Green Light with Chris Long - Texans GM Nick Caserio Talks Texans' Defense, CJ Stroud & DeMeco Ryans' Leadership

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

Houston Texans General Manager Nick Caserio joins Chris Long and talks all things Houston Texans. Nick dives into the Texans slow start to the season and their climb from the AFC basement to now nearly being the top of their division. The fellas also cover Caserio and Head Coach DeMeco Ryan's demands of Texans players, the dominant and stout Texans defense led by Will Anderson, and CJ Stroud's QB play. (00:00) - Houston Texans (03:20) - Philip Rivers (07:05) - Texans Offense Under Nick Caley (11:40) - Texans Mentality17:30 - CJ Stroud (21:55) - Texans Defense (27:30) - Identifying and Drafting Players For the NFL's My Cause My Cleats, visit these sites to support:https://mcmc.rayzeapp.com/beauallen http://strongerthanyouthink.org/ Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: ‪[phone]‬ Also, check out our paddling partners at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Appomattox River Company ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. Green Light's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can catch all the latest GL action: If you want some Black Friday merch, check out our sale:https://greenlightpodcast.shop/?fbclid=PAZnRzaAOR1RFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAad3Jup6i1N2qH77pK8eUeSbKt2Y0OXMldIw1dRTq_xDRuY3Ctp99Qj4pfyGAw_aem_w9tp_XwGL-ZptFIHvlrM1g Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All right, so I'm joined by a guy I've known a long time, and a guy I think has done a great job in Houston with the Texans, a big part of the puzzle there. I think they got one of the best rosters in the NFL, certainly on defense. Nick Kisera joins the podcast. Nick, how you doing? Thanks, Chris, doing great.

Thanks for having me. Great to see you, man. It's great to see you. And it is a joy watching your team, especially, as I mentioned, defense, being a defensive guy. I think best defense in the league, and I know you're not here to make declarations or rank your unit, but it's got to be fun seeing them fly around late in the season. I feel like they've really hit their stride and the offense as well.

I don't know where to start. I guess for me, we were just talking offline about the O and three start. What's your duty as a guy who's seen it all in that chapter of the season? Yeah, the big thing is just to kind of stay right down the middle. Don't get too high. Don't get too low. Understanding that kind of each week is its own entity and we can't really change the outcome, but we can control what we do moving forward.

And, you know, there was just some little things whether, and the big thing I would say was turning the ball over. So those are things, the things that you can actually control, D'Amico talks to the team about this a lot. Let's focus on the things that we can control. And those three games, they kind of came down to, let's say, you know, one play here or there. in a Jacksonville game, anytime you turn a ball over three times in one game, the chances of winning are very low. So if you can just get some things fixed and get kind of back on track and then each week, just making sure that you take care of the things that are important, I think that the most important thing for my lens is to make sure Demico and I were communicating, hey, if there's something we need to do personnel-wise, great.

If not, let's just kind of take it one day at a time and focus on the things that we can control. And I think, you know, our personalities are such that try not to get too high, trying not to get too low, understanding that emotion, you can have emotion, you just can't get emotional. And I think that's where we try to keep the focus. One thing I love about y'all is you play up to the best teams in the league. You know, you play like you are one of them, which I think you are. And then also you guys have dominated in division. Can you speak to how important it is to win your division games, you know, besides the obvious, you know, mathematical, angle of it where these games are weighted heavily. Yeah, for sure. I mean, if you want to do anything in this league, you've got to have some degree of success in your division. So we understand that each week we're not playing our division, but when we have the opportunity to play those teams, those games carry a certain amount of weight. And I think going into the season, and I think kind of come to fruition here, well, we felt, I felt that Jacksonville was going to be

really improved and I think Indie was going to be improved. And I think Tennessee was kind of in this situation where they're probably going to have to work through a little bit. Obviously, they found a quarterback. But I think looking at it from a big picture perspective, we understood, or at least I understood the challenges that we're going to be in front of us and kind of find out. I mean, Jacksonville is one of the better teams in the league. And he's done a really good job, you know, and Tennessee's been competitive as well. So you have to focus on the opponent that week.

