WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 108: Six Week Season (Feat. Devin Fitzsimmons) 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:08.200 Friends, have you ever woken up in the morning and 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.560 thought to yourselfself, I've got a really bad name for 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.960 a podcast this week. We call this thing the Happy 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.360 half Hour, but there is nothing necessarily happy about what's 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.360 going on in Bank of America Stadium this week. If 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.720 you are listening to this podcast and are part of 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.360 the Happy half Hour family, you are obviously aware of 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.880 what's going on. The Panthers have changed coaches in Week 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.000 thirteen of the NFL season. Frank Reich is no longer 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.479 among us here with the Panthers, and Chris Haber is 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.440 taking over as the interim head coach. One of the 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.640 things I always it's almost like a preamble I have 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.559 to use every year in print when stuff like this happens. 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.320 This is not a thing to celebrate, because no matter 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.319 how you felt about Frank Reich, the Carolina Panthers, or 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.279 the fate of the ballgames you've watched this year, there 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.880 are actual people on the other side of this transaction. 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.160 And Frank didn't just bring himself and his family back 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.280 to Charlotte. He brought a lot of other people who 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.280 packed up and moved families across the country, and there 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.640 are a lot of people with uncertain futures now as 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:12.840 a result of this, So I will this is my 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.759 annual or semi annual plea for decency and decorum from 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:21.400 the fan base when we consider this. But it's obviously 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.800 been a tough week and there's no getting around that. 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:27.839 You know, the Monday news was not anything anyone was expecting. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.880 I mean, as players heard the word from Dave Tepper 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.800 around ten o'clock and then they're sort of looking around like, 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:36.959 all right, what do we do now? And Chris Taber 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.720 basically send everybody home Monday afternoon, and players were walking 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.360 out the door like not really sure what's going to 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.640 happen next. So it's been an unusual time for them 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:52.240 as it pertains to Tabor and moving forward, it's a 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:56.360 miracle of compartmentalization. The work is going on. I mean, 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:58.960 you know, he's talked about trying to keep things as 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.560 normal as he could. The normals kind of a tough 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:04.720 thing to sell when you're one to ten and fire 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:08.400 ahead coach after eleven games in the NFL. But at 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.359 the same time, I think a lot of guys were 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.880 cognizant that the change came because things were not working 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:16.880 and if There's been a consistent theme throughout the Carolina 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:20.440 Panthers season. It has been that a defense has played 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.240 well enough to give them a chance and the offense 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:26.040 hasn't done enough to make it count. And it happened 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.040 ten times over the course of the season. And I 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.720 think when you saw the last two weeks, the way 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.320 they unfolded, you know, Frank came in and took play 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.680 calling back from Thomas Brown, which was a thing not 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:40.119 a lot of people suspected, but I sort of from 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:43.400 watching Frank and hear every day, it felt like at 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.320 the time that was Frank's way of saying, if there 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.079 is going to be pressure, put it on me, because 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.520 the pressure is implicit. The pressure exists in the NFL, 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.119 whether you care for it or not. And I think 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.960 Frank realized that things were not working out and this 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.800 was kind of his last chance. And when you do 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.400 that and you come back with ten points against Allas 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:05.680 and ten points on the road against the Titans and 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.679 two more losses, I think a lot of people, I 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.360 don't want to say expected it, but understood the reasons for. 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:16.200 You know, this offense is in the bottom five of 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.760 the league, and most of your major statistical categories, and 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.520 the short version of it is nothing worked and it 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:28.079 didn't change and adapt and from changing play callers once twice, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:32.079 moving personnel around, you know, trying this, trying that, there 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.840 was just never a coherent hole with that offense. And 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.160 that's the part that surprised so many people, because you know, 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.040 Frank Wright came in this offseason and hired that staff 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:44.960 to great fanfare, and everybody imagined, you know, there were 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.360 going to be brighter days ahead. Number one overall pit 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:52.440 quarterback and Bryce Young that the entire league wanted six 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.440 months ago. Let's not get that twisted now, just because CJ. 