[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"actionData","errors","root",{"_141":-5,"_142":-5,"_143":144,"_145":146,"_147":148},"routes/clips.$id.$slug",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"clip",{"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-5,"_18":19,"_20":-5,"_21":22,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_27":28,"_29":30,"_31":32,"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_44":45,"_46":-5,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":-5},"canonicalUrl","https://howleaderslead.com/clips/3462/a-bad-attitude-wont-do-you-any-good","id",3462,"title","A bad attitude won't do you any good","subtitle","transcript","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700\n- It just, it doesn't do many good to be negative.\n\n2\n00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:06.000\nI've figured that out early in my career\n\n3\n00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.240\nis some of my darkest days as a coach\n\n4\n00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.520\nfor when I didn't like my, I didn't,\n\n5\n00:00:10.520 --> 00:00:11.960\nI came in with a bad attitude.\n\n6\n00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:13.600\nI didn't like the circumstances\n\n7\n00:00:13.600 --> 00:00:17.960\nand it didn't, didn't do anything for me in a positive way.\n\n8\n00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:20.280\nAnd so you can control your attitude.\n\n9\n00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:22.880\nI know that's a silly coach speak, dads, whatever it is,\n\n10\n00:00:22.880 --> 00:00:23.920\nbut it's the truth.\n\n11\n00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.040\nAnd that's what I try to manage every day\n\n12\n00:00:26.040 --> 00:00:27.360\nwhen I come in the office.\n","pretty_transcript","start_time",2264990,"end_time",2291839,"keywords","Mentality, attitude, positivity, positive, negativity, negative","slug","a-bad-attitude-wont-do-you-any-good","origin","cms","mux_playback_id","6BNQpxsDad3P59LVkIBzWE3bh3OyGrrOSU2DnhrrmsE","mux_asset_id","tNG021kTbqJQByuAiGiAyXnujDDPD016AbflLelhknR3g","leader_id",297,"episode_id",446,"updated_at","2026-09-10T19:29:00.000000Z","meta_title","meta_description","og_image_media_id","web_url","https://www.howleaderslead.com/clips/3462/a-bad-attitude-wont-do-you-any-good","og_image_url","leader",{"_13":36,"_104":105,"_106":107,"_108":109,"_25":110,"_111":112,"_61":113,"_58":113,"_114":115,"_68":116,"_39":117,"_118":119,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_120":121,"_91":122,"_44":123,"_124":125,"_126":127,"_46":-5,"_128":129,"_130":131,"_95":132,"_51":-5},"episode",{"_13":38,"_15":52,"_27":53,"_17":54,"_55":56,"_18":57,"_20":-5,"_58":59,"_60":-5,"_61":59,"_62":-5,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":-5,"_68":-5,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_35":36,"_39":75,"_41":-5,"_42":76,"_43":-5,"_77":78,"_79":80,"_81":82,"_83":84,"_85":-5,"_86":-5,"_87":88,"_89":90,"_91":-5,"_46":-5,"_92":93,"_94":-5,"_95":-5,"_51":-5},"og_image_media","Consistency creates results","consistency-creates-results","There’s always a gap between doing the right things and seeing the results. Here’s how to stay consistent through that gap – with unwavering standards, constant belief, and a steady demeanor.","summary","

Imagine being Zac Taylor in 2019. He was 0-11 in his first season as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. He knew they were doing a lot of things right, but the results just weren’t coming.

Eventually, they did: just over two years later, Zac led his team to the Super Bowl.

But for a while, there was a big, painful gap. And you may be in a similar place right now – where you believe you’re on the right track, but the results aren’t showing up yet.

In this conversation, you’ll see what great leadership looks like in those seasons when you’re building, grinding, and learning – but not necessarily seeing results. It’s a powerful reminder of the power of consistency … and a fun way to get ready for another exciting year of NFL football!

This episode is for you if:

You’re in a season where progress feels invisible
You need solid advice on managing elite talent
You’re trying to connect more meaningfully with your team
You want to know what weirdly simple habit Zac attributes his success to

","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.020\nHello friends and welcome to another episode of How Leaders Lead with David Nov\n\n2\n00:00:04.020 --> 00:00:04.480\nak.\n\n3\n00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:08.160\nWhile football season is back and there's no better way to kick it off than\n\n4\n00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:09.200\nwith our guest\n\n5\n00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:14.180\nfor today's episode, it's Zach Taylor, the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals\n\n6\n00:00:14.180 --> 00:00:14.480\n.\n\n7\n00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:19.220\nNow Zach took over a two and 14 team and then led them to the Super Bowl just\n\n8\n00:00:19.220 --> 00:00:20.720\ntwo years later.\n\n9\n00:00:20.720 --> 00:00:25.360\nHe's since become one of the longest tenured head coaches in the NFL and in\n\n10\n00:00:25.360 --> 00:00:26.320\nthis episode,\n\n11\n00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.150\nyou're going to learn what's made him that way. Enjoy this conversation with\n\n12\n00:00:30.150 --> 00:00:31.360\nDavid and coach Taylor\n\n13\n00:00:31.360 --> 00:00:41.200\nand I will see you at the debrief. Zach, I'm a little upset with myself. I\n\n14\n00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:42.160\ntried to order a\n\n15\n00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:48.880\nCincinnati Bengals jersey, you know, and I think I'm one day late on it, but I\n\n16\n00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:49.760\ndo have the orange\n\n17\n00:00:49.760 --> 00:00:53.990\ncolors on today. Well, you'll be ready to go for September 13th against Tampa,\n\n18\n00:00:53.990 --> 00:00:54.720\nso you can wear it\n\n19\n00:00:54.720 --> 00:01:01.290\nthen. Zach, I had a great fortune to spend some time with you in Orlando at the\n\n20\n00:01:01.290 --> 00:01:02.800\nNFL Accelerator\n\n21\n00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:09.360\nevent a few months ago. I learned that when you're growing up and you're only\n\n22\n00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:10.080\neight years old,\n\n23\n00:01:10.080 --> 00:01:15.520\nyou organize football games with 30 kids in your neighborhood and you actually\n\n24\n00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:16.880\nhad draft sheets\n\n25\n00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:22.140\nand you put these teams together. How in the world does an eight-year-old run a\n\n26\n00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:22.880\ndraft?\n\n27\n00:01:22.880 --> 00:01:27.190\nWell, I was lucky. I lived on a cul-de-sac in Norman, Oklahoma with a ton of\n\n28\n00:01:27.190 --> 00:01:28.080\nkids. A lot of\n\n29\n00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:31.250\nthem played football. A lot of them played high school, college football. I was\n\n30\n00:01:31.250 --> 00:01:31.920\nalso a bit of a\n\n31\n00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:36.220\nliar back then. I would call a friend over to my house and I'd say, \"Hey, if\n\n32\n00:01:36.220 --> 00:01:37.280\nyou get over here,\n\n33\n00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.250\nyou're the 10th guy. We got 10 to play and he'd show up and he'd be the first\n\n34\n00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:41.120\nguy.\" And I'd say,\n\n35\n00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.820\n\"Okay, now you got to help me call eight others to show up and play.\" So that\n\n36\n00:01:44.820 --> 00:01:45.600\nwas how I recruited\n\n37\n00:01:45.600 --> 00:01:48.170\nthe guys. Then when we got over there, we do a draft. You know, we'd line\n\n38\n00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:49.200\neverybody up, old school,\n\n39\n00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.430\nplayground style and, \"Hey, here's your two or four captains and you got to\n\n40\n00:01:53.430 --> 00:01:53.840\npick your teams,\n\n41\n00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.410\nlet's go play.\" But we did that with football, basketball, baseball. We did\n\n42\n00:01:56.410 --> 00:01:57.040\neverything.\n\n43\n00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:02.380\nI love it. You're a leader in back bed. And I understand some of the\n\n44\n00:02:02.380 --> 00:02:04.160\nterminology you use\n\n45\n00:02:04.160 --> 00:02:10.080\nwith the bingles today actually traces back to those games you had in your\n\n46\n00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:10.880\nneighborhood.\n\n47\n00:02:10.880 --> 00:02:15.810\nWhat survived, I think it was Liddell Field all the way to the National\n\n48\n00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:17.120\nFootball League?\n\n49\n00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:21.350\nThere's a couple things. A signal we use in particular, my players don't even\n\n50\n00:02:21.350 --> 00:02:22.000\nknow that that\n\n51\n00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:27.060\ndates all the way back to the Del Field back in the 90s. There's a couple terms\n\n52\n00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:27.760\nthat I've stopped\n\n53\n00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:32.060\nusing that people were annoyed by. I still use them sometimes in walkthrough.\n\n54\n00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:32.480\nIt's not in real\n\n55\n00:02:32.480 --> 00:02:35.870\ngames just to kind of annoy them a little bit. But there's things that we've\n\n56\n00:02:35.870 --> 00:02:37.440\nbeen using for 30 plus\n\n57\n00:02:37.440 --> 00:02:40.640\nyears that I've carried over in the different offices I've been a part of over\n\n58\n00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:41.520\nthe last decade.