But when you're playing your teams in the division, understand those games are going to carry a certain amount of weight. No question. Speaking of the division and this having nothing to do with y'all, you saw a 44-year-old grandfather the other day take the field and you know the game comes down to a kick and uh you know they make the kick and then they lose on another kick but i i just thought that was an incredible spectacle as a former player and a football fan have you ever considered a 40 plus year old retiree uh have you gone as far as daydreaming dreaming about it and what would the mitigating factors be besides maybe arthritis

Can a guy get out of a chair? No, it probably has to be a player that if you have some level of familiarity with, it's one thing otherwise going to be hard. But honestly, just from a competitive standpoint, you can't have anything but respect and appreciation for what Philip did last week, at least from my perspective and understanding, we have to play the Colterre at the end of the year. So for him to go out there and do what he did, I mean, that speaks to who he is. I mean, you played against him.

And, you know, we played against him in New England, the AFC championship game in 07. and the guy played on a torn ACL. So for a player to do that, I mean, it just speaks to who they are, their mental and physical toughness. So, I mean, for him to go out there and do what he did, honestly, you can't do anything but tip your hat. No question.

Where would you rank? I thought all the wins are big. And, you know, every game this year, I feel like there's a different lesson, as there always is. But I felt like the Kansas City game was huge for a lot of reasons. Number one, you have a hand in putting this year's Kansas City team to bed, which is a tall task. I mean, they're a fantastic program, and you know that.

But, you know, with the two games last year and the way the season ended, and as much as the cards were stacked against y'all in that playoff game, you fought, you fought, you came up short. I think Aziz had comments after the Kansas City game as to how big of a game it was. Where do you rank that as a program kind of win, where you take a step forward and you learn something about yourself? Yeah, you're trying to have to get too cut up in one particular moment, but by the same token, I mean, Kansas City has been a pillar in the league for a number of years now.

What Coach Reed and Patrick have been able to do the level of consistency. And that place is this hard environment to play and win as any in the league. So to be able to go in there and train some jabs and some punches back and forth and for our team to show a lot of mental fortitude, mental toughness and make plays when we needed to, it just kind of speaks to, I would say, the program that we're trying to develop. so that whoever we're playing, wherever we're playing, whatever in the environment, we feel we can go in there and give it our best shot and we got a chance to go toe to toe with some of the best teams in the league. In the end, it's going to come down to our execution.

But I think our players took a certain amount of pride because even going back to the two games last year, like we had our opportunities and we had our chances. We just didn't make enough plays, which in the end, the team that makes more plays are the ones that are going to win. But I think we were confident in our team and the players went out there and performed. and it wasn't perfect. It's never perfect in this league. But to be able to win in a place like that, it kind of speaks to the people that we have here in the building.

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And don't forget, if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code Greenlight to enjoy up to a $1,500 new player offer on your first wager. BetMGM, make it legendary. I think Coach Kaley's done a great job of moving this offense in the right direction. His year has gone on. Obviously, there's been some curveballs that you don't anticipate having to hit. You know, one of them being Joe Mixon's health. which I'm not going to dig there, but just when you have a plan for a vision for an offense,

how hard is it when you're not going to have that bell cow running back? And then how do you make those adjustments on the fly? Yeah, reality is you're going to have to deal with something during the course of the year. You don't really know what it is or when it's going to happen. And any time that you do something for the first time, you're going to learn a lot about yourself. And part of it is trying to figure out your team a little bit, who's comfortable with what, what do we have?

We had a lot of different personnel that were kind of in and out, especially the first part of the season on the offensive line, mostly on the offensive line, the skill was the skill. And in the middle of the year, when CJ got hurt, then Davis had to play. But Nick's a really good coach. He's really smart. He's got a great background. He's got a good perspective.

And as a player, like coach, it's the same thing. You're going to learn and evolve and grow as the year goes on. And once you get to about midway through the year, hopefully you have an idea of, all right, here are some of the things that we do fairly well. Here are some of the things we need to tweak. here are some of the things maybe we need to do a little bit less. And I think there's been a lot of constructive conversations, a dialogue between Nick and Domeco throughout the course of the year.

So it's like anything. You just got to stay true to the course, stick to the course here a little bit. And if you have to deviate for whatever reason, just try to come up with solutions. Our job, whether it's my job, a coach's job, is to fix problems and find solutions, whatever that is. And put the players in the best position possible. And if we have to go out and find another player, we've got to go out and find another player. So whatever that entails, that's our responsibility to each other.

