Interviews: Saints assistants Curtis Johnson, Ronald Curry and Michael Hodges

New Orleans Saints
Senior Offensive Assistant Curtis Johnson
Wide Receivers Coach Ronald Curry
Video Call with Local Media
Friday, June 12, 2020

What do you think about your wide receiver group heading into this season?
(Coach Curry): “I think that (Emmanuel) Sanders is a welcomes addition. He’s a veteran, he’s played in big games. He played in the Super Bowl last year. He has played with some great quarterbacks, (such as) Peyton Manning. So the adjustment with Drew (Brees) will be awesome. (We are) Looking forward to the veteran leadership (he brings). One of Ted Ginn Jr.’s best attributes was his leadership in that room, with him being gone and departed, I think he can come in and fill those shoes. He’s a special talent and a unique talent. I think him and Drew are going to hit it off and obviously we have Mike Thomas and Shorty B, (Deonte) Harris. Looking forward to the growth of those guys going forward. We have a great room with some hard workers, guys that are coachable and guys that are football junkies. They take their job serious and it’s a pleasure to coach them every day.”

How does the coaching staff integrate Deonte Harris more into the offense?
(Coach Curry): “Last year, he would come in and he had a certain role. We like to bring the young guys along slow. Put him at one positon, bring him in and kind of back Ted Ginn Jr. up doing some reverses and things of that nature. But just getting to know him a little better. He missed a lot of training camp time with the hamstring. It was slow for him to get going and it’s hard that we didn’t have a (traditional) offseason this offseason. It’s kind of been hard to say how much he’s grown, but I’m pretty sure he’s somewhere putting in work. I talk to him every now and then just to see what he can handle. He’ll come in and his role will expand. If you’ve been in our offense or around this team you know that guys fall into a role and (we) have 30 days to kind of figure out what his role will be.”

How much will the NFL/Black College Hall of Fame Quarterback Summit that you will attend virtually help you teach your receivers?
(Coach Curry): “Like you said, I played quarterback and I never stopped learning the game as a quarterback and I think that’s something that’s helped me as a coach and as a player when I moved to the position of receiver. I can learn all the positions. I can line up and read the coverage and know exactly where the ball was supposed to go. And I try to teach the guys the same thing. Don’t just learn your position, learn coverages, learn the technique of defenders. When you go to things like that with the quarterback (summit) you just hear the perspective of a lot of other different coaches and how they go about their business everyday. This is the second system I have been in, one with the Niners and one here, to where (there has been) a lot of production in both offenses, but they are done totally different. (They are) Two totally different styles and when you go to these things you notice that it is a lot of systems, a lot of learning and a lot of things that go on. I consider myself a young coach so I sit there mouth closed and ears open and just take it in and bring back the things that I have learned there and try to implement it here. Some of the stuff works, some of it doesn’t (in the system you are in). This (Saints) system has been around 14 years and it’s been highly productive and is always evolving. Anything I can bring to the table that I’ve learned somewhere else I try to do.”

What has been the adjustment not seeing the players and not having an offseason program this year?
(Coach Johnson): “I think one thing Sean (Payton), Mickey (Loomis), Jeff (Ireland) and Terry Fontenot do every year is they go out and get the smartest guys you can and RC (Ronald Curry) is being modest. He’s done a fantastic job this offseason. He and D.J. (Williams) just getting those guys together, getting them to meetings on time and getting the offense taught to be ahead of the game. We have a veteran quarterback and a veteran (offensive) unit. I think it’s significant, but think about 2011, we didn’t even have those meetings and I think our offense finished (number) one in the league.”

What do you think some of the next steps are for Michael Thomas coming off a record breaking year?
(Coach Johnson): “Well he better break some more records. That’s what he better be doing (laughter). I think Michael Thomas is a student of the game. He loves football, he’s a football junkie, he’s a smart guy. I wish he’d block a little bit better. We can put that in there, let’s throw that in (laughter). But last year he really stepped up and played everywhere and did everything we asked him to do. He can also improve on catching every ball, instead of dropping like one or two.”

