WEBVTT - Legends Coaching: Mike Cofer 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:07.720 Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:12.840 the players, by the players. Here is your host, four 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.280 team year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer Anius Williams. 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:27.160 Welcome to the Legends Podcast. I'm Chad Pennington, guest hosting 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.760 for Nius Williams. We are recording this today in Indianapolis, 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.400 where the NFL's Youth Football Advisory Committee just hosted the 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:37.920 first Legends Coaching Clinic. Each of the thirty two NFL 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:41.160 clubs have selected an NFL legend who has gone into 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.839 coaching to participate in our clinic. We have had an 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.160 absolute blast with all of these legends. Uh this week 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.680 and today with me is Mike Koefer from a place 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.480 kicker for the Saints, forty Niners and Colts. Mike, thanks 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:55.240 so much for being here. I love to be here. 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:59.280 Thank you, Chaff. We have talked about in our clinic, Mike, 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:03.560 just how coaches have influenced us in our careers and 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.120 even post career. Uh. Can you talk about who you 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.080 try and emulate when you're out there coaching and some 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.240 of the coaches that may have made an impact in 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.880 your life. Yeah. Um, you know we talked to our 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:18.000 kids a lot. And I'll preface you know what the 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:20.880 general information you'd like. But we talked to our kids 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.959 a lot about in football. You know, when we think 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.119 back and we think in the high school and even 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.240 some of the youth days. You know, I tell these kids, 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.240 you know, I played baseball, I played basketball, I played football, 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.800 I played soccer. We all get together twenty thirty years later, 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.520 we talked about football. It's tremendous and I, you know, 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.000 I want kids to understand that that that those ideals 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.600 that you know, the things you learned playing football. And 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:45.919 we talked a ton about it here over the past 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:50.560 two days about those are the components, those are the personalities, 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:53.720 Those are the behaviors you know that that you develop 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.280 on and off the football field being around each other, 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:01.280 that will last, you know, a lifetime. Um now to 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.840 alter back to that, probably the biggest influence in my 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:08.040 life coaching wise, other than my dad and my mom, 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.160 um was my head baseball coach in high school. But 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:14.799 he was also the assistant football coach. So so, but 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.760 but he was that if there's anybody I try to emulate. 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:21.799 Ed Walton at Charlotte County Day School just a tremendous man. 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.120 If I could be half the man that he wasn't 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.600 in teaching and coaching kids, um, I know I'll be 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:32.320 a success. From your perspective. What made him tremendous, you know, 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:34.680 I think I think one it was his passion for 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.919 the game that he was able to translate to us 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:44.040 in the proper way. It wasn't overbearing, you know, it 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.959 wasn't screaming and yelling and cursing, you know which in 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:48.960 the old day, you know, and we call it, we 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:50.760 call those days, and we played the old days now. 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.560 I guess you know that that people probably attributed a 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.799 lot to football or or you know, competitive athletics in 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.080 those days. You know, he had that a little bit 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.680 of sarcastic to meaner about him. I can't pinpoint one 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:08.480 thing other than you know, he he emphasized us that yeah, 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.280 you can you can win and do it the wrong way, 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.600 and we're not gonna do that. You know, We're gonna 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:16.119 be about team. When we hit the field, we're gonna 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.360 do it the right way. We're gonna put the work 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.359 into perfecting our craft, you know, during the week or 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.000 on off days, and then when it's time to play. 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:27.680 He let you play and he let you make your 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.680 mistakes and learn from them. You know, you see a 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.040 lot I feel like today, I see a lot of 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.960 you know, younger coaches who just trying, they want to 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.360 manipulate every aspect of the game. And I'm like, listen, 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.000 you know you've put in the work. You know, now 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.400 you just got to let the kids go play, and 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.040 the only way they're going to improve is letting them play, 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.200 letting them make mistakes, but also letting them be successful 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.240 and knowing that it was them on game day, not 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.200 so much you. I totally agree with you. We we 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:01.960 tried to keep our kids from failing, and you know, 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:05.960 instead of not accepting failure but embracing failure and using 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.119 it to learn what success looks like. I completely agree 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:12.000 with you on that. Looking at the clinic, UH and 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.160 taking part in our coaching clinic, UH, what was your 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:17.760 experience like and what we're kind of your expectations and 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.919 now coming out of it, how do you feel? Um? 