Speaker 1: Welcome into the Ravens Press Past podcast. It is Tuesday,
Speaker 1: February sixth, and the Ravens introduced a new defensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: zachary Or earlier today. Zach is gonna take over for
Speaker 1: Mike McDonald, who left to become the head coach of
Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks. Zach is a former player and his
Speaker 1: passion clearly comes across when he talks with the media.
Speaker 1: Today is to go ahead and listen to that full
Speaker 1: press conference.
Speaker 2: How y'all doing already? Man, I just want to thank
Speaker 2: you guys for coming out. I want to thank my family,
Speaker 2: Thank my fiance, my mom, dad, my brothers, my son,
Speaker 2: close friends, everybody that's supported me throughout throughout my life.
Speaker 2: I want to thank the organization, Thank mister Bashatti, coach
Speaker 2: John Harbaugh, Eric de Consta, Sashi Brown, everybody in the organization.
Speaker 2: So many people in this wonder wonderful organization who's shown
Speaker 2: me so much love all throughout the years. Just can't
Speaker 2: thank him enough. Man, So excited, fired up, determined. Uh
Speaker 2: for the opportunity that I have, man, and I'm ready
Speaker 2: to get to work.
Speaker 3: Exact even you know, during your playing career, did you
Speaker 3: kind an and did ever thought about, hey, you know,
Speaker 3: post career and you know offenly getting into coach or
Speaker 3: anything like that.
Speaker 4: Uh not.
Speaker 2: While I was playing. My plan was honestly, make it
Speaker 2: to the National Football League, play like ten fifteen years,
Speaker 2: you know, go back home, coach some high school football.
Speaker 2: But never thought I'd be coaching the National Football League.
Speaker 2: Uh So this is this is a blessing. And obviously
Speaker 2: with my situation when I got the opportunity to start
Speaker 2: coaching the National Football League, this was one of one
Speaker 2: goal of mine. So it's just crazy to see it
Speaker 2: all come together. But initially it definitely was not. I
Speaker 2: never I never thought this would happen.
Speaker 4: Zach.
Speaker 5: Can you think but the last time I could get
Speaker 5: a press conference in the year which is a national retirement.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and from that point to now this this journey.
Speaker 5: But can can you take us through a little bit
Speaker 5: kind of what's it been like emotionally?
Speaker 6: It gets you back to.
Speaker 2: This point, man, It it was tough. It was tough
Speaker 2: initially when I had to come in and sit with
Speaker 2: you guys last time and hang up the cleats, hang
Speaker 2: up the pads, hang up the helmet. But like I said,
Speaker 2: I had great support from my family and from the organization.
Speaker 2: You know, they they they sup poured me right away
Speaker 2: talking about the organization. They was like, I know, you
Speaker 2: wanted to get right into coaching. Once you get once
Speaker 2: you come right back up here and get the work.
Speaker 2: And I did that and I learned what it took
Speaker 2: to be a coach in National Football League, learn from
Speaker 2: a lot of great people, and you know, just continue
Speaker 2: to work, work, work, work, work, fell in love with
Speaker 2: the game as a coach, and you know, now we're here.
Speaker 2: But it definitely, it definitely was a crazy journey from
Speaker 2: that moment last time I was here to now. But
Speaker 2: like I said, I'm excited. And it just shows, man,
Speaker 2: you you put into work, you treat people right the
Speaker 2: right way, great things can happen.
Speaker 6: You just you just alluded to it.
Speaker 5: I mean when you when you did start to make
Speaker 5: that transition, who are the people that you leaning on
Speaker 5: the most to sort of figure out how to do
Speaker 5: this at your job?
Speaker 2: Man? It was it's so many people. I mean when
Speaker 2: I first got here. I remember when I first got
Speaker 2: back up here to coach. Osie was like, all right,
Speaker 2: now you know these hours are different, so get ready.
Speaker 2: And so he's one of the guys, obviously Coach Harball.
Speaker 2: I mean, man, it's so many, so many guys in
Speaker 2: the building, like you know, Mike McDonald, Wink martindale' Sterling, Lucas,
Speaker 2: Jesse mintzer Man. I could go, I could name on
Speaker 2: the list a list of people, but just so many
Speaker 2: people helped me out along the way, helped me get
Speaker 2: acclimated to what it takes to do this to be
Speaker 2: successful in his profession. And I can't thank those people enough.
Speaker 2: And I know I named some people, but I know
Speaker 2: I missed a lot, but I have so many people
Speaker 2: helped me out. The way it.
