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Speaker 1: One thing was cool having the Saturday game was getting

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Speaker 1: to watch some football on Sunday and so pages of

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Speaker 1: notes between the iPad with one game and the TV

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Speaker 1: with the other. So it's definitely cool to know who's next.

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Speaker 1: But glad to open up to you guys and get

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Speaker 1: ripping for today. Dan as someone who worked with Kyle,

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Speaker 1: and I know you've talked before about how he's a

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Speaker 1: bold and aggressive kind of offensive mind and approach. Can

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Speaker 1: you just talk a little bit more about what challenges

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Speaker 1: that this offense will present for you to defend and

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Speaker 1: just what you consider to be some of his best

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Speaker 1: attributes about how he goes about attacking a defense right.

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Speaker 1: And I think I'll maybe if I it's okay with you,

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Speaker 1: I'll work backwards on that. I think he's an excellent

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Speaker 1: coach And why I still wanted to work with him

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Speaker 1: in the first place because you had saw, you know,

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Speaker 1: during time at Houston and all the run and play

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Speaker 1: pass that they had to go to Washington and in

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Speaker 1: a you know, completely different system, you know regarding RG

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Speaker 1: and then at Atlanta, you know, different with Matt and

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Speaker 1: Julio and the crew that we had there. And now

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Speaker 1: he's different again in terms of how he's utilizing the personnel,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's what um, that's the sign of

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Speaker 1: a good coach. He's tough, he's gritty, Uh, he knows

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Speaker 1: how to attack and um you know, not just the

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Speaker 1: field vertically, but horizontally as well. And so I think

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Speaker 1: that's what makes the matchups tough because he really does

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Speaker 1: you know, intact the entire field and uh puts guys

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Speaker 1: in good positions to play. But I think that's one

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Speaker 1: of the things that most respect about him is utilizing

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Speaker 1: and finding the unique stuff that a player has, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, and featuring that in their very best ways.

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Speaker 1: Both you know, the system that he had um you

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Speaker 1: know in Atlanta and the one you know that I

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Speaker 1: had in Atlanta. Both of us have changed some you

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Speaker 1: know over the years based on personnel and how to

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Speaker 1: use him. But that's to me what makes um you know,

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Speaker 1: the sign of a good coach. And they're tough, they're physical,

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Speaker 1: they run it well, they've got versatile players in terms

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Speaker 1: of how do they use their fullback. They're tight end,

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Speaker 1: they're wide out. So i'd be a tough matchup for us,

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Speaker 1: but one we're certainly looking forward to. Are you building

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Speaker 1: healing along with that, just how you the familiarity aspect

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Speaker 1: of it, where both of you kind of know how

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Speaker 1: the other approaches and how he thinks going into the

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Speaker 1: game and putting together a game plan, just how you

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Speaker 1: found over the past. How that kind of washes out

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Speaker 1: or Yeah, I think it does, you know, because whether

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Speaker 1: it's a division game and you get to know people

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Speaker 1: or you know someone on your staff. And I think

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Speaker 1: the last time probably that we squared away probably was

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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, and um I'm calling it calling it off

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Speaker 1: my head, but I think that was the last time

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Speaker 1: we squared away. But um, I think just more than anything,

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Speaker 1: it's you know, their use of the of the personnel

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Speaker 1: and how they play, and you know, when you add

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Speaker 1: guys into the mix and use them in different ways.

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Speaker 1: I think, like I said, that's the sign of a

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Speaker 1: good coach and that's why I respect him so much.

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Speaker 1: Are you built defensively to handling a physical running game.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I mean they do a lot of formation,

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Speaker 1: but they're a physical running team. We just talk about

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Speaker 1: the challenge of handling that physical runners style there. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And I think you know, it's the motions and shifts

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Speaker 1: also that go along with that that make you know,

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Speaker 1: challenge on your leverage more than anything else. You know,

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Speaker 1: a tight end motion, a shift a receiver in the

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Speaker 1: backfield to challenging your leverage. And I think that's one

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Speaker 1: of the things that their offense does well. Clearly they've

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Speaker 1: gotten a lot of explosive plays both in the run

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Speaker 1: and off the play pass. But when you marry up

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Speaker 1: the two things together, the run and the play pass,

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Speaker 1: and they look alike, that's when you can get a

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Speaker 1: linebacker or safety to step up and they'll try to

