 Yeah, coach, did Desmond be enough, do enough to be designated as the quarterback of the future for the Atlanta Falcons? Well, D-Lad, we're still early in the offseason, but we're certainly encouraged by his progress he made. But there's a lot of work ahead of us before we're ready to declare anything like that right now. And for you, Terry, could you walk us through some of the processes of as we turn to the offseason now, what's next? Scott and Meet and Start free agency evaluations, both games, and you are coaching anyone now against two. Yeah, we're right in the heart of everything. And the Scotton Department does a really good job. We've already had some college meetings in December. The pro staff has been in pro meetings for the last couple of weeks. And so we're right in the heart of that. Now as we wrap up the season, the first thing we do is we look in the mirror, and we're going to look at every aspect of the program and assess every detail, take a deep dive, and look at the things that went well, the things we want to continue to build on, and where are the areas that we need to improve. So we'll take our time, and we'll first self-scout and self-assess, and then we'll move forward. Just to follow up for coach and your defensive coordinator search, could you describe how you want to approach that? Yeah, obviously, we'll miss Dean, and I'm glad I got to talk to everybody on Monday. That was important. And so we've cast a really wide net de-led, and we're going to take our time, which I think is important. Certainly, there's things that, you know, familiarity with certain schemes that you want to talk to, but we're not going to be closed-minded about anything. So I think it's important. I like the setup now they have with, I think it helps, where you don't feel rushed, I think, in years past. If you're in this situation, you may feel a little rushed. I think things have seemed to slow down. So we'll be very mindful of that. I want to talk to a lot of people I've already have. Talk to a few so far, but we'll take our time. You said that you've been encouraged for the way too early in the process. How much of the process in deciding whether or not Desmond's your guy going forward is, well, maybe you do in review versus outside factors, whether it's a quarterback you guys following up with in the draft versus somebody who's maybe available in the agency or not. I mean, under what are you guys? Right, Mike, I mean, I think you kind of just answered it. There's a lot of things. Terry just described, you know, where the off season, where you are, you know, a couple of days from the season just ended. And like I said, we were very encouraged, but there's a lot of things that could change. There's things, it's healthy to take a step back. Like even not even just a couple of days after, Mike, you know, as we, you know, a couple of weeks as you go back and you go through your cut-ups and you watch the games again, you watch the throws and conversations that Terry and I will have. And, you know, it just doesn't make a lot of sense right now. Two days to move from the season to make any decoration about the roster, this guy's future. We just, we'll take our time. I mean, we obviously had conversations, but there's a lot of work to be done until then. In terms of when you brought Dean in two years ago, I mean, 70th time, 71, I can't imagine it was the, you know, he's going to be here a decade solution. Like what? Charlie Munger is still going pretty good, right? So, and he's pretty, he's a lot younger than Charlie, but. I mean, I guess my point from my question is, when you brought him in, like what was the thought process just have him or help him, have him have established a culture and then you'd figure it out from there. Well, he was on a, I mean, I told you, I mean, he was on a three-year deal, you know, obviously with Dean, you know, working with Tennessee and the joke about nobody ever really retires, but that was a big deal when we talked out and getting here. And so again, circumstances change. You're talking about right now, you're trying to ask questions when, who knows what the future holds, but clearly, you know, the incident in New Orleans certainly changed your perspective among other things. And so you'll always have contingency plans and know there's a possibility, but Dean gave us everything he had and, you know, he signed a three-year deal on it. So initially, you know, that was the plan, but knowing that it could change and then something unforeseen happened and perspective changes and I'm happy for Dean and always, always grateful for what he did, especially when you're coming in as a first-time head coach and the wisdom and, you know, the job, he knew it was gonna be much different than any other job he's taken in the NFL and, gosh, I mean that the way he cares about our players and everybody works hard in his profession, but the way he cares is different. With that, when it comes to the scheme, maybe this is a dark one, so maybe if you can tear it out, you guys figure out who takes beef and cancer, but with the way you guys have built this over the last two years, do you feel like what you feel can fit either a four-three or three-four front, or did you kind of have to look at it and say the preference is... Mike, I think you're looking at it. You can say you're a three-four, but you gotta think of how many different front variations there are in a lot of the game when you're playing spread out in an 11, whether you're a true four-three or three-four, you're in a lot of four-down fronts. So whether you have the hybrid guys that we do or outside linebackers that are essentially defensive ends with four-down fronts, you know, that kind of, I think it's overstated sometimes. You know, structurally, it's really about being flexible. And there's a lot of guys and there's a lot of great schemes in this league, but this will, you know, Terry can certainly share his opinion on it, but when you are building the kind of hybrid model, like you're not looking for an overall, we've been building something here and you look at something like Baltimore's a great example. They've had a lot of success with that scheme. Everybody's had their own, clearly, they've had a lot of different coordinators, a lot of success, and they've tweaked different things of it and made it their own, but the way they've drafted and they built it, that vision to be able to play multiple and to have guys that are really versatile, that won't change, regardless of who the play caller is. So that foundation has been built. Now, it'll be refreshing to go in there and as we get to more formal interviews and hear other people's perspectives and learn a lot about people and will hire the best candidate, but the way we've built that won't change, Mike. And then Terry can certainly- Yeah, we've had a lot of conversations even while Dean was here, the author knows what he wants on defense. The author doesn't, as a head coach, as a play caller, he doesn't just stay on one side of the building and just focus on the offense. He's involved in every phase, special teams, defense, offense, so