Speaker 7: Sounded like it happened, it all kind of came together
Speaker 7: pretty quickly. And then you were talking to Green Bay
Speaker 7: one day and then you know, just how quickly did
Speaker 7: it come together for you in terms of you know,
Speaker 7: was there even like a lengthy interview process or and
Speaker 7: what was that process like for you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Monday it was crazy. I didn't have had
Speaker 2: a chance to process you know, what happened the day before.
Speaker 2: And you know, I had conversations with coach Harball starting
Speaker 2: on Monday, you know, cause we knew, we knew, uh
Speaker 2: what the possibility of things that could happen, uh with
Speaker 2: with the staff. So I was talking with him Monday,
Speaker 2: going through the interview process with him as well as Tuesday.
Speaker 2: You know, it was it was two days of real, real,
Speaker 2: real detailed conversations.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: Talked to Green Bay on Monday, interviewed with them Wednesday,
Speaker 2: and you know, Wednesday, after the after the interview with
Speaker 2: green Bay, had another conversation with coach Harbor, and that's
Speaker 2: when things really started to pick up steam.
Speaker 6: After really over the.
Speaker 8: Last seven years, it's been a quick assent for you
Speaker 8: starting out as a coach now.
Speaker 6: Being in DC.
Speaker 8: Is there a moment a conversation where that kind of
Speaker 8: sticks out for you where you thought, okay, being an
Speaker 8: NFL assistant, the coach position, coach, whatever, but that you
Speaker 8: could be a defensive coordinator, that you could have aspirations.
Speaker 6: That have you sitting where you are right now. Is
Speaker 6: there anything that stands out?
Speaker 2: I just think just the just the process. The more
Speaker 2: the more I got into it, the more I started
Speaker 2: to dive more in the coaching. The first year was
Speaker 2: kind of just getting adjusted, getting acclimated to the transition,
Speaker 2: and then second year being full fledged and so forth
Speaker 2: and so uh so on. So I wouldn't say it
Speaker 2: was just a specific moment. I just know that probably
Speaker 2: by year three or four, like I was, I'm fully
Speaker 2: entrusted into into the coaching things. I'm I'm excited about
Speaker 2: the process of of game planning and going through the
Speaker 2: process of studying opponents, offseason studies, all the all the
Speaker 2: little details that go into it. I was fully entrenched
Speaker 2: to entrenched into it, just like how I was as
Speaker 2: a player. So I wouldn't I wanna say specific moment,
Speaker 2: but just the the whole process. Man, Like I I
Speaker 2: love what I do. I tell people all the time.
Speaker 2: I never thought I would say this is like I
Speaker 2: have no aspirations of playing at all. You know, I
Speaker 2: love I love this.
Speaker 9: So you've all been a leader as you know, a
Speaker 9: captain a field in termship player. Oh when you transition
Speaker 9: being or clos what are some of the similar areas
Speaker 9: that translated cover from being a leader as a player,
Speaker 9: and what.
Speaker 2: Were some differences in how you have to be I
Speaker 2: think just if you a l if you're a leader,
Speaker 2: it really don't matter what position you in, whether you're
Speaker 2: a coach or player or just in your community, no
Speaker 2: matter what your occupation is. And I think the things
Speaker 2: that go with being a leader is first thing, you
Speaker 2: gotta lead by example. So you gotta do things right
Speaker 2: and uh to the best your ability, do things right
Speaker 2: all the time, you know, be on time, be prepared.
Speaker 2: I think that that carries over from being a player
Speaker 2: to a coach. Be organized, you know, and then you
Speaker 2: just gotta show the passion, show that you really care
Speaker 2: uh for for the person that you're trying to lead
Speaker 2: and for the people you're trying to lead. I think
Speaker 2: when people know that you genuinely care about them and
Speaker 2: you care about their well building, well well being, and
Speaker 2: you care about the uh what's what's best for them,
Speaker 2: I think that they'll they'll follow you as long as
Speaker 2: you're you're doing what you say you're gonna do and
Speaker 2: and you're leading by example.
Speaker 6: U call basically defensive. What have you done to prepare
Speaker 6: before this in you in your other roles with this team?
Speaker 6: And how do you kind of do you is that
Speaker 6: something you do during your game short of imagine what
Speaker 6: you call or do you do it when you break
Speaker 6: it down the film after? How do you kind of
Speaker 6: hand with your fair?
Speaker 10: Really?
Speaker 2: I think what we do a great job here is
Speaker 2: everybody it's a collaborative effort going into the game plan.
