Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Joe Rossi Press Conference Coverage
3/5/2024 11:32:00 AM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – First-year Michigan State Secchia Family Defensive Coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi met with the media on Monday afternoon to talk about his defensive philosophy, his coaching journey, and getting to know the new coaching staff.
The Spartans begin five weeks of spring practice on Tuesday, March 19.
Below are quotes from the media session:
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Joe Rossi
On the mental expectations that he has for his players…
The biggest thing for guys, especially younger guys, but for us, we're going to be in a situation where everyone is new to the program and is going to be able to learn from mistakes. You bring up mental health and mental toughness, a book that impacted me was Grit by Angela Duckworth and she describes grit as passion and perseverance. The people that are usually successful in life are not because of any special skill or talent, it is because they handle adversity better than others. The big thing for us is getting to be able to compete and respond. That's the mental toughness that we are looking for, if we win the play, great response, if we lose the play, great response. Then what can we draw from that? If we make mistakes, because we are going to make mistakes, how do we respond to that mistake and how do we get better from that? From a mental standpoint, that's really what we're looking for.
On what drew him to MSU and/or Jonathan Smith…
Two things. Number one, I was seven years in at Minnesota and it was a great experience, P.J. (Fleck) and the staff there were really awesome and it was a tough decision to leave. It was going to be something that was going to be a great situation in my mind to make the move. Two things about Michigan State, number one, I think it can be special. They've been in the College Football Playoff and it has been recent and have won conference championships. So I think that is the first thing. The second thing is everything I heard about Coach Smith, we have not worked together before but everything I have heard about him from other college coaches, from NFL scouts, from people in the profession, was that you could not work for a better guy. Getting to know him through the process I felt that. It was kind of what my gut said and then being here for two and a half months it held true. I don't know if you'll find a better guy in the profession. He's awesome to work for, he is going to represent the program in the right way. He's going to be a great leader for our players and our staff. Those two things were huge for me.
On his idea of the personnel, mainly the younger guys before he came to MSU…
So obviously, I was more familiar with the offense because that is who we competed against (at Minnesota). I did get a chance, you go through a year and you get a crossover film and you see another team so I did see the defense a little bit. I did know that there were a good amount of guys coming back. I was able to watch a little film before. Obviously once you get here, that was one of the things that we did, was put on tape, watched guys and evaluated them. You're not worried about the scheme, you're not worried about any of that. You are just putting film on and watching guys play. So that was kind of the process.
On if he was able to share his insights with Brian about the offense…
No, honestly, no because they're going to, they're doing the same thing. Everything we have is more schematics and tendencies and tips and that gets thrown out the window when there is a new offense or new defense.
On returning players and the challenge they may face…
The thing that I found over the years is that when you have success at places like Maine, which were not the quote, unquote, top jobs in the league. I was fortunate to be a part of some good teams when we were there. What we found is that those teams recruited and then developed their players well. I think development is the undervalued thing in college football. You can recruit but you have to develop and developmental programs are the ones that have lasting success. In those two places that is what we had to do. When we had experienced guys that's usually when we had the most success. College football in my opinion has changed in the last four to five years because there's much more turnover on a roster than there was six years ago, your roster isn't set until June, which is a different dynamic. So the developmental process has changed a little with transfers and things of that nature. I think when you come into a program for the first time and install a defense for the first time everyone has the same starting point. That is a little bit of difference. Even though there are guys coming back with a little bit of experience, they are learning this defense for the first time. They are learning our culture for the first time as a football program, so there is a little bit of a learning curve for them. Now listen, an experienced player is going to learn faster than a first-year guy, because they have been through it before. It is a little different situation than year one than it is say year four or five.
On how it is working for an offensive minded head coach…
Here's the thing, obviously I'm getting with Coach Smith for the first time but he painted a very vivid picture of what he was looking for and what he values. You mentioned Coach Fleck, who I have worked for before. I think the one thing that I feel is similar between the two of them is they value winning football games and they value playing complementary football. What you'll see in that standpoint is when a head coach values that, the decisions they are making are with the end in mind of winning the game, offense, defense and special teams. Understanding situations, understanding clocks, understanding is it a one-score lead, two-score lead, three-score lead and all the game play that goes into that. Just having conversations with Coach Smith I know that's really important to him. For me, as a defensive play caller that tells me that I have to do a good job managing situations so that we can put ourselves in situations to win the most football games possible. Working for offensive guys can give you a perspective that maybe you don't have because they are offensive guys. My prior boss, Coach Fleck, did a good job with that and Coach Smith has already shown himself to be able to do that, he will be at a different level because he was a quarterback. Not only was he a quarterback, he was a pretty darn good one, so I think that will be something that I will love to talk to him and get in the quarterback's head with.
