WEBVTT - Power Players: Texans OC Nick Caley 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:09.000 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another episode of NFL Daily's Power Players, 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:11.800 where we talk to football people and learn from them 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.040 and pull back the curtain on the sport we love 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.200 just a little bit more. Today. I am so excited 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.919 to be talking to Houston Texans offensive coordinator Nick Kayley. 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.160 Kaylee is a John Carroll graduate, part of that coaching 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:28.920 in front office fraternity that now spreads all across the NFL. 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.240 After spending his first decade of coaching as a defensive 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:35.159 coach in the collegiate ranks, Kaylee moved on to a 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:39.000 dynasty when he joined Bill Belichick's New England Patriots as 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.960 an offensive assistant coach in twenty fifteen. He quickly moved 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.360 up there, becoming the tight ends and fullbacks coach until 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.559 leaving for the Los Angeles Rams tight ends coaching job 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.960 in twenty twenty three. In LA where he also became 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.440 the team's offensive pass game coordinator, Kaylee helped install the 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.000 new version of Sean mcvay's offense, using some influential run 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.480 pass concepts he helped perfect in New England, and the 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.240 Rams were off and running. In twenty twenty four, Kaylee 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.320 became the Texans offensive coordinator joining a team that now 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.080 has big time Super Bowl aspirations, including on this show, 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.280 and a clear path of evolution and intention ahead of them, 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.280 especially on offense. I can't wait for you to hear 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.440 Kaylee's energy and thoughts about the game and coaching and 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.880 everything else. Let's get into it. Welcome to NFL Dailies 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.160 Power Players, where we go inside the NFL with people 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.440 who shape the sport. I am stoked today to be 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:40.440 welcoming Houston Texans offensive coordinator Nick Kayley to the show. Nick, 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:42.679 how are you? Thank you so much for being here today. 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:45.240 Jorgne, I'm doing great. Thank you for having me. How 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:45.720 are you doing? 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:47.640 I'm good. I think I'm in a little bit of 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.000 a cooler you know, not cooler like rad but cooler 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.680 as a temperature environment than you are right now. So 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:55.920 I feel for you, man. 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.160 There's no question about it. It's pretty steamy, pretty hot here. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:01:59.880 Yes. 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.000 So I'm excited to talk to you today because I 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:04.200 just we've known each other for a while, and I 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.400 just I love the way that you think about football, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.440 and I love the way that you think about the 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:10.680 big picture and the little picture of football and how 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.680 it's evolving forward. And building puzzle pieces together and working 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:17.920 with people especially, and I think that really shines through 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:21.320 and every stop you've been in. But I really want 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:23.200 to go back a little bit further. I mean, if 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:26.520 you can put yourself back in like very very young 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.280 Nick Cayley shoes and tell me about what sparked for 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:32.200 you for football, Like, what are some some of the 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.080 reasons that it really became your purpose and your why? 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:36.400 Sure? 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:38.560 Yeah, I mean, well, the first thing is, I think 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:40.519 we're all a product of our environments. I was born 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.600 in Kanton, Ohio, really roughly three miles from the Pro 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.880 Football Hall of Fame. So, you know, in the eighties, 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:51.040 late eighties, early nineties when there were the populations declined 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.200 a little bit, but high school football at the time, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.240 I mean, it wouldn't be uncommon to see fifteen to 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:57.720 twenty thousand people at a high school game on a 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:01.520 Friday or Saturday night. Longest time ongoing high school rivalry 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.000 in in uh, you know, the country, Maslin McKinley. So 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.840 that's been going on for you know, well over you know, 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:08.840 one hundred games, easily one hundred games. 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:10.720 So as a kid, I got an opportunity. 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.760 Unfortunately, my dad love ball and would take me to 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.120 high school games as an early kid five six, seven 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:21.280 years old, got an opportunity to just be around you know, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.680 those players, those coaches, those environments and really caught fire. 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:27.600 And then mixed that with the fact that the Pro 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.560 Football Hall of Fame's there, that that's the time of 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:32.760 the year where you just see can't and shine and 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.880 it's it's a great place. It's part of the fabric 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:40.240 of a culture. It embodies hard work, you know, it's 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.800 it's just it's a passion filled game. And and you know, 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.600 I would say most of the guys that I grew 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:48.480 up with when we were kids, that's what we did. 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.320 We played football on the streets. We went to the 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.160 Hall of Fame day parade. I used to be on 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.280 my dad's shoulders and take me down to the Hall 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:55.920 of Fame and shrim and ceremonies when they used to 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.080 be on the front steps there, uh of the Hall 0:03:58.120 --> 0:03:58.440 of Fame. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.560 So that's where that that's where I got the first taste. 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.720 And it hit me and it really just continued to 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:06.800 you know, fuel that fireing me. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:08.720 You know, to this day, I think a lot of 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:10.880 us are are really shaped by like the see it 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.600 be it quality, right, Like you see people coaching. You 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.640 were up close to those high school games, and yeah, 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.560 you're looking at the players at the time, and you're thinking, 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.200 I want to be just like them, And eventually your 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:27.040 path shapes into understanding the game and and like really 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:32.000 feeling passionate and fueled by like all that goes into 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.320 it to help those players succeed. When did that sort 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.280 of start to switch for you that, like, you know, Okay, 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.440 these guys are in Canton and they're being enshrined as players, 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.680 but there's coaches here too. There are so many people 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:48.960 behind maybe the headsets that help shape the sport just 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:50.920 as well. I want to be like them. 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:55.800 Yeah, I mean probably around the age of seven eight 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.840 nine years of age. To be honest with you, I 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.599 had my you know, a lot of my family members 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:04.360 went to Camp McKinley High School. Ironically, that's where Josh 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:06.599 McDaniel's played. I had an opportunity to work with Josh 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.080 for seven years in New England. But his father is 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.160 a Hall of fame high school coach, and I just 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.359 I can still remember going to the Masle McKinley games. 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:18.719 You know, I had a two cousins There were multiple 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.839 cousins that played at Camp McKinley, my mom's first cousins. 