Speaker 2: So obviously the coordinator is gonna have the final say so,
Speaker 2: but we all we all have game planned areas. We
Speaker 2: all watch all the film together and we come with
Speaker 2: our own ideas and we bring it to the table
Speaker 2: and everybody's voice is heard, and ultimately one person makes
Speaker 2: a decision, but everybody's voice is heard. And I would
Speaker 2: say probably about three years ago, people were telling me like, hey,
Speaker 2: if you got aspirations of being a coordinator, when you're
Speaker 2: watching the film throughout the week, watching the film on
Speaker 2: your own, you need to start seeing what how you
Speaker 2: would call the game, what would how you would stop
Speaker 2: certain game plans, certain schemes, and how you attack certain schemes.
Speaker 2: So always always did that, always had the conversations, and
Speaker 2: like I said, being here, it's easy because it's a
Speaker 2: collaborative effort in the game plan. You very you very
Speaker 2: into that into that role. You know, like I said,
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator has the final say so, but here's a
Speaker 2: collaborative effort, and you see the process and you very
Speaker 2: much part of the process, even as an assistant coach.
Speaker 10: So now or you talked about who you band that
Speaker 10: situation when you anc championship bands.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you did overall that. Did you have any
Speaker 6: inclination that a court's.
Speaker 10: Fan baker, that's the coordinator doing like McConnell's situation, because
Speaker 10: I guess at the veas you're playing in the Super Bowl,
Speaker 10: you're SI, we're not sitting.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I knew it was a possibility, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: just because you you started seeing guys on our staff,
Speaker 2: guys are getting interviews. Obviously you knew Mike was it
Speaker 2: was a hot name and the head coaching circuit, so
Speaker 2: you definitely knew it was a possibility. But like you
Speaker 2: never know until the thing actually starts happening. So I
Speaker 2: knew it was a possibility. Uh, you know, I was focused,
Speaker 2: fully focused on uh you know, the Kansas City Chiefs,
Speaker 2: and then when I got the call from Green Bay, Uh,
Speaker 2: my fiance could tell you. You know, I just started,
Speaker 2: I started preparing getting stuff together. So until til it
Speaker 2: really happens, you really don't know. But you knew it
Speaker 2: was a possibility in the back of your mind.
Speaker 4: Exact where you're gonna coach game from the coach from
Speaker 4: the field, You're gonna coach from the press box or
Speaker 4: and which way do you think is better?
Speaker 9: Were you?
Speaker 2: I got I gotta be on the field, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean? I got I gotta look at you know,
Speaker 2: players in their eyes and see what's going on and
Speaker 2: get a feel for how guys are feeling out there,
Speaker 2: so you know, people have their different ways. I gotta
Speaker 2: be on the field. I'm I'm more like being into
Speaker 2: it and getting a feel off of motion and how
Speaker 2: guys are really feeling out there. You were, you were of.
Speaker 5: Players that what did you What did you look for
Speaker 5: from the decordinator and how much do you think it
Speaker 5: helps you that you can still see things from a
Speaker 5: player's point of view.
Speaker 11: I just looked for, uh, a well detailed organized game
Speaker 11: plan and somebody who can lead, you know, lead with
Speaker 11: passion and energy, you know, lead tell us like lead us,
Speaker 11: tell us what we need to do, where we need
Speaker 11: to be at, why we need to be there, and
Speaker 11: how it's gonna work for us to go out there
Speaker 11: and execute and do what we need to do at
Speaker 11: a high level.
Speaker 2: So I just try to carry that over man like
Speaker 2: as as a decordinator, I'm looking at boom. First thing. First,
Speaker 2: I got to have my guys prepared from a mental
Speaker 2: standpoint and a physical standpoint, all right. Then I like
Speaker 2: giving them answers to potential problems or to potential questions
Speaker 2: that the offense may present. And I think once you
Speaker 2: do that, you know, you build that trust, you build
Speaker 2: that relationship, and guys will do whatever you need them
Speaker 2: to do for you.
Speaker 4: Zach can take an.
Speaker 12: Over one of the best defenses in the league. Obviously,
Speaker 12: you want to leave your own fingerprint. What type about
Speaker 12: identity do you want this defense to have?
Speaker 2: The man want to I want our defense to play
Speaker 2: together first and foremost, like eleven people playing as one.