he's involved in every area. And so he knows what he's always known as what structure he wants, what types he knows would affect him as a play caller and what you struggle with, so he knows what he wants it to look like. And him and Dean obviously conversated a lot and him and the defensive coaches, so it's not like now we're bringing in a new visionary of the defense and he's gonna have a whole different, you know, author really knows what he's looking for and he'll be strategic in that. When we signed, when we draft players, we weren't prisoners in the moment and they're not gonna fit. We're drafting players that can be multiple and can fit what we're looking for. And that's what I brought up multiple because that's the most relatable example of a place that's had sustained success with a lot of different play callers and the way they've drafted and built that. And that's probably the most relatable I can give you to kind of paint that picture. Dean, you know, you've been said it last week, but he has so much experience. Sure. This part about, do you want someone who has maybe the experience either as a head coach or has been around for so long but because you, Dave, Marquise, are all kind of in the same age. Big on age discrimination. Well, and I'm saying more. Not to put you on the spot. But I'm just saying more from an experienced standpoint, is that something that you value? We're not gonna let, you know, we're in a different spot. I mean, obviously, I was thankful, you know, Dean and the experience, but we're not gonna limit that whether somebody's in their 20s, you know, 70s, 80s, 90s, 60s, I mean, whatever, Mike. But we'll hire the best guy, but we're in a different frame of mind than where we were with the program coming in year one. When you look at it from 10,000 foot view of the last few years and where you guys are this off season, when you look at the last two years, the moves that y'all made, does it really feel like those moves have gotten y'all to this point in being able to have the money that you do have to spend this off season? Yeah, yeah, I appreciate the question. And it is, it's, we're in the next phase of the plan. So we had a plan from the very beginning and now we're in the next phase of that. And this is gonna be a different off season than we had the previous years. And yet we're still gonna be smart and we're still gonna handle things the right way. We're still gonna set parameters and have discipline with everything we do. And yet it's gonna be a different off season than it was. And yes, decisions we made before, we knew exactly what we're stepping into. We knew what the challenge was. And we knew, okay, early on in year one, we were gonna have a lot of young players, but we have to sign some veterans that because we wanna establish the culture and we wanna establish our identity and we wanna make sure we're setting a foundation in the right way. So we had some veterans on one year deals, kinda much like Dean, Dean was here two years and yet Dean laid a foundation that's gonna continue to pay dividends moving forward. And when we, this team is getting to where it needs to be, Dean was a part of that. We have some players that were here just one year that are a part of setting that foundation. So we had a plan in year one, we come into year two, a much different team, a much younger team, a different core on this team. And that's the tough part about it. When you sit on Monday after the season, once the season ends, you know it's gonna be a different team. And that's the nature of the business. There're gonna be a lot of different players. And yet those players that were here, they're a part of setting that foundation. So yes, we made decisions. We always wanna be as competitive as possible. Last year, this year, we wanna be as competitive as possible. And yet we wanted to make sure we're making the right decisions. And now the phase that we're in, it's gonna be a different off season. That end of foundation and having foundational pieces, how do you weigh when you're looking at these next few months and getting closer and closer to the start of the year, how much do you weigh kind of re-signing guys like Chris Lindstrom and going out and finding other guys to fill in? How are you weighing that in terms of the money that you do have available? Yes, I think what's really important. One thing that we have here is we have a very strong culture. And you guys know because you see practice, you're around the building, you see the players. So you know the culture we have here. And on Sundays, you look at the way every game, the way the guys fought and competed for the entire game, but it's the same thing. And it's a credit to coach and the staff and the players and the leadership that we have a really strong culture and a strong foundation here, the way they attack everything, the meetings, the practices, the weight room, everything. And so we have to make sure we always prioritize that. And that's critical, whether we're looking at players, because we're gonna go through an assessment of every player on the roster, whether they're under contract or not under contract. And it's gonna always start with the makeup. It's gonna start with the character, personal character, football character, what's their fit, what's our trust level of them in the building, outside the building. It's gonna always start with the culture. It's gonna start with their character. And that's the same outside the building. And we have to be smart about that. We have to, we can't bring players in that are gonna take away from that. We have to always make sure that we're prioritizing that. So when you talk about a guy like Chris, and obviously we're not gonna talk about contracts in here, we're not gonna negotiate in the media. But man, Chris, you talk about winning championships on and off the field. And obviously he was the Walter Payton Man of the year for us and got to see his family and spend some time with them at that event. And it's really cool when you look at a guy that the person that he is outside the building, the person he is in the building, with this offensive line did, he was a big part of that. And you look at our team captains, him and Chris and Jake and Grady and AJ, those are all guys, they're the same. They win championships on and off the field. So that culture piece is important. So we do have to handle that the right way and we can't bring players in that don't fit that. Just to kind of follow up on that topic is that y'all signed a bunch of guys on those one year kind of a prove it deals. And some of those guys went out there and proved it. And there's been, y'all have talked about wanting to take care of your own. Even though those guys have only been there for one year, did they fall under that umbrella? Yeah, there's absolutely, we're gonna go through that process. And you know, the tough thing, Scott, sometimes is, we do have, just because we have more resources this all season, we still have to have discipline. We still have to set parameters. We're trying to put together a puzzle. And so it's not, sometimes what's best for an