WEBVTT - The OTP | Coaching Changes 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:13.880 This is the OTP, presented by our great friends at 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.440 Farm Bureau Health Plans. No matter your life stage, you 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.480 can plan on Farm Bureau Health Plans for great healthcare 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:27.200 coverage with a sensible price tag. Visit FBHP dot com. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.160 It is Wednesday, February the eighth. I am joined by 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:33.640 Amy Wells. My name is Mike Keith. Amy. How are 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.880 you doing on this Wednesday? Well, I'm splendid, Mike Keith. 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.040 How are you well? I'm fine. People are probably saying, 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:47.200 didn't you do an OTP yesterday? And the answer is yes, 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.880 we just can't get enough of us. Though well it's 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:53.400 not exactly how it all went down, just to share 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.880 with the ot people. By the way, great response to 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.600 the gathering of the ot people. I think nobody likes that. 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:05.040 I think they are clamoring for it. So we came 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.679 in yesterday with our great friend, the ever reliable Rhett Brian, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:16.959 and we recorded the OTP on Tuesday ten thirty. So 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.560 two o'clock I'm away from the office. I get a 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.160 text from you and you said Rabel is talking at 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.240 four thirty. Immediately I get a pit in my stomach 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.120 because I know that means there is news coming, and 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:37.360 sure enough he announces major changes in the coaching staff, 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:41.080 particularly the offensive coaching staff. So this is sort of 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:46.680 an addendum to the February seven OTP. Right, I think 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.160 that's a fair way to put it. That's actually what happened, 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.720 and it's like a little bonus bonus footage on a DVD. 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:58.760 So when the release came out, I've got to admit 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.160 I was a little bit in. It was a lot, 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.080 it was. It was a lot to take in. I 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:10.600 don't think that Tim Kelly to offensive coordinator was a surprise. 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:13.760 I always thought he was sort of the leader in 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:20.239 quite the literal clubhouse, because he certainly has a relationship 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:24.280 with Mike Vrabel. Mike Vrabel has tremendous respect for Bill O'Brien. 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:28.560 He is a protege of Bill O'Brien, one of the 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:33.480 more adaptable offensive coaches. There is something that Mike Vrabel 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.840 very much wants to be with his offense. He wants 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:39.240 to be more adaptable. So that wasn't a shock. But 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.799 all the other moves on the offense, my goodness, never 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:46.880 saw that coming. Yeah, it was. I was surprised by 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.560 the volume of moves, not necessarily what they were when 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:55.400 we actually dug into it. But I wasn't expecting so 0:02:55.560 --> 0:03:00.880 much shuffling of the deck, I suppose. M Yeah, that's 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.280 what really caught me off guard. The only guy that 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:09.560 really stays in his primary role on offense is Rob Moore, 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.200 who will return for his sixth year as the wide 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:20.160 receiver's coach. Jason Hoteling is the new offensive line coach. 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.560 He's been on staff for two years. Mike Sullivan stays 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:28.079 in his role as assistant offensive line coach. Selly's been 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.320 here for ten years and very part of making the 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:36.280 machine run. Tony Doo's moving from running backs to tight 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:44.000 ends is very significant. Amy, Yes, I think, go ahead. Well, 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.120 I think there's a lot of different aspects to it. 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.400 I think that's something that you and I both did 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:52.640 not expect. But when Mike Vrabel addressed that and a 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:54.600 bunch of other moves, he said that a lot of 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:58.000 what motivated some of the changes with staff that we're 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:02.200 already part of the team was that he was looking 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:05.320 for opportunities to give people a chance to do some 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:07.880 career advancing. And Mike, you and I have talked about 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:13.400 it before on the OTP, the tight ends position and 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.240 the coach of the tight ends. Is involved in every 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:21.599 aspect of the offense, rarely not a part that they 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:25.160 don't touch, and so really might have been a career opportunity. 