Does Michael Thomas let the coaches in on his workout secrets and how much do you work off of that, given that he wouldn’t tell us specifics?
(Coach Johnson): “Well he’s going by my guy Andreu Swasey. He and Alvin (Kamara) are there by Swasay. I’m in on it, me and RC (Ronald Curry) in on everything. He’ll call us, he is like our little third son. He keeps calling us all the time, bugging us about a lot of stuff. But we know he’s going to be big. We never worry about Mike. He’s always going to be in great condition. He is going to catch the ball and make plays. He loves football and he’s a good person.”

Have you seen Michael Thomas grow in a leadership role on and off the field and I know we all saw the reports of him organizing the NFL BLM video?e
(Coach Johnson): “Tremendous growth, when I first saw him me and him had an experience at the combine when I was with the Bears and he didn’t like me very much. But I have seen his personality come out more and more. He is a leader by example. He does some things I still don’t like, but that’s ok. But this guy is a tremendous leader. He’s always out there, always first in line. He’s going to show everybody he’s the best and I love coaching him. He’s just a great guy to coach.”

What are you looking to see out of Tre’Quan Smith in 2020?
(Coach Curry): “I love Tre’Quan. I loved him coming out. I spent a lot of time watching film on him before we decided to draft him. He’s a unique player. As I talked earlier, everybody falls into a role. Tre’Quan has skinny legs and skinny arms, but he is stronger than you think. He is smart and knows the game of football. It means something to him. He puts in the work and just needs to continue to play, (and) continue to receive opportunities. He needs to fix his stance and be a little bit more explosive. He’ll be alright, we joke about that all the time. He’s a special player and just needs some opportunities and a lot of people give us slack about needing guys because Michael Thomas gets all the balls and Mike Thomas is a hell of a player and Tre’Quan kind of gets slighted and when it comes to that it’s not that we don’t have a good guy on the other side, it’s just that Mike Thomas gets a lot of the passes. He takes it and coach gets on him sometimes and you can coach him hard. I just think he needs to continue to show up and when the opportunity is there, you saw it last year and the game when Drew (Brees) breaks the (yardage) record, He catches a couple passes, but when the opportunity has presented itself he’s stepped up to the occasion, man. He just needs more opportunities in my opinion.”

Even though he’s listed at running back, what do you see in a guy like Ty Montgomery who brings a lot of versatility and can play multiple positons?
(Coach Johnson): “I think he’s just another weapon. He’s another weapon that we’re going to use. Sean’s (Payton) going to use him to the best of our ability. He can play multiple positons and would be great for our roster. We’ve looked at some of the things that he’s done at Green Bay and other places. I think this guys just an added addition to what we’re doing. As many weapons as we can get to put in front of our quarterback I just love the addition.”

How do you see Emmanuel Butler growing and where do you see him in his development?
(Coach Curry): “He’s another young (receiver), we’ve got a couple of them. Him and LJ ( Lil’Jordan Humphrey), Austin Carr, guys we just picked up in the draft. He’s going to have to compete and I think with him he’s just got to have a little bit more growth on special teams. We saw him in training camp make a lot of plays, but then he suffered the injury that really set him back some and it just happened as preseason was about to start. It would have been great to see him continue to grow. The good thing about him is he was able to play the positon that Mike (Thomas) plays. When we try and save Mike he got a lot of opportunities that probably would’ve went to Mike. Now that he’s in the second year in this offense we’re looking for him to play some other positions to give himself a better chance on really making the team. But he’s a great kid, he works and we just have a great bunch. You hear us talking about one guy, but really we talk about them all. But I think he just needs to grow a little on special teams and just continue what he’s doing and build on top of that. He’s out in Arizona working on that stuff that we need him to do to help us out next year.”