individual player isn't what's best for the team. So in some of those cases, sometimes players won't end up back here. It kind of depends on what the market dictates. We have to make sure we're looking at the total picture. But there were a lot of guys that came here and did some really good things. And yes, you always wanna, we always start here. We start with our team. And you really wanna bring back as many guys as you can if it works out, because they're guys in our building, because it is hard when guys are outside the building, you wanna lean on overlaps. And if you have connections, some type of way, because it's more risky in free agency when you're bringing players from outside the building, when you have a strong culture like we have. So we wanna make sure we really look hard at our players. Do you feel like your young foundation has gotten bigger over the course of the year? And do you feel like your shopping list maybe has gotten smaller because of some of the players who have emerged over the course of the year? Well, I feel like honestly, there's not a position in every phase at every position. We wanna add whether we're at in top 10 talent, whether we're at in depth. We wanna add, because that's the culture we build. It's about development and competition. And so we know we need to add competition in every area. And even the players on this roster, whether it's a young player, because we do have, we have one of the younger teams in the NFL, not just first or second year players, but players that are on their first contract, just coming off their first contract. We do have a young core, but they have to take another step this off season because we are gonna continue to work hard to build this program. So everyone has to look at this off season and take on that challenge, which I know they will because we have the right mindset in the building, but we do wanna continue to grow in every area. And every player has to look at it like that because we do, there's not a position that you can look at on the roster that you say, okay, we're all set. We don't need to add there. We need to add to every position. Marcus Moro has the status of the team. Well, he was here Monday, like all our players, he's ex-physical. So we'll assess the, obviously we have up until the lead year, there'll be conversations. And so there's nothing to update now. It's like with a lot of our guys that are under a contract, decisions have to be made, but nothing's been made right now. You talked about coming into the season, about there were a few positions that were kind of up for grabs, or there were positions that were gonna be competed for on the offensive line. Coming into the season, do you feel like that number has dwindled as far as positions being up for grabs? I've been waiting all year for you to come back. I guess you waited until the end of the year. They must have been playing different. I haven't seen you. You doing all right? You all right? Hey, you look good. You doing all right though? No, I thought those guys played well, but to Terry's point, nothing ever stays the same whether you want it to or not, but I think there was a lot of strides made in that room, which was what I was talking about during camp. So it's one thing to say it, but it's one thing, the results hopefully proved that. What the certainly drew at the center spot. We did a lot of our left guards, and they all contributed between Elijah and Colby and Henny and Chuma, Chuma played a game there. So, and that's a credit too to the stability of that room and Jake and Drew, your mix and matching. So who knows what the future holds? I thought certainly guys improved a lot. I think there's a huge, you know, every year in the NFL, but till about year one or year two jump to year three. And then you certainly saw it with Chris in year four and Caleb. So pleased, you know, some decisions you still gotta make, but the progress there was real. And you saw it weekend and week out. Terry, I was gonna ask about you. You talked about moving into the next phase. You always talked about how best player available is always been your kind of draft strategy. Do you feel like that maybe changed some because just from a mindset standpoint, when it comes to evaluating talent, being that you are moving into another phase, do you get their flexibility there? Well, no, it really doesn't change and I understand what you're asking. If you have this specific, you feel like you really need something here, where I think sometimes where that gets, if you look at the draft and you look at free agents, they're kind of similar in ways, right? So you have every position and some positions are stronger and some positions are thinner. Some positions are top heavy and don't have depth. So in the draft, when we talk about best player available, that doesn't mean if we really need a position and we see a guy, that doesn't mean we're gonna go up and get them just like we did. We traded up and got AK in the second round because we saw him there. Now we wouldn't have gotten in trouble if we wait and then we just gonna take the best pass rusher as opposed to that's where we don't wanna reach. It's the same in free agency. You look at free agency, there's some really strong positions and there's gonna be some thin positions. So what we can't do in free agency is feel like we have to have this particular position and then we're gonna go and overpay a player at a thin position. We need to improve the total roster and so that's why when we talk about best player available and taking the best players, it's the same thing in free agency. We need to bring in good football players that fit the characteristics that we're looking for, fit the makeup we're looking for and it's a complimentary game. So if we improve the team, then we're gonna be better overall. So we don't wanna reach in the draft much like we don't wanna reach in free agency. Do you feel like that with, just for example, Caleb McGarry going to free agency and do you feel like you have to use that same mindset even though you wanna take care of your own social space? Well, look we talked about and again, we're not gonna negotiate in the media like we said, but Caleb did some really good things this year and he was a part of setting that foundation. We talk about the offensive line and you can go put on any game and the way they established the line of scrimmage, the way we ran the football, that tough mindset. Caleb was a part of that and yet we wanna make sure that hey, it'd be great if you can always have the same players and keep a cohesive unit together but that's just not how it works sometimes. Sometimes there are different parts but we wanna continue to have that identity on our offensive line and have that tough mindset. So Caleb did some really good things but that's the business part of it that we're not gonna, that those will be direct conversations with him and his representation, we're not gonna do that here. Why did you do it next year? You know what's gonna happen different types of defensive staff? Do you anticipate or have you made any other stuff? Nothing to announce