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.840 I mean, I I feel great. I feel energized, which 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.039 I feel as always. You know, the ultimate goal of 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.400 any clinic that we go to as coaches is to 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.520 come out with a renewed motivation, you know, to go 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:34.160 back and attack your passion. So, um, it was tremendous 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.720 to see. You know, you don't realize because because every 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:38.920 we we go back to where we are and we 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.880 work in our little bubble. You know, we don't realize that. 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.400 You know, there are others who have been through the 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.479 same path that we have that are doing the same thing. 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.560 So it's that it's that uh, you know, that synergy 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:52.640 of commonality. You know that, hey, you know we are 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.080 doing something good. You know, I'm not the only one 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.440 out here who's spending you know, twelve sixteen hours a 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:00.359 day at this and and and not get paid a 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.720 whole lot. But um, you know, just seeing seeing meet 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.880 meeting guys you know that that you know we watched 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.280 but didn't really know and now getting to shake hands 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.479 with him and seeing them you know, outside of the 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:14.520 game and and seeing how they're giving back to the 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:16.880 game is great. But then also you know, the way 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.560 the way the legend community you know, um integrated, you 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:24.120 know some some crucial aspects of of ways to play 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.200 new ways, how the game has changed. You know, us 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:29.640 us as guys who played back in the eighties and nineties, 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.960 you know, a little more trusty, you know, and this 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:34.320 is the way you do it in my way or 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:36.960 the highway. But but the game has changed, and so 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:38.719 you have to you know, you have to adapt to 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.400 it too as a coach. And um, you know, I 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.200 feel like I'm gonna ramble on a little bit here. Um, 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:46.440 you know, everybody, we talked a little bit about it 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.000 today about how where the kids are different or kids 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.320 are different kids. Well, no, the kids are the same. 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.159 They want to be successful, you know, they want to 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:58.599 work hard. It's just the the confines that they're doing 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.120 it in are different what you did it in. We 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:03.640 still love to play. They just played differently than we do. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.240 They play on machines. You know. We went out and 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.039 played in the yard, you know, but they're still playing that. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.040 You know, the mind is still thinking the same way. 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.599 So you know, I've kind of taken the attitude that 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:19.000 it's up to us as coaches and older coaches and experienced, um, 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.400 you know, mature individuals. We need to adapt back to them. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.120 You know, I don't. I don't want to make the 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.479 kids adapt to me because it's not my game anymore. 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.680 It's there. So, you know, I feel like there was 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:36.360 some presentation on that too, which which is really good. 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.560 So I appreciate you letting me ramble, absolutely, and I 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:42.920 really enjoyed first of all, the brotherhood I saw in 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:48.320 there with our legends. Are former players really getting together 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:53.239 and filling that brotherhood, feeling that commonality, and then really 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.279 taking a look at Okay, what do we need to 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:57.520 do as legends in this space? What do we need 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.679 to do as guys who have played at the highest 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.320 level of all to make our game better? And so 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.000 my question to you would be what unique perspective do 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.880 you think we do have as legends that we can 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:12.800 bring to the coaching space. I think the one thing 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:17.000 I always I always revert back to is the respect 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:21.160 that we as professionals. And I don't think this has 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.960 shown enough on television. You know, when you're playing the 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.440 game and we're competing, and we watched the guys compete 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.880 on Sundays or Monday nights or whenever we see them compete, 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.600 we see them. You know, they get confrontational every now 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.560 and then with each other and things. Sometimes they even 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:36.080 get a little bit out of hand. But I don't 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.960 think what they're showing television enough is either before or 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.440 after the game, those guys shaking hands, patting each other 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.200 on the back, and you know, hey, how you're doing. 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.440 How How you know how your kids doing? How has 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.960 the How's how's the wife? How's the growl? How's your mom? 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.080 You know, the true respect for the time and effort 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.720 and energy that that each person who has made it 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:57.640 to the top level of the sport is put in. 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.400 I don't think that's trickled down and not into the 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.480 high school game where you know, you get into that, 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.760 you know, lack of respects that that is going to 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:09.920 happen on the field in a in a contact sport, 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.160 but then it carries off the field, you know at 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.560 the lower levels and if people just begin to they 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.920 build a hatred. You know, the rivalry needs to be 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:21.000 a rivalry, but it needs to stay within the lines. 