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00:00 >> Just get your idea of what the mental expectation for
00:03 your players that you'll be having, what that will look like for them when they go up.
00:06 >> Yeah, I think the biggest thing for guys, especially younger guys, but for
00:13 us, we're gonna be in a situation where everyone is kind of new to the program.
00:16 It's just being able to learn from mistakes.
00:19 You bring up mental health and mental toughness and all those things.
00:24 Like a book that impacted me was Grit by Angela Duckworth.
00:28 And she describes grit as passion plus perseverance.
00:32 And so the people that are usually successful in life,
00:35 it's not because of any special skill or talent.
00:38 It's because they just handle adversity better than others.
00:41 So the big thing for us is you need to be able to compete and respond.
00:45 That's the mental toughness that we're looking for.
00:47 If we win the play, great, respond.
00:49 If we lose the play, great, respond.
00:51 And then what can we draw from that experience?
00:54 If we make a mistake, cuz we're gonna make mistakes,
00:56 how do we respond to that mistake and how do we get better from it?
00:59 So from a mental standpoint, that's really what we're looking for.
01:04 >> What attracted you to Michigan State and/or Jonathan Smith?
01:08 >> Well, two things.
01:09 Number one, first off, I was seven years in Minnesota and
01:11 it was a great experience.
01:13 And PJ and the staff there was awesome and it was a really tough decision to leave.
01:18 And it was gonna be something that was gonna be a great situation in my mind
01:22 to make the move.
01:24 But two things about Michigan State, number one, I think it can be special.
01:28 They've been in the college football playoff and
01:31 it's been recent and won conference championships.
01:35 So I think that's the first thing.
01:37 And then the second thing is just everything I heard about, and
01:42 Coach Smith and I hadn't worked together before, but everything I heard about him
01:45 from other college coaches, from NFL scouts, from people in the profession,
01:51 was that you couldn't work for a better guy.
01:53 And then getting to know him through the process, I felt that.
01:57 That was kind of what my gut said.
01:59 And then being here for two and a half months, it's held true.
02:03 I don't know that you'll find a better guy in the profession.
02:06 He's awesome to work for.
02:08 He's gonna represent the program the right way.
02:11 He's gonna be a great leader for our players and our staff.
02:14 So those two things were huge for me.
02:16 >> I'm wondering how much did you obviously face Michigan State last year?
02:20 How much did you kind of get an idea of the personnel before you came in here,
02:25 particularly the younger guys?
02:27 >> I never- >> Yeah, so
02:28 obviously I was more familiar with the offense,
02:32 because that's who we had kind of competed against.
02:35 I did get a chance, obviously, you go through a year and
02:41 you get crossover film where, hey, you're getting ready for an offense and
02:44 you see another team.
02:45 So I did see the defense a little bit.
02:47 I knew there was a good amount of guys coming back.
02:50 I was able to watch a little bit of film before.
02:53 And then obviously once you get here, that was one of the top things that we did,
02:58 is just put on tape and watch guys and evaluate them.
03:01 You're not worried about scheme, you're not worried about any of that.
03:04 You're just putting film on and watching guys play.
03:06 So that was kind of the process.
03:08 >> Were you able to share some of that intel that you had from scouting with
03:12 Brian, what the offense, he's got?
03:15 >> No, honestly, no, because they're doing the same thing.
03:20 They're putting it on, everything that we have is more of schematics and
03:23 tendencies and tips.
03:24 And those things kind of get thrown out the window when there's a new offense.
03:27 >> And I've heard you say that you graduated a lot of guys,
03:33 brand new personnel.
03:34 You mentioned a moment ago that there's not as much of a players leaving.
03:39 You've got more players coming back.
03:41 How is that unique in terms of the challenge?
03:43 You've got some experience, you've got some returning players, but
03:45 it's not a complete losing players.
03:47 If I'm not, if I'm accurate about what you said.
03:49 >> Yeah, well, the thing that I found over the years is when you have success at
03:53 places like Teal and like Maine, which are not,
03:58 those were not quote unquote the top jobs in the league.
04:01 And I was fortunate to be a part of some good teams when we were there.
04:06 What you found is those teams recruited and developed their players well.
04:11 I think development is the undervalued thing in college football.
04:14 You can recruit, but you gotta develop, right?
04:16 And I think developmental programs are the ones that have lasting success.
04:20 And so at those two places, that's what we had to do.
04:23 And when we had experienced guys,
04:25 that's usually when we kinda had our most success.
04:27 College football, in my opinion, has changed in the last four or
04:31 five years because there's much more turnover on the roster than there was,
04:36 say, six years ago.
04:38 You don't really know who's, your roster isn't set until June,
04:42 which is a different dynamic.
04:44 So that developmental process has kinda changed a little bit with transfers and
04:48 things of that nature.
04:49 So I think when you come into a program for the first time and
04:52 you're installing the defense for the first time,
04:54 everyone's on the same starting point.
04:57 So that is a little bit of difference.
04:58 So even though there's some guys coming back with experience,
05:00 they're learning this defense for the first time.
05:03 They're learning our culture for the first time as a football program.
05:06 So there's a little bit of a learning curve for them.
05:09 Now, listen, an experienced player's gonna learn faster than a first year guy.
05:13 That's just natural cuz they've been through it before.
05:15 But it is a little different situation in year one than it is in, say,
05:19 year four or five.
05:19 >> I wanna ask a little bit about your past.
05:22 You obviously went to work for PJ.
05:24 >> Yeah.
05:25 >> As a defensive guy, how is that in terms of working for
05:30 an offensive minded head coach?
05:32 And how much ownership can you take in your defense when
05:36 the head coach has got more eyeballs, I say maybe, on the other side of the ball?
05:42 >> Yeah, I think here's the thing.
05:45 Obviously, I'm getting with Coach Smith for the first time, but
05:48 just he painted a very vivid picture of what he was looking for and what he values.
05:54 Obviously, you mentioned Coach Fleck, who I've worked for before.
05:57 I think the one thing that I feel similar between them is
06:01 they value winning football games.
06:03 And they value playing complimentary football.
06:06 And so I think that what you'll see in that standpoint is when
06:11 a head coach values that, decisions that they're making are with the end in mind
06:16 of winning the game, offense, defense, and special teams.
06:19 Understanding situations, understanding clocks, understanding is it a one score
06:24 lead, two score lead, three score lead, and all the game play that goes into that.
06:27 And just having conversations with Coach Smith,
06:30 I know that's really important to him.
06:31 So for me, as a defensive play caller, that tells me, hey, listen,
06:37 you've gotta do a good job managing situations so
06:40 that we can put ourselves in position to win the most football games possible.
06:44 I think it's all working for offensive guys.
06:47 They can give you maybe a perspective that you don't have because they're
06:51 offensive guys.
06:53 And I thought that my prior boss, Coach Fleck, did a good job with that.
06:57 And Coach Smith has already shown himself to be able to do that.
06:59 His will be at a little bit different level cuz he was a quarterback.
07:02 And not only he was a quarterback, he was a pretty darn good one.
07:05 So I think that that will be something that I'll love to be able to talk to him
07:09 and get inside the quarterback's head.