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00:00 Chad, start with the pass game and talk to Neal about this.
00:03 You guys struggled.
00:04 You said it was one of the worst ones you guys have had.
00:07 So, why, as you watch that?
00:10 Yeah, struggled of - first time we struggled
00:13 of recent weeks in the pass game with some -
00:16 at least lately, of the unprecedented drops.
00:19 And, you know, I appreciate Toey Garrett.
00:22 He wasn't his best as well.
00:25 To improve their receivers,
00:32 I mean, just overall individual improvement,
00:34 how do you get better?
00:36 Just concentration and focus.
00:38 You know, we didn't see it.
00:39 They've been doing a phenomenal job,
00:41 been consistent catching the football.
00:43 Officer Garrett's played really well the last couple weeks.
00:45 And, you know, they really didn't see,
00:47 you know, that performance, you know, coming.
00:50 So, they just got to - we got to reset,
00:52 hit the reset button and, you know, refocus
00:54 and get back on track.
00:56 Run it quite as much in the last couple games.
00:59 Defense is trying to take him away by design from you guys.
01:02 Is there a reason?
01:04 Yeah, a little bit of both.
01:06 You know, trying to limit his ability
01:08 to be able to skate the pocket and,
01:10 you know, create extend plays with his legs.
01:12 So, you know, team's doing a great job
01:15 trying to take that away with the mixing coverages
01:18 and also a different variety of blitzes they see.
01:22 What surprised you most about last Saturday's performance?
01:28 I would say the fact that for the first time
01:38 here in a couple weeks, I didn't think we were smart enough,
01:41 good enough, or played physical enough.
01:48 Offensive line-wise, I mean, for most of the year,
01:52 dominated the line of scrimmage,
01:53 and that was kind of a surprise, wasn't it?
01:55 That was a big surprise, and that's where, you know,
01:56 talking about the, you know, being, you know,
01:58 good enough and physical enough.
01:59 I didn't think we were physical enough,
02:02 and that was a big surprise.
02:03 We hadn't, you know, we hadn't played thus far this season.
02:06 We've always - you know, that's one of our strengths.
02:08 That is our strength, you know, our physicality,
02:10 and I didn't think that was there Saturday.
02:13 How do you flip that switch for Cincinnati,
02:17 and what is -
02:19 Like I said, just hit the reset button and refocus.
02:21 Those guys, you know, those guys came in yesterday.
02:23 We had a - you know, we had practice yesterday.
02:25 Those guys were real sharp, real focused.
02:27 Guys held themselves accountable.
02:28 We held ourselves accountable as coaches as well,
02:30 and, you know, guys owned up to it,
02:32 and they understand they came in and watched the film
02:34 and, you know, took - you know,
02:36 took accountability to the way they played the game
02:39 and, you know, some of the fundamental,
02:42 you know, lapses we had and areas we had.
02:44 So, hit the reset button and get back going tomorrow.
02:49 This is kind of a general deal,
02:51 and I asked Jordan about it, too,
02:52 but it seems like it's easier following
02:56 a disappointing performance to coach your team
02:58 and getting prepared than it is when you've had some success,
03:01 like you had prior to the Oklahoma game.
03:04 Why is that?
03:06 Just a - just a - it's all a mental game, psychology deal.
03:11 You know, obviously, you know, guys, you know, they get -
03:13 it kind of goes both ways, you know.
03:14 When you have success, you know,
03:16 you want to make sure the guys remain humble and hungry
03:17 and, you know, and continue to focus on the task at hand
03:21 and not lose sight of the fact that, you know,
03:23 the teams that we're going up against,
03:24 whether we're underdogs or the favorites,
03:26 that we've got to go out there and play ball
03:27 because anybody could be beaten.
03:29 And, obviously, when you lose games,
03:30 guys get a lot more upset, and, you know,
03:31 the concentration, you know, it heightens a lot more.
03:35 The focus heightens a lot more
03:36 because you want to get back on track.
03:37 So it's more of a mental component.
03:39 You've been talking about the guys about being consistent
03:41 with all our action, whether we win or lose a football game.
03:44 So, like I said, we've just got to hit the reset button
03:46 and refocus and get back going.
