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00:00 >> Happy holidays.
00:00 >> Hey, happy holidays.
00:01 >> Good to see you.
00:03 >> You been good?
00:04 >> Yep. >> You been good?
00:06 What's been like the last few weeks knowing the ultimate destination,
00:10 if not what you wanted, but is the focus and
00:12 intensity still there despite the ultimate dream not happening?
00:15 >> Our guys have been great.
00:16 I think your passion and energy to play in the game of football kind of
00:21 dictates how you handle things and our guys love playing football and
00:25 they've had a really good couple weeks of prep and I know they're excited to be here.
00:29 >> How do you prepare for a team where you might not necessarily know who's gonna
00:32 sign up and show up?
00:33 >> People always preach standard and if a standard is a real thing,
00:39 then you're always just trying to be the best version of yourself.
00:42 And they have a lot of good players.
00:44 I mean, that's how they ended up in this position.
00:47 And the guys that are gonna play are there for a reason and
00:50 we know we're gonna get the best shot.
00:52 >> How do you go about coaching to a standard?
00:55 >> Ultimately, you set expectations and then you hold people to them, right?
01:00 If it's a real thing, okay, then you're just trying to continually find
01:06 the best version of yourself, both individually and collectively as a unit.
01:10 And so you never reach your best version of yourself because once you hit it,
01:15 you're always trying to meet the next mark.
01:17 And so that's how you go about, one, preaching to a standard and
01:21 then trying to reach it.
01:22 >> We get to talk to you twice a year basically, beginning to the end.
01:25 What's the growth been for your defense?
01:27 Where do you think you made the biggest strides over the year?
01:28 >> There's a lot of maturity, a maturing that's taken place.
01:34 There's guys that maybe whether they were older or
01:36 younger hadn't played a lot of football.
01:38 There are obviously guys who had.
01:40 And I just think their poise, their resiliency, their connection as a unit.
01:45 Those things have just grown leaps and bounds with each game we've gotten to play.
01:50 >> We talked to Coach Atkins and most coordinators talk about how many great
01:53 players y'all have.
01:54 Who mentioned how well coached they are?
01:57 Just speak to the level of processing and football intellect that your guys have.
02:02 >> The game still comes down to, no matter what you do schematically,
02:07 comes down to blocking and defeating blockers, tackling and making people miss.
02:12 Winning one on one matchups in terms of cover situations and
02:17 run game and pass game, blitz situations.
02:19 So I think when you look at people and how they're coached,
02:23 a lot of it is shown with their technique and fundamentals.
02:27 I know that we place a lot of emphasis on that from the top.
02:32 And that's how you get better.
02:35 That's a reflection of coaching more than what you do with your 11 guys on paper.
02:40 >> Did you ever figure out what the deal with the first drive thing?
02:44 I know SEC Championship won that, but
02:46 that was a theme throughout the year is that the other team scored in the first drive.
02:50 Did you ever figure out what it was?
02:52 >> Every game was different.
02:54 You can't, I think that we just had a stretch there where we didn't start well.
02:58 You can't pinpoint one specific thing and went back and
03:02 looked at every game and the reasons were different.
03:06 Whether it was call structure, whether it was tackling,
03:09 whether it was execution, every single one of those games was different.
03:12 Uniquely, we're a really strong team on third down statistically.
03:16 And on those drives, I think the one thing you can pinpoint is we had opportunities
03:20 to get off the field and we did not when people scored on the first drive.
03:23 So hey, if you get off the field on third down, it's harder to score.
03:27 >> What was your message to the team in those situations?
03:31 Do you have to just hold them aside?
03:34 >> I think if you have to give some special message in that moment,
03:39 and you didn't go through your off season the right way.
03:42 We talk about our team DNA traits all the time and we talk about being connected and
03:47 having toughness and resiliency and composure.
03:49 And if that's really a part of who you are,
03:51 then in those moments that's what you pull on.
03:53 And the guys came over the sideline with great poise and
03:57 all they wanted to do is have the answers.
03:59 And they took the answers to, they wanted the reasons and
04:03 then they wanted the answers.
04:04 So we gave the reasons for why what happened happened.
04:07 They digested the information and then they went back out there and
04:10 played football, which is all you can ask them.
04:12 >> How do you feel about Pop's decision?
04:15 What have your interactions been with him around all that?
04:18 >> I love Pop.
04:19 I wish him the best and I just care about him.
04:23 And anytime you care about somebody and
04:25 you have a time that you're no longer with each other, then that's what's best for
04:32 him in this case, he decided and I wish him the best from that standpoint.
04:35 >> You coached a lot of great linebackers at the University of Georgia.
04:39 What did you see from them this year?
04:43 >> They're really mature.
04:44 They approach their preparation the right way.
04:47 They didn't start preparing differently when they got opportunities to play.
04:51 They prepared that way really starting with spring ball when they got here.
04:56 Going back to bull prep last year when they were able to come in early.
04:58 So I think that's ultimately the mark of a young player that is able to help you.
05:03 A lot of times it's relative to their maturity level and
05:07 how they prepare and cuz nobody gets to Georgia without ability.
05:11 >> Another linebacker, Jalen, he had a step up when Pop went down a little bit.
05:14 What would you see if his progression throughout the season?
05:17 >> Jalen goes about his business the right way.
05:18 He works really hard.
05:19 He's a unique individual because he's able to play both inside and out.
05:24 He helped us a lot on third down this year.
05:25 We also had packages where he played off the ball on first and second down.
05:29 And he's just grown leaps and bounds.
05:32 This isn't something, you can see he rushed the pass for his whole life.
05:36 And he decided to take on the challenge of playing more off the ball in college.
05:42 Because he knew that would be beneficial to him in the long run.
05:44 Because the more you can do, the more you can do, the more value you add to your
05:48 career.
05:49 He's helped us a ton on third down.
05:50 He's gonna help us more on first and second down moving forward.
05:53 And I'm excited about where he's going.
05:54 >> You guys.