Speaker 2: Let's start there. The next thing, I want to be violent,
Speaker 2: very violent, physical. That's just the standard here, man. Everything
Speaker 2: we're gonna do is gonna be with physicality and violence,
Speaker 2: all right. And then just execution, executing at a high level,
Speaker 2: executing in certain situations, executing all the time. And then
Speaker 2: the last thing I'll leave you with is just I
Speaker 2: would say organized chaos. Man, present a lot of problems
Speaker 2: to the offense, all right, never give the answer to
Speaker 2: the offense before the snap. But that's what I'll say
Speaker 2: my identity. First thing first is hit everything that moves.
Speaker 2: We're gonna play violent, we're gonna play together and we're
Speaker 2: gonna execute.
Speaker 10: Zach also a great part of this staff last year.
Speaker 10: But you have many metrics to a historical defensive? Was
Speaker 10: the team last year?
Speaker 6: How does it fuel the tailor at y'all? Or of
Speaker 6: building upon.
Speaker 10: The historic for going to others the defense and trying
Speaker 10: to find.
Speaker 6: Ways to grow up.
Speaker 2: It feels great, It feels great. I think one thing
Speaker 2: that I've always lived by is either you you never
Speaker 2: stay the same. Either get better you get worse. And obviously,
Speaker 2: you know last year was a was a great year.
Speaker 2: And the thing that we did last year went through
Speaker 2: the process we we started in the off season around
Speaker 2: this time year, self scouted, look what we did good,
Speaker 2: Look what we could build on. And I think that
Speaker 2: uh led box. Coach Harb's thing that he that he
Speaker 2: pushes us to do as coaches is we gotta be
Speaker 2: in front of things. You want to be cutting edge.
Speaker 2: You always want to evolve and always want to uh
Speaker 2: be ready for the next thing that the offense may present.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna get in the lab this off season.
Speaker 2: We're gonna're gonna look at ourselves, look at things we
Speaker 2: did well, Look how we can make it even better,
Speaker 2: look at things we need to improve on and and
Speaker 2: and get better at that. Then look at some new
Speaker 2: ideas that we can possibly present and get ready to
Speaker 2: roll out there by the time we kick the kick
Speaker 2: off the ball the first week of the season.
Speaker 1: So now, what about the off season for you, now
Speaker 1: that you're taking on a new responsibilities, what are you
Speaker 1: looking forward to kind of refine the details of going
Speaker 1: into the twenty.
Speaker 12: Twenty fourth season.
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward just diving into the diving into the tape.
Speaker 2: You know, during the season, you just you know, you
Speaker 2: you watch the film that you that you played on Sunday, right,
Speaker 2: and then now you got to start getting ready for
Speaker 2: the next opponent. We do self scout throughout the season,
Speaker 2: but now we can take a deep dive look at
Speaker 2: our you know, our rules, everything that we're going through
Speaker 2: and how it fits in and how it fits in
Speaker 2: with our UH personnel, what we wanna do. But I'm
Speaker 2: excited about just looking in starting from day starting from
Speaker 2: scratch one, I mean, starting from starting from scratch and
Speaker 2: and see how we're gonna rebuild the defense back up.
Speaker 2: Cause it's a process that you gotta go through each
Speaker 2: and every off season. If you wanna continue to build
Speaker 2: and continue to be great, and I'm excited about that.
Speaker 13: Za.
Speaker 12: So much has been made about your your age. You know,
Speaker 12: you've being a one of the younger coaches.
Speaker 6: That does that mean anything to you?
Speaker 12: Being able to do this at such a young age,
Speaker 12: and that has it kind of caught up to you.
Speaker 6: Just how fast is you know it's been.
Speaker 12: I'm sure it hasn't been that fast for you, but
Speaker 12: just the rides you've had such and such a short span.
Speaker 2: Oh for me personally, I uh, the age thing is
Speaker 2: not a big deal to me. I just look like
Speaker 2: I just look at it like, man, I'm the next
Speaker 2: man for the job, next man to to for the
Speaker 2: mission to to do it. But from the outside looking in,
Speaker 2: you know, I do see how it's as it's inspiring
Speaker 2: to a lot of uh people who are young that
Speaker 2: are into coaching, And my biggest thing to to to
Speaker 2: let those people know is just man, you could. You
Speaker 2: can do great things and you can get great opportunities
Speaker 2: if you just continue to work hard, put your head
Speaker 2: down and and do things the right way and continue
Speaker 2: to learn and evolve. So uh, for me personally, I
Speaker 2: really don't pay attention to the age I just look
Speaker 2: at it like I'm the next man for the job,
Speaker 2: and I gotta get ready to get to do that
Speaker 2: was I.
