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Speaker 1: Welcome to the OTP. I'm Amy Wells, and we're not

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Speaker 1: in the studio like we normally are. We are over

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Speaker 1: here at Nissan Stadium for an event that we like

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Speaker 1: to call Meet the GM. It's a very original name.

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Speaker 1: Myself Rhet Brian. We were able to spend some time

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Speaker 1: with Titans general manager and president of football Operations right here,

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Speaker 1: with some of our closest friends who just happen to

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Speaker 1: be season ticket members as well. So here's our conversation

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Speaker 1: with Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi right here on the OTP,

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Speaker 1: and we are so excited to introduce you to some

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Speaker 1: of the people who are going to be leading this

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Speaker 1: Titans team through the twenty twenty five season and beyond.

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Speaker 1: So just for starters, I'm Amy Wells. This is Rhet Brian.

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Speaker 1: We will be your fabulous hosts this afternoon.

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Speaker 2: She will be fabulous.

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Speaker 3: I'll just be here, so.

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Speaker 1: Rhtt I guess we should probably just get right to it.

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Speaker 2: We should. Our first guest, ladies and gents, is the

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Speaker 2: President of Football Operations for the Tennessee Titans.

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Speaker 3: He's a seasoned.

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Speaker 2: NFL executive, a track record he has of success in

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Speaker 2: team management and strategy, a former Green Bay Packers executive

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Speaker 2: and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the

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Speaker 2: Tennessee Titans. Ladies and gentlemen, President of Football are operations

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Speaker 2: for the Titans, Chad Brinker?

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Speaker 4: How are we doing doing great? It's great to be here, excellent,

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Speaker 4: good to see fans.

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Speaker 5: Chad, do us a.

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Speaker 2: Favor, and let's pull back the curtain a little bit

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Speaker 2: on some of your role and really the process of

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Speaker 2: hiring a new general manager that you, guys, I'm sure

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Speaker 2: by now know, as is Mike Morganzi. But how do

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Speaker 2: you gather the pool of candidates for that search?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, someone asked me that question when we were going

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Speaker 4: through our search. Was one of the questions. They asked me,

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Speaker 4: are you going to hire a search firm? And I said,

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Speaker 4: for what? This is what I do for a living.

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Speaker 4: And I know all these coaches, I know all these

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Speaker 4: general managers around the league are up and coming general managers.

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Speaker 3: So you know, it happened pretty fast.

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Speaker 4: I knew I wanted to get ahead of the New

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Speaker 4: York Jets at the time, and the Las Vegas Raiders

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Speaker 4: as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars because there was something

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Speaker 4: going on there. I had heard about, so I tried

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Speaker 4: to jump on it really fast, narrowed down the candidates

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Speaker 4: to ten. We did ten zooms in three days. Those

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Speaker 4: are about three to four hours apiece, and then Narra

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Speaker 4: that candidate pulled down to six for in person, so

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Speaker 4: we had a candidate in the morning. Those are about

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Speaker 4: six hours at candidate in the afternoon. So we had

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Speaker 4: our owner, Amy and obviously Kenneth involved in that in

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Speaker 4: Barkley were there at lunch time to meet all the

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Speaker 4: candidates and spent a couple hours with them in between

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Speaker 4: at lunch.

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Speaker 3: But we brought those.

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Speaker 4: Six candidates in. That was a pretty intense process. But

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Speaker 4: it became pretty clear even early in the zooms that

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Speaker 4: Mike Burganzi was rising to the top. And when he

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Speaker 4: came in person, he just crushed it and I knew

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Speaker 4: he was the right guy for for our organization.

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Speaker 2: All right, So you talked about you had knowledge of

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Speaker 2: Mike Borganzi. You got that's a small circle you guys

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Speaker 2: working in the league for these teams. But what was

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Speaker 2: the aha moment with him when you realized, Okay, it's

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Speaker 2: Mike Borganzi.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you know it's it's kind of like

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Speaker 4: a fraternity in our league. When it comes to scouting

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Speaker 4: and coaching, there's there's a lot of crossover over the years.

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Speaker 4: So Mike and I met in two thousand and nine

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Speaker 4: and I was in Green Bay and he was in

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Speaker 4: Kansas City. We were out on the road together scouting

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Speaker 4: and we just hit it off. So I had a

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Speaker 4: really good relationship with Mike from the beginning, and quite frankly,

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Speaker 4: all the candidates that we brought in, especially the final six,

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Speaker 4: I had really good, strong relationships with. But Mike, just

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Speaker 4: knowing him over the years, he's just one of those

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Speaker 4: guys that's always been extremely prepared. He's intelligent, He's an

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Speaker 4: Ivy League grad, he went to Brown played football there.

