ON LEADING ONE OF THE TEAMS IN THE SPRING GAME AND WHAT HE WANTS FROM HIS LINEBACKERS
"Well, I think that's more of a two part question for linebackers. You know, with drills, I what I've seen over spring, I definitely wanted to emphasize being more technically. So from the linebacker position, one of the areas that we talked about heading to Israel, which is being more physical at the point of attack, using our hands more, being more violent and physical, our feet work definitely to improve in a linebacker position role. So I spent a lot of time definitely in the individual periods, over developing their feet work, and making sure they're very efficient in the movement. So we can take it to the team drills and jobs I've seen, I've seen a lot of progress in disturbances as well.
When it comes to being a head coach it's an honor to be named the head coach (for the spring game). I think it just shows the leadership that I shared with my my group and you know, my role and support co coach Spencer, our defensive coordinator, I only hope to to be a conduit, of course, guiding the mission and the vision that he's he's trying to instill in this program. And I only also only hope to just finish what we started, you know, Coach talks about being united start to finish, where we're now the last week, the last couple of days of our spring practices as spring season, I want to make sure that we finish right away, that we put on a good show for the community, and we show to the progress that we've made thus far."
ON HOW HE CAME TO USF
"We could be here for a while. I just started off, you know, I left my junior year for state yesterday and I saw I saw an immediate opportunity for me to you know, increase my value and for my family. For myself individually as well. I was the number nine pick overall to the Detroit Lions. I unsuspectingly went to a team that was very, very bad in terms of the culture. And, you know, hindsight, and I think that it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life. Because I had to grow up real fast as a young man. It's helped me a lot through a lot of failure. If you guys remember we would have, you know, the only team to go over 16 and I vividly remember, you know, some of the moments that we had a team meetings and meeting was our defense coordinator and just the locker room talks and the law says it was just it is a memory that sticks in my head. It sticks in my mind. Still to this day. From there I went to was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
A lot of people don't know this, but I went in I went into Martin Mayhew, who was still a good friend of mine right now he's a GM for the Washington Redskins. And I told him that I want to get traded that right there, you know, I share a lot of those stories with with the young men who I have the opportunity to work with. That was that was a decision that I made that I that I that sometimes at the time, I probably wish I would have made a different decision. So I ended up going, you know, play there for one year. They didn't renew my contract and next thing you know, it was the it was the lockout year. So I didn't get picked up in training camp until you know, probably a couple of weeks of training camp with it with the Indianapolis Colts played there for one year and a backup role behind Philip Wheeler and From there, I was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys and played there for two years. I was short stint with Arizona Cardinals and could tell it was time for me to go in and hang up my cleats when either my back pretty much gave out on me.
So, from that point, I took my my family went back and Tallahassee, Florida there where I'm from my home there in Thomasville Georgia. And I went back and I told my parents, you know, who, who they they're, they're still there times in Florida. We wanted to I want to do more of my foundation that are just as big as foundation. So I started going to mentor program there in Tallahassee, Florida, and open up a training facility there with with with student athletes as well, just educating them and sharing some of the the successes and the failures that I've had on my journey. Diego for a couple of years, I ended up working with the Under Amour Camps. And I had a great time working with Ray Lewis and, you know, Deion Sanders, and all those guys were Under Armour camps. And I'm slowly but surely, you know, I kind of I kind of got the age of one that wanted to get into college, college coaching. And that's when I reached out to my good friend of mine, Kevin Smith, he was a running back coach there at the time at FAU. He's currently not a running back coach at Ole Miss, with Lane Kiffin. I started off in the weight room. And I served there for one year, in the year thereafter, I was promoted to the director of football operations, that wasn't experience ended up itself. But knowing that I wanted to be a position coach. And then, you know, when opportunity presented itself for me to come here last year, I could I could not turn it down to be around a man, such as the character as coach Glenn Spencer. So and that's what led me to this position that I'm in right now. So in a snapshot, you know, that's that's kind of how my, how my journey has been up to this point right now.
ON WHAT HE LEARNED WITH THE LIONS IN A TOUGH SITUATION
"The biggest thing is not one of the things I share with the young man, you know, and then some that's been ingrained in me my whole entire life is, is competing and never giving up. You know, I think it's I think it's, you know, in our society, it's kind of a cliche, you know, a lot of people throw those those terms out. And I think that people are automatically going to respond to it. But you never know until your your your your back against a wall, you never know what you're facing some type of diversity, how you're going to surely respond to it. And that's why I'm so grateful of the things that I've been through there in Detroit. You know, I didn't I didn't go to any any Pro Bowls. I feel like I should have at least one year. I didn't make during the Super Bowl, I didn't make it to the Hall of Fame. But some of the things that I share with young men that I have opportunity to work with is that although I didn't achieve all the things I dreamed up, I gave something away more valuable than I would ever have. If I had not gone through these, the the the pore spaces are bad spirits that I went through here in Detroit, and I just a new mindset, a greater appreciation of some of the challenges that I've been through in my life. You know, up to that point I've been, I've been very successful. I feel like in high school and college and up to that point. It was an eye opening. It was eye opening experience for me. And I'm extremely grateful for so going back home and reminiscing on those moments that I've had here in Detroit. I can I can pour those experiences back into the men. So what I'm trying to motivate them and I'm trying to get them to do something that they feel like it's so hard for them to do to accomplish. I can I can really get into their mind and motivated to do something they feel like they cannot do by themselves. So that's really one of the pieces that I take pride in. Because if it had not been for vice versa here in Detroit, I would not have this opportunity to kind of educate and guide these gentlemen."
