WEBVTT - Cox, Venables, Robinson on Saints Podcast | May 1, 2025 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.799 Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, present a 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:13.560 buy seacake. You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters and writers 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:17.680 that cover the NFL on a daily basis. The New 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:25.080 Orleans Saints Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers. 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.120 Welcome to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:32.800 today we are getting some more insight on the defensive 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.479 picks in the Saints twenty twenty five draft. To kick 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:39.240 things off, they again went with a longhorn to start 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.720 things on the defensive side, third round pick defensive tackle 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.640 Vernon Broughton. Broughton started fifteen games in twenty twenty four, 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:51.159 recorded a career best thirty nine tackles and had four sacks. 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:55.400 Broughton reunites with his former defensive line coach Joe Davis, 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.440 who is now with the Saints. 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:07.000 Heyvern, what up, Chicken leaves? How you doing? You're doing 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.759 all right? Yeah, don't let me down, bro. We're gonna 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:15.600 take you brough here in New Orleans. Brother, you may 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:26.199 use the basket. Hi, Iman man, congratulations brother, Coach Calvin, 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:27.959 I want to talk to you man, he's coach cal. 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:30.320 Congrats man. 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:33.560 We are fired up. 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:38.440 To have you cost your family, have fun with them. 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:39.360 Man, enjoy it. 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.720 Later in the third round of Virginia safety Yonah Sanker 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.560 heard his name called. Virginia defensive backs coach and defensive 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.440 passing game coordinator Caron Cox joined me for some insight 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.240 into the pick. Coach, thank you so much for joining 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:55.640 me on the New Orleans Saints podcast. I know it's 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.320 a busy time of year for you, and it was 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.200 an exciting weekend as you saw a lot of players 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.400 go in the NFL Draft and one of them, Jonah Sanker, 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.880 is going to be with the Saints. How are you 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:09.960 doing after seeing him reach this milestone in his career. 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.160 Oh, man, it's it's it's a great feeling just of 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:15.640 known him, known him for a long time, probably sophomore 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.160 year in high school, and we've always talked about it 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:20.080 and just to see the maturation to get to this 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:22.400 point and now he just gets to start doing it 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.960 all over again. And uh, he called me. We spoke 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:28.359 on draft night, and now I had a little chuck 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.560 on a second. Grads, you finally had a better college 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.680 career than me. Now you got to beat my NFL career. 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.880 So it's been great to see him there with his 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.400 parents and stuff like that, and we're all excited myself, 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.519 the staff and his friends, your uba. 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.120 Yeah, Jonah's a safety coming in here, going to be 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.560 playing under Brandon Staley's new defense with the Saints. How 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:49.840 do you think he's going to fit in? 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:51.240 Uh? 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.080 I think you'll just well, that's something we've talked about 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.639 for a while and obviously something coach spoke about there 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:00.600 when they took him. It's just I'll to allow him 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.760 to do a lot of things, so the multiplicity will 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:05.880 be something that he's not gonna have to be mind 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:06.280 blown on. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:07.320 He'll make the adjustment. 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.880 Something I harped and we harped his special teams and 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.200 he was a key contributed for us and as something 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.920 else that they liked for it, you know, and just 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.080 kind of just with anybody, just the way that they 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:22.760 adapt is how fast they eliminate distractions and adjust. So 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.160 I think I think the great opportunity going in and 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:27.880 what you got, what they do there is fantastic, And 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.480 you know, he's a great coordinator and a great system, 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:32.760 so I think he'll be able to translate it at 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.200 some point and we'll see the success downline. 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.200 He was able to achieve consistent success there at Virginia, 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.120 especially the last two seasons, leading the calves and tackles 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.160 each year. What led to the type of production he 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:47.680 was able to have on the field. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.480 I'd probably say just off the field growth and just 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.600 his dedications to just trying to change his best day 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.120 in the day out. And you know when I came 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:57.720 in and nicknamed him to the side, and he thought 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:01.160 he came to save UVA football from eight and man football, 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.400 But he just tremendous just a film study, the buying 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.960 in the weight room, the off the field nutrition, and 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.600 then just the mindset. He just wanted to attack everything 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:16.240 and be the best that he could. So it's competitive nature. 