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.039 One played in the National Football League, John Grimsley for 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.200 ten years, seven of which here in Houston, if I'm 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.120 not mistaken at least I think it was seven years, 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.000 but played ten years in the NFL. So I remember 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.120 going to McKinley games. I could hear the crush cinder 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.200 on the sidelines with the cleat hitting. You could smell 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.080 the popcorn, you know, in the in the air, and 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.120 those were times where you looked up the high school coaches. 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.920 They were so respected in my community. And then as 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.839 a kid when you're playing football for the first time, 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.280 first time we could play tackle football. I was in 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.720 the fifth grade, and you just had opportunities to go 0:05:57.800 --> 0:05:59.479 out there and get coached, and you had people that 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.200 poured believe into you, and it was fun, like you 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:04.919 enjoyed it. It was it was you know, they were intense, 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.040 they were competitive, and you know, it was just it 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:09.240 was it was what I loved. 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:11.080 I caught you know, I caught fire. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.720 And then coupled with that, when I was nine years old, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:16.280 there was an NAI school at the time, Alone College. 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:18.679 It's still there. Leave Ashton. 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.440 Dulin graduated from there, but they were at an ai 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.880 A School and Joe Palomazano was their head coach, and 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:26.560 at nine years of age, I got to be a 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.640 ball boy and I got to see every interaction. It 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:32.159 was at Fawcett Stadium now Benson Stadium. There we're at 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.120 the Profooball Hall of Fame Tom Benson Stadium. Prior to that, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.599 it was Fawcett and I got to sit there and 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:38.720 have a ringside seat. 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:39.479 Every single day. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.799 My dad would drop me off, I'd walk into the stadium, 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.520 I'd sit there for the home games, and then he'd 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.160 come pick me up and I'd go home. And you know, 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:46.920 you would have thought that. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:47.520 Was a super Bowl. 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.200 There may have been a thousand people in the stands, 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.760 but it didn't matter. And so I got to see 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.159 the impact the coaches had on players. I got to 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:59.039 see the camaraderie. I got to see the collaboration firsthand. 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.800 And it was at the age of nine that I knew, 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.720 you know, look, we all had dreams to one day 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.440 hopefully be an NFL player. I knew pretty pretty you know. 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.000 I had one hundred and thirty five pounds in high school. 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.120 I knew that probably wasn't gonna be my calling card, 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:14.040 but I did know that ultimately at some point I 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:15.200 wanted to coach football. 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:16.600 That was important to me. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.520 It's cool because I mean, for me, that's English teachers, 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:22.480 right like you have people who pour belief into you. 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:24.679 And obviously I'm on the you know, the writing side 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.160 for the most part, I'm podcasting right now. But then 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.680 in like you remember those people who made you feel 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.320 like I can do this, and you want to be 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.480 one of those people for people, I think that's football 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.000 is such a powerful cycle. It can be it can 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.720 be a dangerous and negative cycle, sure, but it also 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:47.680 in terms of people perpetuating those types of qualities to 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.920 others and then those people carrying them forward. That's one 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.559 of the things that I love the most about the sport. 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.600 And then the perpetuation of ideas comes in that too. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.680 And then like you hit the real stuff, as you did, 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:04.040 I know early in your career where you're like this 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.880 is hard, this is this is a grind. I am 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.760 in the you know what right now, and I'm wondering 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.680 what those moments were like to like keeping that like 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.880 real passion for it even though you are in some 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.880 grueling environments, especially you know, as you leave your twenties, 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.840 you're in your thirties in New England, you're in some real, 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.040 real trenches with those guys. 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:27.840 Yeah, it was. 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.520 It was a laboratory for learning, I mean for sure, 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:32.440 and some days you're drinking out of a fire hose. 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:35.840 I'll never forget. So I was on the defensive. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.000 Side of the ball as a graduate assistant all the 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:41.080 way through through becoming a you know, a full time coach, 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:43.440 a position coach at the college level, prior to going 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.160 to the Patriots, prior to getting an opportunity to get 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.080 hired by coach Belichick and the Patriots. And I'll never forget. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.680 I interview in twenty It was spring of twenty fifteen. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.439 I was out recruiting and I got a call to see, 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:00.040 you know, if I would want to come up in 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.520 interview for a possible quality control job. They called a 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:05.080 coaching assistant at the time, and I said absolutely. 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:07.040 So, long story short, I get an opportunity to go 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:07.480 up there. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:13.160 I interview installing quarters coverage, defensive back centric, going through 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.920 really a car wash of an interview from seven thirty 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.400 seven to forty five am to roughly about four thirty 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.959 PM when my flight was scheduled to leave. They fly 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:24.000 me back to Saint Petersburg, floridcause I was out with 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.760 spring recruiting, and when I came back, they called the 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:28.600 next date off me the job and I flew up. 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.520 It was a pretty quick turnaround. When I got there. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:33.840 One of the first stops I made, they brought me 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.360 to coach Belichick's ops and he said, you know, I'm 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:37.760 going to put you about as far out of your 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.840 comfort zone as possible, and we're going to put you 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.520 with the offensive line. Dave Biguliamo was the offensive line 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.720 coach in twenty fifteen Forest there in New England. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:48.319 He said, it's. 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.000 Going to be it'll it'll put you as far out 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.400 of your comfort zone, but it's going. 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.840 To be the best thing that will happen to get professionally, 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:58.079 and he was right. I remember that first spring. 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.480 I got hired really the weekend of rookie any camp 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:02.640 in twenty fifteen, so I was already I wasn't there 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.920 for phase one of the off season program. 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.280 And when we got going. 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.560 I just remember, actually Jerry Schaplinsky, our quarterback coach here, 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.560 I took his role, they moved me to offense. 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:13.319 I took his role. 