But Nick's worked really hard. He's a really good coach. He's got a bright future. And we're glad he's here. And Jawar Jordan might be like one of those guys that you're like, well, I got a practice squad guy stashed here that could have a big day against the Cardinals. Like, what's the thought process when you got to call a guy up and you have to consider, is he ready?

You know, how much can we lean on him at that position? Yeah, for sure. We take a lot of pride and kind of building as much depth on and off the roster. as possible. So who's on our practice squad? The way we view it philosophically is at some point, that player is probably going to have to play. So you're either going to be comfortable with that player in that role or you're not. And the onus is on the player to get themselves prepared on a weekly basis. So if the opportunity does come, that you're ready to go and you're not going to have, I'd say, a significant drop-off. I mean, and coaches are a part of that as well. So,

you know, Jawar's been in our program here for a couple years. We have other players that have been on and off the practice squad. I mean, even going back to last year, we had Tommy Toggiye started on the practice squad. We signed them basically end of September, beginning of October. He was on a practice squad. Then we put them on a roster at the end of the year. Now fast forward. And Tommy's developed into one of our most consistent players on a defensive front. So I think all of us, the scouting staff, the coaching staff, we just take a lot of pride and finding the right people with the right mindset, the right mentality and understanding. We have to prepare them for their opportunity. And that's part of their responsibility as well to make sure that they're ready to go.

when their number is called. And with a young running back, like a Woody Marks, who, you know, he's all of a sudden finds himself with a big workload, and I think he's done a really nice job. With young running backs, is there a particular anticipated weakness in a guy's game?

Like, is it past protection? Or what are the things that you kind of have to drill down on younger players to mitigate the risk of them being younger running backs? Usually, Chris, I would say, especially at that position, are the multiples that are involved as it pertains to pertains to. because there's so much front variations. You have to get the identification.

You have to understand who you're supposed to block. All right. And it could be multiple scenarios where if they do this, you have to do that. And if they do something else, you have to do this. And you have to do it fairly quickly. So it's just understanding the urgency and the intricacies that are involved. But Woody works really hard at it. I mean, Danny Barrett does a great job with that room.

And Drew Waters is a good example. I mean, had them ready to go. But I would say most young players, it's dealing with multiples as it pertains to their position. it's not about their skill and being able to run the ball or catch the ball. It's probably something outside of that scope. And the more time that you put into it, hopefully you can get more comfortable with the assignments and what you're asked to do. And you're like, oh, great, Lou Anirumo is joining the division.

A lot of fun. You'll see some looks you haven't seen. Yeah, the other thing, you know, the rookie wall is something I always heard about. And I don't know if it's real. or not. I don't know what your opinion is. If it's changed because of the way that we practice now or y'all practice or the lack of time you spend in the off season, what is your opinion on the fabled rookie wall? Yeah, it's probably, honestly, Chris, evolve through the years because of the way that practices are structured, even going all the way back to training camp. So

everybody understands it's going to be a long season. So in the rookie's particular case, So we've played 17 games at this point, including the three preseason games. So you've multiplied their basically college season. But most teams are equipped with the resources and tools that you need from a recovery standpoint. And we put a huge emphasis on that. So if you take advantage of the tools and the resources that are in your building, and D'Amico does a great job of giving the players the opportunity, like focus on the recovery, if we have to adjust or alter practice, because there's nothing more important than the health of our players,

so that on Sunday they feel as fresh. and is ready to go as possible. So I think the league is evolved in that respect. I mean, once you get past week 11, you can only have three more padded practices. So, I mean, look, the reality is you're practicing Wednesday, whatever you're wearing, you're practice in Thursday. Friday's a little bit lighter.

Saturday's you walk through and then you're going out there and playing on Sunday. So I think, look, the rules are the rules and we've adjusted. I think it's a little bit more conducive because there's more tools and resources that are probably available for the players than maybe there was when you were playing, And when you had to maybe do it on your own, the teams have done a pretty good job of having it available to the players so they can get themselves back in an optimum performance level. Fly on the wall, what was it like when Bill got the news

that they were going to cap padded practices after week 11? Do you remember that? Do you remember who had to break him that news? Well, I think everybody was aware of it because we talked about in the spring. The rules were established. So, yeah, you can't practice basically every week in passing. Well, I mean, it begs the question because you guys play as fast as physical as any group. And I don't think a prerequisite for that is necessarily keeping the pads on every day.

