Isaiah Coe interview

Allsooners
Allsooners
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Oklahoma Sooners DT Isaiah Coe meets the press after practice on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023.
Transcript
00:00 Isaiah, how you doing?
00:02 I'm good, how about you?
00:03 Pretty good.
00:04 Go ahead guys, you may know him a little better than I do.
00:07 How's it going?
00:08 I'm good, how about y'all man?
00:10 Camp been great.
00:11 Hot out here, real hot, so trying to take it day by day, maintain, try not to get too
00:16 high, not too low, keep a level mindset, level head, just trying to win the day, try to do
00:22 the best I can, whatever happens happens.
00:25 But you know, try to get better every day.
00:27 That's my goal.
00:29 Obviously improving that defensive line was big for you guys in the top seasons.
00:32 What have you seen out of some of the newcomers?
00:34 I would say they are ahead of where we were when we first learned the defense.
00:42 I don't want to give myself credit, but just having people like me, Jordan, Kelly, Kelvin,
00:50 Grayson, just guys that was already here, we can help elevate them.
00:54 When we were here, all we had was the coach, we didn't have a player or a leader that came
01:00 from Clemson that can show us.
01:02 So now we can show them the defense and bring them.
01:05 They don't have to be necessarily where we at, but we can bring them more ahead than
01:08 where we were last year.
01:10 So I just think that's probably the biggest thing that I can add, that they have more
01:14 knowledge of what's going on than we do.
01:16 That just makes them help to make plays and play faster.
01:19 How was it adjusting to that leadership role?
01:21 Is that something you've always been pretty natural at or is that something you've had
01:23 to work on yourself?
01:24 I had to work on that.
01:26 Not necessarily being a leader on how to lead.
01:29 I'm more the type of leader, lead by example.
01:33 I don't really say much, I just let what I do lead.
01:37 I work with Coach Bates and Coach Venables and even our strength coach, Coach Mendy,
01:44 just trying to get out there and be more vocal.
01:47 Some guys can't just go out there and watch you work and do the same like you.
01:52 So you have to be more vocal, you have to encourage people.
01:55 What we do ain't easy.
01:57 It's not easy at all.
01:59 Sometimes people have to hear what we have to do and bring that encouragement up.
02:03 So I just work on being more vocal for my guys so they can come be great like I am.
02:08 What steps has the line taken to be dominant this year?
02:12 Just doing our job consistently.
02:14 That's probably the main thing.
02:16 We started with flashes last year of making plays but then giving up plays.
02:21 The biggest thing is just getting off the field on third and fourth down.
02:25 Holding teams so a field goal rather than a touchdown.
02:29 Just things like that.
02:31 Just mainly getting off the field.
02:32 We learned to get off the field at crucial moments.
02:35 We can get the offense, the ball, the offense.
02:37 We're one of the best offenses in the country.
02:40 So we just got to learn to get on the ball more and more and stop doing offensively.
02:45 But when it's third downs, we can get off the field.
02:48 You said people don't know really what it is you guys have to do or what this job takes.
02:54 Explain a little bit about that.
02:55 Describe what you guys have to go through and what you do.
02:58 This is a physical game.
03:00 We've got a lot of demand on our body.
03:02 It's a lot of mental battle that goes on more than physical.
03:07 Everybody can't go out here and practice three hours in 100-degree heat
03:12 and then go watch memes all day, watch film, and go lift and do the same thing over and over.
03:18 Everybody's not built for all that.
03:20 Everybody can't go work out for an hour and then run 100-yard sprints when it's 100 degrees outside.
03:26 Everybody's just not mentally fit.
03:27 So it takes a special kind of person to really go out here and do this every single day no matter what.
03:32 You just have that mental capacity that you can do this no matter what.
03:36 You have the ability.
03:37 We're in Oklahoma. When you make it here for a reason, everybody believes in you.
03:42 You just have that mindset when you go out there that you can do this.
03:46 It can take you as far as you want to go.
03:47 So everybody's big and strong and you really have to have that mental thing going on.
03:52 I wouldn't say everybody.
03:54 Everybody's got to get there, but yeah, it's mainly mental.
03:57 Believing in yourself, that's the biggest thing I want to say to anybody.
04:01 Just believe in yourself, man, no matter who's out there, no matter who's down here.
04:05 As long as you believe in yourself and believe in what you can do, man, you can do anything you want in this world.
04:09 Whether you play football or you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, whatever you want to do,
04:14 as long as you believe in yourself, you can do whatever you want.
04:17 What kind of expectations do you have for yourself this year based on last year in the spring and summer?
04:25 Obviously, I want to be a better leader for my guys, help lead the defense,
04:30 but I just want to improve my all-around game.
04:32 More productions, that's pretty basic, but just be a better all-around complete player, be a four-down player.
04:40 I want to be recognized as one of the best in the country because in my heart, I believe I am.
04:45 I know I've worked so hard in the team here, but everybody doesn't agree with that, and that's okay with them.
04:50 They have their opinion, but I know deep down in my heart I'm there for the best attackers in America,
04:56 and I just have to go out there and prove it every single step that I get the opportunity.
04:59 I'm well capable of proving that to anybody that wants to question me.
05:05 You mentioned betting on yourself. I see you got the tattoo there, "No Risk." What does it say here at the bottom?
05:09 "No Risk, No Reward."
05:10 Who instilled that confidence in you from a young age? Who helped you become that person you are?
05:16 My mom, my dad, and then my high school D-line coach, Josh Forney.
