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Speaker 1: It is an awesome responsibility. That's one you take very

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Speaker 1: serious as far as like what's the differentiator between this

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Speaker 1: player and that player and special teams can play that

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Speaker 1: that's part A lot of times your team is identified

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Speaker 1: by how they act in the weight room, what they

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Speaker 1: look like in the weight room, what their special teams

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Speaker 1: look like. And I think it's a huge component of

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Speaker 1: your success. You're listening to the Minnesota Vikings podcast. This

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Speaker 1: is episode one fifty one. I'm your host, Tatum Everett.

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Speaker 1: I've got my co host Gabe Henderson, and our producer

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Speaker 1: Jay Nelson and the TCO Radio studios with me right now,

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Speaker 1: and guys, this episode kicks off a special series of

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Speaker 1: podcasts that will highlight some of our new and old

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Speaker 1: Vikings coaching staff and strength coaches. These are some of

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Speaker 1: the guys you may not hear a lot from, but

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Speaker 1: they are making things happen for this team. We'll dive

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Speaker 1: into their backstories and what makes them excited about the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season. So to kick things off on

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Speaker 1: today's podcast, we have the assistant Special Teams coach Ben Kottwika.

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Speaker 1: And you know, it was a little bit difficult trying

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Speaker 1: to learn how to say coach's name. So he was

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Speaker 1: kind enough to tell us you can just call him Ben,

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Speaker 1: or you can call him coach K. Ben, I was

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Speaker 1: gonna say, which gave made him start twitching as soon

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Speaker 1: as he hears coach K, Like I should be able

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Speaker 1: to say coach K. But it's still like tough for

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Speaker 1: me to just say like coach K because I just can't.

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Speaker 1: Just the way you said that, Yeah, just like so offended. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it is very offensive hearing that we're coach K, especially

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Speaker 1: in my house. But Ben caughtweka great guy, had the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to work with him in Washington twenty nineteen, so

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Speaker 1: that familiarity, I think just from him understanding the players,

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Speaker 1: then I think that would transfer well here in Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: So always good to talk to a guy like that.

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Speaker 1: I think the nice thing about Coach cut Weeka as

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Speaker 1: well is in talking to him a little bit, you

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Speaker 1: start to realize that all of these people have different backgrounds,

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Speaker 1: They've all got different experiences. Like you said, come from

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Speaker 1: Washington where you had met him there. He even had

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Speaker 1: a bigger life before that as well, which people will

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Speaker 1: find out in the interview. I think part of doing

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Speaker 1: all of this as well. Is just to highlight the

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Speaker 1: fact that there are so many new faces, personalities and

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Speaker 1: experiences that have come into working for this organization with

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Speaker 1: the changeover, and I think it'll be very helpful for

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Speaker 1: the fans just to be able to put some voices

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Speaker 1: to the names, and I hopefully just learned a little

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Speaker 1: bit more about some of these guys that are in

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Speaker 1: the building. We hear from a lot of the same

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Speaker 1: people over and over again, but obviously there's just so

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Speaker 1: much behind the scenes technically, behind the scenes work that

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Speaker 1: I don't think fans really get to peek into. And

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Speaker 1: so we're excited to bring you a lot of those

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Speaker 1: coaches and as we said, strength staff, there are a

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Speaker 1: couple of guys that have been here for a while,

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Speaker 1: and then there's some new faces that you'll be able

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Speaker 1: to meet. And so we'll get to that interview in

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Speaker 1: just a second. But you know, training camp, it's in

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Speaker 1: the books. The facilities eerily quiet today and not to

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Speaker 1: mention it's a little gloomy here as we record, and

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Speaker 1: I just think it's it's added to the feel of

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Speaker 1: like we are at a break. There's no players around,

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Speaker 1: they're getting their break before we really start hitting the

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Speaker 1: ground running. It's a lot quieter today than it was

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Speaker 1: the last what four weeks at this point, four weeks

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Speaker 1: or four months, Yeah, well exactly. And that's you know,

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Speaker 1: we talked about that last episode as well, just to

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Speaker 1: say all of the changes and the lack of offseason

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Speaker 1: at least lack of quiet offseason, and now all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, there's kind of this lull for the next

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Speaker 1: month and a half or so, and I think it's

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Speaker 1: just a good idea to be able to kind of

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Speaker 1: hit the reset button, let everyone kind of go back

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Speaker 1: to their corners and figure stuff out, Let the players

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Speaker 1: kind of decompress a little bit, let the coaches in

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Speaker 1: front office staff be able to kind of take their

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Speaker 1: time to also formulate, you know, out their game plans.

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Speaker 1: I think for all of us as well, it just

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Speaker 1: gives us a chance to breathe and really plan for

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Speaker 1: what's coming up here for the season. So there's so

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Speaker 1: many things that everybody else is involved with. I think

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Speaker 1: this time is trust me, we're not all sitting under butts.

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Speaker 1: There's gonna be a lot of planning and a lot

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Speaker 1: of a lot of pre planning and just shooting and

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Speaker 1: getting everything ready for this season coming up here, So

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Speaker 1: it's a much needed time for everyone in the organization.

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Speaker 1: Once you're in that groom of the season, you don't

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Speaker 1: have time to really come up with too many new ideas.

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Speaker 1: So this planning process is big for us, Gabe, as

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Speaker 1: you know, somebody that's worked in the NFL for as

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Speaker 1: long as you have, and from a player's perspective, this

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Speaker 1: time that they have right now between mini camp and

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Speaker 1: then training camp, what are they up to? And you

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Speaker 1: know they're also not just sitting on their butts hanging out. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: these guys though they're probably will take a break for

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Speaker 1: about a week or so, but it'll be a week

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Speaker 1: max in there. From there they'll get right back into it.

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Speaker 1: That's why it'll be good to talk to the Derek

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Speaker 1: Keyses of the world, the Tyler Williams of the world

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Speaker 1: and the coming weeks because those guys send these guys

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Speaker 1: home with workout sheets or books to be able to

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Speaker 1: keep their body up or keep their body in football shape.

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Speaker 1: Because you do about two months straight of just football

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Speaker 1: work and then you say, hey, go home and enjoy yourself.

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Speaker 1: You want to make sure those guys are still in shape.

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Speaker 1: So when they come back they don't have to restart

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Speaker 1: their process of getting back in shape and trying to

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Speaker 1: to make plays, because once they get back in July

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Speaker 1: late July, I mean, if you're not in shape, you're

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Speaker 1: losing your spot, and you to lose your spot, there's

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Speaker 1: a really good chance you might not be on this team.

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Speaker 1: So this, this breakwright here is key. This is where

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Speaker 1: the professionals become professionals, and this is where some of

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Speaker 1: the rookies still try to figure it out. So interesting

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Speaker 1: times ahead. The crazy part is training camp literally used

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Speaker 1: to mean getting people in to get them back into shape.