03:48 You know, probably when you got into this deal
03:50 and you started coaching, you probably knew by Thursday,
03:53 you know, we either got it or we don't.
03:55 But today, it could be right up to game time.
03:58 You're not sure, okay, are we mentally there?
04:01 Are we there? Why does that change so much?
04:03 I don't know. I know that varies.
04:05 That's a great - that's a great question.
04:06 I can't answer it because it's times
04:08 where it could be late in the week,
04:10 the guys are up, and you feel like, man, we're going to go out
04:12 and we're going to play really well, and you don't.
04:15 There could be times where, you know,
04:16 guys just seem down, lethargic,
04:18 and, you know, just kind of -
04:21 the energy level's not there,
04:23 then they go out and they play at an elite level.
04:25 So I don't know the answer for it.
04:28 We just got to do -
04:29 - Work, you usually know. Have a good feel.
04:32 This is how it's going to -
04:34 but sometimes that isn't that way.
04:35 - Yeah, sometimes it's not that way.
04:37 Like I say, for us, last couple weeks,
04:39 on Tuesday and Wednesday, our workday's been really good.
04:41 Like I said, that performance on Saturday,
04:43 you know, I didn't see that coming at all.
04:45 You know, it's a credit to Oklahoma.
04:46 They played really well.
04:47 Had a great game plan and went out and executed
04:49 and played at a level that we've been playing
04:52 for the last couple weeks, at least offensively.
04:53 So we just got to reset
04:56 and get back to playing our style of football.
05:00 Yeah.
05:01 CJ is still new to - new with the running back.
05:05 Yeah.
05:06 He's not a developed, experienced running back.
05:07 Yeah.
05:09 Is there something in his style
05:11 that is responsible for why he's been hurt a few times?
05:16 Or does he have to protect himself better?
05:21 Well, he got to - sometimes it just takes some -
05:25 it just, you know, just some of the accidents that happen.
05:28 You just kind of get hit in the wrong spot.
05:29 You know, when he got an injury the other day,
05:31 he just - he just kind of got hit in the wrong spot.
05:35 You know, it wasn't necessarily him.
05:36 You know, his pad level wasn't high.
05:38 It wasn't like him in a bad position.
05:40 Just got - just got hit the wrong way.
05:44 But he's - you know, one of the things he could do a better job
05:46 of is understand how to attack half a man.
05:47 He's a big kid, so obviously sometimes, you know, people -
05:50 you know, you think you're a big guy,
05:51 you just run over everybody.
05:53 So he could do a better job of learning how to attack half a
05:55 man and not run down the middle of guys.
05:57 But the injury he had - he sustained the other day,
05:59 it just - it just a freak incident just happened.
06:03 Just kind of got rolled up.
06:04 Wrong place, wrong time.
06:07 You talked before, and it was kind of even edited,
06:08 evident against Oklahoma that Jaheim is so close to breaking one.
06:12 Yeah. And he's been playing well.
06:14 What can you do, or is there anything you can do
06:16 to try to force that on,
06:17 or is it just going to happen eventually?
06:18 It'll happen eventually. It'll happen.
06:21 It'll happen, you know.
06:23 Like, is there a little thing that you can see
06:25 that he's not doing that would allow him to break it, or?
06:28 Well, no, not really. You know, he's been -
06:30 like I say, he's been - the last two weeks, he's -
06:32 he's broken them. Had a splo -
06:33 splo - run the other day.
06:34 A lot of times he gets so - he gets so excited.
06:37 He gets so anxious when he gets in space.
06:39 You know, he's already got in his mind
06:41 with the move he's going to make against the guy sometimes,
06:44 and kind of just lose sight of where he is,
06:46 and between the tackle box, he might trip over somebody.
06:49 That's what happened the other day.
06:50 He said, "Coach, I saw that guy coming,
06:52 and I was already prepared to make a move on him,
06:54 and then all of a sudden I tripped over the one in the lineman."
06:56 So, he gets so excited, gets so anxious,
06:58 and makes somebody miss and go hit the big one.
07:00 Sometimes you just lose sight of where he is
07:02 in between the tackle box.