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:17.360 He got elevated to assistant quarterbacks coach, and a couple 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:19.280 weeks in he takes a four inch binder and he 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:20.920 sets it and drops it right on my desk and 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:22.880 he goes, here you go, man, I'm giving you one 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:25.240 day this summer. We're all at answer any questions you have, 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:27.720 but go figure it out. That's what everybody else had 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.640 to do here. So you're really I'm breaking down film. 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:32.440 I'm trying to be you know, learn how what our 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:36.400 language is, what our vernacular is, how we call things, 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:39.280 in addition to trying to find my way through the building, 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:41.520 and what our rhythm and routine is that first spring 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:44.120 and I'll never forget. I'm sitting there going, man, I 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.240 know we used to call this twenty six power from 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.920 a defensive perspective, like, why is this called JAB twenty 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:49.439 eight power? 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:49.800 Boss? 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.040 Why is this called JAB twenty six sub? Why is 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:57.439 this called you know, JAB twenty eight pow, you know power? 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.400 We had all these different variations of power and then 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.079 but it would take it took an enordinate amount of 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:06.199 time to break down film that the first couple tries, 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.240 I mean really the first month in the summer that 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.440 I got there, because it's not about identifying what's actually 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.000 on the tape, it's putting it into their language. And 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.360 so you felt like you were drinking out of a 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:18.959 fire hose every day. And then, you know, the only 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.840 thing I says, you just keep drinking, you keep swallowing. 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:22.480 The water, and you keep going. 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:27.040 And and then you had great people there to lean on. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:32.760 Josh McDaniel's, Dante Scarnakia, listened to Brian Dabel. 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.640 There were just so many good people. I've in fears. 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:37.559 I mean, I mean, I'm going to leave people out 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:39.800 because there's so many of them. But it was a 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.600 lot at first, and all you can do is really 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:44.680 roll up your sleeves and go to work. And that's 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.160 what I tried to do every single day. And you know, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.120 and there was a lot of growth in those moments. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.040 A lot of hard work, a lot of tough time, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:52.400 but there's a lot of growth. 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.520 I love that. And it's interesting to me because when 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.760 you talk about I mean, it's such a vivid memory 0:11:57.800 --> 0:11:59.920 for you. It's almost like when you are talking about this, 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.720 I can hear you setting the binder on the table 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.440 in front of you and flipping it open and being like, 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:09.080 oh my god. And so I like to think that 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.080 when we have such transformational experiences like that early in 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:17.120 our careers, the really good coaches, the really good communicators, 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:20.360 you know, take that forward and remember that always when 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.680 you're maybe uploading something to your new players or your 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:25.720 young players. We're going to talk about the President of 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.040 the future later on in this conversation, but I do 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.960 want to know, is that something you still think, Okay, 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.320 I remember what this was like, and now this is 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.520 how I'm going to try to help be and be 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.480 really empathetic to people who are maybe learning this language 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.200 and this installation for the first time. 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.400 I think you have a great appreciation for that, and 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.160 you have a great appreciation for the process. And I 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.000 think the thing that was always stated to me, and 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.640 I've stated it to numerous good there's people that Cole 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:59.400 Popovich came after me. He's our offensive line coach. Carmen Brisillo, 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.160 the offense blind coach for the Tennessee Titans, one of 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.600 my best friends in life. He came after cool. So 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.160 we had a run of guys there, and what we 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.199 always tried to do was help each other out along 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.640 the way, and you know, you never lose perspective of that. 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:17.520 And as hard as it is, it's it gives you 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:18.920 a foundation. 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:22.760 Where there was no shortcuts. You had to earn everything there. 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.760 You had to be a forward thinker about things and 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.840 solve problems and try to figure it out. And that 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.160 was by design to see if you were willing to 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.719 do the work and if you were able to to 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.240 figure out you know, the solutions, and as hard as 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.520 it felt on the front end, it made you better 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.360 every step of the way. And I wouldn't have I 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.280 wouldn't change anything. And you know, I will never ask 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.079 anybody to do anything that wasn't asked of me because 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:51.640 there's a lot of golden there's a lot of value, 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:53.480 and there's there's you know, a lot of growth that 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:54.679 comes from those experiences. 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.280 For sure, Yeah, you touched on something I'm super curious 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:01.360 about because it's all if you look back on your life, 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.320 Nick Kayley, this is your life, you know, like, and 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.720 you think about all of these moments that kind of 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.480 we're all leading to where you are now. And as 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.600 an offensive coordinator, you have to be so good at 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.920 walking that line between the macro and the micro right 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:20.120 and all of the little little tiny details and all 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:25.000 the little communications while continuing to keep that focus and 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:28.560 also sort of supplement and really be that focus for 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.080 other people if maybe they're very in the weeds in 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.080 certain roles and things like that. So, how did those 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:38.320 experiences and how did you personally maybe develop that skill 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.200 set over time? I'm sure it is still something you 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:42.200 are always working on. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.520 Yeah, I would say, yeah, definitely. 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:47.880 You know, I think the biggest thing is, I think 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.320 everything just starts with in terms of relating to the 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.320 people that you work with and interact with. I think 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.680 it's about it's about really understanding who you're working with, 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.160 and understanding the value of having people around you and 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:04.560 so and and supporting people. And as a coordinator, like 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.040 you know, I can't do this job alone. And I 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.360 I value everybody that we have on our staff. Everybody 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.480 has an important role and you make that role. You know, 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:16.240 you make of it whatever you want to make of it. 