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Speaker 1: rip one behind you. So I think system wise, that

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Speaker 1: balance that they have of running play pass that's what

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Speaker 1: makes them unique. And the running back of the receivers

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Speaker 1: in the backfield, I mean, do I mean, is that

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Speaker 1: a different key for you? And obviously be about what

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Speaker 1: he does is as a runner and receiver. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I guess that's it's just more of my recognition and

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Speaker 1: understanding that what he can do. Yeah, and he's certainly

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Speaker 1: he attacks it. He's physical. I really admire his style,

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Speaker 1: you know, all the way back from you know, my

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Speaker 1: time in Seattle when Percy Harbin was there in the backfield.

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Speaker 1: Some of the sweeps and things that he would do.

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Speaker 1: He played tough and physical in his own way, and

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Speaker 1: I'm not comparing the guys, and they're saying, like, when

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Speaker 1: you have a guy who has unique stuff behind the

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Speaker 1: ball to run it, most of the times you see

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Speaker 1: someone that was, you know, mostly an outside runner if

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Speaker 1: they're a receiver in line up in the backfield, but

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Speaker 1: not him. There's inside zones and traps encounters. So it

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Speaker 1: kind of goes into the details that they'll go for.

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Speaker 1: And imagine they split some time between you know, Wes

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Speaker 1: and Bobby Turner, the running back coach, and how do

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Speaker 1: they feature a guy like that because it takes a

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Speaker 1: lot of planning. We have a guy on our team

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Speaker 1: that takes a lot of planning and so I admire

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Speaker 1: that when I took my hat to that when I

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Speaker 1: see it on the other side of the ball. He

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Speaker 1: talked with us last week about how some of the

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Speaker 1: positions are continuing to evolve in the league, including tight end.

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Speaker 1: How do you see George Kittle in the framework of

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Speaker 1: that evolving tight end position and how is your defense

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Speaker 1: equipped to handle him? What makes I think him so

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Speaker 1: unique jewry is that he can be in line, he

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Speaker 1: can split out, and not all tight ends can do that.

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Speaker 1: There's some excellent pass catchers that you wouldn't put at

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Speaker 1: the point of attack, but not him. You know, he

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Speaker 1: can block in line, he can you know, cut from

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Speaker 1: the backside. They can split him out. So I think

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Speaker 1: what makes him so special as a player. He's going

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Speaker 1: to be a wide out, he's going to be in

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Speaker 1: the backfield as a running back, he's gonna be in

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Speaker 1: line as a tight end. So when a guy has

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Speaker 1: a skill set to kind of cross into different areas,

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Speaker 1: to me, that's when the really cool stuff happens. And

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Speaker 1: that's a good job by Kyle and their staff of recognizing, Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is not just you know, one person to split

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Speaker 1: out to get a matchup. He's a matchup in all

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Speaker 1: the spaces that he goes. The broadcast on Saturday Night

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Speaker 1: discussed you taking Kellen through a mock interview before he

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Speaker 1: spoke with the Jaguars. What can you tell us about

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Speaker 1: that process and why was that something you wanted to do? Well?

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Speaker 1: I think yeah, it was probably a little blown out

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Speaker 1: of proportion. More just a brother, brother and teammate the team,

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Speaker 1: just to make sure, you know, if there's anything on

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Speaker 1: his mind that you know, can go across. I had

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Speaker 1: a chance to go through some and I've through the

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Speaker 1: years interviewed a lot of people, so I thought, if

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Speaker 1: there was a chance just to pass that along to

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Speaker 1: someone else, it's totally worth doing. And one day years

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Speaker 1: from now, when he's a head coach, you know, and

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Speaker 1: doing his thing, you know he'll be able to pass

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Speaker 1: along that too. So that's kind of one of the

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Speaker 1: cool parts about coaching and the brotherhood that goes into that,

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Speaker 1: just knowing, hey, man, like, it's not just in the

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Speaker 1: locker room, it's with the coaches too, to make sure

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Speaker 1: that we have each other's back. And if there's a

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Speaker 1: chance to help for Kelen or for any of the coaches,

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Speaker 1: I would certainly do that. Dan, what's it like to

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Speaker 1: be back in the playoffs? Damn? Fired up? Man? Are

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Speaker 1: you kidding me? The early nineties Dallas nine or some