07:04 But he's citing the watch, and he's special,
07:08 and it'll - it'll pop for him.
07:10 Jordan, about some of his young guys on defense
07:16 who aren't necessarily playing a lot right now,
07:18 the redshirt guys. So, your guys that -
07:21 you're playing on redshirting. What do you see out of them?
07:24 How have they developed over the four months
07:26 they're practicing?
07:27 D.J. Oliver's going to be a really good football player.
07:30 Going to surprise a lot of people.
07:31 He's a big kid, so, you know, everybody knows that part of it.
07:37 But when you - when you watch the kid run,
07:39 and you see him break away and pull away from people,
07:41 that's going to surprise a lot of people.
07:42 He's going to be really good.
07:45 Some of the younger linemen are going to be really well -
07:47 really good as well. Cooper Young, Nick Craig,
07:49 those guys are going to be really good.
07:51 Johnny Williams, those guys - all three of those guys
07:53 are going to be real special.
07:54 Landon Livingston's coming along.
07:56 Those guys get a lot of work in their Monday night
07:59 and Thursday night ball.
08:00 They really progressed and developed.
08:03 And then also having those guys in front of them,
08:04 you know, seeing how those guys practice,
08:05 seeing how those guys play and prepare,
08:07 has helped those guys come along as well.
08:08 So, really excited about that young group of linemen.
08:10 Bram and then T.J. Johnson. What do you see?
08:12 Yeah, T.J. Johnson's going to be a really good player.
08:14 Very athletic.
08:16 Bram's going to be a really good player.
08:18 And those guys had a really good day
08:19 yesterday in Monday night football as well.
08:21 So, there's a lot of really good young talent.
08:23 And T.J. Johnson's a kid, man, that -
08:26 he has great versatility.
08:27 He's playing a tight end spot right now.
08:29 You know, has the versatility to go play out wide as well
08:32 with his size and his athletic ability and his speed.
08:37 It's - I know you're going back to that C.J.
08:38 I think I understand what attacking half the guy means.
08:41 Right? Yeah.
08:42 Just don't let him square up on you.
08:43 But he's running in the line so often that can be difficult.
08:46 I don't know. Does he try to get outside more?
08:48 Like, just take me through that.
08:49 It seems like we're - Well, I'll tell you what.
08:50 He's done - the first half of the season,
08:52 you know, he didn't play his best ball.
08:54 But this last half of the season, he's played -
08:56 he's played really well. He's done a great job with his -
08:58 he's done a great job with his eye discipline.
09:01 He's done a great job of, you know, getting pre-snap,
09:04 you know, reads on where the free hitters are.
09:06 Free hitters, I'm talking about the safeties
09:07 that's responsible for tackling him.
09:08 We can't block everybody, so he's all responsible for one of them.
09:11 And so he's done a phenomenal job pre-snapping those guys
09:15 and doing a great job, what we call manipulating linebackers
09:17 to put himself in a position where he's running away
09:20 from that free hitter
09:22 that's supposed to step down and tackle him.
09:24 So, like I said, as of recently, he's -
09:26 you know, he hadn't really, you know,
09:27 just run directly down the middle of the guys.
09:29 But it's something, you know, the first half he was doing
09:32 that's kind of contributed to some of his soreness
09:34 on this half of the season.
09:36 Like -
09:37 So, contact, he wanted to make a move
09:38 and try to get one shoulder instead of two shoulders?
09:40 Absolutely.
09:42 And then do a great job of using his off arm,
09:44 you know, a lot more.
09:45 Stiff arm or what we call near leg, near shoulder.
09:48 So he can equalize the collision instead of taking all of it.
09:54 The goal line sequence, how disappointing was that?
09:57 Very disappointing. Again, that's just part of that,
09:59 you know, our team not being physical enough,
10:00 you know, not executing on the goal line,
10:04 having all those opportunities to go get it in,
10:05 couldn't get it in.
10:07 And then also, Leon, the short yardage situation
10:10 in the middle of the field during the game.
10:13 And that's something that, you know,
10:14 we've always been really good at,
10:15 short yardage, converting and making it happen.
10:17 And so not getting that executed was very disappointing.
