Bengals getting in him? And a great
Speaker 1: player and a great person, you know, I just remember
Speaker 1: any came in and just kind of how he was,
Speaker 1: you know, a real easy going, laid back person off
Speaker 1: the field, but on the field, very very, very competitive,
Speaker 1: and I'm excited to have him as a teammate again
Speaker 1: in this year's draft Savior. Six of the bengals seven
Speaker 1: draft picks were captains in college. And when I look
Speaker 1: at your background, I see Eagle Scouts, team captain of UCLA,
Speaker 1: somebody who served others in a two year Mormon mission.
Speaker 1: It seems like that stuff's very important to you. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: it's being service oriented. It's definitely who I was raised
Speaker 1: to be by my folks, and I'm grateful to him
Speaker 1: for it. Growing up, getting your Eagle Scout was kind
Speaker 1: of a rule in my family, especially for the young men,
Speaker 1: and so it started off as something I had to do,
Speaker 1: ended up finishing it as something that I was excited
Speaker 1: to do. So it means a lot. How have you
Speaker 1: been training during this pandemic? You know, I have some
Speaker 1: stuff at home, but I also go to a you know,
Speaker 1: I live in Phoenix, in the Phoenix area, and there's
Speaker 1: been a couple of gyms and a couple of rehab
Speaker 1: facilities that have been deemed essential and they've been privately
Speaker 1: owned and are opened, and you know, through proper social
Speaker 1: distancing and cleansing and all that kind of stuff, I've
Speaker 1: been able to keep working out and keep listening way
Speaker 1: to keep rehabbing it. So I've been fortunate in that sense.
Speaker 1: Gonna have to, you know, Mike, any time due to
Speaker 1: the pandemic, how challenging has it been to try to
Speaker 1: learn the offense and get to know your teammates from afar?
Speaker 1: That is the challenge right there, you know, learning the offense,
Speaker 1: I've been fortunate. You know that it's you know coming
Speaker 1: pretty easy. You know, playing going on seven years. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of you know a lot of the football
Speaker 1: stuff that extras and os is very similar. Um it's
Speaker 1: just identified differently or they use different words in different terms,
Speaker 1: and so a lot of that is memorization. But getting
Speaker 1: to know my teammates, you know, I that's something I
Speaker 1: feel like, Um, it's a little harder virtually obviously, but
Speaker 1: I don't think I have a problem, you know, sitting
Speaker 1: right in just being able to talk ball, talk football.
Speaker 1: See how things hit people's heads differently, you know, they're
Speaker 1: formed a way of thinking communication. It's it's been cool.
Speaker 1: And you know, I've I've I knew Billy Price before
Speaker 1: I got signed by Cincinnati. I went to school with
Speaker 1: Alex Redman, you know, obviously I know DJ and so
Speaker 1: it's some familiarity that way, especially in the offensive line room.
Speaker 1: Uh but you know there's always room, you know, to
Speaker 1: get to know him better, and we will once we
Speaker 1: get this thing rolling. How did you get to know
Speaker 1: Billy Price? You know, Billy I met Billy Um when
Speaker 1: he was training for the Combine out here in Phoenix
Speaker 1: as well, and I've always kind of, you know, kept
Speaker 1: in touch with him, you know, and he was one
Speaker 1: of the first people to to text me congratulations, you know,
Speaker 1: when I got drafted or when I got signed with
Speaker 1: the with the Bengals, and so seeing him in the
Speaker 1: meetings you know every day too is as always as
Speaker 1: always a few more questions for Saviors A Philo. What
Speaker 1: are your impressions of Joe Burrow, whether it was from
Speaker 1: watching him on TV or any contact you might have
Speaker 1: had since man. You know what, I haven't met him
Speaker 1: yet obviously in person or or virtually. You know, he's
Speaker 1: been in our team meetings, but I just excited to
Speaker 1: have him. You know, he's the truth, you know, as
Speaker 1: someone you know, some people could say he's had as
Speaker 1: an exciting career college career as anyone can have in
Speaker 1: a memorable one too. You know, I'm just excited for
Speaker 1: him to, you know, come in and be in the
Speaker 1: NFL and and have that same type of success. And
Speaker 1: I only wish the best for him, you know, especially
Speaker 1: now that I have the opportunity of block for him. Xavier,
Speaker 1: your father is of Samoan descent, and I understand that's
Speaker 1: led to a connection to former Bengals Ray Mala Luga
Speaker 1: and Domata Peco. Is that correct, right? So, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if it's you know, what it is,
Speaker 1: but you know, in the NFL, there's quite a bit
Speaker 1: off someone, quite a bit of tongue in, you know,
Speaker 1: and then everyone just kind of gravitates towards each other.
