WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Jonathan Gannon 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:04.920 Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:08.399 Pash Podcast. I'm your host ESPN and Arizona Cardinals play 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:11.320 by play announcer Dave Pash. Our guest this week is 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:15.280 first year Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannett. Some great 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.000 summer listening for Cardinal fans to get you ready but 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:22.439 the twenty twenty three season. We'll talk with Jag about 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.239 some of his coaching philosophies, some of the people that 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.800 have mentored him over the years, what to expect from 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:31.040 the Cardinals defense in twenty twenty three. We'll also get 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.040 players specific. We'll talk about Kyler Murray as well as 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:37.159 some of the young players like Isaiah Simmons and Zavian Collins. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.680 I think they need to be impact players for us, 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.240 and that's how we retreating them. Both of those guys 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.400 are extremely intelligent. So everyone sees a physical skill set, 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:46.880 but they don't know what they have in their brain. 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.120 And that's what excites me the most about those two 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:50.280 guys is their brain. 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:52.919 We'll also talk about the Cardinals first round draft pick 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.319 Paris Johnson, what to expect from some of the young 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.400 players this season, and we'll also get into his assistant 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:01.080 coaches and the two coordinators hired in the off season, 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.320 and what Cardinal Fann should look for in twenty twenty three. 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.360 We are presented by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:11.119 of the Arizona Cardinals, and by Heila River Resorts and Casinos. 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.120 Sign up today with BETMGM, the official partner of the 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.560 Arizona Cardinals. Use code cards one thousand and get back 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:19.640 up to one thousand dollars in bonus bets. If you 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.760 don't win your first bet, visit BENMGM dot Comference Terms 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:25.039 and conditions. Twenty one years of age you're older to 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:29.560 wager Arizona only. New customer offer. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.560 problem called one eight hundred. Next step All right, time 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:36.120 for our conversation with new Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon. 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.600 So you introduce yourself as Jonathan Gannon, but everybody calls 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.600 you JG. What do you prefer? Is it coach Gannon? 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:48.360 Is it John Jonathan? 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.720 It's definitely not John. Yeah. 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:53.680 I mean some guys call me coach Gannon, but I 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.840 go by JG. It's easy and quick, and to me, 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.800 I'm one of the guys. So JG's a pretty good 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:01.480 title for me, I think. 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.480 And was that something that everybody called you when you 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:05.200 were playing and stuff? 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.240 It was Louisville, It was yeah, because I didn't honestly, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:12.760 I don't like John, so Jonathan johnan three syllables kind 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.760 of longer, so it just turned into JG. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:16.679 Get over here. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.160 So, well, you got some energy man. I met you 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.200 briefly with Michael. I don't know it was two or 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.440 three months ago, but I could tell when you came 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.799 into the studio. I could hear you down the way 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.680 a little bit yelling out to Tim Delaney, our boss. 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.640 So you got some energy, man, which has been contagious 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.880 and infectious. I've heard a lot of guys talk about that. 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.360 Have you had a chance to kind of get settled 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:38.959 into the valley? 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:39.320 Yeah? 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.520 Yeah, my crews out here just got out here last week. 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.960 I Memorial Day weekend and waiting for the house to 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.120 get kind of done. But really enjoyed the city the times. 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:51.200 I haven't been out a lot, but I like to 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.079 go explore restaurants and I think that the city has 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:56.680 some good things to offer. And excited to be here really, 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.240 so it's good to get the crew here they start 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:03.400 school in Augus or whatever. They older too, but really, honestly, 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:05.919 really excited for a new city. You know, a lot 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.600 of people talk about coaching, Well, one of the negatives 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.959 is you move around. And my first year in the 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.080 NFL is two thousand and seven. I've been on seven 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.720 NFL teams. I always kind of thought it was a positive. 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.880 I liked living in new cities. And then when people 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:22.880 call you, hey, we're going for a you know, a 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:24.440 bachelor party in Nashville. 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:25.880 Oh, I lived there for two years. Where are you 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:27.040 guys going? You know what I mean? Make sure you 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.240 go to this spot or whatever it is. So I 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.359 like that. We've lived in some different places. 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.239 Do you have a spot picked out yet? Like a 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:34.520 regular spot you guys go to? 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:37.320 Not so much yet. 