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.040 Have to go outside those lines. And that's another sixteen 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.119 year old young man, that's another seventeen year old yong Woma. 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:32.040 You know, we need to build those relationships, cross boundary, 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.040 cross team that you know, you went through the same 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.040 thing I went through. We're fighting the same battle. We're 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.800 playing the greatest game you know ever invented. You know, 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.360 to to build what we want to build within ourselves. 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.360 So I think they need to show that or or 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.840 emphasize that a little bit more about how guys really 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:49.640 do respect each other even though they get on the 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.280 field of compete hard, they really do respect each other 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:53.920 when it's all said and done. That is a great 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.920 point because some people in our game that haven't played 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:00.840 at the levels we have played, uh true, don't respect 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.679 each other and use it as more of a transactional 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:08.160 type of experience instead of a transformational where we I believe, 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.760 really value what the game has done for us as men. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.319 And so that's a great point. What have you found 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:20.280 um as a challenge or what are some unique challenges 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:25.679 that we do face as legends in this space? Oh wow, 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.280 I mean every day brings it brings a new hurdle. 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:33.880 I mean, I think you realize that, you know, the 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.000 divide sometimes can be so great, and it doesn't matter 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.000 where you are. You could be at a high end school, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.520 you could be at a you know, a low end school. 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.880 You're gonna have different cultures, different you know, different races, 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.720 different philosophies, different religions. Okay, and I think you may 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.080 even talked a little bit about this earlier today. Um, 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.760 you know, nowhere in my opinion, and I was never 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.840 in the military, but my dad was, and and some 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.480 people in my family have been in the military. You know, 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.360 I don't think anywhere else other than the military do 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:10.080 you find trying to bring a diversified group of people together, 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:14.480 a diversified group of young individuals together to try and 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.040 generate a common goal that you do in the game 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.360 of football. So that's probably the biggest hurdle is to 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.199 get these kids to understand that, hey, not everybody thinks 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:26.200 the way you do. Not everybody looks the way you do, 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.600 Not everybody responds to situations the way you do. Not 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.880 everybody came from the same you know, family life that 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.320 you did, or has been through the same experience as 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.880 you did. But somehow, some way, we've got to shed 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.400 all that for at least, you know, forty eight minutes 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.680 on a Friday night and come together to try and 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.880 get something done, you know. So, so I think that's 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:52.800 probably the biggest hurdle to overcome in that situation. Sure, 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.560 and we've talked about just the changes that we have 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.400 seen or haven't really seen in our kids. What about 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.000 the game itself when you look at the aim today 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:03.920 compared to when you played or when I played. Are 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.200 there certain things about the games you've seen that have changed, 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.240 whether it be rules, techniques things like that. Yeah, I 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:11.439 mean we all we all know that the game has 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:15.200 has changed dramatically over the last eight to ten years 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.280 and really accelerated that change really in the last four 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:22.120 to five I think, um, and it's definitely for the better. 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.440 I think we all agree with that. That's where we 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.400 as coaches who played a different game have to be 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:32.439 able to adapt. And it's hard because the game that 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:36.560 that is being played on you know, Sundays now is 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.160 really although we would like to try and make it 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.520 the same game on Friday night, it's a completely different 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.040 skill set. You know, you're you're looking at guys who 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.120 who can throw the ball fifty sixty yards, seventy yards, 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.400 eighty yard, I don't know, you're looking at guys that 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.040 can go up and jump, you know, ten twelve feet 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.360 in the air and high point of ball. You know, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.640 trying trying to get kids to work outside of their 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.520 skills set on Friday night is not, in my opinion, 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.920 is not gonna lead to success. So trying to adapt 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:09.160 the new game you know to to a high schoolers 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.000 skill set, you know, so we still have to figure 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:13.440 out ways to run the ball more than they do 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.200 on Sunday. You know, we still have to figure out 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.559 how to kick you know, thirty yard field goals instead 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:22.800 of fifty yard field goals. You know. So those adaptations 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.280 with the way the game is played now, Um, but 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.480 then you know some of the great stuff going over 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.960 as far as you know, all the new ways to tackle. 