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:29.840 The only staff member who has involved deeply in both 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:35.040 the run game play a sort of development game planning, 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:39.680 and also the pass game planning. And so they are 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:41.919 going to use Tony, and Tony's a really good coach, 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:46.120 I mean, outstanding coach. I'm sure Derek Henry's not thrilled 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.240 because he's certainly a big advocate of Tony, but in 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:54.560 terms of responsibility, it's a bigger job, and so they 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.479 are taking advantage of not only Tony's coaching ability but 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:01.640 his brain. He's a smart guy and happy that he'll 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.920 get that opportunity. Titans still looking for a running back 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:10.440 coach at this point. The outside influence that comes in 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.440 is Charles London, and Charles London is going to be 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.719 the past game coordinator and the quarterbacks coach. We knew 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.880 Charles London here twelve years ago. He was on Mike 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:26.040 Munchak's first staff for a year, was an offensive assistant. 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:30.560 Really smart guy. You could tell he was going places. 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:35.440 He too, is a Bill O'Brien protege Penn State with 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:39.040 ob and then the Houston Texans with Bill O'Brien. So 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.760 there's another tie end. But he's been other places. He 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:50.120 joins from the Atlanta Falcons, and so that is a 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:52.680 guy that you know. I know Arthur Smith thinks the 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:56.280 world of his story. Though, Amy is really kind of cool. 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:02.120 Charles London is forty eight years old, so yeah, it's 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.680 not like he's a thirty five year old coach. I 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.159 mean he's a guy who's been added Awhile he played 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:13.760 at Duke in two thousand and three, he was working 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:18.120 in event management. He was the director of stadium operations 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:23.200 at Jillette Stadium. That's what he had learned to do 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.960 at Duke. He's twenty eight years old, and he says, 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:29.080 all this is great. I enjoy working for the Patriots. 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.839 I like game day. But he said, I want to coach, 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.640 and so he called Ted Roof, who was the head 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:39.279 coach at Duke prior to David Cutcliffe taking that job, 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:44.240 and he became a graduate assistant. And he has kind 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.880 of worked his way through the ranks in different ways. 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:54.120 He's coach running backs. He's been with the Bears, he 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.400 has been with the Texans, he's been at Penn State, 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.880 he's been with the Falcons. I mean, this is a 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:05.960 guy who interviewed for the Titans offensive coordinator position. There 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.400 are a lot of people think that he is one 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.160 of those up and comers, even though he's not. I mean, 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.520 Tim Kelly's not even thirty seven yet. Tim Kelly won't 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.840 be thirty seven until later this year, so agewise, he's 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:22.200 a little older, but he is still incredibly well regarded. 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:25.800 As you tell that story, the only thing I could 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.760 think of was that sounds like a Mic Varabel guy 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.080 through and through, someone who decided this is what they're 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.320 going to do and was able to make that pivot 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:39.360 in their career. And it is working the steps. You know, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.360 there's no way to get to where you want to 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.840 go in coaching without going through every single step, and 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.520 that's what it sounds like he's doing. And I'm excited 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.920 to have him as part of the team with Tim 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:55.680 Kelly as the offensive coordinator. Now there are many saying, oh, 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.560 you're hiring someone from in house, Well, I mean he 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:01.840 was in house for a year. Mike Vrabel is certainly 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.080 very familiar with him, right and there were reports that 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.480 Mike Vrabel tried to hire him when he first got 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:10.960 the job, and so this is obviously a guy that 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.680 Mike Vrabel thinks a lot of. But as you and 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:18.920 I watched practice in twenty twenty two, I would describe 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:23.400 his role on the field much like Jim Schwartz in 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.000 that he was an eye in the sky. He was 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.920 an overseer. He clearly was not coordinating the offense the 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.720 same way Jim wasn't coordinating the defense. Right. I think 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.080 that's a great way to describe it. He was the 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:41.479 thirty thousand feet view. He was the guy that oversaw everything, 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.560 and so he was able to provide notes. He was 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.920 able to provide some outside analysis because sometimes, especially with 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.800 position coaches, you're so keyed in on your group. You 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.040 need someone to kind of be able to zoom out 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.720 and see the big picture. So I think that what 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:02.040 this is going to provide having him as the offensive coordinator, 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.840 beyond the fact that he's a familiar face and all 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:08.559 of those things, he has a really good idea. Better 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.439 than a lot of people who may have been more 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.280 zoomed in on one specific area. He has a really 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:15.640 good idea of this offense as a whole, what it 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.400 does well and what it maybe needs to improve upon. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.480 I would think that better than anybody else, he has 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.960 seen the full scope of what the Tennessee Titans have currently, 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.120 and I think that's incredibly valuable. I think there's going 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:33.280 to be a lot of consistency when it comes to 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.240 obviously things like messaging and scheme and that kind of stuff, 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:41.200 But beyond that, I think he just has such a 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.319 good perspective. Now he's going to be able to dive 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:49.320 in and obviously be a lot more hands on, but 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.920 be able to take some of that wide view knowledge 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.160 and now focus it in a little bit more so 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:56.600 that fair to say. I think it's fair to say. 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:00.280 And I think it's also fair to say we haven't 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:04.199 seen his offense yet. No, absolutely not. That was what 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:08.400 they were doing last year. That was something different. I 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.320 think we are going to see different aspects to what 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.240 he does. And I go with the fact, and I 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.839 keep using the word adaptable because of the whole Bill 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:22.680 O'Brien thing, and that was always so important, and you 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.960 know that's how Rabel's defenses are too. They are adaptable. 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.360 He wants the same thing with an offense if you 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.199 need to throw it fifty times, you have the ability 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:34.880 to do that successfully. If you need to run it 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:38.040 fifty times, you have the ability to do that successfully. 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.840 You're not just a one trick pony married to one thing. 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.760 You can use different personnel groupings and have different looks 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:50.479 at different times based on the opponent and the overall situation. 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:54.040 So here's what I did, Amy, I pulled the six 0:10:54.160 --> 0:11:00.480 games where he was the Texans offensive coordinator against the Titans. 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.280 Of course you did. Of course I did. So there 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:10.360 are two outliers that I'm going to drop out. Two thousand, nineteen, 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:15.720 Week seventeen. The Texans have already clenched the AFC South, 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.079 so they sit all of their starters. Deshaun Watson doesn't play. 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.760 A J McCarron is Houston's quarterback in a thirty five 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.720 to fourteen loss. Not fair to judge him calling plays 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:34.520 in that game. Twenty twenty one, Week eleven at Nissan Stadium. 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:40.439 Tyrod Taylor is the quarterback for the Texans. The Texans 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:45.280 the Titans played awful awful turn the ball over five 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.760 times and had no takeaways, so the Titans are minus 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:55.640 five in turnover ratio. The Texans get the lead, and 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.080 because the Titans can't get out of their own way, 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.480 they just had a bad day. Then all they did 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:03.920 was stalled to run out the clock. They win twenty 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.800 two to thirteen. They gain one hundred and ninety yards, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.800 but they make no mistakes. And we've seen the Titans 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.720 win games like that before where the other team has 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.600 turned the ball over so much that offensively, you're just saying, 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:20.160 don't make a mistake or you'll lose the game. So 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.800 I threw those two out. I give you these four games. 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:28.040 Week fifteen, Houston wins at Nashville twenty four twenty one. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:32.199 They gained three hundred and seventy four yards. Twenty twenty, 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.439 Week six, Tennessee wins forty two thirty six in overtime, 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:41.080 Texans gained four hundred and twelve yards. Week seventeen, twenty twenty, 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:44.560 Titans win forty one to thirty eight in Houston. Texans 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:49.720 gained four hundred fifty seven yards. In both twenty twenty games, 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:54.200 Deshaun Watson threw for over three hundred yards, and then 0:12:54.840 --> 0:13:00.240 in twenty twenty one, Week eighteen, Davis Mills throw for 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:04.400 three hundred one yards. The Texans actually gained two eighty 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:08.520 one in the second half, score on all four possessions, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.800 and lose to the Titans twenty eight twenty five in 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:13.840 a game that the Titans led twenty one to nothing 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:20.360 at halftime. So in those four games, Houston averaged right 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:24.400 at four hundred yards and thirty one points against Tennessee. 