The OTP | Week 5 Win in Arizona with Coach Callahan

The OTP | Week 5 Win in Arizona with Coach Callahan

[Music] I’m Taylor Zarzer and this is the OTP. How about a high five? Woohoo! Winners tighten up. How does it feel to get your first win? It felt great. Uh I don’t think I had a lot to do with it. And if I did, and if I did, I don’t know that some of the plays that happened in the game would have happened. Uh that was wild. But uh yeah, it was it was a wonderful feeling. professionally in part because Joseph Banano, our engineer, he got his first win. Yep. Kevin Maloney, our statistician, he got his first win. Will bowling on the pinnacle sidelines, he got his first win. So, it was probably crazy town for Will. Yeah, he’s going to be with us a little later in the show as we said and we’ll talk to him about that. But um it was a great feeling, Amy, to do it in the house that Coach Mack built in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. And to see how moved Coach Mack was by uh that come from behind victory. It was it was awesome. And you keep talking about this each week and you know, Coach Callahan and I did an interview after the game and it uh got a little dusty in that office and it got dusty because that win was really meaningful. It’s been hard. The last month has been hard. Um it’s been hard because everybody really cares. You keep saying this and you’re right, the culture here is strong. These people have each other’s backs. It’s not just the players. It’s everyone associated with the team has each other’s backs and really wanted to win for each other. That’s not always the case with an 0 and4 football team. You just have people that go in different directions and start thinking about being in different places. That has not happened here. That’s why everybody really celebrated that win yesterday. Uh is because of how much everybody cares about each other. You forget that these are real people who care about something a tremendous amount and are working so hard to get it right and when it falls short of what the expectation is, it’s really frustrating. If you’ve ever lived with uh toddlers like I am currently and they keep trying to do the same thing over and over and over and just can’t get it. And as an adult, you can’t tell them how to do anything differently. they just have to get through that to do it. It’s so frustrating. And that’s a a lot of what this team is going through is you you’ve just got to get there. You’ve got to work through the kinks and the hiccups. You’ve got to learn how to do it. And that’s what this team is doing. So to see the dam finally break. Yeah. And to see some the ball bounce in the Titans direction for a change when sometimes that is all it takes. Exactly. is a little bit of luck and a little bit of the right calls and meeting the moment with some big plays when it matters. And that’s exactly what the Titans were able to do. And they did not stop because look in this game with the way it was going for a period of time, it would have been very easy to be like it happened again. But you just got to keep going. And when you stay with it and when they keep going, just like Brian Callahan has been saying th this is what you get. you find those moments and when you can show up and meet those moments, you get positive results. Yeah, I was really happy for him. I was really happy for all the people that work so hard for this organization and I was especially happy for the players. Uh on Monday, I had a chance to eat lunch in our um in our facility with a bunch of people that are in the ticket sales department that um that work in technology, that work in the marketing side. Um, we have so many different people that touch the the Titans that work for the Tennessee Titans. And it was really fun to have people come up to me at lunch and say, “I was driving in my car and I’m like, I don’t think Taylor knows what he’s talking about. It’s an batted ball, interception, fumble, and then a touchdown. There’s it can’t it can’t be. It can’t be.” But everybody telling me their own story of how they consumed the game was really fun for me to hear. So now I need to hear hear yours, Taylor. Can I tell you my story? So, my my I have to describe my home to you because that’s where I watched the game on Sunday. And my living room and kitchen are kind of one big room. I believe they call it an open concept. I love that. Yeah. It’s quite nice. But so I was in the kitchen and things start to kind of go in the Titans direction and you have this like tipped ball interception turn the other way and then they’re in the end zone. So I’m screaming from my kitchen at the TV and then you know the the game keeps going and I’m I’m watching from the kitchen and then the Titans are are going to win this game. They’re lining up for this Joey Slyfield goal and all I could do was sit on the floor and so I just dropped down in the middle in the middle of my kitchen Indian style watching the game. My husband turns around looks at me and goes, “What are you doing?” And I was like, “This this felt like the lucky spot. I don’t know. I just had this is where I had to watch this game.” So, in big moments, I am either sitting or standing on top of furniture. My body says the higher you get, the better the outcome is going to be. I don’t know. I’ve been this way my