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.760 You know. We listened to the Charles Bentley today on 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.880 getting the head out of the game and are ways 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.240 to play and that incorporated getting the head out of 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:39.880 game posture which he talked about and I had I 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:43.000 had heard the Charles speaking at a Glazier clinic. So um, 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:45.400 really impressed with with that type of work that he's doing. 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.560 But breaking it down not so much to an XS 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.680 and O standpoint, but how do we build these young 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.000 men and women from a physical stature standpoint to be 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:57.800 able to play the game proper? You know, I don't 0:12:57.800 --> 0:12:59.440 think that was anything that was ever taught to me 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.160 or to you back in the day. We just said hey, 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.319 go do it, you know. But now we've got we've 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.120 got people who who have scientifically studied the way the 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.840 body moves and how we can improve those kids, which 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:14.080 in turn will make them play safer. And I thought 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:16.520 it was interesting La Charles talking about our kids and 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:20.319 their posture and how their lives have dictated the posture 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.960 because of technology and the smart device and things like that, 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.120 and so their posture challenges are different than our posture 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.520 challenges were growing up because, like you said, we were 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.160 more outside and active and things like that, we didn't 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:36.679 have cell phones. So evolving the game around what's happening 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.240 in their world too, I think is really something. Uh, 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.600 this is a contact sport. We all know that we 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.840 love that piece of our game, but we also want 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:49.720 to be able to teach the correct technique that involves 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:54.200 the contact, whether it be receiving the contact or giving 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.400 the contact. What's that balance, like, you think, as far 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.080 as teaching the physical aspect and in the correct technique 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.959 at the same time. You know, it's tough because I 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.760 always always tell my kids, Hey, you know we're outside, 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.080 now use your outside voice. You know, you can be 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.080 mean on the football field a little bit. Okay, It's okay. 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:16.280 You know you're not gonna get you know, in detention 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.440 or anything. You know, you can do stuff here that 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:20.600 you can't do in the hallways. This is your time 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.960 to get it out, you know. So we we have 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.600 we have contests and games where we try to build 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:30.920 um aggressiveness, you know, in Indore, our Indo, our our players. 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.920 You know, it's stick wars or bag wars or something 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.080 of that nature. And but but then you know, we 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.080 make it, we make it exciting and we're loving them up. 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.760 Whether whether they win or lose the contest, at the end, 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.800 we're loving them up altogether. You know, could trying to 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:50.040 build that competitive nature into them. And I think, you know, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.600 I don't know. I don't know for sure because I 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.680 don't play games on my phone. I don't play video 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:58.520 games very much. But uh, you know, there there's there's 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.400 no consequence you know, when you're playing, when you're playing 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:03.640 it on the game, you can just reboot and start over. 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:07.720 You know, I'm I'm I'm like, come on, guy, you 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:10.160 know there's consequence when you actually transition it to the 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.320 football field on on on Friday night, you're either gonna 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:15.120 get the first down or you're not. You know, you 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.640 can't just start the game over. There are no do overs. 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:22.320 Um so, but yeah, um trying to trying to uh 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:26.720 integrate that aggressive nature into the game, continually into the game, 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.239 but still doing it the right way. It's to us sometimes, 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:36.000 but us learning at you know, events like this are 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:40.200 learning some new new techniques, new ideas, new terminology. Even 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:42.400 the way you talk to the kids about it, you know, 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.040 it was there's once one thing that uh you know 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.440 we we we went over um earlier today, even the 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.840 way you just talk about it, you know, you know, 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.800 because kids, That's one thing that I don't think I 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.600 realized until I got into education. I've been in education 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:01.360 the last four years. You know, I can uh communicate 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:03.560 something verbally to a young man or a young woman 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.400 and I think they hear what I'm saying, but they 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:11.800 hear something completely differently. So learning that that that, you know, 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:16.720 different people internalized or even here things that you say differently, 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:22.440 you know, being a little more explanatory on exactly what 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:25.800 you meant, you know, so they can interpret so they 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:30.480 can interpret it correct. Have you found any positive techniques 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:35.040 you've used with your parents and talking about physical play 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.680 and contact sport and anything like that. I don't know 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:39.840 if there's any one point, I mean that was one 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.800 of the one of the uh first or second things 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.320 I did when we we actually just started our program 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.640 from nothing. At the school that I met, we had 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:49.440 no football program. And in the day and age and 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:50.800 a lot of a lot of a lot of schools 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.680 are dumping their football programs. You know, we're starting one, 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.320 and I think that's that seems to be able to 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.680 past couple of years that are more coming back. One 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.640 of the first things I did is is, you know, 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.240 we set up what we call it the gridiron club. 