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.720 I've been to some good places though, up kind of 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:45.080 around the fashion mall right there. I like Francine, like Nobu, 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:46.920 like Stake forty four. 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:48.680 You're all the expensive places. 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.880 I'm going to Ocean forty four in a week or two. 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:56.080 So the Henry, I like the Henry a lot. Henry's 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.240 cool for breakfast. I haven't been there for dinner, but 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.800 I like the Henry. I went after church one Sunday 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:02.720 morning it was packed. I was like, Wow, this is 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:03.280 pretty cool. 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.040 Are people starting to recognize you or can you pretty 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:07.640 much go in and nobody says anything to you. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.320 It depends where you go, but you do get the 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.200 recognization of oh, hey, you're the new coach. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:15.960 You know what I mean? Good luck? Go cards. 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:16.280 You know. 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:18.480 It's cool. 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.080 I kind of like to stay under the radar anyhow, 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.840 but hopefully we start winning, get this thing rolling. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:25.799 You can't go anywhere. 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:27.800 So obviously I want to talk a lot about you 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:29.920 as a coach and philosophy and some of the things 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.479 you've done in your career, But I want to go 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:37.040 back to growing up. You grew up in Cleveland, right, football, basketball, track? 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:38.080 Three sport guy? 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:38.640 Correct? 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.360 Who are your teams growing up? Browns, Calves? 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.960 You know whoever? I was a front runner? Whoever was winning? 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.240 Honestly, really, I was a huge Charles Woodson fan right 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.000 kind of the end of grade school, high school, so 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:52.960 he was a Michigan guy. So I was kind of 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.040 always pulling for Michigan, even though I was on house 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.560 to you know, Ohio guy. But you know, honestly, who 0:04:58.680 --> 0:04:59.440 was ever winning? 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:00.080 You know? 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.800 I concentrated more on the players than the teams, I think. 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.800 And you played football at Louisville, I know, until you 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.880 had a career ending injury. But did you look at 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:12.680 going elsewhere? Did you think about could you play basketball 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:13.400 or done track? 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.600 I could have Yeah, yeah, I could have played. So 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.000 my sophomore year, the head basketball coach of my high 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:20.760 school and the head football coach hit me down and 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.400 they say, you know, JG. You can go to a 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.839 Division I school and play basketball. You can go to 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.920 a Division I school and play football. You're not going 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.159 to go to the NBA. You have a chance to 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.599 go to the NFL. So their pitch to me was 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:39.720 stop playing AU basketball and start running track. So that's 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.760 when I really started. I started to run track after 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.480 my going into my I guess after my sophomore year. 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.279 My sophomore year and I lost my jump shot, but 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:50.360 I got faster. 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:50.360 So. 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.400 I kind of I knew probably football was my you know, 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.279 highest ceiling, I think, And that's what I did. So 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.719 I had a couple different to play, pretty good offers 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.400 to play Division one football. I picked Louisville because they 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:07.320 were the one offer that was going to allow me 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.560 to play dB. Because I played both ways in high school, 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.680 A lot of teams wanted me to play receiver and 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.599 I kind of wanted to play dB. So that's one 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:17.240 of the reasons I picked Louisville and. 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:19.279 Bobby Patrino was the head coach, right John L. 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:20.320 Smith, John L. Smith. 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.679 So I played for John L. Smith, got red shirted, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.000 played my reshirt freshman year. That's when I got hurt 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:28.320 my tenth game there. But we were good that year 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.880 for John Allen. He took a Michigan State head coaching job. 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.880 Bobby Patrino comes. He was the offensive corner at the 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:38.240 time at Auburn, so he comes and then so but 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.960 I never really played for Bobby. I sat out that 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.880 next year and then I tried to go through the 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.680 following spring ball and I couldn't, you know, couldn't function. 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:49.560 And that's kind of when I started student assistant coaching, 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.040 and Bobby sent me down. He's like, have you ever 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:54.120 thought about coaching? And I was like, well, yeah, but 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.080 I wanted to play ten years in the NFL and 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.880 then coach at my high school in Cleveland. He says, well, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.240 you're not going to do that. So I said thank you, 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:05.520 and so he really gave me my first job, my 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:07.240 first start, you know what I mean. And I was 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.680 kind of submerged in and Bobby was a I mean 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:14.480 a very detailed, disciplined guy, and I mean a mastermind 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.960 of offense. So and I obviously was on defense. But 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.080 it was cool. It was a cool transition for me. 