whole life. I So, like on top of a counter, great choice. On the back of the couch, phenomenal. Standing on the couch, even better. Higher winner win percentage. In this case, I had to get as low as I possibly could. And that was my kitchen floor. And I watched the ball go through the uprights and I just sat there. It was incredible. I was so excited for this team. I was so happy for everyone involved and so just like gobsmacked by what I had just seen. Yes. I mean that was great word for it. It was just wild. And coach Mack called me after the game and he didn’t even say hello. I I pick up the phone and I was like, “Hey, Coach Mack.” and he goes, “I’ve worked 600 NFL games and I’ve never seen anything like that.” He said the same thing on the air. I mean, and that’s that’s pretty powerful, isn’t it? That I mean, a guy that has that experience and that’s what everybody’s reaction was. I have never seen anything like that. We have seen someone drop a football before they get into the end zone. Although, I absolutely think Legious Sneed impacted Demarcado dropping the football before he got in the end zone because of Sneed’s hustle there. Mhm. But we’ve seen that play before, but we haven’t seen that play combined with the play you just described where a deflected ball gets intercepted, then is fumbled in the end zone, and the other the team that threw the interception scores a touchdown. Titans fans will remember when Marcus Mariota threw the pass to himself and then ran it for a touchdown. I knew you were going to mention that play and that was exactly where my brain went. same level of confusion like who even has the football right now? Just how they drew it up. Yeah, Coach Max said just how we’ve been practicing that. Yeah, that exact moment. Yeah. Um my wife was pretty fired up. She went for a walk. She she couldn’t handle anymore, so she was just listening and went for a walk. Did it turn into like a dead sprint? She was pretty Yeah, she was moving pretty quickly, but she she was pretty fired up and got a little emotional and someone stopped and asked her if she was okay. That’s fantastic. Yes, I’m great. It’s just uh we all wanted that one and it was um it was a great feeling and and I think we should keep doing it by the way. I think so, too. And maybe with a little less like flare, a little less pizzazz, maybe maybe just like a straight out win this time. Um I But whatever it takes, you know, a W’s a W and this team is is deserving of it. They put in the work. They put in the um the effort and all of the things that you need to do to get ready for a team for a a game on Sunday. The preparation is there. Yes. The execution is now what is to come and you’re hoping that a win like this gets this team the traction they need to where they don’t feel like they’re spinning in the mud. They’re finally gripping onto something and they can go forward. That’s Yes. And that’s what coach Callahan to your point has been talking about. need a good break to give the team some momentum, give them some confidence, play off your front foot, as they say, instead off off of your back foot and move forward. Now Amy, I’m going to talk to Coach Callahan here in a few minutes, and I’m going to talk to him not only about good breaks, but I’m going to talk to him about the defense and how after the beginning of the game giving up three touchdowns, they give up no points the rest of the game in the last basically three quarters y of football and how hard Dinard Wilson’s unit played. The extraordinary level that Jeff Simmons is playing at right now. It keeps getting better. It’s bananas. So, we’re going to talk about that. love it. We’re also going to talk about how Cam Ward really struggled in the first three quarters, like more than at any point during the season and then he had the best quarter he’s ever had. Yeah. In that final quarter and and how he was able to overcome those struggles to play his best football exactly when the Titans needed it. So, we’re going to get to that. We’re also going to talk about how Calvin Ridley was banged up and we wondered if we would see Calvin Ridley in the game on Sunday. We saw we saw we saw Calvin Ridley over 100 yards receiving in the game and two massive catches to put the Titans in position to win the football game. What else do you want to talk about? I think that’s a great start. I think you should also talk about You’ve got to ask him about how he gets this team prepared. I mean, Coach Callahan is known for some pretty incredible like pregame speeches and night before the game speeches and ways that he gets people pumped up. I’d be interested to hear how he got this team ready for this game. Yeah, we will. We’ll do that. Uh Tony Pard and Taj Spears in the back field. That’s a good one. Wonderful to see those guys. Julius Chestnut also a first down run in the game. So now three-headed monster back there. So we’ll get into that as well. That’ll be fun. Chim DK continues to shine in special teams. Another big kick return this past week. Amazing. Yeah, he like the guy runs like a gazelle. He doesn’t even look like he’s trying that hard. Yeah, it’s amazing to watch him play. A beautiful thing. So, we’re going to get into all that coming up here with Titans head coach Brian Callahan when he joins us. But first, the pinnacle moment of the game. Man, that