Speaker 1: You know, it's almost pretty common to seek out, you know,
Speaker 1: if there's any pald Agians on the other team after
Speaker 1: the game. But I played against Don't Talk when he
Speaker 1: was in Cincinnati, and he's always been cool to me.
Speaker 1: And I know he's a lot older than me, but
Speaker 1: when I was a young player, especially him being a veteran,
Speaker 1: you know, he was just always real good to me,
Speaker 1: you know, whenever we played against them, and you know,
Speaker 1: just asking me things after the game, you know, just
Speaker 1: about you know, my family, who they are and how
Speaker 1: they're doing, you know, just taking an interest that way.
Speaker 1: And so I know he played there for a long time,
Speaker 1: and so I've always you know, been thought that was
Speaker 1: neat and Ray. I watched Ray it, you know, when
Speaker 1: he was at USC, like we all did, and you know,
Speaker 1: he just wanted like he had a heck of a
Speaker 1: career over there. And him being someone like you know,
Speaker 1: in USC being as popular as they were at that time,
Speaker 1: you know, it's really neat to you know, you know,
Speaker 1: get to see him. And likewise, I played against Ray,
Speaker 1: you know, in the NFL while he was was Cincinnati too,
Speaker 1: and so you know, he reached out to me as
Speaker 1: well when I signed with the Bengals and told me
Speaker 1: when I got out there, you know, to give him
Speaker 1: a call and maybe grabbed some lunch and he can,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of you know, teach me a
Speaker 1: little bit about there and you know, maybe the Kentucky
Speaker 1: side or the Cincinnati side, and so just very neat
Speaker 1: and very cool the you know, to met those guys
Speaker 1: and nipples happened to, you know, be with the Bengals
Speaker 1: for a significant amount of time. Final question for newcomer
Speaker 1: Xaviers Sue a Philo. Tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: your family and how you've been coping with COVID nineteen restrictions.
Speaker 1: I've been married five years to my wife, Heather. We
Speaker 1: met when we were in Utah. She played volleyball at YU.
Speaker 1: We have two kids. We have a four year old
Speaker 1: son named Lennox, and I have a two year old
Speaker 1: daughter named TVN. Tan's birthday's next month, my son's birthday
Speaker 1: is a month after, and sometime in between there, my
Speaker 1: wife's expected to give birth to a new to another boy,
Speaker 1: so we're just getting ready for that. And during this
Speaker 1: pandemic has been really cool, you know this, And even
Speaker 1: though I've been able to work out, it's been really
Speaker 1: cool to spend a lot of time with my wife
Speaker 1: and kids. You know, as you know, during the season
Speaker 1: it can get hard especially with work and even with
Speaker 1: OTAs and so having a virtual offseason. You know, it's
Speaker 1: been Obviously it's different enough being in there as the team,
Speaker 1: but it's been nice, you know, spending as much time
Speaker 1: of my wife and kids as I have. And I'm sure,
Speaker 1: well I'm sure they would say the same, you know,
Speaker 1: even though some days I'm not sure about my wife
Speaker 1: wants me to go to work around but I yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just been really neat and living in Phoenix out here,
Speaker 1: you know, we've been safe and really really blessed. Actually,
Speaker 1: you know, I know it's a lot of folks are
Speaker 1: having a hard time, you know, out there, and so
Speaker 1: it's an interesting time in our country, and I you know,
Speaker 1: and I'm just we're just fortunate. I think that extra
Speaker 1: family time has been the silver lining for many of us.