Speaker 5: Guess what it is, or was the tops when you
Speaker 5: officially got hired on BURSA and kind of what are
Speaker 5: you done stuff?
Speaker 2: What will you shoot? Organized? And we got to get
Speaker 2: ready to get some some more coaches in here, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. You know, credit to the coaches
Speaker 2: that got opportunities at other places that they're they're heck
Speaker 2: of coaches. That's why they got those opportunities. But now
Speaker 2: we're just going through that process man of uh, you know,
Speaker 2: figuring out who's gonna come in and and do a
Speaker 2: heck of a job for us, and and then also
Speaker 2: getting the self scout stuff getting ready to go, and
Speaker 2: then we got the combine coming up. So uh, you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's a lot of stuff going on. But at
Speaker 2: the top of the top of the doler at the
Speaker 2: top of the to do list, it's obviously, you know,
Speaker 2: filling out the staff with coach and you know, self
Speaker 2: scout looking at how we can continue to evolve as
Speaker 2: a defense.
Speaker 10: Right if you have the opportunity to talk to guys
Speaker 10: on the team who are obviously are on the contract
Speaker 10: next year, kind.
Speaker 6: Of reached out and explain just music, Richard.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, a lot of people reached out. I've seen
Speaker 2: people in the building just in passing and guys are excited.
Speaker 2: I'm excited, man, and you're just saying they're gonna get
Speaker 2: every I'm gonna get everything out of them. And I
Speaker 2: told them that you're gonna get everything out of me.
Speaker 2: So I'm excited. Told them, told them to get ready
Speaker 2: to get some rest, you know, get your body ready,
Speaker 2: and when we get back, it's own.
Speaker 6: Have you taught about those das your following europe defensive.
Speaker 2: Ensive corn I haven't thought of that specifically. I know
Speaker 2: what the standard is here as a as a as
Speaker 2: a defense here in Baltimore, and it means a lot
Speaker 2: to me, So I haven't thought about that specifically. But
Speaker 2: obviously there's been a lot of great coaches that come
Speaker 2: through here, a lot of great defensive coordinators that have
Speaker 2: come through here. So yeah, man, I'm next in line.
Speaker 2: I got a big challenge and a big opportunity, but
Speaker 2: I'm excited for it.
Speaker 13: That two years ago, you asked Mike McDonald if you
Speaker 13: wanted to build off of the previous scheme or if
Speaker 13: they wanted to create its own and you say they
Speaker 13: wanted to build off of the previous one. What is
Speaker 13: your approach from now McDonald's scheme and what do you
Speaker 13: want to continue and what something what are some things
Speaker 13: that you might want to change or navigate differently.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we definitely want to want to build
Speaker 2: build on that, like that's that's a scheme that we
Speaker 2: helped build here, uh for for years. It's been it's
Speaker 2: been a scheme in making. And kind of going back
Speaker 2: to the point I made earlier, all those questions that
Speaker 2: you just asked, we would find out in the off
Speaker 2: season studies, you know, and the self scout studies of
Speaker 2: what we want to do and how we're gonna build
Speaker 2: on it and what will change up and how we
Speaker 2: can get better. Like I said, we're always looking to
Speaker 2: get better. I think that's why you've seen great defenses
Speaker 2: here in the in the in the past, and that's
Speaker 2: what we got to do to continue. Always gotta look
Speaker 2: at yourself and look at how you can improve and
Speaker 2: how you can make it better. And on top of that,
Speaker 2: staying in front of what's coming next, because you know,
Speaker 2: we know it's gonna be something that the offense is
Speaker 2: gonna get together and try to present to us new
Speaker 2: this year. So we're trying to stay in front of that.
Speaker 2: But that's part of the process. That's part of what
Speaker 2: we're excited to go do and uh, you know, we
Speaker 2: can't wait to get started on that.
Speaker 4: You have much input into the hiring process of assistant
Speaker 4: coach se can you restore the closeness that this defense
Speaker 4: had away from home those defensive assistant who left.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, obviously, uh, you know, our defined decision
Speaker 2: is coach Harbor and Eric DaCosta, but I'm I'm very
Speaker 2: much involved involved with it. They do a great job
Speaker 2: of you know, letting me be in on the interviews obviously,
Speaker 2: have me running the interviews and communicating back and forth.
Speaker 2: It's an open line of communication. It's been great and
Speaker 2: very very much part of that. And it's just going
Speaker 2: back to your your deal about being close as a staff.
