You were a big part of Elijah Molden’s onboarding process in 2024. What are you looking forward to about working with him again?
“I don’t think I pulled anything out of him, I was just alongside of him. His mindset, he wants to be great but he does it in a different way than Derwin. He’s super cerebral, he wants to know the how, the why, he wants to know everything. So, I try to just tailor the way I interact with those guys and teach those guys to what they need and want. For him, it just took explaining everything. You have to give him a reason and explain why we’re doing it. Once he knows that, it’s full steam ahead. I was available but he did the work. I just gave him the pieces and tried to explain the whys and the hows. I love working with him.”
What do you remember about your early interactions with Jesse Minter at Indiana State?
“Rick [Minter] was there as well, so Jesse and Rick were both there at Indiana State. We’d joke about it a lot because I coached with them at Georgia State, Florida Tech, here … they always joked they knew I was going to be a coach when I would talk back to them in scout team when I’d throw a couple touchdowns or whatever. I’d be talking trash to Rick and Jesse. That’s kind of where they saw the competitive fire. That’s my memories of that. I knew they were great defensive coaches and knew they had the competitive insanity that I have, so we kind of really grew a relationship.”
You were a scout team quarterback?
“Oh, yeah. Scout team quarterback for a season and then had some shoulder complications and switched to receiver. Had a lot more success at receiver in college.”
What did you learn about your first coaching job as a graduate assistant in 2015 at Georgia State?
“Incredible growth. Fell in love with defense there. The first job I got was defensive line GA. I didn’t know anything about defensive line. I walked in and every day was a struggle. You talk about stripping away ego, being humble, trying to find a way to add value to a room where you have no idea what’s going on. That was my start as a coach. Through that season, the next season going to defensive backs, I learned competitiveness, passion, energy, violence within the white lines. Those things are what I love in football and embody who I am. That’s really where my love for defense grew and the start of my career.”
What’s your relationship like with Coach Harbaugh?
“Great. Competitor. He always says, ‘Competitors, welcome.’ The first day I walked into Western, I said the same thing. When you find guys that love football, that are competitive and are good people, the sky is the limit.”
You are close with Jesse, but how will you make the defense your own?
“The exciting thing is that I’ve had a year to do that, right? We hired a young staff out there so it really became, ‘How do we want to do this? And how do I want to do this? And what’s the vision?’ I think the biggest thing is, as I said earlier, I have to be the vison and I have to be the standard. Every day I walk into the building, people look to me for leadership, guidance, what’s our plan, how are we going to win? As you do that, your personality and what you believe starts to come out. For me, it’s just a day-by-day process. I don’t have a big long answer to that, but we’re going to be the best versions of ourselves every day. We’re going to tailor things to our personnel. And slowly but surely, that will evolve and look different over time. But that’s the starting point.”
What did you learn about your leadership style last year?
“Constant demand is the main thing that I learned. Every team is different, the personnel is different. What works for certain teams doesn’t work for other teams, so you’re always evolving. Two phrases we use a lot in the staff room are ‘Always evolve’ and ‘Constant demand.’ Our culture, our expectation, how we teach our separators, our scheme, everything … every day we have to set the standard and demand that from our players. Then we get into games, it’s like pressing play and is like autopilot at that point. As a leader, it’s doing those things and creating genuine relationships — love, care — I’m invested in the guys in this building and I think they’ll see that on a day-to-day basis.”
Who excited you from the Chargers defense in 2025?
“I think there’s a lot of really good personnel. Oweh flashed … there’s certain guys on this defense that have really interesting skillsets. I think Elijah, Derwin, Cam, Khalil … all those guys are still playing at really high levels. Daiyan. I just think there’s a lot of pieces we’re really going to be able to work with and develop their game. When I watched them, I had a similar feel to when I was here. It’s kind of the same guys just doing what they do.”
Did you call Oweh and Mack and tell them to come back?
“I haven’t gotten that far yet [laughs].”
Did you bring the separators to Western Michigan?
“100 percent. We tailored some things so it became a little bit more concise. I wanted the players to be able to spit it back to me and our coaches. Like, if you can reverberate it and spit it back to us and say it in the moment, it’s going to show up even faster and better in games. There’s some things we’ll do to streamline it and be on the cutting edge of that, but 100 percent. It’s fundamental defensive football. Wherever you go, that’s Step 1 of creating an elite defense.”
How big was chance to call plays at Western Michigan as reason why you took that job?
“I really wouldn’t say it was a big reason. It didn’t really cross my mind. I don’t really think like that. I try to be the best at where I am and try to be the best at my job and pour into people. Then as you get to the end of a season, certain things happen and they lead you to your next year or your next stop. For me, there were a set of things that happened and that’s where it took me.”
Which players did you hear from last week?
“Who do you think? [smiles]. Tony, Derwin … I think Derwin called me as I was taking the job. It was fast. All of those guys, just to hear their excitement and know I feel the same way, made it special.”