\n\n59\n00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:45.440\nAnd you're not going to give up those trade secrets. I can't give up the words.\n\n60\n00:02:45.440 --> 00:02:50.180\nThat's top secret. And here you are now, Zach, you're entering your eighth\n\n61\n00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:51.360\nseason as a head coach\n\n62\n00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:55.410\nof the bingles. What are you better at today that you simply couldn't have\n\n63\n00:02:55.410 --> 00:02:57.440\nunderstood in year one?\n\n64\n00:02:57.440 --> 00:03:03.640\nCertainly managing people and empowering them and giving them opportunity to do\n\n65\n00:03:03.640 --> 00:03:03.920\nthings that\n\n66\n00:03:03.920 --> 00:03:06.920\nmaybe I tried to take on early in my tenure here. I think those are things that\n\n67\n00:03:06.920 --> 00:03:07.360\nyou just\n\n68\n00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.580\nlearned over time. They're not something you walk into the job in a new\n\n69\n00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:11.600\nleadership role\n\n70\n00:03:11.600 --> 00:03:14.320\nand you're able just to hit the ground running with them. A lot of the reasons\n\n71\n00:03:14.320 --> 00:03:15.120\nyou're hired is\n\n72\n00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.340\nbecause you're supposed to be able to do all this stuff. But then over time,\n\n73\n00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:19.440\nyou hire staff,\n\n74\n00:03:19.440 --> 00:03:23.280\nthey understand how you want it done. So it started to empower other people. I\n\n75\n00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:23.440\nthink it's\n\n76\n00:03:23.440 --> 00:03:26.060\nsomething I've already learned over the last eight years. What was it that\n\n77\n00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:27.040\nconvinced you that\n\n78\n00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:33.360\nas the head coach here, you needed that to let go a lot of what needed to be\n\n79\n00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:34.560\ndone and not be the\n\n80\n00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:39.840\nguy who micromanaged and tried to do it all himself? What a suffocate you. And\n\n81\n00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:40.320\nthen eventually,\n\n82\n00:03:40.320 --> 00:03:43.170\nyou're going to get assistance and people that work with you that want more\n\n83\n00:03:43.170 --> 00:03:44.240\nopportunity. And\n\n84\n00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.480\nthey're here for two or three years and they're not getting that opportunity to\n\n85\n00:03:46.480 --> 00:03:47.520\nadvance. And so\n\n86\n00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.440\nif you hire smart people that you trust, there's a reason they're here and we\n\n87\n00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:52.640\n've got a great staff.\n\n88\n00:03:52.640 --> 00:03:57.440\nYou know, one of my favorite shows is Ted Lasso. And I was watching the second\n\n89\n00:03:57.440 --> 00:03:58.400\nepisode of the new\n\n90\n00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:03.310\nseason. Ted goes in there and he's got an assistive coach and he's wanting to\n\n91\n00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:03.920\nlearn more about the\n\n92\n00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:08.220\nplayers. He goes, \"What's their story?\" And he really wanted to get to know him\n\n93\n00:04:08.220 --> 00:04:09.200\nas people. And\n\n94\n00:04:09.200 --> 00:04:14.110\nI remember, you know, when we were in Orlando, you talked about, you know, you\n\n95\n00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:15.040\n're really trying to\n\n96\n00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:19.780\nget to know each of the players individually. And so that'll help you coach\n\n97\n00:04:19.780 --> 00:04:21.200\nthem better as you\n\n98\n00:04:21.200 --> 00:04:27.040\nmove into the year. You know, tell me a story about a player who might have\n\n99\n00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:28.000\nhelped you understand\n\n100\n00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.830\nthat was really important. Well, I think it just clarifies a lot of things oft\n\n101\n00:04:31.830 --> 00:04:32.960\nentimes. Maybe you're\n\n102\n00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:36.140\nusing a coaching point that you just feel like hasn't gotten through to a\n\n103\n00:04:36.140 --> 00:04:37.040\nplayer. And then you\n\n104\n00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.780\nsit them down right here in this chair one on one and you learn about the\n\n105\n00:04:39.780 --> 00:04:41.520\nbackground. You learn about\n\n106\n00:04:41.520 --> 00:04:44.840\nmaybe their relationship with their parents and some expectations that were a\n\n107\n00:04:44.840 --> 00:04:45.600\nlittle sideways\n\n108\n00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:48.500\nsometimes. And so then you realize, \"Hey, my coaching style to get through this\n\n109\n00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:49.200\nplayer isn't,\n\n110\n00:04:49.200 --> 00:04:52.950\nit's what's challenging for him his whole life.\" And so I got to figure out a\n\n111\n00:04:52.950 --> 00:04:53.440\ndifferent way to\n\n112\n00:04:53.440 --> 00:04:56.670\ncommunicate with this player. And so those relationships, it's hard when you\n\n113\n00:04:56.670 --> 00:04:58.000\ngot 90 to get\n\n114\n00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:02.300\nthrough that with all of them. But I've never regretted asking a player to come\n\n115\n00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:02.800\nin my office,\n\n116\n00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.200\nsitting down learning about day one of their life all the way to now and walked\n\n117\n00:05:06.200 --> 00:05:06.720\naway like,\n\n118\n00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:10.800\n\"Man, I got much of such a better understanding of who this person is now.\"\n\n119\n00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:15.540\nSo let's say I'm a new player, I walk in your office. I mean, how would you get\n\n120\n00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:16.400\nme to open up on\n\n121\n00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:19.010\nthat? Well, that's just, \"Hey, I want to know everything there's to know about\n\n122\n00:05:19.010 --> 00:05:19.760\nyou.\" People love\n\n123\n00:05:19.760 --> 00:05:25.070\ntalking about themselves. And it's, I think that's everybody. And so just tell\n\n124\n00:05:25.070 --> 00:05:25.600\nme your story,\n\n125\n00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.730\nnot tell me your story from college. Tell me your story from day one. Where are\n\n126\n00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:29.120\nyou from?\n\n127\n00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:32.000\nWho's important to you in your life? Talk to me about what sports you play as a\n\n128\n00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:32.640\nkid. What were\n\n129\n00:05:32.640 --> 00:05:36.190\nthe challenges you had as a kid? Did you play different positions? Did you move\n\n130\n00:05:36.190 --> 00:05:36.960\nin middle school?\n\n131\n00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:40.180\nWhat position you play in middle school? Who's a coach that you really named\n\n132\n00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:41.200\nthe coach that you\n\n133\n00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:44.550\nhad a good time playing for? Because we all got those guys in sixth, seventh,\n\n134\n00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:45.280\neighth grade that\n\n135\n00:05:45.280 --> 00:05:48.910\nwe still remember this day. Maybe we haven't said the name in 20 years, but as\n\n136\n00:05:48.910 --> 00:05:49.760\nsoon as somebody asks\n\n137\n00:05:49.760 --> 00:05:52.650\nyou the question, you remember. And so I think players really, they might not\n\n138\n00:05:52.650 --> 00:05:53.200\ntrust me at that\n\n139\n00:05:53.200 --> 00:05:56.810\npoint yet. They don't know me, but they enjoy telling those stories. And so it\n\n140\n00:05:56.810 --> 00:05:57.440\nkind of helps\n\n141\n00:05:57.440 --> 00:06:00.050\nbridge the gap a little bit in the relationship. And you certainly walk away\n\n142\n00:06:00.050 --> 00:06:00.720\nfeeling like you know\n\n143\n00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.270\nthem better. And how long does it take you to have a meeting like that? It can\n\n144\n00:06:04.270 --> 00:06:05.200\nbe anywhere 10 to\n\n145\n00:06:05.200 --> 00:06:08.000\n30 minutes, you know, just depending on where the conversation takes. Some guys\n\n146\n00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:08.320\naren't very\n\n147\n00:06:08.320 --> 00:06:11.080\ntalkative. Some guys, you know, you're just going to get the nuts and the bolts\n\n148\n00:06:11.080 --> 00:06:12.160\n. And so yeah, okay,\n\n149\n00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.710\nI understand the last 24 years of your life. Maybe they just don't love to talk\n\n150\n00:06:15.710 --> 00:06:16.400\nand share too much,\n\n151\n00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:19.830\nwhich is fine. But it's time well spent, right? It's something that you've\n\n152\n00:06:19.830 --> 00:06:20.800\nlearned very valuable.\n\n153\n00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:25.730\nYou know, you had, you said something that I loved, which is you have a\n\n154\n00:06:25.730 --> 00:06:27.120\nphilosophy that you treat\n\n155\n00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:32.000\neverybody fairly, but not everyone equally. Explain that.