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.480 You know, and and and I truly believe that the 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.000 more you can do, the more things expand for you 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.440 in terms of being able to take on responsibility and 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.760 all of all of the guys we have here on 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.120 our staff, I have so much appreciation or respect for 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.360 and it's just no differently than as a position coach. 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.240 You know, my job as a position coach was to 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.800 support the offensive coordinator, the head coach and in any 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.160 way that I possibly could to help help us be 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.560 at our best. And I just try to keep that 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:45.200 into perspective, try to try to lead with humility and 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.360 hunger and and really, you know, I learn a lot 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.960 from our coaches. They we pour into each other and 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.880 and it's a you know, I value that. I value collaboration, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.000 you know, when we're sitting there trying to solve problems. 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.920 And I don't ever want want people to feel like 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:06.440 they are apprehensive to ask questions, you know, and speak 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.920 in me like I want a psychological safety that permeates 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.440 to our staff because I think that, you know, that's 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.440 how you solve problems. That's a you know, not one 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.560 person has all the answers, and you can conquer a 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.960 lot more with the team. And you know, we tell 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.080 our players that it's the same thing with coaches, and 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:26.520 and so I think being rooted in that having a 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:28.400 level of humility and just trying to take a step 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.560 back collectively as a staff and doing everything we can 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:34.760 to help one another so that we can help our 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.520 players and we can help this team an organization. 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:40.240 Man, I'm going to write that down. Psychological safety is 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.920 you know, I love you know me, I like words, right, 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:46.200 So I really that's a that seems to me like 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.000 one of your core values the way that you present 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.880 it like that. And maybe a teaching mantra or a 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:56.120 philosophical mantra that you try to live by, any others 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.200 that maybe developed for you over time, Things that you 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.960 live by with communication, things that you learn earned over 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.240 time in your career, that you really really try to 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:05.879 stay steadfast in. 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.159 Yeah, I mean a couple of things, you know. I 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.000 think one thing is the three things that I that 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.800 were told to me, you know, a while back, were 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:17.600 you know, if you can do these things, if you 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.879 can work hard, you can treat people right, and you 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.840 can tell the truth and be transparent in your messaging, 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.919 you know, it'll go a long way. So everything that 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.800 I try to do a far from clearly, far from perfect. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.919 Made plenty of mistakes in my life, you know, but 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.080 I try to do things the right way and just 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.760 give everything your best. And you know, Sean used to 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.479 say it all the time in LA and he was 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.440 He's awesome for every reason, but no one likes surprises. 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.720 So trying to be out in front of things, being 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:53.440 transparent in community from a communications standpoint, you know, from 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.280 h just the intent of what you're trying to get accomplished. 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.280 Just just be authentic and genuine and and be yourself 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:04.080 and treat people the right way and pour everything you 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:08.000 have into it. And it's amazing what you can accomplish 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.000 when you get when you do that, and then collectively 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.520 when you have a staff, do that, and same thing 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.760 with our players. So I believe that, I live by that. 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.200 I believe in that, and that's important to me. And 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.200 you know, and then just continue to to just try 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.520 to help everybody be at their best. And I think 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:31.919 those those you know, I would say, uh, those three things, 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.199 really working hard, treating people right until the truth, they 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:35.040 take you a long way. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.479 Yeah, i'd agree with that one you mentioned. Sean McVay. 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.919 I met you when you first came to Los Angeles. 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.720 What was the moment for you where you said, Toto, 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:48.440 we are not in New England anymore? 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:51.880 Uh? 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:53.040 Right when I got there. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.560 I mean, you know, I'll go back when I first 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:59.280 talked to Sean the first time. There was just this 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:05.040 unmatched energy as everybody knows, but like you could sense 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:09.720 this passion, this fire, this relatability, high emotional intelligence, elade 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:15.720 emotional intelligence, no question, he's he's an elite football mind. 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.639 But you could sense it even on the phone. The 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:21.840 first conversation I ever had with him, it was just different. 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:25.440 And then once I went there and I walked through 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.560 the door, the door over in kaow Low and you. 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:33.320 Remember the door in quotations, Yeah, yeah, but. 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:35.359 On the wall it said joy in the Journey. 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.960 And that's all I really had to see because from 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:44.200 a from a personality standpoint, a vibe standpoint, it really 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:46.840 felt like home from the time from the time that 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:51.159 I got there, and it was an unbelievable He runs 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.399 the energy in that building, the way that we, you know, 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:56.640 go about our day, the way you move throughout the building. 0:19:57.800 --> 0:19:59.080 It's high level football. 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:04.600 It it's great people that are all motivated as coaches 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:10.640 and players. And you saw just an incredible synergy between 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:15.360 coaches and coaches, players and players, coach to player relationship, 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:23.359 front office. You know, Kevin less Tony obviously integrated with Sean, 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:27.840 and you saw people just work their asses off to 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:32.600 support one another, all with the same common goal and 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:37.679 no egos, and you knew pretty right away you knew 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:43.760 and those it was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.520 I think that those Belichick staffs that you were on 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:53.359 were obviously so I mean talk about three hundred four hundred, 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:57.320 five hundred, six hundred level coaching and coursework in how 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:02.159 to do the job, do your job, But also did 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:04.639 you ever think that something could be both, that it 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.160 could feel both like you were working maybe harder than 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:12.479 you ever worked in your life, but also you were 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:15.159 joyful while doing it. I'm not saying you weren't when 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.040 you were in New England. I know that was a 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.280 bond that will always be shared by those staffs and 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:24.080 those coaches, but just the I always felt I moved out, 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:26.600 I moved out to LA to cover the Rams and 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.720 in twenty twenty, and I just felt like my brain 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:33.679 just kept opening up and just kept just kept going, 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:37.120 almost like there was this space, the space in football 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.520 that I had not even ever considered. And it was 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.080 just like feeling like you're opening these doors everywhere you 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:46.919 go and like thinking about things differently when you get there. 