right now, I'm like, you know, there'll be natural evolution that happens even with the coaching staff and certainly as we get through interviewing defensive coordinators and, you know, there'll be guys that are some already that will have slips turned in, I'm sure and, you know, if there's opportunities. So like I said, I think in years past, I think the league's done a good job of slowing things down even the way you go about the interview process with the coordinators I think is good for everybody. So it's hard on Wednesday. I think, you know, certainly, and it's good to have people want guys off your staff too. So, you know, there could be, hopefully it's a good reason if we can't provide that promotion for somebody, if they, you know, get an opportunity somewhere else, good thing, but there will naturally be changes defensively and a big part of that is the coordinator. And some of the edge rushers this year, I mean, that was an area where you guys overhauled in the offseason and then production, at least sack wise, was not, still not probably where you guys like it. What do you need to do to filter that? I realize defensive coordinator could change all of that. Well, some of it's not just edge, Mike. Again, it's like when I hear the best player available, I mean, it's always taken with a grain of salt. Like, you know, if you already have like two really good left tackles, nobody's drafting a third left tackle because they're the best player available. So the same, you know, when you look at things like that, sometimes you look at, just because you guys are young. I mean, you see guys in this league that are taken and you know, Tampa with Tryon, I mean, what he looked like a year ago to what he looked like this year, that's what you're talking about development. Just because something happened year one, like Richie Grant and then Richie, year two. So there's a lot of that when you, it was a lot younger group on the outside. Sack number sometimes it's not just edge. There's guys inside that can affect it. There's certain linebackers and certain third down schemes that may be really good rushers that that's another accountable. So there's a lot of ways clearly we want more and we know that's an area of improvement. It's not just because we took two young edge guys that it was magically, you had Lawrence Taylor year one. So there's a lot of things that we build strategically and other pieces that you add along with it and the development of these young guys. That's how to me we need to take another step but there's a lot of moving parts to it. I was about to say you look at some early season we had some critical sacks that ended games and it was a player sitting on a route and the quarterback had to hold the ball a tick long and then it gave him a little more time to get there like coaches saying, we need to improve the total team. Yes, edge rushers, it's always a premium position. We have some players that we're excited about that need to take the next step and we believe they will. But we're always gonna prioritize that position and yet when you improve, if you have a stout defensive tackle that stops the run on first and second down then you get more pass rush opportunities. When you have the secondary, the tight coverage you're forcing the quarterback to hold the ball longer when you're playing with leads. And so offensively you're playing with leads and you get more, the guys can pin their ears back. So it's a complimentary game. So you're not just gonna add one player at a certain position and then all of a sudden the sack numbers go up. It's about improving the total team. Talk to you guys at the start of the season. Right. How do you feel like this year went? Yeah, it's, look, we sit here and we're seven and 10. Every time we lose a game, we hate losing. We're all competitors and we hate losing but what we appreciate is the resilience of this team and the way they fought and competed every single game and the way they competed in practice and the way they continue. We have a really resilient team. It hurts whenever you lose. You hate it for the staff. You hate it for the players. You hate it for the fans. We have a really passionate fan base. We appreciate them all the way down to the last game against Tampa, the energy in the building, all those things. And so you hate losing any games. We're competitors but what we really believe in we believe in the direction of this program. And we're very excited about the culture that we've instilled on competitiveness and development. We're very excited about the identity of this team. And so we really believe that we're moving in the right direction and we're excited about going into this off-season and getting better. Arthur, if I could follow up on what you said about taking your time on the defensive coordinator situation. Is that, I don't know if you can talk about East-West game if that's been officially announced but how does that, how does that, that actually announce? It's just the rumor mill. Look at what you're doing now. If you were to have a staff in a, Hypothetically. Hypothetically. Hypothetically. How would you approach that? So what they've done, at least done a good job of if you are one of those staffs that coaches in there they want it to be about development. So, you know, it's a lot of the younger guys getting opportunities and bigger roles is kind of the format that whatever teams are going down there to coach it. That's kind of the model which I think is good. There are very few opportunities to get real experience into them of development. We try, there's a lot of things that we'll continue to work on behind the scenes here with our program but it could be a unique opportunity if we were one of those teams to be, I mean we have to do it. Allegedly. Teri, allegedly how does that affect your senior bowl schedule, do you still plan to be in Mobile? So, we'll find the right balance because obviously there's going to be good players at every game so we want to make sure what we usually do is you'll have a group of scouts that go to the east west and then go to the senior bowl afterwards and you'll balance it out. But we'll make sure we have both covered. You mentioned culture a lot today. What is Atlanta Falcons culture? How would you define it? Yeah, it's every day, you're competing and doing the very best you can in whatever you're doing. How you do anything is how you do everything. That's the approach and I think it's the way our group, the way we handle adversity, again the heart of it is our head coach and our coaching staff and our players and the leadership in the locker room that we talked about but it starts with them and regardless of what happens in the game we have a tough loss, they're ready to roll on Monday and whether it's on the practice field, in the weight room, in the meeting rooms, everything they're doing, they're ready to go and the enthusiasm, if you come out to, if you go out to the field and you see the way the guys fly around at practice all the way to the end of the last game of the season, man, the enthusiasm that they're playing with the way they're