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.680 Stroud's playing good football down in Houston, probably twenty eight 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.280 to twenty nine teams of the thirty two would have 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.560 made the same selection the Carolina Panthers made, if not 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.200 more honestly, because the consensus was there all throughout the 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:13.800 offseason on Bryce Hung and when the results became what 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.040 they became. This is what happens in the NFL, and 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.840 Dave Tepper has addressed it, Chris Taber has addressed it, 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.599 and at this point, the Panthers are left with six 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.760 weeks of season to try to put things back together 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.400 as best they can I mean, while there is a 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.800 mathematical chance at the playoffs and podcast Matt can cueue 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.760 up the Jim Carey SoundBite of you saying there's a chance. Well, 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.920 I mean, I guess if you're into that kind of thing, 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.400 but I don't think it's useful to think of it 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.839 in those terms. I think mainly what the Carolina Panthers 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.160 have to do for the next six weeks is put 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.880 together some solid football guys who are going to be 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.479 free agents, are playing for the next contract. It would 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.839 be helpful, even though no one knows what the next 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.880 full time head coach is going to want to do offense, 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:04.359 for Bryce to play some coherent football, for the passing 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.760 game to look a little more polished as you try 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.320 to develop not just Bryce Young, but a Jonathan Mingo 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:13.280 outside at wide receiver. I mean, Mingo actually probably had 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:15.480 one of his better games of the season last week 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.760 in Tennessee, So you want to see more from him. 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.200 You want to see more from Bryce. I think more 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.640 than anything else, there'll be that moment where the Carolina 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.880 Panthers kind of get back to a little bit of 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:31.919 last year's identity where they want to be more physical. 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.200 They want to run the ball, and some of that 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:36.599 was absent. I think some of the things that Frank 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.720 and his staff tried to put in offensively were at 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.960 cross currents with the personnel. I think they had a 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:45.800 power blocking offensive line and tried to move them around 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.360 in different ways that weren't natural fits for those guys. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:51.760 And that's why things That's part of the reason things 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.600 look so disjointed. But it's not just you know again, 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:56.320 I've made the point in the mail bag a couple 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.719 of days ago. Ikiakwan, who didn't just forget how to 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.840 pound block. He went ten games last year without giving 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:05.960 up a sack after giving up three in the first 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.080 two of his NFL career. And I think getting back 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.480 on a more stable footing and doing things they may 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.920 be a little more comfortable with is probably going to 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.520 put the offensive line in better stead. If the offensive 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.560 line looks better, they'll run better. If they run better, 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.680 Bryce will have a little more time, And I think 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.640 that's helpful for Bryce too. But at this point, because 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:32.360 we don't know what Thomas Brown wants to call offensively 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.200 with the assistance of Jim callwell, we don't know what 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.560 Chris Taber wants to do philosophically. A lot of it's 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.719 kind of guesswork, and in a twisted way that works 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.320 out okay against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday because 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.880 the Bucks have certainly had their own struggles defensively of late. 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.200 They are not good. They are like the Panthers offensive 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:57.280 stats in reverse down there. So that's an opportunity, I 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.599 guess for all this new stuff to colls something. But 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.440 we just got to see how how things come together. 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.159 Right now, Chris Taber is doing his dead level best 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:11.320 to try to make things normal again, to use his 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.480 word from Wednesday, and it's never going to be normal 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.080 in week thirteen when you change coaches of an eighteen 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.280 game season. But you know, Chris has got the personality 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.960 at least to try to keep things afloat. And with 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.320 that said, it's probably time to go to our special 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.320 guest Happy Half Hour interview. If you were around for 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:36.160 last week's edition, the Thanksgiving edition of The Happy Half Hour, 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.520 we talked to Director of Performance Nutrition Kate Callaway, and 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:41.480 I said last week, I want to go around the 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:44.800 building and talk to the people who are bringing positive 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.280 energy to the process, and this guy was on my 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:53.200 list even before, even before any of this stuff happened, 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.600 with coaching changing, Chris Taber becoming the guy, Assistant Special 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.280 Teams coach Devin Fitzsimmons is one of those people. He 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.760 is an energy guy, and in Special Teams that's an 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.960 energy field. Fitz is one of those energy guys. 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:07.160 So here's our. 