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:48.440 I'm wondering if it was similar for you. 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:50.879 Yeah, I would say. 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:54.360 What I realized is, you know, when I was younger, 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:58.400 even going back to my college experience, right, I've had 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:02.399 a fantastic opportunity to work for some unbelievable people. 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:04.280 Every step of the way, I really. 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:10.200 Have and I'm indebted and grateful for all those experiences. 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:13.880 When I went to Los Angeles, I was a little 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:16.320 bit older. We had a third daughter on the way. 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:21.159 She hadn't arrived yet, Quinn. She's definitely a lot in 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:23.639 LA girl three years old, just turned three not too 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:24.119 long ago. 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:31.160 But what I realized is what I realized was balance 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:31.720 is good. 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.720 Balance is healthy, and I don't know that I had 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.159 a whole lot of balance, and that's not derived it 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:42.159 New England. We caught fire. You catch fire in a 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.080 bottle and you put the blinders on and you go. 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:48.080 And there was a lot of growth. But I felt 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:50.560 when I really reflect and when I was in the 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:53.480 moment there being present, totally present when I was in 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:55.640 LA with Sean, and I try to carry it over 0:22:55.680 --> 0:22:57.120 today every step of the way. 0:22:58.000 --> 0:23:01.359 That when I was able to recharge. 0:23:00.840 --> 0:23:03.560 And Sean does that phenomenal job, just like Denico does 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:06.240 here from a schedule standpoint, especially in the off season, 0:23:06.880 --> 0:23:09.479 of giving you time to take your your your daughters 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:13.600 to school, you know, having smiles on your face in 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:17.639 the workplace, enjoying keeping it light, but also continuing to 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:20.199 be urgent in terms of, you know, the work we 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:22.159 needed to get done because we worked hard in LA. 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:23.320 We worked really hard in LA. 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.240 But there was a balance and there was laughter, and 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:30.119 there was joy and and and then the time you 0:23:30.200 --> 0:23:32.680 got to stay you know, away and get away and 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.480 go home, it made you help above the neck. 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:37.800 For me, I was I was held. 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:40.720 I was at my best because I was completely My 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:44.320 tank was full every single day. And you know, I 0:23:45.160 --> 0:23:48.440 believe that, I'm I'm convicted in that that that's that's 0:23:48.520 --> 0:23:51.880 that's part of it. And there's a lot of stresses 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:54.320 in our life. This is a hard job players, I 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.560 mean players physically for sure, and every all the stress 0:23:57.560 --> 0:24:01.479 that they have, but for coaches too, and you know, 0:24:01.560 --> 0:24:05.280 it's it's when you can be joyful, when you can 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:08.520 be in those moments where you're you know, you enjoy 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:11.080 driving in down the one oh one in the morning, 0:24:11.800 --> 0:24:14.120 you know, and the sun hasn't come up and you're 0:24:14.160 --> 0:24:18.880 excited to go to work. I mean, that's that's that's 0:24:18.960 --> 0:24:21.800 what you want, and that's that's what it was there. 0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:22.760 That's what it was. 0:24:22.920 --> 0:24:25.639 Yeah, clearly your drive down the one on one was 0:24:25.680 --> 0:24:28.000 before everybody else woke up for the day. Otherwise you'd 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:31.560 be sitting in grid in Gridlocke, that's true. 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:33.119 You hit it a little bit on you hit it 0:24:33.119 --> 0:24:34.840 a little bit on Fridays after practice. 0:24:35.400 --> 0:24:37.719 Yeah, you would hate. You'd hate your life and everyone 0:24:37.760 --> 0:24:41.080 around you at that point. So yeah, it's it's cool 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:44.720 because my we love the Houston Texans on this show. 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:48.280 We talk about them all the time. Uh, they are 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:51.000 big time Super Bowl favorites for us. I'm not trying 0:24:51.040 --> 0:24:53.159 to do the thing where you talk to the pitcher 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:56.040 who's throwing heat about aspirations or goals or whatever. So 0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:59.000 we're not going to do that, but we we love 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:01.480 that this team on the show. And what I have 0:25:01.560 --> 0:25:04.480 always posited, especially in this sort of this new era 0:25:04.560 --> 0:25:07.680 Demiko coming over, is that this is a team that's 0:25:07.760 --> 0:25:10.200 trying to do that, that's trying to walk that line 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:15.359 between this really really modern and progressive workplace style of 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:21.480 thinking of collaboration, of communication, of building the coaching team 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:24.600 and the front office team just as intentionally as you 0:25:24.640 --> 0:25:28.159 would build the team on the field, and doing so 0:25:28.440 --> 0:25:32.280 at a high level there too, but then also bringing 0:25:32.359 --> 0:25:36.360 still those old school punch you in the mouth, I'm 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:39.040 going to outwork you like kind of qualities as well. 0:25:39.040 --> 0:25:42.520 It's possible to do. And that's my theory about Houston, 0:25:42.520 --> 0:25:45.600 and I think where you come in on this is 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:48.160 living in both of those worlds and sort of maybe 0:25:48.200 --> 0:25:51.160 walking that line the way you have in your career. 0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:54.000 And it also means you've been around your carrying in 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:57.680 the experience of the people you work with, including the quarterbacks. 0:25:57.680 --> 0:26:00.359 And when I think about CJ. Stroud, I think about 0:26:00.400 --> 0:26:02.800 his potential, which oh my gosh, we are so high 0:26:02.880 --> 0:26:06.760 on here. It's just he feels like he's that type 0:26:06.760 --> 0:26:11.240 of quarterback, that high cerebral but also we'll gut through 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:15.320 and like get stuff done too. What I mean, You've 0:26:15.359 --> 0:26:18.480 been around some really really great quarterbacks veterans mostly in 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:23.480 your career, and I'm curious, like meeting him, getting into 0:26:23.800 --> 0:26:27.280 his you know, into his mind, collaborating with him being 0:26:27.320 --> 0:26:30.800 on this development track. Is he's still so young. What's 0:26:30.800 --> 0:26:32.359 that been like for you? What have you sort of 0:26:32.359 --> 0:26:34.360 called back to or maybe carried forward. 0:26:35.359 --> 0:26:37.040 It's been great. I mean it's been a lot of fun. 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:40.040 I would say the biggest thing too, I mean, over 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:42.640 the course of the last year, uh, the more time 0:26:42.720 --> 0:26:45.879 on task we've had to get to be, you know, 0:26:45.920 --> 0:26:48.479 around each other and continue to work you know, with 0:26:48.520 --> 0:26:48.960 each other. 0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:50.080 Just gotten that. 0:26:50.320 --> 0:26:52.280 It starts with just the relationship piece of it. And 0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:55.160 him and I have a great relationship and there's really 0:26:55.160 --> 0:26:57.960 no egos. We both want to we both want to win, 0:26:58.000 --> 0:26:59.760 we both want to help each other be at our best. 0:26:59.800 --> 0:27:02.639 And I think the emphasis point for for both of 0:27:02.720 --> 0:27:05.520 us is, Hey, the more we can talk to each 0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:07.560 other and talk about the pros and the cons and 0:27:07.600 --> 0:27:10.200 why I like something and what his level of comfort 0:27:10.359 --> 0:27:13.720 is with certain things, you know, the better off we 0:27:13.760 --> 0:27:16.320 get to understand each other. And everything that we want 0:27:16.320 --> 0:27:18.560 to do here is put our players. 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:20.080 In the best position to have success. 0:27:20.200 --> 0:27:24.360 And with CJ allowing him to be you know, customize 0:27:24.359 --> 0:27:26.840 our game plans and be able to to really work 0:27:27.520 --> 0:27:30.080 to allow him to play to his strengths. And he's 0:27:30.080 --> 0:27:32.679 done such a fantastic job. He's had a great offseason. 0:27:33.119 --> 0:27:37.680 He loves football, he sees the game really well. It's 0:27:37.720 --> 0:27:40.239 important to him, and so we have great dialogue and 0:27:40.760 --> 0:27:43.280 you know, he'll he'll have ideas, and I'll have ideas, 0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:44.920 and we'll talk and he'll ask me, hey, what do 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:46.159 you think about this play kills? 0:27:46.200 --> 0:27:47.919 And we'll go back and forth. 