competing, it's the real, the positivity, the optimism and the way the guys compete and work hard, that's what the culture is. It really isn't, it's about getting better and it doesn't matter, sometimes you talk about draft picks and free agents, it doesn't matter how you got here. It doesn't matter, like when the guys are in the building the best guys on a weekly basis, the best guys are gonna play and we're gonna find the best players to put on the field so I would say the culture is it's about continued development, continued competition and it's just a real positive group that they all know we're setting the right foundation and they know the direction we're moving in. Coach, what's been the biggest leap in terms of the growth that you feel like you've made from your one-year to the head coach? Well, it's really your mindset every day. You're never gonna have all the answers, you're gonna make some mistakes and if you're humble enough to realize that and to lean on others, it's a continual growth and that's what we believe in here. It's really a big part of our core is that having that mindset. And so inevitably what happens, anytime you take a job, new responsibility, there's a lot of unknown. You prepare everything out and then things come up that test you. And so I think there's a daily growth with a job. It helps when you're in a place like Atlanta and the way our building structure and the relationship with Terry, I've said this many times. I mean, it's hard enough to win this league, it's really hard when you're dealing with the day-to-day drama that belongs on a Bravo TV show, Bravo TV. So we don't have that here and I'm thankful for that every day. But it's continuing to learn as you get into year two, even the little stuff this time of year with the staffing, all the stuff that, hey, what can we do better? How can I improve the calendar? How can I tweak this? Let's look at what we're doing practice-wise. So I'm just thankful every day you get to do this job but there's a constant self-evaluation and growth. Certainly you're more comfortable. It doesn't make the job any easier but there's a lot of unknowns that you've been through now twice that you try to prepare for and improve. Especially for both of you, what are the things on the benefits of being down in the old games that you have more players in one space like that? Yeah, I think every exposure is important, right? Every exposure that every time you get to deal with a player, just for example, you talk about a guy like Desmond, right? And what we really appreciate about Desmond is the way he handles himself, right? The way he handles himself in the building, when he got here, the way he handled, the approach throughout the week, the way he handled himself as a backup and in the games, the way he handled himself. He's his poise, his confidence but the type of teammate he was, everything. So from the very beginning with Desmond from reading all his reports, talk about the toughness and the mental toughness, all those areas, spend time with him at the senior bowl. You see him at the senior bowl, you see the same thing. We see him at the combine, it's the same thing. When we sat down with him at the pro day and you see the same thing. So every exposure to these players are important and our scouting department does a good job getting exposed to the players but sometimes our coaches don't get to spend as much time. So then if you can spend more time with the players and be around them even more as opposed to just the meetings, getting to see them in the dining hall, in the meeting rooms and then the exposure our coaches get also our staff gets more exposure if they're coaches in those games. So that's critical. And again, our staff does a really good job but every exposure is important. And like I bring up Desmond to say that there was a consistency throughout every time we were in touch with him. So getting to see these other players even more we'll take advantage of that. It could be very valuable to you not only in the short term but the long term. I mean, my only other experience was in 14 I was on the staff that coached senior bowl and not necessarily guys that you take that you coach or maybe it's, you know, these guys that are going around the other teams and they're gonna come back up, maybe they're college free agents that may come back to the practice squad and you at least have some exposure to them. Players that are staple players that you may compete against once or twice a year and you at least have some knowledge of them and what they're made of and fit that may come back for free agency. So all the exposures Terry's talking about it's not even for the short term a lot of times for the long term and I think the more you get to know these players that are coming through every year the better off you are. You know, it's kind of elemental but the coaching staff situation there when you were there in 14, was that developmental for you because when you were Yeah, because it was. So Mike, you know, Malarkey, yeah, he, you know, that wasn't I think it naturally happened now it's way more use the corporate buzzword intentional and it's, you know, good thing but the way they have it structured but it's kind of it used to be kind of an unwritten if you were, you know, on a big staff or some veterans they should let the younger guys do it and Mike let me do that that week and you know, some tight ends like Nick Boyle was a guy he got the coach that's been around a lead a long time and got good exposure that way for sure. Martha, you're talking about being judicious when you in terms of big free agent dollars now that you're hypothetically in that position to give out big free agent dollars how did you get comfortable with a person in that scenario? And what's a short time frame took? Yeah, I mean, that's a that's a credit to our whole football staff, Josh. You know, when, you know, at some point, you know, we're not going to limit somebody, you know, the Terry's point, you'd like to have as much information as possible relationships, but when you make those decisions I mean, there's a process we go through and a lot of it is about relationships and again, everybody's going to put the best foot forward if you're getting ready to hand out a contract we're well aware of that. But there's a lot of things you lean into, you know, their habits day to day to make the best decisions, like who this person is, you know, it's not just because of the one meeting or a 15 minute, you know, speed dating. I go, wow, you know, this is where we're going, but there's a lot of things too that you can look on, lean on, trust our whole football staff, the scouting, any relationships, the background, a lot of things go into that decision. And I'll kind of say it, Josh, when you talk about this game, right, getting to be involved in the East West game or the senior bowl or getting to be around these players, it's not, or all the information that our college scouts gather on all these players and they start writing a book on those players, it's not just about the specific draft. So you spend all this time on all these