felt good. Pinnacle Bank, the official bank of your Tennessee Titans. Sign up for Titans Banking exclusively at Pinnacle. Visit titansbanking.com. Member FDIC. Amy, before we let you run, this is um this is a great feeling to to share a win with all of your teammates and and you know that feeling. You’ve been sharing those feelings for over a decade, but this one really felt special just given what the franchise has gone through. This one’s a little bit sweeter. It feels like the uh it feels like the reward for the first kind of quarter of this season because man it was challenging. It was tough and to get to a point now where you feel like okay this can work. Okay, you can take a breath. you know, it felt like everybody has just been holding their breath, waiting for it to happen, and now it’s here, right? So, the hope and the expectation for this team is that this is the momentum to keep going forward and keep doing it again. Let’s stack some wins. Let’s get another one this coming week. Hey, getting a win right in the middle of three back-to-back road games is also really helpful. I mean, how refreshing is that to be on a long flight home that’s actually exciting and guys are celebrating as opposed to just going right back to work. You know, that had to have felt good. It did feel great. And the last thing I wanted to share with you, I did share with this with you off air, but I want to share with all of our listeners now, is that plane flight was awesome. Um, it was rather spirited and festive and celebratory, which was deserved. My favorite part about it was Jiad Ward, one of our great pass rushers. They had a good game yesterday. He went to the front of the plane right after takeoff and he slid. He used the uh safety uh demonstration card. Oh, sure. Yeah. As a sled. Oh, what it’s intended for. Yes. Right. Yes. Sure. And I’m sitting in almost the very back of the plane. He’s sitting in almost the very front. And you know, this is a big plane we’re on. Yeah. Yep. Thanks to our friends at United, by the way. But anyway, we He slides down the aisle from the front of the plane all the way to the back and is high-fiving people. Victory slide. Tighten up. Victory slide. As he’s going by, high-fiving everyone. As he got to me, his sled had broken in half. Well, yeah. And he had to stop and ask me for for my new sled for a new sled. So I had to hand it to him. Yes. And then he continued on for the rest with the rest of his victory slide. But that was rather creative and everyone really appreciated it. I appreciate a victory slide. I think that’s very funny. I also think that he was not wearing his seat belt. Yeah. But that might be the the mom in me. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. You don’t you don’t have your seat belt on. No. No you don’t. No. But I’m I’m so glad. I’m glad that you got to experience that moment. I’m glad that this team got to experience that moment together. And I I just need more victory slides in my future. Let’s go. Let’s get another one against the Las Vegas Raiders. When you bring Helman’s Creamy Buffalo chicken dip to the watch party, you can cheer too loud or block the TV or be a couch coach and no one will eject you from the game. That’s a hail mayo. Helman’s the official mayo of the Tennessee Titans. This summer, SeatGeek has your ticket to the best live concerts in Nashville at Nissan Stadium. SeatGeek makes it easy to catch worldconquering tours and high wattage performances from your favorite artists all summer long. SeatGeek has the best seat, your seat for an unforgettable summer. From rock royalty to rap superstars, R&B to country, find it all on SeatGeek, the official ticketing partner of Nissan Stadium. It’s your summer. Make it count. SeatGeek. Hey Titans fans, with a Kroger Boost membership, you’ll score big with double fuel points, free delivery, and lots more. Go to kroger.com/boost for details. Kroger, the official ger of the Tennessee Titans. Tighten up. He’s the head coach of the Titans. Brian Callahan. I’m Taylor Zarzer. That was fun. Yes, it was. It was uh it was fun to fun to get a win. I think we obviously needed one and and it goes a long way to hopefully building some momentum and some confidence moving forward. You’ve been saying on this show, you’ve been saying to me in passing and practice and meetings, we just need a break. We need a big break. We need something to go our way. It certainly happened on Sunday. It did. And you know, those are those are the that’s those are the breaks in the NFL. You know, sometimes sometimes things don’t don’t go your way or the ball bounces not in your favor and and for the first time what feels like a while, um, you know, the other team made the mistakes to lose the game and we we capitalized. And I think that’s the important part is we found a way to take advantage of somebody else’s problems and mistakes and um, that hadn’t been the case so far this year. We we’ve been the one that’s that’s made the mistake and the key moment that the other team capitalized on. And so to have that flip for us was was really important. But make no mistake, the Tennessee Titans earned this victory. And I we could give countless examples and we’ll go through a lot of it. But even on those two plays that did go the Titans way, that didn’t go the Cardinals way. Legerious Sneeed