\n\n156\n00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.590\nWell, there's times I've we've had some players here for six, seven, eight\n\n157\n00:06:36.590 --> 00:06:38.400\nyears. And I'm going to\n\n158\n00:06:38.400 --> 00:06:41.290\nmake sure I communicate with them maybe in a different way, maybe in an extra\n\n159\n00:06:41.290 --> 00:06:41.840\nway to let them\n\n160\n00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:45.600\nknow some things that are maybe changing coming forward with the schedule or an\n\n161\n00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:46.480\nidea I've got that\n\n162\n00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:48.950\nI want to get off of them. I'm not going to share that with all 90 guys. You\n\n163\n00:06:48.950 --> 00:06:50.320\nknow, not everybody's\n\n164\n00:06:50.320 --> 00:06:53.210\nearned my trust that way necessarily, but there's certain guys that I want to\n\n165\n00:06:53.210 --> 00:06:53.840\nmake sure you're\n\n166\n00:06:53.840 --> 00:06:57.090\nincluded in the plan and what we're about to do. And it helps you in the locker\n\n167\n00:06:57.090 --> 00:06:57.760\nroom too. When they\n\n168\n00:06:57.760 --> 00:07:00.890\nunderstand when there's five or six guys that understand why you're doing\n\n169\n00:07:00.890 --> 00:07:01.760\nsomething and you got\n\n170\n00:07:01.760 --> 00:07:04.750\n90 in the locker room, sometimes they can help facilitate. Hey, here's the\n\n171\n00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:05.840\nreason behind why we're\n\n172\n00:07:05.840 --> 00:07:10.420\nwhy we're doing it. Tell me about a time when you might have gotten tested by\n\n173\n00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:11.360\none of your best\n\n174\n00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:16.780\nplayers. I was. There's a lot of adversity you face in the game. And a lot of\n\n175\n00:07:16.780 --> 00:07:17.840\ntimes your best,\n\n176\n00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:21.290\nmost talented players, maybe they want more involvement. They feel like they\n\n177\n00:07:21.290 --> 00:07:21.920\nhaven't been\n\n178\n00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.260\ninvolved enough. And so there's going to be confrontation and it's never it's\n\n179\n00:07:25.260 --> 00:07:25.840\nnever personal.\n\n180\n00:07:25.840 --> 00:07:30.230\nYou're always coming from a place of I want to win and I want to help us win.\n\n181\n00:07:30.230 --> 00:07:30.720\nAnd I can think\n\n182\n00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:34.270\nof different teams I've been on where there's key moments in the season where\n\n183\n00:07:34.270 --> 00:07:35.120\none of your best\n\n184\n00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:39.760\nplayers has confrontationals, maybe not the right word on the sideline, but\n\n185\n00:07:39.760 --> 00:07:40.560\nbeen excited,\n\n186\n00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:43.920\nexcitable. And it's always you look back like, yeah, they're probably right.\n\n187\n00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:44.480\nThey need to be\n\n188\n00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.470\nmore involved. You know, we're here because of them and we need to find ways to\n\n189\n00:07:47.470 --> 00:07:48.240\ndo it. But\n\n190\n00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.050\nour guys here have always done it in a very respectful way. It's never come\n\n191\n00:07:51.050 --> 00:07:52.720\nfrom talking\n\n192\n00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:56.410\ndown to anybody or disrespectful standpoint. It's always just been out of out\n\n193\n00:07:56.410 --> 00:07:57.200\nof want the team\n\n194\n00:07:57.200 --> 00:08:01.840\nto be successful. And I know you like every good leader you have, you have your\n\n195\n00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:02.400\nstandards and\n\n196\n00:08:02.400 --> 00:08:08.160\nyou know, Jamar chases, I understand when he was a rookie, you know, he came in\n\n197\n00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:08.640\nlike one\n\n198\n00:08:08.640 --> 00:08:13.960\nminute late for a meeting and you find him. I mean, you know, what was what was\n\n199\n00:08:13.960 --> 00:08:15.600\nthat like?\n\n200\n00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:19.200\nYou know, you set rules and some of those rules are very black and white. You\n\n201\n00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:19.280\nknow,\n\n202\n00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:23.340\nif you're late, whether it's 30 seconds a minute, 30 minutes, it's a fine for\n\n203\n00:08:23.340 --> 00:08:24.000\nus. And so\n\n204\n00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.120\nsometimes it's really helpful for me when our best players break that rule. And\n\n205\n00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:29.600\nI'm able to\n\n206\n00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.460\nfind them because then you're able to show the other 89 players on the roster\n\n207\n00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:33.120\nlike, hey,\n\n208\n00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.250\nit's going to be the same for everybody in that regard. And so that's an easy\n\n209\n00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:38.240\none for me.\n\n210\n00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:41.680\nI think the players all respect that and they toe the line that way.\n\n211\n00:08:41.680 --> 00:08:45.020\nWell, that was a teaching moment for Jamar. And as I understand it, when you\n\n212\n00:08:45.020 --> 00:08:46.400\nset that example,\n\n213\n00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:50.620\nyou kind of set the example for the culture and help drive the culture. And he\n\n214\n00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:51.680\nkind of helped you\n\n215\n00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:55.980\nbecome a culture champion on that front as I understand it. There's no question\n\n216\n00:08:55.980 --> 00:08:56.400\n. I mean,\n\n217\n00:08:56.400 --> 00:08:59.970\nthere's, you know, a guy walks in Jamar, I think probably walked in. He maybe\n\n218\n00:08:59.970 --> 00:09:01.360\nwalked in 30 seconds\n\n219\n00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:04.760\nlate and you're kind of, do I find him? Do I not? You do. And then a year later\n\n220\n00:09:04.760 --> 00:09:05.440\n, you got a young\n\n221\n00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.990\nreceiver who does the same thing. And Jamar is the first one to him saying, you\n\n222\n00:09:08.990 --> 00:09:09.520\ngot to be here on\n\n223\n00:09:09.520 --> 00:09:13.120\ntime. He's going to find you. He find me a year ago. And so it does help\n\n224\n00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:13.760\neverybody build the\n\n225\n00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:17.160\nculture that way. Was there ever a time you think you gave a star too much\n\n226\n00:09:17.160 --> 00:09:18.400\nlatitude and later wish\n\n227\n00:09:18.400 --> 00:09:23.160\nyou hadn't? Sometimes you've got such a strong relationship with some of those\n\n228\n00:09:23.160 --> 00:09:24.080\nguys. There's going\n\n229\n00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:26.840\nto be some give and take there because you're having a lot of conversations\n\n230\n00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:28.000\nwith them, maybe more so\n\n231\n00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.830\nthan most of the guys on the roster. So I can certainly think of some times\n\n232\n00:09:31.830 --> 00:09:32.800\nwhere bargaining is\n\n233\n00:09:32.800 --> 00:09:35.930\nmaybe not the right word, but you're trying to come to a place of understanding\n\n234\n00:09:35.930 --> 00:09:36.560\nbecause they've\n\n235\n00:09:36.560 --> 00:09:39.450\nbeen here so long and maybe treat them a little bit different than somebody who\n\n236\n00:09:39.450 --> 00:09:40.080\n's only been here\n\n237\n00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:43.630\nfor a year or two. You know, I want to spend some time on something that seems\n\n238\n00:09:43.630 --> 00:09:44.560\nto be at the heart\n\n239\n00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:49.620\nof how you lead. You know, and after your first two seasons, you'd won just six\n\n240\n00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:51.520\ngames and you went\n\n241\n00:09:51.520 --> 00:09:55.120\nvery, very public and you said, you know, I believe in what we're doing. And\n\n242\n00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.200\nwhere did that belief come\n\n243\n00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:01.680\nfrom? Probably from my time at the Rams. You know, I worked for Sean McVay for\n\n244\n00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:02.560\ntwo years, his first\n\n245\n00:10:02.560 --> 00:10:06.140\ntwo years there. The second year we went to the Super Bowl. And so I saw him\n\n246\n00:10:06.140 --> 00:10:07.840\nbuild it really from\n\n247\n00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:11.110\nfrom scratch over a two year period. A team that didn't have very high\n\n248\n00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:12.400\nexpectations our first year\n\n249\n00:10:12.400 --> 00:10:15.830\nwent to Super Bowl near two. So I had seen exactly what it looked like. I wasn\n\n250\n00:10:15.830 --> 00:10:18.000\n't just talking, hoping\n\n251\n00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:19.870\nthat this is what it looks like. This is what I think it's supposed to look\n\n252\n00:10:19.870 --> 00:10:20.560\nlike. I knew what it\n\n253\n00:10:20.560 --> 00:10:24.460\nlooked like. And we had guys on staff that had been there and done it. And so\n\n254\n00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:25.520\nyeah, we had six\n\n255\n00:10:25.520 --> 00:10:28.700\nwins to show for ourselves for the first two years. But we felt like a lot of\n\n256\n00:10:28.700 --> 00:10:29.840\nthe work we'd done over\n\n257\n00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:33.930\nthose two years was going to help us really take off. And it did in that 21-22\n\n258\n00:10:33.930 --> 00:10:34.560\nseason.