players and then you gather information and then you draft the players that you draft and sign the players that you sign, it's not just about that, it's not, we want to be involved in all these exposures because it could be four years down the road, it could be later on in the process, even if you don't actually, you're not able to draft the player, we still have been writing a book on the player and then look, a lot of things move around, players move around, coaches move around, we're always gathering intel as much as we can on players. So just, you're not gonna just focus on just a little bit of time you got to spend with them. These players have had careers and again, we have a really good scouting staff that have tracked it and we're gonna always lean on any exposures that we have. You guys talk about that when you're watching the film for the season, do you guys actually take notes and say, when it comes time for X, this might be an avenue you want to go down? Are those conversations that happened between the two of you? We have a lot of conversations all day every day. Yes, obviously. I was just wondering whether that's something that you make mental notes of or maybe Terry, you do what you're from your perspective. Yeah. No, absolutely. And that's the good thing about, we talk about that about, not just our relationship, but the relationships throughout the building, whether we're talking about Kyle Smith and Dave Vergon or Marquise, all the, we have a lot of really good close relationships and we're constantly talking, whether it's a text message, it's a call. Again, I always get these, but I got a text from Kyle like three weeks ago, like 1145 at night and he's watching tape on our team against someone else and there's a player that he kind of likes in the game and he's texting me about it. So those conversations naturally go on because of the relationships throughout the building. Terry and coach, how do you all square when guys get to the market? Sometimes it's like Foyer just didn't have the money or Vondercam just didn't have the money or sometimes guys didn't maybe didn't do so good and they make it to the market. How do you find the guys that are, you feel like can fit and play and guys that may not have played that well earlier in their career. You're asking, when we're talking about our players and how do we- I'm talking about friends specifically from, how do you, you know, they're gonna be guys that are on the open market because a team couldn't pay for them and they're gonna be guys that are on the open market because the team didn't want them. Yeah, it's all risk assessment and it's a risky business because you're right, if there's a reason they're letting that player out the building and it could just be just that that hey, financially, they might not be able to afford them. They might not be a specific fit. There could be an injury thing. There could be a character thing. So it's all risk assessment and that's the onus is on us to make sure we know exactly what it's risk assessment and we can really go through, hey, why is this player available and is this player gonna be the right fit? So that's on us and look, I believe we've done a good job even in the last couple of years. We've been able to bring in some free agents that are good football players and we have to do the same thing, but it is, you have to look at all those factors. Last year's draft class, obviously the goal going into draft is you wanna draft players that are gonna make an impact and are gonna start. But by season's end, you guys had three on offense, three on defense that were making high-impact plays and in the lineup. Did you see that happening maybe as early as minicamp when these guys were in the facility? I think what we love about this draft class on the previous one is we keep kind of going back to that, the character, the mindset, the mentality and the way the guys approach and the way they compete. And so, you know, even early on, if a player's not playing as much on defense, we talk about a guy like Troy or a guy like D'Angelo, or D'Angelo, you go watch any game and he's run down on kickoff, knocking the hell out of people because he's just a tough, physical, competitive player. And so even if, because we're not, coach is gonna play the best players and we're not gonna play players just because they're young, talented, the best players are gonna get jerseys. But what you love about this class is even when they're not, their number hadn't gotten called on offense or defense, they're doing everything else that they need to do to get on the field. Even when you look at Drake, like the play I get most excited about in this last game is him digging out, blocking in the run game and the physicality he plays with. And so I think the mindset of the class, we saw that early on, just the way the guys work and the way they compete and that's why we brought them in. But I think that's the part that you saw early on. It's about development. And so some players develop at different rates. And so some guys might not play as much early on, but what we saw in this draft class and what we love is the mindset. I want to look on that. And this may be kind of too big, but how do you find that? Some people can be really good in interviews and not necessarily be that way in real life. So when you go about asking these guys and talking to them and watching their film, what pinpoints you to be able to say like, yeah, this is the mindset that we want? Yeah, and it all ties in because when we're assessing a player's football character and if, you know, again our scouts do a really good job of, they're in the schools and they're gathering all the information. And if they get a lot of good information from the staffs there and then, but then they go out to the practice field and they see the guys lazy on the practice field, well, this doesn't tie together. It's not like they're not, our scouts don't just, they're not just reporting information that they gather. They're looking at all the pieces of it. And so at this point, they've already, they've been in the schools. They've been around like early on, they saw the players when they were freshmen. And so they've been in those buildings. And so they're getting information from everyone in the school. They're seeing them at practice. Then we get the information and again, we hit all those exposures and there's a lot of exposures to those players. So it's, everything matters. Everything really matters. And I think we have a group that does a really good job. And then as the coaches get involved, our coaches are heavily involved in the process as well. And we gather as much information as we can and everything matters. Do you feel like the information is more back to where it was 2019 levels because of the last couple of years with scouts not being able to maybe be at around, I guess, to be the best? Have you noticed that? Dumb out with the COVID restrictions? Like have you noticed like there's maybe a better level of information now when you're starting to look at this year's draft versus maybe the last couple of years for you guys? Well, it