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.839 It's not bad. Well, I've always been very impressed with him, 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:34.200 and I never wanted to go against him because he 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:38.199 always had when it counted, He always had something for us. 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:42.360 We never put the kaibash on him at any point. 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.240 And even if his team had a bad first half 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.439 like they did in the season finale in twenty twenty one, 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:50.439 he figured out something in the second half of the 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:54.760 rookie quarterback and you know, if Ryan Tannehill doesn't drop 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:57.240 a guy off his back and complete a long past 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:02.960 to Nick Westbrook Akeene, the Titans lose that game. Yeah. Well, 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.440 I think, well, looking at all of that, it's that 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:08.680 was a good exercise. Mike Keith. I'm glad you did that. 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.760 It just goes to show you that that is more 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:16.880 of exactly what Mike Rabel's looking for on this offense, 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.480 which is someone who's able to make adjustments in game. 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.000 Who's able to come up with something that'll work and 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:27.920 have that versatility no matter the circumstances. But listen too, 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:32.240 when you think about this Amy, you think about he 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.560 was coaching for Bill O'Brien as the head coach, and 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.520 then Bill O'Brien got fired. He was coaching for Romeo 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:40.680 Cornelle as the head coach, and he was coaching for 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:44.600 David Culley as the head coach. The quarterbacks again, obviously 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:50.120 Deshaun Watson stands out right, but Tyrod Taylor, Davis Mills, 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:55.360 AJ McCarron. I mean, he's worked with all different sorts 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.160 of talents and heaven, Brandon Cooks is good. But I 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.480 mean they didn't have a lot of running backs at 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:05.040 that point. They had nothing to play for in the 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.960 last two games of twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:12.240 and still were able to, you know, go out and 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.720 make it very respectable showings. I think he's good coach, 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:20.600 I really do. So he's got his group together on 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:26.040 offense with Charles London. Pat O'Hara becomes the past game analyst. 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:30.360 The run game analyst is Luke Steckel, who interviewed for 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:34.200 the Chargers offensive coordinator job very smart guy in his 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:38.880 own right. So that's the offense. I'm still surprised. I 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:45.200 still did not expect Vaybel to kind of start all 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.520 over with it, whether it be inside guys or outside 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:52.520 guys or whatever, to kind of jumble it up and say, 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:56.560 we've got to do something different. We've got to have 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:00.680 a different look in so many different ways. We've got 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:03.600 to use the brains in different ways, we've got to 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.960 have the collaboration in different ways. It surprised me, but 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.040 as you look at who these guys are, with their 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:15.000 backgrounds and what they've done. Tony Dooze's coach tight ends before. 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.840 Hoteiling has been a head coach before, he's a teacher 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.240 in the offensive line. You're gonna go with a new 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:26.000 message right now because you're obviously gonna have several new 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.760 offensive linemen, whether they be veterans or they're drafted players. 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:33.240 Kind of fits it all together. It makes more and 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:37.240 more sense as you delve. Yeah, and after hearing Mike 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:41.640 Rabel discuss it, I totally wasn't surprised at all. I mean, 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.920 he flat out said, we have to do some things 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.320 different on the offensive side of the ball. The offense 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:50.680 is not a disaster, but there are definitely obviously changes 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.360 that need to be made. He's shaking some things up. 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:58.240 He's kind of turning the picture upside down, you know how. Sometimes, 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:00.720 especially in like art class, they tell you to turn 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.640 it upside down. If you were stuck, turn it upside down. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.359 Let's see what we can do, See if we can 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.159 shake some new things out of this tree and continue forward. 