How has your preparation changed if at all leading into training camp this year as opposed to years past?
(Coach Johnson): “I think this, like I said before we have a veteran group. The one guy we have to get (up to speed’s) Emmanuel Sanders .We have to get him going a little bit. I think he’s a smart guy. I’ve probably talked to him probably more than anyone. I know he likes to play golf (joking), but that’s really all I know about him. But he’s tremendous on film and we were talking the other day, myself, RC and Pete Carmichael putting plays together for him to use his strengths and doing some different things with Tre’Quan (Smith) also. We talked about how Tre’Quan’s a guy. He’s a tremendous blocker and always leading us to the ball. We have to get him somewhere else, different positions. And one thing about those guys is they are very, very smart guys. I think we can put more on them. We put more responsibility on guys like Tre’Quan and Emmanuel (Butler) and (LJ) (Li’l Jordan) Humphrey. When those guys come along, I think Deonte (Harris) as RC (Ronald Curry) said, is going to do a phenomenal job.”

When you’re working with a guy like (Curtis Johnson) who’s a fairly dominant personality, how’s the dynamic of that relationship?
(Coach Curry): “It’s great. C.J. has a great personality. He keeps the room light, he jokes, he’s just a veteran. He lets me go about my business the way I need to go about my business. He encourages it, he develops not only players, but coaches and human beings. He’s probably one of the best coaches that I’ve been around just all around as far as coaching. That’s the good thing about him. There’s a lot of coaches that you’re going to be around, especially when you’re young. They try to keep you in your place and only allow you to grow at their rate and C.J. isn’t like that. He treats you like one of his own. His house is always open. C.J. is C.J., what you see is what you get. He’s loud when he comes in the room, but he’s always preaching knowledge and from me to the last coach on the staff, to Sean Payton, to Mickey (Loomis), just everybody. He’s a likeable guy to be around. You can’t always say that in this profession, but he’s one of the best ones you’re going to be around.”

We’ve heard a lot from the coaches on this staff talking about visions for players so what is your vision for (Emmanuel) Sanders? How do you see him fitting into this offense?
(Coach Curry): “We’re going to do it. We’re going to try to put together what he does best. The beauty about this system and the reason why nobody has caught up to it yet is Sean Payton knows how to move guys around. He knows how to take advantage of their unique talents. He tries to put these guys in positions to where you keep them out of the things that they don’t do well and you enhance the stuff that they can. So it’s hard to say exactly what you’re going to do for Sanders and his vision until you really get your hands on him. You see the things he did in San Fran last year, but our offense is kind of different from San Fran. You kind of need to go back to his Denver days when he was playing with Peyton (Manning). He’s a transition player, you want to get the ball in his hands, you’ve got a vision for him on third-down, win your one-on-one matchups in the red-zone. You feel like he’s going to fit in like Ted Ginn, like a veteran that’s going to be where he’s supposed to be, on time, for Drew (Brees). Drew is a person that (Sanders) needs a lot of work with. It doesn’t matter who it is that comes in here, (Brees) likes to find ways to work with guys and seeing their body language and how they get in and out of routes. We have a vision for him on third-down and how we can use him, maybe taking some of that option stuff off of (Alvin Kamara’s) plate and some of the stuff that Ted Ginn was doing, double moves, transitional stuff. There’s a lot of stuff in this offense. (There’s a lot of things he needs to know) to try and get involved, but we’ve got to see what he can handle first too.”

How is Krishawn Hogan developing and what’s the vision for him moving on?
(Coach Johnson): “Krishawn is another good players that is in the mix. We like his intelligence. (He’s a) very, very intelligent guy. He can line up in a variety of different positions, he’s a tremendous blocker, he can separate. So he’s another guy that we’re going to look at to increase his role in the fall and hopefully he’s not injured. He was injured at the end of the season last year (so hopefully) he’s protecting his body and doing those things. He’s another guy that’s definitely in the mix that’s going to help us this year.”