Speaker 1: And we certainly wish you the best. With the baby
Speaker 1: boy on the way, that's very exciting and we're excited
Speaker 1: to have you with the Bengals organization. So thank you
Speaker 1: with the time, and I look forward to meeting you
Speaker 1: face to face. Yea, sir, thanks for having me man,
Speaker 1: I'm really excited. Xavier has appeared in seventy eight career games,
Speaker 1: including three playoff starts for Houston. Before we get to
Speaker 1: the next guest, here's a quick reminder that you can
Speaker 1: take your Bengals pride to the next level in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty with an official Bengals fan package from Prime Sport.
Speaker 1: One of the most obvious areas where the Bengals must
Speaker 1: show improvement this year is the play of their linebackers.
Speaker 1: Nick Vigil and Preston Brown, who started the first eight
Speaker 1: games last year, are both gone, and so is linebackers
Speaker 1: coach Tim Lucaboo, who left to become the defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: at Boston College. The bengals new linebackers coach is fifty
Speaker 1: year old Al Golden, who spent ten years as a
Speaker 1: college head coach at Temple and the University of Miami
Speaker 1: before spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach
Speaker 1: with the Detroit Lion Al. I know the wide receivers
Speaker 1: coach Bob mcnell was on your staff at Temple. Was
Speaker 1: that connection significant in leading to your opportunity with the Bengals, Well,
Speaker 1: it certainly was, but there were others as well. Coach
Speaker 1: Callahan and I were together in Detroit. Jimmy Turner, I
Speaker 1: used to work with him at the Boston College football
Speaker 1: camp when I was up at Boston College, so really
Speaker 1: I crossed paths with the You know a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys in the past or had mutual friends, but
Speaker 1: certainly Bob was instrumental in this whole process. You're new
Speaker 1: to the Bengals, and so are the guys in the
Speaker 1: linebackers room. Of the nine guys you have, Jermaine Pratt
Speaker 1: and Jordan Evans were basically the only two that played
Speaker 1: for Cincinnati last year. How big of a challenge is
Speaker 1: that for you? Well, I don't know if it's any
Speaker 1: different challenge wise. I think you know, the defense starts
Speaker 1: over every year, and you know, from Matt standpoint, we're
Speaker 1: just trying to implement and install based on what Cincinnati
Speaker 1: d last year. Where Lucy's you know, the defense going
Speaker 1: this year, and then you know, our job is to
Speaker 1: kind of fill in that chasm really between where our
Speaker 1: goals are an execution. So we're spending all of our time,
Speaker 1: you know, basically trying to iron out the details and
Speaker 1: find some corrections. And the veterans in the certainly the
Speaker 1: veterans in my room have been really really instrumental, and
Speaker 1: uh and moving it forward, let's discuss the personnel, beginning
Speaker 1: with free agent signy Josh Bines. It's a nine year vet,
Speaker 1: he's got a Super Bowl ring, he's got a National
Speaker 1: Championship ring from his time with Auburn. How important was
Speaker 1: it to add a seasoned veteran like Josh Bines, experienced,
Speaker 1: proven winner, leader, very bright, a vocal leader at the
Speaker 1: last strument. So I think from from that standpoint, he
Speaker 1: brings a lot to the room. And I wasn't here
Speaker 1: last year to contrast, but certainly I can tell you
Speaker 1: just moving forward that he's been pivotal, uh in the
Speaker 1: standard that he's setting, in what he demands of the
Speaker 1: younger guys, and the example that he said. So it's
Speaker 1: been it's been great having him. It really has been.
Speaker 1: So that even shows in Zoom meetings. Oh, there's no
Speaker 1: doubt in terms of the Zoom meeting. You know, sometimes
Speaker 1: guys can play their way, you know, out of a
Speaker 1: mistake on the field, through instincts or where the ball hits.