It's when you have the pads on, you maximize. And it's when you don't have the pads on, you play with competitiveness and speed and hand placement. How does Demika walk that line, you know, between keeping players fresh but still repping the deal? He does a phenomenal job. and we're about violence, competitiveness, and physicality in how we want to play, both offensively and defensively. So we're going to practice with a certain level of pace, but we're going to do it in a responsible fashion.

So you can work on being a good football player, being in good football position, and doing it with urgency, doing it with intent, and doing it with the speed. If your mindset is when I walk on the field, this is how we're going to practice. And when you have enough players with that mindset on the field, you look to you, your left, you look to your right. I mean, you can't take a play off because if you do, someone's going to be up your ass to say, hey, you know what? That's not how we do it. That's not how we practice. So our players do a great job of holding each other accountable. And D'Amico tells them, look, this is how we're going to practice. This is how we're going to

roll. So when you walk on a field, you better be ready to go because that's probably how he practiced and how he played. So you can get a lot of work done, even without the pads, if you do it with the right mentality and with the right people. No question. I was going to ask you straight out. lazy people off your board or something because you don't have any players that take plays off. And I just, I don't know if that's a cultural thing where it starts from the top. And obviously it helps when you hit on young players like Will Anderson who play like 12-year vets who operate like, I'm so impressed with just the person he is. But D'Amico as well.

And, you know, obviously the vets, do you strike through guys that you see on tape and you say, hey, if he's picking and choosing, I don't want him? We're very discerning in that respect, Chris. We'll absolutely remove or eliminate players regardless of how, quote, unquote, talented they are or they're perceived to be. Because ultimately, when it matters, you need guys that are mentally and physically tough, that play with their agency, that are selfless, that play fast, that play competitive and are violent. So we're not afraid to eliminate players, understanding they're going to be on other teams. We're probably going to play against them. That's okay.

Like, we understand that. But we also understand what's required. what the expectation and the standard is on a day-to-day basis. So our responsibility is who are those players that fit that profile? And that's where our scouts do a really good job of identifying those traits and characteristics. We've made different tapes, you know, whether it's a swarm tape or, hey, here's examples of the swarm mindset and here's the anti-sworn mindset.

So then it's a matter of, okay, is that a pattern of behavior or can you get them to perform at this level on a consistent basis? That's where part of the evaluation comes. to play, but we absolutely will eliminate players if we don't feel like they're fit for our building. Well, I had a defensive coordinator who will go unnamed, who used to tell us every Monday, you're a traitor if you loaf. You should play for the other team. And that's effectively what it is. And in plain language, that's how it comes out. But if you cross them off, you don't have to deal with them. There's a discussion online among Texans fans right now. And I know you don't want to

pump your defense's tires too much. But a nickname, for the defense. I've floated a nickname that I'm partial to. And I think they're the taxmen because they make you pay the tax. So do you have a better one on top of mind or do you like my nickname for your defense? Whatever you think. I'll go with what you think, Chris. I like that. I'm good on that. Yeah, I'm good on that. You know guys paying that tax out there. Hey, Petrie's a damn IRS agent him and Lasseter can start a tax firm yeah exactly um before i get into nerd and out on the defense i got you about cj because you know i'm a guy that when he got in the league i was like all right he's going to be one of these guys and then there was the dip you know where people are saying well

second year slump and the injury and that sort of thing i think he's come back and looked really good and and i thought sunday he was he was fantastic i mean the biggest thing for me was those third and long intermediate throws against Kansas City where, you know, the chips are pushed to the middle of the table and he's got to make a throw. I think he's been a top five intermediate thrower in the league. And I just placed tremendous value on that area of the field, the middle of the field, the intermediate zone. So what makes him so good in that area of the field? Is it something you guys coach or is that just something that he's always had? Yeah, look, he has a lot of God-given ability and he's always been able to throw the football at a high level.