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:11.600 Conversation with Devin Fitzsimmons in which we talk about his job, 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.200 Chris Tabor and how he's well suited to this task 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:19.800 at hand and many other things. Check it out all right, 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.280 As promised, I told you all last week when I 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.280 talked to Kate Colway, our director of Performance Nutrition, I 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:29.000 wanted to wander around the building and bring a little 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.200 insight from the people who bring joy to this place 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:35.280 every now and then. And who better than Assistant Special 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:39.960 Teams coach Devon fitz Jimmons. Yeah, I know, we very 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.199 rarely address him that way. It's fits around here and 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:45.080 we appreciate him taking all the time. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:46.199 Fits. How you doing friend? 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:47.560 Better for you? Asking? 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:49.960 See, this is one of my favorite parts about you. 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.600 You got more one liners than anybody in this building. 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.000 And I started springing out on people when I was 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.240 working on elections the other week and you drop a 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.360 better for you asking on somebody and they just don't 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:00.880 know what to say half the time. 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:01.079 Do they. 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.200 You know, it's classic as you get the pause because 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.000 there was expecting oh yeah, good, hell, but you drop 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:07.400 that on them. 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:09.040 I'll tell you what. Now you're gonna get some attention 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:09.560 right there. 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.680 There you go. And you've been doing this all summer. 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.000 I remember in training camp one of the DB's was 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:15.880 hot or something was going for a cold tale and 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.319 you were checking on and see if he's alright. 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.719 He said, no, coach, I'm good. I'm just about I'm 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:20.360 sweating like. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.400 A dog over here, and you just looked at him, said, man, 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:23.480 dogs don't sweat. 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:26.000 So you just trying to provide a structure in a 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:27.280 supervision all the time. 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.080 You know, life lessons as well as cover and kicks. 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:31.800 That's what it's all about. 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.480 Well, listen, I wanted to check in with you for 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.320 a couple of reasons. A because you bring a little 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.560 positivity to the place when it needs it, no doubt 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.360 about that. But you work alongside Chris Taber as closely 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.520 as anybody in this building as his assistant. Coming in 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.199 You've known Chris for ten years, been working for him 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.720 all this year after joining us from Arizona. I just wanted, 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.560 as you work with him, what is it about him 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.719 that kind of stands out as a coach that kind 0:09:57.720 --> 0:09:59.719 of helps him in a situation like this where he's 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.240 kind of put in a weird situation being an interim 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:02.760 head coach. 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:03.600 Well. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:07.880 I think also is that Taves is, first off, he's 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.640 a tremendous human, Like he cares about people. 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.520 He cares about your families, he cares. 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.120 About the all around person, and I think that's what 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.400 makes them separate from other people. 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.080 And the other thing, like Taves is consistent as all 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:22.680 get out, Like you know. 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.439 Whether it's he's using humor to make a coaching point, 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.520 he's getting on guys. I mean, he's the same guy 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:32.280 every day, no matter what it is. I mean, he's 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.319 as consistent as he's pretty much consistent as waffle. 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:37.559 House waffle house. How's that? 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.320 I mean, you know, you go to any waffle house 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.079 anytime of day twenty four, seven, three sixty five or 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:45.200 sixty six. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.000 In certain years, you know the smother, cover and chop 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:50.640 is going to be the same no matter what. 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.120 So what is your waffle house order? While we're on. 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:58.840 That double waffle, christy bacon and of course smother covered chop. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.959 So you you sound like you've done that before due to. 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.880 My curvency many many times. Hell, you should go there 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:07.559 on Thanksgiving. 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:10.280 I could do it and they're going to be open 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:11.560 and you know what you're gonna get. 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.040 But talking about tabs. 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.440 The other thing that to me stands out about him 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.240 in this situation, coming in as an interim into a 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.920 weird spot obviously, but he's got a way of making 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.199 practice fun or making meetings fun. What is it about 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.200 him when you get in that meeting that kind of 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:28.920 helps him keep everybody's attention. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.080 You know what Taves does a great job of is 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.520 mixing in humor and coaching point and reaching the guys 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.280 and getting on them without getting on them. Now, it 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:41.440 ain't no doubt he'll get on guys if it's warranted. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.000 But here's the thing. It's like he's not asking you to. 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.480 Memorize the Bill of Rights or the Preamble to the Constitution. 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.640 He's saying, do the right thing, be on time, you know, 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.360 be a pro and all he jew is asking you 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:56.560 to do the little things. He treats people like men. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.560 He's ultimately transparent and candid. 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.760 But the thing about it is like, listen, I'm just 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.280 asking you to be on time. 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.640 I'm askining to do those things, not in sinuining like 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:07.560 people aren't. 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:11.760 But it's this little things that he's able to cultivate 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.040 into the bigger picture, you know, and being a pro 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.080 and doing the right thing. And I tell you, and 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.120 then the amount of jokes and nicknames are in the 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.640 Special Teams room is absolutely outstanding. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.560 Well, I know JJ Janssen's the old man of the 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:26.720 sea around this place. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.480 He's probably just JJ isn'ety. 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.400 Unfortunately it is just JJ, you know what I mean. 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.520 But he probably has been playing for the Panthers when 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:35.880 Ernest Hemingway wrote. 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:36.600 That that book. 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.280 What's give me another example, what's a good tabe's nickname 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.040 that he dropped on somebody that caught you by surprise. 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.800 I will have the player remain anonymous. 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:51.240 But Groot is a is a popular one in the room. Uh. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.120 He certainly acts and talks and moves like Groot. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.440 We're gonna leave that to some people's imaginations. But I 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.520 got some suspicions that could be anyway. 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:01.400 But he does. 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.200 I mean I saw him today in the locker room 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:05.240 as reporters were leaving and he was trying to get 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.800 guys in for special teams. He's barking, all right, three minutes, 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.560 this plane is about to depart for punt block. 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:12.800 And it's not. 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:16.120 Anything big, and it's not like, you know, a shaky 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:19.960 green routine or anything, but I imagine that keeping it light 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:24.240 helps in a situation like this, doesn't it. 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:25.840 It does, but it goes back to that's who he is, 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.600 you know what I mean. Again, he's the double wawful 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:33.160 that's always delicious with butter and syrup. But like he 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.800 starts meeting with that old school you know, probably when 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.840 you and I were growing up, with the pencil sharpers 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:38.440 were on the wall. 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.400 That bell, you know what I mean, starts the meeting off. 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.440 You know, somebody says, on whatever it is, the bell's 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:46.640 getting tapped. 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.280 But it's the level of consistency, the care. 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:54.080 Obviously, he's an elite football coach, amazing football coach that 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.400 can adjust in games faster than anyone I've ever been around, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.920 and he does an unbelievable job that and the way 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:03.719 he reaches the players and calms players down, you know 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:07.280 what I mean, it's really an uncanny skill set that 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:07.800 he has. 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:08.839 It really is. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.079 And you guys job, I mean your job in particular 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.600 is changing tires on a moving car. I mean special 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:16.440 teams never know is from one week to the next, 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.000 who you're going to have available, who's active, who's hurt. 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:20.840 Somebody gets hurt in the middle of the game, and 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.400 all of a sudden, Sam Franklin's a safety on defense 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.840 instead of a gunner on the punt team. 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.040 That's just Jones life, isn't it. 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:29.920 That's right? And it may not be of the same 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:31.120 four tires on the car. 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.120 So eventually we want to get that thing online out there, 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.080 you know, the ten thousand miles or wherever you get 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:37.720 them rotated. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:41.000 But that's the thing, you know, no matter what it is, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:42.320 we have to. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:45.360 Make it work. And Taves this has a great ability. 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:46.920 What does this player do well? 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:47.520 You know? 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.840 And so he's going to put that player in position 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.040 to do well and then so that it's not out 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.600 of sorts. And he's always like, listen, just play fast, 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:57.520 play tough, play hard. 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:01.240 If you make a mistake, cool, get it fixed, don't 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.400 do it again. Play fast, play hard. 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:08.240 And I think one thing our special teams and our 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.120 team does a great job, but we play hard and yeah, 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.400 my mom used to say, I ain't coaching effort. 