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Speaker 1: You know, back before people were making the contracts they

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Speaker 1: are now. You always hear the people that were from

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Speaker 1: sixties and seventies and stuff saying we couldn't necessarily afford

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Speaker 1: our normal lives and we'd have to go get our

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Speaker 1: day jobs and they'd be working for three am controlled

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Speaker 1: data some of these other you know, General Mills and

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Speaker 1: Cargill and stuff here in the Twin Cities. And then

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Speaker 1: training camp was and you got to get in shape

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Speaker 1: to play football in about three weeks. So that's why

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Speaker 1: they used you know, two days, three days. Bud was

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Speaker 1: driving them into the dirt just to try to get

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Speaker 1: them into football shape to be able to play nowadays.

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Speaker 1: Like you said, if you walk into training camp and

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Speaker 1: you're not in shape, there are very few people that

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Speaker 1: get that chance to get themselves back into shape, let alone.

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Speaker 1: I think the Beyer concern is just not get hurt,

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Speaker 1: you know, trying to make sure you're coming in your

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Speaker 1: body's ready to go. That's why all of these guys

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Speaker 1: have workout regiments and strength coaches outside of here, and

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Speaker 1: consultants and dietitians. I think this is the time for them, yeah,

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Speaker 1: to be able to mentally and physically kind of help

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Speaker 1: themselves get ready, But a lot of that involves doing

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Speaker 1: all their outside work, with all their training and their

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Speaker 1: diets and everything, just to make sure they're ready to

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Speaker 1: go as soon as they walk in the door, especially

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Speaker 1: when you have guys like cam buying them who's going

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Speaker 1: to be traving until the Philippines or guys. This is

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Speaker 1: the time where you want to travel outside of the

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Speaker 1: country you do it. This is the time you get

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Speaker 1: away from the sport and what you really want to

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Speaker 1: do it. At the same time, you may get away

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Speaker 1: from it mentally and figuratively and probably literally, but you

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Speaker 1: still want to make sure your body's in the shape,

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Speaker 1: so there won't be any heavy lifting right now. But

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Speaker 1: at the same time, these guys aren't going to come

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Speaker 1: back twenty pounds over. I saw nickmus this past week

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Speaker 1: and he basically said, coaches want him to come back

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Speaker 1: ten pounds lighter. So so he's got some cardio and

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Speaker 1: going exactly. So these these coaches have different goals for

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Speaker 1: what they want these guys to be when they come back.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, vacation, get you get your mind away from

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Speaker 1: the game mentally, but don't go Gorge. Go go figure

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Speaker 1: out how you can be a better football player when

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Speaker 1: you get back, because the next six or seven months

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Speaker 1: of your life are going to be living. You know what.

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Speaker 1: So athletes are just insane. I mean, if you told

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Speaker 1: me I'd have to lose ten pounds the next month,

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Speaker 1: they'd be like, yeah, sorry, I'm trying. But it just

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Speaker 1: doesn't work like that anymore. I think between that and

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Speaker 1: you've got other people that have to eat, and they're

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Speaker 1: just looking at each other going, I don't have to

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Speaker 1: be like you're right now, you know, Yeah, the guys

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Speaker 1: I get to eat, You're like, yeah, I get to eat,

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Speaker 1: And then you're like oh wait, I have to eat

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Speaker 1: that much every second day just trying to gain it.

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Speaker 1: And like Eric, like guys like Eric Hendricks, it's so

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Speaker 1: hard for him to gain weight, which is crazy. So

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Speaker 1: I'm sure he's probably knowing every single calorie he's putting

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Speaker 1: in his body every single day. Jobberry g I mean,

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Speaker 1: he's put on twenty pounds, so it's more so of

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Speaker 1: him just trying to maintain that. Although he said he

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Speaker 1: eats beef and ice cream. That sounds hopefully not together.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like a true North Carolinian like beef an

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Speaker 1: ice cream for those guys, you know, when you have

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Speaker 1: to you have to eat like thirty five calories a

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Speaker 1: day all the time or more. The idea of that

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Speaker 1: is you're like, oh, yeah, that would be nice, and

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Speaker 1: then you're like when you have to do it and

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Speaker 1: maintain your your cardio and maintain your strength versus just

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Speaker 1: completely getting over overweight and out of shape and sitting

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Speaker 1: on the couch doing nothing. That is where guys like

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Speaker 1: you had mentioned, you know, Derek Keys and some of

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Speaker 1: the dietitians strength training people, they have to individually go

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Speaker 1: through all of these different players and say like this

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Speaker 1: is how you can safely and healthfully be able to

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Speaker 1: do this and oh, by the way, you get five

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Speaker 1: weeks to make it happen. All right. Well, on that

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Speaker 1: note that we are taking a break from things, the

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Speaker 1: media is not taking a break from there. I'd like

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Speaker 1: to call this the Vikings hot Take of the week.

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Speaker 1: This is something Jay found and I just can help

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Speaker 1: my segment every week the week because you can make it. Oh,

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Speaker 1: we can definitely dig and find hot takes the week

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Speaker 1: if you are hot take of the week. Colin Cowherd

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Speaker 1: is our winner of this week's Vikings hot Take. I've

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Speaker 1: said this before. I believe the team that will double

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Speaker 1: their win total will be the Minnesota Vikings. I think

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Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings the coach Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins

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Speaker 1: had a really bad relationship. Now they bring in a

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Speaker 1: McVeigh guy who's supposed to be, they say, a taller

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Speaker 1: version of McVeigh, A taller version of McVeigh, which obviously

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Speaker 1: makes him what better worse? I don't know height transitions

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Speaker 1: into wins. You know this guy, of course, right? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: I mean you've seen every head coach that won a

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Speaker 1: Super Bowl in the past few years. They've been six

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Speaker 1: four and taller. Although my question for Colin Cowhern is

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Speaker 1: does he listen to the Minnesota Vikings podcast that you know?

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Speaker 1: Jay had a similar hot take I think you know

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Speaker 1: last week here, hold please. The conversation last week was

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Speaker 1: them going undefeated, and I said, I will definitely take that.

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Speaker 1: And my whole point of sending the link to you

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Speaker 1: guys was to say, it's not necessarily undefeated, but I'll

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Speaker 1: take it. We'll take it. There's a stephen A. Smith

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Speaker 1: Um quote that a lot of people say when some

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Speaker 1: off kilter type stuff, and the first word starts with

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Speaker 1: stay and I'll let you figure out the rest. So

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Speaker 1: just hearing Klin Coward say that, I was like, man, like,

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Speaker 1: what is this new smoker right now? Because I can't.