\n\n259\n00:10:34.560 --> 00:10:39.300\nYou know, if wins and losses aren't telling the whole story, what are the\n\n260\n00:10:39.300 --> 00:10:40.720\nsignals that you look\n\n261\n00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:44.460\nfor to know that you're actually on the right track? Guys getting other guys in\n\n262\n00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:45.280\nthe line, you know,\n\n263\n00:10:45.280 --> 00:10:49.510\nwhen you start to get leadership in the locker room, who's grabbing guys, you\n\n264\n00:10:49.510 --> 00:10:50.960\nknow, by the shoulder\n\n265\n00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:53.380\nand saying, this isn't how we do it. You know, you got to change the way you do\n\n266\n00:10:53.380 --> 00:10:54.160\nit. You got to get\n\n267\n00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:57.440\nin line. And so when it's not just me or the coaches doing that over and over,\n\n268\n00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:59.600\nI saw that a lot in 2020.\n\n269\n00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:04.560\nSo that was my second season here. We were four, 11 and one. But I saw a lot of\n\n270\n00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:05.200\nthe guys we were\n\n271\n00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:08.750\ngoing to count on in the future, start to take hold of the locker room and help\n\n272\n00:11:08.750 --> 00:11:09.680\nchange the culture.\n\n273\n00:11:09.680 --> 00:11:14.480\nAnd so you knew better days were in store for us. Yeah. So you basically went\n\n274\n00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:15.520\nfor me as a leader\n\n275\n00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:19.350\nto we where they're embracing what you're talking. What do you think is the key\n\n276\n00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:20.800\n? If you had to pick\n\n277\n00:11:20.800 --> 00:11:25.090\none thing of going for me to we, what do you think it would be? Well, you got\n\n278\n00:11:25.090 --> 00:11:25.520\nto you got to\n\n279\n00:11:25.520 --> 00:11:28.250\nlearn about the guys that you're going to ask that farm, you know, that you're\n\n280\n00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:28.960\ngoing to step into\n\n281\n00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:32.510\nleadership roles. And in 2020, there were some guys that weren't entirely\n\n282\n00:11:32.510 --> 00:11:33.360\ncomfortable being in\n\n283\n00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.910\nthat role yet because of some other veterans in the room and just had to really\n\n284\n00:11:36.910 --> 00:11:38.080\npush them. And I\n\n285\n00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.690\nknew that if you would step forward and take some ownership here, guys respect\n\n286\n00:11:41.690 --> 00:11:42.640\nyou, you might not\n\n287\n00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:46.680\nsee it yet, but guys respect you. And I can remember a guy like Sam Hubbard, he\n\n288\n00:11:46.680 --> 00:11:47.840\nwas young in his career,\n\n289\n00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.520\ndefensive in for us, didn't feel like he was there yet personally, he didn't.\n\n290\n00:11:51.520 --> 00:11:52.880\nBut I did. And so we\n\n291\n00:11:52.880 --> 00:11:56.780\nreally pushed him and he took ownership of our locker room and became one of\n\n292\n00:11:56.780 --> 00:11:58.000\nour best leaders over\n\n293\n00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:02.640\na seven year period. When you got to Cincinnati, Marvin Lewis had been there\n\n294\n00:12:02.640 --> 00:12:04.000\nbefore you. And he\n\n295\n00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.640\nwas really loved by the players as I understand it. How did you go about\n\n296\n00:12:08.640 --> 00:12:10.080\nchanging things without\n\n297\n00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:15.400\ntelling them that the old way was wrong? I think the first thing is you say, we\n\n298\n00:12:15.400 --> 00:12:15.920\n're going to do it\n\n299\n00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:18.650\ndifferently. That doesn't mean the old way is wrong. We're just going to do it\n\n300\n00:12:18.650 --> 00:12:19.440\na different way.\n\n301\n00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:24.180\nIt's not I've got as much respect for Marvin Lewis. He and I have a great\n\n302\n00:12:24.180 --> 00:12:25.440\nrelationship. He'll text me\n\n303\n00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:30.350\nall the time before games, particularly divisional games, good luck. So I\n\n304\n00:12:30.350 --> 00:12:31.120\nrespect the heck out of\n\n305\n00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.040\nhim. And so I think just expressing to our players, we're just going to do\n\n306\n00:12:34.040 --> 00:12:35.280\ndifferent. This isn't\n\n307\n00:12:35.280 --> 00:12:38.160\ndoesn't mean the old way is bad. This is just a different way of doing it. And\n\n308\n00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:38.720\nand over time,\n\n309\n00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.160\nguys buy into that new way and it starts to work for us. And you've said that\n\n310\n00:12:42.160 --> 00:12:43.360\nin that first year,\n\n311\n00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:48.510\nmaybe 30 of the 53 guys really believed in what you were what you were doing\n\n312\n00:12:48.510 --> 00:12:49.760\nand eventually became\n\n313\n00:12:49.760 --> 00:12:54.140\n51 or 52. I don't know what the number is, but you know, people really got on\n\n314\n00:12:54.140 --> 00:12:54.880\nthe bandwagon.\n\n315\n00:12:55.680 --> 00:12:59.600\nHow did you figure out who was going to come along and who needed to go?\n\n316\n00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.820\nWell, I think over time over to your period, guys, guys figured out you either\n\n317\n00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:04.560\nget on board\n\n318\n00:13:04.560 --> 00:13:07.810\nor you're not going to be here, you know, when that happens to a couple of guys\n\n319\n00:13:07.810 --> 00:13:08.480\n. And so we had\n\n320\n00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.840\nidentified a really good core in the locker room that we could trust and\n\n321\n00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:11.760\nbelieve in and that we're\n\n322\n00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:15.830\ngood players and wanted to help others in the locker room, you know, come and\n\n323\n00:13:15.830 --> 00:13:16.800\nhelp us too. So\n\n324\n00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:19.510\nover time, you identify those guys and then you draft and you sign some free\n\n325\n00:13:19.510 --> 00:13:20.400\nagents that you think\n\n326\n00:13:20.400 --> 00:13:24.040\ntheir their character fits what we're trying to build here. And and so we got\n\n327\n00:13:24.040 --> 00:13:25.200\nthere in 2021,\n\n328\n00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.750\nwe'd added the right people over a three year period and it really took off for\n\n329\n00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:28.880\nus.\n\n330\n00:13:28.880 --> 00:13:32.010\nHow do you speaking of the draft, you know, picking those players, you know,\n\n331\n00:13:32.010 --> 00:13:34.000\nhow do you get\n\n332\n00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.120\naligned with your your your GM and owner? I mean, what's the process that you\n\n333\n00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:39.520\nuse to just make sure\n\n334\n00:13:39.520 --> 00:13:43.040\neverybody understands what you really need to get this team to the next level?\n\n335\n00:13:43.040 --> 00:13:46.620\nIt goes back to the relationship. We meet all the time, you know, with\n\n336\n00:13:46.620 --> 00:13:47.440\nownership and with our\n\n337\n00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:52.180\npersonnel and Duke Tobin, our GM and and so again, it doesn't mean you have to\n\n338\n00:13:52.180 --> 00:13:53.200\nagree on every player\n\n339\n00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:56.330\nin the draft. You don't want that. You don't want everyone to see it exactly\n\n340\n00:13:56.330 --> 00:13:56.960\nthe same way.\n\n341\n00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.240\nThere's gonna be times where we got a nail down on a player, but because we got\n\n342\n00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:00.800\nsuch a strong\n\n343\n00:14:00.800 --> 00:14:04.350\nrelationship and we meet all the time and we talk through it, that ultimately\n\n344\n00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:05.280\nthe people we bring\n\n345\n00:14:05.280 --> 00:14:08.740\ninto the building are people that we all believe in and we all have a strong\n\n346\n00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:09.680\nvision for. And so\n\n347\n00:14:09.680 --> 00:14:12.240\nwe're all trying to support to make sure they can be the best player for as\n\n348\n00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:12.640\npossible.\n\n349\n00:14:13.280 --> 00:14:17.390\nYou didn't win a game. I think until December that first year that you were at\n\n350\n00:14:17.390 --> 00:14:17.920\nthe bagels,\n\n351\n00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:22.830\ntake me inside one of those wardings when you're driving down Columbia Parkway\n\n352\n00:14:22.830 --> 00:14:24.080\nto practice\n\n353\n00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.820\nfacility at 0 and 11. And what was that like? That's tough. It's it's misery\n\n354\n00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:30.000\nstacked on misery.\n\n355\n00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:35.080\nI can think specifically waking up on a Monday morning and you wake up in your\n\n356\n00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:36.480\nbed after a loss\n\n357\n00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:40.780\nand you think this is surely this isn't happening. This is a nightmare and you\n\n358\n00:14:40.780 --> 00:14:41.600\nget in your car\n\n359\n00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.560\nand I know when I walk into the building, everyone's gonna see how I respond to\n\n360\n00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:45.440\nthe adversity.