runs down Demarcado at the goal line, which I certainly believe impacted Dem Marcato dropping the football before he got in the end zone. and then on the deflected interception that’s fumbled. Tyler Lockett, doesn’t quit on the play, continues to play as the ball is fumbled and dives on the ball in the end zone. That to me talks about the culture that you’ve created with this team. Yeah, one of the things that’s non-negotiable for us is is effort and playing at a at a really high high effort level all the time regardless of circumstance. and to have Sneeed in in what was a pretty dire spot uh chase the ball carrier down to the point where I believe it did affect his carriage of the football and it was a game-changing play. Same thing with the interception for the touchdown. Like no, we didn’t force the fumble, but we still, you know, if they recover that, it’s still their ball. And um we we have a thing where we talk about population of the football. It’s offense and defense, especially on turnovers. And when you when you freeze the frame, uh there’s 10 Titans around the football and like four or five Cardinals. And I think that’s the difference is the effort to the football to populate the area and and get on the ball uh was they were huge. They were two huge plays. Home is at the forefront of all we do. It’s why we’re so committed to caring for the places and spaces in which we work and live. Ashley, the official furniture provider of the Tennessee Titans. Genesis is the first and only official jeweler of the Titans, having earned that title since 2006. Titans players, coaches, and fans trust Genesis for the absolute best in selection, quality, customer service, and of course, value. For diamonds, engagement rings, designer fashion jewelry, and the largest selection of luxury pre-owned Rolexes in Tennessee, Genesis is the handsdown winner. Genesis Diamonds in Green Hills and Cool Springs. The official jeweler of the Tennessee Titans. Little Caesars is the official pizza partner of your Tennessee Titans. Download the Little Caesars app and get your favorites delivered today. Delivery fees apply. Now, back to the OTP. They certainly were. Now, coach, what adjustments did Dinard Wilson and the defense make after giving up those three early touchdowns to eliminate the Cardinals from getting into the end zone again? Yeah, really what happened early in the in the first quarter certainly was, you know, a big jump ball down the sideline. Marvin Harrison made an incredible play. We had two guys in position and that was just a that was just a great player making a great play. Um, we got to find a way to get the ball on the ground and out of his hands in that spot when we got two guys draped on him. Um, and then the the touchdown scramble, it’s the third down and and we we we fall out of our rush lane discipline in that particular moment and and give Kyler a free run to the end zone. And then uh we had one misfit run later, but that was on after the turnover. you know, we we hand the ball back to him in minus territory short field. Yeah. On a short field. And so all of a sudden it’s 21 nothing, but really it wasn’t anything egregiously defensively. There was kind of two plays on the perimeter and and one missed rush um that that opened it up for us when when we should have forced him to kick a field goal in that spot. And then um you know, I think they just the details were executed at a higher level, I think. And really from the second quarter on they didn’t score again. And that was really a great effort on their part. and and we played physical. We we won the line of scrimmage. Um you know, we we were tight in coverage. There wasn’t a lot of room for the for the coward to run. Our rush lanes were disciplined. We put a lot of pressure on them, too. I thought Jeffrey obviously played fantastic. But really Draymond and and Ardan and Sebastian and Lynch and those guys, they they helped cage the quarterback. And that’s a what you have to do to him because he’s so dangerous on the move. Plain sliding high-fiver Jiad Ward also played very well. We talked about this in the previous segment. He was high-fiving everyone down the aisle. Man, let me tell you, he had four pressures in the game, too. So, he got to give him a shot and and I’m I’m sorry to him for missing his name there. But he’s played really good for us and especially as a guy we added late in the process. And uh there’s no better way to describe Hottie to me than than uh he’s a glue guy, man. Like, yeah, he’s just he’s got a great way about him. He loves football. He’s always smiling on the field. He’s always walking around a building with a good good energy. And uh I love that about him and I’m really happy we have him. And Jeffrey Simmons can’t be blocked right now. I mean, at least through the first five games of the season. He’s playing as good as any defensive player in football in my opinion. And um he sets the tone for our team both in a in a effort and energy standpoint, from a leadership standpoint. I mean, Jeffrey Simmons is uh he is what you want your football team to look and play like and and he sets the standard and lives up to it every day. You’ve talked about his maturity level. He’s a captain of your team. Certainly the guy’s care, his leadership is high. How much do you think it’s how he’s changed his body