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Speaker 1: of the championship games, you know, for me, you know,

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Speaker 1: coming up and watching those ones. I can hear Madden

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Speaker 1: and some were all talking it through. But my first

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Speaker 1: you know, Dallas and nine or playoff game, I'm pretty

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Speaker 1: fired up to do it, man. So it's exciting, you know,

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Speaker 1: way back when you start, you know, this is the

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Speaker 1: moments that you're leading towards to be at your best

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Speaker 1: and going when the season, you know, the regular season

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Speaker 1: comes to a close, and so there's a new heightened

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Speaker 1: sense of things that happen in the playoffs and all

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Speaker 1: the teams are good, they usually come down right to

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Speaker 1: the end and you battle your ass off for him.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, man, I'm tired up and ready to go.

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Speaker 1: Now that Mike's first season's over, can you kind of

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Speaker 1: put in the context what he was able to do

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Speaker 1: for you now? Well, I think just anytime, you know,

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Speaker 1: you've done something that's unique and different, and you know,

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Speaker 1: we've been playing here for a long time, so we've

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Speaker 1: had some excellent edge rushers. So for guys to have

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Speaker 1: that kind of production when you're not playing the position

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Speaker 1: full time, I think that speaks to, you know, where

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Speaker 1: his future you know, is going from tackles for loss

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Speaker 1: and sacks and impact plays. So we plan on him

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Speaker 1: being an excellent player here for a long time, and

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Speaker 1: I thought just to kick it off in that fashion

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Speaker 1: for him has been a remarkable start to it. He's

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Speaker 1: hungry for it, which is nice because not everybody can

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Speaker 1: handle that kind of versatility, and not only at any

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Speaker 1: part of your career, but especially as a rookie, and

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Speaker 1: so I definitely tip my hat to him. I'm proud

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Speaker 1: of the work that he's done so far. But we got,

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Speaker 1: you know, as we're getting into the new space right now.

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Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to seeing him compete here moving forward.

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Speaker 1: How do you help Mica get into that new space?

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Speaker 1: Obviously it's the postseason and there'll be more attention on

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Speaker 1: him from from opposing the offense. Yeah, that's a good thing,

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Speaker 1: and we haven't addressed that yet, although we have addressed,

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Speaker 1: you know, kind of the urgency that we're looking for.

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Speaker 1: And he didn't have to put the cape on. He

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Speaker 1: just has to do his job really well. And so

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Speaker 1: I think that's kind of been my message, not just

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Speaker 1: for Micah, but for the other guys as well. To play,

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Speaker 1: you know, good playoff defense man. You have to be

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Speaker 1: relentless your energy, he's got to be right, but you

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Speaker 1: got to do your job really good. You don't have

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Speaker 1: to go win the game on this play, but when

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Speaker 1: your play comes and that moment's there, you got to

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Speaker 1: go capitalize it. And we've all seen that time and again.

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Speaker 1: When this part of the game comes and this moment's

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Speaker 1: there you go and you nail it. And one thing

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Speaker 1: I know about him, he's down for the challenge. So

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Speaker 1: this guy loves to compete, and so it'll be fun

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Speaker 1: to see him do his thing in his first playoff

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Speaker 1: experience that I'm moving forward, How do you manage your

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Speaker 1: time when when teams are seeking permission to talk to

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Speaker 1: you about their vacancies. Yeah, that's a good question, and

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Speaker 1: I'm not trying to avoid it or to be coy,

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Speaker 1: and there's just simply nothing to report on on my end.

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Speaker 1: And when jobs changes happen and coaches let go, it's

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Speaker 1: a difficult time for them, their families, the assistants, the team,

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Speaker 1: you know, everybody that goes into that. So listen. It's

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Speaker 1: nice to hear if someone is interested. You know, that's

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Speaker 1: not lost on me. I had a difficult twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: season and didn't go so good, so that's not lost

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Speaker 1: on me. But there's really nothing to add on my ends,

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Speaker 1: So there's not a lot of time management or anything

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Speaker 1: to ask to go into mind other than just kick

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Speaker 1: an ass and being right where my feet are. So

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Speaker 1: hopefully we can just talk nine ers today because that's

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Speaker 1: really where my heart and my head are moving forward,

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Speaker 1: when Kyle Shanahan prepares for your defense, how different do

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Speaker 1: you feel your defense is compared to the one that

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Speaker 1: you remembers from the practice field. Yeah, that's a good question, Michael.