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Speaker 1: We both we all three of us work for the

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Speaker 1: Vikings here, and of course we want them to be

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Speaker 1: successful and I think they will this year. And you know, honestly,

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, twelve and five is a good enough

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Speaker 1: season and he can get you to the playoffs and

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Speaker 1: figure it out from there. Sixteen and one, so that's

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Speaker 1: that might be a little bit of a reach, no offense.

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Speaker 1: My whole thought process was, wait, did he know how

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Speaker 1: many wins we had last year, and it's not again,

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Speaker 1: it's not the idea idea of we can't get to

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Speaker 1: sixteen wins, but it's the idea of going from eight

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Speaker 1: to sixteen in that short of a span. If it

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Speaker 1: is something where it comes down to the new coaching scheme,

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Speaker 1: the new coaching kind of the attitude in the building

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Speaker 1: does jump us from an eight to a sixteen, I think,

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, one that's an amazing change, and two

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Speaker 1: it just shows with last year just how much of

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Speaker 1: an issue it was then in the building. If that's

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Speaker 1: literally the one change that you're the major change you're

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Speaker 1: gonna make, and it will double your wins if that happens.

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Speaker 1: So I have a question for it. No, I don't

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Speaker 1: want sixteen any one. We talked about this last week.

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Speaker 1: I don't want Like personally, I know I was asking

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Speaker 1: you this question last week. Would you much rather have

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Speaker 1: all these nil biers and that ends up in a

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Speaker 1: super Bowl or do you want blowouts? Like I'm like

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Speaker 1: in between the line of like optimist and pessimist, Like

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Speaker 1: I'm not a pessimist, but I'm not like I'm a

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Speaker 1: cautious optimistic person. Welcome Minnesota in twelve twelve and five

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Speaker 1: is great for me because if you go sixteen and one,

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Speaker 1: the bar for the following season is like you have

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Speaker 1: to go on defeat it in order for this to

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Speaker 1: be a successful season. Like, I'm a firm believer in growth,

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Speaker 1: and if you can start somewhere, if we start at

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Speaker 1: this year at eleven and six, and then just build

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Speaker 1: from build on that every every year from here on out,

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Speaker 1: I'm okay with that. Okay, question, if we do go

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Speaker 1: sixteen and one, who's the lost two Detroit? Oh my,

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Speaker 1: you think so? I think so because that's the game

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Speaker 1: that made you beat the Packers twice. Right, I'm in

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Speaker 1: on that. I was gonna say, as long as it's

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Speaker 1: not to that team, I'm okay. Um, hits, you know

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Speaker 1: it would it would honestly end up being somebody like

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Speaker 1: the Bears, the Bears or the Bells being or the

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Speaker 1: last week because you're already sixteen and oz and you're

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Speaker 1: not really playing a ton of people. Of course. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: so I've waited twenty four years for a team again

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Speaker 1: to go with a one last season since no, oh,

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Speaker 1: we're talking about the Vikings, the Viking specifically, I'm played

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Speaker 1: twenty four years since having a team do that. The

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Speaker 1: one team that year that they lost to was Tampa,

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Speaker 1: but it was the cream sickle Buccaneers that knocked them off,

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Speaker 1: and everyone's like, oh, hey, you're gonna be Tampa, and

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Speaker 1: then Tampa found a way to beat them, and it

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Speaker 1: was the one blemish they had before the big blemish. Again,

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Speaker 1: after last week, we had talked about it, the fun

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Speaker 1: of that season if you get on that kind of

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Speaker 1: a role, because it doesn't guarantee they're all going to

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Speaker 1: be blowouts, but if you get on that kind of

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Speaker 1: a role and you get to that sixteen and one.

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Speaker 1: It was a similar feeling in O nine as well

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Speaker 1: with Brett Fire with only a couple of losses and

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Speaker 1: doing that you control your own destiny. That would be

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Speaker 1: a heck of a lot of fun. I made a

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Speaker 1: list of some notable turnarounds in the last few seasons,

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Speaker 1: mainly since you know, like the two thousand twelve ish

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Speaker 1: and now, because that's what's that's somewhat modern era, modern

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Speaker 1: era more or less, I was trying to think of

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Speaker 1: teams that are playing in this type of day and

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Speaker 1: age of the NFL, right because like so much has

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Speaker 1: changed over the years, and there are a ton of

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Speaker 1: teams that have made rapid turnarounds from in between two seasons.

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Speaker 1: But the four that they picked besides obviously the ninety

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Speaker 1: nine Rams, because that was a four and twelve season

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Speaker 1: and then they went thirteen and three and won the

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Speaker 1: Super Bowl, obviously that would be fantastic. But the three

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Speaker 1: that I really caught my eye were the two thousand

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Speaker 1: and twelve Colts. They had a first year head coach

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Speaker 1: in Chuck Pagano. They were two and fourteen this season

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Speaker 1: before eleven and five made the playoffs, which I think

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Speaker 1: is something Fightings fans would be super pumped to see

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Speaker 1: eleven wins making the playoffs. Can't really complain two thirteen

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Speaker 1: eighty Reid's first season also two and fourteen, eleven and

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Speaker 1: five made the playoffs. But then there's this one who

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Speaker 1: we heard Colin Coward compare Kevin O'Connell two the two

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Speaker 1: eighteen Rams. It was mcvay's first year. They were four

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Speaker 1: and twelve this season before then they went thirteen and

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Speaker 1: three and lost in the Super Bowl, which I'm not saying.

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Speaker 1: I guess the three threads I picked. Those three were

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Speaker 1: because of the first year head coach like, it's not

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Speaker 1: impossible to go from a place where this team isn't

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Speaker 1: a two win four win team. It's better than that.

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Speaker 1: And to make a jump like that in one year. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think that Rams team they had ten straight losing

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Speaker 1: seasons and then they had eleven years, eleven out of

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Speaker 1: their twelve years before McVeigh they had losing seasons. So

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Speaker 1: that turnaround was crazy. I think that's probably the craziest

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Speaker 1: turnaround I've seen since I've been in this business. But

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Speaker 1: never say never, never say never in this Vikings team.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like we had a four and

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Speaker 1: twelve season last year or you know, two and fourteen

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Speaker 1: or whatever. So the pieces are there, and I don't

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Speaker 1: think that the turnaround should be that surprising. If we

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Speaker 1: do make a turnaround, I don't think it'll be a

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Speaker 1: sixteen and one turnaround. But if we do make that

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Speaker 1: turnaround and get into the playoffs, I don't think people

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Speaker 1: should be surprised. I don't think they will be. But

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Speaker 1: in the same breath, it's encouraging having other great coaches,

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Speaker 1: other great first year coaches experience that success in their

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Speaker 1: first year, and I think a lot of that success

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Speaker 1: is due to teams not having a playbook on what

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Speaker 1: you want to do. So I look at Sean McVay, right,

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Speaker 1: it's the first time ever being a head coach versus

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Speaker 1: Andy Reid, where here's a head coach in Philly before.