physically to play the best football of his life? Well, you know, a lot got made of him not being in the offseason program, but I think that that was good for him. It was a chance for him to reflect and and get away and get some space away from, you know, the season and and what’s been a trying couple of years for him from the win loss perspective. And uh really focused on getting all of himself right, not just the body weight, but his perspective, his leadership, the work that he’s put into the leadership. And I say it all the time and it’s hard for me to like describe why I’m so proud of that, but um he just put a lot of work into himself and and I think it’s showing up on the football field. And I think it’s a great example for younger players that if you do all the things right, you take care of uh your mental your mental, your spiritual, your physical, all those things contribute to you being able to go perform on Sunday. And um on top of that, he’s he’s supremely talented. But if you do all those things along with being supremely talented, you you can be a a high impact player, which he’s been for us so far. and he’s been a big brother. I love the relationship between Cam Ward and and Jeffrey Simmons. It’s very funny to watch that. Um and I I know there was some big brother love going on with Cam on Sunday, not just from Jeff Simmons, but from you, from from everyone around Cam. How were we able to find Cam’s best football in the fourth quarter? You know, there was, I think, a moment at halftime where um you know, he hadn’t played particularly well in the first half. He didn’t complete the ball the way he needed to. um and and we had a conversation with him and just said you just need to put your eyes where they’re supposed to be and let the ball go and and you don’t need to do anything other than that. And I think that’s what he did in the second half. He sort of settled in the rhythm of what’s what’s being asked of him. And then um guys made plays. You know, we had a couple drops in the first half, too, on some third downs that, you know, ELC had one that would have been a conversion to keep the drive alive and would have would have maybe held this maybe had a couple more plays and felt better about the first half. But, um, you how you finish in this league is really what defines quarterbacks and and how you play in the fourth quarter is what what makes the quarterbacks in this league separate the the good from the great. And what we saw in that fourth quarter was why we drafted Cam number one overall is he’s got the ability to make gamechanging style plays and put the ball in in accurate spots and and not flinch in the moment. And he was fantastic when what he needed to be is, you know, as the old adage goes is be at your best when your best is required and and it was and he was. Cam to Calvin is one of my favorite things to say on the radio and Calvin Ridley had the best game of his season so far and that says a lot because there I know you were wondering at times last week what if anything could you get out of Calvin after he had a hard fall against the Houston Texans and you got his best. Yeah, he he fought through some some real some real stuff there over the course of the week. Didn’t practice a lot. Um wasn’t sure where he’d be on game day but his his mindset on game day was fantastic. Um, we found some spots for him to do what he does best, which is run away from people. Um, and Cam put some accurate balls out there. We protected well enough to allow us to get the ball down the field, which is something that’s been a little bit of a struggle through the first couple weeks. Um, but but Rid was was everything that we need him to be. And if we want to win football games, that’s what we need from him. Um, our our our best players uh played well in this game and that’s that’s how you win in this league. Your best players have to play well. the Jeffrey Simmons and the Tony Pards and Cam and Ca and and Calvin and Legarerius. Those guys got to those have to be the guys we’re talking about every Monday uh to win games and and they all showed up for us in a big way. How much time do you spend on a win? Not much. Not much. I I I generally like wins. Wins on the road are fun because you get to enjoy the flight home and um you come into the office and and you you point out the good things, but I think the point for us today is just you got to be equally as critical in a win as you are on a loss and you can’t pretend like there’s not things that have to get fixed and we have to play better. U and you have to take that consistent mindset that really wins and losses shouldn’t feel any different when it comes to reviewing the film and trying to coach it and get better. Um and so by the time I probably finish with you here, I’ll be moved on to to the Raiders and let’s do it now. Yeah, let’s let’s do that right now. Um, another another trip out west this time to play. The Las Vegas Raiders are coming off a big loss to Indianapolis. 