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.719 So I think that all put together, you know, it 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.839 was a great recipe for success, and just the cars 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:25.880 lined up and it was in his cards, and I mean, 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.640 he had a tremendous career that helped propel get that 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:31.159 opportunity now to go there and translate it. 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.680 He received the Heart Award embodies the core values of 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.200 the program. Can you explain a little bit more about 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.920 that award and what it is about Jonus that made 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:43.160 him the selection for it? 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.240 Of course, yes, so Heart is kind of just the 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.799 academics that stand for our core values, something we speak 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:51.960 about here day in and day out as we're trying 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.320 to look to build champion then and we choose to 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.960 do that by serving their heart, not the talent, and 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:02.840 the academics for humility, effort, accountability, respect, and toughness. And 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.600 you know, just as that spoke on just his resiliency 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:08.159 to do that and something that you guys may be 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.880 aware of. It's just he was able to achieve that, 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:15.200 be a leader, do great in that classroom set. Is 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.840 never missed anything all while, you know, helping battle. You know, 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.480 his father's condition being at home. He was there at home, 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.080 taking his little brothers and sisters anywhere he needed to go, 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.840 and never missed a beat here and what he did 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.400 so he just kind of embodied what we're trying to 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:34.200 build as a program and what type of young men 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.200 we'd like in our program to be successful on and 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:39.840 off the field, and how he did anything. So he 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.080 did everything. So he was a heart and soul of 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.520 our defense and our team and that's kind of why 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.560 he got that pro that award for us. 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.320 You mentioned his eight man football stardom in high school, 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:57.200 but coming from that background. How impressive is it what 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:58.680 he's been able to achieve. 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.720 Because honestly, already, you know, you just look back and 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:05.520 you look out and you're like, wow, you just saw him. 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:07.479 You know, a couple of years ago, you know, he 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.680 just he was battling some injuries. Just we fixed just 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.480 the mechanical pieces of his tackling. And then, like I said, 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.719 he just put on twenty pounds and a straight muscle, 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:18.640 and just there was no way you couldn't tell him 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.520 he couldn't do anything. And you look up and it 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.120 you know, when you work for I was, I'm a 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.880 true believer work wins, and if you put in the work, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:30.360 you're not guaranteed to be the best, but you'll be 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:32.760 the best at whatever you're trying to achieve. And it's 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:34.800 a true testament that he went from playing eight man 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:39.560 football battling injuries to not one injury to no miss games. 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:44.360 He's playing one hundred snaps of game and you couldn't 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.960 tell and you couldn't get him off the field, and 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:49.240 there wasn't anything that he didn't do or that we 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:50.120 asked him. 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:53.080 You mentioned his competitive nature, and I thought it was 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.520 funny at the combine, he ran a four four eight, 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.680 and he was disappointed in his time and his performance 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:03.479 there pretty fast for a safety But I think that 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:06.120 speaks to what you said about how competitive he is 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:07.280 and the work that he puts in. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:09.000 Yeah, no doubt right. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.840 It's I always stayed on celebrate the small victors man, 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.840 feed the positive dog. But with him, it was he 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:19.640 had been testing and just in numbers were just a 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:23.280 lot different than what he was expecting, and so he 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:24.920 just had a mindset that he's going to go out 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.040 and get a little bit better. But when he looked 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:28.960 at it and thought about it, it was just like, Okay, 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.720 that compared to what my uh, the rest of my 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.360 teammager doing or what everybody else is trying to accomplish. 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:36.200 Is that that? 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:38.840 But you could tell he kind of was frustrated, more 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.320 so because he's kind of you know, he hadn't breath 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:43.880 reading cycle wasn't right. He always wants to do better. 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.320 But you know, I'm glad that he ran that because 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:48.200 that also got showed a lot of people some of 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.720 the questions they may have had for film and gave 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:51.200 him the opportunity as now there. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:51.600 For you guys. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.840 Yeah, definitely I'm looking forward to having him here and 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:57.280 got to talk to him a little bit the night 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:00.280 that he was drafted. He seemed really excited, fired up 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.120 for the opportunity here. What are you going to miss 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.400 about having him there with you guys. 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.040 Probably justice the daily day interactions and I've got to 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.280 know him and obviously we're meant to turn him throughout. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.560 But he became not just a young man I was 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:16.440 working with, but a guy that became a close friend 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:18.600 of mine. I'll miss from day to day just from 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.480 being a part of his life, but also won't mess 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:24.040 some defensively. I mean, you know, two time back back 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.280 first team on conference guy, he was our eraser back there, 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:29.760 and now we're going to move forward and hopefully develop 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.120 another person do that for us defensively. 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.800 Yeah, thank you so much for the time. I know 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.040 you're out on the road right now looking for somebody 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:38.320 to fill his shoes, right. 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.520 Yeah, yeah, so you guys, trust me. I wish I 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.120 could just draft him back from you guys. You guys 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:48.439 have for now. Hopefully this this trip has another person 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:49.560 just like Jonas. 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.800 There you go. Thank you so much, coach. I appreciate 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:52.200 the time. 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:53.640 All right, take care, Thank you. 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.040 On Day three, the Saints went with linebacker Danny Stutsman 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:01.199 out of Oklahoma. Stutsman was a consensus All American and 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.680 Buckut Award finalist. He finished ninth in school history with 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:09.000 three hundred and seventy six career tackles. Oklahoma head coach 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.360 Brent Bennables was so excited to talk to me about 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.880 Stutsman that he got going before I could even start recording, 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.599 So I'm gonna have to set up this interview a 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.079 little bit. He was asking me about Brian Brazzee because 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.320 he coached Brizzye at Clemson, and then immediately went in 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.160 on Stutsman and how Stutsman was one of the highest 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:32.280 paid nil earners there at Oklahoma and with some of 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:35.199 that money that he got, he went to coach Venables 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.360 and asked him if he could give that money to 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:38.400 the walk Ons. 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:42.959 Hey, I want to give the eighteen walk Homes. I 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.040 want to give you some money and some of my 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:46.960 anil money. 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:48.280 So he's. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.199 A lot of money, and a byproduct of that is 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:59.679 the restaurant walk On. They reach out to me and 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.439 they want in honor of Danny and just basically the 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.680 partner with Danny stance that he took and just in 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.200 this space that it's all about what I get, you know, 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.800 Danny being in the opposite. They were really endeared by that. 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.240 So they asked me to tuesday walk on to put 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.560 on full scholarship and they would pay for it. So 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.959 I put one of the best friends, a fellow linebacker 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.680 on the scholarship. So anyway, he's amazing. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.920 That's an awesome story. I loved his reaction when he 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.560 got drafted. He seems like he just has so much energy. 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.880 Yeah, he loves he just he loves life. He's he 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:48.520 cares about people. He is he's a jokester, likes to 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.040 have fun, but man, when it comes to football, he 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:59.480 is ultra serious about being great and understands what you know, 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:04.920 non negotiable standards look like. And he lives in the 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:11.199 building and super humble. He's a guy that's a lot 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:16.640 of success. But he he took notes all the way 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.560 to the you know, a very last you know game 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:24.080 that he played in. He's taken notes, you know, like 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:28.959 he's a you know, first year freshman, and just he's 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:33.920 super respectful for the work that it takes and the diligence, 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:38.640 the commitment and the standards. So he's going to immediately 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.760 just bring value, you know, to the locker room. He'll 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.280 elevate I'll be one of the best qualities that he 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:51.280 has as people love to play alongside with him. He's 0:11:51.320 --> 0:12:00.360 super passionate, He's got a unique way of competing and 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:05.400 and just creating a nurtures an environment where he gets 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:10.840 everybody hungry to chase excellence around him and just as 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.880 a multiplying the type of effect. And I think the 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:18.560 really special leaders that I've been around through the years 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:27.720 have this unique ability without without getting somebody's face quote unquote, it's. 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.199 By how they do what they do, you know, living 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.280 in the building, showing up the practice, sitting in the 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.679 tempo for what we're getting ready to go do at 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:39.360 practice today, what it takes, and then he just he's 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:45.400 just an amazing example of strain and commitment and over delivering, 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:48.160 you know, and never gets tired of it. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.120 And so that's that's what I can tell you. He's 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:56.559 gonna just elevate everybody else, you know, through hard work, 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:00.360 blue collar mindset, and tremendous humility and respect for what 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.800 it takes to play. He can beat at a high level. 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:05.640 You know at an elite level. 