10:21 I know you're just getting into Cincinnati.
10:24 You're getting into them obviously more.
10:25 But what are the issues they present up front?
10:28 And will they be similar challenges
10:29 to what you faced last week?
10:30 Leverage battles, you know, really good.
10:33 That's the best part of defense.
10:35 Really good interior, defensive line.
10:38 And not as big height-wise, but stout.
10:44 And, you know, this is going to be a leverage battle.
10:46 So we're going to have to do a great job.
10:47 One of the issues we had last week up front as well
10:50 is not playing with a great pad level,
10:53 which didn't allow us to, you know,
10:54 have the kind of strength that we needed
10:56 at certain times, a point of attack to move people.
10:58 So we're going to do a great job
11:00 playing a great pad level versus these guys.
11:02 Anything else for Coach?
11:10 Yeah, just deep into the Traylon's true freshman season.
11:14 Traylon Ray? Yeah.
11:15 It seems like he's -- yeah, I got to narrow that down.
11:16 Don't lie.
11:18 He seems like he's figuring some things out,
11:19 getting comfortable, maybe getting caught up
11:20 ahead from where he was with his start.
11:23 Mm-hmm.
11:25 Relative to where a true freshman might be,
11:27 where does he stand right now?
11:29 I think he's progressed really well.
11:32 I think probably what's caught up with him,
11:33 he had a phenomenal fall camp.
11:35 Then he started battling some injuries,
11:36 which kind of slowed him at the beginning of the season.
11:40 And then now he's come on.
11:42 He's showing the ball skills that he showed all of us
11:44 in fall camp. You're able to see it.
11:47 Now he's taking a lot more reps
11:48 than he probably anticipated taking.
11:50 And he's going against some guys that's some seasoned vets
11:53 and some guys a lot older than him.
11:54 So, you know, it's times where, like, he made definitely one,
11:58 might have made two, had one spectacular catch for sure.
12:02 They -- I mean, literally just his toe was out of bounds.
12:05 And so you look at that, you know, from a coach standpoint
12:07 and even from him one-on-one, you know,
12:10 that's where the strength comes into play.
12:12 He's all -- I mean, he's all season,
12:14 maybe two all-season away, probably.
12:16 I say just an all-season away from him
12:17 being spectacular.
12:19 I mean, it just becomes a deal where, you know,
12:20 he's just playing against older guys
12:21 that are stronger than he is right now.
12:23 But when he develops the strength with his ball skills
12:26 and his body control, he's going to be real special.
12:30 But I love where he is right now.
12:32 He's learned a lot, gets lined up.
12:34 He understand the plays, you know,
12:35 just understanding how to get lined up
12:37 and knowing the plays gives him a chance
12:38 to have an idea of, pre-snat wise,
12:41 what's he going to do in this route and adjustment
12:43 he may have to make versus a certain coverage.
12:45 And he's doing that as a true freshman,
12:46 which is really impressive.
12:48 So once he develops the strength,
12:49 he's going to be really good.
12:50 How does his background with driving through sports
12:55 in high school, how does that help?
12:57 That helps me. It helps immensely,
12:59 you know, which is probably why he's so smart,
13:00 you know, is able to, you know, play all those sports
13:02 and understand all the different,
13:04 you know, assignments he has per sport
13:06 and also be able to go compete at a high level per sport,
13:09 you know, and also shows his body control and athleticism.
13:12 And so that background helps big time
13:15 and also the competitiveness.
13:17 So he's a kid, you know, sometimes, you know,
13:18 he doesn't get the best of those guys,
13:20 you know, because of his strength,
13:21 because he's so competitive
13:23 and he's used to playing in competitive situations,
13:26 always has a nice play mentality.
13:27 Never a kid that gets real down,
13:29 which is very unique for a young guy
13:32 that's used to making plays all the time
13:34 and having success, not to get down
13:36 when he doesn't have the kind of success
13:37 that he wants per play,
13:38 which allows him to go out there
13:40 and keep the kind of mental intensity
13:41 you need to have to be successful
13:43 in a 60-minute ball game.
13:44 So, kid has impressive physical gifts
13:47 and impressive mentality as a freshman.