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:21.800 I was down about not being able to play, but 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:23.920 it was like, Okay, I'm going to dive all into this. 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:26.960 So then I started student assistant when I graduated, made 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:29.240 me the defensive GA. My first year of the defensive GA, 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.000 we're top five in the country, and he took the 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.320 Atlanta Falcons head job and brought me with him. So 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.480 I was in the NFL at twenty four and that's 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:37.440 how I got my start. 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.000 I remember my first college football game for ESPN. I 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.200 was actually on Harry Douglas's radio show last week and 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.000 we were talking a little bit about covering him, but 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.560 then also we were talking about the NBA playoffs, but 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:52.880 talking about covering him, and then mentioned to him. I 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:54.960 remember two thousand and four, it was a Sunday night 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.200 game against Kentucky. It was the first game of the season. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.440 I don't remember that you were there then I was there. 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.600 Yeah, as a gay. 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.040 Coach, Petrino I always felt and I know if there's 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.400 you know, other things that have happened off the field 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:10.840 that you know, he's already spoken of and had answer 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:14.120 for it. But in terms of, like as a football mind, 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:19.560 he's incredibly respected. What was like your biggest takeaway from 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.800 being around him and from a football perspective in terms 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.559 of how maybe he shaped you as a coach? 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:26.920 Yeah, really good question, Dave. 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:31.280 He I mean, the details of a play and it 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:32.959 was like it was the first you know, because you're 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:35.640 as a player you really don't you know, but you 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.400 don't know. And I remember sitting in a staff meeting 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.920 and him talking about outside zone out of twelve personnelic trips, 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.480 wing and I'm like, wow, that is like I don't 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.600 I don't have a clue what football is, and just 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.520 the different ways to attack defenses and leverages and number 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:56.040 counts and IDs in the run game. It was like, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.280 who you know, it's just exploded my brain. But he 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.280 obviously has been a head coach at a lot of 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:06.600 different places for a long time and has always had success. 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:10.640 Good teams, always, good offenses. And we used to laugh 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:12.880 with Bobby at Louisville. The offense was always better than 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:14.640 the defense, I said, because he stole all the good 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:16.040 players and put him on offense. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:17.360 You know what I mean, Harry Douglas. 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.520 You know he should have been playing corner, but he 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:22.560 goes and has a career being a receiver in the NFL. 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:27.000 But it was really that kind of shaped my mind 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:29.319 of just how detailed you have to be if you 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:32.760 want to be a good coach. And I'm still working 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.920 on that part of my game to this day, you 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:35.400 know what I mean. 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:36.719 But that was like it was like. 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:41.520 A master class of footwork and leverage and hand placement, 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.160 and it was like, Wow, there's a lot of stuff 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.240 going on each play. You know that that fans really 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.360 don't know. You know, how would they know? 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:48.920 Sure? 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.040 But you know, I think there was an appreciation from 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.839 me that there's a lot that goes into this job. 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.920 It's funny that you say that. So and I brought 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.600 this guy up a couple of times on this podcast. 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.719 Urban Meyer, who I worked with in between Florida and 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.520 Ohio State. He was my booth partner, him and Chris Pielman. 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:09.800 We had a three man booth together, and I remember 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:11.680 I used to watch film all the time, like in 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.000 preparation for games. And he said to me one time, 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.079 He's like, well, what are you looking at when you're 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.040 watching film? What are you looking at? And I said, well, 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:19.800 I'm just kind of watching the players for me for 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.200 my job play by play. I'm not as focused on 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.240 zone defense and all this stuff. But anyway, after working 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.960 with him, I stopped watching film because I realized it 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.199 wasn't doing me any good because I had no idea 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.679 what the call was, no idea what certain individuals. And 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:36.840 that's one thing I think about football that most people 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.720 don't understand is players. There's so many things that go 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.560 into a play. Responsibilities that a player has, or maybe 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.719 they misheard something or something that you prepared for changed, right, 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:50.640 I mean, and as a coach, and I got to 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.760 think of the NFL, your brain's constantly go and thinking 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.680 about Okay, if they do this, how do we do this, 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:00.000 and how much? Who else were some of your influence 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.520 as a coach that got you kind of to this point? 