WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Brand New Dey 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.000 Hike and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and this is the 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:10.319 Bengals Booth Podcast, the brand new day edition, as we 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:16.040 introduce you to Zach Taylor. Coming up two in depth conversations. First, 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:19.119 my fun facts interview with the Bengals new thirty five 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.040 years young head coach. If you want to know about 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:24.840 his plans for building a championship team in Cincinnati, it's 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.440 not that type of interview. For that information, I recommend 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.319 watching his introductory news conference on Bengals dot com or 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.720 reading the many great stories posted by Bengals dot Com 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.560 editor Jeff Hobson. My interview is more of a this 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.400 is your life type of conversation, ranging from how Zach 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:46.720 handled the white hot spotlight that goes with being the 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.880 starting quarterback at Nebraska to his wife, Sarah, who's about 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.720 to move for the seventeenth time in thirty five years 0:00:55.160 --> 0:01:00.240 as the daughter and wife of football coaches. After that conversation, 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.680 my broadcast partner Dave Lapham joins me to discuss why 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.959 the Bengals pick Zach Taylor and what players should expect 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.839 with him in charge. All of that is straight ahead, 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.039 but first here's a quick reminder that you can have 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:16.080 the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:20.400 or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, or pod Bean. 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:27.360 It's the greatest invention since YouTube. In doing some research 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.800 about Zach, I learned that one of the highlights of 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.200 his playing career in Nebraska was a game winning last 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.480 minute drive against Texas A and M. Want to see 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:40.679 it Search for Nebraska drive versus Texas A and M 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:45.640 and you can watch it on YouTube. I love that 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.280 that drive was one of many topics I asked him 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.600 about when we sat down after his news conference in 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:54.360 the Bengals locker room. Time for some fun facts with 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.160 the tenth head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, Zach Taylor. Zach, 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.280 you are from a football family. Your dad played at Oklahoma, 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.040 coached at Oklahoma. Your brother was a college quarterback, coaches 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:07.440 in the NFL. Your father in law was an NFL 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:12.200 head coach. What are your earliest football memories? Probably owe 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.920 you Nebraska when I was a little kid. You know, 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.400 I remember watching those games on TV when it was 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.079 in Lincoln and going to the games when it was 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.720 usually freezing cold outside in late November. And my next 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:24.519 reor neighbor was Gary Gibbs, who was the head coach 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:26.840 at Oklahoma for a number of years, and so his 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:28.560 daughter and I would play football in the front yard 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:30.440 while they were having road games on TV. And so, 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:32.639 you know, I grew up from the day. I can 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.640 remember being a Sooner fan and just wanting to play 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:37.720 and I seeing my son now, you know, Brooks, he 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.640 does the same way that I'm a coach. I can 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:42.520 see see my childhood through him now. And you're a 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.919 basketball ball boy for the Sooners. Correct. That's great research 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.240 by you. I was Billy Tubbs was the head coach, 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.000 and my uncle Mike Anderson was an assistant, and so 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.040 I could not tell you how old I was. I 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.160 was probably nine or ten years old. My sweat bottoms 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.919 were too long. I trip over him, and I'd sit 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.560 behind the opposing teams head coach, you know, and just 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.119 kind of serve water all the players. So, yeah, that 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.440 that goes way back to my really early days. We're 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.400 doing fun facts with Zach Taylor. You shared a bedroom 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.120 with your brother Press. I've read that it was a 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:17.360 shrine to Peyton Manning. Yeah, we actually had a Tennessee 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.800 jersey on the wall. We had an old Miss Jersey 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:22.920 on the wall for Eli, for my younger brother. So 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.120 we had a basketball hoop. We had really high ceilings 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:26.720 for whatever reason. It was above the garage. It was 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.840 a former attic that we converted, so we had high ceilings. 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:31.280 We had a basketball hoop in there, and there was 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:34.400 a lot of competitive games back in the day. A 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:36.200 lot of tears shed, that's for sure, with some of 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.600 the elbows we threw to each other. But yeah, it 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.760 was it was. That was. That was a long time ago. 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:43.880 You're really doing your research here. I love, we're just 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.800 getting started. Trust So you and your brother have competed 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.920 against each other in the NFL. And there's a trophy, 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:56.360 the Taylor bro Bowl Trophy in your father's office right 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.400 It's in my father's office in Norman. Unfortunately, I'm not 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.320 gonna say the record on air here because it's it's 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.200 not in my direction right now. But hopefully someday in 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:07.200 the next couple of years we can we can even score. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:09.920 You are a great player at Nebraska. You were the 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:11.840 Big Twelve Player of the Year your senior year as 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:15.240 a quarterback. And if you're the quarterback at Nebraska, you 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:19.600 are playing under a white hot spotlight. How has that 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:21.640 prepared you for what you're about to do now? I 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:25.240 think it's it's really helping me that that experience is invaluable. 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:30.560 And you know, I've never I've never been a wild 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.000 person outside of the complex, but it really does let 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:35.839 you know that you're in a fish bowl and everyone's 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:37.760 watching everything you do, and you get to conduct yourself 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.960 the right way and treat people with respect, and so 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:43.440 that goes a long way. And I've known that since 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.680 my childhood. I think my parents raised me the right way, 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.400 and so that just carried over my time at Nebraska. 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.279 But that is that is an intense environment. I know 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:53.160 what it's like to be booed when you're thrown on completion, 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.279 and so you know, I know that that's no different 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.799 when you're coaching the NFL. So I think that experience 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.400 will serve me. Well, we're doing fun facts with Zach Taylor. 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:02.640 If you're a forty nine Ers fan, you have the 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.920 catch Dwight Clark's catch against the Cowboys. If you're a 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:10.599 Broncos fan, you have the helicopter John Elway's leaping first 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.200 down flight in the Super Bowl against the Packers. If 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:18.000 you're a Nebraska fan, you've heard of the drive which 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.159 you led against Texas A and M, a dramatic last 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.600 minute game winning touchdown drive. Look up the words Zach 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.400 Taylor drive on the internet and it takes you right 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.760 to the YouTube clip. Was that the highlight of your 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.160 playing days? Yeah, that was certainly one of them. You know, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.200 that clinched the Big twelve North for us, and that 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:36.880 was something that we had a goal of all season, 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:38.920 and to do it on the road in an intense 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:43.160 environment against a great team at the time, it was 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.680 not easy to do and it took all three phases 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:48.040 in that game. We walked a kick. First of all, 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:49.760 we got to stop on defense, and then we walked 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.359 a kick, and then we were able to convert on 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.159 offense and go down and Marie Spurify had a great 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.039 touchdown catch there on the left corner of the end zone. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.640 So that's a memory I'll never forget, certainly one of 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.760 our better moments at Nebraska. Yeah, that was that was 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.479 a fun time. After Nebraska was finished, you spent some 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.960 time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The head coach was 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.880 John Gruden at the time, famously tough on quarterbacks. I 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.480 know you weren't there for very long, but did you 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:15.960 get a taste of that. I did. He has high 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.120 standard for those guys and puts a lot on their 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:19.800 point and expects a lot out of him, which you 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.120 showed in the NFL, and so I appreciated the way 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.280 you coach. I was. I think I was the six 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.960 stream quarterback and there was only five quarterbacks there because 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.400 Jake Plummer was under contract but not reporting. So I 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.960 didn't take any snaps really during my time there. But 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:36.719 it was a fun experience to be a part of 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:38.479 an NFL team, at least for a couple of weeks, 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:40.839 and from there was on to the CFL. You didn't 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.120 get the opportunity to play for Winnipeg, but you were 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.679 on the team. What was that experience like? It was good? 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.320 You know, that wasn't a great fit for me. You know, 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:50.120 I got small hands and that ball is a little 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:51.920 bit bigger. So I knew really the first day I 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.840 showed up on the campus the place and picked up 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:56.520 a football. I said, this isn't gonna go well for me. 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.800 So I happened to join the best team. We went 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.479 to the Great Cup. We were the runner ups, but 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.000 it was a good experience for me just to be 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:05.960 able to check that one off and say that this 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:07.480 isn't the future for me. I think it's time to 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.160 get into coaching. I found an interview I think from 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.640 maybe July of two thousand and seven something like that, 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:14.960 you were twenty five years old, and it's the first 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.360 reference that I saw you say I want to be 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:19.720 a head coach. How did you know in your mid 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.520 twenties that you wanted to do this. Well, I think 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.440 I've had great role models and great coaches that coach 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.840 Man College, and so when you're around great teachers like that, 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.040 it leaves a lasting impression on you. And you know, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.000 I've made the statement before. I remember sending a Nikon 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:36.880 and accounting classes at Nebraska and studying my playbook instead 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:38.240 of paying attention to what I should have been paying 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.160 attention to. And so you know, at some point a 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.040 don's on you that maybe this is the best path 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.360 for me. This is what I understand, this is what 