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:10.240 Is that mentality and the way he studies the game 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.160 part of the reason why he seemed to just have 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.319 a knack for forcing turnovers. 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:20.040 Yeah, I mean he's big, and he's long, he's physical, 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.680 he's got good instincts. But it's preparation, it's anticipation, is 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.840 playing the game before you ever get to game day, 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.640 you know, one hundred times over. He really he values 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:36.040 that and has just holds that in incredibly high respect 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:40.640 and regards. You know, how do I make game day 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.000 going slow motion? Where I'm in fast motion, everybody else 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.360 is in slow motion. It's just the preparation, you know, 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:51.800 the countless hours of film and you know, very passionate, 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.240 you know, focused intensity about himself when it comes to 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:00.679 you know, walkthroughs and practice things like that. 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.640 When he played in high school, he also played wide receiver, 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.080 and I mean looking at the numbers, it looked like 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:11.000 he did extremely well as an offensive player as well. 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.960 When he was getting recruited, was that an option and 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.320 why did he choose to be a linebacker. 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.560 Well, then the funny story is I was that Clemson 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.720 when he's coming out, he came to our camp. He's 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.160 from Jacksonville, so it's not it's not that far up 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.080 to Clemson. I told him ahead of time, I'd already 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:31.960 evaluated him. I said, I really like you. I was 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:37.600 only taking one linebacker and I had my guy committed already, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.240 Jeremiah Trotter. And I told him I was very honest. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.840 I say, you can come to camp right now. We're full. 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:43.240 I got. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.680 I had room for one spot and that's all I got. 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:48.440 But I'd love to work with you. You'll get really 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.480 good work out of it, and I can help you. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.000 And I said, you never know, we might have somebody 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.200 on our roster leave, you know, and then we end 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.920 up opening the spot. But he was Paul, kind of 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.920 skinny and rangey, but a super good players. What I 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:06.040 saw right away was instincts, link speed, and he was 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:10.880 just disruptive. I loved his I think the instincts and 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:15.320 the same type of hips and fluidity and the ability 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.480 to make catches and traffic and things like that all 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:22.200 translate to you as a defensive player too, and so 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.280 I was very attractive to that. And so he ended 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.680 up going to Oklahoma anyway. He had a really good gamp. 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.960 But so I don't know if there was anything told 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.080 to him, you know, recruiting from that standpoint. 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:37.720 At Oklahoma, I saw a quote from you after the 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.520 draft saying that he had so much growth on and 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:45.200 off the field while you were there. Can you you 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.920 kind of started with the story about what he did 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.760 with his nil money, But how did you see that growth? 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:57.600 Was he was a little more silly and thought that 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.600 you just showed up to games and that's how you 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.000 played it at a high level. So just teaching them 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.000 how to study the game, become a student, a true 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.880 student of the game. Not a cliche, but and you 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.000 know understand, like when you walk in the building, man, 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.960 you're you should be the heart and soul every Blue 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:16.800 coach thirty years at three different schools. Man, linebackers are 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.160 heart sold the football team. You know, if that group 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.480 ain't right, then the rest of the team going to 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.960 be a reflection of it. In my my humble opinion 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.240 of the linebacker coach a defensive coach. But I just 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:32.360 I call it how I see it. And so I 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.280 was there for almost two months and intentionally did not 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.200 hand out a playbook. I want to see who would 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.680 come asked for So finally one day ask even the 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.040 hallway were going up the elevator, and I was pissed. 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.720 I'm like, hey, when is your ask going to get 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:48.800 serious about being great and come up and get a 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:50.960 freaking playbook? Is that, like every going to be important 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.160 to you? And just that we had a really I 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.720 had a really it was one sided conversation, but in 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:00.320 passionate about you know, what we're trying to do and 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:02.680 what it's going to take and if you don't, nobody 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:07.080 else will and and uh, he received it really well. 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.240 I think he was a little bit kind of shocked 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:14.320 and everything had been great and uh, you know, so 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.399 I parted up to that point, trying to develop relationships 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.800 and things like that. But in the back of me, 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:22.840 I just I'm like, I don't want to I don't 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:24.919 want it more than he wants it for himself. But he, 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.400 at the end of the day, he just didn't know. 