Speaker 1: Once again. Congratulations Sean. I couldn't be happier for you,
Speaker 1: you know, being around as long as I have, I
Speaker 1: love seeing the journey of everybody and with assistant coaches,
Speaker 1: it's not linear, but for you it has been here
Speaker 1: with the Bears, different positions, but a great ninth year
Speaker 1: to start a career that started with humble beginnings and
Speaker 1: now an NFL defensive coordinator. As it's set in, how
Speaker 1: does it feel and you feel you reach one of
Speaker 1: your milestones? Uh? Yeah, you know, it's it's very humbling.
Speaker 1: I'm obviously very gracious for the opportunity that U coach
Speaker 1: Matt and Ryan and mister McCaskey and missing McCaskey and
Speaker 1: Ted Phillips had given me. Like you said, it started
Speaker 1: humble beginnings, and I hope to continue it that way too,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's it's exciting. The first week was
Speaker 1: over the moon and lots of things going on and
Speaker 1: a little bit stressful, but it all comes with the
Speaker 1: job and it's settled down and it's just been great.
Speaker 1: What's the very first thing you did when man Maggie
Speaker 1: told you you were the Bears defense apport? Oh? Man,
Speaker 1: I was so I took the call. I was at home,
Speaker 1: you know, we were off. I took the call, went
Speaker 1: upstairs because my kids are running around all over the
Speaker 1: place and loud, so it went upstairs to getting a
Speaker 1: quiet room, and uh, I think I just took a
Speaker 1: deep breath, you know, kind of a big sigh of relief,
Speaker 1: a deep breath and just want to savor that moment.
Speaker 1: And then right after that, obviously went down and told
Speaker 1: my wife. She was excited obviously and emotional, and it
Speaker 1: was an emotional time, which was great, you know, told
Speaker 1: my kids, you know, and then then get the parents
Speaker 1: and the family involved, and obviously it called Vic early.
Speaker 1: Vic was one of my first calls as well, just
Speaker 1: because of the impact that he's at on me. You know,
Speaker 1: let's talk about that, because from his perspective, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's we know Vic. I mean he's a very pragmatic guy,
Speaker 1: not throwing his big sways of exuberant emotion, but in
Speaker 1: a sense one of his guys has now worked his
Speaker 1: way up the ladder. Did you get that feel from him?
Speaker 1: And then as a defense importantator, Now, how do you
Speaker 1: pay it for horse? Yeah? Right, Uh, well, that that's
Speaker 1: two important things there. The first part is you never know,
Speaker 1: like you said, with Vic and where his emotion level
Speaker 1: is and everything, but it was very important for me
Speaker 1: to let him know where where my emotional level was.
Speaker 1: That was very important for me. He deserves it from
Speaker 1: my perspective, to know that he had a big impact
Speaker 1: on me and to know that that he had mentored
Speaker 1: me and supported me, and he's kind of seen me
Speaker 1: grow even in this profession through ups and downs. Like
Speaker 1: you said, it's been a linear path. But you don't
Speaker 1: always get promoted when you think you should get promoted,
Speaker 1: or have opportunities when you think you should have opportunities.
Speaker 1: But he's been a staple there for me and helping
Speaker 1: me grow. Uh. And and even when when you think
Speaker 1: you should get a job somewhere else or somewhere you know,
Speaker 1: he's always helped and he's always been in my corner.
Speaker 1: So I think it was very important for him to
Speaker 1: know that. A lot of where I'm at now obviously
Speaker 1: from a football intellect standpoint, but even in my career,
Speaker 1: UH is a credit to him. And and there's other
Speaker 1: guys that I gave that call to as well, but
Speaker 1: in the NFL, for sure, UH, it's a credit to him.