0:27:47.680 --> 0:27:50.160 And and and you know, in the spring we try, 0:27:50.240 --> 0:27:53.280 for example, we tried, you know, to to really get 0:27:53.280 --> 0:27:55.959 in a bunch of things that you know, maybe we're different, 0:27:56.000 --> 0:27:59.359 that complimented our players that he liked, or that you know, 0:27:59.400 --> 0:28:02.600 we did kill elaborated on to see to go out 0:28:02.600 --> 0:28:04.600 there and do it and put our guys in position 0:28:04.640 --> 0:28:06.880 and you know, especially ones that he might be convicted 0:28:06.920 --> 0:28:10.000 in here and there. So you know, he's been awesome 0:28:10.040 --> 0:28:12.160 to work with and we have a lot of fun. 0:28:12.840 --> 0:28:13.479 We enjoyed. 0:28:13.520 --> 0:28:17.080 It's he's he's so steady. He's like this every single day. 0:28:17.119 --> 0:28:19.199 He's I'm really proud of him. He's put in so 0:28:19.280 --> 0:28:22.840 much work and we're just going to keep going. We're 0:28:22.840 --> 0:28:24.560 just going to keep going day by day. 0:28:24.600 --> 0:28:24.800 Here. 0:28:25.000 --> 0:28:26.879 One of the things I was just talking I was 0:28:26.880 --> 0:28:29.119 talking to Jordan Love recently, and he was talking about 0:28:29.119 --> 0:28:32.399 how part of the development process, especially for a younger 0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:35.960 guy who's in this sort of you know, face of 0:28:35.960 --> 0:28:39.000 the franchise position at such a young age, and Jordan's 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:42.080 journey obviously is slightly different in that regard being behind 0:28:42.120 --> 0:28:44.120 the guy. He was behind for a minute there, but 0:28:44.840 --> 0:28:48.360 you know, learning how to speak up and really voice 0:28:48.680 --> 0:28:52.480 what what you like, but also understand where maybe it's 0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:56.960 not right like that balance and trying things and it's 0:28:57.000 --> 0:29:00.280 okay to fail at certain things you try. And you know, 0:29:00.320 --> 0:29:04.120 the story that Kyle Shanahan always tells is them letting 0:29:04.320 --> 0:29:06.760 RG three run the play he wanted to learn and 0:29:06.800 --> 0:29:08.920 install it from the ground up and like letting him 0:29:08.960 --> 0:29:11.960 run it in one of their closed like ota sessions 0:29:11.960 --> 0:29:15.200 and the play didn't work right, and it's like, no, 0:29:15.600 --> 0:29:18.240 it didn't work, but he felt like he had so 0:29:18.400 --> 0:29:21.480 much ownership over the process. And I think that's that 0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:25.200 comes with like growing up as a quarterback. Right. I'm 0:29:25.200 --> 0:29:27.800 curious your thoughts on this part of it, like so 0:29:27.960 --> 0:29:31.280 much that happens behind the scenes, that is, have to 0:29:31.320 --> 0:29:33.920 be okay with trying stuff and failing first of all, 0:29:34.400 --> 0:29:38.000 and using your voice and really understanding where your voice 0:29:38.040 --> 0:29:41.480 is and what you truly are and who you truly are. 0:29:42.200 --> 0:29:46.160 Yeah, I think that's a great point what you're talking about, 0:29:46.240 --> 0:29:50.000 and I think you just look back, we have, you know, 0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:52.880 a core offensive identity, right, we have things that we 0:29:53.240 --> 0:29:56.960 systematically do that fit our players. When I got here 0:29:57.040 --> 0:30:01.200 as the offensive coordinator, certainly philosophic brought with me a 0:30:01.200 --> 0:30:06.360 philosophy that I wanted to instill here core concepts in 0:30:06.440 --> 0:30:08.080 the running and the pass game, a way that we're 0:30:08.120 --> 0:30:11.040 going to deploy our protection systems, et cetera. But what 0:30:11.080 --> 0:30:13.840 we also did was there's some same as between the 0:30:13.880 --> 0:30:16.360 previous system and what we were doing in LA and 0:30:16.360 --> 0:30:18.440 some of the things that I had background with in 0:30:18.720 --> 0:30:21.280 New England, of course, but we adopted some things here 0:30:21.320 --> 0:30:24.840 that may have been really really great fits for these guys, 0:30:24.840 --> 0:30:27.400 and as coaches, we adapted to those and we evolved 0:30:27.400 --> 0:30:29.080 and we tied those in and we tried to do 0:30:29.080 --> 0:30:31.000 the best we could with that. And then over the 0:30:31.000 --> 0:30:33.280 course of the year you find out a lot about 0:30:33.800 --> 0:30:36.280 certain guys that maybe maybe a young guy or a 0:30:36.320 --> 0:30:38.360 new acquisition that you had in training camp, you really 0:30:38.400 --> 0:30:40.440 just didn't maybe have a whole lot of time to 0:30:41.000 --> 0:30:42.720 get to move a guy around or put him in 0:30:42.760 --> 0:30:44.800 as many situations as maybe you had hoped. 0:30:45.120 --> 0:30:47.120 So then throughout the year things come up and you're. 0:30:47.000 --> 0:30:49.040 Like, you know, what, did that pretty damn well, Like 0:30:49.200 --> 0:30:51.400 it's pretty good at it, or hey, let's let's shift 0:30:51.440 --> 0:30:54.080 this way and let's let's you know, have a variation 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:57.560 of this scheme that we can tailor to this player 0:30:57.640 --> 0:30:58.440 or these players. 0:30:59.240 --> 0:31:01.160 And then you do a dive in the off season 0:31:01.400 --> 0:31:02.240 and it's the same thing. 0:31:02.280 --> 0:31:04.520 Then you get, you know, talking with CJ and being 0:31:04.560 --> 0:31:06.360 able to look at the things, say, we did these 0:31:06.400 --> 0:31:09.720 things really really well. Okay, how do we compliment these, 0:31:09.720 --> 0:31:12.160 how do we protect these, how do we add to them? 0:31:12.160 --> 0:31:15.120 How do we make these even better? And then you 0:31:15.160 --> 0:31:17.680 look at the things that, okay, like this probably didn't 0:31:17.680 --> 0:31:20.200 go the way we wanted to. And for for X, 0:31:20.320 --> 0:31:22.000 Y and Z reason, what's the reason why? 0:31:22.120 --> 0:31:24.920 Right? Is it salvageable? Do we does it fit what 0:31:24.960 --> 0:31:27.160 we're trying to do? Yes or no? If it is, 0:31:27.200 --> 0:31:28.880 then we can make it better. We're going to make 0:31:28.880 --> 0:31:29.200 it better. 0:31:29.200 --> 0:31:31.840 If not, then we you know, it's like go fishing 0:31:31.920 --> 0:31:35.160 or cut bait. You move on with it and then 0:31:35.200 --> 0:31:37.800 you try to incorporate some other things. So what I 0:31:37.840 --> 0:31:40.680 love about the off season is it, like we had 0:31:40.720 --> 0:31:43.120 just kind of talked about, is you get an opportunity 0:31:43.200 --> 0:31:45.840 to go through there and just experiment with some things 0:31:45.840 --> 0:31:49.280 that have ideas okay that the quarterback might have ideas 0:31:49.320 --> 0:31:51.200 on or I have some things that ay I want 0:31:51.200 --> 0:31:52.800 to I want to try some of these things. Okay, 0:31:53.120 --> 0:31:55.080 we never really got to them in year one, but 0:31:55.160 --> 0:31:57.200 here we go. I think we're ready for them, and 0:31:57.280 --> 0:32:01.680 we have those conversations and there's no this is the 0:32:01.720 --> 0:32:03.880 best that's the best time of the year to experiment 0:32:03.920 --> 0:32:07.120 with those things. And that's that's the gold in that. 0:32:07.200 --> 0:32:08.920 And then when he he brings things to me, is 0:32:09.040 --> 0:32:10.640 you know, there may many times to your point, like 0:32:11.240 --> 0:32:13.440 you know, well, does it fit a protection scheme? Can 0:32:13.480 --> 0:32:17.000 we can we run this concept with this protection system 0:32:17.080 --> 0:32:19.440 versus the front we're about to face. I don't know, 0:32:19.680 --> 0:32:22.120 like it's you know, it's an empty protection. I don't 0:32:22.160 --> 0:32:23.480 know if we can if we can hold on that 0:32:23.560 --> 0:32:26.240 long or yeah we can, let's do it, you know. 0:32:26.280 --> 0:32:30.200 And there's a lot of other factors that go into it, situations, 0:32:30.720 --> 0:32:34.080 you know, personnel, there's other things. But the great thing 0:32:34.120 --> 0:32:38.120 about it, Jordan is when you know, for example, CJ 0:32:38.200 --> 0:32:40.280 will bring me a player, We'll have you know, great 0:32:40.320 --> 0:32:44.240 dialogue during the spring and he's convicted in it you 0:32:44.240 --> 0:32:46.440 give an opportunity to go out there and we'll teach it, 0:32:46.480 --> 0:32:48.480 and we'll and we'll go through it and we'll poke 0:32:48.520 --> 0:32:51.080 holes in at each other with each other. And then 0:32:51.160 --> 0:32:54.240 he has ownership in it and he and he's invested 0:32:54.280 --> 0:32:56.720 in it. And my whole thing is, Hey, we bring 0:32:56.760 --> 0:32:58.360 this thing to life and it fits what we do, 0:32:58.840 --> 0:33:01.880 and he's comfortable with it, and it works and we're 0:33:01.880 --> 0:33:02.480 doing well with it. 0:33:02.520 --> 0:33:03.720 I'm going to call it. It's a good play. 0:33:03.720 --> 0:33:06.240 Then the quarterback and the quarterbacks comfortable and we show 0:33:06.280 --> 0:33:07.760 that we can do it on the field in a 0:33:07.800 --> 0:33:10.200 successful manner, Well, then let's call it. Maybe I should 0:33:10.200 --> 0:33:12.560 call it more, you know, And so there's no ego. 0:33:13.200 --> 0:33:13.760 Does it fit? 0:33:15.000 --> 0:33:17.160 Is there a level of comfort with the quarterback? That's 0:33:17.200 --> 0:33:20.560 important to me? It's very important to me. And you know, 0:33:20.760 --> 0:33:23.520 are we making progress there? And that's why I love 0:33:24.040 --> 0:33:26.080 the off season program in the early part of training camp. 0:33:26.120 --> 0:33:28.080 There's an element of that in training camp as well too. 0:33:28.920 --> 0:33:31.080 That's it touches on something that I think is so 0:33:31.120 --> 0:33:35.800 important that like gets said a lot, and maybe people 0:33:35.800 --> 0:33:37.560 who are never in it or hadn't been in it, 0:33:37.600 --> 0:33:40.480 like maybe don't quite know what it means. And it's 0:33:40.720 --> 0:33:47.120 evolving something forward, evolving a system forward, you figuring out, honestly, 0:33:47.280 --> 0:33:51.080 you're in these two very distinct systems for such a 0:33:51.080 --> 0:33:54.560 long time, in so many impactful ways, and figuring out 0:33:54.600 --> 0:33:57.280 what that looks like with the guys you have, and 0:33:57.280 --> 0:33:59.920 what that looks like in this version of who you 0:34:00.240 --> 0:34:02.600 are as a play designer, as a coach, as a 0:34:02.600 --> 0:34:05.280 play caller, as a guy who's working with the quarterbacks 0:34:05.360 --> 0:34:07.840 and the running backs and the line and over everything, 0:34:07.880 --> 0:34:11.640 but also over all the tiny things too. And I'm curious. 0:34:11.680 --> 0:34:13.960 You know, you've touched on all of a lot of 0:34:13.960 --> 0:34:16.800 the qualities that that takes, that work in the off season, 0:34:17.239 --> 0:34:22.080 the trust to do that with each other. But when 0:34:22.120 --> 0:34:25.640 we talk about like evolving this offense forward, what does 0:34:25.680 --> 0:34:29.400 that mean to you? What does that actually mean versus 0:34:29.520 --> 0:34:31.239 you know, us on the outside. We can write it 0:34:31.280 --> 0:34:33.840 all we want, right, but what is it actually happening 0:34:34.280 --> 0:34:35.200 in that process? 0:34:36.000 --> 0:34:36.400 I think the. 0:34:36.400 --> 0:34:39.919 Evolution for our offense, I mean, from just a big 0:34:39.960 --> 0:34:43.120 picture a starting point, let's say, is just continuing to 0:34:43.200 --> 0:34:47.279 refine and be better operationally and everything that we're doing. 0:34:47.320 --> 0:34:49.919 Let's start with the basics. Okay, don't ever get bored 0:34:49.960 --> 0:34:50.560 with the basics. 