Bengals QBs Coach Brad Kragthorpe on Joe Burrow, Zac Taylor and MORE
Bengals QBs Coach Brad Kragthorpe on Joe Burrow, Zac Taylor and MORE
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00:00 Throwback bro story, one that kind of immediately comes to mind was in one of
00:07 his first practices at LSU when he was competing for the starting job. He had a
00:13 play where we got a cross dog pressure that he was essentially hot on and so he
00:18 had to drift back in the pocket just to be able to throw a hot throw. There was
00:22 really the third progression in the concept and all of the coaches and
00:28 players on the offense are all standing behind and so he drifts all the way back
00:31 he completes it to the shallow cross as his hot answer and I happen to be
00:35 standing kind of in the vicinity of where he finished the play and I said
00:40 hey nice play I was like that was really impressive and he kind of smirked and
00:44 was like that was easy and jogged around turned around and jogged back to the
00:50 huddle and so that was kind of one of my first real impressions of Joe and
00:55 obviously it's pretty pretty similar to how the rest of his career has gone so
01:00 far. You probably have the most unique seat of anybody to watch him grow from then to now.
01:05 What's that been like seeing the maturation that he's had since when
01:09 y'all were at LSU? It's been great I mean it's been great it's it's honestly it's
01:13 been expected. We all thought that Joe was a really really good quarterback
01:18 whenever we got him at LSU and to see his maturation process and how much
01:22 better he's gotten from year to year has has been really really fun to see.
01:27 How much do you feel like your time at LSU did help you understand him as a person before
01:32 you even got here? Is that helpful or is it just kind of just part of the story
01:36 of we're happy to have each other? I definitely think it helped just in terms
01:41 of learning about the person and kind of his likes and dislikes early on was
01:47 definitely something that was beneficial to me as we reconnected back up in
01:51 Cincinnati. The pitch has gotten a lot of credit for what Jake did but obviously
01:55 you were probably a big part of that as well. At what point did you feel like
01:58 Jake could do some of the things he wound up doing? I would say in the 2022
02:06 training camp is when I really got to work with Jake the most and I could see
02:13 at that point that was really the first time he had gotten real playing
02:17 experience was that preseason and he did a lot of really good stuff in those
02:20 practices and in that preseason and then all the reps that he got last year
02:24 during training camp whenever Joe was dealing with his injury. He did a lot of
02:28 really impressive stuff. He's very very comfortable and confident in our offense
02:33 and our scheme and what is asked of him at the quarterback position and he does
02:38 an outstanding job of distributing the ball to our playmakers and then making
02:41 plays with his feet when he needs to. You've been really close with the receivers
02:45 and over the last few years what's it been like kind of watching them what's
02:48 been the biggest takeaway being around those guys on a regular basis? The
02:52 unselfishness. It's an uncommon group in that instance that everybody
03:00 really cares about everybody else in the room. You got a bunch of really
03:06 talented guys that aren't just looking out for themselves and in order to have
03:11 a successful passing offense you need everybody to kind of be pulling their
03:15 weight within each passing concept and all of those guys as talented as they
03:19 are they have no issue doing whatever job is asked of them.
03:25 What is going to be the biggest difference between your role now as opposed to when you were the assistant's quarterback's coach that you anticipate?
03:32 Being more involved in coaching the quarterbacks on a daily basis would
03:35 probably be the first thing and then there's an uptick in game planning
03:40 responsibility as well throughout the week and so those two things will
03:45 probably be the biggest factor the biggest changes.
03:49 What about the continuity? Knowing the organization, knowing what's expected, knowing pitch obviously. How does that help you?
03:55 It's huge. Having somebody that has run that room for the last
04:02 four years the way that pitch has I feel like I've learned an incredible amount
04:07 from him and from Brian and from Zach and so being able to lean on those
04:13 guys is definitely something that I'm very happy that I have the ability to do
04:19 and I'm really really pleased with the continuity and having all the guys that
04:27 we've had for the last five years. Specifically what particular ways
04:32 have you been able to lean on pitch? There are tons of ways.
