Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson, new
Speaker 1: assistant head coach offensive coordinator Eric B. Enemy. How does
Speaker 1: first press conference as a commander? Earlier this morning, Washington's
Speaker 1: new play caller met with members of the media to
Speaker 1: discuss his role and what he brings to the table.
Speaker 1: Former Washington players Logan Paulson, and Fred Smote shared their
Speaker 1: takeaways from the presser and how they see the enemy
Speaker 1: impacting the commander's offense. Eric B. Enemy certainly commands the
Speaker 1: room and you were kind of hanging on every single
Speaker 1: word that he was saying. Fred. It shows that things
Speaker 1: will be different, YEA, not only different, more exciting. He said,
Speaker 1: I want a couple of things from my offense. I
Speaker 1: want them to be fast, unpredictable, and we're gonna have
Speaker 1: fun doing it. That also tells me that he's gonna
Speaker 1: make sure everybody knows the plan of attack in dn
Speaker 1: they attack. And you got to love that as an
Speaker 1: offensive player like I love it, and I'm a defensive
Speaker 1: player for a long time. The one weakness is why
Speaker 1: do we run the place? You run the plays and
Speaker 1: connecting the place. I think we got something here and
Speaker 1: if you're a part of this fan base. You gotta
Speaker 1: be feeling good right about that. Both of you have
Speaker 1: familiarity with him, playing against him, with them underneath them.
Speaker 1: You know it goes back. But Logan, what would you
Speaker 1: say the biggest thing is that you kind of learned
Speaker 1: from what he's going to bring to Washington. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think the thing that's most exciting It came across in
Speaker 1: the press conference too, is like the way he commands
Speaker 1: the room and his attention to detail. Like he mentioned
Speaker 1: that in the presser. You see that in how that
Speaker 1: Kansas City Office execally had been watching a lot of
Speaker 1: Kansas City film. They are very detail oriented in what
Speaker 1: they do, and I think that's something that was maybe
Speaker 1: lack here could have been improved on or the last
Speaker 1: couple of seasons. So can't wait to get that here
Speaker 1: because the detailed offense is a dangerous offense. And really
Speaker 1: excited he's gonna bring that mantaility when you brought that up.
Speaker 1: I actually had the pleasure of practicing against him for
Speaker 1: a whole entire year when I was in Minnesota, and
Speaker 1: the one thing he knew about me I don't like
Speaker 1: to give up favor routes. So he started running comebacks
Speaker 1: hit me right, So Dean, I say, coach, why are
Speaker 1: you running these comeback? He say, because you played too high?
Speaker 1: So he will legists. I've had time to go to
Speaker 1: war with him. I know where his mind frame is,
Speaker 1: and I know how he thinks. And this attack, attack, attack,
Speaker 1: and that's what you want on our field. You know,
Speaker 1: if I was a player sitting in that front row,
Speaker 1: I would say, Okay. The biggest message came is that
Speaker 1: he wants to know who I am as a player,
Speaker 1: as an individual, and then how to put me in
Speaker 1: the best situation to sixteed. But he says he's really
Speaker 1: big on accountability and when you're too comfortable, that can
Speaker 1: lead to trouble, which is why he took this job. Logan, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I think that's you know, like friend and
Speaker 1: I we're talking about this. This This is not a perfect
Speaker 1: job by an instruction of imagination, but it's an opportunity
Speaker 1: for him to kind of prove it right, get to
Speaker 1: know these players, emphasize these skill sets, and I think
Speaker 1: that's exciting. That's an exciting opportunity for a guy who
Speaker 1: wants to challenge himself and make himself better. Fred. Look,
Speaker 1: he said he's been quite busy over the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: I was gonna believe right, yeah, that when it does
Speaker 1: come to evaluating now his offense, what's the first step?
Speaker 1: The first step, we said, you know what, I have
Speaker 1: all these guys on the outside. We need to get
Speaker 1: the inside together. We need the guys. This smell like bacon.