40 to6 the final there. First year head coach Pete Carroll, one of the greatest really at the collegiate and professional level. New quarterback, new running back. Lot of new going on in Vegas right now. Yeah, I think they they’ve put together some good football stretches and they’ve had some moments that have been challenging for them. Um, they got some really good young players. They got Max Crosby who’s one of the, you know, gamechanging style players on defense. Gino Smith’s been a good player in this league. He can get hot and when he’s hot, watch out. Um, we’ve all seen that. Uh, and then they they’ve got a good football team that’s been competitive in most of the games they’ve played and it’s a good matchup for us. You know, it’s a team that I think is is probably in a similar boat to us. They’re trying to fight their way out of a hole um that they put themselves in and um we got to have the same tenacity we had in that fourth quarter from the start of the game and and try to go get ourselves a win and try to get two in a row for the first time in what feels like maybe forever. U certainly not been able to get two in a row under my time here and I know it’s been a while since we’ve we’ve stacked two wins in a row and I think that’s an important step for us is to be able to try and go get two wins in a row. That’s what you said to your team in the locker room. Let’s stack them. Uh and I know that is critical to the growth of the team. All right, two more things I needed to talk to you about before we let you go. One is everybody is asking me what are some things that you didn’t expect Taylor about doing this job. So I’m going to go in reverse order. Number three just how much health matters to every football team. And I mean the whole league is dealing with this right now and just how being available it is such a massive impact on winning and loss. That’s number three. Number two, the eating like it I’m not playing in the game. I don’t need 5,000 calories. Yeah. But flying out on the plane and flying back, I mean, you have like four meals each way. There’s some discipline involved for those of those of us that don’t burn don’t burn calories the way elite athletes do. And I’m, you know, I got to work real hard at that. That’s there’s there’s a lot. So do I. There’s a lot of food to be had if you want it. And uh sometimes you just got to say no thanks. I had to tell our wonderful flight attendants, do not come by here again. I mean, yeah. And number one, this is the thing that I’ve learned the most. It this is personal to all of us. I knew it would be personal to you. Yeah. And to the players, but it’s it’s personal to everyone that works for the Tennessee Titans. I mean, you really feel this as the entirety of a team. Yeah. That’s that’s what makes this the sport so great. That’s what makes working in the NFL what it is because there’s so many people that are tied uh to your to your success and to your failure. And um and everyone’s trying to do their best to to help you win. And that that’s from that’s from John the janitor downstairs to to you to uh to Burke to any anybody who’s involved in the organization um has a has a has a connection to it and and that’s what makes it so fun. That’s what’s enjoyable about sports and professional sports in particular is that there’s there’s so many people invested in the process and everyone has really important roles in it and um they all want to feel and and see success. Yes, they do. Okay, last thing we’re going to do is we’re going to break some news here on the Brian Callahan show. Breaking news. Yes. Um, you have a guy that’s gotten close to the team that you’ve brought into the team named Primo that I want to talk about. He is a major for the Air Force’s elite known as the Thunderbirds and he flies one of six F-16 aircraft in tight formation. By the way, he was the number three, the right wing in that formation, which is like the coveted thing. And then ironically he was the slot uh last year the number four in that formation. Again his his nickname is call sign is Primo. His real name is Jake Impilazeri. It’s a lot more fun to just say Primo. It’s a great call sign. Can you tell us how Primo has connected the team and how you surprised them with Primo this weekend? I can and bear with me. I’ll try to be brief but um I watched a documentary on Netflix about the Thunderbirds and it’s it’s phenomenal. I got like a little bit of a weird obsession and fascination with fighter pilots. Maybe it’s because like I always kind of wanted to be one, but I didn’t I didn’t go that route. I almost went to the Air Force Academy, but I chose to go play football at UCLA instead. And and great choice, but there’s just something about I mean, it’s still in the back of my mind’s like I man, those guys are sweet, you know, like that’s what a cool job that is to go fly planes. And so I I watched this documentary more just because I like the, you know, the pilots and the flying and all that stuff. And then as I’m watching it, I’m like, this is unbelievable parallels to team building in football. Unbelievable. Like the training season, the certification, the precision, the trust, the all the things that you preach to build a team. It was just really cool to see a whole another world do a lot of the same types of things that we do. Um, so just it offered a different medium to sort of reinforce some messaging. And so I started showing uh clips from this documentary kind of interspersed throughout training camp. and um you know probably five or six different times used different pieces and what happened is is the the primo becomes sort of this the the focal point and one of their