Speaker 1: But when you're running the Zoom meetings or you're asking
Speaker 1: him questions, there's really nowhere to go. And I think
Speaker 1: what Josh does better than most is he's confident in
Speaker 1: his answers and he's not afraid to ask why so, Um,
Speaker 1: he makes you a better coach, he makes his peers better,
Speaker 1: he makes our defense better. He's come up with some
Speaker 1: good ideas as well, and uh, and we're not afraid
Speaker 1: to implement game as we move forward. We're chatting with
Speaker 1: linebackers coach Al Gold and Jermaine Pratt wound up playing
Speaker 1: forty one percent of the snaps last year as a
Speaker 1: rookie and started the final eight games of the year.
Speaker 1: What stands out about Jermaine when you watch him on tape.
Speaker 1: The one thing is, you know, he plays big. He's
Speaker 1: a big man. He could play inside or outside. He's
Speaker 1: got a good long speed and I think from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: he's got versatility. So I think the one thing that
Speaker 1: is jumping off, you know right now in terms of
Speaker 1: the offseason program is you know, he's just much more
Speaker 1: confident in his answers according to everybody that that's been
Speaker 1: with him, you know. So I think the year things
Speaker 1: are slowing down a little bit for him, which should
Speaker 1: translate the faster play on the field. So we're excited
Speaker 1: about Jermaine and he's had a good off season. We
Speaker 1: just got to continue to maintain that. He struck me
Speaker 1: as a guy last year during his rookie season that
Speaker 1: was all ball, I mean, love football, wanted to get better.
Speaker 1: Do you sense the same I do. I'm excited, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to work with him and uh, he was
Speaker 1: a young man. I had a chance to interview, you know,
Speaker 1: the previous year coming out and uh. You know, now
Speaker 1: I have a chance to really, you know, sit down
Speaker 1: with him and uh and work with him. And I'm
Speaker 1: looking to you know, get get with him face to
Speaker 1: face here and then your future. Now. Three of the
Speaker 1: seven draft picks were linebackers, beginning with third rounder Logan
Speaker 1: Wilson out of Wyoming, a three time captain there. What
Speaker 1: are you getting in Logan Wilson? I think Logan has
Speaker 1: the ability to play four downs, um and uh and
Speaker 1: and really, when you look at the pool of talent
Speaker 1: coming out of college anymore, it's hard to find guys
Speaker 1: that are two h forty plus souh. He's a two
Speaker 1: forty pound throwback linebacker on early downs. But man, he
Speaker 1: played so much coverage uh at Wyoming and covered the
Speaker 1: field really well. So he gives us versatility there uh,
Speaker 1: not only inside but outside. H has coverage responsibilities. And
Speaker 1: then obviously if you think he's a candidate to help
Speaker 1: us on special teams, so we're really a bright kid.
Speaker 1: He's working hard at it, he's learning well, and we're
Speaker 1: excited to work with him moving forward. The game has
Speaker 1: obviously changed. How critical is coverage ability for a linebacker
Speaker 1: in the current NFL? Well, I think it's it's it's
Speaker 1: really hard because you know, we used to say guys
Speaker 1: that couldn't cover were two down players, but the reality
Speaker 1: is those guys now are one or one and a
Speaker 1: half down players because second and long, you know, there's
Speaker 1: so much pass in our league now. So I think
Speaker 1: that kind of transitions into why we felt so confident
Speaker 1: about a team Davis Gaylor and Marcus you know, Bailey
Speaker 1: and taking them when we did. So. Both of these
Speaker 1: young men are also four down candidates. They're guys that
Speaker 1: can play on early downs, they can play in the
Speaker 1: sub you know, certainly they could be out there in
Speaker 1: two minute situations. You love to match up with them
Speaker 1: on a tight end or a running back, and I
Speaker 1: think Darren Simmons and Cult are going to love them
Speaker 1: in the special team's room. So again we're excited about that,
Speaker 1: that entire group. And then Marcel Spears, an undrafted free agent,
Speaker 1: another kid that can play all the downs, and we're
Speaker 1: excited about him as well. So again it's a it's
Speaker 1: a good group to work with. They're working hard, they
Speaker 1: come prepared every day, and I think the tone that
Speaker 1: has been set by the older guys, you know, Austin
Speaker 1: Khalatro and Josh and Jordan Evans, I think those guys
Speaker 1: have done a great job following up on a Keen
Speaker 1: Davis Skaith, your fourth round pickout of app State. He's
Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty four pounds, so he is a
Speaker 1: little bit undersized. How did he convince you that he's
Speaker 1: big enough to be effective in the NFL. Well, he's
Speaker 1: a striker, you know, so he's explosive and can strike.