Speaker 1: When I go to the grocery store, I go to
Speaker 1: the bacon six and first, all right, you know why
Speaker 1: because I need that defense. And you look at the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl contenders. It was the number one in number
Speaker 1: two outfense and defensive lines. All right, if you want
Speaker 1: to eat in this league, you've got to push people
Speaker 1: around stores with the big guests. Starts from the inside out.
Speaker 1: And he was very clear to say that you have
Speaker 1: to go to protect the quarterback. He doesn't want his
Speaker 1: quarterback to be hit. As a player, he didn't want that.
Speaker 1: As a coach, he doesn't want that. So look, the
Speaker 1: evaluations will begin soon enough. But let's give him a
Speaker 1: little chimp to catch you brown. Patient, be patient. Plus,
Speaker 1: I sat down with the enemy to discuss his move
Speaker 1: to Washington and the commander's young offensive weapons. Welcome, Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you very much. First impression so far of what
Speaker 1: is going to be your new home and your new family,
Speaker 1: because you've already had the opportunity to meet some of
Speaker 1: your players, evaluate some of the staff now the media
Speaker 1: very impressed. Obviously. I've known Coach Rivera for a number
Speaker 1: of years. He's a great man, a man of integrity,
Speaker 1: He's an outstanding leader of men, and I'm just grateful
Speaker 1: to have this opportunity working with him, and then having
Speaker 1: an opportunity to getting to know Martin Mayhew, you know
Speaker 1: over the years as Stokes over the years, and then
Speaker 1: Jason Wright, He's from the same neck of the woods
Speaker 1: that I grew up in southern California. And then Marty Hearney.
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't notice Marty Hernie was on
Speaker 1: that staff. I think that he was a director of
Speaker 1: player of personnel at the time when I was drafted
Speaker 1: by the San Diego Charges, So our relationship goes back
Speaker 1: to nineteen ninety one. So it feels good being in
Speaker 1: an environment with people that you know, but also good
Speaker 1: people who are professional men that understand what it takes
Speaker 1: to build a winner. You know, when head coach Arono
Speaker 1: Rivera first started this, he wanted something different to run
Speaker 1: this offense because there's so much talent. And I know
Speaker 1: we don't like to talk too much about potential, but
Speaker 1: there's a lot of potential there now. We Your success
Speaker 1: is very well documented and you're not wearing your Super
Speaker 1: Bowl rings right now flashing them, but you have every
Speaker 1: right to stand problem the accomplishments you have. What makes
Speaker 1: you though the right guy for this job here in DC, Well,
Speaker 1: what makes me the right guy is the leadership that
Speaker 1: I'm going to bring on top of that, holding guys
Speaker 1: to the highest standard, getting them to understand the importance
Speaker 1: of being accountable. I think that goes a very long way.
Speaker 1: On top of that, just understanding what consistent and discipline
Speaker 1: behavior is, and you've got to be willing to work
Speaker 1: at it every single day, and then willing to sacrifice
Speaker 1: and what I mean sacrifice, It ain't necessarily given up
Speaker 1: something is what are you willing to do to make
Speaker 1: the next man better? And so once you start building
Speaker 1: that and start getting guys to understand the importance of
Speaker 1: those terms and they start living it, now you have
Speaker 1: an opportunity to be as successful as you want. Because
Speaker 1: a part of that is making sure you're building a
Speaker 1: cohesive unit and If you get a cohesive unit that
Speaker 1: believing each other and play for each other, those guys
Speaker 1: are double out and be great. Because the talent is here,
Speaker 1: everybody wants to know what kind of system you'll run,
Speaker 1: and you've worked with a lot of different quarterbacks as
Speaker 1: as Andy Reid to where maybe the system isn't necessarily
Speaker 1: always the exact same. You look at the talent you
Speaker 1: have here, like, what is going to be different? What
Speaker 1: can we expect from the system and the plays you
Speaker 1: will call? Well, I think more than anything, it's just
Speaker 1: utilizing the guys and allowing them to be themselves because
Speaker 1: you always want their personalities to show, but just putting
Speaker 1: them in the best situation so they can be the
Speaker 1: best player that they could be to give us the
Speaker 1: great you know, a great deal of success. So it's
Speaker 1: it's a system just like everybody else's. We're gonna run it,
Speaker 1: we're gonna throw it, but when it's all said done,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be flexible and creative with it, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna allow these guys to let their personalities show and
Speaker 1: be the very best to who they need to be.