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Speaker 1: There's a few discrepancies that that defenses can pick up

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Speaker 1: when they're game planning for you in the off season,

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Speaker 1: especially for week one if you're a head coach. Because

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Speaker 1: this is what he did at in Philly, so maybe

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Speaker 1: this is the offense he wants to bring here. So

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Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell doesn't have that. Nobody really knows what he

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Speaker 1: likes to do. So it may take teams a year

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Speaker 1: or a year and a half or so just to

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Speaker 1: try to figure out what he likes to do, What

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Speaker 1: are some of his tendencies, what are some things that

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Speaker 1: frustrates him. So I personally think will experience some success

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Speaker 1: early on in this first year. I'm not being biased,

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Speaker 1: but I just think just the history of what this

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Speaker 1: type of offense is, I really do think this Vikings

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Speaker 1: team will experience some success, pending injury part of it. Two,

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Speaker 1: if you look at those teams, you think about, you know,

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Speaker 1: why did the Colts struggle the way that they did

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Speaker 1: that year twenty eleven, no pay and Manning he was out.

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Speaker 1: And then last week's guest for the podcast was the

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Speaker 1: quarterback Matt Castle as the quarterback in Kansas City the

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Speaker 1: year before as well, and then with the Rams, you

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Speaker 1: know they jumping in with Goff and Gurley at that

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Speaker 1: point too, and just to see that big change, I

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Speaker 1: think the Rams is the most interesting because we have

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Speaker 1: the tie, but to the fact that the Rams themselves

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Speaker 1: there wasn't a huge personnel shift that happened at that point,

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Speaker 1: and to see that jump that way, it's purely because

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Speaker 1: of scheming and coaching kind of resetting the deck there

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Speaker 1: with the same pieces that they had. That is the

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Speaker 1: one that's the most intriguing because if that is something

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Speaker 1: that we can get out of our coach in front office,

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Speaker 1: given the way that the Rams did that, that will

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Speaker 1: be a very exciting season. Jay, Why do I feel

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Speaker 1: like you just made a jab at Matt Castle. I'm not.

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Speaker 1: I'm not. It's purely that he was the quarterback, get

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Speaker 1: it. It It was just purely coming into that brand new

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Speaker 1: system with a new coach and everything. And then the

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Speaker 1: following year with Corinnell coming out and Andy coming in.

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Speaker 1: It just shows you like there was a big change

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Speaker 1: there given coaching trying to change to the strength of

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Speaker 1: some of the different personnel that they had there. It's

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Speaker 1: hard to sit there and look at these and say, yes,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be this way, because I think so

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Speaker 1: many teams when they make a head coaching change. I

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Speaker 1: mean even just look within the division between the Bears

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Speaker 1: and the Lions, the amount of coaching changes they've had,

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Speaker 1: personnel changes they've had. You're doing this to kind of

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Speaker 1: create a spark and to try to change something right.

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Speaker 1: And you know you can't get rid of fifty three

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Speaker 1: to ninety players completely because that's just not possible. So

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Speaker 1: you try to change the philosophy, You try to change

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Speaker 1: the leadership in doing that. The hope is everyone's looking

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Speaker 1: at guys like Justin Jefferson and Delvin Feeling Kirk, everyone

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Speaker 1: that has been the playmakers the last couple of years,

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Speaker 1: saying this offense can do something dangerous. Now you give

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Speaker 1: them a guy like Kevin O'Connell who is an offensive

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Speaker 1: minded coach coming from that Rams tree, and now they

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Speaker 1: turn around and say, what can we do with these pieces?

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Speaker 1: The hope is those close games turn into wins versus losses. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I think you know to that plant, I was

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Speaker 1: just joking about that, but you know, Matt Cassell, Yeah

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Speaker 1: I wasn't, but yeah, I was thinking about Matt Castle's career.

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Speaker 1: Oh nine. Listen, the greatest year twenty ten was his

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Speaker 1: Pro Bowl year and they got to hurt the following

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Speaker 1: two years, so it never really worked out for him.

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Speaker 1: And that's when the Alex Smith situation came. You bring

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Speaker 1: Alex Smith with the new with the new coach, It's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: we're going to figure this thing out and start from scratch.

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Speaker 1: But think about even think about Alex Smith going to

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Speaker 1: the Chiefs, right with the Niners and with Hean Kaepernick

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Speaker 1: and everything, and just looking at they had to make

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Speaker 1: a decision who they're going to go with Alex coast

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Speaker 1: to the Chiefs Kaepernicks, and then they make the run

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Speaker 1: as well, Like it is so crazy how some teams

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Speaker 1: have a glut of riches and still don't necessarily produce

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Speaker 1: with them once they get once they had the option,

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Speaker 1: they make a decision to run down one path. It

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Speaker 1: doesn't work out and they never run second guesses and says, well,

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Speaker 1: maybe we should have gone left instead of right. For

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Speaker 1: our situation, the thought has been there was some sort

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Speaker 1: of a rift or that we just weren't using as

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Speaker 1: a coaching staff from before the pieces that we had efficiently.

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Speaker 1: And now we're taking the chance to say, let's bring

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Speaker 1: in some new thoughts, some new ideas to see if

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Speaker 1: that's going to work. If that doesn't work, then the

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Speaker 1: other harder questions come into play and say what do

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Speaker 1: we need to do wise to make things change. I

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Speaker 1: personally think the San Francisco forty nine Ers are having

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Speaker 1: the same situation now that they had with Alex Smith

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Speaker 1: and Colin Kaepernick. Welcome back to the Minnesota Vikings podcast.

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Speaker 1: We're not talking about the forty nine ers right now,

430
00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:34,879
Speaker 1: but yay, I have a feeling our fans also love

431
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,040
Speaker 1: the NFL. We're good. Yeah, And you know, Quacy has

432
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,159
Speaker 1: a really rich history with the forty Yeah, with the

433
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,840
Speaker 1: forty nine ers preseason, Yeah, that forty nine ers team.

434
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,119
Speaker 1: Quacy always said that forty nine ers team was built

435
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,560
Speaker 1: to beat the Rams, and he says he's going to

436
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,480
Speaker 1: make this Minnesota Vikings team built to beat the Green

437
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,359
Speaker 1: Bay Packers. So it'll be interesting to see how all

438
00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,600
Speaker 1: that works out. But when you have a you have

439
00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,760
Speaker 1: a head coach and a GM that wants to have

440
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,120
Speaker 1: an identity, and their identity is strong, and they want

441
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,040
Speaker 1: to have a firm belief in, you know, beating certain teams.

