WON Monthly Magazine November 2020

Sourdough Sam

Well-known member
Mar 20, 2019
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When did you get a sense that Fred Warner would turn into the type of player/leader that he's turned into?​



I probably knew it since day one. Fred came in very mature as a young player. Fred is a guy that pays attention to details in everything he does and he works on it every day. Whether it's in walk throughs, the meeting room or training room, he's always focusing on the details. I think that it's no surprise that he was doing that from day one. You see how he is three years later and what he's turning into. He's eager to learn and continues to have an open mind for learning football – that's what has made him so successful.


How do you personally like to motivate your players?​



I think players really follow the coach's energy. I'm not a big speech guy, but I think if the coach has energy and a positive attitude every day and he can be uplifting every day, the players follow. I love talking to players about what motivates them, but I can guarantee you when a game starts and that ball is snapped, they probably don't remember what you said for motivation. I do think they remember the energy that you bring to practice, the meeting rooms and in your everyday life. They see it and they can feed off of it. We always try and keep our meeting rooms lively. I see the energy that DeMeco brings to meetings and how the players react to that, it makes them want to get involved. To me, that's motivation for the players.


What have you seen from your LB group overall that has helped them elevate their games this year?​



Every day they come in the meeting room and step on the field they're willing to sacrifice and put in the work. They put in work every single day. I've seen them grow tremendously even this year just from paying attention to all the little details. I think everything they're doing on the practice field has carried over to the games. It's not luck that Fred got that interception against New England. Those are balls that he's worked on in practice. He's making that play during the week so when it comes to the game he's able to do it there because he's worked on it. The overall preparation that those guys have make them game ready. They're always ready to play games and they play how they practice. They practice with energy and they play with energy and it shows on Sunday.


How have Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair grown into their roles in year two in the defense?​



They have both matured a lot from year one to year two. For Azeez, he was just getting healthy and getting used to his knee and the new system and Dre as well. Now in year two, they both have taken a huge jump. They know the system and now they can dig into the depth of learning and advancing their game with the minor details. They both have a great understanding of the game so you can see a little more physical play out there. They're running faster because they aren't having to think as much about the play this year as they were last year. To me, they both have progressed in their second year like you would expect them to do, but they're still working hard every day to get better.
 
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