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.160 I like to do. When you've been around great teachers 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:48.760 that you can follow their lead, and it was just 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.160 a natural progression for me. I got to know you 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:53.520 a little bit in twenty sixteen when you were the 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.920 offensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati, and it was 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:58.120 a tough year always coach Tuberville's final year as the 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.840 head coach. You've said you learned from that experience. Give 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.400 me something something it's specifically that you learned from that year. Well, 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.240 I mean, there's games where it's difficult to move the 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:08.920 ball and you face a lot of adversity, and so 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:13.680 you always want to be accountable and take responsibility when 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:15.040 you feel like you're the leader of that side of 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.280 the ball. And so because the coaches and the players 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.120 always going to look to you to be an example, 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:20.680 and it's not always going to be easy. There's going 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.040 to be adversity in this profession, and so you got 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.119 to conduct yourself the right way, be a problem solver. 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:27.240 And those are some things I took away from that 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.320 experience there. For that year, you recruited a quarterback that 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.120 you didn't get to coach, but Cincinnati fans are happy 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:35.839 you did, Desmond Ritter, and you two guys have stayed 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.720 in frequent contact. Yeah, he's a great kid. I fell 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:40.720 in love with him when he was in Louisville. And 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:43.720 remember the workout he conducted with his teammates and he 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:45.439 was just a great leader. That's the thing that struck 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.240 me is the guys were drawn to him, and he 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:50.960 led the whole workout was accurate. And so it's great 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:52.800 to see the job that Luke Fickle has done there 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.120 with that program. He's outstanding coach, treats people the right way, 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:58.520 and I think Dez has done a great job leading 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.880 that team. A few more fun fact for Zach Taylor, 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.319 you and your wife Sarah enjoyed your time. Here's talking 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.040 to her a little while ago, she said this will 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:11.360 be her seventeenth move related to coaching, her father's coaching 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:15.520 career and now your coaching career. That's unbelievable, it is. 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.240 But she's a trooper. Her mom's a trooper, and so 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.880 she learned from her mom. And you know, she's really 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:22.680 the leader of her household. She keeps it all together 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.319 and she's been outstanding throughout this whole process. So it's 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.640 nice to for once leave a place that we really 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.080 enjoyed being and come back to a place that really 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:31.760 feels like home. And so I know that's special for 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.640 her and special for me. It just feels right. How 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.280 do you juggle the demands of being an NFL head 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.520 coach with trying to raise four young kids. It's hard. 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.440 I mean, it's important to have a wife who understands 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.360 what she signed up for and can be the leader 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:47.000 that she is. And you know, but my family is 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.000 the most important thing to me, and so every chance 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.400 I get away from football, I want to make time 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:52.959 for them and be the dad that they need and 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.599 the husband that they need. And so you know, we 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.080 do have a special group of kids, and my wife 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.520 leads the charge there, so I appreciate her all right. 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.840 Last few topics, No great research on my part. Greatest 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.839 athlete in any sport of all time? I mean Michael Jordan. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.160 As a kid in my generation, that's who I grew 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.440 up idolizing and in watching and thinking he was the 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:17.120 greatest of all time. And so um, that's probably the 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:19.520 name I would say. Do you have a hidden talent 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:24.160 that nobody knows about? No, I can. I can definitely 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:26.560 say that I have no talents that are not well known. 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.800 What was your all time worst sports injury? I broke 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:38.600 my wrist my first ever tackle football game. And my dad, 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.200 who was my coach, I don't know if he's here 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:41.960 and out. My dad was my coach, and he didn't. 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:44.520 You know, a coach whose son is playing tackle for 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:46.920 the first time as the quarterback and he's hurt on 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.160 in the first game, you know, hey, tough enough and 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.680 get back out there. But in reality, I'd broken my wrist, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.640 so um, you know, typical coach. He's trying to get 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.880 me to play through it. I'm crying. You know, I'm 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:59.800 in sixth grade and uh that you know, I've really 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:03.120 been fortunate, knock on wood, to have not suffered any 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.719 injuries in my playing or coaching career, and that was 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.480 probably the biggest one. Great to have you back in town. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.280 Look forward to working with you. Congratulations on extraordinary day. 