Going back to Tre’Quan (Smith), the injuries that he dealt with last year, do you think that played a role in just the production people were looking for out of him?
(Coach Johnson): “The one thing about Tre’Quan I can say that we haven’t used him to do is he’s a catch and run type guy also. The play he made in Los Angeles that he got hurt on, he caught the ball, broke like two or three tackles and then a guy got his ankle. Any setback for a young player in his second or third year is going to be major setback. The one thing I would say about Tre’Quan also (is) we took him from an outside receiver and moved him to an inside receiver by necessity. He’s been outstanding doing those things. We’ve just got to continue to work with him on some of the things that he never did in college and didn’t do very much of in the first year that he was here. I think his improvement is going to be drastic and I think he’s going to have a breakout year. Y’all can write that down! (laughter).”

You mentioned earlier having a moment with Mike (Thomas) at the combine, is that something you can elaborate on?
(Coach Johnson): “I was in Chicago and (General Manager) Ryan Pace told me, ‘look, we want to get to this guy. We want to see what he’s really about.’ They’d heard some rumors at Ohio State that he was good or bad or whatever so before the interview we’re out just kind of talking, I knew I kind of baited him in and then when I got in the interview I drilled him. So when he found out that I was going to be coaching on the Saints staff, he almost had a second child (laughter), twins! But Mike and I are good now. We are very, very good. He just bought my wife a great birthday present so I’ve got to say Mike is my favorite right now, today.”

Where does Mike (Thomas) stack up against some of the great receivers you’ve coached in your day just as far as pure talent?
(Coach Johnson): “Well, look, he’s as big as Andre Johnson and Yatil Green, probably two of the biggest guys, he has hands like Reggie Wayne, he can separate like Santana Moss. He’s right there with all of them. He can make back-shoulder catches like (Marques) Colston, he’s not as fast as Devery (Henderson) or (Robert) Meachem so I’m not going to give him that much, but I mean he’s up there with the top. I’ve never seen a big guy as courageous as he is and can separate the way that he does. Colston was courageous also, but this guy separate in small areas like no one else I have ever seen do it. So he’s one of the top guys.”

Whatever limitations Deonte (Harris) is working with because of his size, do you have to come up with a specific type of package for him or do you think he can kind of do it all regardless of being 5’6 or whatever?
(Coach Curry): “I don’t see his size as a limitation. I feel like he had a package, one because he was a young player and we had a vision for him to basically be the player that he was last year as far as a returner, a top returner in the league. We knew that would be his role and then he played behind Ted Ginn, Tre’Quan Smith and Mike Thomas. He had a limited role because he was up on game day as a returner and we just got him going on offense when we could. He came in with hamstring problems so we protected him as much as we could. Going forward, his role will increase just because he’s been here for a year and he’s going to be able to compete. It’s kind of the same situation as far as the receiver numbers that are back, but he’s a special talent. Guys of his stature have had great success in this league and I don’t see that as a limitation. It’s something that sometimes you’re not going to be able to find him in the middle just Drew (Brees’) height and his height is just a combination of both.”

Was his big catch against Minnesota in the Wildcard game an example of that?
(Coach Curry): “Yeah, he’s an example, just like the Tre’Quan (Smith) question about his production. It’s not because the player can’t play. It’s more because when you’re drawing up the offense, first you’re going to think about Mike (Thomas) and then you’re probably going to think about (Jared) Cook and then you’re probably going to think about (Alvin Kamara). So by the time you get to these guys it’s kind of like basketball, you’re going to think about Lebron, Lebron, Lebron until he has to kick it to the corner for somebody else to shot. You don’t draw those plays up for guys, the ball just finds them and that’s just the way our offense works. A lot of the plays that I’ve drawn up for Tre’Quan and Shorty B, but eventually they double team Mike, they double team Cook and somebody has to step up and then the ball finds them. Basically that play was for him, it was meant for Taysom (Hill) to take a shot and Taysom threw a hell of a ball and (Harris) made a hell of a catch.”