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:17.520 Yeah, no doubt about that. 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.760 And there have been times you talk about all four 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:22.080 tires not necessarily the same. 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.560 Y'all have had the doughnut on a time or two. 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:26.760 This year, it's been a donut of VF. 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.960 Goodridge, one of those fancy tires back in the day 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:30.800 where it split. 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.600 The water out on the rain. You know, it's been all. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.240 Kinds of stuff on there, no doubt. 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.320 Well, listen, no training wheels though we ain't got no 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:37.880 training wheels. 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:39.680 We're rolling, Yeah, I hear that. 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.440 Well, listen, I want to catch up with you too, 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.720 because in addition to changing m tires on moving cars, 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.360 in addition to having all this background with Chris Taber, 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.440 you are also, without a doubt, the best dressed coach 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:52.360 on this Panthers staff at the moment. 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:54.720 That's not closed, is it. 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:55.000 No. 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:58.760 Coach Cooley definitely has me crushed. So I mean he's 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:00.080 the guru, trust. 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.280 Me, listen. Cool, he's got style. I'm not gonna take 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:03.120 that away from him. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.000 But I've seen you walk on planes and this is 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.320 this is where you're in my kitchen here, you got 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.920 seersucker suits plural, You're not just one seersucker. 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:13.720 You get how many of those things do you have? 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.040 Being from the walls, the home of a seersucker had 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:18.480 no offense to anybody else. 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.320 But I got three of them things. 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.520 Now I've got the classic blue, I've got the traditional tan. 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:27.000 Then I want a little crazy, all right, I got 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.920 the cream seersucker. Yeah. Of course you got to have 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:31.320 the saddle shoes to go with them. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.160 See now you go saddle shoes, and I respect it. 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.000 I took pictures of it when I first saw you 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:38.680 walk in with the saddle shoes and the seersucker earlier 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:39.160 this year. 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.560 But I got a pair of white Swedes I wear 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:42.120 with mine. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.640 Oh no, no, that's classic. Absolutely it's either Swede or 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.640 saddle shoes. You know you're not wearing cole Hans with 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:49.480 a seersucker. 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.600 No, it's and it is a suit of gentlemen. 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.320 I mean, I've sat in Baptist churches in August with 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:58.320 the ac broken and not broken a sweat, and you 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:00.840 can get away with it. And you know, again you're 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.040 from Louisiana. You know a little bit about that. 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.600 That's right, And unlike everybody else i'mant wear past Labor Day. 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.560 I ain't scared to do that. Now I will bust 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:09.720 a sear sucker out for a Christmas game. 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.120 Hey, it's gonna be in the eighties in Tampa on Sunday. 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.280 Maybe we'll let the suspense build coach. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.560 All right, Well we got something to look forward to 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:20.120 now when we get on the plane. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:22.360 Well, while I got you another couple of minutes. I mean, 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.000 you mentioned being from Louisia, and you're not from New 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:26.399 Orleans proper, are you? 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:26.560 No? 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:27.960 So I got kin folk there. 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.680 I'm from a small town Folst, Louisiana, about an hour 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:34.879 north of the city. Grew up on a thumughbread breeding 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:37.160 horse farm, and we used to board horses as well. 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:41.520 So you know, I was out early mucket stalls before 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:43.879 we opened Christmas, before we went the church. So everybody 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.000 else told me about their Christmas presence. I told them 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.520 how much crap I shove them? Am I allowed to 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:50.040 say crab? 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:50.400 Yeah? 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:52.760 I think you can say crap. This is a podcast. 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.520 It's the Happy half Hour. I think we're working on 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.280 a liquor sponsorship or something, so you can say. 0:17:58.640 --> 0:17:59.880 We're Genres half Hour. 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:04.000 Happy Yeah, we're definitely moving down that path. Get the 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:07.200 sponsorship department on the phone. We got business to do. 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:11.399 So anyway, you grew up in fulsome no prison, but 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:12.240 a lot of horses. 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.320 You and Jake Delaw imagine got some shared experience there. 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:17.320 Oh yeah, he grew up a hop skipping and jump 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:18.880 away in southwest Louisiana. 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.680 So we talk horses a good amount. You know, the fairgrounds. 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:23.400 I used to go to the fairgrounds as a kid, 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:26.000 and I was a runner for my grandpa and everybody 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.600