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Speaker 4: Just really impressed with him as far as his football knowledge.

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Speaker 4: Anytime we talked about players, which we did a lot of,

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Speaker 4: just you know, the evaluation part was really impressive to me.

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Speaker 4: And just the person you'll get to meet him here

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Speaker 4: in a minute. He's just an outstanding human being, very humble,

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Speaker 4: hard working. He's from the Northeast, blue collar kind of family.

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Speaker 4: Really had to grind in this business. Both he and

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Speaker 4: I had similar pass in that regard, but he really

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Speaker 4: started at the bottom he's at Boston College as a

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Speaker 4: recruiting assistant there and kind of got into the NFL

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Speaker 4: and started as a you know, an intern scouting assistant

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Speaker 4: and pro scout and kind of worked his way up

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Speaker 4: over a sixteen year career and one of the in

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Speaker 4: recent time, one of the most successful organizations in Kansas

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Speaker 4: Ay Chiefs and one multiple Super Bowls there.

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Speaker 3: So it was pretty cool.

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Speaker 4: But I think all the candidates that we brought in

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Speaker 4: that week, I remember talenting it up. I think there

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Speaker 4: was fourteen or fifteen Super Bowls amongst the six that

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Speaker 4: we brought in, So that was really important to find

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Speaker 4: someone from a winning organization to kind of bring that

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Speaker 4: type of mentality to Tennessee.

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Speaker 1: You and Mike obviously worked together a lot. How have

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Speaker 1: you found that your skill sets complement each other as

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Speaker 1: you're working together to build this Titans team?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, you know, obviously, I grew up in

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Speaker 4: this business as a scout as well, so we have

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Speaker 4: very similar backgrounds in that regard. And Mike had been

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Speaker 4: part of the inner cabinet with Andy Reid, Brett Veach

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Speaker 4: and others over there in Kansas City, and I had

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Speaker 4: a similar path with the Green Bay packers where.

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Speaker 3: I was involved in a lot of the decision making too.

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Speaker 4: But one thing where I diverted from a lot of

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Speaker 4: the scouts in our industry is I had an opportunity

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Speaker 4: to work on the salary cap, player contracts, analytics, and

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Speaker 4: then operations, and kind of my career evolved over time

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Speaker 4: while I still had my baseline of scouting, and I

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Speaker 4: really got the Pandora bocks open to me by russ

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Speaker 4: Ball and Ted Thompson up in Green Bay to show

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Speaker 4: me how to run an NFL franchise, and I'm very

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Speaker 4: grateful to that organization what they had given me. But

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Speaker 4: Mike grew up in this industry where he was exposed

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Speaker 4: a lot of those things. But his primary responsibilities for

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Speaker 4: sixteen years was building a football team.

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Speaker 3: And that's what he is.

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Speaker 4: He's a team builder, and he understands who can play

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Speaker 4: and who can't. He understands how this piece fits here

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Speaker 4: and if we make this decision will affect another decision

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Speaker 4: down the road. So he's really good with the strategy

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Speaker 4: of team building as well.

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Speaker 2: Chad, you mentioned some of the things in your resume

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Speaker 2: as you kind of went along your process in Green Bay,

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Speaker 2: and those are applied in your role as the president

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Speaker 2: of football Operations outside of roster construction and those things,

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Speaker 2: let's give us another peak behind the curtain of maybe

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Speaker 2: a couple of things that you've been doing this off

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Speaker 2: season or that fall into your purview because you are

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Speaker 2: over a lot of different responsibilities and departments as the

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Speaker 2: guy of football Operations.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I guess in January when when you look at

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Speaker 4: an ORG chart, I had fourteen direct reports and I

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Speaker 4: needed to thin that down a little bit. And with

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Speaker 4: hiring Mike Mike overseas our coaching staff, our scouting staff,

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Speaker 4: our player engagement, sports medicine and medical. Now I support

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Speaker 4: him in all those areas, of course, but that's his

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Speaker 4: primary responsibilities. Anything outside of that, you know, whether it

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Speaker 4: comes to the salary cap, whether it comes to data

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Speaker 4: science or the analytics side, to the operations side where

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Speaker 4: people don't even realize it from I mean you're talking

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Speaker 4: and equipment and video grounds crew. You got your software

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Speaker 4: side of this, which we call football information systems. Anything

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Speaker 4: that touches that football team I'm ultimately responsible for.

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Speaker 3: But I've been able to put.

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Speaker 4: Some key leaders in key positions where where it's helped

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Speaker 4: me to to to focus on the main thing, and

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Speaker 4: that's it's helping him build this football team. But I'm

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Speaker 4: able to support him from the long term strategy way

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Speaker 4: I look at my role. I think when you I'm

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Speaker 4: looking out for the organization long term, you know, like

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Speaker 4: five years plus, you know, That's that's the way I

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Speaker 4: view the long term strategy. Our general manager needs to

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Speaker 4: be looking after the organization over the next two three years,

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Speaker 4: and our head coach just win the next game. That's

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Speaker 4: what I want him focusing on. It's all he needs

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Speaker 4: to worry about. And as long as each of us

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Speaker 4: understand each of our roles and and how we fit

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Speaker 4: into those roles, it's it's been.

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Speaker 3: It's been a good group so far.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned the technology and software part of your role,

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Speaker 1: and I know you're really passionate about technology and utilizing

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Speaker 1: technology to help this team continue to grow. What are

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Speaker 1: some of the things that you're working on and implementing

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Speaker 1: to help build this Titans team.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's there's a lot. We've done a lot in

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Speaker 3: the last two years.

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Speaker 4: When I got here, there really wasn't much in terms

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Speaker 4: of technology and analytics. We had our traditional scouting systems

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Speaker 4: or the coaching systems. As far as how they watch tape.

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Speaker 4: But we've really had to build everything out like kind

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Speaker 4: of like a startup. I've built a team of we

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Speaker 4: got six on the analytics side and f I S

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Speaker 4: as well, and really had to start from scratch and

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Speaker 4: just building it out as far as like some of

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Speaker 4: the things that we're doing that maybe you might be

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Speaker 4: interested in. You know, we just partnered with with a

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Speaker 4: company called Zebra that that's going to be working with

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Speaker 4: us on the player tracking data. So all of our

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Speaker 4: players when they when they go to practice, there's there's

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Speaker 4: a tracking device either in their shirt or on their

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Speaker 4: shoulder pads where it's tracking their heart rate, their speed,

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Speaker 4: and acceleration, deceleration, change the direction. We're just monitoring everything

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Speaker 4: for these players. So we get reports that come back

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Speaker 4: every single day. We can see the max speeds that

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Speaker 4: our players that hit that particular practice. We can also

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Speaker 4: see if a particular player is kind of overloading himself

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Speaker 4: to a point where we might have to pull back

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Speaker 4: on the reps the following day in practice. So we're

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Speaker 4: tracking all that data that goes into our system and

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Speaker 4: our database, and we do a lot of things from

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Speaker 4: injury prevention as well, from the sports science side and

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Speaker 4: the weight room with the testing of the hamstrings. A

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Speaker 4: lot of hamstring injuries happen in our league, our muscle pools,

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Speaker 4: so we're always measuring the strength of the right hamstring

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Speaker 4: versus left.

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Speaker 3: We're looking for asymmetries and.

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Speaker 4: Just being able to build a plan around that to

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Speaker 4: get our strength coach involved, the sports scientists, our nutritionists,

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Speaker 4: our head coach, our personnel folks, and everybody on the

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Speaker 4: same page. But all that data is get and then

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Speaker 4: got to be stored somewhere. And that's one thing that

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Speaker 4: we've created is like a central hub because it used

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Speaker 4: to be and maybe in some of your companies that

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Speaker 4: you've worked in. You know, Johnny down the Hall keeps

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Speaker 4: everything in his spreadsheet and Joey over here has things

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Speaker 4: in his spreadsheet down the Hall, Like, we pull in

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Speaker 4: all our data into one system. So when I pull

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Speaker 4: up a player in our system, anything I want to

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Speaker 4: know about that player, from scouting reports, to the coaching reports,

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Speaker 4: to the sports science to the height, weight speed, to

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Speaker 4: practice to the contract, anything I want to know, it

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Speaker 4: comes up in a matter of seconds. If I want

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Speaker 4: to watch tape on that player, I rate in our system.

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Speaker 4: You know, if I wanted to see all the third

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Speaker 4: down throws of this particular quarterback last season. I can

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Speaker 4: just click on that button the film pops up immediately.

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Speaker 4: So that's some of the technology that we've implemented within

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Speaker 4: the organization and some of the things we are doing

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Speaker 4: a little bit more on the cutting edge around the

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Speaker 4: league when it comes to lean body mass and muscle

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Speaker 4: to bone ratios that we're looking at you. Maybe Mike

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Speaker 4: will speak a little bit more on that with his

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Speaker 4: experience in Kansas City. But there's a lot going on.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that's a lot to digest one stop shop for

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Speaker 2: you that I understand the centralization of that.

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Speaker 3: That's interesting. So we've just had the NFL Draft.

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Speaker 2: The Titans obviously had the first overall pick, Cameron Ward,

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Speaker 2: the quarterback from Miami. We're excited about that. Yes, yep.

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Speaker 2: And your role as president of football Operations. Did that

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Speaker 2: change anything at all? Having the number one pick? Is

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Speaker 2: that was anything that made it different?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I understood the magnitude of that. You know, I think

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Speaker 4: you know you always approach every season the same way.

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Speaker 4: We have our processes and how we follow and how

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Speaker 4: we scout and how we kind of build the database

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Speaker 4: of these players and the profiles. I don't think that's

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Speaker 4: changed as far as the work, But when you have

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Speaker 4: the number one overall pick, knowing the situation that we're in.

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Speaker 4: I remember I was talking to Amy probably late October,

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Speaker 4: and season wasn't going as well as we would have hoped,

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Speaker 4: and and I knew there was a potential that this

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Speaker 4: might go in a direction where we might have a

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Speaker 4: top five pick. So I need to get out there

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Speaker 4: and see some of these quarterbacks. I went out in

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Speaker 4: the in the fall, like if we played an away game,

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Speaker 4: I would go to one of these college games on

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Speaker 4: the Saturday before whoever we played and try to see

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Speaker 4: those prospects. I saw every one of them last year,

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Speaker 4: including two of them that actually went back to school,

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Speaker 4: the LSU quarterback and the Georgia quarterback and went to Miami.

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Speaker 4: So I went and saw them all, and I got

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Speaker 4: to see Cam he played Georgia Tech.

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Speaker 3: I'll never forget.

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Speaker 4: I went out real early to warm up, so I

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Speaker 4: just wanted to see how he operated, to see what

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Speaker 4: his routine was, and and you know, just watching him through.

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Speaker 3: The football is super impressive.

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Speaker 4: He had this routine similar to some of these great

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Speaker 4: quarterbacks that I've been around, whether it's Aaron Rodgers and others,

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Speaker 4: and I don't know. I don't think I said anything

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Speaker 4: to anybody at that point, because I like, there's a

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Speaker 4: lot we got to figure out as far as the person.

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Speaker 4: There's more to playing quarterback than just being able to

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Speaker 4: throw an accurate pass or have a strong arm or

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Speaker 4: pocket mobility. Those things are important, but that's really a

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Speaker 4: neck up position, and we needed to figure out what

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Speaker 4: what cam was all about. And then once we dug

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Speaker 4: into that in the off season, I'm sure Mike will

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Speaker 4: hit on this here in a little bit.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I just can't wait till y'all get to

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Speaker 3: know cam Ward. He's pretty impressive.

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Speaker 1: Mike Bourganzi is coming up next, right, he is, all right,

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Speaker 1: Chack waiting so much for taking the time. We so

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Speaker 1: appreciate you. We know you're a very busy man, so

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Speaker 1: we will let you get back to work. And I

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Speaker 1: think we're just going to bring up our next guest.

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Speaker 3: Su let's do that, all right, all operations.

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Speaker 1: This summer. Seek Geek has your ticket to the best

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Speaker 1: live concerts in Nashville at Nissan Stadium. See Geek has

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Speaker 1: find it all on seat Geek, the official ticketing partner

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Speaker 1: of Nissan Stadium. Little Caesars is the official pizza partner

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Speaker 1: of your Tennessee Titans. Download the Little Caesars app and

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Speaker 1: get your favorites delivered today. Delivery fees apply. Now back

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Speaker 1: to the OTP. Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to introduce

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Speaker 1: the General Manager of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Bergonzi.

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Speaker 5: It's great to see everyone.

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Speaker 1: Happy to see it. So you started this role in

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Speaker 1: late January.

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Speaker 5: Yep.

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Speaker 1: Since then, you've had just about everything in the world

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Speaker 1: to do. You've been to All Star Games, you've been

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Speaker 1: to the Combine, you've been to free agency, and you've

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Speaker 1: had Pro Days and you had I don't know, the

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Speaker 1: number one pick in the NFL Draft. You've had a

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Speaker 1: lot of stuff to do. When exactly did you stop

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Speaker 1: to say, sleep or eat or take a breath for

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Speaker 1: a minute. Have you been running since January?

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Speaker 5: It's been busy, but it's a good busy, you know.

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Speaker 6: We The thing is we have a great group here

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Speaker 6: and when you love doing something like I have, and

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Speaker 6: the people that I have around me. It doesn't feel

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Speaker 6: like work. It is work, but it you know, when

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Speaker 6: you surround yourself with good people and you're trying to,

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Speaker 6: you know, get to the common goal of building a

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Speaker 6: roster together. It's really been a joy to work with Chad.

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Speaker 6: And you know, we hired Reggie McKenzie, who's a former

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Speaker 6: GM with the Raiders Tennessee evolved legend Dave Zigelu who

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Speaker 6: we hired as well, so you know, it was it

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Speaker 6: was really.

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Speaker 5: Seamless for me coming in a ton of work.

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Speaker 6: But when you surround yourself with good people, it really

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Speaker 6: doesn't feel like work.

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Speaker 2: So Amy mentioned all those pre draft things that ramp

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Speaker 2: up to the aft into the where we are now,

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Speaker 2: and in your role with the Kansas City Chiefs, you've

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Speaker 2: been to all of those things multiple times. But how

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Speaker 2: different was it going into those situations as the general

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Speaker 2: manager of the Titans.

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Speaker 6: You know, it was different, But you know, I had

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Speaker 6: really a front row seat when I was in Kansas

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Speaker 6: City because you know, we weren't very good at one time.

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Speaker 6: At one time, we did have the number one pick

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Speaker 6: in twenty thirteen, so you know, learning from mentors like

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Speaker 6: Andy Reid, Joan Dorsey and then working with Brett Veach

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Speaker 6: all those years, you know, I was able to see

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Speaker 6: something from the ground up and to build it from

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Speaker 6: the ground up. So when I came here, it's a

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Speaker 6: step by step process. It's not going to happen overnight.

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Speaker 6: But you know, I've seen it before, and really for us,

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Speaker 6: when we're building this team, it's not only the talent,

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Speaker 6: and I've talked about this is just bringing in the

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Speaker 6: right type of character guys as well, you know, football character,

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Speaker 6: personal character. You know, we want smart, tough, dependable players

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Speaker 6: here that are good in the community as well, and

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Speaker 6: then are good teammates. So you know, I've seen it

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Speaker 6: done before, and if you surround yourself with good people

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Speaker 6: and you have the same vision, usually it works out.

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Speaker 1: The Titans were pretty active in free agency. What was

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Speaker 1: your top priority heading into that time of the year.

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Speaker 6: Well, you know, I think for us, and we all

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Speaker 6: come from similar backgrounds where you know, it's it's building

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Speaker 6: the team from the inside out to making sure that

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Speaker 6: the fronts are there. So, you know, building the offensive

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Speaker 6: line was a priority for us. You know when we

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Speaker 6: first got in here, and you know, we signed Dan Moore,

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Speaker 6: who's played left tackle, in Pittsburgh for four years, you know,

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Speaker 6: dependable player, and then JC who you know, the drafted

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Speaker 6: here last year, were able to move him to right

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Speaker 6: tackle as well. And then Kevin Zeitler too, who we're

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Speaker 6: gonna plug in here at right guards been in the

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Speaker 6: league for a long time. You know, a veteran guy

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Speaker 6: like that in the room I think is really important.

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Speaker 6: And then we went on the defensive side of the ball,

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Speaker 6: attack that side with you know, Draymond Jones, and you know,

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Speaker 6: able to add some pieces there too. So but for us,

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Speaker 6: really we want to try to build the fronts of

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Speaker 6: offensive line defensive line first, and that's been off philosophy.

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Speaker 2: So you mentioned some of those guys, and with the

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Speaker 2: Dan Moore move, you were able to kind of do

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Speaker 2: two things at once by moving JC Latham to right tackle,

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Speaker 2: which appears to be his natural position is what he

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Speaker 2: played in college. But Kevin Zeitdler brings a world of

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Speaker 2: experience at right guard. So yeah, building an inside out certainly.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to ask you more about Draymont Jones because

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Speaker 2: I thought he was one of the better free agent

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Speaker 2: acquisitions you guys got for the kind of skill set

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Speaker 2: he has to help off the edge.

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Speaker 6: You know, he's a bigger body for us that that

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Speaker 6: has played. He's versatile too, so he's gonna play outside

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Speaker 6: linebacker for us and in our base defense and also

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Speaker 6: has the capability of kick inside there and you'll see

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Speaker 6: him rush over guards as well. And you know, I've

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Speaker 6: studied him all the way back to Ohio State, and

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Speaker 6: you know, just knowing the type of person he is,

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Speaker 6: he was in Denver and in Seattle, so you know

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Speaker 6: he's going to be a tough, versatile player for us,

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Speaker 6: but also bring a lot of the leadership in the

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Speaker 6: locker room as well.

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Speaker 1: We mentioned the big guys on offense and defense. Also

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Speaker 1: some big additions on special teams Johnny Hecker Joey Sly

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Speaker 1: two major additions punter and kick ear. They're kind of important.

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Speaker 1: What makes those guys the right fit for Jump Fossil's.

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Speaker 6: Unit, So so bones Coach Fossil actually had Johnny with

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Speaker 6: the Rams when he when he was a rookie at

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Speaker 6: one point. And you know, he's always been the consummate professional,

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Speaker 6: has been productive, He's a great locker room guy. And

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Speaker 6: then with Joey, you know we've seen him kick over

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Speaker 6: the years. He's got a big leg and he's another

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Speaker 6: guy that had a relationship with coach Fossil in the past.

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Speaker 6: So you know, we're excited to add those two guys

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Speaker 6: into the specialists room.

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Speaker 2: Let's go to the quarterback position for a moment too,

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Speaker 2: because you added Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle in free

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Speaker 2: agency to bring it to that room. What was the

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Speaker 2: thought process and bringing those two guys to Nashville.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, we'll start with Brandon.

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Speaker 6: You know, Brandon had experience with coach Callahan and Cincinnati

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Speaker 6: and this guy that knows the offense, guy that's been

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Speaker 6: a dependable backup in the league for years. And then

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Speaker 6: with Tim, you know, Chad actually signed him in Green

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Speaker 6: Bay at one point too. So the two veteran guys

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Speaker 6: that I think are going to add a lot to

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Speaker 6: the room. So we're excited excited to get him there.

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Speaker 1: Pay Titans fans with a Kroger Boost membership. You'll score

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Speaker 1: the official grocer of the Tennessee Titans. Tighten Up Home

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Speaker 1: is the forefront of all we do. It's why we're

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Speaker 1: so committed to caring for the places and spaces in

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Speaker 1: which we work and live. Ashley, the official furniture provider

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Speaker 1: of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP. Speaking

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Speaker 1: of quarterbacks, Yead and another one in the drafting cam Ward.

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Speaker 1: What is it about him that made you so sure

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Speaker 1: he was a Tennessee Titan.

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Speaker 5: You know, we did a lot.

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Speaker 6: Of work on Cam And for me, you know, we

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Speaker 6: we in the fall when I was with Kansas City,

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Speaker 6: we were pretty set at the quarterback position, so I

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Speaker 6: really didn't study a lot of Cam in the fall.

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Speaker 6: Of course, I looked at him, and I think one

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Speaker 6: of the first things we did when we when I

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Speaker 6: came in here is, you know, I wanted everybody to

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Speaker 6: sit down and study the quarterback position. And I've always

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Speaker 6: said that that position is the most important position in

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Speaker 6: professional sports really, and just from the start really watching

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Speaker 6: Cam a guy that's had you know, five years of experience.

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Speaker 6: Guy's a zero star recruit that carries this chip on

438
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 6: his shoulder.

439
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 5: You know.

440
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:44,679
Speaker 6: He went to Incarnate Word, went to Washington State and

441
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,240
Speaker 6: just continued to get better, you know, and you know,

442
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,280
Speaker 6: for us, we had not met him before. So the

443
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:53,280
Speaker 6: first time we actually met him was at the Combine.

444
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,840
Speaker 6: You know, his tape jumps out because the physical capabilities

445
00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:58,680
Speaker 6: that he has, I mean, the arm talent he has,

446
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 6: the side that you know, the urm angles that he

447
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 6: throws with. And then when we got to meet him

448
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 6: at the combine, everything that we heard really from our

449
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:08,920
Speaker 6: scouts and everything.

450
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 5: He's a special person.

451
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 6: Not only is football intellect, but you know, he comes

452
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,679
Speaker 6: from a great family as well, and he's got a

453
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,040
Speaker 6: great way about him. And I just remember talking to

454
00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,920
Speaker 6: coach Crystal Ball, who's who's been around some pretty good teams.

455
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 6: He's a former play at Miami, and he said that,

456
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 6: you know, he's the best leader that he's ever been around.

457
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,040
Speaker 6: And we got the same message from every person that

458
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,199
Speaker 6: I talked to. Actually, when I first got hired, I

459
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 6: went down to the East West game and that was

460
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 6: we had our practices at North Texas and there was

461
00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:42,720
Speaker 6: a coach there.

462
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 5: Coach Eric Morse. Was my first really interaction.

463
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,440
Speaker 6: With a coach that had coach Cam and he had

464
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,280
Speaker 6: coach Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech as well, and.

465
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:54,879
Speaker 5: He said to me, he was pretty sure with me.

466
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,120
Speaker 5: He said, he's.

467
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 6: Everything you're gonna want, you know, and I said, what

468
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,520
Speaker 6: do you mean, and he said, the way he carries himself,

469
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 6: his leadership ability. He said, you can watch the tape

470
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,760
Speaker 6: and you're gonna see that he's a good football player.

471
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 6: But in terms of the makeup, he's everything you want.

472
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 6: So we did a lot of homework on him, you know,

473
00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,439
Speaker 6: brought him in on a visit, had multiple zooms with

474
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,879
Speaker 6: him as well, got to meet his parents before the

475
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,840
Speaker 6: pro day, so you know, I know he's excited to

476
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,400
Speaker 6: really get out into the community and to meet everybody else.

477
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,119
Speaker 6: But you're gonna love him.

478
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 2: In Night two of the draft, you took Ola with

479
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,600
Speaker 2: Emmy Ola Dajo at pass rusher from UCLA and it's

480
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 2: an interesting prospect because he's a guy that moved from

481
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,800
Speaker 2: inside linebacker to out as a pass rusher within that

482
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four season. What was it that made Femi

483
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:44,560
Speaker 2: the right pick at number fifty two.

484
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is funny because you know, he was playing

485
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 6: an inside backer for most of his career, didn't really

486
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:51,159
Speaker 6: move to the outside into the fourth game of the

487
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 6: year this past year. But when you see femiine interviews,

488
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 6: he's a high energy guy, tough, physical guy that's gonna

489
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,200
Speaker 6: play outside linebacker for us, and he's just growing into

490
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 6: his role as a pass rusher too. So you know,

491
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 6: he's been great since we've had him here. You know

492
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 6: this past week, the energy that he brings in the

493
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 6: locker room and you'll hear his interviews and get to

494
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,000
Speaker 6: meet him here. He's a guy that's going to be

495
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 6: a great locker room guy for us as well.

496
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 1: You're able to swing a couple of trades, get some

497
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,840
Speaker 1: extra picks there in the process, and it pick eighty two,

498
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:29,639
Speaker 1: you selected Penn State's Kevin Winston Junior. Was Was that

499
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 1: a good value there at number eighty two?

500
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,000
Speaker 6: You know, Kevin was one of the top safeties in

501
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 6: the draft and he probably would have went you know,

502
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 6: early second round and unfortunately, you know, towards acl the

503
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:41,480
Speaker 6: second game of the year.

504
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 5: But you know, we went back and.

505
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,639
Speaker 6: Watched him his his sophomore year when he was nineteen

506
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 6: years old, and you know, he's a tough, physical safety

507
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:55,000
Speaker 6: that is just wired right. So for us to get

508
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 6: him where we got him at pick eighty two, you know,

509
00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 6: very excited about him.

510
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 2: He just like to your point, he just turned twenty

511
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 2: one in December, so I mean, he's a gonna be

512
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 2: a young fellow there. So Day three of the draft

513
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 2: you start on offense at pick one oh three and

514
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,959
Speaker 2: take Florida wide receiver Chim Ray DK And obviously to

515
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:13,840
Speaker 2: improve the speed of the Titans is one of this

516
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,639
Speaker 2: but one of those attributes. But how much can that

517
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,719
Speaker 2: Florida wide receiver help in that department and the speed?

518
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 6: Yeah, Chim's a guy ran fourth three to two at

519
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:24,640
Speaker 6: the combine, one of the fastest guys at the combine.

520
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,880
Speaker 6: And for Chim, you know, he's a versatile, smart receiver

521
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 6: that also can bring some returnability to pump return and

522
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,920
Speaker 6: kick return. So we were really excited to get him

523
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 6: where we got him there and really all those guys in.

524
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,800
Speaker 5: The fourth round where we added there with Gunner.

525
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,200
Speaker 6: And you know, it's he's gonna be a versatile piece

526
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,879
Speaker 6: in this offense. He's really smart and the returnability is

527
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 6: going to be good for us too.

528
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,200
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about Gunner Helm a little bit tight

529
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 1: end out of Texas. What do you think that he

530
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,080
Speaker 1: brings to that offense.

531
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 6: You know, Gunner is a guy that's really just growing

532
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 6: into the tight end too. He was a former receiver

533
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:08,119
Speaker 6: in high school that actually John Elway was in Denver

534
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,560
Speaker 6: at Cherry Creek High School his friends with the parents

535
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:12,920
Speaker 6: and said, you know, I don't think there's there's many

536
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 6: receivers in the NFL is going to run a four

537
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 6: to seven right now. So but he was a big receiver,

538
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,439
Speaker 6: so they moved him to tight end. And you know,

539
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 6: Gunner is a guy that you know, played behind Sanders

540
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:25,399
Speaker 6: who ended up get drafted in Carolina, a guy.

541
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 5: Before the year before.

542
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 6: So really this year was kind of his breakout year

543
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 6: for him. And he's a big, dependable target. Guy's got

544
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 6: long arms. He's got like thirty three inch arms, So

545
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:38,560
Speaker 6: it's going to be great for the quarterback to have

546
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,480
Speaker 6: that type of player. Smart, savvy, and he's got really

547
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 6: good run after the catch too.

548
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 2: So continuing at Day three, two more offensive picks in

549
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 2: as you took wide receiver elk I am Manor from

550
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 2: Stanford and an offensive lineman and Jackson Slater from Sacramento State.

551
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 2: What was it that you guys liked about those two

552
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 2: young men.

553
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,360
Speaker 6: Well, first off, with Elick, you know, he's a big

554
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 6: receiver that line up at X for US, big physical

555
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,880
Speaker 6: receiver that's gonna be good in the red zone. Good,

556
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 6: we contested catches, as well. Another guy that's smart and

557
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 6: versatile too in the offense, So no really excited about him.

558
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,040
Speaker 6: Added him with Chim and it's great to have two

559
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 6: young receivers kind of grow together, and you've kind of

560
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,240
Speaker 6: seen them the last the last week here together kind

561
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,640
Speaker 6: of just push each other. So, you know, drafting those

562
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,439
Speaker 6: two guys where we got them, you know.

563
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 5: It's gonna be really good for the receiver room.

564
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 1: Rounding out this draft class. You've got a corner in

565
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,440
Speaker 1: Cal product Marcus Harris, and then a converted linebacker from

566
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: Michigan and you have a big running back in Khalil Mullins.

567
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,959
Speaker 1: So both of those guys strong players in their own regard.

568
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 1: What did those two bring to this draft class? That

569
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 1: really rounded out nicely well.

570
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 6: First of all, with Marcus, you know, I got to

571
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 6: see him at the East West game and he's a

572
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 6: you know, he played outside corner at Cal, but you

573
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 6: know we can move inside to the nickel. Another guy

574
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 6: that's gonna have versatility. You're gonna that's a big thing

575
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 6: with me, is having versatility and.

576
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 5: He can do both spots.

577
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 6: Guy that's you know, quick twitch and actually the game

578
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,360
Speaker 6: versus Miami, actually really that's when I kind of noticed

579
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:16,240
Speaker 6: him a little bit too. He made a couple of

580
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 6: plays in the ball versus versus cam that kind.

581
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 5: Of stood out to me.

582
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 6: So I'm really excited to add him to the room too.

583
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I forgot to mention Klell to Mullings.

584
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 6: The guy who got from Michigan, the running back, former linebacker,

585
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 6: converted running back. So he's going to give us a

586
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 6: bigger back in the room too. Really tough and competitive, too.

587
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 2: Awesome to have you kind of run down the draft

588
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 2: class in this and see all these things start to

589
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 2: come together. When we talked about all, you know, the

590
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 2: first four picks in Day three were all offense, and

591
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 2: of course, people talking to Amy and I are like,

592
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 2: he's gonna do all this.

593
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 3: To help the quarterback.

594
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, that's true, but you guys are in

595
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 2: the AFC and it's the Wild while West with all

596
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks in the division, they were playing the AFC

597
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:04,240
Speaker 2: West this year.

598
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,800
Speaker 3: It's about scoring more than eighteen points a game. That's

599
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 3: really what it is.

600
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 2: Yes, you'll help the quarterback as a byproduct, but you've

601
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 2: got to put more points on the board.

602
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 6: But yeah, adding those offensive weapons, I think the games

603
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 6: evolved over the years where there's so much offense.

604
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 5: The quarterbacks are so good. In this league, you need

605
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:19,000
Speaker 5: to score points.

606
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:20,960
Speaker 6: You do need to have a very good defense too,

607
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 6: But you've seen a lot of these games over the

608
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 6: past really ten years where they've become shootouts, and I

609
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 6: experienced a lot of those games over my career. So

610
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,040
Speaker 6: being able to have playmakers on offense is a point

611
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:33,960
Speaker 6: of emphasis for us.

612
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:37,440
Speaker 1: Mike Bergonzi, thank you so much for taking the time

613
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,720
Speaker 1: to talk to us, guys. Give it up for a

614
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 1: Titans general manager.

615
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 6: Thank you.

616
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 3: Well.

617
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 1: Once again. We so appreciate you guys coming out to

618
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 1: spend some time with us today. We hope that you

619
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: learned a little bit more about this Titans team. We

620
00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:03,640
Speaker 1: hope you are so excited about the upcoming Sea in