Speaker 1: I think you got to find, you know, ways to
Speaker 1: use them on early downs. As I mentioned earlier, he'll
Speaker 1: be someone that should stand out in space the self package,
Speaker 1: and again I just think he's tough. He can see it.
Speaker 1: You know, he hasn't played inside a bunch. He was
Speaker 1: kind of a nickel alley player at app State. But
Speaker 1: when we had him in the Senior Bowl. Number One,
Speaker 1: he was a leader. Number two he was smart. And
Speaker 1: three he really started to see and fit the run
Speaker 1: as the week evolved, and I thought that was a
Speaker 1: great sign for him. We're visiting with linebackers coach Al
Speaker 1: Gold and Marcus Bailey, the seventh round pick out of Purdue.
Speaker 1: In your mind, would he likely have been a second
Speaker 1: or third rounder if he didn't tear his ACL last September. Yeah, Again,
Speaker 1: I won't get into that speculation about where he would
Speaker 1: have went. All I know is we had him significantly
Speaker 1: higher than where we took him. So when we saw
Speaker 1: him there, we saw a great value. And he has
Speaker 1: not disappointed. He's a bright young man, very confident. He
Speaker 1: prepares and learns well. So we're excited about him. But
Speaker 1: we worked hard on him, We really did. We researched
Speaker 1: a lot of background on him. We studied his junior year,
Speaker 1: We studied, you know, his senior year, the couple of
Speaker 1: games that he played. We waited for Pro day drills,
Speaker 1: if you will, to start coming in prior to the draft.
Speaker 1: They came in probably about a week prior to the draft.
Speaker 1: In addition to that, we got every man coverage shot
Speaker 1: that we could in his career just to evaluate his
Speaker 1: man coverage ability or his ability to cover in space.
Speaker 1: And I think the confluence of all those things just
Speaker 1: let us down the road of you know, this is
Speaker 1: a guy that we want to we want to have
Speaker 1: on our team and work with. So we're excited about Marcus.
Speaker 1: You managed to get in a one on one workout
Speaker 1: with Marcel Spears, the undrafted free agent out of Iowa
Speaker 1: State before the coronavirus restrictions kicked in. How pivotal was
Speaker 1: that in evaluating his potential? It was pivotal for whatever reason. Um,
Speaker 1: I went right from the combine and UH and did
Speaker 1: a kind of a mid Atlantic swing that first week,
Speaker 1: and then that second week I did kind of a
Speaker 1: midwest UH swing, if you will, and UH, I wanted
Speaker 1: to see him in Aims. We couldn't pull it off,
Speaker 1: and then I asked him if I could see him
Speaker 1: at his high school and work him out. And there
Speaker 1: was a lot of logistics there that we had to
Speaker 1: work through, and I had to change my flight. I
Speaker 1: was coming from Madison, I believe the day before I
Speaker 1: was in Wyoming. So everything worked out, but certainly as
Speaker 1: I was flying that last forty eight hours. I had
Speaker 1: a feeling there was an end, there was an endgame
Speaker 1: coming up, you know, so I was really excited to
Speaker 1: get ten in person evaluations done in that first few
Speaker 1: weeks following the you know, the combine and UH and
Speaker 1: Futrel Kendall. Futrel was one of those as well. So,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it paid great dividends for us
Speaker 1: because Logan was on that group, Utrell was on that group,
Speaker 1: Spears was in that group, and obviously we had a
Speaker 1: keen down at the Senior Bowl, so we had experienced
Speaker 1: with all those guys. Your schedule out has been crazy
Speaker 1: since these coronavirus restrictions hit. You had just joined the organization,
Speaker 1: you were at the Senior Bowl, the scouting combine, and
Speaker 1: then shortly after that everybody's forced to shelter in place.