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:29.520 He's like, oh, I didn't know, you know what I mean. 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.199 I hadn't had to do that maybe in high school, 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:36.640 and so just learning the depth of you know, how 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:38.520 to be a leader and how to be the example 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.840 and things like that, and you know, from there, he 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:45.960 just he took it and ran with it and he's 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.960 a pleaser. He wants to do well by his teammates 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:54.520 and his coaches, and he really cares about doing a 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.919 good job and his role. You know. I just think 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.520 it takes a lot of humility, you know, a lot 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:08.199 of you know, self awareness, and so he's very you know, 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:11.439 he's hard on himself. He pulls himself to really high standards, 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.000 and you know, he's confident himself that he also have 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.720 this tremendous you know, hunger and humility to him that 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.320 to me are just in viable traits to have. 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.080 Well, when you look at the fact that he's able 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:29.639 to make thirty seven straight starts, what do you attribute 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.639 that to? Is it how he took care of himself. 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:35.719 Yeah, Yeah, he took care of himself. He's you know, 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:39.560 big into you know, the his body and just you 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.000 know all the things that you know that looks like 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.679 from a recovery module to sleep and hydration. He's just 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.960 a very disciplined guy, you know, and off the field 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:52.600 and on the field, he was in he was up 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:57.240 in our offices every night after practice during the season, 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.000 you know, and he'd come back in the next day 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.560 and watch tape two on his own, and uh, you know, 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:05.720 most guys trying to get out of the building, and 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.280 he brings his stake up in there and he'd sit 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.520 right down next to the coaches and let's go through practice, 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.400 and you know that we're grading it. We're pretty tough 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:19.399 on ourselves when we're going through practice. And uh, but 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.960 he you know, when we first got to Oklahoma, that 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.520 wasn't the case. And so we and you know what 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:28.520 he did. If you saw that and you go up 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:32.760 to the defensive staff room, you know, now after after 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:35.879 a practice and during the season, they'll be there'll be 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:38.600 thirty five forty guys in there at all the different positions. 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:43.399 And so that was all started by by Danny and 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.840 and the other linebackers that we had in the group, 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:53.560 you know, David Awaiboo and Deshaun White and Danny those 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:55.360 those are the guys that kind of flipped the skip 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:57.240 that they weren't even coming up on the third floor 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.960 when we first got to Oklahoma though. But Danny was 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.600 one of those pioneers and like, Okay, this is what 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:05.119 it's supposed to look like and we're going to do it. 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:09.040 So yeah, yeah, but he's got great dor building. He's 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:14.320 physically and mentally incredibly tough man. Uh, he's just got 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.800 great endurance and durability and didn't take care of his body. 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.360 So I saw the story about him having a samurai 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:28.399 sword in his locker and obviously heard his take on it. 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:34.640 What was yours. I don't get into all the theatrics props. 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.560 I'm not going to get into all that, you know, 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.480 end up, but he he would. That is his way 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:46.600 of having some fun but also being if he didn't 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:49.840 practice as hard as he did, if he didn't come 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:51.520 to the meetings and be on the edge of the 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:54.000 seat and taking note anything that came out of my mouth, 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.879 he was writing it down. And then the things that 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.320 he had to get our guys ready this day, to 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.240 get our guys every single day, he'd bring that defense up. 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:04.720 He was getting ready to go down in this next drill. 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:07.600 Let's go, let's dominate it, you know, And he was, 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:09.480 and then he would be about it. If he didn't 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:11.919 do all that that I'd been pitched about having swords 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:14.360 and stuff in the locker, So I'm not really big 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.080 into that, but it's just his way of having fun 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:21.080 and getting guys, you know, put a smile on their 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:23.080 face to go do really hard things. And I think 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.760 that's what the best leaders do. They get the people 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:30.240 around them to do really hard stuff. Yeah, and I 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:33.000 think that's Danny's way of kind of learning, you know, 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:34.639 certain guys in. 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:40.840 I am fascinated to see his relationship with Tomrio Davis 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.640 here because to Mario's preparation at. 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:47.440 Yeah, we watched him a lot in our team meetings. 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:50.040 To Mario David, he's got a great testimony. 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:53.320 It's going to be interesting to see their relationship because 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:55.680