Speaker 1: And the second part of that question, I'm sorry, Jeff,
Speaker 1: was the paid forward section. The part of that question, well,
Speaker 1: that that is very important to me. Uh. It's a
Speaker 1: huge responsiblity when I don't take lightly. Uh not just
Speaker 1: to pay it forward to coach, to Vic, but to Matt,
Speaker 1: to everybody that's helped me, and then really to to
Speaker 1: another generation of people I've My wife always says this
Speaker 1: that you can never climb on your own. You need
Speaker 1: people to help you. Uh. And and for sure, given
Speaker 1: my own background, I needed a lot more people probably
Speaker 1: helped me. Not having played. You know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of knots that can be associated with me, But a
Speaker 1: lot of people have helped me and have supported me
Speaker 1: and given me the hand and give me an encouragement.
Speaker 1: So that's that's a core belief of mine and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna need to be able to do that with others.
Speaker 1: And the thing about the knots though, and I've been
Speaker 1: asking this about you already multiple times, you know, why
Speaker 1: is he ready? He's never called plays before? And I
Speaker 1: try to explain to people that if there are coaches
Speaker 1: who have big dreams, and not every coach wants to
Speaker 1: be a coordinator or a head coach. They are totally
Speaker 1: fine being a position coach. They are constantly thinking the game.
Speaker 1: You're calling plays in your mind, you're strategizing, and I
Speaker 1: bet you're going back thinking about what you learned from
Speaker 1: Mel and him. Are met Mel and Vic and Chuck
Speaker 1: and going through h this is maybe what I would
Speaker 1: have done, or this is a different wrinkle to the plan,
Speaker 1: am I right? Yeah? I think I've always, like I said,
Speaker 1: in all the roles I've been and obviously in the NFL,
Speaker 1: with Mel, Vic and Shuck as my coordinators, Al Gold
Speaker 1: and Frank Spaziani. You know, Doug Martin was my offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator at Boston College, and I've coordinate and I call
Speaker 1: it plays on special teams everywhere I've been in college.
Speaker 1: But all those people have had a huge impact in
Speaker 1: terms of that and have given me the opportunity to
Speaker 1: learn and grow that way. And I've always tried to
Speaker 1: take that big picture. I've tried to not live in
Speaker 1: my bucket, so to speak. And now that doesn't mean
Speaker 1: you don't master your bucket. You know, I've taken a
Speaker 1: lot of great pride in doing that and trying to
Speaker 1: be the greatest at whatever chasking job that I've been
Speaker 1: doing and been given, but that also doesn't mean I
Speaker 1: can't grow on my own time. And I think that's
Speaker 1: the thing that I've tried to take, that perspective of
Speaker 1: any chance and opportunity to get to grow. You got
Speaker 1: to try to use that for good, bad, or in
Speaker 1: different You know, I've I've learned things I shouldn't do
Speaker 1: because I've seen some mistakes from other people, but I
Speaker 1: think are mistakes and or that they've told me are mistakes.
Speaker 1: And I've learned things I should do, and I've seen
Speaker 1: that from other people doing it, and so try to
Speaker 1: be very observational, try to be very reflective, and I'm
Speaker 1: going to continue to try and do that and learn
Speaker 1: from people around me here. You know, I think we've
Speaker 1: supported ourselves here with some great staff members that I
Speaker 1: will rely on and they know that. You know that
Speaker 1: I'm gonna rely on on certain things, and there's certain
Speaker 1: things that I'm sure they'll rely on me for. I
Speaker 1: think that's how you build winning staffs, and that translates
Speaker 1: into winning organizations and winning players and winning teams. And
Speaker 1: in the locker room, you know, obviously because you've been
Speaker 1: there and a lot of these guys know you. I
Speaker 1: think it's a term of respect in including endearment when
Speaker 1: they call you doc. Given your educational background, you are doc.
Speaker 1: But you know, players well forever just want to be told, Okay,
Speaker 1: tell me where I need to be, tell me why
Speaker 1: put me in a position to succeed. It sounds cliche,
Speaker 1: but really when you boil it all down to the basics,
Speaker 1: isn't that what we're talking about here? And they come
Speaker 1: to you already with a lot of those questions. So
Speaker 1: do you feel you'll be able to command that rule
Speaker 1: despite not having all those knats? Yeah? You know what, Uh,
Speaker 1: that's a good question. That's a question I faced really
Speaker 1: all my career. You know, Uh, will you be able
Speaker 1: to command the room? Will you be able to do this?