Speaker 2: I mean, we had to build it every year every
Speaker 2: year when you're building a team, building the staff, staff
Speaker 2: is part of the team every time you do every
Speaker 2: every year you do that, you have to build. You
Speaker 2: have to build that trust and build that camaraderie, build
Speaker 2: that team where you got to build that every single year.
Speaker 2: If let's say for some reason, we had the same
Speaker 2: exact staff that came back this past h that we
Speaker 2: had last year, this year, you know, last year, that
Speaker 2: really didn't mean an It wouldn't mean anything. You would
Speaker 2: have to rebuild that trust because it's trust is hard
Speaker 2: to gain, it's easy to lose. So every year you
Speaker 2: got to build it up. But I'm confident of the
Speaker 2: people that we have. We do a great job of
Speaker 2: bringing great people in this organization. So I'm fully confident
Speaker 2: once we get the staff filled out that, uh, we'll
Speaker 2: be able to build that trust. We'll be able to
Speaker 2: build that team work and be the best staff we
Speaker 2: could possibly be. You know, for our players, Zacha, when
Speaker 2: you met with John last week, what do you want
Speaker 2: to know from you?
Speaker 6: I mean, you guys have known each other obviously for
Speaker 6: for a long time, but what do you ask me?
Speaker 2: I just want to know if I was if I
Speaker 2: was ready, and you know, how I see the game
Speaker 2: and how with game plan and all the little details
Speaker 2: that go into play calling. So kind of picked my
Speaker 2: brain about that. It it was, it was good, And
Speaker 2: then you've.
Speaker 6: Had certain years to adjust to to the coaching side.
Speaker 10: But does it ever hit you, especially in this last week, man,
Speaker 10: John was my first hit coaching set up in the
Speaker 10: NFL area is one of those guys, and you helping
Speaker 10: me in person, whist mayors. Kind of working on the
Speaker 10: other side of the curtain and seeing how teams get
Speaker 10: going from that side, has ever straight you far?
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, it's it was. It's crazy. Like me as
Speaker 2: a as a player, you kind of really don't see
Speaker 2: all the behind the scenes, all the work that a
Speaker 2: lot of people in the organization uh put in to
Speaker 2: make everything, uh you know great for you as a
Speaker 2: player to go out there and just go play football.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 2: Me being on the uh other side of things, you
Speaker 2: kind of see all the details, the day in, day
Speaker 2: out operations of what it takes to you know, to
Speaker 2: help the organization, you know, be great and and be
Speaker 2: well ran like the Ravens organization is. So like you said,
Speaker 2: I've been I've been on the coaching side a lot,
Speaker 2: so it's not as surprising now, you know. But when
Speaker 2: I first made that transition, I was like, Okay, now
Speaker 2: I see why this organization always has a legit chance
Speaker 2: to compete for championships.
Speaker 6: I kind of played the linebacker and playing at a
Speaker 6: high level. How does that perspective help you?
Speaker 3: Do you think that that because that's your unique perspective
Speaker 3: that you can bring to the how do you think
Speaker 3: that helps you as the defensive world?
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, you know when you when you play
Speaker 2: the game, you kind of get you kind of you
Speaker 2: do have the experience of actually being out there on
Speaker 2: the field in the cleats, and you know a lot
Speaker 2: of times you put stuff up on the board and
Speaker 2: it sounds good and everything, but when you're really out there,
Speaker 2: stuff's moving a lot faster, you got somebody trying to
Speaker 2: hit you, and things of that nature. So that helps
Speaker 2: you can kind of be like, Okay, I understand what
Speaker 2: you saw in this specific situation, but you know, honestly
Speaker 2: as a coach that that really doesn't help you from
Speaker 2: the standpoint of teaching, coaching and getting information to the players,
Speaker 2: because as a coach is really not what you know.
Speaker 2: It's what your players know and what you can get
Speaker 2: them to know. So that's why you see a lot
Speaker 2: of players, you know, that's why you don't see a
Speaker 2: lot of players really just get into coaching and things
Speaker 2: of that nature, because coaching and playing is two totally
Speaker 2: different things.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 2: As a player, you just got to understand, okay, this
Speaker 2: is what I do, just how it fits into what
Speaker 2: we're doing. As a coach, you got to be able
Speaker 2: to know what's coming next and be able to spit
Speaker 2: that information out to your players and make sure they're
Speaker 2: prepared to go.
Speaker 14: Come from the football fan, what were those conversations like
Speaker 14: when you told your dad brothers about what was going
Speaker 14: on here and.
Speaker 6: The opportunity to we have.