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.160 Yeah, I mean, you know, right from the jump. When 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.160 we went to Atlanta, the defensive coordinator was Mike Zimmer 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:12.120 for Bobby and the dB coach was Emma Thomas and 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:16.439 so long time NFL guys, both had coordinated, both. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:17.400 Were dB coaches. 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.120 I would say those two from the start just about 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:25.040 dB play and philosophy of how to play defense with 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.240 coach Zimmer, and then I, you know, then I went 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.960 and scouted for a couple of years after that, and 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:34.320 then I got back into coaching. I was quitely controlling 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.719 Tennessee and Jerry Gray was a coordinator. It was kind 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.280 of a different philosophy than Zim. And there's a lot 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.040 of ways to play defense you know, out there that 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.040 can be successful. And that was kind of cool because 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.400 it was like, oh wow, like there's different ways you 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:50.640 can do this and there's you know here, look at 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.160 the advantages of doing it like this. And then I 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.040 got back with Zim. And the thing about coaching is 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.600 is pretty cool. I think the best coaches are curious. 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:01.440 And what I mean by that is is just because 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:05.080 I believe something or something has worked, or you know, 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:09.280 I'm convicted about this technique or this style of defense, 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.080 Like there's always change every year. I think the best 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:16.120 coaches are adaptable and they liked they They're curious, They 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.439 watch tape, they talk to people, they ask questions, they 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:21.839 watch more tape, they talk to the players. 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:23.280 It's like, hey, this is how we've. 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:24.720 Always done it, but what if we could do it 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:26.760 like this, Like what if we just added this, or 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.400 what if we took out this? And when I got 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.240 back with Zim, which so two thousand and seven twenty fourteen, 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.600 so seven years in between there, and it was like 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:39.240 there's a couple things that were the same, but then 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.440 there are some other things. As he was a defensive 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.920 coordinator from Atlanta, went to Cincinnati and had all those 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:47.280 good defenses with Marvin Lewis, and it was like wow, 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.880 like Zim, I thought, you said this is the way 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:51.800 to play it, and he was like, yeah, I've changed 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:52.520 here's why. 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:54.120 And then you'd show you the tape. 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:55.960 So it was it was always kind of cool to me, 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:57.720 Like that kind of hit me, and you know, like 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.840 I said, then I you know, went to Indy and 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:05.120 Matt Eberflus was the coordinator under Frank Reich, and he 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.520 came up a different style of defense. He was a 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.560 longtime coordinator in college and then was in Dallas for 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:12.440 a couple of years and he was under some different 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:17.079 coordinators and we played a significantly different style of defense 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.720 in indye than we did in Minnesota. And that was 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:23.480 pretty cool for me because I was kind of my 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.440 first true position, first dB job that I had, because 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.480 I was an assistant dB coach for a ZIM and. 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.880 I had to kind of learn on the run. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.720 And I would ask flu things, you know, hey, like 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:36.559 how do you want this being played? How do you 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.520 see this being played? And he gave me a lot 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.320 of autonomy, like here's what I need out of the call. 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:42.240 You get it done. 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.280 And I had to study Like it wasn't like, oh, 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.439 here's your manual, go go teach this. You know what 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.160 I mean, anyone can really do that. It was like, 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:50.679 all right, how do I make this make sense? 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:51.559 You know? 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.760 How do I make it clear for the players? What 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.560 can we execute? We got to change your leverage here, 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.240 you got to do this, You got to do that. 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.040 And that was really cool for me and I really 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.440 felt like that style of defense for three years. Then 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.280 when I became a coordinator in Philly, I kind of 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.240 meshed what I liked off of both of them. And 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.640 there's some similarities between the two, but there's some significant 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.080 differences too. And I was like, man, well, if we 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:16.760 can do this, then why can't we do that? 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:17.200 You know? 