\n\n361\n00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:49.660\nAnd if I'm gonna if I'm gonna drag around and have a solemn face and and show\n\n362\n00:14:49.660 --> 00:14:50.400\nthat it's it's\n\n363\n00:14:50.400 --> 00:14:54.620\nwearing on me, then then why would anybody else be different? And so you got to\n\n364\n00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:55.440\npick your head up\n\n365\n00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:59.080\nand you got to lead and just keep working through it. And then that first win\n\n366\n00:14:59.080 --> 00:14:59.920\nwe got in December\n\n367\n00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:03.200\nagainst the Jets was a great feeling. And then we went and got one more before\n\n368\n00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:04.000\nthe season ended\n\n369\n00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:07.520\nand then we just felt all off season and found a few more the next year.\n\n370\n00:15:07.520 --> 00:15:12.160\nWhere did you find the energy it takes back to to lift yourself up? Because it\n\n371\n00:15:12.160 --> 00:15:12.720\nsounds it's easy\n\n372\n00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:17.360\nto say, oh, you know, I got to I'm the face of the the organization. If I'm not\n\n373\n00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:17.760\npositive,\n\n374\n00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:23.440\neverybody else, you know, how can I expect them to be? How do you have anything\n\n375\n00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:24.480\nyou do to like\n\n376\n00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.450\nthat to get you ready to go in the morning? I think I'm a positive person to\n\n377\n00:15:28.450 --> 00:15:29.600\nbegin with,\n\n378\n00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:34.240\ngenerally speaking. And I like my job. I like coaching football. I like being\n\n379\n00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:34.720\naround the staff\n\n380\n00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:37.640\nand players. And so even though you're facing a lot of adversity and maybe that\n\n381\n00:15:37.640 --> 00:15:38.640\npart's not fun,\n\n382\n00:15:38.640 --> 00:15:42.950\nlosing is not fun. It is fun being around and trying to build something special\n\n383\n00:15:42.950 --> 00:15:43.440\n. And\n\n384\n00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.460\nyou do when you when you're at the bottom, because we were at the bottom, we\n\n385\n00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:47.040\nhad the first book in\n\n386\n00:15:47.040 --> 00:15:50.230\nthe draft when we were at two and 14, we were at the bottom. And so you're you\n\n387\n00:15:50.230 --> 00:15:50.880\n're trying to\n\n388\n00:15:50.880 --> 00:15:55.520\nbuild this vision to be at the top. And I don't know that if we'd gotten nine\n\n389\n00:15:55.520 --> 00:15:56.240\nand eight, my first\n\n390\n00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.620\nseason or nine and seven and then gone to the Super Bowl two years later, that\n\n391\n00:15:58.620 --> 00:15:59.120\nwould have been\n\n392\n00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.370\ngreat. But to be at the very bottom and then go two years later, no one all the\n\n393\n00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:03.200\nhard work we put\n\n394\n00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.940\nin and the sacrifice everybody made that made it, even though we lost, which\n\n395\n00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:08.880\nwas terrible, it was\n\n396\n00:16:08.880 --> 00:16:13.440\none of the most satisfying seasons of my life because of where we come from and\n\n397\n00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:13.760\nthe work that\n\n398\n00:16:13.760 --> 00:16:17.200\nwe put in and and all the people that have been around us that supported us.\n\n399\n00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:17.920\nWhat did that do to\n\n400\n00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:21.940\nyour conviction of just your method? I think when the players that had been\n\n401\n00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:22.960\nhere, particularly for\n\n402\n00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:26.510\ntwo or three years saw that, you know, they saw those difficult team meetings\n\n403\n00:16:26.510 --> 00:16:27.280\nwe had and all those\n\n404\n00:16:27.280 --> 00:16:31.500\ndifficult practices we had when we weren't winning. And then when year three,\n\n405\n00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:32.480\nthey see they see the\n\n406\n00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.930\nresults of it. They're completely bought in and then they're really helping the\n\n407\n00:16:35.930 --> 00:16:36.560\nyounger guys\n\n408\n00:16:36.560 --> 00:16:39.910\nunderstand it too. And then you got veterans from other teams want to come be a\n\n409\n00:16:39.910 --> 00:16:40.640\npart of it because\n\n410\n00:16:40.640 --> 00:16:43.810\nthey're hearing about it. And so, you know, we're obviously building to get\n\n411\n00:16:43.810 --> 00:16:44.800\nback to that. We have\n\n412\n00:16:44.800 --> 00:16:48.480\ngreat people in the locker room, but we want to experience that success again.\n\n413\n00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:49.040\nAnd you did go to\n\n414\n00:16:49.040 --> 00:16:53.040\nthat Super Bowl. And like you said, it was a devastating loss. I mean, you know\n\n415\n00:16:53.040 --> 00:16:53.920\n, you get there\n\n416\n00:16:53.920 --> 00:16:58.480\nwhether it's a tough way to end the season. What did you learn in that first\n\n417\n00:16:58.480 --> 00:16:59.360\nSuper Bowl that you\n\n418\n00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.280\njust can't wait to put into use when you get back there? Because you will.\n\n419\n00:17:03.280 --> 00:17:06.000\nWell, I think just over the week of prep, and there's not a whole lot I would\n\n420\n00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.200\nhave done differently.\n\n421\n00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.630\nWe've got notes that, you know, I'll look back on the next summer there, but\n\n422\n00:17:10.630 --> 00:17:11.600\nthat week goes by\n\n423\n00:17:11.600 --> 00:17:15.280\nfast. And yeah, your family is there and your friends are there. And that's all\n\n424\n00:17:15.280 --> 00:17:16.000\ngreat. But you\n\n425\n00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:18.620\njust want to win the game. And so I think sacrificing whatever you got to\n\n426\n00:17:18.620 --> 00:17:20.160\nsacrifice that week of prep\n\n427\n00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:23.060\nto make sure you're all in and doing everything you can to win the game. And I\n\n428\n00:17:23.060 --> 00:17:24.000\n'm not saying we did\n\n429\n00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:28.560\nanything. I would change, but you just realized we have been back in six years\n\n430\n00:17:28.560 --> 00:17:29.600\nnow. And so you're\n\n431\n00:17:29.600 --> 00:17:32.730\nthere and you think you're going to be there every year. And here we are in 20\n\n432\n00:17:32.730 --> 00:17:33.920\n26 fighting to get back\n\n433\n00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:38.460\nagain. And so just making sure you do everything you can, turn over every rock\n\n434\n00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:39.440\nto make sure that\n\n435\n00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.900\nyou're doing everything you can to walk off that field with a win. You haven't\n\n436\n00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:43.600\nmade the playoffs\n\n437\n00:17:43.600 --> 00:17:47.350\nthe last three seasons. And most people would tribute to that back. You've had\n\n438\n00:17:47.350 --> 00:17:48.000\nsome pretty,\n\n439\n00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:52.910\npretty tough entries that if you really would take any team down. But it also\n\n440\n00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:53.440\nputs a lot of\n\n441\n00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.870\npressure on you as a head coach, you know, especially when you've been to the\n\n442\n00:17:56.870 --> 00:17:58.080\nSuper Bowl. And especially\n\n443\n00:17:58.080 --> 00:18:01.720\nwhen you have such high standards yourself. And but before we talk about the\n\n444\n00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:02.240\npressure,\n\n445\n00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:09.440\nwhat do you believe about this team as you look towards 2026 and seven, you\n\n446\n00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:10.240\nknow, what do you think\n\n447\n00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.550\nabout this team that maybe other, you know, people outside the building might\n\n448\n00:18:14.550 --> 00:18:16.000\nnot see yet or could\n\n449\n00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.760\nbe discounting. I love the team. It's a really hungry group of its guys that\n\n450\n00:18:20.760 --> 00:18:22.240\nhave been here and\n\n451\n00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.980\nreally earned their right to be on the field over their time here. It's some\n\n452\n00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:27.520\nveterans that we've\n\n453\n00:18:27.520 --> 00:18:30.650\nadded in the off season who know what it's like to win a championship and\n\n454\n00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:31.680\nexperience success. And\n\n455\n00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.680\nthey want to come here and do it and help us do it. And then we've drafted some\n\n456\n00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:35.440\nguys that I think\n\n457\n00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.420\nreally fit into what we want to experience. So I'm high on this team. We got a\n\n458\n00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:40.560\nlot of work to put in,\n\n459\n00:18:40.560 --> 00:18:43.360\nbut we got the right people to do the things that we want to do. Now we just\n\n460\n00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:44.080\ngot to go out there and\n\n461\n00:18:44.080 --> 00:18:48.720\ndo it. And you know, national media, you know, you know, they're the biggest\n\n462\n00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:49.440\ncritics of all,\n\n463\n00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:53.260\nthey talk about this being a make a break season for you and the bingles. I\n\n464\n00:18:53.260 --> 00:18:53.520\nmean,\n\n465\n00:18:53.520 --> 00:18:59.370\nhow does that impact your mindset? I mean, I got to tell you, I got a pretty\n\n466\n00:18:59.370 --> 00:19:00.880\nthin skin when\n\n467\n00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:05.840\nit comes to that kind of shit. I think I've got pretty thick skin when it comes\n\n468\n00:19:05.840 --> 00:19:06.480\nto it to be quite\n\n469\n00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.420\nhonest with you. I can, I can ignore it. I know where to not look to be able to\n\n470\n00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:13.440\nsee it. I understand\n\n471\n00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.010\nwhat the expectations are. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm in Cincinnati.\n\n472\n00:19:16.010 --> 00:19:16.640\nIt's a passionate\n\n473\n00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:22.000\ncity. These people expect success. Their whole week in the fall is going to be\n\n474\n00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:22.640\ndictated on how\n\n475\n00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.920\nwe did on Sunday. Their whole office isn't going to be dictated on how we did.\n\n476\n00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:27.120\nAnd I love that\n\n477\n00:19:27.120 --> 00:19:30.780\nresponsibility. I understand the responsibility. And I want nothing more to\n\n478\n00:19:30.780 --> 00:19:31.920\nexperience success for\n\n479\n00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:36.040\nthis whole organization, all these fans. Hello friends, I hope you're loving\n\n480\n00:19:36.040 --> 00:19:37.440\nthis conversation.\n\n481\n00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.190\nBe sure to stay tuned to the very end of the episode. As always, David and I\n\n482\n00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:42.240\nare going to debrief\n\n483\n00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:46.460\nsome of the concepts that he talks about with this week's guests. So stay tuned\n\n484\n00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:47.600\nto the very end.\n\n485\n00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:51.200\nAnd I will see you soon. What have you learned about the best way to handle the\n\n486\n00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:51.840\nmedia? I mean,\n\n487\n00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:55.660\nleaders have more and more responsibility to get up in front of people and to\n\n488\n00:19:55.660 --> 00:19:57.120\ndeal with the media\n\n489\n00:19:57.120 --> 00:20:01.760\nas they grow. Do you have any tricks of the trade that you'd recommend? They\n\n490\n00:20:01.760 --> 00:20:03.120\nhave a job to do. You\n\n491\n00:20:03.120 --> 00:20:06.440\nknow, first and foremost, they have a job to do. So me talking down to them or\n\n492\n00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:07.040\nme and being\n\n493\n00:20:07.040 --> 00:20:10.850\ndismissive, which, trust me, there's times I'm in a bad mood and they catch me\n\n494\n00:20:10.850 --> 00:20:11.440\nwith the wrong\n\n495\n00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.520\nquestion and it's going to happen. But I do understand that they have a job to\n\n496\n00:20:15.520 --> 00:20:16.560\ndo. And especially our\n\n497\n00:20:16.560 --> 00:20:21.470\nlocal media here, they're not out to get us, you know, they're respectful of me\n\n498\n00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:22.000\nand they're going\n\n499\n00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.900\nto be critical when they need to be critical. But they're not out to get us.\n\n500\n00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:25.760\nAnd so I appreciate\n\n501\n00:20:25.760 --> 00:20:29.360\nthat. And I try to give them my best. Now I got to tell you, Zach, I love the\n\n502\n00:20:29.360 --> 00:20:30.240\nstory that you told\n\n503\n00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.990\nme about the coordinator. You almost hired instead of the one you really wanted\n\n504\n00:20:33.990 --> 00:20:35.600\n. Could you share that\n\n505\n00:20:35.600 --> 00:20:39.530\nwith us? Well, I think, you know, there's a lot of times, there's a lot of good\n\n506\n00:20:39.530 --> 00:20:40.560\npeople out there.\n\n507\n00:20:40.560 --> 00:20:44.240\nAnd I'm fortunate when I came here and kind of laid out, you know, who I want\n\n508\n00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:44.880\nto hire for the\n\n509\n00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:48.340\njob. And then they hire me and they gave me the job. And okay, let's go try to\n\n510\n00:20:48.340 --> 00:20:49.440\nhire these people.\n\n511\n00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.060\nI remember do tell them and tell me like, Hey, the people you believe in go\n\n512\n00:20:52.060 --> 00:20:53.040\nhire those people. You\n\n513\n00:20:53.040 --> 00:20:56.340\nknow, don't don't have to hire someone just because you think it looks good.\n\n514\n00:20:56.340 --> 00:20:57.440\nAnd go hire the people\n\n515\n00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.600\nthat you believe in that are going to help you do your job. And so fortunately,\n\n516\n00:21:00.600 --> 00:21:01.440\nI was able to do\n\n517\n00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:06.390\nthat. And those guys were all a big part of us having success. You know, I had\n\n518\n00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:07.360\nan incredible\n\n519\n00:21:07.360 --> 00:21:11.670\nopportunity years ago. And I got this opportunity to interview the legendary\n\n520\n00:21:11.670 --> 00:21:13.360\nJohn Wood. And one of\n\n521\n00:21:13.360 --> 00:21:18.270\nthe things that he did after every practice is that he took notes. He literally\n\n522\n00:21:18.270 --> 00:21:19.360\nwrote down what\n\n523\n00:21:19.360 --> 00:21:23.950\nhappened that day. And he told me that as he moved into the future, his\n\n524\n00:21:23.950 --> 00:21:26.000\npractices changed. And he\n\n525\n00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:29.750\nsaid they were very incremental changes when they did it. But when he looked\n\n526\n00:21:29.750 --> 00:21:31.280\nback over the years,\n\n527\n00:21:31.280 --> 00:21:36.190\nhis practices, they changed dramatically. And they were so much better. And\n\n528\n00:21:36.190 --> 00:21:37.840\nthen I learned\n\n529\n00:21:37.840 --> 00:21:41.880\nthat you do the same thing that John Wooden did. You've kept notes from\n\n530\n00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:43.360\nvirtually every practice\n\n531\n00:21:43.360 --> 00:21:49.640\nyou've had since 2013. Now, what compelled you to do that? It was the best way\n\n532\n00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:50.720\nfor me to learn. It\n\n533\n00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.570\nwas stem from I was having to learn a new offense as a quarterback coach. And\n\n534\n00:21:54.570 --> 00:21:55.520\nso the only way I could\n\n535\n00:21:55.520 --> 00:21:59.110\nreally learn it from the coordinator was to take really detailed notes. And I\n\n536\n00:21:59.110 --> 00:22:00.160\nfound myself reviewing\n\n537\n00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.800\nthem over and over again all the time. And so then it shifted. I moved to LA in\n\n538\n00:22:04.800 --> 00:22:05.840\n2017 with Sean\n\n539\n00:22:05.840 --> 00:22:10.070\nand started really taking detailed notes on the culture he was building and how\n\n540\n00:22:10.070 --> 00:22:10.720\nhe was doing it\n\n541\n00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:15.360\nand how he ran team meetings. And then when I came here to Cincinnati, it\n\n542\n00:22:15.360 --> 00:22:15.920\nreally just carried\n\n543\n00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:20.560\nover. So I mean, I've got this is, you know, years of notes. And I do it after\n\n544\n00:22:20.560 --> 00:22:21.920\nevery training camp.\n\n545\n00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:26.560\nAnd oftentimes kind of say to the other coaches, I'm communicating to future\n\n546\n00:22:26.560 --> 00:22:27.440\nZach. So he doesn't\n\n547\n00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:30.570\nmake the same mistakes that current Zach make. And, you know, so we're going\n\n548\n00:22:30.570 --> 00:22:31.120\nthrough training camp\n\n549\n00:22:31.120 --> 00:22:35.020\nright now. And it's going to be hard for me to remember 27, 20, 77 training\n\n550\n00:22:35.020 --> 00:22:35.360\ncamp.\n\n551\n00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:40.490\nIf I liked how we practiced one day and how I structured the practice and the\n\n552\n00:22:40.490 --> 00:22:41.440\nreps we got. And\n\n553\n00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.520\nso I'm going to have to make those notes, you know, after yesterday's practice\n\n554\n00:22:45.520 --> 00:22:46.480\nso that I can look back\n\n555\n00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:50.700\nand try to make it better for your forthcoming. Give me an example of something\n\n556\n00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:51.440\nyou went back and\n\n557\n00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:55.270\nfound that actually changed the way how you're coaching today. Well, I think my\n\n558\n00:22:55.270 --> 00:22:56.240\nfirst game in\n\n559\n00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:00.880\nSeattle, 2019, we played in Seattle and I, I misused a timeout in the second\n\n560\n00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:01.840\nhalf that I certainly\n\n561\n00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:05.670\nwish I would have had later in the game. And it was over a play, I think we're\n\n562\n00:23:05.670 --> 00:23:06.960\nin a third and 15,\n\n563\n00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.010\nand we weren't going to convert it. And I call the timeout and we threw a\n\n564\n00:23:10.010 --> 00:23:11.280\nscreen after the timeout.