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:12.440 I think that's what Mike Brabele's doing, and he's trying 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.159 to put people in the best places to succeed for 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.840 their own right and also in the best place for 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.840 this offense to succeed. Before we go to defense, want 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.840 to remind you that this portion of the OTP is 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.840 brought to you by the new Duncan Rewards program. Download 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.360 the app today and start saving and stacking your way 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.880 to the free Duncan. You love Duncan Rewards, Save him, 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:35.800 stack him, use him how you want. America runs on 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:40.239 Duncan terms applied all right. On defense, not nearly as 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:44.840 many changes. No, Shane Bowen is still the defensive coordinator. 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.680 Scott Booker is still the safety coach. The inside linebacker 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:53.600 coaches are still Bobby King and Zach Kerr. The defensive 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:58.680 line coaches are still Terrell Williams and Clinton McMillan. The 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:04.040 may outside linebacker coach is Ryan Crowe, who's now in 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.840 his sixth year on the staff. But here's where the 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:12.239 additions come in. Let's start with his assistant with the 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:20.239 outside linebackers, Laurie Locus. She comes from Tampa where she 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:24.640 had spent three seasons, won a Super Bowl. Before that, 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.320 she had interned with the Baltimore Ravens. Before that, she 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:32.880 had coached in the AAF. But here's what I did 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:39.280 not know about her. Laurie Locus is almost fifty nine 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:45.840 years old. Really, yes, whoa And I mean she paid 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.919 some due. She went to Temple where she met Bruce 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:56.040 Arians one time. She's a Steeler fan. She got married, 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:02.119 had two kids, and the two kids are now late twenties. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:08.280 Both got a divorce, and she decided she wanted to 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.480 play football at the age of forty. So she starts 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:16.000 playing semi pro women's football and gets hurt and so 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:20.000 that ends her playing career. So she goes in to coaching, 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.800 and I mean it's really a fascinating story how she 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:29.600 worked her way up connected She was a semi pro 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:34.680 defensive lineman with the Central pen Vipers. Mentioned that then 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.359 she gets hurt. Her old high school hires her as 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.800 an assistant coach. In two thousand and nine, she becomes 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:47.119 an assistant with the Central Pen Piranha, a men's semi 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:53.280 pro team. She volunteered at All Star showcases for Division 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.040 two and Division three. She went anywhere she could go. 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:01.639 She drove to Indiana Apolis in twenty seventeen at the 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:05.320 Combine where they did a women's Careers in Football form. 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:08.400 She did it in twenty eighteen. She tried to get 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.679 the Bill Walsh Fellowship in twenty seventeen, didn't get it, 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.760 got it in twenty eighteen. And so she was a 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:20.240 defensive line assistant with the Ravens, and she bonded with 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:24.040 the likes of Terrell Suggs, Michael Pierce, and Brandon Williams, 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.520 all of whom felt like she knows her stuff. She 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.560 helped me with technique. I mean they all these guys 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.160 have come out on her behalf saying this. So she's 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:41.840 coaching at AAF she has a chance to meet Bruce Arians, 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.920 who earlier in his life had encountered a female receivers 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:50.920 coach at a junior college in Mississippi, and always kept 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:54.440 that in the back of his mind, and he said, 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:56.000 I don't care who you are. If you can coach, 0:20:56.040 --> 0:21:01.320 you can coach. And so Bruce are hires her and 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:03.800 she ends up there for three years, wins a Super 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:06.760 Bowl ring, and now she's on the way to help 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:11.520 the Tennessee Titans. So that's who Laurie Locus is. She 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.560 has put in her time, she has earned her stripes. 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:20.000 And the players with whom she has worked the Adamican 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.320 sues and I mean we're talking amy. Those guys don't play. 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:29.600 Uh no, those are real football players. Yes, but you 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:33.080 know they say, hey, she knows her stuff, and so 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.439 there you go the stamp of approval as she joins 0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:40.159 Ryan Crowe coaching the outside linebackers for the Titans. You 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.119 want to know something that's kind of funny about Laura Locusum. 