Indianapolis joining us now, the 2021 NFL, AP coach of
the year and more importantly, more importantly,
the Pro Football Talk
Coach of the Year. Hey, oh, wow, like
well, great gifts.
It was a great gift. I love the trophy,
the trophy that the edible edible treats are always
excitable.
How long did the ham last? That's the real question. The
probably a weekend. It lasted the Weekend,
you know, I think there were a lot of,
you know, Carter had buddies back from school. So they loved
it. You know, my son brought some some friends back from
from school and
I think they all they hammered it and then send it back. Then
we send it back with them, leftovers. Go back to school
as funny how it all happened. I've never talked about this
before, other than just telling Sims off the air, but I texted
you that you were the PFD coach the year
and your response was, what do I get for it? And I joked
a canned ham and you told me I like, honey. Correct. So
we don't joke about canned ham. I says no,
you don't joke with that with the next outside linebacker who
weighs 265 270 the next thing. You know, there was a,
there was a styrofoam cooler
at the office. Okay. All right. Yeah, big-time.
All right,
that was fun as fun. Go ahead and list.
Go ahead. Try it. So I just I'm always like, you know, you're
an intense guy. You certainly are. He seemed always all about
your business.
Can you even like appreciate
you know, coach of the year consideration? That type of
stuff. I know that probably have a bad taste in your mouth
from the way the year, ended, but can you sit backwards?
Your, you know, I mean, that's not why we coach. I think that
that is a reflection. I've tried to say this, every single
time. It's a reflection of our coaching staff and the players
that that we use this year for guys to be able. Or to
bring guys in on a Wednesday for us to sign players on
a Wednesday and then get them ready to make significant
contributions on a Sunday.
It all levels of our team whether that be offensive, ly
defensively. I mean I get one thing, you sign a guy to play
R5 on a kickoff team and you know
Gunnar that's pretty
you can do that. But when you're talking about defensive
backs, the Buster's grinds and I know there's a there's so
many more players that we've used in rotated through right
that helped us, but those are just some Um, that that stick
out. Yeah. It was. I mean, you
guys like set a record this year and I think that's
a credit. I do want to say, because I know you're not gonna
say, yeah, 91, all-time record and still the number one seed
in the AFC. All right, that game itself. Do you still like,
how much is that in your mind? Still? I never saw a game like
that
before, where a demon's online.
Whip the crap out of a team to that capacity.
And I know you have the quarterback made some mistakes
that hurt you guys. But yeah, there's a lot, you know, man,
there's a lot of things you've thrown a lot of pitches in your
career. So you understand what goes into it. The more that
that's
You know, we have to protect inside out. We look at all
those things. You know, we went through and Ryan through 19
interceptions. We had you know, there were false,
the quarterback there were times where we bounce them off our
shoulder pad which is which is not the
technique that that I would ever teach a receiver to catch
the ball.
There's sometimes in protection guys, get beat inside out and
so we're all have a role in and ball security. Now, we
understand the impact that the quarterback makes
and so we'll we're going to try to be,
you know, better. We have to be Better
and as far as the game goes, you know, we're always going to
we're going to learn from it and
it's frustrating to lose in this league and
31 teams suffer misery. It's just the timing of it comes at
different times for each team.
Hey Mike, I had a huge difference between the two of
us and I like this because when I when I let an insult fly,
it's like fireworks. I light the fuse and I get the hell away.
You just let you just keep going
with it. You've thrown a lot of pics in your career. That was
awesome. That was great and just keep plowing through it
and he knows, but it's just, that's great. That's great.
That wasn't, it is all
the time.
Damn. That was notable salt.
Maybe it was, that's a fact.
For a lot. I didn't throw that many interceptions in my career
because I wasn't damn good enough to be out there to throw
them, but it's all about opportunity. Exactly. Right?
So, I don't think he's trying to go back now just knew that
whatever. But
I would go back to the fact you had 91 different guys. This
year, me know what point do you look around and say, who
the f... are these guys? Who are these guys? We and and we had
that moment. I don't think I had it.
Well, maybe I had it at certain times on Wednesday in the squad
meeting when I would introduce them, you know, and there would
be a list of six or Seven new guys,
but in the in the offseason we started this self Scout that
everybody watches through, right? You watch your coverages
diverse, the run the past fronts, you watch your outside
Zone. You watch your Gap scheme, right? Yeah.
There were times that I would be in there and I say we're
going to need a flip card because I don't know who number
30 was right? I don't know who 79 was and it was we're all
laughing about it was so over the first coach that
would could answer the question about who that player was.
So, what are you doing? This offseason
to build on what you managed to do? Because it was really
impressive to get the one. See the AFC is very difficult right
now. There is a huge difference between the level of
competition, at the high, end of the teams, in the AFC in
the NFC. So
what's the objective to get back to where you were last
year, but then punch it, through another couple levels,
beyond the divisional round.
Well, it starts.
I mean this offseason it starts with obviously our roster,
you know, the conversations that John and I have with it
player acquisition whether that's in free agency and our
own players that contracts are coming up and then the draft.