0:34:50.560 --> 0:34:53.399 So continuing from the ground up, whether it's the way 0:34:53.400 --> 0:34:55.279 we break, the way we call the play, to the 0:34:55.320 --> 0:34:57.680 way we break the huddle, to our feet getting set 0:34:57.719 --> 0:35:00.479 with urgency, to how we move and shift in motion, 0:35:00.600 --> 0:35:03.680 to how we communicate crisp clean with you know, volume, 0:35:03.719 --> 0:35:07.520 reflex confidence. We're making our declaration, We're echoing any calls 0:35:07.560 --> 0:35:09.680 maybe in the run game or from a protection standpoint, 0:35:09.960 --> 0:35:13.480 We're you know, signaling when that's applicable from the quarterback 0:35:13.520 --> 0:35:16.040 to the skill players and being able to be sharp 0:35:16.120 --> 0:35:19.440 on those things and proactive with those things and taking 0:35:19.440 --> 0:35:22.520 great pride in those things. That's the first thing. The 0:35:22.560 --> 0:35:24.839 second thing I would say is you know our core 0:35:25.640 --> 0:35:28.440 you know our core scheme from a run game standpoint, 0:35:28.480 --> 0:35:32.239 a past game standpoint, including the protections. You know what, 0:35:32.800 --> 0:35:35.440 It's always built around the players. Like I think, like 0:35:35.920 --> 0:35:38.680 I'm not a Hey, we have a core identity in 0:35:38.719 --> 0:35:42.000 a philosophy. But as players change and you lose players, 0:35:42.120 --> 0:35:44.040 or you acquire new players, or you know, you have 0:35:44.239 --> 0:35:46.759 certain guys with certain skill sets, you have to be 0:35:46.800 --> 0:35:49.400 able to adapt as a coach to put them in 0:35:49.480 --> 0:35:52.560 position to be successful. And what we try to do 0:35:52.600 --> 0:35:54.960 here is is allow those guys to play to their strengths. 0:35:55.040 --> 0:35:58.080 And one of the things that we did all off 0:35:58.120 --> 0:36:01.000 season we moved our guys around considerable amount. 0:36:01.600 --> 0:36:02.840 Let's not put a guy in a box. 0:36:02.920 --> 0:36:07.360 Let's see what they're capable of doing in other situations, 0:36:07.760 --> 0:36:11.200 whether it's a receiver getting more inside flex and opening 0:36:11.320 --> 0:36:13.600 up his tree or going inside to outside, whether it's 0:36:13.600 --> 0:36:16.720 moving some of the tight ends and positions in multiple 0:36:16.760 --> 0:36:19.160 groupings that they really haven't had an opportunity to have 0:36:19.200 --> 0:36:23.279 a ton of reps in. You know, it's it's experimenting 0:36:23.320 --> 0:36:26.000 with compliments at making sure we protect all of our 0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:29.120 core plays, okay, so that things can look as consistent 0:36:29.120 --> 0:36:31.640 as similar as possible on the initial stem in the 0:36:31.680 --> 0:36:35.520 past game or from a formation standpoint, so we protect formations, 0:36:35.560 --> 0:36:40.480 we protect concepts, et cetera. And always trying to be 0:36:40.520 --> 0:36:43.840 able to ask ourselves, how can we make the things 0:36:43.880 --> 0:36:48.120 that we have been doing better, and having no ego 0:36:48.160 --> 0:36:52.319 about that, and watching the tape and taking notes and 0:36:52.360 --> 0:36:55.520 poking holes in things and just continuing to have dialogue 0:36:55.520 --> 0:36:58.000 as a staff and pouring it into our players and 0:36:58.040 --> 0:37:00.440 then we you know, sharing that with the players when 0:37:00.480 --> 0:37:03.160 they obviously come in the offseason and just continuing to 0:37:03.160 --> 0:37:05.800 talk and listening to the players. You know, there's certain 0:37:05.840 --> 0:37:10.560 things I've learned. I've learned a lot in my career 0:37:11.440 --> 0:37:16.120 from being blessed by being around some exceptional football players. 0:37:17.400 --> 0:37:19.399 You know, obviously the coaching piece of it, but when 0:37:19.400 --> 0:37:22.440 you talk about the players those I didn't play in 0:37:22.480 --> 0:37:25.560 the National Football League, when the bullets are flying and 0:37:25.560 --> 0:37:28.360 the heart rates up and it's one on one battles 0:37:28.360 --> 0:37:31.440 at the highest level and everything's on the line, and 0:37:31.480 --> 0:37:33.520 there's two minutes in the game and they got to 0:37:33.520 --> 0:37:36.759 make split second decisions. Is there a clarity of thought 0:37:36.800 --> 0:37:39.000 in their mind? Are they playing fast? Do they know 0:37:39.040 --> 0:37:41.200 what to do? Are they confident what they do? So 0:37:41.320 --> 0:37:43.759 you can allow them to cut it loose, and their 0:37:43.840 --> 0:37:49.200 perspective is so critical. I value that we certainly as coaches, 0:37:49.280 --> 0:37:51.520 my job is to make a call on what we're 0:37:51.560 --> 0:37:52.719 going to ultimately do. 0:37:53.000 --> 0:37:54.880 That's my job. I take a lot of pride in that. 0:37:55.719 --> 0:37:59.040 But I value the input as you go because a 0:37:59.040 --> 0:38:02.319 lot of those guys they're sitting there, they may see 0:38:02.360 --> 0:38:04.279 it a different way, or they may be struggling with something, 0:38:04.360 --> 0:38:07.520 or they may interpret something a little different. So having 0:38:07.560 --> 0:38:11.400 those conversations are healthy, Whether it was, you know, coaching 0:38:11.480 --> 0:38:13.680 James Devlin, my fallback in New England, who's one of 0:38:13.680 --> 0:38:17.239 the you know, most intelligent, hardworking human beings, was you know, 0:38:17.600 --> 0:38:22.200 a Pro Bowl fullback for us, to Gronkowski who who 0:38:22.440 --> 0:38:25.080 never came off the field, who was in every spot, 0:38:25.360 --> 0:38:28.799 to Hunter Henry and john Us Smith, you know, and 0:38:28.800 --> 0:38:32.640 then you know to Tyler Higbee uh In La and 0:38:32.760 --> 0:38:35.560 David Sallin and Hunter Long and those guys. There's so 0:38:35.719 --> 0:38:40.960 much great insight that those guys have pooka Cooper Edelman, 0:38:41.120 --> 0:38:43.360 a mindel like you. You you can learn from so 0:38:43.480 --> 0:38:46.880 many people about their perspective and try to help them 0:38:46.960 --> 0:38:51.560 navigate some things. And it's a partnership, it really is. 0:38:51.719 --> 0:38:55.279 And when it's a shared vision and there's there's a 0:38:55.360 --> 0:38:58.600 level of accountability and a commitment with with you know, 0:38:58.840 --> 0:39:01.840 to that process, that's where you know, the best teams 0:39:01.840 --> 0:39:07.000 I've been a part of. You see coaching players, coaching 0:39:07.000 --> 0:39:11.840 staff players, they work together and and that's that's I 0:39:11.880 --> 0:39:14.120 believe when it's at its best, when when everybody's porn 0:39:14.120 --> 0:39:16.880 in the same direction and you're all on the same page. 0:39:17.120 --> 0:39:19.000 More on that in a second. We're going to take 0:39:19.000 --> 0:39:20.680 a quick break and get back to it. On the 0:39:20.680 --> 0:39:24.279 other side, I think I'm a little jealous, honestly, And 0:39:24.320 --> 0:39:26.400 you're kind of in the catbird seat because you also 0:39:26.440 --> 0:39:29.040 get to coach against one of the games best in 0:39:29.120 --> 0:39:31.680 Demiico and Matt Burke and Diino Vaso on that side 0:39:31.719 --> 0:39:35.719 of the ball, and you are you're competing against them 0:39:35.719 --> 0:39:38.520 in these spring and summer practices which are also functionally 0:39:38.600 --> 0:39:40.920 you know, installing and doing all those things. But you 0:39:41.400 --> 0:39:44.800 guys get to share those perspectives and working with Demiko. 0:39:44.880 --> 0:39:47.200 But I know you you talk to the defensive players 0:39:47.239 --> 0:39:50.160 a lot, ziz Al Shaier and yourself, I know, have 0:39:50.200 --> 0:39:54.359 a really special relationship and and to to pick their 0:39:54.400 --> 0:39:58.000 brains too, to have I mean, it's it's like one 0:39:58.000 --> 0:40:00.000 of the best defenses we've ever seen. And I mean, 0:40:00.000 --> 0:40:01.960 and I'm you know, I'm only thirty five, so I 0:40:01.960 --> 0:40:04.040 guess I can't really say that, but it's an incredible, 0:40:04.400 --> 0:40:07.520 incredible defense, one of the best we've seen recently for sure, 0:40:08.080 --> 0:40:11.319 And and the people on it, the players on it, 0:40:11.840 --> 0:40:16.560 are so authentically themselves, and it strikes me that they 0:40:16.560 --> 0:40:20.520 are very open in speaking what they think and what's 0:40:20.640 --> 0:40:23.560 working and what's not working. So I'm curious. You mentioned 0:40:23.560 --> 0:40:27.640 that collaboration and picking people's brains and getting things in 0:40:27.680 --> 0:40:30.000 an egoist way, and what is that like with with 0:40:30.040 --> 0:40:32.360 this defense that I think the only thing I wouldn't 0:40:32.360 --> 0:40:35.440 be jealous of is going against them in practice. But 0:40:35.600 --> 0:40:36.600 what is that like for you? 0:40:37.640 --> 0:40:39.360 It's awesome, you know. 0:40:39.440 --> 0:40:43.839 They we have great coaches that that are a joy 0:40:43.840 --> 0:40:45.960 to be around, that are really really good at what 0:40:46.000 --> 0:40:50.319 they do. And we have great, great players, uh you 0:40:50.360 --> 0:40:52.320 know obviously on that side of the ball, with elite 0:40:52.360 --> 0:40:55.879 football character. And what you see is the thing that's 0:40:55.880 --> 0:40:58.360 so impressive is you know, there's there's a lot of 0:40:58.360 --> 0:41:00.000 talent in this league, right there's a lot of team 0:41:00.200 --> 0:41:01.759 that play really really hard. 0:41:01.560 --> 0:41:02.640 And have success. 0:41:04.239 --> 0:41:08.560 The guys on our defense, they are they're they're all connected. 0:41:09.760 --> 0:41:14.800 They play relentlessly for sixty plus minutes until the final whistle, 0:41:16.200 --> 0:41:19.360 and they do it with a spirit and an energy 0:41:19.520 --> 0:41:22.000 that is infectious. And you could just close your eyes 0:41:22.040 --> 0:41:25.399 at practice and you can hear the communication. You can 0:41:25.600 --> 0:41:28.560 you can hear the hitting, you can hear them swarm 0:41:28.560 --> 0:41:31.600 into the football and that's such a testament to that's 0:41:32.000 --> 0:41:36.600 the defensive staff, the coaches, the players, they're they're just 0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:39.480 they're all in it together, and uh, it's awesome and 0:41:39.600 --> 0:41:41.520 and you get you know, and it's it's a joy 0:41:41.560 --> 0:41:45.640 talking to Jalen Pea Trees and Disease and Will and those, 0:41:45.800 --> 0:41:47.680 I mean, all those guys. I mean, they're they're fun 0:41:47.719 --> 0:41:49.840 to be around, and they make us better every seman. 0:41:49.880 --> 0:41:50.480 We we we get. 0:41:50.520 --> 0:41:52.840 We're buckling up every single day. I mean, it's every 0:41:52.920 --> 0:41:55.680 day is so competitive. And Demiko does such a great 0:41:55.760 --> 0:42:00.399 job with that. But it's awesome. It's it's on and 0:42:00.480 --> 0:42:02.359 you know, and and and you know, to Piggy Vick too, 0:42:02.400 --> 0:42:05.360 Like the guys talked about players like you've got guys 0:42:05.400 --> 0:42:08.279 like Dalton Schultz here who's a highly intelligent player. And 0:42:08.360 --> 0:42:11.839 see and like there's great David Montgomery. There's great collaboration 0:42:12.400 --> 0:42:14.319 and you just see both sides of the ball. It's 0:42:14.400 --> 0:42:17.799 it's really a connected team. And and you know, we'll 0:42:17.800 --> 0:42:20.080 get one on ones or we'll have a competitive team 0:42:20.080 --> 0:42:22.400 period and you'll see you know, the dbs and the 0:42:22.400 --> 0:42:25.960 receivers talking and you know, A Z's talking to the 0:42:26.000 --> 0:42:28.360 backs about a route that they just ran in a 0:42:28.719 --> 0:42:30.320 seven on seven period or whatnot. 