442
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,120
Speaker 1: I think that that is a great start for success.

443
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:12,200
Speaker 1: There has been a long history of arms races here

444
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 1: in this division, trying to beat the Packers or trying

445
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 1: to beat the Bears. Randy Moss getting selected here, you

446
00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,760
Speaker 1: turned around and saw the Packers select basically corners and

447
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,600
Speaker 1: safeties for like the next three drafts, trying to figure

448
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,800
Speaker 1: out how do we come back this guy? And I

449
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,480
Speaker 1: think you saw a little bit of that this year

450
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,240
Speaker 1: as well with Justin Jefferson blown up. The last two seasons,

451
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,640
Speaker 1: Packers turned around and made a couple of high profile

452
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,840
Speaker 1: secondary selections. The last two years the Packers they draft

453
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,520
Speaker 1: a defensive place exactly. But that's my point is that

454
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,240
Speaker 1: I think if we can get into the idea of

455
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,119
Speaker 1: an arms race here within this division, and hopefully the

456
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 1: idea and on our end is kind of the younger

457
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,240
Speaker 1: new look league with all of the offensive scoring. If

458
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,520
Speaker 1: that's the case for fans, it's going to be super exciting.

459
00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,680
Speaker 1: This season. Look, if we can have half as much

460
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 1: fun watching the games as the players are having in

461
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,080
Speaker 1: the building on the field, just seeing them have fun,

462
00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:08,160
Speaker 1: I just hope it just translates down to the actual

463
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 1: product and then therefore it translates to more fun in

464
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 1: game and a better watching experience where you're not feeling

465
00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:16,879
Speaker 1: like you're having a heart attack every week. But that

466
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,560
Speaker 1: ultimately ends up when wins. Yeah, I think if they're winning. Oh,

467
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,000
Speaker 1: come on, you didn't you didn't love going back and forth.

468
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 1: I know we talked about this last week, so I

469
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,600
Speaker 1: if you haven't listened to last week's podcast, we definitely

470
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:32,680
Speaker 1: we didn't know. You got to you got to? Well

471
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,200
Speaker 1: that was our vikings hot take of the week. Colin Cowherd,

472
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:36,920
Speaker 1: thank you for that. You know, I'll have to keep

473
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,680
Speaker 1: scouring the twitter verse and see what else is out

474
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:41,600
Speaker 1: there to kind of have a debate about, because this

475
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,720
Speaker 1: is this is interesting, Like this is the time where

476
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 1: we can sit back and make a lot of these

477
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,960
Speaker 1: assumptions if what ifs. Yeah, and then and then Jay

478
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,600
Speaker 1: goes back and clips the audio where we're like, we'll

479
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: never go sixteen to one, and then like, you know,

480
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,639
Speaker 1: we go sixteen and one. And we have a naysayer podcast.

481
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:00,400
Speaker 1: What if the Vikings go sixt any one and win

482
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,639
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl? Job here for this and then he quits.

483
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 1: He's like, I'm going out on top. I'm retiring, Manny,

484
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 1: I'm so here for this. No, that's that's the ultimate

485
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,639
Speaker 1: goal of ever. Everyone here is just to get that

486
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:14,479
Speaker 1: ultimate ring, no matter how you get it. I mean,

487
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:15,879
Speaker 1: you can be the Giants and go eight and eight

488
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:17,640
Speaker 1: or eight and eighth that year. I guess you would

489
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:18,919
Speaker 1: be nine and eighth this year. But as long as

490
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: you get to that goal, um, that's all that matters.

491
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 1: And you know, all three phases of the ball is

492
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,160
Speaker 1: going to play a huge dividend and doing so. Speaking

493
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,920
Speaker 1: of all three phases of the ball, we've got our

494
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:34,240
Speaker 1: assistant Special teams coach Ben Cutweka, who was our guest.

495
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 1: As we teased earlier in the show, we get to

496
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,520
Speaker 1: know him a little bit more and why he's excited

497
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,959
Speaker 1: about this Special Teams union. All right, Now, we got

498
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 1: assistant special teams coach here from the Minnesota Vikings, Ben

499
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,120
Speaker 1: caught tweaka cut Did I say that right? Cut Week?

500
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:49,920
Speaker 1: It got great to be with you today. I appreciate

501
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,879
Speaker 1: the time appreciate. No one ever messes that up. No,

502
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: we usually stop at the case sometimes, but what did

503
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,639
Speaker 1: we haven't quite lived up to that. They call you

504
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 1: coach K, Coach Benn or coach K, you know, so

505
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 1: it's kind of neat because you know, I'm a West

506
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,920
Speaker 1: Point grand and so Shishewsky, so that's a little tough

507
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,080
Speaker 1: to say. But he's done such a great job. But yeah,

508
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,439
Speaker 1: sometimes we just stopped at Ben or K. Well Ban

509
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 1: from North Carolina and being Autarhoe fan, I'm gonna just

510
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 1: call you coach Ben's coach K doesn't really doesn't really

511
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,600
Speaker 1: ring well in my house. But being here in Minnesota now,

512
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,960
Speaker 1: you know, just from New York to Washington, work with

513
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: you in Washington there for a couple of years in Atlanta.

514
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 1: Now to Minnesota. You came during the summertime, so chances

515
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: are you haven't really experienced the Minnesota code yet. Well,

516
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: I got enough taste of it when I arrived in

517
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,399
Speaker 1: late late February and walking from my car into the building,

518
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 1: I can be a bit of a wind tunnel. But

519
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,359
Speaker 1: it's great this time of the year. What do we

520
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,960
Speaker 1: here and you know, June, it's it's been spectacular now,

521
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,119
Speaker 1: so just really looking forward to the summer and leading

522
00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:57,280
Speaker 1: into the fall and really excited about the opportunity this year.

523
00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,560
Speaker 1: What's it been like getting to know Matt D. Daniels

524
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,399
Speaker 1: and and this special Teams unit during this offseason as

525
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,120
Speaker 1: well as Mini camp this week? Sure? So, Coachy Daniels

526
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,359
Speaker 1: and I have crossed paths professionally obviously when he was

527
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,440
Speaker 1: in Dallas in the Rams, and I actually remember him

528
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 1: coming out as a player from Duke and watching him

529
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,199
Speaker 1: and evaluate him and had a lot of respect for

530
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 1: him as a as a player, and now having the

531
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,480
Speaker 1: opportunity to work with him the last few months, I've

532
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,600
Speaker 1: got even more respect for him as a professional as

533
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 1: a coach. So it's been really really a great experience.

534
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,200
Speaker 1: I think it's been give and take and we've exchanged

535
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,639
Speaker 1: ideas and I think that's what's cool is as a

536
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,200
Speaker 1: coach you're always looking to grow, and him coming from

537
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: a different system than I was a partner from for

538
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: many many years, It's it's really good to share those

539
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,880
Speaker 1: those ideas and stuff. So I've really enjoyed it so far.

