Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, how important have the four guys that
Speaker 1: played for you previously, How important have they been in
Speaker 1: the implement implementation and the execution of the defense so far? Um,
Speaker 1: Probably not very much. As far as the implement implementation
Speaker 1: of it. It's not that tough. Um. You know, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of guys that didn't play for me in
Speaker 1: the past that have come in and played well. So
Speaker 1: I don't know if that means a lot, but execution
Speaker 1: obviously means a lot. Um. You know, those guys have
Speaker 1: track record of being able to execute and be able
Speaker 1: to make plays, and I think that's the important part
Speaker 1: of it. You know, I think attitude probably means a
Speaker 1: little bit also, you know, I mean they were you know,
Speaker 1: those guys, those guys fit what we wanted to do.
Speaker 1: And you know, in a tough situation what happened here
Speaker 1: on defense last year, you know, I mean I've been there,
Speaker 1: I've been you know where your defensive stats don't look
Speaker 1: real good. I don't think this was the worst defense
Speaker 1: in the NFL last year, but you know, situation, Um,
Speaker 1: that came up, their numbers weren't very good. I think
Speaker 1: having an infusion of some new guys helped move them
Speaker 1: past that a little bit. And I'm not just talking
Speaker 1: about those guys, I'm talking also guys like Rodney McCleod. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, coming from a different team. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think that that that helped the guys that were
Speaker 1: here put last year behind them. To you, I mean
Speaker 1: some of the cornerbacks for instance, to go to talk
Speaker 1: about how you let month in to play a certain
Speaker 1: kind of swagger white attitude also, And that's the way
Speaker 1: football is meant to be played. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's an emotional game, it's a physical game. Um,
Speaker 1: you need to play with some passion, you need to
Speaker 1: be competitive. Um. If you don't have those things, you're
Speaker 1: not going to be successful in the football. Feel regardless
Speaker 1: of what your skill level is, what your forty time is,
Speaker 1: you know, all those other things. It's give us a
Speaker 1: chance to go four. Oh it's an NFC team, So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's personal that way. But as far as the Lions,
Speaker 1: you know, I think you guys will probably be surprised
Speaker 1: how much I root for the Lions. You know, as
Speaker 1: as long as it's not in direct conflict with the Eagles,
Speaker 1: I want those guys to win every week. I got.
Speaker 1: I got too many, too much blood and sweat in
Speaker 1: that building. And there's a lot of guys there to meet,
Speaker 1: an awful lot to me, you know, and start with
Speaker 1: Stafford and Pettigrew and Levy. I mean, those guys were
Speaker 1: our first draft class. I want those guys to succeed.
Speaker 1: I don't want them to concede this Sunday, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do my very best to try to try to try
Speaker 1: to beat them. But I think everybody be surprised how much. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, you you have relationships that are that just
Speaker 1: don't go away when you leave or player leaves. Um.
Speaker 1: Those guys have had my back when I coached there,
Speaker 1: and you know I've had their back and I'm sure
Speaker 1: that'll continue. Not this Sunday though, all thinking to be
Speaker 1: going back there. Yeah, it's been there, done that. You know.
Speaker 1: I played when I was in Buffalo low Um, I
Speaker 1: was able to get a win there. And then also
Speaker 1: we played a snow game there. Um in Detroit when
Speaker 1: I was with Buffalo and we played the Jets there. Um,
Speaker 1: And I visit there a lot of times in the
Speaker 1: off season. You know, I don't have very many friends,
Speaker 1: but my wife has a lot of friends. UM enjoyed.
Speaker 1: I certainly enjoyed my time there. And it's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it'll be part of our family's life, not just
Speaker 1: my life. It'll be far part of our family's life.
Speaker 1: And you know, you look back and um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think you'd take a couple of years and you
Speaker 1: can appreciate the good times maybe a little bit more
Speaker 1: than when, um, you know, when when you're in the
Speaker 1: middle of things back there in twenty fourteen for that game.
Speaker 1: Does that make this one that much different than well?