And what you try to do is when you're constructing a scheme, is try to play to your player's strength. So whether it's the receivers, whether the quarterback, what are the things that he does well? But, I mean, he does a good job. I'd say the big thing from when the time that he's come back, he's done a really good job of making good decisions with the football. And the most important thing, like we've benefited our turnover margin.

We've gone from near the bottom of the league. Now we're second the league in turnover margin, where we're taking it away defensively, and we're not turning it over offensively. And a quarterback has a big responsibility in that. So sometimes you just have to make the simple play. That's actually the great play. And there were multiple examples in the game the other day against Arizona when he did that.

But throwing a ball in the middle of the field, like there's a lot of bodies and there's a lot of traffic and you got to be able to understand what are they doing on the other side of the ball before you take that calculated risk because it's not like the guy's going to be running scot-free. You're probably going to have to find an initial window or wait for him to get to the second window. or you know what, I'm off that and I have to go somewhere else with the football. And the reality is you have to learn that over time. It just doesn't happen overnight. So, I mean, that's part of a growth of any young player and specifically the quarterback

position, you know, understanding the integrity of each play and understanding the decision making that goes along with it. Yeah, and I've heard a lot of people talk about this buzz phrase, pure progression passing. I'm sure you've heard enough about it if you've got the internet or. I try to stay off the internet as much as possible. Good for you. But like has the game changed a lot from where, I mean, it probably has. It's almost a rhetorical question where Tom used to walk up and be like, yeah, it's cover nine,

it's cover six. I know where I'm going with the football. And now it sounds like a lot of younger quarterbacks kind of operate within this ABCD, you know, way to get to the open man, you know, whether it's working, you know, one through four or one through three or whatever it is. like how does that factor into a young quarterback's development these days? Like, what do you guys ask him to do? Yeah, the reality is you're probably reprogramming that player when they walk in a building as a rookie because nobody's really doing this in college football. It's not anybody's

fault. This is the reality of what's happening. So you have to understand, like, what's your system? How are you teaching that position? How are you teaching the progression that you have to work through? You have plays that are based on if it's this coverage, you're going to do this. And then you have other plays to your point. It's basically one, two, three, four. and if first option's there, then you go there. So the reality is it's probably some hybrid of that. I think if you can anticipate what the defense is doing and understand what your route concept is when it's matched up with that,

then it enables you to play quick and fast and play on time. But I would say to the credit of the defense, you talked about Lou, but I would say defense has done a great job of constantly changing the picture for the quarterback, which is making it harder, which is probably causing them maybe to hold on to the ball for a little bit, which is why you might see this shift of, you know, all right, if the first read is there,

just take number one and get the ball out. So look, this league is very cyclical. It's a kind of a cat and mouse game back and forth. And I'd say defense has kind of had the pen here a little bit here the last few years. And now offenses have to figure out a way, all right, what works and what can we do and how do we play to the strengths of our players, specifically the quarterback? Yes, nice to have that defensive currency. at your disposal in an era like this, man.

And another thing is, like, your defense, and I don't know how much of this is shaped by your time in New England, and I don't want to make assumptions, but the, and it's never this simple, but hey, Tom Brady, you want to beat him, you got to be able to get there with four. You can't, you can't, you know, hold your nose and bring six all game. Like, you can't necessarily manufacture pressure against the best offense or the best quarterbacks.

Did you, did you dream it up this way? where you were like, hey, we're going to be able to get pressure with four. Our blitz rates is going to be towards the bottom of the league. Well, I think that's something that D'Amico really believes strongly in. So I think as we've kind of built out the team, we've kind of started with that prevence. And when I came here and even before D'Amico got here, the front structure was different than really what I was accustomed to or what I learned over the course of my time in New England.

So part of it was learning. And I think if you're able to get there with four, you just have more that you can allocate in the cover. because if you bring five or six, there's going to be a little bit more space than a cover. So you have to be able to cover or you have to, you know, be able to massage it where if you're bringing a simulator pressure, it looks like you're bringing more than you really are. You're trying to speed the quarterback up, but maybe you're speeding him up, he's speeding up for no reason. So but if you have the ability to get there with four, and again, some quarterbacks are really good against pressure.