maneuvers he’s trying to get down he’s really having a hard time getting it down and I think during training camp the guys really uh it it connected with them about they they saw something of themselves in him and and look these guys are elite I mean they’re the elite fighter pilots in the Air Force and they’re they’re they’re the best of the best at their s and there’s something that those guys connected with and there’s a respect there that they saw but they also saw him struggling and so it became like a little bit of a running gig about talking about Primo getting cut and so because you know in training camp you’re not performing you get cut and they started to really enjoy it and they they sort of like found this like weird connection to Primo and I played the the last kind of culmination of like the message like I like to use stuff and and kind of thematically hit it over the course of weeks, right? where maybe one week I do part of it and then another part. I sort of keep following up on it and I I followed up the last part of the documentary where they pass the certification and they they they knock it out of the park. And I did that before the the Rams game as as like this kind of final like you got to put it all together and you know here he did get it. You know what I mean? He got he got it figured out. Um and for some reason a bunch of the guys were kind of like they thought Primo would be there. I don’t know. I don’t know why they thought that. Um, but they’re kind of like, man, we just we swore like at the end of that like Primo is just gonna come out. Yeah. And I was like, well, maybe we’ve maybe we’ve been working on that. We we had actually been working on that. Um because we knew we were going to Vegas and Nellis Air Force Base is in Vegas where the Thunderbirds are located. And we called them first and then um Tom Jones, my my assistant, he reached out to Primo personally on Instagram and just said, “Look, man, you’re you’re kind of a a fan favorite here.” And we’re going to be out in Vegas. And he goes, “Hey, look, I’m not in Vegas currently. I’m I’m flying with the reserves and I’m flying learn how to fly F-35s in Phoenix. And so we’re like, well, great. We’re coming there. We’re coming there a week before. So, uh, how would you like to come by and and maybe just say some words to the team? And him and Thunder, one of the other guys who’s also the instructor at the F35s out there in Phoenix. They both came by. So, I had him come Saturday night. Primo addressed the team and and they were they were super shocked. I I played a little bit video and then I I said, “Look, I I’m probably not the one to continue to talk about this. I’d like to have some guys that have actually lived it. And I brought them both up and the guys were like like standing ovation. I mean, it’s wild. Um, and he gave a great talk about his experiences with the Thunderbirds and and what blind trust means and what what precision means and all these things that we’ve been preaching and talking about and just and they were they were like in in like full rapture. Like they they he had their full attention for the entire time. Um, and then after the game, we’re walking off the field. I told Benny, our director of security, I was like, “Go find those guys now.” And um they they happened to be like right there and he grabbed and brought them in the locker room and uh it was unlike anything I’ve probably ever seen in my career. Uh their celebration and their excitement to have Primo in the locker room. I can’t wait. Picked him up on the show. Wait till you guys see this footage, man. It’s It’s absolutely unbelievable. Um and you know what? He’s a phenomenal phenomenal guy. He’s got great perspective. He’s an elite fighter pilot. But they just our guys just I don’t know how to explain it, but they love them and it was it was unbelievable. It’s it’s great. It’s great footage and it’s it was a really cool moment for us. I I think I can try. They love you. That that’s they love you and that’s why they love him and anyone that works here loves you. You’ve made you’ve No, seriously. You’ve made a connection with everyone you work with and people play hard for you. They play hard for each other, but they play hard for you. And I think that’s why they were so excited is because you put this into their lives and it was it was a moment to celebrate with each other. So congratulations to you. Well done with Primo. I can’t wait for everybody to see that. Yeah, you guys are going to love that. And let’s uh let’s keep celebrating in locker rooms. Yeah, it’s way it’s uh you know, as they as the old uh as uh new cluchi says in old Durham, you know, there we go. I like I like winning. It’s a whole lot better than losing. Yes, it is. I love that you just gave Nuke a shout out. Well done. Thank you, Cali. Appreciate you, man. For Brian Callahan, I’m Taylor Zarser. This has been the OTP. [Music]

Titans Radio Amie Wells and Taylor Zarzour discuss the Titans Week 5 Win in Arizona. Plus TZ sits down with Head Coach Brian Callahan to look ahead as to the two-toned blue head back out west.

00:00-14:13 – Amie and TZ recap the Win
15:21-17:40 – Callahan joins the OTP
18:39-25:23 – Defensive Performance
25:24-28:17 – Vegas Look Ahead
28:18-34:14 – Primo/Wrap up Show

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