Speaker 1: I think that was probably a little bit different in that. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean I probably had about ten coaches that worked
Speaker 1: for me that were still on the staff. I probably,
Speaker 1: I mean most of the team, you know it played
Speaker 1: for me. I mean, sure, that's going to be emotional.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not a human being if it's not. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, and and you and you're won't do everything
Speaker 1: you can to win every game. I mean every game
Speaker 1: is a big game. But yeah, I mean, um, I
Speaker 1: think I have one coach stole left on the staff.
Speaker 1: You know, I was trying to count them up. I
Speaker 1: think I have maybe a dozen, maybe thirteen players that
Speaker 1: you know, we're there. You know this league moves fast. Man,
Speaker 1: this league moves fast. I won't be as many familiar faces.
Speaker 1: But like I said, um, you know I have, I
Speaker 1: have the relationships. Don't just go away when you're no
Speaker 1: longer working for a team or a guy's no longer
Speaker 1: playing for you. To Nigel being arrested, arrested for the
Speaker 1: second time, do you bear a certain responsible because you
Speaker 1: certainly played a role in bringing him here? Well, I
Speaker 1: think that. I mean, first, I mean, the worst thing
Speaker 1: I've ever forgotten at the airport I think has been
Speaker 1: a razor or a belt or something like that. You know.
Speaker 1: And I'm the guy in line. If that person five
Speaker 1: people ahead has a bottle of water in their luggage,
Speaker 1: I'm throwing my hands up, like, seriously, do you ever travel?
Speaker 1: You do you not know that you can't take water in?
Speaker 1: This takes it to a different level. I think the
Speaker 1: most disappointing thing for me is it takes away from
Speaker 1: the Nigel that we see every day, A good teammate,
Speaker 1: a hard work or a trustworthy player on the field.
Speaker 1: But hey, facts or facts, I mean, you do these things. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, pretty pretty soon you're gonna be labeled. And
Speaker 1: he's got a lot of ground to make up, because
Speaker 1: it's not just him, it's you prefer it's the rest
Speaker 1: of us. Also, it's everybody that wears that helmet, you know,
Speaker 1: all the people in your organization. He represents not just himself,
Speaker 1: he represents everybody. And he's got some ground to make up.
Speaker 1: That way, he's got to earn some trust back. How
Speaker 1: did your time in Detroit change you as as a coach?
Speaker 1: If at algia more gray hair, but as a coach, um,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think you know, we all all,
Speaker 1: we all would like things to Let me put it
Speaker 1: this way, it doesn't end well for head coaches in
Speaker 1: the NFL, no matter how much you wanted to. I
Speaker 1: mean you guys, I mean you know, look, as much
Speaker 1: as success as Andy Reid had here, it didn't end
Speaker 1: well for him. You know, I mean you could you
Speaker 1: could probably roll up just about any um coach that's
Speaker 1: ever coaching the league. It's you know, it didn't end
Speaker 1: well for Tony Dungee at Tampa, ended well for him
Speaker 1: at Indy, didn't end well for Belichick at Cleveland, didn't
Speaker 1: end well for Pete Carroll at you know, the Jets
Speaker 1: or the Patriots. I think when we're in it. We
Speaker 1: all expect to be that person that's just somewhere for
Speaker 1: twenty five years or whatever. And you know, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we just realized that, you know, it doesn't
Speaker 1: always work out that way. I think probably the biggest
Speaker 1: thing is just having a chance to take a step
Speaker 1: back from it. It'd let you maybe realize what's important,
Speaker 1: what's what the most important things are. And I'm I'm
Speaker 1: a I'm a small, small stuff, sweating guy. I mean,
Speaker 1: every detail is important to me, and I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna treat it that way, you know, And there's there's
Speaker 1: an intensity to that that I think is important. But
Speaker 1: I think you um sometimes as a coach, and I'm
Speaker 1: not speaking just for myself, but probably a lot of
Speaker 1: other people, you don't. You don't enjoy yourself when you're
Speaker 1: in the moment. And I think I probably enjoyed myself
Speaker 1: in the moment a little bit more now after that experience.
Speaker 1: I think it's um, it's a lesson you can only
Speaker 1: learn if you're in it. I mean, when you take
Speaker 1: over a team that's own sixteen, that's a unique challenge.