\n\n565\n00:23:11.280 --> 00:23:14.310\nWe still didn't convert and there I had burned a timeout, you know, in a red\n\n566\n00:23:14.310 --> 00:23:15.600\nzone situation. And\n\n567\n00:23:15.600 --> 00:23:20.340\nnow it was just a silly way to use it. And so I've got that, I still remember\n\n568\n00:23:20.340 --> 00:23:20.640\nthat note,\n\n569\n00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:24.260\nbecause I've looked back over that season many, many times of things that I don\n\n570\n00:23:24.260 --> 00:23:25.440\n't want to forget.\n\n571\n00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:28.240\nAnd, and so that's, that's one that always stood out to me as well.\n\n572\n00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:33.760\nNow you've, you've mentioned Sean McBae as a mentor of yours and you have such\n\n573\n00:23:33.760 --> 00:23:34.880\na great deal of respect\n\n574\n00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.820\nfor him as somebody that you've learned one heck of a lot from. If he had to\n\n575\n00:23:38.820 --> 00:23:40.000\npick one or two things\n\n576\n00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.480\nthat he did that every leader should really think about, what would they be?\n\n577\n00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.760\nIt's empowering people. I mean, it's coming to his staff and letting you know\n\n578\n00:23:49.760 --> 00:23:50.560\nthe value that you\n\n579\n00:23:50.560 --> 00:23:55.680\nhave for him and the job you're doing. And, you know, so I always respected\n\n580\n00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:56.720\nthat about Sean. He was,\n\n581\n00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:00.850\nhe always had a ton of energy that everybody could feed off of. And he always\n\n582\n00:24:00.850 --> 00:24:01.360\nmade sure\n\n583\n00:24:01.360 --> 00:24:05.490\nthat you knew that he appreciated you. And I think in any walk of life, any\n\n584\n00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:06.400\ncareer you've got,\n\n585\n00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:09.600\nyou always want to feel like you're valued and appreciated and the work you do\n\n586\n00:24:09.600 --> 00:24:10.000\ndoesn't go\n\n587\n00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.640\nnotice. And always falling Sean was great at that. I've seen so many leaders\n\n588\n00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:15.360\nstruggle to develop\n\n589\n00:24:15.360 --> 00:24:18.810\ntheir own personality. Yet one thing I know about you, one thing I really\n\n590\n00:24:18.810 --> 00:24:20.160\nadmire about you is you're\n\n591\n00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:24.800\nreally authentic. You're the real deal. How do you mix in all the learnings you\n\n592\n00:24:24.800 --> 00:24:25.280\ngot from\n\n593\n00:24:25.280 --> 00:24:31.120\nall the other leaders that you've worked with and coached with and and still be\n\n594\n00:24:31.120 --> 00:24:31.760\nZach Taylor?\n\n595\n00:24:31.760 --> 00:24:36.400\nIt's just what I know. And I just, I want to be consistent for the players\n\n596\n00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:36.960\nevery day. I want\n\n597\n00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.350\nevery day they walk in the building, they're going to know what they're getting\n\n598\n00:24:39.350 --> 00:24:39.760\nfrom me.\n\n599\n00:24:39.760 --> 00:24:43.310\nIt's not going to be someone predictable personality that's going to start\n\n600\n00:24:43.310 --> 00:24:43.760\nscreaming\n\n601\n00:24:43.760 --> 00:24:48.060\nit out of one day and then be their best friend the next day. They know what\n\n602\n00:24:48.060 --> 00:24:48.240\nthey're\n\n603\n00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:50.490\ngoing to expect from me every single day. And I'm going to lay out the\n\n604\n00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:51.200\nexpectations and the\n\n605\n00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:55.420\nstandards and what we need to achieve. But my personality is not going to be a\n\n606\n00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:56.080\nrole coaster\n\n607\n00:24:56.080 --> 00:24:59.390\nevery day for them. And I think I got to do that for the staff. I got to do\n\n608\n00:24:59.390 --> 00:25:00.000\nthat for the\n\n609\n00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.200\nrealization. I got to do that for the players. I do that for my family. And\n\n610\n00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.240\nthat's just, I had a\n\n611\n00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:07.480\ngreat example of my dad. That's how my dad was. And so I think I just really\n\n612\n00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:08.800\nfall suit off of that.\n\n613\n00:25:08.800 --> 00:25:12.470\nDo you remember that first coach you really believed in you? Maybe even before\n\n614\n00:25:12.470 --> 00:25:13.760\nyou believed in yourself?\n\n615\n00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:20.240\nTwo examples come to mind. I was a junior in high school and I had won the\n\n616\n00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:20.480\nstarting\n\n617\n00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:23.870\nquarterback job. And I think I had a two game stretch where I wasn't playing\n\n618\n00:25:23.870 --> 00:25:24.880\nvery good.\n\n619\n00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:27.600\nAnd I thought maybe I'm going to get benched. And I remember my high school\n\n620\n00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:27.920\ncoach,\n\n621\n00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:32.830\nbutch Peters telling me we are absolutely not considering benching you. We're\n\n622\n00:25:32.830 --> 00:25:33.120\ngoing to do\n\n623\n00:25:33.120 --> 00:25:36.050\neverything we can to give you the confidence to be a better player and to help\n\n624\n00:25:36.050 --> 00:25:36.720\nyou around you.\n\n625\n00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:40.480\nAnd so I just remember thinking that that's what I kind of needed to hear that\n\n626\n00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:41.200\nat that moment in my\n\n627\n00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:45.750\nlife as a young player and played better and got some scholarship opportunities\n\n628\n00:25:45.750 --> 00:25:45.760\n.\n\n629\n00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:48.480\nAnd then I go to a junior college. You fast forward. I went to Wake Forest and\n\n630\n00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:49.040\ntransferred out and\n\n631\n00:25:49.040 --> 00:25:53.680\nwent to a junior college. And I had an offensive coordinator named Aaron Flores\n\n632\n00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:54.480\nwho's since passed\n\n633\n00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:59.220\naway, unfortunately. But he took ownership for an interception. I threw an\n\n634\n00:25:59.220 --> 00:25:59.920\ninterception in the\n\n635\n00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:03.480\nconference championship game. And I came to sidelines for the half and I'm mad\n\n636\n00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:04.000\nat myself.\n\n637\n00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.040\nAnd he took four responsibility for it. He said, I called it was a terrible\n\n638\n00:26:07.040 --> 00:26:07.680\nplay call.\n\n639\n00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:10.150\nI should have known they were going to call that coverage. I put you in a bad\n\n640\n00:26:10.150 --> 00:26:10.480\nspot.\n\n641\n00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:15.540\nForget it. That's on me. And and comments like that maybe gave me confidence\n\n642\n00:26:15.540 --> 00:26:15.920\nmyself.\n\n643\n00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:18.720\nOK, I'll put it behind me and I'll move forward. He took ownership for it.\n\n644\n00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:22.800\nAnd so I still use some of those tools that some of those guys have given me\n\n645\n00:26:22.800 --> 00:26:23.840\ntoday when you're\n\n646\n00:26:23.840 --> 00:26:26.430\ntalking to players and trying to help their confidence and trying to help them\n\n647\n00:26:26.430 --> 00:26:27.360\nbecome a better\n\n648\n00:26:27.360 --> 00:26:30.340\nbetter person, better player. And those are two guys that really stuck out to\n\n649\n00:26:30.340 --> 00:26:31.360\nme with good advice.\n\n650\n00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:35.670\nNot everybody gets to coach a superstar. So what have you learned from coaching\n\n651\n00:26:35.670 --> 00:26:36.720\nsuch a tremendous\n\n652\n00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:41.360\ntalent like Joe Burrow? And how do you lead exceptional talent?