04:39 When it comes to coaching each individual player there are certain
04:45 specifics that are involved with each guy that maybe it's things that the
04:49 pitch has more experience in than I do and maybe it's something that Kali
04:54 whenever he was here could draw back on an experience that he had
04:58 whenever he was a quarterback coach and then Zach as well and so just having
05:02 those guys that have been in that position throughout their careers is
05:06 something that's very beneficial for me. What was the process like for you the
05:10 uncertainty with Brian when he was interviewing? Obviously Dan had interest
05:14 across the league as well in his services. What was it like to watch that
05:18 and in the unknown of where you were gonna be?
05:22 Yeah I mean well first of all I was really excited for them to get the
05:27 opportunities that they were potentially gonna get both pitch and
05:30 Kali. I was really first and foremost excited for them and then yeah there's a
05:34 lot of anticipation on how it would affect me and potentially the the career
05:43 jump I guess you could say that it would potentially have for myself that was
05:47 something that was yeah kind of waiting with anticipation. When you got the news
05:51 what was your first reaction? Just excitement and gratitude really really
05:57 grateful just for the opportunity that Zach and that our ownership family had
06:03 entrusted in me and just really really happy and really grateful. Someone who's been in the room with Joe in terms of when you guys give him the game plan. What's unique about his process in terms of what is he like from his coaches and what is he not like?
06:19 At the end of the day Joe just wants people that are gonna help put him in
06:24 the best position to have success on the field and so that can come in a number
06:28 of different ways but really when it comes to scheme he he will be involved
06:36 as much or as little as he wants or feels like he needs to be and so just
06:40 having an open ear and being willing to listen to his suggestions and and what
06:45 what he might see as a good fit for that specific week is something that's
06:49 valuable. How has working with Joe sharpened you?
06:54 Well Joe is a very very smart football player he's a very smart quarterback and
07:02 so you've always you've always got to be on your stuff you you have to be
07:07 consistent every single day you have to know what you're talking about you have
07:11 to maybe admit when you don't have the answer to a question that he has and
07:14 tell him that you'll get it as fast as you can and being open and honest and
07:19 yeah there's certainly an element of Joe enhancing the coaches that are around
07:25 him. We saw that Jake got attended by the team today what's probably the thing he
07:29 doesn't get enough credit for for how well he did last season?
07:33 I don't know that there necessarily is a thing that he doesn't get enough credit
07:37 for I think I think he's gotten a ton of really deserved credit for the success
07:41 that he was able to have last year whenever he came in and again Jake's
07:44 just somebody that's very very comfortable in our offense he's very
07:46 intelligent and he knows how to distribute the football and then when
07:50 the time calls for you knows how to use his legs as well. How important is it to
07:53 have your QB2 have a good relationship with your QB1 like it seems like
07:57 Joe and Jake do and how beneficial is that to the development of both of them?
08:00 It's a big piece of it you know it's it's honestly it's part of the evaluation
08:04 process as you're here at the combine for instance is feeling out how a guy
08:10 would mesh in your quarterback room how he could potentially benefit the starting
08:14 quarterback and how that relation what that relationship would look like that's
08:18 a big piece of being the backup quarterback and then obviously there's a
08:20 developmental aspect to it as well but he provides a lot both in the meeting
08:24 room throughout the week and on on the sideline on game day he's an extra set
08:29 of eyes that can provide another perspective an educated perspective that
08:33 can help the guy who was on the field taking snaps.
08:37 They're exciting I mean the first word that comes to mind is talented it's a
08:46 really talented group from the top to the bottom and I'm still early on in the
08:50 process of evaluating them and really getting a good feel for him but you can
08:55 tell early on that it's a it's a very impressive group. What quarterbacks did
09:01 you watch maybe growing up or when you get into coaching what quarterbacks
09:05 maybe kind of had an influence on you or you get close to?
09:11 Sure I'm all of my dad's quarterbacks come to mind immediately all the guys
09:17 that played for him he had a lot of really really good ones names you guys
09:20 might not recognize with Brian Braun Paul Smith guys like that and then
09:24 obviously people like Tom Brady was was who he was whenever I was growing up and
09:30 guys like that I really admired and enjoyed watching from afar.