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.440 Thank you very much, Dan claudi Beer. I hope you 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.960 enjoyed that conversation with Zach as much as I did, 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.640 and I really look forward to co hosting his weekly 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:23.600 TV show this fall with Dave Lappham. Speaking of Lap, 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:27.280 he played for the first four head coaches in Bengals history, 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.480 including Paul Brown and Forrest Gregg, and he's covered the 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:36.000 last five as a Bengals broadcaster. Following Zach's introductory news conference, 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:40.160 I picked Lap's brain on the hiring of Zach Taylor Lap. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.440 We've known this was coming for a while. Now it's official. 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.040 Zach Taylor is the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.920 I thought he killed the news conference, which is always 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:49.840 a good first day on the job. What were some 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.960 of your biggest takeaways? I agree with you, Dan, I 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:54.280 think I think he killed it, destroyed it, and I 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.439 can see why in an interview process for our interview 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.040 process with the committee that tasks with finding a new 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.520 head coach, that he crushed it, you know, and he 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:05.839 was the guy that they walked away from that meeting 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.520 was saying, Wow, this guy's impressive. You know two things 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.520 that I think he's going to be all about, and 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:17.840 I think they're equally important, and it's almost like peanut 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.600 butter and jelly. They're both good when you put them together, 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:27.520 they're even better. Scheme and culture, and that's he's big. 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.000 Scheme is obvious. I think he feels like he's got 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.360 a scheme that's gonna work. It's a proven scheme out 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.120 there with the La Rams. He knows an inside out. 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.439 I think you're gonna have offensive players are going to 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:41.960 be thrilled to death. They're gonna put up, be put 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:45.480 in favorable matchups. It's all about matchups, and he is 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:52.439 gonna design and scheme formations, personnel motion to get matchups 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.480 that will heighten that player's skill set. He'll put them 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.920 on the big stage to do big things. Quarterback Andy Dalton, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:06.520 Aj Green. I mean, you know, Joe Mixon, Giovanni, Bernard, Tyler, Boyd, 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:09.640 if the list goes on and on. He is gonna 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:13.760 make their life so much better. And it's it's it's gonna. 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.880 It reminds me of when Linda and Fonte had us 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:18.560 on a roll when we were in the Super Bowl. 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:22.080 As a player, we'd go into those meetings when he 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.680 was introduced in the game plan like what's he got now? 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:28.880 Oh boy, what's he cooking? How what's my involvement going 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:31.560 to be in this big process? And guys couldn't wait. 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:33.959 And I can see that same thing happening with these 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.760 guys because everybody knows what the Rams did through thirty 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.760 three until I get belichicked. But thirty three points a game, 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:45.199 you know, is phenomenal, and so that part of it, 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:47.880 I think is going to be dynamic. But the other 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.640 part is more of an intangible obviously in the culture, 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.080 you know, his whole thing is like Sean McVay. He said, 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:56.600 the biggest thing that he learned from Sean McVay was 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:01.400 dealing with people, not necessarily scheme and although scheme officus 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.960 was huge and important, but everybody's validated. Everybody in that 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:09.480 RAMS organization has validation from very top to very bottom, 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.680 and everybody's opinion means something. Everybody's opinion is solicited, and 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:18.360 that's that's when you're valued like that. I mean, everybody 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.280 wants to contribute to the cause even more so. So 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.040 those are the two things that you know, I took 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.880 away from from the long press conference and the long 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.160 meetings with media that he had afterwards, and even his 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.480 patience with all of that. His endurance and patience through 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.160 that whole thing was impressive. By Zach as I listened 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.480 to his news conference, the person that I thought of, 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.240 oddly enough, was Luke Fickle because he kept coming back 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.960 to the theme that guys want to be pushed, they 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.320 want discipline, and we are going to They're going to 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.160 come in here and love going to work every day. 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.160 That really reminded me about what I've been hearing for 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.040 the last couple of years from UC's now highly successful 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.120 head coach. Well, you know, it's it's a lot like 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:05.280 being a parent. I mean, your kids crave discipline, whether 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.680 they realize it or not. Your kids need discipline. They 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.760 crave discipline, they respond to discipline. And I'm not talking 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.520 about you know, cruel and unusual unusual punishment discipline, but 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.800 I'm talking about structure and the discipline in the daily life. 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.120 And you know, knowing that they're going to get three 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:22.960 good meals, whatever their schedule is, they're going to go 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:24.720 to bed at night and have a roof over there. 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:26.680 All of that sort of thing your kids create that 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.800 they create the continuity and the consistency of all that. 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:33.240 Players are the same way players want to be, you know, 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:37.040 coached by guys that know what they're doing. And players 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.360 can sniff out guys that don't know what they're doing quickly, 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.040 and they can also really appreciate guys that do know 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:47.400 what they're doing. And the response is immediate and dramatic. 