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:47.320 I have a wall in my house where I put 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:50.119 sticky notes when I have ideas of people that I 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:54.440 want to interview for the OTP various things. If something 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:56.240 pops in my head, I put a sticky note on 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:58.639 the wall. I have had a sticky note on the 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:02.320 wall with her name on it since twenty nineteen on 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:04.320 the wall in my home. So I think that's going 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:09.000 to happen. Isn't that crazy? What this says to me 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.200 is if I leave my sticky notes long enough, these 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:13.480 people will just come to me. There you go, They'll 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.360 all join the Titans. But no, that's how long I've 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:21.040 known about her and just her presence in football. And 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:23.879 I mean it's literally been on my wall for years 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:26.360 that I have wanted to do an interview with her 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.080 for the ot people. So personally, I am very excited 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:33.000 because I've been a fan of her story for a while. 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:38.680 The Titans have women working in the personnel and scouting 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:43.240 department now, correct, and they have people doing analysis on 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:47.040 certain things that are both male and female. So you 0:22:47.080 --> 0:22:49.520 will go to practice and you will see females on 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:53.240 the field working. Now you're going to see one specifically 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:57.719 on the field helping coach the OLBS. I'm so excited. 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.879 That's a good thing. Now, the question is are we 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:06.280 going to see Chris Harris coached the defensive pass game 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:10.920 as the coordinator and the cornerbacks. Former NFL player played 0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:14.840 with multiple teams, he was a safety. He's been coaching 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.080 in the league. The last three years with Washington, they've 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:22.000 had some of the best secondaries in the NFL. And 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:25.560 the Titans announced Chris Harris was hired as the defensive 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:32.960 pass game coordinator and the cornerback coach yesterday, but he 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:38.680 has interviewed for the Houston Texans defensive coordinator's job, So 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:43.199 we'll see what happens, and probably about the minute we 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:46.920 post this, that will be resolved one way or the other. 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:49.040 That's the way this seems to be working this week. 0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:54.800 But Chris is working with Scott Booker, and Scott has 0:23:54.840 --> 0:23:56.919 coached the safeties. He's worked his way up from a 0:23:56.960 --> 0:24:01.320 defensive assistant. Impressive guy. Rabels said it was hard to 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:04.359 not give him the secondary that he thinks he is 0:24:04.440 --> 0:24:07.520 that close to ready, But the chance to get Chris 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:11.960 Harris was just over and above because of what he's 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:15.199 done with the corners and what he's done with the 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:19.679 secondary in Washington. Overall, well, we will see. Stay tuned 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:22.679 on that one, I guess well. The other newcomer to 0:24:22.760 --> 0:24:27.879 the staff is the defensive quality control coach, Justin Hamilton, 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:32.160 And if you follow Virginia Tech football, you know they 0:24:32.160 --> 0:24:36.240 have a legendary defensive coordinator by the name of Bud Foster. 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:41.359 Bud Foster retired and the person who was hired to 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:47.880 replace him was Justin Hamilton. Justin Hamilton started his coaching 0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:51.879 career at Grace Christian Academy in two thousand and nine 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:56.040 when he finished playing in the NFL. He spent a 0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:59.120 couple of years in the NFL, parts of two seasons 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:02.840 with Cleveland and Washington, So he goes to Grace Christian 0:25:02.880 --> 0:25:07.280 in Knoxville gets his coaching career started with a goal 0:25:07.480 --> 0:25:12.280 of eventually getting to his alma mater, Virginia Tech, and maybe, 0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:15.960 just maybe having a chance to be the defensive coordinator. 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:20.199 He was the defensive coordinator at in Aia, University of 0:25:20.280 --> 0:25:26.399 Virginia's College at Wise, then Hokey coach Justin Fuente offered 0:25:26.480 --> 0:25:31.360 him a job as the director of player development. He 0:25:31.520 --> 0:25:35.720 was then moved on to the staff as he was 0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:40.840 the safety's coach, and then in twenty twenty he became 0:25:40.880 --> 0:25:44.040 the defensive coordinator. When Justin Fuente lost his job at 0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:48.840 the end of twenty twenty one, Justin Hamilton decided he 0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:52.040 was going to take a year off. So here's the 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:59.680 backstory to this. His wife is from East Tennessee, and 0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:03.760 so he spent a good bit of this past fall 0:26:04.000 --> 0:26:07.800 in East Tennessee. He actually was on a TV show 0:26:09.280 --> 0:26:11.560 run by a great friend of mine by the name 0:26:11.600 --> 0:26:13.800 of John Pennington from way back. John and I used 0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:16.159 to do a TV show in nineteen ninety six together. 0:26:17.119 --> 0:26:21.320 And his whole thing amy is he said, I want 0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:23.119 to get back into coaching, but I want to go 0:26:23.160 --> 0:26:28.399 to the pros. So that's what he's doing. He is 0:26:28.440 --> 0:26:32.040