Speaker 2: They were fired up. They were fired up. And you know,
Speaker 2: more than anything, my family, they get a chance to see,
Speaker 2: you know, the work and stuff that I put in
Speaker 2: behind the scenes that not necessarily everybody sees, and even
Speaker 2: just in this building, you know. So just the conversations
Speaker 2: were great.
Speaker 10: Man.
Speaker 2: They was fired up. It was excited.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 2: They they've been supportive and then they always ended off
Speaker 2: the phone. All right, now, I get off the phone,
Speaker 2: get ready to get to work. You got a lot
Speaker 2: of work to do. So you know, they they understand me.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm so I'm so happy for them and they're
Speaker 2: happy for me. But they understand, you know, what what's
Speaker 2: what's at stake and what's up next? So you know
Speaker 2: they're gonna be there every step of the way with me.
Speaker 14: And in ways, did how much you enjoyed coaching and
Speaker 14: when you got back involved, did that help you avoid
Speaker 14: any kind of lingering kind of disappointment to you know
Speaker 14: way your career, your playing career.
Speaker 2: It did, Man, it did. And that's why I tell
Speaker 2: people all the time, and I bleed purple and black
Speaker 2: like this this organization just this means something to me.
Speaker 2: This means a little more to me. It's not just
Speaker 2: me just coaching, uh, you know for International Football League,
Speaker 2: just for any other organization. I'm coaching for the organization
Speaker 2: that that that had my back. Like when I went
Speaker 2: through what I went through, they didn't allow me to
Speaker 2: really put my head down, you know, I was I
Speaker 2: didn't know what the next step was gonna be. Boom
Speaker 2: coach harbord IZI, mister Bushatti. They called me, they say, hey,
Speaker 2: I know you want to getting the coaching. You're coming
Speaker 2: right back up here and getting ready to work with us.
Speaker 2: And them doing that for me just just shows that
Speaker 2: they have my back in a tough situation. So they
Speaker 2: gonna get everything I got, you know, out of me.
Speaker 2: And like I said, it means something I bleed purple
Speaker 2: and black.
Speaker 12: Is your comfortability with the organization. I'm working with John
Speaker 12: and understanding Steve Bushatti, the owner and everything.
Speaker 6: Does that help whether.
Speaker 12: Taking on this new challenge of being a defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it does help, cause I understand the standard and
Speaker 2: the expectation. You know, I I've I've lived it. And
Speaker 2: then I think, what's been so great about me being here?
Speaker 2: I feel like God placed me here for a reason,
Speaker 2: just because all the values and standards that this organization
Speaker 2: stands for on and off the field. I stand for.
Speaker 2: Listen to a couple of things off the field, man,
Speaker 2: just being a good person, treating people with respect and
Speaker 2: and working hard.
Speaker 11: Man.
Speaker 2: I value all that. And then on the football field
Speaker 2: from a football standpoint, you know, talk about playing together
Speaker 2: as a team, playing physical, playing violent, and finishing everything
Speaker 2: you do. And that's what I've believed in as a
Speaker 2: football player before I even got here. So when I
Speaker 2: got here, it was just like a match made in heaven.
Speaker 2: But definitely makes it easier cause I understand the standard expectation,
Speaker 2: I lived it and been part of it, and I'm
Speaker 2: excited for it. That's that's I wouldn't want any other way?
Speaker 2: Could could you take us inside that conversation you had
Speaker 2: with Steve Ashatti when he was.
Speaker 6: Kind of welcoming you back to the Ravens, and then
Speaker 6: how long.
Speaker 13: Did it take for you to flip your mind from
Speaker 13: the disappointment and from being a player to them being
Speaker 13: a coach?
Speaker 2: All right? So he called me, I'll tell you this
Speaker 2: is true story. So he called me, and I just
Speaker 2: had got my performance player bonus and that year, you know,
Speaker 2: it's all it's out there puppet rap like that year
Speaker 2: it was like it was like four hundred and seven,
Speaker 2: four hundred and seven thousand dollars. So he first he
Speaker 2: called me and say, hey, I see you got you
Speaker 2: a nice little parting gift, all right. So I was
Speaker 2: like yeah, I was like Dad, I know he was
Speaker 2: checking that, you know, I know he was looking at that.
Speaker 2: But he called me. I was like, I understand you
Speaker 2: wanted to get into coaching. We think highly, we think
Speaker 2: highly of you. You know, everybody speaks the world of you.
Speaker 2: I've seen you work. Everybody say you're a hard worker.
Speaker 2: And I know you weren't getting a coaching He was like,
Speaker 2: we would love to have you back in the organization.