09:36 I think your grandfather talked Marvin Lewis out of playing
09:40 quarterback I think and made him a defensive player I think. I did not know
09:44 about that that's that's news to me.
09:48 I believe you're probably one of the younger position coaches especially in the quarterback position.
09:52 Has that settled into you at all that you climbed a ladder pretty quickly and that clearly speaks to the job that your other coaches think of you but
10:00 has that hit you at all that you might be one of the youngest quarterback coaches to ever be?
10:04 I don't know that's necessarily hit me I've just tried to do as good of a job
10:09 as I possibly can at whatever job I'm given and whatever the results are that
10:15 come from that I live with and I'm happy with where I'm at right now.
10:19 What was your dad's reaction when this happened before you?
10:21 He was really excited for me.
10:23 How did he influence? I mean obviously you're in the profession he was in so obviously it was an influence but how did he influence you?
10:29 What was his biggest imprint on you as a coach and coaching style?
10:31 More than anything else probably just the relationship he had with his players.
10:36 That was something that I felt very fortunate to get to see firsthand
10:41 growing up was the relationship that relationships that he built with his
10:45 guys with his players and how much they admired him was an aspect of coaching
10:50 that maybe doesn't always get seen at face value but it's something that's
10:54 really really important and I'm glad that I got to learn at a young age.
10:57 What's the best piece of advice he gave you as you were trying to figure out kind of what your
11:01 path in the profession was gonna look like? What's the best piece of advice he gave you on navigating all that?
11:04 Just be consistent. I think that that's an important piece of coaching.
11:09 Being in the coaching profession is just being consistent in your work habits and
11:14 being somebody that can be trusted and somebody that you know is always going
11:19 to put their best foot forward and try to do everything they can to help the team.
11:21 He never said don't go into coaching is my advice?
11:24 No he encouraged it.
11:26 How has being as even-tempered as you are, how do you think that helps you?
11:31 Say it one more time.
11:32 Even-tempered. You come off as very very even-tempered. Not too high, not too low.
11:38 Yeah I mean that might come from playing days. I had a coach that used to say that you want to be a thermostat not a thermometer.
11:47 And playing the quarterback position and I always kind of took that to heart and so maybe that's something that has just carried over into my coaching career.
11:55 Who was the coach?
11:56 Andrew Coverdale. He was the offensive coordinator for St. X. He was my offensive coordinator at Trinity High School in Louisville.
12:03 What was your connection to Zach? How did you end up here?
12:07 So Zach was on the staff at Texas A&M in 2010 when Mike Sherman was the head coach.
12:14 And my dad had gotten onto that staff just for a short amount of time.
12:18 He was only there in the spring and into the summer.
12:21 And at the time my family was living in Tulsa and so I had gone down to College Station and spent two or three weeks in College Station going to summer camps and things like that.
12:31 And during my off time I was hanging out in the offensive staff room.
12:34 And Zach Taylor was the offensive GA who was also hanging out in the offensive staff room a lot of those times.
12:40 And so I got to build a relationship with him throughout all that.
12:45 And then whenever I stayed in touch with him and whenever I was coming out of college and trying to get into coaching he was the offensive coordinator at UC.
12:51 And he was one of the first people that I hit up and was trying to get on at UC as a GA.
12:55 It didn't work out back then but I was really happy to get to reconnect with him whenever he got to Cincinnati.
13:01 What's different maybe about Zach Taylor the GA and College Station to Zach Taylor the head coach?
13:07 That's a great question.
13:10 I don't know that I could really specify certain things that are different.
13:17 I think he's exceptional at both roles.
13:20 And I think that maybe that's one of the reasons that he's such a great head coach is because he still kind of has those GA roots if you will.
13:28 And he knows how to relate to people especially guys that are in those roles.
13:32 I can speak to being a guy who was in that role on his staff and how he treated me as a head coach is not common.
13:39 And so I think that he's just an incredible people person that knows how to connect with people and get the most out of them.
13:48 Does he have a pretty remarkable talent at total recall or recall of different plays or situations at SAC?
13:55 Yeah, he does.
13:57 I mean he can recall things from the football camp that I went to in College Station, Texas in July of 2009.
14:06 And so yeah, he has some pretty impressive recall.