(Coach Johnson): “And that was your play. You’ve got to get the credit for that!”

What are your thoughts about Marquez Callaway?
(Coach Johnson): “Marquez was a guy that was coached by one of my guys at Tulane, David Johnson, and I think he’s a heck of a player, good kid, comes from a great family. Dave has been telling me about Marquez for years. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s a tough kid, very, very smart. I like him, but sometimes I get on him about his haircut because I see that haircut and I can’t grow hair like him so I’m (jealous).”

What about Juwan Johnson, how do you see him fitting in with you guys?
(Coach Johnson): “I like him also, my nephew had him at Penn State. He is a special teams guy, he’s a very tough guy, big, physical, athletic. You cannot get enough of these guys in a season like this. We like big guys, like R.C. always says, we like big guys because of Drew (Brees’) situation (where) he is a little bit shorter than everybody else, but this guy has made some plays at Oregon. And these guys are tremendously smart. I am telling you, D.J. (Williams) and R.C. did a phenomenal job with those kids this year. I can’t wait to be a part of this.”

New Orleans Saints Linebackers Coach Michael Hodges
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Thursday, June 11, 2020

How big of a transition is it for you going from assistant linebackers coach to linebackers coach?
“My position, being that it’s in the same building, it’s less of a jump if I were to have gone to another club. And so the fact that the players know me and I know the players, I know the scheme, those things all kind of align and it’s made this transition much smoother than what it would normally be if I had to go to a new club. There are a bunch of differences as far as, now it’s my decision on some of the things that we do in there and mostly how we teach and that’s what it’s exciting. I get to kind of slide back into that teacher role more than I was before. And that’s what I thrive off of. I love that part of it and so that’s the biggest change and man been a lot of fun so far. I’ve enjoyed it.”

Does that translate to a more assertive voice, a more authoritative voice? Do you feel like you have pretty much the same relationship with the players as before?
“Well, I think the relationship was established before. It was just now I am the one in front of him a little bit more and Mike Nolan was really great about allowing me to be a part of that teaching process. And it was very much a partnership between him and I. The difference is who’s leading it now. Now I’m in the lead and Michael Wilhoite is my partner and we’re doing this thing together. So that is really the change. My voice will not change. I don’t think of myself as an authoritative person? I see myself as a tool and as an educator and that’s how I approach it.”

What are some of the challenges adjusting to that role without being able to do the things you traditionally would be able to do because of the pandemic?
“Well, first, I mean you bring it up and it’s, I think it’s an excellent question because you would have never thought, alright. You are an NFL linebacker coach it’s been something you’ve been shooting for and then all of a sudden, your first meeting in front of the players is through one of these mediums and it’s like what are we doing? Anyways, so that’s been a challenge, but DA (Dennis Allen) has said it, Sean (Payton) has said it, everybody’s got the same challenge, right and so, um, it’s been different. Yes. I wish I could see their eyes. I wish I could feel them a little bit more. I wish I could coach them on the field, but we’re overcoming that just like everybody else is trying to overcome it. And from the very beginning, I sat down with these guys and I said, look, we’re going to find a way. I sat down with Michael Wilhoite and I said we’ve got to find a way to be the best teachers in the NFL, right. Better than anybody else and really both being young, both being eager and both being around a little bit maybe more electronics than some of the other coaches we’re competing against. We should have an advantage here. And so just like anything, right. You’re going to try to find a winning edge and I think that we’ve done that. And so that’s what we’ve been spending our time, this off season doing.”