Speaker 1: Kansas City, you had Patrick Mahomes and a great situation
Speaker 1: right there, and a lot of success with probably much
Speaker 1: more still to come. There are time's not done yet,
Speaker 1: Oh not at all. Everybody who was sitting here for
Speaker 1: years saying you need to be a head coach than
Speaker 1: your resume would speak for that. So why leave Kansas
Speaker 1: City now? And for here? It's been an amazing ride.
Speaker 1: I've been in for ten years. Not everybody can say
Speaker 1: it's been in one place for ten years. And throughout
Speaker 1: that ten years we've had a great deal of success.
Speaker 1: My last five years there as the Office of coordinated,
Speaker 1: we went five AFC Championship games with the three Super
Speaker 1: Bowls we won two. Okay, So, just like I said
Speaker 1: my press conference, comfort can become the enemy of progress,
Speaker 1: and sometimes you just want to do something new and
Speaker 1: it's about embracing the challenge. I've never ran away from
Speaker 1: a challenge, So what is the challenge here? Then? The
Speaker 1: challenge is getting these guys that believe in who they
Speaker 1: are and getting these guys to understand that if you
Speaker 1: want something bad enough, you got to be willing to
Speaker 1: work at it every single day, invest in it, investing
Speaker 1: each other, but also making sure that you can stay
Speaker 1: focused on the prize. And that's a hard task. It's
Speaker 1: a very challenging task. A lot of it starts with
Speaker 1: the quarterback. As we've seen, we've heard this team has
Speaker 1: not had a lot of stability, still trying to really
Speaker 1: find that number one QB being a veteran that they
Speaker 1: potentially bring under Sam Howell coming in here and coach
Speaker 1: Riveria has been quick to say they're going to give
Speaker 1: him every opportunity to be that guy. From what you
Speaker 1: know of Courts and even Pat Mahomes you know as well,
Speaker 1: always will come in had to like learn, develop and
Speaker 1: grow into being who we know him as today. What
Speaker 1: do you see in Howell and what is it you
Speaker 1: want out of him to where he could be that
Speaker 1: guy to lead this team. Well, first of all, you
Speaker 1: see a guy who can make a number of throws.
Speaker 1: We had an opportunity to evaluate him coming out when
Speaker 1: he came out of North Carolina. On top of that,
Speaker 1: I had a bunch of inside information with people who
Speaker 1: coaches and work at the University of North Carolina. So
Speaker 1: I feel like I know the kid, but the kid
Speaker 1: just has something about it. But you always want to
Speaker 1: create competition to bring the very best out of each player.
Speaker 1: So I think Sam has an opportunity to be the
Speaker 1: number one guy. Yes, he does, but you want to
Speaker 1: create a competitive environment, so nobody's taking anything for granted,
Speaker 1: because when it's all saying done, we want to make
Speaker 1: sure that our guys are being at their best when
Speaker 1: their best is needed. We'll see what he has to
Speaker 1: offer during the offseason, and that's when you can really
Speaker 1: get into the evaluations to see what this team kind
Speaker 1: of needs to be successful. But you're already a little
Speaker 1: familiar with the running backs, the receivers, the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Being a running back yourself, do you fall to the
Speaker 1: mentality of run first. I'll say this, We're gonna do
Speaker 1: whatever it takes to win, and when it's all said
Speaker 1: and done, we're gonna play complimentary football. We want our
Speaker 1: guys to not fall into the idea that, hey, we
Speaker 1: have to do this. No, we got to do whatever
Speaker 1: it takes to win. That's the most important thing. So
Speaker 1: yes we will run it, and yes we will throw it.