"Well, I think that's more of a two part question for linebackers. You know, with drills, I what I've seen over spring, I definitely wanted to emphasize being more technically. So from the linebacker position, one of the areas that we talked about heading to Israel, which is being more physical at the point of attack, using our hands more, being more violent and physical, our feet work definitely to improve in a linebacker position role. So I spent a lot of time definitely in the individual periods, over developing their feet work, and making sure they're very efficient in the movement. So we can take it to the team drills and jobs I've seen, I've seen a lot of progress in disturbances as well.
When it comes to being a head coach it's an honor to be named the head coach (for the spring game). I think it just shows the leadership that I shared with my my group and you know, my role and support co coach Spencer, our defensive coordinator, I only hope to to be a conduit, of course, guiding the mission and the vision that he's he's trying to instill in this program. And I only also only hope to just finish what we started, you know, Coach talks about being united start to finish, where we're now the last week, the last couple of days of our spring practices as spring season, I want to make sure that we finish right away, that we put on a good show for the community, and we show to the progress that we've made thus far."
ON HOW HE CAME TO USF
"We could be here for a while. I just started off, you know, I left my junior year for state yesterday and I saw I saw an immediate opportunity for me to you know, increase my value and for my family. For myself individually as well. I was the number nine pick overall to the Detroit Lions. I unsuspectingly went to a team that was very, very bad in terms of the culture. And, you know, hindsight, and I think that it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life. Because I had to grow up real fast as a young man. It's helped me a lot through a lot of failure. If you guys remember we would have, you know, the only team to go over 16 and I vividly remember, you know, some of the moments that we had a team meetings and meeting was our defense coordinator and just the locker room talks and the law says it was just it is a memory that sticks in my head. It sticks in my mind. Still to this day. From there I went to was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
A lot of people don't know this, but I went in I went into Martin Mayhew, who was still a good friend of mine right now he's a GM for the Washington Redskins. And I told him that I want to get traded that right there, you know, I share a lot of those stories with with the young men who I have the opportunity to work with. That was that was a decision that I made that I that I that sometimes at the time, I probably wish I would have made a different decision. So I ended up going, you know, play there for one year. They didn't renew my contract and next thing you know, it was the it was the lockout year. So I didn't get picked up in training camp until you know, probably a couple of weeks of training camp with it with the Indianapolis Colts played there for one year and a backup role behind Philip Wheeler and From there, I was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys and played there for two years. I was short stint with Arizona Cardinals and could tell it was time for me to go in and hang up my cleats when either my back pretty much gave out on me.
So, from that point, I took my my family went back and Tallahassee, Florida there where I'm from my home there in Thomasville Georgia. And I went back and I told my parents, you know, who, who they they're, they're still there times in Florida. We wanted to I want to do more of my foundation that are just as big as foundation. So I started going to mentor program there in Tallahassee, Florida, and open up a training facility there with with with student athletes as well, just educating them and sharing some of the the successes and the failures that I've had on my journey. Diego for a couple of years, I ended up working with the Under Amour Camps. And I had a great time working with Ray Lewis and, you know, Deion Sanders, and all those guys were Under Armour camps. And I'm slowly but surely, you know, I kind of I kind of got the age of one that wanted to get into college, college coaching. And that's when I reached out to my good friend of mine, Kevin Smith, he was a running back coach there at the time at FAU. He's currently not a running back coach at Ole Miss, with Lane Kiffin. I started off in the weight room. And I served there for one year, in the year thereafter, I was promoted to the director of football operations, that wasn't experience ended up itself. But knowing that I wanted to be a position coach. And then, you know, when opportunity presented itself for me to come here last year, I could I could not turn it down to be around a man, such as the character as coach Glenn Spencer. So and that's what led me to this position that I'm in right now. So in a snapshot, you know, that's that's kind of how my, how my journey has been up to this point right now.
ON WHAT HE LEARNED WITH THE LIONS IN A TOUGH SITUATION
"The biggest thing is not one of the things I share with the young man, you know, and then some that's been ingrained in me my whole entire life is, is competing and never giving up. You know, I think it's I think it's, you know, in our society, it's kind of a cliche, you know, a lot of people throw those those terms out. And I think that people are automatically going to respond to it. But you never know until your your your your back against a wall, you never know what you're facing some type of diversity, how you're going to surely respond to it. And that's why I'm so grateful of the things that I've been through there in Detroit. You know, I didn't I didn't go to any any Pro Bowls. I feel like I should have at least one year. I didn't make during the Super Bowl, I didn't make it to the Hall of Fame. But some of the things that I share with young men that I have opportunity to work with is that although I didn't achieve all the things I dreamed up, I gave something away more valuable than I would ever have. If I had not gone through these, the the the pore spaces are bad spirits that I went through here in Detroit, and I just a new mindset, a greater appreciation of some of the challenges that I've been through in my life. You know, up to that point I've been, I've been very successful. I feel like in high school and college and up to that point. It was an eye opening. It was eye opening experience for me. And I'm extremely grateful for so going back home and reminiscing on those moments that I've had here in Detroit. I can I can pour those experiences back into the men. So what I'm trying to motivate them and I'm trying to get them to do something that they feel like it's so hard for them to do to accomplish. I can I can really get into their mind and motivated to do something they feel like they cannot do by themselves. So that's really one of the pieces that I take pride in. Because if it had not been for vice versa here in Detroit, I would not have this opportunity to kind of educate and guide these gentlemen."
