Bengals Safeties Coach Jordan Kovacs on Dax Hill, Jordan Battle and MORE
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00:00 In my opinion, that's where the position starts.
00:03 You're the quarterback on the back end, right?
00:06 You gotta communicate, you gotta tackle well.
00:09 But again, it all starts with communication.
00:10 We've all gotta be on the same page.
00:12 We're running the show back there.
00:13 And we have to communicate vocally,
00:16 we've gotta communicate visually,
00:18 and we've gotta be making sure
00:20 that we're all on the same page.
00:21 So if you're not on the same page,
00:22 then you don't have a shot.
00:23 - Do you feel like your time coaching the linebackers
00:27 is gonna be able to help you in a different way
00:29 in coaching the safeties,
00:30 maybe give you a little bit of a different perspective
00:32 of what you can do with the safeties?
00:34 - Yeah, no doubt.
00:35 Obviously, I've gotta readjust my eyes a little bit.
00:37 But yes, I've been in the linebacker room
00:39 for the last five years.
00:40 So we're all obviously on a string defensively.
00:43 We all work together.
00:44 So yes, I know exactly how Betch
00:46 is coaching the linebackers to fit versus pin-pull scheme.
00:50 I know where he's expecting the safeties to fit.
00:52 So we're all working together.
00:53 And I think that, yeah,
00:55 if you would've asked me a couple years ago,
00:56 how valuable will this be for you on the back end,
00:59 I don't think I would've realized until,
01:01 you know, looking back and going through our evaluations
01:04 or our self-scout and saying,
01:06 okay, I know how Betch is coaching
01:08 the frontside linebacker to hit the pin and the pole
01:11 and where we want the safety to fit.
01:14 Yeah.
01:14 - What stands out the most in the self-scout
01:16 about Dax and Jordan?
01:18 - Well, obviously, Dax is as athletic as they come
01:22 on the back end.
01:23 He's got the skill set.
01:26 He's done a great job.
01:28 He's made some really high plays
01:30 or really, really great plays for us.
01:32 Just need some more consistency on the back end, right?
01:35 He's just got to take that next step.
01:37 I think we hit it, you know,
01:38 the first question is he's got to, you know,
01:41 we've all got to improve our communication on the back end.
01:43 We've got to be leaders back there,
01:45 be more vocal and continue to run the show.
01:48 And I think Dax has made strides
01:49 and I expect him to continue to make strides.
01:52 Jordan as well.
01:53 You know, I think it's hard playing safety as a rookie.
01:58 And I think that those guys both experiences is the best,
02:03 you know, the best thing for those guys.
02:06 You know, they learn so much in the meeting room.
02:09 The best thing for those guys to do is to get out there
02:11 and get playing, get some exposure.
02:12 And I think that Jordan's got great football instincts.
02:15 I think he's a good tackler.
02:17 I think he can communicate.
02:18 And I think that he's got some tools to work with.
02:21 - It sounds like Dax's position for next season
02:22 is kind of up in the air.
02:23 Is y'all kind of figure out where y'all want to put him
02:26 when y'all go through and figure out
02:27 where he might fit best?
02:29 What are some things you're looking at
02:30 in terms of what he might be comfortable with
02:32 and the traits that he has?
02:33 - Yeah, obviously that's a question better for Lou.
02:39 You know, he definitely has a very valuable skill set.
02:42 He can run, he can cover,
02:44 and those are things that are invaluable in this league.
02:46 So I would say that you'd start with that, right?
02:49 Those are things that are invaluable
02:50 and you just got to put them in the best position
02:51 to make plays, whether that's at safety,
02:53 whether that's, you know, at corner nickel, I don't know,
02:56 but at somewhere on the back end.
02:58 - What was it like to,
02:59 what was the process like for you to find out
03:01 you were going to become the safety scouts?
03:02 Can you walk us through, did Lou call you,
03:04 did Zach, like how did that work?
03:06 - Yeah, I think I, you know,
03:08 I knew Rob had a shot at the coordinating job in Colorado.
03:11 He's very open with me about that.
03:13 And, you know, I didn't know exactly what that meant for me.
03:16 And sure enough, as soon as the thing popped for Rob,
03:19 Zach and Lou both called me and were excited for me.
03:22 So it was, you know, obviously a dream come true.
03:24 And to be able to stay with Cincinnati, you know,
03:26 it's been a place that kind of,
03:28 I've cut my teeth over the last few years.
03:29 So I'm excited to be here.
03:32 - Do you think it resonates with young players,
03:35 especially when their position coach played in the league
03:38 at that position?
03:39 - Yeah, I do.