But from a coaching standpoint,
you know, we believe in certain things,
we're going to try to,
to make sure that we have areas of focus for each individual
player and focus on the development and the offseason,
which I believe is critical
for technique and fundamentals. It's hard. To get those things
coach and training camp, right? When you're when you're running
plays. Yeah, you're running track
plays, you're trying to, you know, me and you're trying to
install plays and you're trying to bank some, some valuable
reps. So that when you get down in a Red Zone and you do
an offseason study in the red zone and you find that
60% of your touchdowns in the red zone are from reps, that
you had the most reps with in training camp. So that
tells me that we need to run more banked reps and have
similar Concepts and carryovers on the red zone.
Players understand it better and they can
maybe operate and function
and play faster in the quarterback knows what those
reeds are. What it's going to look like verse Man and
the Zone compound. So those are things that we're studying as
far as me
personally, identify, why, you know where guys got injured,
you know, when we talk about how many players that we use
this year.
Is it something that I can do with the, the training camp
schedule? What can I do differently? What can we? We do
in our training and our recovery?
We owe that to ourselves. We owe that to the team to make
sure we are doing right by the player. There's nothing more
important than the health and safety of our football team and
their families. Yeah. I hear that.
I'm your you were a technician as far as like being an outside
linebacker, you know, and then
I've seen you do drills with guys,
but I'd be you know, I want to piggyback off of what you said.
It is that it is that one of the biggest struggles of being
a head coach in the NFL now with kind of The Limited OTAs
and things is getting into individual. We're never going
to complain about the rules that we have to take our nine
weeks for the
Is it show up? And we have to make them as most valuable as
we can. I will just tell you this if you watched and this is
easy for me to teach guys. This is great testimonial. I look at
a guy like Jeffrey Simmons. Yeah, who's Big, who's fast?
Who's powerful, who plays hard
and you look at his the difference in his technique from year
1 to 2 and 2 to 3.
You're going to see a drastic difference in the technique in
which he used and was successful with. And so now
it's easy for me to coach to it like, okay. Jeff was a good
player. Now. He's a great player. Great.
I mean arguably the best team has a tackle. Yeah, and that's
and those are the things that, you know, can make a player.
And prove whether regardless of their talent. It's
the technique that we believe in. It's giving them answers
and tools when they're out there, whether it's a receiver
and press coverage. It's a DB and man coverage or it's a pass
rusher. They all have different skill sets. It's our job to
identify them and
try to enhance the stuff they do. Well,
your defense was great this year,
Shane Boeing the defensive coordinator. I'm always
intrigued by like, you know, just your approach as far as
You know, is it you guys as a collaborative effort? It's our
everything we do is collab on the TV.
It is like, that's the one thing when you have alignment
and you have loyalty and you have, you know, people that
don't have agendas.
You can have conversations in a meeting room on Monday and
Tuesday and guys feel like they've been heard and that
they're proficient and they're ready to put the game plan. And
now, you may know we may not use everybody's idea. Right?
But if you listen and take everybody's idea then at least
they leave that room and they go into their own meeting.
Room. And they say, here's what we're doing. This is why we're
doing it. And this is how it's going to help us win
as opposed to when you don't include people. Yeah,
it's hard for them to go and teach it and believe in it.
I hear that. So even offense, that's not have to. Yeah,
I mean, there's a run game meeting. You know that, I'll
obviously check in on which I love. And,
you know, Keith Carter's our Run game coordinator, but
you know, Tony dues has as much impact and conversations with
Mike Sullivan and
all those people over there. Luke stucco and
Now we've added Tim Kelly offensively. So it's
collaborative. And and I we always say that
I have the final say like I'm going to say like we're going
to do this or not. Yeah, but Todd Downing on offense has
that you know, and Shane does on defense, but there's a lot
I've asked them and
requested that they are collaborative and they do take
everybody's ideas. Yeah. Yeah.
I think you earned Coach of the Year Mike for the way that
the team responded after Derrick Henry was lost for the balance
of the regular season following a great. In over the Colts
completed, the sweep of them. Everything's fine. And then we
find out. Henry's out for the
duration at least to the regular season, with that foot injury.
How did you keep everyone focused and motivated and driven? And
you know, it's almost like what Belichick always does. No
excuses. No, let down. We just keep going. Is that is it as
simple as that? Without your best lawyer, simple, keep
winning and
it is in the 1 seed.
We explain to them as soon as the first meeting that,
when I first got started in this, it was going to be hey,
we're going to try to avoid distractions
quickly on in that process. I realized that that was
impossible and we're going to just be able to expect that
they're going to be distractions and it's going to
be how we handle them
and respond to them.
You can't avoid distraction. So
if I don't panic
the coaches, don't panic
and the players Don't Panic.
We believe in what we believe in.
And we're going to try to find a game plan each and every week
that we feel like gives us the best chance to win. Identify
how that game plans working
quickly into the game and then
make adjustments off of that.
Well, it's a great outcome and it's fun to watch the Titans.
And the fact that you're the coach shouts through and
everything, the team does and we wish you the best moving
forward. Congratulations on winning coach of the year and
we hope to talk to you again real soon. Mike.
I appreciate it guys. Maybe we'll get another ham next year. So
go get it celebratory hand we get better than a ham next
year. We're looking for better than a ham, baby shoulder
trophy.