Speaker 1: And if I remember, you got him to ten and
Speaker 1: six in playoffs in year three? I mean, how proud
Speaker 1: are you of the job you did there? And how
Speaker 1: difficult was that inheriting that situation. Our goal was to
Speaker 1: win a championship and we didn't get that done, and
Speaker 1: I was disappointed with that. I'm sure the people at
Speaker 1: Detroit were disappointed with that. So um, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I think that the same thing here. I mean,
Speaker 1: we start three and zero, Um, that's not enough. There's
Speaker 1: no tie breakers based on your first three games at
Speaker 1: the season. You know, I tell that to the players,
Speaker 1: you know, you know there's there's there's no defensive rankings
Speaker 1: that are tie breakers. You know, we're trying to win
Speaker 1: games and I didn't win enough and Detroit hopefully we
Speaker 1: can change that here. As a leader as well as play, well,
Speaker 1: it's it's his play that makes the most difference. You know,
Speaker 1: you can be all the leader you want if if
Speaker 1: if you're a crappy player doesn't make much of a difference,
Speaker 1: he's not. He's a good player. And I think that
Speaker 1: you saw that against a really good offensive unit from Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: He was all over the field. Um, you know, played
Speaker 1: with a lot of passion, played with a lot of spirit,
Speaker 1: was competitive um, you know, and that's when you talk
Speaker 1: about leadership. Those are the things I think that are
Speaker 1: the best, you know, the things that show through the best.
Speaker 1: It's not you know, saying something before the game or
Speaker 1: you know, being in the locker room. It's your play
Speaker 1: on Sunday and your teammates knowing they can count on
Speaker 1: you to get the job done. That fourth and five stop.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know if the game was really
Speaker 1: in the balance there, but that really took the game
Speaker 1: out of the balance when he had that stopping. Harry
Speaker 1: is maybe the best receiver in the NFL right now.
Speaker 1: We had him doubled. But when he ran shallow, Malcolm
Speaker 1: was on him by himself, you know, like to say,
Speaker 1: make the interception right there. But just getting that stop,
Speaker 1: we still got to turn over, turnover on downs. Some
Speaker 1: of the ends of talking before about when you're wide nine,
Speaker 1: they don't. It's not typical in that dull gossie. They
Speaker 1: run through almost I guess at the tight ends there,
Speaker 1: et cetera. What's different about yours than perhaps, Yeah, they
Speaker 1: shouldn't be talking. They shouldn't be talking about what their
Speaker 1: techniques are. But but you guys all probably want to
Speaker 1: apology to Washburn because nobody thought you could stop that.
Speaker 1: You thought that the Um I'll say you, but um,
Speaker 1: you know he was. He was the guy because of
Speaker 1: wide nine and um, you know you were and you
Speaker 1: were terrible with stopping the run. Um walk. I work
Speaker 1: with Washington a long time. I have a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for that man. Um, But we can play the run,
Speaker 1: and their techniques allow them to play to run and
Speaker 1: also be able to rush the quarterback and puts those
Speaker 1: guys in good positions. Um, you know. It's but it's
Speaker 1: not just those guys. You know, linebackers behind them, the
Speaker 1: safeties behind them, Corners have to be able to tackle. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of layers that go in
Speaker 1: to stop in the run. This defensive line has been
Speaker 1: together a lot of years, which is kind of unusual
Speaker 1: in a free agency era. I think five of them
Speaker 1: since two, thy twelve or more longer. How much of
Speaker 1: a factor do you think that is in thew ability
Speaker 1: to play together, just knowing each other so well and
Speaker 1: having good relationships off the field, all that stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the relationships probably means something as far as
Speaker 1: playing together. They played in a couple of different schemes.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think the more the more experience
Speaker 1: they get playing what they're playing now will help them.