was different. It was definitely different. That was a unique times because not only were they limited, the scouting staffs, but then we were limited as well with what we could really do. And even little things like virtual meetings are great. We all do virtual meetings and all that. But think about it, even with this, where we are right now, where we were when we couldn't have these, this is different than when we're sitting in our offices, our rooms individually and with cameras and Lead was having trouble with it. He couldn't even ask the question because he's having trouble with the connection. So it is the personal interactions. That's important. Even you think about draft meetings or scouts, those little side conversations and when you're grabbing a coffee or when all that stuff is important or when you break the meeting and you can go and sit in somebody's office and do something, those things are really important. So I think the entire process was affected. Everyone was affected by it, but it did change the process. Yes. I was wondering whether you'd like us back to normal or closer to what you said. I do. Yep. Our question is I gave both of you to respond, going back to Georgia's way and if you look at stats of the band and we turn on the tape, what do you see out of that kid and does he have a future in the future? Yeah, that's not something the D-Led tell you to ask that question. Is that how, look Georgia, obviously man that program, two in a row, not only Stetson, but they have a lot of good football players. I mean, you just look at the class that they put out last year and they got a lot of good football players. Kirk was doing a hell of a job there and that's kind of Georgia too. You know, I have kids that are in grade school so I go to the high school games and stuff and I'm kind of around it. It's unbelievable in this area, all the talent that you have, even park ball, you know, going and watching my son's 11 and going and watching the little football. Those little 10 and 11 year olds in this area shouldn't be doing the stuff that they're doing, the plays they're making. Like, that's not real. He was at some training facility last night. My wife's texting me and like, it's crazy what these kids are doing, pulling sleds and the stuff. So it's, this area is, there's a lot of really good football here, man. So it's fun to watch. Happy for those guys, but we're not ready to get into evaluations right now. You want me to go on record? Not that. Well, you know, as you can tell with the Terry's point and D-Led and the underworld of youth football that he recruits at in that county, I mean, there is a lot of talent in this state. And it's well known, it's impressive. You know, all across the state, the youth sports here, the coaching, the, it's a, that does have an effect. I mean, we actually have a lot of guys on our roster that are from this area and that's not by accident, just because of the talent level and watching around this area and a half for years. And Georgia, where they're rolling, the thing that's impressive to me, it's funny what human psychology does once they got over that hump, right? For years, they couldn't do this, that, but they kept chipping away and that's a credit to Kirby and the perseverance he has and not listening to all the delusional emotion out there and they had their process. And once they got over that hump, it's been pretty damn impressive as they built that thing over time. And they're rolling clearly better than anybody right now. And so that is fun to watch from program building, just being here now, living in this state. I've got a niece that's a sophomore there. So partial to Georgia, not just the bees, the fans or your Twitter fans, D-Led. So in terms of Stetson, you know, to Terry's point, you know, we're not there on our draft evaluation, but gotta give them a lot of credit on a lot of games and the state and the people that are fans of Georgia should be really proud of what they've done. Terry, back in follow up and ask a similar question, but not about a specific player, just in your career, how has the way you guys evaluate quarterbacks changed if we look at this draft class, maybe the top quarterback may be six feet tall and there's others that are not what may have been considered quite a typical a decade ago. How differently do you look at your evaluations of what you need at that position? Yeah, it's all a part of the process, right? Looking at, you're trying to, there's a certain percentage of these players that are gonna not make it and a certain percentage that are gonna make it. So you're trying to get your hit rate up. And so the way you do that is you look at history and you look at, okay, what is prototype? And this is the prototype size. And sometimes it's not just about, when you talk about prototype size, it's not just about height, weight, but you look at, there are some players that are, there can be shorter, but they're hand-sized, really big hands, or there's just different factors at every position. It's not just as easy as looking at a player's height, weight, speed. You look at all the little detail. So it's important to look at those measurables, but then it always comes down to, okay, the traits. And what's the specific? Okay, this is a quarterback. Okay, where's his accuracy? Where's his decision-making? Or if it's a receiver, can he get open and catch the football? Sometimes it's that simple. And we look at the measurables. We look at the makeup. It's all a part of the total picture. So just like at that quarterback position, we're never gonna say we're only gonna take prototype players and we're never gonna say, you know, it's all about the players that fit the characteristics that you're looking for. They have the traits that you're looking for, and we're not gonna limit ourself and say we're only gonna take players that are above the certain standard. How is Kyle Pitts doing in his rehab? And do you anticipate him being back by offices and program or camp? Is there a timetable for that? There's no official timetable. Like a lot of our guys that didn't finish the season healthy, if you have rehab schedules, but very optimistic on them. But there's no set timetable right now. But you could see Kyle there a day at the game. Saw TQ there a day. Saw Big Duke currently in there. Duke was around. Yeah, so all those guys, they'll be on different timetables. Duke's on a scooter. Yeah, we're optimistic, but your point too is sometimes people get enamored with the wrong things and how it correlates from college football to pros. Even in free agency, you talk about vision D-led. That's a big part of it too. The guy may not be successful somewhere. The scheme may have changed, isn't that? You may have liked him coming out. Hey, let's try it here. They try a different role. We may use them different. Some of them we've had a lot of success with, other ones we've taken a fire and it didn't work. But sometimes it's work doing that and you're trying to take in the same thing when you're looking at players. Everybody's gonna get enamored. I mean, I can already, I'm already pained, and