On how difficult is it going to be to build a dominant defense…
To me, you're right, if you go back through the years in the 50s and 60s defense was a little more dominant, to use your words than it is now. But I still believe you can play really good defense and I think the top teams still play really good defense. The main thing is what do you value in terms of playing really good defense in 2024, for us and for me it is eliminating explosive plays. The top offense in the country is able to get chunk plays and when they get those chunk plays their scoring probability goes up. Defensively for us we want to eliminate those. When we have played really good defense over the years on teams that I have been a part of and been in the top 25 or the top 10 it's been the result of not giving up a lot of explosives. Making people drive the length of the field, making them earn everything they get. If you look at that and we chart that, you will find the top defenses in the country give up the least amount of explosive plays. So that is some that we will value.
On the history of the defense being played at MSU…
When we first came into the league at Rutgers, I was at Rutgers a little bit. I think there were some really good Michigan State defenses. I know in the past with Coach Dantonio they put up some really good defenses over the years. I think it comes down to number one, you have some talented players, that's part of it, it always starts with talent. But also it's a mentality and a physicality and a commitment to fundamentals. I certainly appreciate and respect that and that is something that we are going to strive to do.
On where he got his defensive philosophy from…
All of them, I would say that my first coaching job was at Thiel College as you mentioned and my defensive coordinator had taken the head coaching job. We don't run the schemes that we ran back then but how we do things, maybe what was not the same. But how we do it, how we implement it, how we teach it, the value of fundamentals, playing hard, running to the ball , keeping the ball in front, those things were from that whole journey. Then going to the University of Maine, those guys just kind of build it and then all of the people that you come into contact with over the years whether it's on another staff or you work with it all kind of comes together.
On where you start from last year's defense…
I told those guys, we are evaluating now and the future. Those things we are not worried about, we acknowledge them but we're evaluating guys on everything that is going on day to day. The thing that I would tell you for us that we value is three things. We have to be able to stop the run. You talk about having success in the Big Ten it comes down to being able to stop the run, especially later in the year. So that's number one. Number two is eliminate explosive plays, which we kind of touched on. Number three is creating takeaways, I think the best defenses are able to create takeaways. That being said, those three things, there are a lot of things that go into that and being able to do those three things. Number one is being able to play really, really hard. The best defenses that I have been around over the years played really, really hard. I felt they were really tough mentally, the question was asked earlier about mental toughness and being able to handle adverse situations. I thought they played with great technique. So playing really hard, playing physical and tough and playing with great technique will be the things that we are preaching to the guys to stop the run, to eliminate explosives and create takeaways.
On how a coach can create takeaways…
The coaching of the fundamentals and then the constant reminders of getting the ball out. Some of its scheme related, zone coverage generally leads to more interceptions than man coverage. More times than not in today's football fumbles are a result of people punching the ball out. Executing at a high level, if I can just be frank about it, if you play your defense at a high level, your chances of creating takeaways are going to be greater than if you are not playing at a high level. We're going to coach all of those things to the best of our ability. I have seen over the years some teams who have a great knack at it and some who do not. I believe that all of them can get better at it by coaching those things.
On what he looked at for the returning players…
We watched game film of the guys coming back. I am going to be honest, I watched it with individual players. I'm not watching for schemes or anything like that, I am not worried about that. I am watching for players, to get a feel for what their strengths and their weaknesses are and how they will fit into our scheme.
On recruiting, having coaches with no ties to this region…
The first thing is just getting boots on the ground and getting coaches in the schools. We made it a huge point of emphasis to be in the Midwest this last recruiting cycle and I know Coach (Smith) wants that to continue and it will continue. Just me personally as a coordinator, I was in Ohio, I was in Illinois, I was in Michigan and those were the main areas they had me getting. Speaking to what you are talking about, I think there is some really good football played in that area and some really tough players.
On the most enticing part of the job at MSU…
I kind of mentioned earlier where I was in a good situation working for a good guy in a team that had some success. Making the move for me was going to be about something like what is special about the place you are going to and for this place for me you can play in the College Football Playoff and you can win Big Ten Championships. There has been a tradition of playing really good defense. The other huge draw was working for Coach Smith, because everything I kinda heard about him was that he is awesome to work for and runs a really good program.
On if the brand new start of the program was enticing to him…
I'd say it creates a different challenge. Each year has its own challenge and there is a challenge to starting over. All the freshmen are hearing it for the first time, but so are all the fifth year seniors. A guy that I coach, Cal Haladay, has started a lot of football games but he's hearing it for the first time. There is a challenge to that, and it's almost like working a different muscle. It is exciting, I think any time you get in these situations it's exciting to install something for the first time, but it's also a challenge.
On getting to know some of the defensive coaches…
I think a couple things, like Coach Legi (Suiaunoa) and Coach Blue Adams, those guys worked for Coach Smith and the thing that has really stuck out to me is he has top notch people around him. I got a chance to see that just quickly. Anyone he brought with him, I have been impressed with, those guys have been great, they have great experience, great football knowledge, they're great humans. So it's been awesome to work with them. We made some other hires, Demetrice Martin, who's an alum and has a great resume and Chad Wilt who I have been with before so there's some common ground there. It's been really good because at the end of the day they are really good coaches and really good people.
On if what we see this year will look like Minnesota last year…
I think the fundamentals and the belief system will be the same. I've been, I think this is year 24, so you have to tailor what you do to the strengths and weaknesses of your defense. I worked with Ralph Friedgen in the last year that he coached (as an assistant at Rutgers) and I said what are you going to run, and he said, I don't know. And I said, what do you mean coach? And he goes, Joe, I've run a lot of plays over the years and the ones well run here are the ones that our players will do well. And I said you know what, that's pretty darn smart. So while you don't necessarily pick plays on defense but you do pick schemes and you tailor things to the strengths and weaknesses of the people you have. That's going to be a constant evaluation this spring is what are we good at, what are we are not. Let's lean towards the things we are good at, let's shy away from the things that are not. So is it going to look exactly the same? No, because every year there it is tweaked a little bit too.
On who has stood out as both vocal and physical leaders…
We're still feeling it out, still learning guys, I mentioned him (Cal Haladay) because he's in my room. I coach the linebackers and I know he's played a lot of games. They're in strength and conditioning and they are able to do some drills and we are getting into spring practice. We're still kind of sorting that out, I like the group, I will tell you they are eager and they are willing. As a coach any time you have a group like that it is exciting.
On who is going to rise during the challenging situations with coaching changeover…
I think it's easy to lead when things are going well, it's hard to lead when things aren't going well. That's the player, that's the coach, that's anyone in life. Generally speaking, at this time of year its lifting, its conditioning, it's hard but when we get to football we will get a better feel of who the guys are that can kind of step up and be leaders.
On if he needs to remove bad habits…
I don't necessarily look at it that way. In terms of when we come in, we communicate what we are looking for and then we are going to hold them to that standard. Whether that's a quote unquote bad habit or something that hasn't been coached or something that has been coached, to me it doesn't matter. It's more, this is what we're looking for, this is what it looks like. I'm a big believer in communicating what you want it to look like, show evidence of what visually you told them and now you're going to visually show it to them and then hold them accountable to it. Holding accountable does not mean it's negative, it means that you are working towards the standard of what it needs to look like. When it doesn't look that way, communicate what it needs to look like. I don't see it as breaking bad habits or stripping down. I just see it as here's what we want it to look like, let's get it there.
On the most important thing he learned from Coach Fleck…
Holding the standard, communicating a vision and holding the standard. He does a really good job of communicating what he wants it to look like, casting a vision and then holding people to that standard to make it look that way. That's what I learned the most.
On if an assistant coach can match the enthusiasm of Coach Fleck…
I think they can in their own way. What I mean by that is, you'll get around me and I'm not necessarily, my enthusiasm does not come out maybe in the same way that he did but it does come out. So I think we had a staff of guys who were enthusiastic in their own way.
On complementary football and not leaving the defense out to dry…
Here's what I would say, that conversation stems from the head football coach. I have talked to Coach about that and what his vision is and how we're going to play the game. When we get into the nitty gritty of spring practice and fall practice, those conversations in staff rooms are led by the head coach and you give your feedback as a coordinator. I do know that he's been awesome in getting to know him and spending some time with him and communicating. I do know he and I are going to work really well together because he's a good guy and at the end of the day he wants to win football games, which is the same thing we all want to do. Playing complementary football is the number one thing, it isn't about stats, it isn't about anything other than the W, getting the W and winning football games. I'm excited to work with them but those conversations are with the coach as we get into it.