540
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,719
Speaker 1: How have all those experiences of being with previous teams

541
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: help you propel you to this moment of being able

542
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 1: to work with Mac for the Minnesota idea. Yeah, I

543
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,720
Speaker 1: think each year is it's own entity, each season as

544
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,200
Speaker 1: its own experience. You know, I was with the Jets

545
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 1: there for I was at seven eight years with coach

546
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,359
Speaker 1: Mangini and then coach Ryan obviously under the tutelage to

547
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 1: coach west Off for many years. Who who's one of

548
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 1: the best that's done it? And then moving you know,

549
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 1: to Washington and then to Atlanta. So you'd take a

550
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,119
Speaker 1: little bit of different experiences, different techniques, different tools that

551
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: you put in your kit bag so that when you

552
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,199
Speaker 1: get to you know this time now you you you

553
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,320
Speaker 1: present them and then you know, maybe adapt some of them,

554
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 1: maybe not. So it's been a give and take, but

555
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:38,360
Speaker 1: I think meld blending in both of our experiences has

556
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: been beneficial so far. Why special teams for you, it's

557
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,159
Speaker 1: something you've stuck with now for fifteen years, you know

558
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 1: what was Yeah, yeah, it was just by nature to

559
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,440
Speaker 1: a degree. I'm not a kicker, I'm not a punter.

560
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,400
Speaker 1: I'm a linebacker by trade. Grew up in the South

561
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,920
Speaker 1: side of Chicago, went to West Point, I was a linebacker,

562
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: strong safety, and then you know, military experience there for

563
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 1: a handful of years, and then when I got into

564
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,800
Speaker 1: the coach into coaching, I was actually on the defensive

565
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 1: side and special team so I did both with coach Mangini,

566
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,800
Speaker 1: and then when coach Ryan when Rex came on, I

567
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 1: moved into the special teams world under coach Westoff, and

568
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,639
Speaker 1: so that just has followed me during those years. And

569
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,920
Speaker 1: then a few years after working with coach Westoff, was

570
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,920
Speaker 1: fortunate enough to be the coordinator. So that's really how

571
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 1: that evolved at them and just somewhat organically, and it's

572
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 1: it's it's been great. What do you love about it?

573
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,360
Speaker 1: I love the opportunity to work with the whole spectrum

574
00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:34,840
Speaker 1: of the roster. I don't have just four or five

575
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 1: players that are in my positional meeting room. Essentially, you know,

576
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,919
Speaker 1: when you're working special teams, you're commanding and trolling a

577
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 1: greater group in that regard, so our meetings are filled

578
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 1: with you know, thirty to thirty five players. You have

579
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 1: the opportunity to work with the specialists, so you're really

580
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,719
Speaker 1: melding everybody together. It's the one of the only rooms

581
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,120
Speaker 1: where running backs are next to linebackers and tight ends

582
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 1: are sitting next to DBS, and so the ability to

583
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to meld culture and also to extend

584
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:12,880
Speaker 1: the message of the head coach. You know, I think

585
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 1: that's one of the great avenues where we can echo

586
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,479
Speaker 1: what coach O'Connell is saying. And so you have a

587
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,119
Speaker 1: great audience for that. And you know, I've heard a

588
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 1: long I heard a while ago and in this profession

589
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 1: that a lot of times your team is identified by

590
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,280
Speaker 1: how they act in the weight room, what they look

591
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:33,479
Speaker 1: like in the weight room, what their special teams look like.

592
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,840
Speaker 1: And I think it's a huge component of your success.

593
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: And I think with all that you just said of

594
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,200
Speaker 1: having not really just offenses out to the bar, our

595
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,560
Speaker 1: defenses out of the ball, usually the special teams unit

596
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 1: is the part of the team that people try to

597
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 1: get on just to be able to make the plane

598
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,040
Speaker 1: in the NFL And understanding that, how does that affect

599
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,959
Speaker 1: your coaching, Understanding that guys are just trying to just

600
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 1: trying to make the team. Yeah, So it sounds like

601
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 1: your point specifically is especially with the younger guys that

602
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 1: come in from college. Right, So we just got these

603
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 1: draft class and then the undrafted free agents and such,

604
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:08,000
Speaker 1: and many of them don't have a vast special team experience.

605
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 1: Maybe they played a little bit of it, but many

606
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,160
Speaker 1: of them were one of, if not the best player

607
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 1: on their college team, and so that was essentially on

608
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,680
Speaker 1: the offense or the defensive side. So now you're teaching

609
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: them a different skill set Number one. Number two is

610
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 1: especially in the punt game in the college world, it's

611
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 1: a little bit different, you know, in regard to the

612
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:29,920
Speaker 1: shield and the style that the ball is delivered. So

613
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 1: again you're teaching another skill there. And then the other

614
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 1: element is the differentiator between hey, is this guy going

615
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,280
Speaker 1: to make the roster or not. So it is an

616
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,120
Speaker 1: awesome responsibility. It's when we take very serious as far

617
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,000
Speaker 1: as like what's the differentiator between this player and that player?

618
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: And special teams can play that that's part how do

619
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,360
Speaker 1: you deal with those success stories? Right, the guys that

620
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: come in on special teams just trying to make the

621
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 1: team and then like the Adam Feelands of the world

622
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 1: then kind of bumped into a rolland the offensive side

623
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: of the ball, and it's coach appreciates you. But yeah,

624
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 1: I think Adam is a is a great story there

625
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 1: in regard to I remember when we played. I was

626
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:11,680
Speaker 1: with Washington in two and fourteen and Adam I was

627
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 1: a budding special teams you know player, and you know,

628
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 1: I remember him cutting his teeth through that, and so

629
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 1: it's almost, I don't want to say it's like a graduation,

630
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:24,600
Speaker 1: but it is encouraging from a special teams coach standpoint that, hey,

631
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: this player has done an excellent job on special teams

632
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,600
Speaker 1: and he's continued to increase his value, in Adam's case,

633
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 1: on the offensive side of the ball to get where

634
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: he where he is. So that's really cool to see.

635
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,240
Speaker 1: And the list is long as far as my experience

636
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 1: of guys when I was with the Jets and in

637
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,120
Speaker 1: Washington and even Atlanta, of guys that came in maybe

638
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 1: under the radar that weren't the high pick. They weren't

639
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: the first or second round guy. They were a late

640
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: round selection or even an undrafted free agent, especially that

641
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: did the hard work, did the things behind the scenes,

642
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,280
Speaker 1: got extra time, you got more and more time on

643
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,800
Speaker 1: special teams, and then eventually evolved into a very effective

644
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,080
Speaker 1: and efficient offensive or defensive player. Some of those guys

645
00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: might be vying for that punt return role, which is

646
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,160
Speaker 1: something that you know you're still working out and flushing out.