05:22 He instilled in me that I could do whatever I wanted.
05:26 One of the things I took a risk on was coming over here.
05:29 When I first got here, I had to sit behind my former teammate.
05:33 He was the number one player in Juco, Arianne Winfrey, and they already had these attackers,
05:37 so I just had to learn to wait my turn.
05:40 But I always believed that I was here for a reason.
05:43 I never questioned why I was here. I never questioned anything, and I just always had faith that I knew I could do this.
05:49 Not to say I was doubted in my life, but no one ever believed that I would get this far.
05:56 They would believe, "Okay, I can go to college," but no one ever thought I would be at the University of Oklahoma.
06:02 I just had that belief in myself and my own heart.
06:05 Now I'm one of the leaders on the team. That's something that people dream of.
06:10 Just having the confidence in myself and having that self-empowerment that I know I can do anything that they put in front of me.
06:18 Just having that confidence makes me play even faster and even better.
06:22 A lot of people like to go somewhere where they think they can get immediate playing time.
06:25 How much did you welcome that challenge of coming into a place where, like you said, you're going to have to earn your VCs?
06:30 I was all for it.
06:32 Even playing, apparently, my first year, I was just learning.
06:37 Then last year, I came back, but I came back to Hogan at that time.
06:42 I feel like I was a newcomer all over again, but I just never wavered, never had self-confidence, never lacked self-doubt.
06:50 I believed in myself, and I felt that the scheme of defending, not letting anybody score more than, "Okay, let's go attack.
06:58 Let's go create turnovers or create pressure," more of those type of things.
07:01 Just being able to attack more in the defense, so softens the shell.
07:06 Isaiah, Josh, Coach Bates, to explain how different this unit is this year, he'll say, "Last year, we struggled to get to three 300-pounders.
07:13 This year, we got five, no problem."
07:15 For yourself, having just the reinforcements around you, what does that do for you and your team?
07:23 I would say it's interesting because a lot of these guys, they never really been 300 pounds before.
07:30 When we first found out, it was a lot of getting used to it. A lot of them didn't know how to maintain a 500, 300 pounds since I was 18, 19 years old.
07:38 I'm used to playing like this.
07:40 A lot of them guys, they were struggling, not necessarily struggling, but it was just hard to adapt on how to still be that quick 2-2 player at this big weight.
07:51 Credit to Coach Lee, Coach Ray, Coach Scottie, Coach Swade, Coach Thompson, our whole strength staff, developing us throughout the season.
08:01 Making us a big player, but also a big player that can be agile.
08:05 Everyone wants a big guy that can't move.
08:08 Just helping us along that way, helping us be a better player that can have the offense.
08:12 What's the key to that?
08:14 Stretching. A lot of stretching.
08:17 Being mobile, being agile. Trying to get your hips right, get your groin right, that whole leg area.
08:25 Just focusing on that throughout the week. Having a strong quads, hamstring, base, all that.
08:31 If you work on that consistently, it'll help you be a better player.
08:35 Is there a reality that you have to, I guess, kind of comes to terms with the poor, the poor, the merrier?
08:41 I'm sure you want to be out on the field for every snap, but is there a reality that some have to accept that more guys is going to be good for everybody in the long run for that group?
08:51 Yeah, yeah. Of course. No one wants to go in a season like we did where we only had five or six guys.
08:58 People went down. I went down. I was staying in Texas Tech.
09:03 We only have four DTs. Can't play a game with four DTs.
09:08 So, depth is always good no matter what anybody says.
09:12 Most of these guys are experienced, honestly, so they know football. It's not like this is their first time ever playing.
09:18 We got some freshmen, bringing them up. Most of the guys we brought in are experienced.
09:23 They played football and they played at the higher level, too.
09:26 Just bringing them up to where we are knowledge-wise in this defense.
09:29 They can always help us. Depth is always good for us.
09:32 Is it a nice blend of guys that have played with De'Jaune and then some of the younger guys with Ashton and Marcus coming along?
09:39 Yeah, it's definitely good. We got De'Jaune. We got Phil. We got Sears. We got Lacey.
09:45 We'll have Lacey back throughout the year when he gets healthy.
09:49 Just having those guys out there that play power five ball, play divisional ball, they know what it takes.
09:55 They can definitely hat on.
09:57 They got their freshmen. They just want to learn. They just want to be like us.
10:02 They want to learn everything that we did, be good like we are.
10:05 I want them to even be better than us. I don't want them to ever go 6 and 7.
10:10 I want them to go 12 and over 15 every year.
10:13 Just having that mindset that they want to learn like us, they want to be everything that we can be.
10:18 I'm just trying to get them all the knowledge I can.
10:21 Do you feel that difference? The push? When you guys are on that line and you've got bigger guys next to you this year.
10:27 Is it tangible? Do you feel the push? Or is it just in having the depth and all that?
10:32 Absolutely, having depth and bigger guys.
10:35 You have three, you know, two, three hundred.
10:39 Me and DT, we're both 315, 310 type of guys.
10:44 So we have those guys, we have a fresh wave, Jordan Kelly, he's 300, Calvin Kelly, he's 300.
10:50 As I said, he's 300. Just having wave after wave after wave of big guys.
10:55 My Texas Toll and the offensive line, no one wants the kid ever playing by his manners.
10:59 You know, the pounds come in full for a session.
11:01 So, you know, I feel bad for them, but at the same time I know.
11:05 [Laughter]
11:07 Thank you. Appreciate it.