Tomas Rimac 2023 Fall Camp Day 6
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00:00 You all start with the offensive line.
00:02 Obviously, you all started at the end of last year,
00:05 so that cohesiveness, what does that do for you guys?
00:09 That really helps us out,
00:11 getting that experience playing together.
00:13 And we started getting used to playing each other,
00:17 especially when I started coming at the end of the season.
00:19 And then that carried on throughout spring ball.
00:22 I feel like we're just picking up right where we left off
00:23 at the end of spring ball coming to this fall camp.
00:28 Coach Moore said he's kind of been moving guys around,
00:31 so they learn multiple positions,
00:33 but he said you're kind of locked in and left behind.
00:35 Is there a big difference for you
00:36 who's at center or who's at right guard?
00:39 No, I wouldn't say there's a big difference.
00:41 We all get experience playing by each other's side,
00:47 and I feel like when we do that in practice,
00:48 it doesn't matter who we're playing against.
00:50 All the calls are the same.
00:54 What we're trying to accomplish is the same thing,
00:55 so we're on the same page,
00:57 and we're going to go out there and do it.
01:00 You've been an offensive lineman your whole life.
01:03 Pee-wee, I was like -- I played a little bit of everything.
01:06 I was quarterback, tight end, punter, you name it,
01:08 and then really switched over to offensive line
01:11 my sophomore year of high school.
01:14 How are you different now?
01:19 I mean, you've got a year of game experience
01:22 under your belt starting at the end of last year.
01:24 How are you different? How have you improved?
01:26 I would just say I'm more confident,
01:28 and I'm learning to use my length
01:31 that I've been blessed with.
01:32 That helps me out a lot,
01:33 just controlling my body, using that to my advantage.
01:36 So I feel like I used some of that at the end of last season,
01:39 and during spring ball,
01:41 that was something I really focused on doing,
01:42 and coming into fall camp,
01:44 that's just something I continue working on.
01:47 How much have you guys been sharing on the brotherhood?
01:49 Yeah. Talk a little bit about the brotherhood
01:51 and the offensive line
01:52 and how close you guys have grown to be.
01:55 I'd say we're probably the closest,
01:59 if not one of the closest on the whole team,
02:01 just because we're all friends on the O-line,
02:04 and sometimes in, like, position groups,
02:06 you see, like, a couple guys here, a couple guys there,
02:08 but all 15 of us, however many there are,
02:11 we're all close with one another.
02:13 A couple times, we've had them over,
02:17 me, Wyatt, and Bryce, Bryce Biggs.
02:19 We all live together,
02:20 and sometimes we have the whole offensive line over there.
02:22 We'll grill some burgers, and we just hang out
02:24 and have a good time.
02:25 How many burgers?
02:27 A lot.
02:29 To that end, because actually I was going to ask about that,
02:32 how important do you feel it is for an offensive line
02:35 especially to have a brotherhood and have chemistry
02:38 because you can have groups that have talent?
02:41 How important is that to really be a top fledge?
02:43 I feel like that's one of the most important things
02:45 you need because to make an offensive line,
02:48 all five have to do the same thing,
02:51 the right thing to look good.
02:52 If one person, like, does something wrong,
02:54 takes a step the wrong way,
02:55 it makes the whole line look bad.
02:56 So I feel like chemistry is a very big, important part of it,
02:59 and I just feel like we're, as a whole group,
03:02 we're, like, unbreakable, and we're just learning together.
03:06 We're doing everything as one.
03:08 I feel like that really helps us out on the field.
03:10 We're on the same page. We all do the same thing.
03:12 It's like saying, like, Frazier says something,
03:14 we all got it.
03:15 We're not like, "No, let's do this."
03:18 We're all making sure we're on the same page,
03:19 and that just really helps with chemistry, getting stuff done.
03:22 Do you feel like it's more now than even months ago
03:26 and certainly before that because we're just seeing
03:27 a lot more of the Brotherhood t-shirts
03:29 and that sort of thing coming out now?
03:31 As offensive linemen, we've always had it.
03:33 Just the more we practice together,
03:34 I feel like it gets more stronger
03:36 because the more time we spend with each other,
03:38 the more we're going to connect and create that chemistry.
03:41 How different was it to become a starter
03:44 when you moved into the starting rotation
03:47 as far as being a part of the group?
03:50 Yeah, well, I feel like with the old linemen,
03:53 you always feel a part of the group.
03:55 So I wouldn't necessarily, like, if you're not starting,
03:56 you don't feel a part of the group
03:58 because we all do everything together,
03:59 but when I did become a starter,
04:01 it was just more responsibility, I guess,
04:04 going into each week and just studying that much harder,
04:07 practicing that much harder.