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:49.360 And I think that's what he's going I think guys 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.160 are gonna be like, Wow, this stuff is really good. 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.000 This guy knows what he's doing. I think that's the 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.640 reaction he's going to get. And you know, and I 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.600 think I think the players are. I think he's going 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:05.000 to treat him like men. But I do think that 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:07.320 he's going to hard coach him too. And you know, 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.320 you don't have to beat guys up, but you know, 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.760 just whether it's repetition of the same things over and 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.320 over and over again and then maybe presenting in a 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:18.920 different way, but it's the same thing, and then they 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.560 catch onto it that way. It's it's giving a pulse 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.440 for you know how if you if you have any 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.320 Dalton who can understand calculus, but you have other guys 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.600 out there on the offense and only understand the alger one, 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:33.880 you can't go to calculus until you get the algab 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:35.960 one to go to algebra two, and beyond that, you know, 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:37.800 you have to dumb it down. Those are all the 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.960 things he's going to be learning about his personnel, not 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.520 just watching what their physical attributes are on tape, but 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.080 getting to know them as players and as people. And 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.480 he's going to deep dive into everybody. You can tell 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.280 that man, he's gonna drill. He's gonna drill down really 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.840 really far. Indeed, we both know him a little bit. 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.320 I got to know him from his season at the 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.280 University of Cincinnati when he was the offensive coordinator. You 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.520 broadcast his games as a Nebraska quarterback and got to 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.600 be in these production meetings leading a leading up to 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.920 kickoff on Saturday. I could see why the Brown family 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.240 would be so drawn to him. Humble guy, not a 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:19.320 flashy guy very much, just wants to be part of 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:24.760 a team. Um. It seems to me like personality wise, 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:29.800 he's a perfect fit for Mike Brown, Katie Troy, Paul 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:32.719 and Duke Tobin, no question about it. And you know 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:37.040 the another common denominators. Both are football families. Their whole 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.919 life is football. Mike Brown doesn't have other businesses, and 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.880 this is a hobby. This is it. This is Mike 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.800 Brown's life. You know, he grew up with football with 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.080 his dad, the legendary Paul Brown, and it just goes 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:50.960 from there. Zach Taylor's family, I mean, his father, his 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.280 father in law's brother. I mean it's you know, everybody's football. Um. 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:59.080 So yeah, that that was that was was striking to me. 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.320 And I just think the other thing with him is 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:08.359 he never when he played we were talking about this earlier, 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.240 he did take a beating. I mean, he got crushed. 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.800 He got he got pounded, he got thrown around. He 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:16.520 never pointed a finger at his offensive line. He never 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.200 complained to anybody. He just took the licking and kept 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.919 on ticking. And that's that's what he's like with Tommy Tubberville. 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.480 Could have you know he was being thrown on the bus. 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.200 He never threw anybody under the bus. He always burdens 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:32.800 the shoulder responsibility, you know. And he's like playing the 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.720 quarterback position. We've talked about this before. Every great one 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:40.520 shoulders the burden of blame and deflects credit. I screwed 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.879 that up, man, that guy made a great play. And 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.520 that's how he is with not just as a quarterback 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:47.119 on the field playing, but I think that's how he 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:51.280 is as a leader. He is good whenever they have success. Everybody, man, 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.560 you guys were all great. Whenever they struggle. I'm not 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.840 doing enough. I'm just not good enough. That that concept, 0:18:57.920 --> 0:18:59.960 I think is going to be him as a leader 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.639 of the Cincinnati Bengals organization as well. I really believe that. 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.040 Let's talk about the football mine because obviously he's got 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.840 the Sean McVeigh ties now for the last couple of seasons, 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.320 but even going back to his playing days. He takes 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.320 over as the quarterback in Nebraska when they are converting 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.880 from having a run the football and option football forever 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.520 to becoming a West Coast passing style under Bill Callahan. 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:26.800 The fans revolted, This isn't Nebraska football an incredibly complex 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.200 system for college football at that point? And he picked 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:33.200 it up in a snap. I did, and Bill Callahan 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:35.399 and I remember, you know, I was part of the 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.840 West Coast offense. I remember a lot of nomenclature. I 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.119 mean a lot of words. I mean some players were 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.359 like fifteen twenty words, you know, to get a play 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:47.919 called it was. It was multiple words for formation, protection, 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:50.879 the actual play. It's like, wow, you know some words 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:53.280 for routes, so we're supposed to be It was something. 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.440 And Bill Callahan and his dad was talking about it today. 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.960