So you might want to say, you know what, we're not going to pressure. Let's try to get there with our front. and you just got to make sure that you have enough tools at your disposal where you can actually get there with four. And I think we're a good mixture because, you know, we have four-man rush and we can get there with four. We also have a pretty good blitz package. And, you know, we can get there with six.

Sometimes we call zero. So you have to be able to kind of mix and match a little bit based on who you're playing and based on the players that you have on your team on the defensive side of the ball. Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical underage sale prohibited. y'all know i'm a bit more selective of my nick team pouches these days so for me the quality of the pouches is what i prioritize which is why i'll pop in a zone wintergreen one six milligram is all i need

whether i'm kicking back and watching ball on a sunday floating on the river with cowboy and the rest of the crew or breaking down film ahead of the show zone easily gets me locked in with its smooth feel and variety of flavor zone is always on our game day roster whether you like fresh mint uh like a fresh mint flavor you're into citrus flavor check out their roster of options and use promo code g l20 at nicko kick dot com slash zone for 20% off at checkout. Sequentially for you guys in 22 you go stingley petri I think Harris that year and then in 23 and 24 you end up with like Anderson Hunter Alshayr guys like that last are we always talk about Russian coverage on my program here and I'm always telling people even as a defensive end if I were a

GM and I had a choice between an all-world lockdown corner and an all-world rusher. I'm taking the corner first. I just, I believe that coverage can help rush more than rush can help coverage. Was there an intent to say, hey, I'm going to go out and get this lockdown dude first? You know, D'Amico talks about it all the time, Chris, rushing coverage and how they go together because they really do. You know, you can have them covered, but if the rush doesn't get there and the quarterback gets out. And I think when we were building a team, what we've always tried to do is say,

all right, we're going to draft the best players. And then if you have to make a decision based on a position, look, certain positions you're going to start on a perimeter. So, you know, if you work outside in, corners, defensive ends, tackles, receiver kind of, you know, the case by case. And then depending on where you are in the offensive line. So if you have the ability to match it up, I don't think like we took a sheet of paper out and said,

okay, we're going to do this, this, and this. Yeah. Some of the players were here before Domeco and his staff arrived. So what we try to do is draft good football players with the right mindset and right mentality, which I would say Petri is probably the ultimate example of that because, you know, when we drafted and the idea was he was at a Baylor program that, quite frankly, wasn't having a lot of success, but he was a big part of that growth and development. And we understood where we were as a program, you know, when I got here.

But to have a player like Petrie in your building, you're going to want to have that player because he could have an exponential effect potentially on the program. and here we are however many years later. And I'd say, you know, it's worked out. I think the way that we had hoped it would work out doesn't mean we're perfect on every pick. But, I mean, Jalen is everything that you want, a football player. And he plays, you know, he plays his ass off. And he's tough and he's instinctive and he's professional.

And he works very hard at it. And he prepares. So when you have enough players like that in the building with that mentality, at least you hopefully give yourself a shot on a week-to-week basis. You might have answered my next question, which was going to be, is there anybody that doesn't get enough credit on your defense? You know, I mean, that's probably for, you know, fans to talk about. But, you know, I mean, I think everybody talks about, you know, Will and DeNeil and rightfully so. I think Rankins has had a really solid year.

Yeah. He's done a really good job, you know, kind of, I would say, underrated there a little bit. Yeah. And he's come back and he's giving us a good level of play. I mean, Toa Toa, I mean, he's amongst our leading tacklers and he's tough and instinctive. and, you know, he's done a good job for us. I mean, we feel like we have, you know, good players at all three levels on the defense. You know, so, I mean, they get the credit that they deserve based on their play.

But in the end, it's about how we play as a team collectively. And that's all we really care about in the end is getting wins. So do you have a Bama linebacker thing? And is that a Dante High Tower thing? Because I don't make linebackers like High Tower anymore. High Tower's not a linebacker. Well, they don't. I know we're kind of shaking our head.

but they really don't. They do not. And I always tell people, you want to talk about underrated, not enough credit, I know you can't do it with your team right now, but on a team full of superstars, when I walked in that building, he was the guy that I was like, that's a leader. I've never played with a guy on defense that elicited what he elicited from the guys around him, the respect.