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Speaker 1: I would say there'll be some similarities in terms of,

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Speaker 1: you know, a framework and a style and hopefully a

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Speaker 1: play style you know that comes across. But I would

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Speaker 1: say that's probably where it ends. You know, from a

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Speaker 1: structure of four down or five down. He would have

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Speaker 1: saw a lot of that in our times together. But

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Speaker 1: what's probably different from my end is just a way

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Speaker 1: that we use some of the coverage, is the way

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Speaker 1: that we use some of the pressures. And there's quite

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Speaker 1: a bit that's different on his end too. So if

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Speaker 1: you'd pulled out our tape from fifteen and sixteen, you

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Speaker 1: know from practice both teams, you know, both his offense

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Speaker 1: and the defense. You know that I'm you know, obviously

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Speaker 1: using here would be quite a bit different. So I

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Speaker 1: would say, yeah, it's significantly different. Constant evolution as a coach,

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Speaker 1: how important have you learned that is? And it is

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Speaker 1: there a balance between staying true to what you believe

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Speaker 1: in and your principles with also being open to adaptation, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think, and it's it is one of the coolest

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Speaker 1: parts about coaching because the changes they keep happening and

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Speaker 1: so the learning never stops. So early on, I would say,

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Speaker 1: way back at the start of my NFL career, I

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Speaker 1: was fortunate enough to start at the Niners when Bill

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Speaker 1: Walsh was still there, and it was my first experience,

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Speaker 1: in my first insight into like roles for a player.

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Speaker 1: This could be a short yardist fullback. This guy could

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Speaker 1: be a you know, a pass rusher that would be

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Speaker 1: into these scenes. And it kind of opened my mind

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Speaker 1: to new possibilities of roles for players and how to

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Speaker 1: feature guys to go in them. And so I think

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Speaker 1: we're seeing that more than ever in the NFL, of

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Speaker 1: versatile players and tight ends and receivers that are you know,

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Speaker 1: carrying the ball out of the backfield, quarterbacks that have

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Speaker 1: designed runs you know, specifically for them, not just zone

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Speaker 1: read I'm talking about like, you know, regular option style runs.

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Speaker 1: So when you have these unique players, I think it's

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Speaker 1: important not to be so rigid to say, well, this

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Speaker 1: is how we've always done it, this is how it's

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Speaker 1: kind of go down. So having changes and adjustments to

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Speaker 1: suit the personnel. I think that's what the best of

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Speaker 1: the best do and knowing that it has to change

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Speaker 1: what you need to do to win this week, that's

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Speaker 1: what has to be done. And so it's pretty cool

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Speaker 1: to be a part of that and see guys with

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Speaker 1: different skill sets and different ways that we play. And

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Speaker 1: like I said, it's kind of one of the best

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Speaker 1: part because the learning never stops. Al is Neville coming

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Speaker 1: and sort of playing his way into game shape with

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Speaker 1: as much time as he missed. And how important is

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Speaker 1: he with that run defense to try to come about

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Speaker 1: that physical running attack coming at you. Yeah, very important,

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Speaker 1: and that's why you probably saw you know, some increased

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Speaker 1: playtime for him just to get into the groove, to

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Speaker 1: be into that, to be in some different schemes you know,

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Speaker 1: over the last few weeks. And he'll definitely be a

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Speaker 1: factor right there in the middle of it again this week.

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Speaker 1: So I would see his arrow just continuing to go up.

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Speaker 1: The early part, we just kind of honestly had him

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Speaker 1: into some pass rushing you know, spots to do that.

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Speaker 1: And then over the last few weeks, both in practice

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Speaker 1: and in the game, you know, if we've incorporated the

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Speaker 1: more on early downs on first and second downs. But

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Speaker 1: inside both he and Watkins and Osa and some of

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Speaker 1: the other guys, they'll be a real factor. They've got

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Speaker 1: a veteran center and Alex who I know well kind

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Speaker 1: of directs and runs the ship. They have some, you know,

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Speaker 1: plays in the run game that are unique and different. So, uh,

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Speaker 1: it's a it's a challenge, but one inside that will

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Speaker 1: definitely lean on Nev and his size and strength. Inside

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Speaker 1: the fraternity of coaches, reaching a Super Bowl isn't huge.