Would it be easier if you were able to meet a guy like Zack Baun prior to this?
“Sure, that definitely creates a different, challenge for a guy that I have not even shook his hand since the combine. But at the same time, man being in front of all those veterans and having their feedback and really even having the interaction amongst the whole group, there is so much value that comes from that. Those guys being in there, a guy like Zack feeling the presence of Demario (Davis). And when he has to answer a question and he feels Demario right there listening to him and then there is feedback throughout the room, those are things that we’re missing. But we’re getting some of that even through these calls. And so, yeah, to answer your question, yes. I wish I could be in front of Zack and, and get them out on the field and continue to train him, that time will come. But right now we just have to get creative in how we do that.”

Has he made an impression on you from the virtual meetings you guys have had?
“Absolutely, he has. Mickey (Loomis) called me an hour or two ago. We were talking about Zack and he has been an outstanding pro. For him to approach what he’s been doing the way he has. I mean, I just know we got the right guy and that (credit) goes to our scouting department. They knew all that stuff. When you talk about a makeup, this guy’s makeup is outstanding and then from an intelligent standpoint, man, he approaches it the right way. He invites being corrected. He’s already asked me how we’re going to schedule out the rest of the summer for meetings and so it’s been really impressive to see him. Really the rest of the young guys that we’ve met with primarily. We’ve got a group that is just really fun to work with and really easy to work with. And so I’m just excited about it as we get going closer to August.”

Are you envisioning more of an OLB role for him in this defense or you really think he could fit with the Sam or Mike potentially?
“I think there are a lot of ways I could answer that question. I think this, AG (Aaron Glenn) kind of hit on it. These guys are positionless and to bring in a guy who’s really intelligent and who has position flex gives us a ton of freedom to do what we want to do. Once we get him in here, we have a vision for them, right? Every player I’ve talked to this summer, I’m sorry, this off season has been told these are the two positions I want you to learn, right and he’s no different. We’re teaching him Sam and Mike right now and we’re going to make him learn those two positions. And then when we get to third down, that pass rush value, man, we’re going to try to leverage the hell out of it. I think that like we do with some of our safeties and with a couple of our (other) positions, we are going to do everything we can to put these guys in the best position week-to-week. And that may be a different spot from game one to game three, right. And so he’s got his job of learning Sam and Mike and then our third down package, he has has got another role. There’s a lot on his plate as a rookie, but I do know that he has approached it in a way that’s given me the confidence that he’s going to be able to handle it.”

What was the scouting process like and then just coming up with the vision for Zack Baun?
“Well, there was enough movement skills to say, this guy could play a different position besides Sam linebacker and I told Jeff (Ireland) very early in the process, when we watched him, I see Sam, Mike, boom. Like I wrote it down. It was the first note I wrote on him and really that aligned with other people’s vision as well. And it gave us the confidence to go get him where we did and Sean (Payton) agrees with it. Sean sees him similar to the rest of the building. And so the movement skills that he showed when he was in space and then also during the senior bowl, there were some things there that showed us, man, this guy is going to do it. And then you couple that with all the makeup and the intelligence that we vetted. It gave us a ton of to see him being a multi position player that’s going to have a long successful career.”

How much of an impact player can Alex Anzalone be when healthy?
“I mean all you guys follow this and y’all are on it as good as anybody. And we got a really good taste of that a couple of years ago, right. And going into last season, he was playing really well. Alex is one of my favorite players. Alex was the very first interview I ever had at the combine, right. I’m in the NFL, I’m not supposed to be doing interviews yet we were slammed, all of a sudden I’m with Alex. Alright, and I’m learning how to say his last name. Look, there was a personal connection there early and then he gets in here and you evaluate him and you see how he works and you see his ability and there’s things and there’s a potential that he hasn’t even come close to reaching, which is exciting. But I’m confident that he’s going to be better than he’s ever been. And look, his health it is what it is and there’s no secret there, right. And we know that he knows that, but I do know this, he looks outstanding right now. Just the videos that I’ve seen and the conversations that I have had, he looks outstanding and he tells me how good he feels. And so I think he’s going to come in here and I think now, I just said this earlier today to somebody else, I think to my core, and look I might be wrong, but I think he’s over a hump now where he’s going to be able to extend his career to that eight-10 year career that he should have, hopefully staying on the field, healthy.”