I feel for some of these guys coming out now that the ridiculousness of the hot takes of the height, weight, whatever. But a lot of it too, some things that correlate and don't. You know, sometimes you guys go to a program, what they're asked to do, it's not their fault that they see nothing but free access and they catch 120 balls. But you'd hope to be able to see them try to beat man coverage. I don't care how fast they are, how tall they are. Same thing with the quarterback. The pocket and the national football league is completely different than college. Translate, some guys are Hall of Fame players. Some guys are all American Heisman winners. It doesn't translate from anything. Maybe they're from circumstances, programs, scheme. But it's not apples to apples. It's the only comparison we have is the next step. But there's so many things and so many factors that go into it that you've got to make sure you've got the right vision, you've got the right football staff. And when you make those decisions, like you got a plan for those players. And more like guys in recent years, like Shaquille Baird bounces around and turns to Alpro, Charles Hares bounces and then does big year in Detroit last year. We're just trying to see if that's a, I don't know, that's kind of hard to hit on those, but that's kind of the challenge. Well, sometimes guys improve, too, lad. The time you get them, I mean, they've learned from some of their mistakes and maybe the schemes change or maybe they had some things off the field that they had no incentive to change when you get cut three times and you say, here's my last shot. And yeah, I'll be out on time and I've grown up while they had incentive to do it. Again, circumstance, confidence. Those years of trying to improve, we talk about growth. When you're asking me about that, it pays off. So yeah, they didn't work out of the first two teams. That doesn't mean that they were, this coach didn't use them right or this player was ahead of them for whatever reason because sometimes it just takes guys a couple of years anyways and circumstances change, whatnot. So there's a lot of factors into it to answer your question that way. Speaking of development, not to lessen any performance from other rookies, but how do you guys feel about our Jizz? How excited are you guys about his performance lately? Tyler, very. I mean, I think what you want to see is guys playing their best football in the year. I mean, that's, you know, I've said this a few times already, but that's very encouraging. It was encouraging to see his development with a lot of our rookies. Timmy Horn is a guy that didn't get a lot of credit, you know, and you wanna, your draft class would be well, but you also, if you've got college free agent, that's a big part of it. And if they are better than your fifth rounder, we're gonna play the better player. So Timmy Horn played well. D'Allford, guys in his first shot, we got from the CFL local guy. So you get excited about those guys and they're playing their best football in the year. And Drake, you know, that's the stuff that really excites me. Terry, you talk about, you know, culture and everything. Like, if I'm curious to ask how do you, how do you transfer it over to your scholarship department? Is it a matter of you just saying they go out and gather the information and you bring it together, you make a final decision, or are you kind of giving them that leeway to say, hey, here's how I feel about it, Claire, and you probably need to take a look at this guy. Yeah, it's a very, it's a really detailed process and there's a lot of structure to it. So they're the first, they're boots on the ground, they're gathering the information first. And like I said, it's not, they're not just reporting what this coach said about the player, they're looking at the total picture and going through and it doesn't, it goes all the way down into the, hey, he's never all in the barn. So we have the December meetings, we'll have February meetings, we keep gathering information and we'll have the meetings in April and all the way until we're making the pick, they're still gathering information. But then we get involved and they basically, again, give us the information and but we're continuing to gather it. But it's a very detailed structure with specific questions on, hey, does this player fit our ethos? It's not a simple yes or no. Why does he fit the ethos? Why doesn't he fit the ethos? What's he missing? And it's a, again, our Scotton department does a really good job. Then the coach is getting involved and we continue to go through his process and it goes right down to the wire. So it's a very detailed process. It's not just as simple as checking the box, yes or no. There's a lot that is involved in it. My ask for specific names, has that been a time where, in your two years as a general manager, that you've drafted a player that might nestage and check all the boxes, so to speak? Yep, yep, absolutely. We're drafting that many players. There are some times that you take a player and you say, okay, hey, this is an area that he needs to grow in, but we believe he will and this is why. And so you take a shot on those players and when the player's getting the building, it's on them and it's on them because you're not holding everybody's hand. So some players won't adapt and adjust the right ways and then they'll, and some players will. Some players that you might not have expected to do things, they'll grow up in a certain area. So you want every player to check every single box. Sometimes you'll take players that, hey, they need to improve in this area, that area. And whether it's a scout or a coach or you believe, hey, we believe this player will take the next step. And so you can take swings at players in that way. I just mentioned, I'm just from a clarify perspective. Do you anticipate? No, I kind of love that termite. You had to get something in today. Okay. I mean, problem TV and all. Yeah. Do you, is there, do you anticipate that he could possibly be ready for the store this season? Is that not realistic, easy until it's. You've seen a lot of different, you saw what K-makers did and you've seen other guys and who knows, you know, that's why it's hard to put a timetable, you know, everybody's all. He played the next play after you, so no telling. He might be ready for OTAs, that guy. It's hard to put a timetable when we talk. Because everybody, like when Adrian Peterson comes back quicker than everybody, it screwed a lot of guys. I mean, he's the ultimate outlier. It's just not fair, everybody's body's different. You guys know that. So we'll see. Nothing the Duke would do that would surprise me. Like, to Terry's point when I told you guys it's one of the more incredible things I've seen. And his reason for not, it makes me appreciate the guy even more and I don't know how he did that. I thought, I mean, I think I've seen two athletes go off on their own. It was him and Kobe Bryant. I'm sure there's others and you guys can get lit up in your, whenever you guys talk about it. But it was impressive what the Duke did. Duke. Thank you. Thank you.