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Speaker 1: What is that bond like for you and Kyle? And

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Speaker 1: it is there bond just considering how close you all

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Speaker 1: got and then how painful it was not to get

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Speaker 1: to the finish line. Yeah, and I think for both

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Speaker 1: of us, you want to go back and that's certainly

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Speaker 1: what we did, and you talk about it and you

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Speaker 1: say what you learn from it, you know, because otherwise

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Speaker 1: the pain of not completing the deal, you know, would

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Speaker 1: be lost on it. So you want to make sure

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Speaker 1: we both studied it, learned from it, discussed it, and

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Speaker 1: that way, when you get back into that space, into

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Speaker 1: that moment, you're able to attack it and go. But

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Speaker 1: the guy's a fantastic coach. I had no doubt that

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Speaker 1: he you know, would do well there. I can certainly

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Speaker 1: remember talking to the Yorks when you know, they came

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Speaker 1: and to interview him, and I just wanted them to

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Speaker 1: know how impressed I was. He's ready to do this.

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Speaker 1: He's been you know, kind of built for it for

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Speaker 1: a long time, you know, growing up, you know, the

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Speaker 1: son of a coach, but the leadership, the vision for it,

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Speaker 1: he was going to be excellent. And so, yes, a

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Speaker 1: shared experience that we have, but one hopefully years from now,

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Speaker 1: there'll be other things to talk about and in a

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Speaker 1: better way. But hey, I get it. You know a

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Speaker 1: couple of years ago I would have been pissed about

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Speaker 1: it and tried to blow it off, but you know,

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Speaker 1: part of me going to fix some things and say, hey,

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Speaker 1: how can I do things better? I had to go

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Speaker 1: back and look at that moment too and know that

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Speaker 1: it is hard to get there and all the challenge

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Speaker 1: that goes to it. So I'm never going to look

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Speaker 1: past it, and you know, just take the things I've

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Speaker 1: learned and rock it from there. And this defense is

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Speaker 1: just night and day difference than what it was a

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Speaker 1: year ago or when you took the job. From when

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Speaker 1: you took the job and you were watching tape of

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Speaker 1: these guys to where you are right now going to

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. What about this defense are you most proud of? Man,

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Speaker 1: There's a lot. I would say one. I'm probably most

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Speaker 1: proud of the connection that they've built together. You know,

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Speaker 1: we talked about putting a standard together and what they

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Speaker 1: could do as a group of men together. And the

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Speaker 1: best teams that I've been a part of have been

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Speaker 1: really good in the locker room first, and I've learned

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Speaker 1: a hell of a lot through the years from the

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Speaker 1: locker room. That's where you listen. Where do you engage

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Speaker 1: on guys? Where do you you know? Where does that

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Speaker 1: connection take place? And so in one year's time, to

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Speaker 1: see this group of guys connect, have each other's back

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Speaker 1: and want to fight for something that's bigger than themselves.

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Speaker 1: That's not easy to do, and so that doesn't come

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Speaker 1: from me. That comes from them and wanting to battle

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Speaker 1: and fight for one another and just make sure that

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Speaker 1: you do your jobs so I can do mine. And

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Speaker 1: they've taken that approach, and so I'd say that to

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Speaker 1: me is number one. That connection that you have to have.

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Speaker 1: There's nothing like being in that huddle with your guys

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Speaker 1: and the games on the line, you're ready to battle

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Speaker 1: your ass off for it, and you can look to

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Speaker 1: the guys and know they're down for it. I would

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Speaker 1: say the second thing, you know, that would be you know,

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Speaker 1: pumped for them. As we talked about the importance of

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Speaker 1: creating takeaways and having a mindset for the ball and

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Speaker 1: really Mike's done a good job of champion that for us,

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Speaker 1: but to have that go our way in terms of

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Speaker 1: the turnover battle that helps you win games, I would

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Speaker 1: say those would be the two things that I've been

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Speaker 1: most pleased with. The connection and creating the takeaways, and

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Speaker 1: I just think as they're building together, you know, we're

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Speaker 1: going to continue to see the improvement. And that's why

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Speaker 1: I'm excited about where they're at and where we're headed.

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Speaker 1: All Right, you guys, have a go one. Thank you

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Speaker 1: see it