Speaker 1: How have you dealt with getting a new job under
Speaker 1: these circumstances. Very I'm very fortunate. You know, Zach was
Speaker 1: great prior to the combine. Zach, you know, made time
Speaker 1: for us to evaluate everybody. So really it was the
Speaker 1: first time that I've gone to the combine having evaluated
Speaker 1: every linebacker that was there, so the world were no surprises.
Speaker 1: I had specific targets in mind. I had guys that
Speaker 1: I needed to spend a lot of time with. I
Speaker 1: think from that standpoint, that was invaluable. And then went
Speaker 1: on the road right after the combine for for two weeks,
Speaker 1: and then when it stopped, we transitioned into football and
Speaker 1: preparation for the draft. But the draft was already done,
Speaker 1: so I was able to move in our minds the draft.
Speaker 1: The linebacker board was basically set, so I was able
Speaker 1: to start to transition into the football side of it,
Speaker 1: which has been great. And and then we've just been
Speaker 1: juggling ever since. You know, I think everybody you know
Speaker 1: feels comfortable with how we're doing it in terms of
Speaker 1: zoom and different meetings, and we've had we've had a
Speaker 1: really good schedule, intense, you know, more intense with the rookies.
Speaker 1: You know, we're really challenging the vets. And then whatever
Speaker 1: time is left over, we're either meeting as a staff
Speaker 1: or breaking down you know, combinations of the staff, or
Speaker 1: just working on our own. So we've gotten a lot
Speaker 1: of work done. We're going to need every bit of
Speaker 1: this next month to you know, to finish everything. But
Speaker 1: I think I think would be in a good place,
Speaker 1: you know for reach from unders final question for Al
Speaker 1: Golden you played on some great teams at Penn State
Speaker 1: and you are a captain under the legendary Joe Paterno.
Speaker 1: What are some of the biggest lessons that you learned
Speaker 1: from coach Paterno that you use in your coaching career.
Speaker 1: Joe was the ultimate in empowerment. You know, he wanted
Speaker 1: to build, you know, young men that would not only
Speaker 1: be successful you know, in the classroom, but also you know,
Speaker 1: in the community and on the field of competition. And
Speaker 1: I think the way you kind of uh classify that
Speaker 1: is that he was the ultimate empower So I think
Speaker 1: from from that standpoint, I've learned how to empower young
Speaker 1: people and teach them how to how to adapt or
Speaker 1: how to figure things out and you know, not make
Speaker 1: excuses and not worry about things they can't change. And
Speaker 1: I think from that standpoint that was always a great lesson.
Speaker 1: And the used always say to us, you know, run scared,
Speaker 1: and what run scared men, was that you just you prepared,
Speaker 1: you prepared, you prepared right up until the last moment,
Speaker 1: and then once the ball is kicked off, you'll feel
Speaker 1: great about where you are and from that standpoint. Basically,
Speaker 1: what we're doing right now is trying to We're running scared,
Speaker 1: you know, we're acting like we don't know when this
Speaker 1: thing is going to change, and we're just we're just
Speaker 1: working like crazy every day because we don't know, you know,
Speaker 1: what the future holds. But we're not going to waste
Speaker 1: this time that we have. And I think I'm blessed
Speaker 1: to have these this group of linebackers to work with
Speaker 1: every day. It's been so much fun. It's a great
Speaker 1: way to wrap it up. All. I appreciate the time,
Speaker 1: and I look forward to meeting you in person. All right,
Speaker 1: same here, hopefully so rather than later. Okay, we'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: My thanks the Xavier, Sue, Philo, and Al Golden. And
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this episode of The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast, brought to you by Prime Sport, the
Speaker 1: official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rate or share
Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thank you for listening to The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast