Opening ...
"I guess I'm following the big guy, probably talking about street fights and stuff like that. Tough guy to follow. Excited to be here. Pretty fired up about the opportunity that was provided through Coach Helton and what we can do here and everything going forward."
On focus on toughness ...
"Until they put pads on you toughness is to a certain point. Attention to detail, accountability in little things, making sure we're taking care of our business classroom-wise, getting after it in the weight room and doing all those type of things. Double-A's done a helluva job down there with those guys and the entire staff. Coach Helton does a great job getting everybody in line and going the same direction. So you can start to build those thought processes of toughness and accountability that way. But until we put pads on on the 14th and subsequently from there, then we'll talk about real toughness at that point going forward."
On if toughness is Orlando's focus ...
"There's no doubt. I mean, run and hit. The simple mantra of what we do is run and hit. I think I caught the tail end of what he was talking about and we're going to have mistakes as far as assignment, responsibility, things like that. Stick your foot in the ground and go run through somebody's face. That's what this game is all about. Being the most physical team on the field, enforcing your will upon your opponent. It's how you win football games. Stop the run, run to the football and hit people. That wins football games."
On relationship with Orlando ...
"We were very fortunate when we came together at the University of Houston. We did not know each other at all. We've got very similar philosophies of attacking style of defense, multiple styles of defense. We put a high premium like we talked about on being physical and those type of things. Some would say we're kinda off a little bit which would make us bond a little bit tighter. But he's like a brother to me and I value his friendship. But more importantly he's a damn good ball coach and excited to be with him again."
On turning recruiting around ...
"Per se, the biggest part of recruiting is relationships and recruiting's like shaving. If you don't do it daily you look like crap. It's an ongoing, daily deal. You can't just rely on the brand to go out and recruit. You got to build relationships and it takes a village. It's the families, coaches, associations. Who's the champion for that young man in the home, outside the home? All that stuff, establishing that and recruiting as a staff. It's not just one guy recruiting a certain player, it's four to five to six guys being in constant communication with that young man and his family to where he feels like USC is recruiting me, not just a particular guy. So at previous places we've been, even before Texas, we've attacked it that way and we've had success with it."
On if he has the personnel to play the way they want to play ...
"We'll find out after they put some pads on. I"ll have a better answer for that in June, July and more importantly August and September. But excited about the young men that are here. One thing that kinda drew my eye as I was game planning for Utah, getting ready to play in the Alamo Bowl, there was crossover reference to watching these guys play against Utah on that side of the ball. I saw guys that could run and flew around the ball and a lot of really good football players out there so excited to see what we can do once we get out on the field."
On the role of safety in this defense ...
"Truly fun. They're sort of the quarterbacks of the defense. We make all the checks, we make alignments, we check coverages, we check blitzes. Coach Orlando uses those guys in a bunch of different ways. So we're not so much as just a, hey, we're just a corners team, or we're just a one high team. We're gonna spin you, rotate you, be extremely multiple with the safeties. It's an NFL based scheme in that regard. It looks extremely complicated for opponent offenses. It's really not once we learn and teach these mental aspects that we do. But it's a real fun system to play in because one play you could be in the post, the next you could be blitzing the A gap. So it's a fun system to play in."
On his relationship with Donte Williams ...
"Been awesome. I clicked with that guy from the moment he walked in the door. I've known him through recruiting circles and stuff like that and those type of deals. He'll work with the corners, I'll work with the safeties and we'll work together with everything as we will with Vic and Coach O and doing what we do. Coach Orlando does a helluva job of a staff inputting, a staff game planning, a staff putting stuff together. And he does a remarkable job of game play calling. He's one of the best play callers in football period, not just in college football. He does a helluva job with that."
On splitting the nickles with Donte ...
"Based on what young man is playing that position and who they come out of we'll work from there."
On seeing Bru McCoy in spring practice last year and whether he might play some defense ...
"Bru would be a helluva defensive back but I don't think it'll let it happen. I don't think that's gonna happen. He'd be a helluva defensive football player, though. Big, physical and jumped in the fight. We had a bunch of DBs that were part of a historic signing class that were now coming in their second year, here comes five-star Bru jumping in so they all wanted to take a shot at him get after him and he didn't back down. That was impressive for a young guy coming in as a true freshman during spring ball. So that was what most impressed me, was those guys were taking shots at him every day, just to test his worth for lack of a better term and he got after it and competed. So I'm fired up about that."
On not having to be special teams coordinator ...
"It's obviously a little bit easier 'cause you're not doing two different tasks, you're not serving two masters as it speaks and can spend more time doing that. You're gonna get the work done no matter what's asked of you. So what's different? Not much other than just the time that you can spend a little bit more on opponents and things like that, and recruiting most importantly is where you can spend more time. So that'd be the biggest difference."
On if he knew Clay prior to this ...
"He has been amazing through the job process and Coach Helton reaching out, doing the research. I knew of him through the coaching fraternity before that. But when you start calling around and asking about him, every single response that I got from everyone I talked to was what an unbelievable person he is. How great he is with his players. And everything's been 100 percent true. When we came up to visit you could feel in five minutes this is a real guy. This guy cares about his players. This guys has a plan. This guy has a system. This guy's a damn good ball coach and that's not like that everywhere in this profession. So not only is he a good dude as far as a ball coach, but he may be one of the best people I've met in my life. And I'm not just saying that because he's my boss. As you guys get to know me, I pretty much tell you what I think. And he's a real dude."
"I guess I'm following the big guy, probably talking about street fights and stuff like that. Tough guy to follow. Excited to be here. Pretty fired up about the opportunity that was provided through Coach Helton and what we can do here and everything going forward."
On focus on toughness ...
"Until they put pads on you toughness is to a certain point. Attention to detail, accountability in little things, making sure we're taking care of our business classroom-wise, getting after it in the weight room and doing all those type of things. Double-A's done a helluva job down there with those guys and the entire staff. Coach Helton does a great job getting everybody in line and going the same direction. So you can start to build those thought processes of toughness and accountability that way. But until we put pads on on the 14th and subsequently from there, then we'll talk about real toughness at that point going forward."
On if toughness is Orlando's focus ...
"There's no doubt. I mean, run and hit. The simple mantra of what we do is run and hit. I think I caught the tail end of what he was talking about and we're going to have mistakes as far as assignment, responsibility, things like that. Stick your foot in the ground and go run through somebody's face. That's what this game is all about. Being the most physical team on the field, enforcing your will upon your opponent. It's how you win football games. Stop the run, run to the football and hit people. That wins football games."
On relationship with Orlando ...
"We were very fortunate when we came together at the University of Houston. We did not know each other at all. We've got very similar philosophies of attacking style of defense, multiple styles of defense. We put a high premium like we talked about on being physical and those type of things. Some would say we're kinda off a little bit which would make us bond a little bit tighter. But he's like a brother to me and I value his friendship. But more importantly he's a damn good ball coach and excited to be with him again."
On turning recruiting around ...
"Per se, the biggest part of recruiting is relationships and recruiting's like shaving. If you don't do it daily you look like crap. It's an ongoing, daily deal. You can't just rely on the brand to go out and recruit. You got to build relationships and it takes a village. It's the families, coaches, associations. Who's the champion for that young man in the home, outside the home? All that stuff, establishing that and recruiting as a staff. It's not just one guy recruiting a certain player, it's four to five to six guys being in constant communication with that young man and his family to where he feels like USC is recruiting me, not just a particular guy. So at previous places we've been, even before Texas, we've attacked it that way and we've had success with it."
On if he has the personnel to play the way they want to play ...
"We'll find out after they put some pads on. I"ll have a better answer for that in June, July and more importantly August and September. But excited about the young men that are here. One thing that kinda drew my eye as I was game planning for Utah, getting ready to play in the Alamo Bowl, there was crossover reference to watching these guys play against Utah on that side of the ball. I saw guys that could run and flew around the ball and a lot of really good football players out there so excited to see what we can do once we get out on the field."
On the role of safety in this defense ...
"Truly fun. They're sort of the quarterbacks of the defense. We make all the checks, we make alignments, we check coverages, we check blitzes. Coach Orlando uses those guys in a bunch of different ways. So we're not so much as just a, hey, we're just a corners team, or we're just a one high team. We're gonna spin you, rotate you, be extremely multiple with the safeties. It's an NFL based scheme in that regard. It looks extremely complicated for opponent offenses. It's really not once we learn and teach these mental aspects that we do. But it's a real fun system to play in because one play you could be in the post, the next you could be blitzing the A gap. So it's a fun system to play in."
On his relationship with Donte Williams ...
"Been awesome. I clicked with that guy from the moment he walked in the door. I've known him through recruiting circles and stuff like that and those type of deals. He'll work with the corners, I'll work with the safeties and we'll work together with everything as we will with Vic and Coach O and doing what we do. Coach Orlando does a helluva job of a staff inputting, a staff game planning, a staff putting stuff together. And he does a remarkable job of game play calling. He's one of the best play callers in football period, not just in college football. He does a helluva job with that."
On splitting the nickles with Donte ...
"Based on what young man is playing that position and who they come out of we'll work from there."
On seeing Bru McCoy in spring practice last year and whether he might play some defense ...
"Bru would be a helluva defensive back but I don't think it'll let it happen. I don't think that's gonna happen. He'd be a helluva defensive football player, though. Big, physical and jumped in the fight. We had a bunch of DBs that were part of a historic signing class that were now coming in their second year, here comes five-star Bru jumping in so they all wanted to take a shot at him get after him and he didn't back down. That was impressive for a young guy coming in as a true freshman during spring ball. So that was what most impressed me, was those guys were taking shots at him every day, just to test his worth for lack of a better term and he got after it and competed. So I'm fired up about that."
On not having to be special teams coordinator ...
"It's obviously a little bit easier 'cause you're not doing two different tasks, you're not serving two masters as it speaks and can spend more time doing that. You're gonna get the work done no matter what's asked of you. So what's different? Not much other than just the time that you can spend a little bit more on opponents and things like that, and recruiting most importantly is where you can spend more time. So that'd be the biggest difference."
On if he knew Clay prior to this ...
"He has been amazing through the job process and Coach Helton reaching out, doing the research. I knew of him through the coaching fraternity before that. But when you start calling around and asking about him, every single response that I got from everyone I talked to was what an unbelievable person he is. How great he is with his players. And everything's been 100 percent true. When we came up to visit you could feel in five minutes this is a real guy. This guy cares about his players. This guys has a plan. This guy has a system. This guy's a damn good ball coach and that's not like that everywhere in this profession. So not only is he a good dude as far as a ball coach, but he may be one of the best people I've met in my life. And I'm not just saying that because he's my boss. As you guys get to know me, I pretty much tell you what I think. And he's a real dude."