What can a guy like Demario (Davis) do to get even better? What else can he do?
“It is funny you ask, because we do these plan of attacks and we dive into what they can do better, but not only that, not only identifying a problem, but also identifying the solution. DA (Dennis Allen) charges us with that responsibility after the season. I did all these before (Michael) Wilhoite was kind of hired as the assistant and I sent them to him to look over and he’s like, why are there more on Demario than anybody else? Well, you really look at it (and) there’s so much film to study on him, right? And he’s such a intentional learner. This guy takes an approach to it as good as anybody I’ve ever seen. The only other person I’ve seen approach it differently, from my short career, is Drew (Brees) and that’s from afar. So Drew’s on another level I think, but what he does is some really special things. There’s some things in coverage, there’s some things in pass rush, there’s some things in run fits that if I can get him just a little bit better at those things, well all of a sudden he’s a perennial pro player and it’s not because of what I do. It’s because he’s using me as a tool? And he’s using me as another resource to continue to get better. There’s just always room for improvement. I never imagined being around a guy who is an all-pro player, had the season he had last year and he calls me and he says, what can I do better? He calls me during the bye week and he says, what can I do better? So that’s really why I see that there’s more upside for him. And I do think that we’re going to see even a better player than we saw last year.”

It’s not just Alex (Anzalone) in your room coming off of injuries. You’ve got Kiko (Alonso) and Kaden (Elliss), the list goes on. In the meetings that you’ve had with them, how has this offseason benefited those guys who are coming off of serious injuries or even just guys who’ve got tweaks?
“Well, I think what you’re asking is how we’re taking advantage of the meeting time and the virtual meetings. Is that kind of what you’re asking?”

Yeah, and just like, those guys are getting extra rest and all that stuff, but they’re still learning. They’re still involved.
“Yeah. Coach (Sean) Payton does a great job with taking care of our veterans and, look, I hate the situation that we’re in right now, but I do think that there’s a lot of positives that are going to come out of it. And one of those is (that is has) given these guys time to heal. And again, this is such a veteran group who approaches the game in such a professional manner that I think that, although we’re not on the field, which is invaluable, I don’t want to discredit how much we miss that. I do know that these guys are ball junkies and they are finding a way to use the tools that we have provided for them to still look for that winning edge. There has been a lot of good feedback in the dialogue, through these zoom meetings and the fact that we are able to find time to watch film together. And quite honestly, I’m able to jump in a few more tools and teach tapes then I think I would have been if we were having to deal with practice. I’ve really been able to focus on different ways to teach them rather than having to prepare what we’re going to do for individual. There’s been some good that’s come out of this.”

Kind of following up on that, you mentioned looking at things to teach the linebacker group. How creative have you had to get for these meetings, knowing that, all right, I won’t be putting them through drills for a while, but finding ways to get them their own workouts and improve?
“I have found this extremely exciting. Like I love it. I love this challenge. I really have embraced it. And Michael Wilhoite has been an unbelievable partner with this as we work on these things together. What we’ve done is spent a lot of time really defining what we do, just like DA (Dennis Allen) mentioned about how we’ve kind of gone through the playbook and focused on what we’re not necessarily, I’m sorry, let me correct what I’m saying. It’s not what we’re doing, but how we’re doing it. And so what I’ve been able to do is really spend some time honing in on the words we use, how we verbalize it, because without me out there showing them I’m misleading them. And so right now I’ve had to really focus on the language that we use and putting it down on a piece of paper. It’s something I’m going to be able to hang on to for a long time, but it’s also something that they can reference back. It’s Saturday night at 10:30 and Zack (Baun) doesn’t have anything else to do so he pulls up an old teach tape and there’s verbiage on there that explains what we’re doing. All of a sudden he’s getting a lesson than that he wouldn’t have gotten before because maybe I wouldn’t have had the reason to do it.”