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.360 And then also with saying that I was always in 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.040 a four down system, Flu and Zim were four down guys. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:25.360 Jerry was a four down guy. 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:29.000 And you start to see like, here's the good things 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.600 about playing four down all the time, but here are 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.960 some downfalls of playing four down all the time. You 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:35.760 start to talk to offensive guys, Hey, how do you 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:37.520 attack Zim? How do you attack Flu? How do you 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.760 attack Jerry? You know, how do you attack four down teams? 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.320 And mixed downs, pass downs, this and that, And you 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.960 start to talk to offensive guys. And that led me 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.680 to think, Okay, I need to start studying some three 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.160 four teams. So I started studying some three four teams 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.160 and then I started reaching out to people that knew 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:55.239 the ins and outs. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:56.200 Of three four defense. 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.040 So when I got to Philly, you know, they asked, hey, 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:00.000 what scheme you're going to rune? 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:00.360 You know? 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.440 And I said, I really don't have one, And that 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.400 was true. I know, yeah, we have a scheme, we 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.800 have a way to play defense. But my point to 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:10.800 that was is you're got to be able at certain 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.320 offenses that you go against. You if you only have 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.160 four down you know, there's some hard downs that are 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:17.800 going to go on. If you only play three down, 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:19.880 there are some hard downs that are going to go on. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.120 So I always thought, like, hey, it's all about the players. 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.520 It doesn't matter the scheme or anything like that. It's 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.320 the execution and what the players are doing. But hey, 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.400 if we can align our people differently versus different people 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.880 to get them in advantageous positions, we should be able 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.040 to do that. And that's kind of where we're at 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:38.880 right now, you know. And that's how we kind of 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:43.560 played in Philly and taking over Philly. Jim Schwartz was 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.920 a coordinator who's a four down guy, and that team 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.400 was four down for a long time and there was 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.880 really good elements of four down. We played more four 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:54.880 down than three down. But I thought the three down stuff, 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:56.600 it took a little bit of time to get kind 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.080 of grooving where we wanted it to be, but it 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:00.840 was good for us, you know what I mean. And 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.280 I think that helped us play good defense. 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.240 So what you're saying is you don't have a dogmatic approach, 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.760 like I'm going to do it this way, and there 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.000 are obviously guys that are like that, and it's hard 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.200 to survive anymore in the NFL. 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:15.720 Do it? You can? You know what I mean? You can? 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.600 But I you know, I use the phrase adapt or die. Man. 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.760 You know, the game's changing, The players are changing, you know, 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.360 Like I mean even you got a a seven or 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.200 eight year vet and a rookie coming in. Like they're 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.200 different people, you know what I mean? They play football differently. 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.160 That eight to ten year gap of age difference for 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.600 players that are on our team. They grew up playing differently, 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.120 They went to high school and played differently, they played 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.720 college ball is significantly different right now. So it's like, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.280 you know, you got to be able to blend the 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.240 two there. But yeah, I'm very I guess I'm curious. 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:53.880 I would say that's kind of a word growth, mindset, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.600 whatever you want to call it. Like, hey, what is 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.320 the best way in twenty twenty three? 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:57.840 You know what I mean? 0:16:57.880 --> 0:16:59.800 You try to figure it out. Sometimes it works, sometimes 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:03.320 it doesn't. But I am not here's my playbook and 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.320 here's what we're running. I don't think that's the way 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:05.639 to go. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.359 So what should Cardinal fans expect in terms of how 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.639 this defense looks? Will this defense look a lot like 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.480 your Philly defenses in terms of scheme, in terms of alignment, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.560 or will they look like maybe something you did earlier 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:21.080 in your career. 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.080 You were figuring that out right now, that's a good 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.520 that's a good question, Dave. Obviously we'll have elements of 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:29.200 what we did in Philly. But again, my first thing 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:31.760 about schematics is it's all about the players that you 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.440 have and who you're going again, so we're going to 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.919 try to I don't really care what we look like 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:39.600 as long as we're executing at a high level and 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.520 doing enough on each all three phases to win the game. 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:44.400