04:09 When did it click for you?
04:10 Was there a practice, a game,
04:12 when you felt like, "I'm contributing.
04:16 I'm a part of the team. I'm in the plans"?
04:19 When did that all happen for you?
04:21 I feel like that really started happening
04:22 when I first got here, even though I wasn't starting.
04:25 You know, like, when I came in, I was a third string.
04:28 I was getting limited reps into my first fall camp
04:32 because it's mainly ones and twos,
04:33 but even going into my freshman season,
04:36 I knew I was contributing to the team as a scout team lineman,
04:39 knowing I was helping the defense get better,
04:41 and as a scout team player, I was getting better
04:43 as I was going against the ones every day.
04:45 Anything that surprised you once you got into games
04:48 about how different that was than practice,
04:50 or was it different?
04:52 Well, it is different, yeah.
04:53 It's like going into that first play,
04:56 you're a little nervous in practice.
04:58 You're not really nervous because, you know,
04:59 like, say you accidentally take the wrong step.
05:02 Like, yeah, you did it wrong,
05:03 but there's not going to be much consequence.
05:05 In a game, that's like -- that could be a TFL or a sack.
05:08 So, it's just a lot more pressure.
05:11 I personally just, like, try to calm myself down,
05:13 got that first hit in, and just locked in
05:14 for the rest of the game.
05:16 How about a game?
05:17 Was there anything that kind of clicked for you
05:19 and kind of solidified yourself?
05:22 I would say that was probably my first start TCU week
05:25 because I split reps at Texas Tech,
05:28 and that was when I got my first feel
05:29 for actually playing the game,
05:32 and I feel like it really just hit me
05:33 when I got that start versus TCU and played the whole game.
05:37 What did you do well, do you think?
05:39 What went well for you?
05:41 I just feel like just, like, getting in there
05:45 and not, like, missing a beat, just, like,
05:48 like, going back to brotherhood.
05:50 We all, like, play with each other,
05:51 so I feel like anybody can just step in there
05:53 and just, like, get it done,
05:54 and I feel like that's what I helped do.
05:55 I got in there. I didn't -- I tried to --
05:57 I didn't hold anybody back.
05:59 I tried to contribute, and we got it done.
06:01 Anything kind of look foreign to you,
06:03 or guys maybe where they weren't supposed to be,
06:06 or, you know, things that you --
06:08 responsibilities or assignments that you're like,
06:10 "Whoa." Was it -- was it one of those things for you?
06:13 It was, at the start, I would say, like,
06:14 I would say that probably happened during the Texas Tech
06:17 just because the speed of it's different.
06:19 Like, the first couple plays, I had to really settle down
06:21 and just, like, fall back on my training and what I knew.
06:24 What was it like last spring?
06:29 You weren't necessarily competing for a starting job,
06:32 but you were still, you know, contributing.
06:34 And there's a number of young guys
06:35 in that position this year, right,
06:37 that because of Wyatt and Zach and Doug,
06:40 they're not going to start,
06:41 but they're good, and they could play.
06:43 I mean, do you give them advice
06:45 on kind of what you went through last year?
06:48 Yeah. I mean, if -- like, during walk-throughs and stuff,
06:52 we're always giving them tips and stuff.
06:54 And if I have to, like, tell them something,
06:55 I would just say, "Practice like you're going to play,"
06:57 because I know that's what I did,
06:59 and you never know what's going to be your shot.
07:00 And when it's your shot, you have to be ready for it.
07:02 I know a lot of those guys can't do it,
07:04 so they just have to keep practicing,
07:05 and they'll get their opportunity.
07:07 Is it hard to go through a spring camp
07:11 knowing there's not really a starting spot for you?
07:13 I mean, unless there's an injury or something,
07:15 you're just going to be a two.
07:17 I mean, is it hard to -- I don't want to say be motivated,
07:20 but is it just hard to know that?
07:24 Well, for me, at least, going into it,
07:26 I always just looked at it as, like,
07:28 I'm competing against the person in front of me
07:31 to hopefully make him better, and while I'm competing,
07:33 it's going to make me better.
07:34 So, like I said, when you actually get that opportunity,
07:37 you can just step right in and take over.
07:40 Do you ever have to explain to people what you do?
07:42 I mean, people watch a football game, they watch the ball.
07:45 Right. They don't watch you.
07:46 Maybe your mom does or your dad
07:48 or maybe somebody that's an offensive line guy,
07:51 but you have to explain that, what you do.
07:54 Do people understand, I guess?
07:55 Sometimes you have to explain it.