Executive Director of Football Communications, Doug Miller: Michael’s family just welcomed a brand new baby last week. So I don’t know if anybody wants to ask him about how his life has changed again in the last week or so, but it was great perspective when I talked to him earlier.
“Thank you. We have a two-year old daughter, so this pandemic’s been wild for us. It is wild for everybody. People are losing their lives over this stuff and I hate it. I absolutely hate it. When I hear from people, I was talking to Doug about it, like there’s a lot of people that are gonna come out of this and feel well rested and tell you how they can play the guitar now and all these different things. Look, there has been no idle time in the Hodges’ household. We have a potty-trained a two year old, we have bought and moved into a new home and we have, I say we, my wife had a child. In fact, I gave her a hug before I came up and she kind of gave me a sniff on my shoulder and she goes, I think you have throw up on your shoulder. That’s what I’m dealing with in-between meeting, but it’s all part of it. Fatherhood is truly the best thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Does that make you sort of appreciate this pandemic a little more though, just getting to spend that kind of time with your family?
“Oh my gosh, I’m down for lunch every day. I get to go down for lunch every day. Now I’ll say this, I have to hide in the room because if my daughter knows I am here, it is game over. So it is ‘act like daddy is at work and then all of a sudden, I come home for lunch.’ So that has been excellent. I am there as soon as I am done in the afternoon. So those have all been good things, but it is not all roses either. There are some challenges now of being home and balancing the fact that I am home, but it is not vacation. It is harder for everybody in the room. Anyways, we’ve been balancing it really well. My wife is an absolute rock star when it comes to being my supporter and my partner, and then also just raising these kids. I just value everything that we’ve been doing together and building this family. I’m just excited that we’re able to kind of set some roots down now that we’re in this linebacker room.”

With the positionless football that you guys are talking about, did you ever do any work with any of the DBs with C.J. (Gardner-Johnson) or P.J., is there any crossover there where they come into your purview a little bit?
“No, not in the sense that they’re in my room. We’re not there yet, but I will say this, there’s been conversations with AG (Aaron Glenn) and Ryan Nielsen where there’s so much involvement in the room for us to be upfront with those guys and then there’s involvement in the backend. So what we’ll do going forward, and I am really excited about it is we’re going to make sure that we carve out time throughout the season, particularly in camp. And then when it suits us for specific components, but we are going to work with the other groups more often? Because there’s never a time when we are not communicating with somebody up front or communicating with somebody in the back end. And if we can get a little bit better there and them having an understanding of what we’re trying to do and vice versa, we’re going to be in better shape. So there’s going to be a little more crossover, but it’s going to be joint coaching as opposed to the player, moving into another room to learn a different position.”

With the work life balance during the current situation, have you found the staff having any interesting conversations about how this may affect your approach to work in the offseason in the future and how effective you can be while still, maybe maximizing more time with the children or family and things like that?
“There’s been some ideas kind of thrown around. I do not know how many of them are jokes. Like, hey man, no more staff meetings, unless we’re at the house. I do not know to what extent, but I do believe that where we are entering kind of a new era of how we are going to do certain things. I think that this is a tool that is going to allow us to do a lot of things. A big one that I’ve pulled away was I’ve been able to meet with different coaches across the country, through this medium, as opposed when you get any professional development in the past, you normally jump on a plane and go spend two days with them. Well, now I spend half a day over the phone with them and then I go down for lunch? There’s been a lot of merit to growing in that sense. And there’s definitely, I think some meeting times it’s going to be stolen away from the office and allowing us to do things at home. So I do think we’re going to go in that direction to some degree, to what degree I don’t know, but I know that the personal face to face stuff is invaluable and you definitely don’t want to lose that. It’s just a matter of how much of it do we need.”