The Spartans begin five weeks of spring practice on Tuesday, March 19.
Below are quotes from the media session:
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Joe Rossi
On the mental expectations that he has for his players…
The biggest thing for guys, especially younger guys, but for us, we're going to be in a situation where everyone is new to the program and is going to be able to learn from mistakes. You bring up mental health and mental toughness, a book that impacted me was Grit by Angela Duckworth and she describes grit as passion and perseverance. The people that are usually successful in life are not because of any special skill or talent, it is because they handle adversity better than others. The big thing for us is getting to be able to compete and respond. That's the mental toughness that we are looking for, if we win the play, great response, if we lose the play, great response. Then what can we draw from that? If we make mistakes, because we are going to make mistakes, how do we respond to that mistake and how do we get better from that? From a mental standpoint, that's really what we're looking for.
On what drew him to MSU and/or Jonathan Smith…
Two things. Number one, I was seven years in at Minnesota and it was a great experience, P.J. (Fleck) and the staff there were really awesome and it was a tough decision to leave. It was going to be something that was going to be a great situation in my mind to make the move. Two things about Michigan State, number one, I think it can be special. They've been in the College Football Playoff and it has been recent and have won conference championships. So I think that is the first thing. The second thing is everything I heard about Coach Smith, we have not worked together before but everything I have heard about him from other college coaches, from NFL scouts, from people in the profession, was that you could not work for a better guy. Getting to know him through the process I felt that. It was kind of what my gut said and then being here for two and a half months it held true. I don't know if you'll find a better guy in the profession. He's awesome to work for, he is going to represent the program in the right way. He's going to be a great leader for our players and our staff. Those two things were huge for me.
On his idea of the personnel, mainly the younger guys before he came to MSU…
So obviously, I was more familiar with the offense because that is who we competed against (at Minnesota). I did get a chance, you go through a year and you get a crossover film and you see another team so I did see the defense a little bit. I did know that there were a good amount of guys coming back. I was able to watch a little film before. Obviously once you get here, that was one of the things that we did, was put on tape, watched guys and evaluated them. You're not worried about the scheme, you're not worried about any of that. You are just putting film on and watching guys play. So that was kind of the process.
On if he was able to share his insights with Brian about the offense…
No, honestly, no because they're going to, they're doing the same thing. Everything we have is more schematics and tendencies and tips and that gets thrown out the window when there is a new offense or new defense.
On returning players and the challenge they may face…
The thing that I found over the years is that when you have success at places like Maine, which were not the quote, unquote, top jobs in the league. I was fortunate to be a part of some good teams when we were there. What we found is that those teams recruited and then developed their players well. I think development is the undervalued thing in college football. You can recruit but you have to develop and developmental programs are the ones that have lasting success. In those two places that is what we had to do. When we had experienced guys that's usually when we had the most success. College football in my opinion has changed in the last four to five years because there's much more turnover on a roster than there was six years ago, your roster isn't set until June, which is a different dynamic. So the developmental process has changed a little with transfers and things of that nature. I think when you come into a program for the first time and install a defense for the first time everyone has the same starting point. That is a little bit of difference. Even though there are guys coming back with a little bit of experience, they are learning this defense for the first time. They are learning our culture for the first time as a football program, so there is a little bit of a learning curve for them. Now listen, an experienced player is going to learn faster than a first-year guy, because they have been through it before. It is a little different situation than year one than it is say year four or five.
On how it is working for an offensive minded head coach…
Here's the thing, obviously I'm getting with Coach Smith for the first time but he painted a very vivid picture of what he was looking for and what he values. You mentioned Coach Fleck, who I have worked for before. I think the one thing that I feel is similar between the two of them is they value winning football games and they value playing complementary football. What you'll see in that standpoint is when a head coach values that, the decisions they are making are with the end in mind of winning the game, offense, defense and special teams. Understanding situations, understanding clocks, understanding is it a one-score lead, two-score lead, three-score lead and all the game play that goes into that. Just having conversations with Coach Smith I know that's really important to him. For me, as a defensive play caller that tells me that I have to do a good job managing situations so that we can put ourselves in situations to win the most football games possible. Working for offensive guys can give you a perspective that maybe you don't have because they are offensive guys. My prior boss, Coach Fleck, did a good job with that and Coach Smith has already shown himself to be able to do that, he will be at a different level because he was a quarterback. Not only was he a quarterback, he was a pretty darn good one, so I think that will be something that I will love to talk to him and get in the quarterback's head with.