03:41 You know, one of the,
03:44 when I first got into coaching in 2017,
03:46 was at Michigan with Jim Harbaugh.
03:49 And one of the first things he did,
03:50 he kind of set expectations for myself and we just talked
03:53 and he just talked about how, you know,
03:57 I'm a former player and he was a former player
03:58 and he always finds himself drawing back
04:01 on his playing experiences.
04:02 You know, whether that's on the field or off the field.
04:05 And I don't think I kind of realized at the time how,
04:07 you know, what exactly he meant.
04:09 And then when I recently moved back to the safety room,
04:12 I realized I can just put myself in their shoes.
04:14 I can, you know, think through techniques,
04:16 think through pedal and break,
04:18 think through those different things.
04:19 And then off the field, you know,
04:20 I feel like I can relate to these guys.
04:23 You know, being in the NFL is not always the easiest thing.
04:28 There's cut day, there's some different things
04:29 that these guys have to go through
04:30 that I don't think we all appreciate.
04:32 And so just being able to be a guy
04:34 that can relate to their situations
04:36 and give them a new perspective is,
04:38 I think, a valuable thing.
04:40 - Anything from Harbaugh that you took
04:42 from a coaching standpoint that you use,
04:45 that you learned from him besides him?
04:48 - Yeah, I think that he's just always been
04:50 good, positive energy.
04:51 You know where you stand with Coach Harbaugh.
04:53 Everything's black and white, he's very direct.
04:55 And I always appreciated that about Coach, yeah.
04:58 - Any example where he was, as a player,
05:00 oh no, you didn't play for him, did you?
05:01 - I didn't play for him, no, I just coached for him.
05:03 - How about as a, did he give you a coaching point
05:05 or anything, when you were breaking the coaching?
05:07 - I think that was the coaching point,
05:09 was, you know, to always draw back
05:11 on your playing experiences.
05:13 And I do find myself doing that, you know,
05:16 as I'm thinking through individual
05:18 or putting together a teach tape,
05:20 what are the things that are important?
05:22 And yeah, so especially on the field,
05:25 I do feel myself drawing on those experiences.
05:27 - Lou referenced, obviously, the story,
05:29 had us ask you about that.
05:32 Do you have any Lou stories that you'd wanna share?
05:34 - Maybe another time, maybe.
05:37 We're a little millage later.
05:39 - We're on the job.
05:41 - Anybody can appreciate, Jordan,
05:42 what it is to be a leadership at the safety position
05:46 that you have.
05:47 When you look at the facts, when you look at Jordan,
05:50 what qualities do they possess
05:52 to be a good leader at safeties?
05:55 - First of all, I think they're great people, right?
05:56 And they work their asses off.
05:58 And I think the leadership starts with that.
06:01 Both those guys are as hard workers as you can ask for.
06:04 And they're good players.
06:05 They're very good players.
06:07 And, you know, obviously there's some things
06:09 that they would be the first to tell you
06:10 they wanna clean up,
06:11 but they can take their game to the next level.
06:15 And when you're performing and when you're a good person,
06:18 I think that that's the first start to being a good leader.
06:23 And then just the next step would be being more vocal,
06:27 right, demanding more of your teammates,
06:29 being a great communicator on the field.
06:31 And that's the area that I expect
06:33 those guys to really improve.
06:34 - So you'd say reliability.
06:36 And that one characteristic,
06:38 one trait you have to have at that position
06:40 is being reliable on and off the field.
06:43 - Yes, no doubt.
06:43 You know, on the back end, there can't be any bust.
06:47 A bust is a touchdown.
06:48 So yeah, you've gotta be a great communicator.
06:50 You've gotta be reliable.
06:50 You've gotta be dependable.
06:51 You've gotta be where you're supposed to be.
06:53 - What's been like, say, Jordan's growth
06:55 over the last, like during last season?
06:57 It seems like he really started to settle in
07:00 and really was a reliable guy towards the end of the year.
07:03 - Yeah, obviously he was just towing the waters early.
07:06 He was a guy that I was always excited about
07:08 because, you know, he's got a lot of playing experience
07:11 under a great coaching staff at Alabama.
07:13 So you knew he was gonna be a good player.
07:15 It's just a matter of getting him
07:17 the experience that he needs.
07:18 And I think that he made some great plays, right?
07:21 I think maybe the Thursday night game against Baltimore
07:23 was really one of his, you know,
07:24 that's one of those games that stands out for me
07:26 where he made some nice tackles.
07:28 He's a guy that can communicate.
07:30 And, you know, like the rest of the safeties,
07:33 though, there were some high highs
07:34 and there were some plays that they'd all want back.
07:36 And it's just a matter of playing
07:37 with a little more consistency.