647
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 1: As far as we're in mini camp, how is that

648
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,680
Speaker 1: competition going. Yeah, the competition's going well. You know, the

649
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: couple of the guys um you know that we had

650
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: on the radar have been um limited in their participation

651
00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:29,760
Speaker 1: here in this voluntary offseason program and such. So I

652
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 1: think that'll be a work in progress. And once we

653
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 1: get back into training camp and we get a couple

654
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: of those guys healthy, whether it be kJ or miror

655
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: and we just you know, signed Albert Wilson. So there's

656
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,120
Speaker 1: there's candidates there, but it'll really tell once we get

657
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: into into training camp of how the dust settles. And

658
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,880
Speaker 1: that's that specific position. How do you because there's so

659
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,160
Speaker 1: many aspects of special teams. You have the I mean

660
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 1: the gunners, you have the people blocking the gunners, you

661
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 1: have punt return, kick return, I mean so many aspects.

662
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 1: How much of speed is involved versus technique. Well, speed

663
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:08,400
Speaker 1: helps in any phase of a game. If you can run,

664
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: whether it's on the offensive side, defensive side, or the

665
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 1: special team side, I think that helps. I do think

666
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 1: that in the special teams world, there is more of

667
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: a space game, especially in the coverage aspects. There's just

668
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 1: simply more field to cover, and so if you can run,

669
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 1: that obviously helps out. But there are some techniques that

670
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,160
Speaker 1: you know, we impart to the guys and again just

671
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: putting tools in their kit bag to help them see

672
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: be successful though, so they can win their individual battles,

673
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 1: be productive and help the team. I feel like we

674
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,040
Speaker 1: can't talk about speed without talking about knawong Wu. To

675
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,600
Speaker 1: build off of an incredible rookie kick return career. I mean,

676
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: he kind of had the two breakout scores and what

677
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,040
Speaker 1: do you see from him? And how exciting is it

678
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 1: to get a guy like that so young in his

679
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 1: career but so talented. Sure, I see a good young

680
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 1: man who is as good off the field as he

681
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: is on the field. That's what's really been cool during

682
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: this introductory process. You know, as a new coach, you know,

683
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,040
Speaker 1: to the to the team and and you know, having

684
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 1: familiarity with his production uh last year, but then getting

685
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 1: to meet him behind the scenes and coming into the

686
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,240
Speaker 1: office to whether look at practice film or look at

687
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:25,200
Speaker 1: some game films. So really excited about his upside and

688
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 1: the things that he can bring to the table to

689
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: help us win games next year because I know we

690
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,480
Speaker 1: always talk about the kick return and punt return, but

691
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 1: a guy and Chris Boyd always stands out because our

692
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,920
Speaker 1: guy and dance center those guys that play gunners on

693
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,800
Speaker 1: punt return that you you trust those guys to get

694
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 1: down there and make the punter look good because it's

695
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,160
Speaker 1: it's a team effort. But having that speed, having that

696
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,560
Speaker 1: awareness to be able to stop a ball inside the

697
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 1: twenty yard line, how much of that is just awareness

698
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,360
Speaker 1: versus like technique, you know, I think I think you've

699
00:33:55,360 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 1: mentioned two players there that have really internalized the value

700
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 1: of special teams and that we see great value in

701
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,600
Speaker 1: their performance, especially as you mentioned as gunners on the

702
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: punt team, the ability to go down and make the play.

703
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 1: And you know, the in the punt phase especially, you're

704
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,360
Speaker 1: changing a lot of field position there and that's that

705
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 1: hidden yardage that I think becomes so important. And so

706
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,239
Speaker 1: with players like that, and you know, effectiveness of the punter,

707
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,239
Speaker 1: you're able to quote unquote flip the field. And you know,

708
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 1: flip the field isn't necessarily just a long punt. It's

709
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,040
Speaker 1: the ability to down the ball at the five or

710
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 1: the six yard line instead of that being a touchback.

711
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,719
Speaker 1: That goes out to the twenty and so those are

712
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,520
Speaker 1: the yards that make a difference. Those are the parts

713
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,360
Speaker 1: of the special teams game when you look at the victory,

714
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,439
Speaker 1: uh that maybe don't still show up on the stat

715
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,799
Speaker 1: sheet all the time, but are really the behind the

716
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,920
Speaker 1: scenes plays that make for a good football team. You

717
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,319
Speaker 1: have one of the most unique backgrounds, i'd say, on

718
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,560
Speaker 1: the coaching staff with your eight years in the Army. Yes,

719
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:05,279
Speaker 1: and then you were a basically an attack helicopter pilot, right,

720
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:11,279
Speaker 1: I mean an Apache longbow Yeah, yeah, so it's it

721
00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: was awesome serving the country. I did that for many years.

722
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,879
Speaker 1: So again left Chicago, went to West Point, and when

723
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 1: I graduated from West Point, you really picked a job,

724
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 1: you know, the Armies like a lot of businesses. You

725
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 1: could be infantry, you could be armor. So I picked

726
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 1: aviation and I was fortunate enough to fly the Apache

727
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:37,279
Speaker 1: longbow for multiple years in various um conditions, in various environments.

728
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: And so I just look back on that time. Is

729
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 1: not only a really cool job that I had, but

730
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: really the opportunity to serve with the men and women

731
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:48,880
Speaker 1: that wear the uniform. We are very, very fortunate that

732
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,200
Speaker 1: we have those type of people out there that provide

733
00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 1: the blanket of freedom that allow us to do what

734
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,120
Speaker 1: we do. And so to be part of that was

735
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,839
Speaker 1: was pretty special. Coach. We appreciate your service. That's that's

736
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 1: a flute to service game must be pretty cool. Can't

737
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,080
Speaker 1: wait to experience that with with you, if you able

738
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,960
Speaker 1: to acknowledge you yeah, yeah, it's it's it's it's pretty special.

739
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,160
Speaker 1: And so it's moments like that that kind of give

740
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 1: you an opportunity to you know, there's certain days throughout

741
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,120
Speaker 1: the year that you somewhat reflect and think back, and

742
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,359
Speaker 1: I'm just very very fortunate that I had that opportunity.

743
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,319
Speaker 1: And uh, like I said, to do that with the

744
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,239
Speaker 1: team that we had. You know, we talk a lot

745
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:28,680
Speaker 1: about teams, you know, Minnesota dot dot, but that was

746
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,160
Speaker 1: a really special team that I was able especially my

747
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:32,879
Speaker 1: time in Iraq in two thousand and four to two

748
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: thousand and five during the war. It was really a

749
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,680
Speaker 1: great team to be part of. Well, thank you, coach

750
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,359
Speaker 1: so much for your time and uh, we can't wait

751
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,880
Speaker 1: to see what's going on on special teams this season

752
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 1: and see where you guys take it. And we're excited

753
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:48,600
Speaker 1: that you're here. Thanks for being on the Minnesota Vikings podcast.