On how difficult is it going to be to build a dominant defense…
To me, you're right, if you go back through the years in the 50s and 60s defense was a little more dominant, to use your words than it is now. But I still believe you can play really good defense and I think the top teams still play really good defense. The main thing is what do you value in terms of playing really good defense in 2024, for us and for me it is eliminating explosive plays. The top offense in the country is able to get chunk plays and when they get those chunk plays their scoring probability goes up. Defensively for us we want to eliminate those. When we have played really good defense over the years on teams that I have been a part of and been in the top 25 or the top 10 it's been the result of not giving up a lot of explosives. Making people drive the length of the field, making them earn everything they get. If you look at that and we chart that, you will find the top defenses in the country give up the least amount of explosive plays. So that is some that we will value.
On the history of the defense being played at MSU…
When we first came into the league at Rutgers, I was at Rutgers a little bit. I think there were some really good Michigan State defenses. I know in the past with Coach Dantonio they put up some really good defenses over the years. I think it comes down to number one, you have some talented players, that's part of it, it always starts with talent. But also it's a mentality and a physicality and a commitment to fundamentals. I certainly appreciate and respect that and that is something that we are going to strive to do.
On where he got his defensive philosophy from…
All of them, I would say that my first coaching job was at Thiel College as you mentioned and my defensive coordinator had taken the head coaching job. We don't run the schemes that we ran back then but how we do things, maybe what was not the same. But how we do it, how we implement it, how we teach it, the value of fundamentals, playing hard, running to the ball , keeping the ball in front, those things were from that whole journey. Then going to the University of Maine, those guys just kind of build it and then all of the people that you come into contact with over the years whether it's on another staff or you work with it all kind of comes together.
On where you start from last year's defense…
I told those guys, we are evaluating now and the future. Those things we are not worried about, we acknowledge them but we're evaluating guys on everything that is going on day to day. The thing that I would tell you for us that we value is three things. We have to be able to stop the run. You talk about having success in the Big Ten it comes down to being able to stop the run, especially later in the year. So that's number one. Number two is eliminate explosive plays, which we kind of touched on. Number three is creating takeaways, I think the best defenses are able to create takeaways. That being said, those three things, there are a lot of things that go into that and being able to do those three things. Number one is being able to play really, really hard. The best defenses that I have been around over the years played really, really hard. I felt they were really tough mentally, the question was asked earlier about mental toughness and being able to handle adverse situations. I thought they played with great technique. So playing really hard, playing physical and tough and playing with great technique will be the things that we are preaching to the guys to stop the run, to eliminate explosives and create takeaways.
On how a coach can create takeaways…
The coaching of the fundamentals and then the constant reminders of getting the ball out. Some of its scheme related, zone coverage generally leads to more interceptions than man coverage. More times than not in today's football fumbles are a result of people punching the ball out. Executing at a high level, if I can just be frank about it, if you play your defense at a high level, your chances of creating takeaways are going to be greater than if you are not playing at a high level. We're going to coach all of those things to the best of our ability. I have seen over the years some teams who have a great knack at it and some who do not. I believe that all of them can get better at it by coaching those things.
On what he looked at for the returning players…
We watched game film of the guys coming back. I am going to be honest, I watched it with individual players. I'm not watching for schemes or anything like that, I am not worried about that. I am watching for players, to get a feel for what their strengths and their weaknesses are and how they will fit into our scheme.
On recruiting, having coaches with no ties to this region…
The first thing is just getting boots on the ground and getting coaches in the schools. We made it a huge point of emphasis to be in the Midwest this last recruiting cycle and I know Coach (Smith) wants that to continue and it will continue. Just me personally as a coordinator, I was in Ohio, I was in Illinois, I was in Michigan and those were the main areas they had me getting. Speaking to what you are talking about, I think there is some really good football played in that area and some really tough players.
On the most enticing part of the job at MSU…
I kind of mentioned earlier where I was in a good situation working for a good guy in a team that had some success. Making the move for me was going to be about something like what is special about the place you are going to and for this place for me you can play in the College Football Playoff and you can win Big Ten Championships. There has been a tradition of playing really good defense. The other huge draw was working for Coach Smith, because everything I kinda heard about him was that he is awesome to work for and runs a really good program.