I mean, I'm 10 years older than him. And the first time he was like, yeah, I need you here. I'm like, yes, sir, I'm going to be there. He's just that type of guy. And, you know, is there something about, as you scout players from different schools, and maybe I've asked you this before, but like, is there something about certain places where you're like, hey, Nick had him? We look at programs, Chris.

I mean, programs are just as important as anything. And if you look around college football, I mean, you know, you know who do good programs are. And I think the big thing, how we look at it is how are they being coached, how do they practice, Because when they transition from that program to our program, is there going to be an adjustment period or are they going to be able to assimilate to some of the things that we do? I would say, honestly, that was a big part of the discussion with Kamari. And, you know, we had some discussion with Kirby.

And if you watch Kirby's teams practice, they practice a certain way. They practice fast. They practice physical. You know, they practice with the right mentality and right mindset. And when he says to you, like, this is the bell cow of the program, that's going to carry a lot of weight. And we understand what we're trying to build. So players with that mentality, and I would say, you know, fast forward here two years later, I mean, everybody sees Kamari play now, but Kamari's the same player in a lot of respects that he was coming out of Georgia.

So there's a lot of great programs that are out there. We got a lot of respect for a lot of, you know, the coaches out there. I think Coach Langing does a great job at Oregon. I think what Coach McGuire is doing at Texas Tech is, you know, phenomenal in a short period of time. Everybody's seeing what Sig is doing. So, and again, every program is going to be a little bit different. But the reality is the successful programs are going to reinforce the similar types of principles and concepts. So our responsibility is to find those players that have those qualities, talent's talent.

Like everybody needs a certain level of talent. Nobody's saying that you don't need talented players. But when you combine their physical traits with their acumen and their mindset, then that puts you in a position. You know, you have Will Anderson, Kamari Lasseter, Jalen Petrie, Nico Collins. You know, we'll see what we have with Jalen Knoll. But, you know, Nolan Higgins have some.

I like those guys. I like, oh, I like Higgins, man. You guys, they're growing up. You can see them growing up. But to your question, the programs absolutely matter. And part of it is our job to study those and just try to figure out the nuances. Like, you know, a player that comes from Coach's Ferrence's program,

what that is going to entail. So you have to put some stock and weight in that. And that's part of our, you know, it's part of our job. And our scouts do a phenomenal job of that. Last one for you. Will Anderson, one of your most celebrated players and deservedly so. I think he just plays with such a high motor and intensity and versatility, too. I mean, he does a lot of things well.

He's a complete player. Does he remind you of any player that you scouted in the past or pros? Because I've had a hard time finding it. like, you know, Hunter's just a freak of nature. They're different. Yeah, they're different. And he's bigger than you think when you meet him. But his game is, it's very unique.

It's funny. Like physically, if you were to look at him, him and Hightower actually look a lot of like. He may be a little bit taller than Hightower. Yeah. But they're totally, totally different players. High could rush. High could rush. High was a hybrid because he played off the ball and this.

kind of the old three, four, and then he could play from the edge. But I mean, I think the reality is, Chris, every player is kind of unique to themselves. And I think sometimes everybody tries to pigeonhole and, well, this guy's like this. Well, they're all their own players and they got to figure out what do they do well? And then their longevity is going to be based on, do they improve? Are they consistent? Can they perform and do their job at a high level on a consistent basis year after years? So, I mean, you love, I mean, you've talked to Will.

I mean, he's everything that you want in a football player. Nobody works harder. So there's a direct correlation between success on the field and the work that you do behind the scenes. So you just don't show up on Sunday and go out there and produce. It doesn't happen. I mean, Steph Curry hasn't been in the league for however many years just because he, you know, walks out in the court. Everybody sees what he does behind the scene. So the great players, they're great away from the field.

And that's what makes them great. And I think, honestly, that's probably more young players need to understand. that that's what's going to lead to sustainable success and for you to have a long career. He's such an adult, and I lamented as I walked out of the room at that hotel. I said, man, I wish I had walked into a building like this when I was a rookie because you can see it's not just him. It's the guys he has around him and the culture you guys have built. So you should be pretty excited, man. I know you don't like pumping your team's tires, but they look awesome, fun to watch, and I'm wishing y'all luck the rest of the way, Nick. Appreciate you. Thanks, Chris.

Appreciate the kind of words.