Speaker 1: And I think I've proven that time and again in
Speaker 1: all the different roles I've been in, whether it's been
Speaker 1: a special teams coordinator or running back coach and outside
Speaker 1: linebacker coach, a quality control safeties coach, that the commanding
Speaker 1: of the room and the respect comes from trust. Right,
Speaker 1: it comes from me earning that with the players. And
Speaker 1: how do they do that? Well, in my experience, they
Speaker 1: do it through knowledge, uh, and and all those things
Speaker 1: that you can provide them in terms of the whys
Speaker 1: and the house and and and for them to see
Speaker 1: their fit and their vision clearly and how they can
Speaker 1: succeed within the defense. Uh and and I hope I've
Speaker 1: done that, and I think I have done that at
Speaker 1: a pretty good level. And I think I think that
Speaker 1: will help me in this new role in my football
Speaker 1: fantasy world. You know, I believe the team should reflect
Speaker 1: in some way it's city they play in, and in
Speaker 1: this case that's a charter franchise of National Football. Ferocious
Speaker 1: defense is historic here you alluded to a your zoom
Speaker 1: call and media members this week, some of the pieces
Speaker 1: to the puzzle in terms of your idelic player and
Speaker 1: their mindset, their mental toughness, the physical toughness, get upon
Speaker 1: some key points that you will look these guys in
Speaker 1: the eye and say this is the kind of bear
Speaker 1: I want. Yes, well, you know, like you said, we
Speaker 1: alluded to someone. But it's going to be guys that
Speaker 1: play with passion, guys that are relentless, guys that are tough,
Speaker 1: guys that have a burning desire to be excellent at
Speaker 1: their craft. And it's going to be a day to
Speaker 1: day mindset and I think I think those things are transferable,
Speaker 1: are learnable, and are relatable, you know, and I think
Speaker 1: those are things that everybody can hang their hat on,
Speaker 1: and those are things that everybody's probably gotta look in
Speaker 1: the mirror at and see if that's what they want
Speaker 1: to do. And I know we got a lot of
Speaker 1: players on this defense that want to do that. You know.
Speaker 1: We want guys that are smart, guys that play fast,
Speaker 1: and then part of it is going to be my
Speaker 1: ability as a play caller to put them in rolls
Speaker 1: and teach them ways to play fast. And I think
Speaker 1: that that's a benefit that I've learned through a lot
Speaker 1: of mentors I've had, and I think I've been able
Speaker 1: to do that. And we want guys to have fun,
Speaker 1: you know. I think, like I said on that other
Speaker 1: Zoom call, it's going to be things that are pelpable
Speaker 1: that everybody in the world can feel, whether it's through
Speaker 1: a screen or where you're alive. And you can tell
Speaker 1: when guys are having fun, and you can tell when
Speaker 1: guys are physical, you can tell when guys are relentless,
Speaker 1: and those things I want everybody to feel, and I
Speaker 1: want people watching tape of this defense to feel for
Speaker 1: as long as I can remember, players are telling me
Speaker 1: pressure breaks pipes. You watch the Super Bowl, say what
Speaker 1: you take away in the Super Bowl? It was the
Speaker 1: relentless pressure, the lightless pressure that probably started even before kickoff.
Speaker 1: Do you think you can align a defense in that
Speaker 1: kind of way? But because when they pop on the tape,
Speaker 1: when they're were viewing you three games back, getting ready
Speaker 1: for their next corner, it's this Bears defense will boy,
Speaker 1: because it starts then doesn't it? Mentally? That's exactly right,
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. That stuff that's palpable in my opinion,
Speaker 1: just like you said, that's almost a non negotiable. And
Speaker 1: people feel it. You know, you felt it when I
Speaker 1: was coaching high school ball, and you felt it in college,
Speaker 1: and you feel it in the NFL that I want
Speaker 1: people to take a deep breath when they watch the
Speaker 1: Bears defense and say, Okay, now we're in for something here.