07:56 Like, sometimes, like, "Why'd you do this?"
07:58 You know, it's just like most of them just watch the ball.
08:01 You know, you can't -- I guess, like,
08:04 offensive line play is not fun, but it needs to be done.
08:07 That's where, like, the hard work goes.
08:08 I mean, I'm not saying other stuff isn't hard work,
08:10 but I just feel like people think
08:13 watching the ball is more fun.
08:15 And when you actually look at the offensive line,
08:17 it's a lot more, like, technique and a lot more details
08:19 that you need to look for.
08:20 And I feel like it's hard for somebody
08:23 that's not, like, revolved around football to understand.
08:25 So, sometimes you have to explain it to somebody,
08:28 but you try to, like, dumb it down for them.
08:30 In a perfect world, I mean, for a guy like you,
08:35 the best games are the ones where you really go unnoticed.
08:37 Right? Yeah. You just do your job.
08:39 Exactly. When people notice you,
08:40 it's usually because you held somebody or made a mistake.
08:43 So, that's kind of how you have to go about it, you think?
08:45 Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
08:47 Aside from the offensive line,
08:49 who else are maybe you closest with in terms of,
08:51 like, friendships and things like that?
08:54 I'd say we're all --
08:56 For me, I probably could name majority of the people
09:00 and, like, where they're from,
09:01 except for probably the newcomers.
09:02 But I'm pretty close with the tight ends
09:05 and even some of the receivers.
09:06 Now, on defense, the defensive line,
09:07 like linebackers, bandits, you got to be close
09:09 because you're going against each other every day.
09:13 Along the lines of not being noticed, et cetera,
09:16 take the inside of your head on two things, exact opposites.
09:21 The feeling you get when you make a block
09:24 and you feel the bat go right off your butt,
09:27 break into the clear, and vice versa when you turn around
09:30 and miss a block and, you know, the black back's thrown
09:33 in the backfield, the quarterback's down.
09:36 What's the mindset on both of those?
09:38 Right. For the first one,
09:40 mindset on when you make a good block
09:42 and you know the running back's running by you,
09:44 you know you did your job, you did what you had to do.
09:46 And that's, like, going back to the question earlier,
09:48 like, you won't be noticed when you do your block.
09:51 So that's a good thing.
09:53 And say, like, take a misstep and your guy makes the tackle,
09:57 you just got to --
09:58 you're like -- you kind of get down on yourself for a second,
10:00 but then you have to forget about it and play the next play
10:02 because if you keep thinking about it,
10:04 your next play might go the same way
10:05 if you're just, like, keeping that in the back of your head.
10:07 You just got to try and forget it.
10:09 You think that's where the brotherhood comes
10:11 because there's only a select few
10:13 that really know and appreciate what you do.
10:17 I mean, there's a small circle.
10:19 Right. Yeah, I feel like that definitely helps with it
10:21 just because, like, we all understand, like,
10:23 what we're trying to do, what we have to do.
10:24 So I feel like that really helps.
10:25 You're congratulating yourself on things
10:27 that nobody else has any idea what you've just done.
10:30 Yeah.
10:32 When you reviewed your film from last year,
10:35 what were the strengths or scenarios,
10:37 or what were you thought you needed to kind of
10:39 fine-tune some things?
10:41 I feel like last year, my biggest, like,
10:43 downside of me was I would, like, keep leaning.
10:46 That was a really bad habit, and I'm trying to break it,
10:48 playing with my length, as I said earlier.
10:50 And I feel like that's really going to help me
10:51 come into this upcoming season using my length,
10:55 and that will keep me from leaning over.
10:57 You say "leaning." Is that tipping off plays?
10:59 No, no, no. That's like -- say I'm, like, pass setting.
11:03 And, like, I go to strike too early, I end up leaning,
11:06 and then they could shut off me.
11:07 Right, yeah.
11:08 So when I use that length, I can keep my chest up,
11:11 and I can stay square, good body posture.
11:13 So not necessarily, like, being heavy on hand
11:15 and tipping off a right or left.
11:16 That's something that, like, all of us work on continuously.
11:19 Say it's, like, a counterplay, making sure we're not leaning,
11:21 giving off a pull and stuff like that.
11:23 We're always working on that.
11:25 You get away from football. What is it you like to do?
11:29 I like to -- in my free time,
11:31 I actually like to mix stuff out of, like, old pallets and stuff.
11:36 Like, I made the state of West Virginia
11:37 out of old pallets and stuff.
11:38 I just like woodworking, working with my hands and stuff.
11:41 You ever watch the YouTube videos
11:43 where they build houses out of pallets?