0:42:30.360 --> 0:42:32.640 And we're all trying to grow. 0:42:32.800 --> 0:42:35.120 And you know, to be always talked about an iron 0:42:35.120 --> 0:42:37.680 sharpening iron like, that's that's what it is. Every single day, 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:39.880 I mean every single day. That's what we're trying to 0:42:39.920 --> 0:42:43.040 do in our defense. They bring it, they bring it. 0:42:43.239 --> 0:42:45.799 Yeah, you know, I was really excited to hear I 0:42:45.840 --> 0:42:49.400 saw some some you know, chatter about this version of 0:42:49.400 --> 0:42:51.719 the offensive line you guys have and some of the 0:42:51.719 --> 0:42:54.160 guys really trying to take it to the really trying 0:42:54.160 --> 0:42:59.680 to take it to that that defensive line is formidable, right, so, really, 0:43:00.120 --> 0:43:04.120 really really good, really good. Yeah, it's an amazing problem 0:43:04.160 --> 0:43:07.080 to have, right, So I think if you're the offensive guy, 0:43:07.080 --> 0:43:09.920 at least, Nick, I wanted to ask you one more 0:43:09.960 --> 0:43:14.560 thing before we let you go the front office. I mean, 0:43:14.719 --> 0:43:16.759 I think to me, I've been following this team build 0:43:16.800 --> 0:43:20.040 for years, right, and the way that this Nick Caserio 0:43:20.239 --> 0:43:23.480 and his group, you know, Liftfort Blanco, Debik, all these 0:43:23.520 --> 0:43:27.759 guys have have taken this team from being a real 0:43:27.840 --> 0:43:31.719 question mark a few years ago into I think one 0:43:31.760 --> 0:43:35.160 of the most complete rosters in the NFL and certainly 0:43:35.200 --> 0:43:37.960 helpful as well, when when the quarterback is still on 0:43:38.000 --> 0:43:41.279 his rookie contract. And I think that for me, if 0:43:41.280 --> 0:43:44.160 I'm a coach there. I'm looking at this and really 0:43:44.400 --> 0:43:47.080 learning from that as well. What do you sort of 0:43:47.080 --> 0:43:49.959 look at when you take a very sky high view 0:43:50.560 --> 0:43:53.440 of what the Houston Texans are and how they are built, 0:43:53.960 --> 0:43:56.600 and how do you communicate with those guys in the 0:43:56.600 --> 0:43:58.719 front office. How do you guys as coaches work with 0:43:58.760 --> 0:44:02.279 them to community traits and skill sets and things that 0:44:02.360 --> 0:44:05.040 will fit the totality of what they're creating. 0:44:05.960 --> 0:44:08.839 Yeah, I mean, I mean they first of all, Nick 0:44:08.840 --> 0:44:10.359 and Dimiko do an incredible job. 0:44:10.480 --> 0:44:13.880 Nick the scouting department in the front office. Uh. 0:44:14.640 --> 0:44:17.560 The one thing I would say is they're aligned. Okay, 0:44:17.600 --> 0:44:21.680 there's a complete alignment with those guys and with our team. 0:44:22.480 --> 0:44:26.279 And you know the players you know that that Nick 0:44:26.800 --> 0:44:29.680 and his staff are looking for, you know, their players 0:44:29.719 --> 0:44:33.240 that that we want in this building as Houston Texans. 0:44:33.239 --> 0:44:36.560 And and they they have great football character, and they 0:44:36.560 --> 0:44:41.319 play relentlessly regardless of position, and and we you know, 0:44:41.360 --> 0:44:44.440 I would say like throughout the year, they're very detailed, 0:44:44.480 --> 0:44:45.400 They're very thorough. 0:44:47.120 --> 0:44:47.960 It's just it's. 0:44:47.760 --> 0:44:52.640 Such an efficient process. They're great at communicating throughout the year, 0:44:52.719 --> 0:44:56.239 whether that's you know, right when the season ends, uh, 0:44:56.360 --> 0:44:57.640 you know, when we're in the pre draft or the 0:44:57.640 --> 0:45:00.560 free agent period of just being able to to dive 0:45:00.600 --> 0:45:02.640 into you know, who are the players out there that 0:45:02.920 --> 0:45:05.279 are possible people that we might want to on board 0:45:05.280 --> 0:45:08.120 here and bring bring into be a Texan and being 0:45:08.160 --> 0:45:10.719 able to really have good discussions and and and really 0:45:10.760 --> 0:45:13.960 spend time watching the tape and how what is their fit, 0:45:14.640 --> 0:45:16.319 you know, what is their fit here, what's their role 0:45:16.400 --> 0:45:16.719 going to be? 0:45:17.840 --> 0:45:18.960 How can they help us? 0:45:19.840 --> 0:45:22.520 And then being able to pour that, you know, bleed 0:45:22.560 --> 0:45:27.000 into the the UH draft process. Rather it's the same thing, 0:45:27.200 --> 0:45:32.080 very detailed, very systematic, very thorough, but really trying to 0:45:32.080 --> 0:45:34.319 to you know, leave no stone unturned, and there's a 0:45:34.400 --> 0:45:37.160 there's such a level of detail, but also an efficiency 0:45:37.160 --> 0:45:39.560 in the process not not not not a point of 0:45:39.560 --> 0:45:42.400 detail where it slows you down and its paralysis by analysis. 0:45:42.440 --> 0:45:45.080 It's the it's really the opposite. They do so much 0:45:45.120 --> 0:45:46.880 work on the on the front end of it, and 0:45:47.160 --> 0:45:50.359 from a coaching staff standpoint, you really appreciate how hard 0:45:50.680 --> 0:45:53.880 they work because they they allow us to to basically 0:45:53.960 --> 0:45:57.319 make an evaluation, you know, be able to speak you know, 0:45:57.400 --> 0:45:59.760 our opinion and what our evaluation is on a player, 0:46:00.440 --> 0:46:03.040 and then ultimately, you know, they make decisions on those guys, 0:46:03.080 --> 0:46:03.400 and we. 0:46:04.000 --> 0:46:06.200 Brought in really really good people. 0:46:06.360 --> 0:46:08.080 I haven't been here certainly, this is only one on 0:46:08.120 --> 0:46:11.760 my second year, but high character football, people that play 0:46:11.880 --> 0:46:15.919 really really hard, that are unselfish, that want to help 0:46:15.960 --> 0:46:18.680 our team have success, and you know, it's it's a 0:46:18.760 --> 0:46:19.600 roster full of them. 0:46:20.239 --> 0:46:22.279 Oh man, that's great to hear. And I mean I 0:46:22.600 --> 0:46:24.480 just to speak. I mean I only was there covering 0:46:24.520 --> 0:46:26.239 you guys for a brief moment there in the post 0:46:26.520 --> 0:46:29.799 right before the postseason. And that locker room, I mean, 0:46:29.800 --> 0:46:32.040 it was a weird game, but that locker room was 0:46:32.080 --> 0:46:36.320 so was so connected still and so like the vibes 0:46:36.320 --> 0:46:39.040 were very good, don't I don't know what I expected 0:46:39.080 --> 0:46:42.200 going in there, but it was like everybody was with 0:46:42.239 --> 0:46:45.280 each other. It wasn't offense or defense. Everybody was around 0:46:45.320 --> 0:46:47.680 each other still. And it was a road game for 0:46:47.719 --> 0:46:50.120 you guys, but it still was like not nobody was 0:46:50.239 --> 0:46:53.040 rushing each other. You know, it was like very I 0:46:53.040 --> 0:46:56.120 don't know, it was very It felt very familiar to me, 0:46:57.080 --> 0:46:59.560 and that to me seems like whenever I feel that 0:46:59.680 --> 0:47:03.200 around to team, I think there's some real speciality, some 0:47:03.239 --> 0:47:06.759 real potential there. So thank you for sharing a little 0:47:06.800 --> 0:47:10.760 bit more about that. You know, I kind of warned 0:47:10.800 --> 0:47:14.360 you about this. I can't. I cannot let you leave 0:47:14.520 --> 0:47:17.759 this set or this like virtual set without giving me 0:47:17.800 --> 0:47:21.280 a couple of music Rex or band Rex Eric, our producer, 0:47:21.400 --> 0:47:24.560 and I have a very similar taste in music as well. 0:47:24.640 --> 0:47:26.240 You know, we're kind of the warped to our kids 0:47:26.280 --> 0:47:30.600 here at NFL Daily. So I'm curious anything good you 0:47:30.640 --> 0:47:33.160 want to recommend to the listeners, anything you're listening to. 0:47:33.719 --> 0:47:35.120 I know you're a big music guy. 0:47:36.000 --> 0:47:39.719 I love music, yep. I mean you know, I would say, 0:47:39.920 --> 0:47:41.920 you know, I love Dave Matthews. I could listen to 0:47:42.000 --> 0:47:44.720 Dave Matthews about it from sun up to sundown. 0:47:44.800 --> 0:47:46.840 Dave Matthews band just went to the Woodlands. 0:47:46.920 --> 0:47:48.960 I pranked you on that pretty good one time with 0:47:49.080 --> 0:47:50.080 Kevin Dummoff too. 0:47:50.280 --> 0:47:53.000 You did, he did? He got me really good. I got. 0:47:53.000 --> 0:47:56.520 I got Jerry Schapplinskier quarterback coach, to you know, come 0:47:56.560 --> 0:47:58.840 out to the Dave Matthews. He was like, ah, Dave Matthews, 0:47:59.160 --> 0:48:00.880 you know what, I'm like, Jerry, just just we have 0:48:01.239 --> 0:48:02.799 we're off tomorrow. Man, Like, what are you gonna sit 0:48:02.840 --> 0:48:04.240 on your what are you gonna sit on your couch. 0:48:04.280 --> 0:48:06.960 We can go to Dave Matthews man actually with berg 0:48:07.320 --> 0:48:12.040 Uh came in town and so we ended up going 0:48:12.080 --> 0:48:13.719 and I go afterwards, I saw him. 0:48:13.920 --> 0:48:14.439 I looked over. 0:48:14.719 --> 0:48:17.200 I said, I saw him singing to himself, because Dave 0:48:17.239 --> 0:48:19.719 blends and will do all the interludes where he brings it, 0:48:19.760 --> 0:48:23.239 you know, different different songs and stuff and intertwines him. 0:48:23.360 --> 0:48:25.640 And I look over and he's singing. Afterwards, I say, man, 0:48:25.640 --> 0:48:28.200 how was he goes? It wasn't bad, I. 0:48:28.200 --> 0:48:30.080 Said, yeah, I told you you just gotta be over minded. 0:48:30.120 --> 0:48:34.600 But I would say, you know, Dave Matthews, the ones 0:48:34.640 --> 0:48:37.359 I've been listening to recently, O A R. 0:48:37.360 --> 0:48:39.800 I'm always going to rock out with O R. The 0:48:40.120 --> 0:48:42.359 early two thousands of State jam band. 0:48:42.400 --> 0:48:45.560 I mean they they they're always good to to listen 0:48:45.600 --> 0:48:51.480 to and dispatch I could. I I can crank dispatch 0:48:51.560 --> 0:48:53.200 from just about any time. 0:48:53.040 --> 0:48:58.800 And smiling really big behind the glass, right nice Paul. 0:48:59.000 --> 0:49:00.840 Yeah. I like being a little bit more of a 0:49:00.920 --> 0:49:02.080 calming mood sometimes. 0:49:02.280 --> 0:49:02.480 Yeah. 0:49:03.719 --> 0:49:06.400 And I listened to I listened to everything awesome. 0:49:06.680 --> 0:49:08.640 And my two little ones, my two little ones are 0:49:08.680 --> 0:49:11.640 going to be Jordan, They're gonna be out probably listening 0:49:11.640 --> 0:49:13.759 to be out in LA you know, probably hitting some 0:49:13.800 --> 0:49:16.080 concerts in about another fifteen sixteen years there. 0:49:16.320 --> 0:49:17.160 Oh yeah, I love you. 0:49:17.400 --> 0:49:19.600 Tell them to I'll give them the good spots. I'll 0:49:19.640 --> 0:49:21.840 get them the good, the good, the good venues to 0:49:21.880 --> 0:49:23.840 get to and and kind of go under the radar 0:49:23.920 --> 0:49:25.960 a little bit. So I got I got him, I 0:49:25.960 --> 0:49:27.839 got them covered here, Nick, don't worry about that. 0:49:27.880 --> 0:49:28.680 I appreciate it. 0:49:28.800 --> 0:49:32.640 Hey, I'm so glad that you joined us today. Uh Nick, 0:49:32.719 --> 0:49:36.480 This is Nick Kaylee. For those listening, Offensive coordinator of 0:49:36.520 --> 0:49:40.040 the Houston Texans. I'm coming up later this week on 0:49:40.239 --> 0:49:42.920 NFL Daily. We are back in your feeds. It's training camp. 0:49:43.000 --> 0:49:46.840 We've got practice reports, we've got news updates. We're continuing 0:49:46.920 --> 0:49:50.640 to go in granular detail to every single team in 0:49:50.680 --> 0:49:53.520 the league as training camp continues. Stay tuned in your 0:49:53.520 --> 0:49:55.080 feeds and thanks for listening.