Speaker 1: But when it's all said and done, what we're gonna
Speaker 1: do whatever it is needed to help us to accomplish
Speaker 1: a goal. You've been around some of the best talent
Speaker 1: in the game. When you do evaluate this roster and
Speaker 1: I know it's still early. What is that potential? Do
Speaker 1: you dare talk about that potential? I think you have
Speaker 1: to be careful with that, And like I said, I'm
Speaker 1: still going through the evaluation process. But I also have
Speaker 1: to say, as a fan, because I'm still a fan
Speaker 1: of football and a number of these guys I've had
Speaker 1: an opportunity value when they came out of college, you
Speaker 1: can't help be a fan of the young talent here. Now,
Speaker 1: I just got to make sure that we're putting it
Speaker 1: together the right way and giving these guys the best
Speaker 1: opportunity to be successful. But that's a part of the
Speaker 1: evaluation process as well. So I got to make sure
Speaker 1: that I go back and take a look at every position,
Speaker 1: making sure that I can have a set plan and
Speaker 1: put it together the right way for these particular players.
Speaker 1: So we talk a lot about you taking over as
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, but a big part of this job as
Speaker 1: your assistant head coach. What does that mean? Well, it
Speaker 1: means a lot. And here's the thing me and Coach
Speaker 1: Ryan is still working through all the different responsibilities that
Speaker 1: he's going to give me. And I say this and
Speaker 1: not that I'm dodging the question. It has been a
Speaker 1: whirlwind tour, going from the super Bowl to the parade,
Speaker 1: then coming out here for a number of days, flying back,
Speaker 1: and then packing up an office of ten years worth
Speaker 1: of stuff, which is good, but when you have ten
Speaker 1: years worth the stuff, it could be a bad thing too.
Speaker 1: So there'll be a few boxes outside. So but my
Speaker 1: job is to make sure that whatever Coach Ryan has
Speaker 1: a store for me, it's gonna work out in a
Speaker 1: beneficial way. Yeah, I've heard a lot of different stories
Speaker 1: on your coaching style and how verbal and choice of
Speaker 1: words and the you know, the alpha of alpha's. It's
Speaker 1: just rumors. So how would you How would you describe that?
Speaker 1: Because my understanding is is it can be intense and
Speaker 1: for a good reason. Well, a part of it is
Speaker 1: getting to know the players, Okay, And my job is
Speaker 1: to make sure that I'm continue to develop the relationships.
Speaker 1: And so the way I like the terms that I
Speaker 1: coach hard, but I coach fair. I'm gonna be your
Speaker 1: biggest advocate. But on top of that, okay, i'm gonna
Speaker 1: be your harshest critic. But nothing's coming from a personal attack.
Speaker 1: One thing I'm attacking is attacking that particular issue that
Speaker 1: I think that you could have done a better job
Speaker 1: of and we're being accountable to one another. They don't
Speaker 1: know to learn that. Hey, you know what, I got
Speaker 1: to be better in that particular situation. But there's a
Speaker 1: place in time for that, and you pick and choose
Speaker 1: your own moments. But sometimes it might just be like, hey,
Speaker 1: you can just look at a player and then look back. Yeah, coach,
Speaker 1: I screwed that one up, and that's all that needs
Speaker 1: to be saying. I'm looking forward to seeing that coaching
Speaker 1: style come to place as we do get into off
Speaker 1: season and training camp and eventually next season as well.
Speaker 1: You're a player, do you remember your last touchdown? That's
Speaker 1: a good question, you know what not as you say
Speaker 1: that was it against U the Washington Yeah, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: when I was playing to fill it now that I
Speaker 1: think about it, that was Donovan's rookie year. Huh. Let's
Speaker 1: bringing everything full strong, all right, may Can we appreciate
Speaker 1: your time. We look forward to getting to know you
Speaker 1: over over the months to come. Well, I appreciate it,
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, thank you for all your Commander's
Speaker 1: news and analysis. Be sure to tune into Command Center
Speaker 1: weeknights at five and ten pm. On NBC Sports Washington.
Speaker 1: You can also stream on YouTube and commanders dot com