754
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:50,960
Speaker 1: Awesome time. I'm good to see you and appreciate the time.

755
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,239
Speaker 1: Such a great chat with coach k Sorry, Gave. It's

756
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:57,719
Speaker 1: just gonna be way easier for me the same And

757
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to give coach ben Um a better

758
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,440
Speaker 1: way to be viewed in you're the only guy here,

759
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:07,560
Speaker 1: but there's a couple of guys here. Three, Yeah, there's three.

760
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 1: Four And who's counting though? No, but yeah, you're counting.

761
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 1: You're counting, that's for sure. That's okay, we all make

762
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,480
Speaker 1: those counts. No, but we'll be highlighting several assistant coaches

763
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 1: and strength staff members over the next month leading into

764
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 1: training camp, and not just on the podcast, We'll also

765
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,680
Speaker 1: be dropping interviews with several coaches on vikings dot com

766
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,080
Speaker 1: or your Vikings app, so be sure to be on

767
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 1: the lookout for that, Gabe, you got anything else in

768
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,640
Speaker 1: the works? Viking Circle. Harrison Smith should come out this week.

769
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:39,840
Speaker 1: We're still in the process of editing that. So he

770
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:41,360
Speaker 1: wants to be known as the hit man, but he

771
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,840
Speaker 1: can't hit like he used to, so he's trying to

772
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,839
Speaker 1: transfer his game to something that is more palatable for

773
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 1: the NFL officials. So um that's coming out this week's

774
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 1: Gotten Ring. Plays Harden doesn't get fined man, exactly, plays

775
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:57,000
Speaker 1: Harden doesn't get fine. Man. He's a kid now, he

776
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:58,759
Speaker 1: has he needs that. He can't be giving his money

777
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,799
Speaker 1: away for fines. Yeah, he's that's one of those were

778
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:05,359
Speaker 1: mean's like I'm just playing the game, guys. Yeah, and

779
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 1: the fact that he's so nonchalant about it, like he

780
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:09,840
Speaker 1: means he means well with everything that he does on

781
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:12,439
Speaker 1: the field. Um said Lewis is going to be having

782
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,120
Speaker 1: to take some pointers from him on here's my footage,

783
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 1: do not do this, Yeah, Patrick Peterson told Lewis because

784
00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,759
Speaker 1: Louis SETI wants to stack bodies Patrick Peterson's podcasts and

785
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:23,560
Speaker 1: then pet Pie was like, well, I'm letting the young

786
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:25,680
Speaker 1: guy get to the ball carrier first and then I'm

787
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:28,359
Speaker 1: being the assistant tackle on that. That's how you play,

788
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,560
Speaker 1: like a vet, That is how you Yeah, especially what

789
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: year ten years he's a double digges put it that way.

790
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,640
Speaker 1: But yeah, Harrison Smith Viking Circle Dalvin Cook was last week,

791
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,000
Speaker 1: so um, just trying to get these guys have some

792
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:41,759
Speaker 1: fun with him and go from there. So check that

793
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:45,080
Speaker 1: out on Vikings dot com. And YouTube, and we have

794
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:49,000
Speaker 1: the latest Getting Open series, especially the final insulation of

795
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:52,080
Speaker 1: Lindsay Young's Getting Open series. Obviously Jay working with the

796
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,839
Speaker 1: audio side of things there. This week it's with Perry

797
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:58,440
Speaker 1: Nickerson and Patrick Jones the second and they are promoting

798
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:00,719
Speaker 1: or they have been promoting, especially with my Cause, my

799
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:04,640
Speaker 1: Cleat's mental health awareness. And I mean, for me, as

800
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,600
Speaker 1: somebody who is from New Orleans experienced Hurricane Katrina, was

801
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 1: there for it, that story from Perry really hit close

802
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 1: to home. Start to realize that all of the outside

803
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 1: influences and things, not only as an adult, but as

804
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 1: from childhood, just how that can stick with you. And

805
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,239
Speaker 1: so hearing his story from that niboth Patrick, you know,

806
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,879
Speaker 1: talking about moving around and kind of having a father

807
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 1: who was in the military and being able to kind

808
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:29,879
Speaker 1: of have to be the man of the house grown

809
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,840
Speaker 1: up as a kid. Between the two of them just

810
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: coming from different spots, but realizing they both had similar

811
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,200
Speaker 1: experiences in different ways. Having them together to be able

812
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 1: to talk about that just kind of helps you understand that, yeah,

813
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 1: they might be superstar athletes at times, but they're also

814
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,880
Speaker 1: human and so it's just a very good message to

815
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,120
Speaker 1: promote between the two of them, So check that out

816
00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:51,840
Speaker 1: with Getting Open. Yes, Vikings dot Com also should be

817
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: on the podcast network as well. I'm not mistaken, I

818
00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 1: know I like that. Like that you guys added that

819
00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:00,440
Speaker 1: this year. That's a really nice touch for us, those

820
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,719
Speaker 1: different shows. Just get them out there anyway you can,

821
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,080
Speaker 1: whether it's listening to podcasts like you are currently, whether

822
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: it's YouTube, social media, whatever it needs to be, Lindsay's

823
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 1: written words, everything. However, you can get this message out there.

824
00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: It's that important. Get it out there to the public.

825
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 1: And I'm just let everyone consume it and hopefully feel

826
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:22,080
Speaker 1: like you know they're not alone and that there are

827
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 1: people out there that are also going through stuff just

828
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,640
Speaker 1: like you, and that if you need help, please reach out. Yeah,

829
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:28,640
Speaker 1: there are a lot of resources listed on those Getting

830
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 1: Open pages as well. You know, for us right now,

831
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,640
Speaker 1: this might be a slow time, no players around, they

832
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,239
Speaker 1: get a little break, but as you've just heard, there

833
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:39,319
Speaker 1: really isn't a break in our content here as we

834
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:41,800
Speaker 1: try and get you ready for the twenty twenty two season.

835
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: Get you all geared up and have all of the

836
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,880
Speaker 1: coaches names, memorize their positions. You will be the most

837
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,200
Speaker 1: knowledgeable Vikings fan in your group of friends, if you

838
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:52,920
Speaker 1: keep listening as we continue to roll on through the

839
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:55,680
Speaker 1: summer and get you guys ready for training camp. This

840
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 1: has been episode one fifty one of the Minnesota Vikings

841
00:40:58,200 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 1: Podcast