On if the brand new start of the program was enticing to him…
I'd say it creates a different challenge. Each year has its own challenge and there is a challenge to starting over. All the freshmen are hearing it for the first time, but so are all the fifth year seniors. A guy that I coach, Cal Haladay, has started a lot of football games but he's hearing it for the first time. There is a challenge to that, and it's almost like working a different muscle. It is exciting, I think any time you get in these situations it's exciting to install something for the first time, but it's also a challenge.
On getting to know some of the defensive coaches…
I think a couple things, like Coach Legi (Suiaunoa) and Coach Blue Adams, those guys worked for Coach Smith and the thing that has really stuck out to me is he has top notch people around him. I got a chance to see that just quickly. Anyone he brought with him, I have been impressed with, those guys have been great, they have great experience, great football knowledge, they're great humans. So it's been awesome to work with them. We made some other hires, Demetrice Martin, who's an alum and has a great resume and Chad Wilt who I have been with before so there's some common ground there. It's been really good because at the end of the day they are really good coaches and really good people.
On if what we see this year will look like Minnesota last year…
I think the fundamentals and the belief system will be the same. I've been, I think this is year 24, so you have to tailor what you do to the strengths and weaknesses of your defense. I worked with Ralph Friedgen in the last year that he coached (as an assistant at Rutgers) and I said what are you going to run, and he said, I don't know. And I said, what do you mean coach? And he goes, Joe, I've run a lot of plays over the years and the ones well run here are the ones that our players will do well. And I said you know what, that's pretty darn smart. So while you don't necessarily pick plays on defense but you do pick schemes and you tailor things to the strengths and weaknesses of the people you have. That's going to be a constant evaluation this spring is what are we good at, what are we are not. Let's lean towards the things we are good at, let's shy away from the things that are not. So is it going to look exactly the same? No, because every year there it is tweaked a little bit too.
On who has stood out as both vocal and physical leaders…
We're still feeling it out, still learning guys, I mentioned him (Cal Haladay) because he's in my room. I coach the linebackers and I know he's played a lot of games. They're in strength and conditioning and they are able to do some drills and we are getting into spring practice. We're still kind of sorting that out, I like the group, I will tell you they are eager and they are willing. As a coach any time you have a group like that it is exciting.
On who is going to rise during the challenging situations with coaching changeover…
I think it's easy to lead when things are going well, it's hard to lead when things aren't going well. That's the player, that's the coach, that's anyone in life. Generally speaking, at this time of year its lifting, its conditioning, it's hard but when we get to football we will get a better feel of who the guys are that can kind of step up and be leaders.
On if he needs to remove bad habits…
I don't necessarily look at it that way. In terms of when we come in, we communicate what we are looking for and then we are going to hold them to that standard. Whether that's a quote unquote bad habit or something that hasn't been coached or something that has been coached, to me it doesn't matter. It's more, this is what we're looking for, this is what it looks like. I'm a big believer in communicating what you want it to look like, show evidence of what visually you told them and now you're going to visually show it to them and then hold them accountable to it. Holding accountable does not mean it's negative, it means that you are working towards the standard of what it needs to look like. When it doesn't look that way, communicate what it needs to look like. I don't see it as breaking bad habits or stripping down. I just see it as here's what we want it to look like, let's get it there.
On the most important thing he learned from Coach Fleck…
Holding the standard, communicating a vision and holding the standard. He does a really good job of communicating what he wants it to look like, casting a vision and then holding people to that standard to make it look that way. That's what I learned the most.
On if an assistant coach can match the enthusiasm of Coach Fleck…
I think they can in their own way. What I mean by that is, you'll get around me and I'm not necessarily, my enthusiasm does not come out maybe in the same way that he did but it does come out. So I think we had a staff of guys who were enthusiastic in their own way.
On complementary football and not leaving the defense out to dry…
Here's what I would say, that conversation stems from the head football coach. I have talked to Coach about that and what his vision is and how we're going to play the game. When we get into the nitty gritty of spring practice and fall practice, those conversations in staff rooms are led by the head coach and you give your feedback as a coordinator. I do know that he's been awesome in getting to know him and spending some time with him and communicating. I do know he and I are going to work really well together because he's a good guy and at the end of the day he wants to win football games, which is the same thing we all want to do. Playing complementary football is the number one thing, it isn't about stats, it isn't about anything other than the W, getting the W and winning football games. I'm excited to work with them but those conversations are with the coach as we get into it.
Players Mentioned
LB
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