11:44 Oh, yeah. I watch all that in my free time.
11:46 Gets you a little -- make you a little dugout?
11:48 Yeah, it makes me want to, like, just get out there
11:49 and start working at, like, 11 o'clock at night
11:51 when I'm watching those videos.
11:52 So you got power tools and the whole thing?
11:54 Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
11:55 I stay busy when I have free time, that is.
11:57 You ever have ambitions of doing it,
11:59 building, like, a house out in the middle of nowhere,
12:02 like a pallet house?
12:03 Yeah, when I retire and I'm in my, like, 60s or something,
12:06 that would be nice. Middle of nowhere,
12:08 build myself a little cabin, remote.
12:10 Yeah. Out of pallets? Exactly.
12:12 I'd do it, yeah.
12:14 It's popular. I watch them.
12:15 Yeah? Yeah.
12:16 Do you build anything else? I mean, stuff with pallets.
12:19 Do you have any other construction projects
12:21 or woodworking projects?
12:22 Mainly just, like, out of pallets,
12:23 'cause it's free wood, you know?
12:25 I don't have to spend any money on it.
12:26 So I just break them apart, pull the nails out,
12:29 and just use what I can.
12:32 Yeah, now you have to stain them, though, at some point,
12:34 or they'll just rot. Right, right.
12:35 Yeah.
12:37 So you sell any of it? No, I don't sell any of them.
12:40 Usually give them to family and friends.
12:42 Where do you get your pallets from?
12:44 I usually bring them from back home,
12:46 'cause my mom works at a grocery store,
12:49 so you have plenty of them. Perfect.
12:50 Exactly. Yeah.
12:51 Just got to have a place to store them, right?
12:53 Yeah.
12:54 How do you find that, Bobby?
12:57 Well, I was -- growing up,
12:59 I was always working with my hands.
13:01 My dad, he really taught me and my brothers
13:03 just, like, the definition of hard work,
13:05 and it's just something I fell in love with.
13:07 Like, in my free time, I can't really just, like, sit down,
13:09 sit in bed all day, so I just always feel like
13:11 I have to do something with my hands
13:13 or just, like, do a chore to accomplish something.
13:16 So that's what I, like, try to do now.
13:18 Does that spare-time activity in mindset
13:21 help you on the field?
13:23 Definitely, yeah.
13:24 You never want to -- if I was growing up,
13:26 and me and my brothers, we were slacking off,
13:29 helping my dad with some yard work,
13:30 he'd get on us, so I just try to not just
13:34 kind of transfer that to here.
13:36 Just make sure you keep your head down and work constantly
13:38 until the end of practice.
13:41 Could you go off-grid, turn your phone off,
13:43 or do you need five bars to go out in the woods?
13:47 Like, first of all -- Yeah, are you an off-grid guy?
13:49 Oh, yeah, I could go off-grid, yeah.
13:51 Yeah? Yeah, just give me, like,
13:52 a little cabin remote, maybe, like, a lake.
13:56 No cell coverage? Nope, I'd be good.
13:58 Air mattress? Can you rough it?
14:00 You can give me a little sleeping pad.
14:01 I used to camp growing up all the time,
14:03 so I don't need much, no.
14:06 You can give me a little tarp, and I'll throw it over a tree.
14:09 There you go. Yeah.
14:11 I like watching. I don't like doing it.
14:12 Yeah? Yeah.
14:14 Watch the people do it all the time.
14:15 Need the bed?
14:17 You mentioned all the positions you played in football.
14:20 There were strategies. Yeah.
14:23 Kind of bittersweet to have to narrow it down
14:25 and focus on first one position in one sport,
14:28 and then just one sport, because you sound like
14:30 you like to be well-rounded, but you're anxious.
14:32 Right. It was very serious in the game.
14:33 You had to be just offensive line, or just line.
14:36 Right, yeah. It was a little bittersweet,
14:38 but last time I picked up a disc,
14:42 it was the high school state meet,
14:44 and I knew that would be my last time
14:46 because I just knew that, like, the opportunity of football
14:50 would take me farther,
14:51 and, like, the people I know and everything.
14:53 And even when it just comes to, like,
14:56 only playing offensive line,
14:58 there's something new that you have to learn every day
15:00 or you have to correct every day,
15:01 so it's never like you're just --
15:02 you're complacent with where you're at.
15:04 You're always trying to get better.
15:06 Could you have been a good punter
15:07 if you'd poured all your attention to that?
15:10 Maybe if I kept doing it since I was in Pee-wee football.
15:13 I don't know.
15:15 Jay, anything else?
15:21 All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, guys.