Speaker 1: The scheme may not be good, some things may not
Speaker 1: be good on every play, but the one thing we
Speaker 1: can hang out hand on is that these guys are
Speaker 1: gonna come to play and they're gonna come with energy.
Speaker 1: They're gonna come with some physicalness and some toughness, and
Speaker 1: then when we match the scheme and the buying from
Speaker 1: these players to perform and execute at a high level,
Speaker 1: and I think the sky's the limit for the fire guys.
Speaker 1: I also like what you had to say, and your
Speaker 1: belief is, you know, this is, as you put it,
Speaker 1: a tune up because you got great players, not good players,
Speaker 1: great players at every level and that's important from the jump.
Speaker 1: But keying in on those and maybe creating other roles
Speaker 1: for players that also become touch points for leadership and direction.
Speaker 1: Isn't that what we're talking about here. Because you put
Speaker 1: all the grapes in the same bucket, move them around
Speaker 1: a little bit, you have different piece of different kind
Speaker 1: of lines, so to speak. That's right, that's right, and
Speaker 1: I think you hit on the head. You know, we
Speaker 1: do have great players. And to me and our players
Speaker 1: will notice, the didn't string good and great as a choice.
Speaker 1: It's a daily choice on how you want to present
Speaker 1: yourself and how you want to be and I think
Speaker 1: our players embrace that choice every day. And we're going
Speaker 1: to challenge our guys to be great every day and
Speaker 1: that means through the meetings, through the walkthroughs, through the practice,
Speaker 1: and that greatness is going to reflect on game day
Speaker 1: with all those traits that we talked about. Uh, the
Speaker 1: least of my worries, you know, to address your question
Speaker 1: is the talent of our guys, because they are talented. Uh,
Speaker 1: and then we're gonna keep building that talent up and
Speaker 1: keep refining it and then uh, keep giving them the
Speaker 1: tools they need to succeed so their talents can shine
Speaker 1: the way they want them to shine. And that quite honestly,
Speaker 1: he's gonna match with the way we wanted it to
Speaker 1: shine as organizations, as defense in this position, Now, how
Speaker 1: would you assume your your characterization will be as a coach?
Speaker 1: Will you be fiery? Will you be you? Will you
Speaker 1: be the guy we see on zoom the very thought provoking,
Speaker 1: congenial personality. What do you think? Yeah, Uh, well you
Speaker 1: have to be determined. No, well, I think I think
Speaker 1: you're going to see a mashup of it all. You know. Uh.
Speaker 1: Obviously I'm a thoughtful uh individual, and I pride myself
Speaker 1: an education that in our players. I've seen it. There's
Speaker 1: been instance is a firiness for me where where I
Speaker 1: think that's appropriate and those guys want to feel it,
Speaker 1: and they're going to feel it from me. They're gonna
Speaker 1: get the energy. Uh, They're going to be challenged, you know,
Speaker 1: mentally and physically. And I think they're going to see
Speaker 1: that that we're going to have certain standards and demands
Speaker 1: that they're going to live up to. And it's going
Speaker 1: to be the product because of living up to those
Speaker 1: standards and demands which have Obviously you're going to be
Speaker 1: set with the twenty twenty one defense in mind, but
Speaker 1: as you know, there's a certain level of standard of
Speaker 1: play expected by Chicago Bears defense since the inception of
Speaker 1: this franchise, and and uh, we're we're willing and able
Speaker 1: to accept that standard and surpass it. And I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be important. Like you said, every every
Speaker 1: team sometimes has to take on the culture of its city.
Speaker 1: And and we're not going to shy away from the
Speaker 1: toughness and the grit that this city's built on and
Speaker 1: this this franchise has been built on. Uh. And and
Speaker 1: there's there's a little bit of extra pressure on defense,
Speaker 1: but that that's that's why we want to do it,
Speaker 1: all right, Sean, congratulations, go get him. Thank you, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you.