Speaker 1: I think there is something to be able to playoff
Speaker 1: a guy and just understanding his skill set and how
Speaker 1: he's going to play. But don't underestimate the camaraderie part
Speaker 1: of it. I think that does mean a lot. Alvin Johnson,
Speaker 1: how's it a different issue? Well, I've become a big
Speaker 1: fan of Dancing with the Stars. Um, honestly, I've never
Speaker 1: watched it, but but I'll go back. I root for
Speaker 1: all those guys success. Man, I root for his success. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I don't guess there's there a
Speaker 1: number you're supposed to call in. If there is, I'll call.
Speaker 1: I'll call in because because that guy, that guy deserves
Speaker 1: anything good that happens to him. Was one of the
Speaker 1: hardest workers I've ever been around it. He treated every
Speaker 1: day like he was trying to make the team. He
Speaker 1: was the most talented guy, but he didn't act that way. Um.
Speaker 1: He's one of the greatest players to ever play in
Speaker 1: this league. Um. But more than that, he was a
Speaker 1: great teammate, a great guy off the field. He's an
Speaker 1: easy guy, to root for. And he's a much easier
Speaker 1: guy to play defense when he's dancing with the stars
Speaker 1: instead of on the field, because a big joker demanded
Speaker 1: double teams, and he could wreck your game if he did.
Speaker 1: An I saw firsthand he wrecked a lot of guys
Speaker 1: plans even when they had n't doubled. I mean there
Speaker 1: were a lot of plays we doubled Antonio Brown, he
Speaker 1: still made his plays. You know, those great players. I
Speaker 1: think that's probably my definition of a great player. When
Speaker 1: a coordinator starts his game plan with this guy, this
Speaker 1: guy can't beat us. We got to stop this guy
Speaker 1: from beating us. And you can still do it. And
Speaker 1: you know, I was with Calvin for five years. I
Speaker 1: bet you every single game that he played, the defense
Speaker 1: coordinator started his game plan with number eight. He wanted
Speaker 1: and gonna beat us. And guess what, he still set
Speaker 1: an NFL record for receiving yards in a season in
Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve. I think it was two thou
Speaker 1: and twelve. You know, even if he was doubled. You know,
Speaker 1: we used to say it all time, even if he's
Speaker 1: even if he's he's still open, you know, So it
Speaker 1: does change how you approach them. But a lot of
Speaker 1: it has to do with the trigger man and has
Speaker 1: to do with the quarterback. He's scrambled and probably a
Speaker 1: lot more than he has in the past. I'm talking
Speaker 1: about Stafford. He's making some plays with his feet. Got
Speaker 1: a couple of big first downs with his feet this year.
Speaker 1: Made some plays there because they're dangerous team third and long.
Speaker 1: Those teams third and long, they don't have very much
Speaker 1: of a chance. They're converting almost fifty percent or third
Speaker 1: and eleven plus. You can only do that if you
Speaker 1: have a quarterback. Number one, they can stay alive. Number
Speaker 1: two they can rip a ball in there. And we're
Speaker 1: of our work cut out for us. Even though Calvin's
Speaker 1: not there, Stafford still gets the ball. He moves the
Speaker 1: ball around to all their receivers. He doesn't just have
Speaker 1: one favorite, moves around to all the eligibles. Uses his
Speaker 1: backs can make any throw on the field. And like
Speaker 1: I said, he's moving into pocket and scrambling, maybe a
Speaker 1: little more than he has in the past, and it
Speaker 1: puts a little bit more pressure on the defense. We're
Speaker 1: going to play very well to stop him. If you do,
Speaker 1: you want to be a head coach again, yeh, I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to stay off the hot seat. You know, Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: everybody talks about hot seat this time. Yeah, I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to keep myself the hot seat. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: I think in anything, if you do a good job,
Speaker 1: if you're if you're a quality control coach, you do
Speaker 1: a good job of that, maybe you get a chance
Speaker 1: to be a position coach. Maybe you get a chance
Speaker 1: to be a coordinator. If you do a good job
Speaker 1: with that. Um. The way this league is, you don't
Speaker 1: have time to think about a whole lot other than
Speaker 1: doing your job. I'm trying to do my job. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to put our defense in position to help us
Speaker 1: win games. And if I can do a good job
Speaker 1: of that, then I'll be happy. Thanks.