Speaker 2: If that's something you want to do. And he was like,
Speaker 2: you'll be you know, we'll get Izzy in contact with you.
Speaker 2: So I said great, I said, thank, I'll be right back.
Speaker 2: Shoot the next day I'm calling. I'm probably blowing I
Speaker 2: phone up, Hey, Izzy, when you're ready for me to
Speaker 2: come back up. It's like I got you and he did, man,
Speaker 2: and and it was great and just them, you know,
Speaker 2: him him making the phone call and the organization doing
Speaker 2: that for me, Like I said, what meant the most
Speaker 2: because I didn't have time to sit there and hang
Speaker 2: my head. And I got right back to work and
Speaker 2: they helped, you know, teach me and get me ready
Speaker 2: for my second career, which is coaching. They been with
Speaker 2: me every step of the way and supporting me every
Speaker 2: step of the way.
Speaker 6: How did how did John tell you? Just conversation?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we we talked. Like I said, it was
Speaker 2: It's crazy how everything happened. We talked Monday, you know,
Speaker 2: went through the interview process, talk Tuesday again, still and
Speaker 2: still you know, asking me questions, grilled, you know, basically
Speaker 2: kind of grilling me a little bit. And then Wednesday
Speaker 2: called me into his office and helped. Mom's like, man,
Speaker 2: what do you want to talk about. You know, It's
Speaker 2: like I just talking to this dude, you know, Monday, Tuesday,
Speaker 2: like what's up? You know, I'm like, I thought i'd
Speaker 2: answer every question you had, so you know, we're still
Speaker 2: talking Wednesday. And then he was like he asked me again,
Speaker 2: He said you ready to call it and I was like, yes,
Speaker 2: I'm ready, and he was like, all right, we' mom
Speaker 2: from you the position and that's how it went. So
Speaker 2: it was great. Man. I heard those words man in
Speaker 2: a smile. You know, I was grinning from ear to ear.
Speaker 2: And I'm just thankful that he has that belief in me.
Speaker 2: And like I said, I'm gonna work my butt off
Speaker 2: and do everything I can to you know, make it right.
Speaker 6: You were the people that reached out to you after
Speaker 6: you was republic that. I mean, I'm sure your phone
Speaker 6: was flubbed, as I do.
Speaker 9: You haven't even responded to anybody at this point yet,
Speaker 9: or who are the ones that stuck out?
Speaker 11: Man?
Speaker 2: A lot of people respond to me man like, and
Speaker 2: let me just say this right now. If I haven't
Speaker 2: got back to you, I promise you haven't switched up.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, you know what, I'm sorry, but I got
Speaker 2: like eight hundred some messages, but a lot of people obviously.
Speaker 2: What sticks out is man, just family, friends, coaches, I've
Speaker 2: worked with, players, I've played with, the players, players that
Speaker 2: I've coached. I mean, it's been it's been so much love.
Speaker 2: You know, it's been so much love, man, And it's
Speaker 2: I can't I can't thank everybody enough. Man, just to see, uh,
Speaker 2: you know, all the love that I've been getting has
Speaker 2: been wonderful, and it just makes me just want to
Speaker 2: grind even harder, makes me just want to go even
Speaker 2: harder because you've got that many people showing you love.
Speaker 2: That means they believe in you. And when somebody believes
Speaker 2: in you, you do everything you can to make it write.
Speaker 2: And that's what I'm focused on. That's what I'm excited about.
Speaker 13: You said, the collaborative effort, call them ways the best level.
Speaker 13: But at the hell, it's going to be you. And
Speaker 13: what gives you confidence that you can call ravens defense
Speaker 13: and there's life rounds.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I've seen it done, I've been
Speaker 2: a part of it. And what makes me confident is
Speaker 2: my preparation. I'm gonna put in. I'm gonna prepare my
Speaker 2: butt off, and that's where your confidence comes in. Anything
Speaker 2: you do. When you're not confident that you can do
Speaker 2: a job, that means you haven't prepared. So if you
Speaker 2: prepare the right way like you're supposed to prepare, you're
Speaker 2: gonna be confident. And I plan on preparing the right way.
Speaker 9: Right.
Speaker 2: Thank you appreciate y'all.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast.
Speaker 1: If you want to hear more from Zach, head over
Speaker 1: to the Lounge podcast feed. He sat down with us
Speaker 1: for a lengthy interview about his career, getting to this
Speaker 1: point and what this opportunity means for him. You can
Speaker 1: check that out on our Apple website and wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and
Speaker 1: we'll be back with you again. Sid