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.480 You know, where parents can have an active say you 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:08.640 know and what we're doing. You know they have they 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:13.960 have these are there, you know, their prize possessions. You know, 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:15.919 they should have some type of say and how we 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.359 may may go about things. Now, of course, you know, 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.080 to a certain extent, you've gotta have a little bit 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:24.360 of a dictatorship. But but you know so, I think 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:26.720 instituting given the parents to say in some type of 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.520 club or booster club format, you know that that that 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.240 gives it. But making them understand, you know, where where 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.879 their limits are. Of course, just instructing them on on 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.320 stuff that you instructed yourself on as far as hey, 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.760 new safety items in the game. Um, you know helmets 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.800 that register you know, impact or stuff like that that 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.480 they can be tracked so you can get a young 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:51.199 man off the field before the next hit. You know. 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:55.520 You know, new new innovations and equipment. You know, uh, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:59.359 heat related shoulder pads, heat related undergarments that that you 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.840 know evaporate heat out, or technology that even tracks you know, 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:06.800 are you getting overheated? You know that you can just 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.159 track on a phone. So I think us stepping up 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.000 to new technology and translating to the parents that hey, 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:14.720 these are the things that we're doing, you know, to 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.560 try to try and and um, you know, help the 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:21.600 game improve and make sure that that you know, your 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.840 price possession is doing it to the best of their 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:27.200 ability and the best of our ability to make sure 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:29.600 that they're going to be safe. Yeah. We talked about 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.600 this today and that word for me is partnership, right, 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.480 being able to partner with the families. Uh. What did 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:40.800 you find most rewarding about the clinic? Um? I think 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:44.040 from a personal standpoint, you know, I wanted a lot 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.119 of questions answered from what the Legends community can do 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.760 for our program and can do for youth football and 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:54.080 getting answers on that you know is what what actions 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.520 do I need to take, you know, as a program 0:18:56.600 --> 0:19:00.760 head to to to make sure that I'm utilizing all 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.679 the previous you know, things that that that I've been 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.080 able to accomplish in my life making sure that those 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.359 I can push those forward through you know, giving back 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.359 to the to to youth and kids and high school 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.880 kids that I'm working with now. So so that's been 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:20.040 very helpful in talking with you know yourself and and 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:23.639 uh Tracy Pearlman and Alexeia Gallagher and all the people 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:26.840 with the Legends community, UM as far as how can 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:31.639 we value add to our program based on you know, 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:34.240 the quality experience that I had through through playing in 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:38.200 the NFL. So that's been probably you know key number one. 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:41.640 Second part is just you know, being able to interact 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:43.760 with with you know, the other coaches that are in 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:48.359 the same situations that that you know I've been in, UM, 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:50.960 you know, fairly new coach, you know most of you know. 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:55.760 It's sometimes it's it's hard to transition out of playing 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.159 into coaching. I mean, I work with I'll give you 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:00.760 an example. I work with kickers a lot. I work 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.440 with a gentleman out of Texas and doing kicking camps 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:05.840 and of that nature, and you it just came easy 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:09.080 for me, you know, so to try and go coach it. 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.359 You know, he does a great job the organizer of 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:14.359 the camps. He does a great job of breaking everything 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.240 down analytically, and you know, hey, look you know this 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:19.800 is he's a little more scientific about it, you know. 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:21.520 And I try to help the kids just from a 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:24.720 mental aspect and maybe given them a few pointers because 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:26.879 it just came so naturally easy to me. I just 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.680 go kick the ball. Okay, yeah, I go kick, you know, 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:32.800 but you have other kids who they want to know well, 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:34.960 you know, are my hips not getting through? Or is 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:37.800 my plant foot too close to the ball, you know, 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.600 and you know which part of the foot I'm I'm like, 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:42.240 you know, I never had to think about these things, 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.200 you know, So how and how how can I? How 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:46.440