\n\n653\n00:26:41.360 --> 00:26:50.320\nBy trying to be as serious as possible, as open as possible, really asking his\n\n654\n00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:51.440\nfeedback. Why\n\n655\n00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:55.200\nwould you see? What do you like? What do you don't like? I think that I just\n\n656\n00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:56.080\ntry to be as open and\n\n657\n00:26:56.080 --> 00:26:58.890\nhonest and transparent with him as possible and try to get the most feedback\n\n658\n00:26:58.890 --> 00:26:59.680\nout of him and same\n\n659\n00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:03.350\nwith Jamar and same with T and same with a lot of the guys we got on defense is\n\n660\n00:27:03.350 --> 00:27:03.680\njust\n\n661\n00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:07.440\ntrying to build that relationship where we can be open and honest. I want to\n\n662\n00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:08.480\nhear things.\n\n663\n00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:12.540\nI've been coaching Joe for seven years now, so it's not always the player or\n\n664\n00:27:12.540 --> 00:27:13.120\ncoach dynamic.\n\n665\n00:27:13.120 --> 00:27:17.760\nI want the feedback on things. Hey, what play calls do you think could help you\n\n666\n00:27:17.760 --> 00:27:18.320\nmore that I haven't\n\n667\n00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:20.880\ngiven you in practice or given you in the game? I want that dialogue and that\n\n668\n00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:21.680\nfeedback and\n\n669\n00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:26.420\nsame with Jamar and those guys you had around a long time. And I think that's\n\n670\n00:27:26.420 --> 00:27:26.960\nhelped us be\n\n671\n00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:30.790\nreally successful in offense. You've gone very public about your belief in Joe\n\n672\n00:27:30.790 --> 00:27:31.760\nBurrow and basically\n\n673\n00:27:31.760 --> 00:27:35.520\nsaid you wouldn't trade anybody in the world for him. What is it about him?\n\n674\n00:27:35.520 --> 00:27:36.720\nWhat is his\n\n675\n00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:42.960\nit factor that makes him so incredible? He's always on. I mean, when he steps\n\n676\n00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:43.680\nfoot on the practice\n\n677\n00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:48.590\nfield, it's the Super Bowl. It feels like he's preparing to play in the Super\n\n678\n00:27:48.590 --> 00:27:49.200\nBowl. And that\n\n679\n00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.760\ncould be an offseason practice. That could be training camp practice. That\n\n680\n00:27:52.760 --> 00:27:53.920\ncould be a game week\n\n681\n00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.940\npractice. That could be a playoff week practice. He's going to be the same\n\n682\n00:27:57.940 --> 00:27:59.600\nurgency level. And\n\n683\n00:27:59.600 --> 00:28:03.030\neveryone around him has got to meet that urgency. And so when one of the\n\n684\n00:28:03.030 --> 00:28:03.840\ngreatest players in the\n\n685\n00:28:03.840 --> 00:28:08.580\nworld is like that, it certainly raises everyone's urgency level and standard\n\n686\n00:28:08.580 --> 00:28:09.440\naround you.\n\n687\n00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:12.260\nAnd it's very important we have that from our starting quarterback. And that's\n\n688\n00:28:12.260 --> 00:28:13.200\nwhat we've got.\n\n689\n00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.560\nAnd you know, Zach, you obviously have this great relationship with them. You\n\n690\n00:28:16.560 --> 00:28:16.960\nchallenge\n\n691\n00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:21.700\neach other. And we just talked about how you take notes after every practice.\n\n692\n00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:23.600\nYou're obviously\n\n693\n00:28:23.600 --> 00:28:27.910\nan active learner. What are you trying to get better at right now? Do you have\n\n694\n00:28:27.910 --> 00:28:28.400\nsomething you're\n\n695\n00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:32.080\nworking on that you think will really take your game up a notch?\n\n696\n00:28:32.080 --> 00:28:36.800\nI think just I'm always trying to find ways to build the team chemistry. I\n\n697\n00:28:36.800 --> 00:28:37.040\nthink that's\n\n698\n00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:39.980\nalways the challenge because every year you got a brand new team, brand new\n\n699\n00:28:39.980 --> 00:28:40.400\nplayers,\n\n700\n00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:44.080\nyou always feel like, OK, we've got the talent. I feel like we got good coaches\n\n701\n00:28:44.080 --> 00:28:44.480\nthat are going\n\n702\n00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:48.700\nto provide scheme. So what's that extra element with any good organization and\n\n703\n00:28:48.700 --> 00:28:49.600\na great team\n\n704\n00:28:49.600 --> 00:28:53.470\nis the chemistry part of it. Guys wanting to play for the guy next to them, you\n\n705\n00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:53.680\nknow,\n\n706\n00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:56.160\nmore so than they're trying to have the success for themselves. And so just\n\n707\n00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:57.040\nconstantly trying to\n\n708\n00:28:57.040 --> 00:29:01.340\nbuild that and really push. I've had eight years of team meetings, eight years\n\n709\n00:29:01.340 --> 00:29:02.080\nof getting in front\n\n710\n00:29:02.080 --> 00:29:05.930\nof the team and giving a message that you don't want to get stale. So just\n\n711\n00:29:05.930 --> 00:29:08.160\ntrying to find new ways to\n\n712\n00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:10.900\nget these guys excited for the day, get these guys excited for practice, get\n\n713\n00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:11.440\nthem believe in\n\n714\n00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:14.990\nwhat we're trying to build together. It's a lot of competition that we do as a\n\n715\n00:29:14.990 --> 00:29:15.680\nteam just trying to\n\n716\n00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:19.230\nget the energy level up, trying to make them laugh a little bit before we go\n\n717\n00:29:19.230 --> 00:29:20.560\nout to practice and\n\n718\n00:29:20.560 --> 00:29:23.260\nget them in a good mood and then go compete. And so we're always looking for\n\n719\n00:29:23.260 --> 00:29:24.320\ndifferent ways to\n\n720\n00:29:24.320 --> 00:29:27.600\nbe able to do that. One of the things that I've learned that leaders have a big\n\n721\n00:29:27.600 --> 00:29:28.160\nchallenge with\n\n722\n00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.770\nis really getting the real skinny, you know, really getting the real truth from\n\n723\n00:29:31.770 --> 00:29:32.800\ntheir people.\n\n724\n00:29:32.800 --> 00:29:36.370\nYou know, people are always intimidated by the power that you have, for example\n\n725\n00:29:36.370 --> 00:29:36.480\n,\n\n726\n00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:39.830\nthe power of your position. How do you go about getting the truth from your\n\n727\n00:29:39.830 --> 00:29:40.720\norganization?\n\n728\n00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:45.120\nI think I've been transparent enough with our coaching staff to where they,\n\n729\n00:29:45.120 --> 00:29:50.180\nI hope they do. You never fully know to come tell me when something's messed up\n\n730\n00:29:50.180 --> 00:29:51.600\n, when maybe I've\n\n731\n00:29:51.600 --> 00:29:55.150\nsteered us into a direction where I got to get us back that you've got those\n\n732\n00:29:55.150 --> 00:29:55.920\ncore people that\n\n733\n00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:58.500\nhave been around you for a long time that'll tell you the truth. And I've\n\n734\n00:29:58.500 --> 00:29:59.680\ncertainly got those people\n\n735\n00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:03.140\nand it doesn't mean they throw other people on the bus. It's just more to keep\n\n736\n00:30:03.140 --> 00:30:03.840\nme steered in the\n\n737\n00:30:03.840 --> 00:30:08.480\nright direction to make sure we can have success as a team. And so I've got the\n\n738\n00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:09.440\ntrust of players\n\n739\n00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.690\nand coaches that I think can give me that information to help me do my job\n\n740\n00:30:12.690 --> 00:30:13.280\nbetter.\n\n741\n00:30:13.280 --> 00:30:18.020\nYou went through firsthand what has to be one of the most horrifying\n\n742\n00:30:18.020 --> 00:30:19.520\nexperiences I've ever seen\n\n743\n00:30:19.520 --> 00:30:25.160\nwatching the NFL. And that's when Demar Hamlin had his cardiac arrest. How did\n\n744\n00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:26.480\nyou react to that?\n\n745\n00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:31.440\nAnd talk about what you did and what you were thinking during this time.\n\n746\n00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:38.000\nNever been a part of it before. And so usually there's an injury on the field,\n\n747\n00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:42.230\nnever as severe as that, and you continue playing the game. That's what you\n\n748\n00:30:42.230 --> 00:30:42.400\nknow.\n\n749\n00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:46.790\nAnd so it's hard to get your brain to think any differently. That's just, that\n\n750\n00:30:46.790 --> 00:30:47.120\n's what I've\n\n751\n00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:52.080\nknown for 30 something years. And so you could see on Sean McDermott, the coach\n\n752\n00:30:52.080 --> 00:30:53.200\nof Buffalo that\n\n753\n00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:57.840\nthey were going to have a really hard time doing that to just let Demar get an\n\n754\n00:30:57.840 --> 00:30:58.720\nambulance and drive\n\n755\n00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:04.160\noff the field and go play the game. That just didn't seem right. You could just\n\n756\n00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:05.280\nfeel that from\n\n757\n00:31:05.280 --> 00:31:11.040\nSean. You could feel that from their team. And he said that to me. I feel like\n\n758\n00:31:11.040 --> 00:31:11.600\nI need to be with\n\n759\n00:31:11.600 --> 00:31:14.530\nDemar and his family right now in the hospital. That's where I need to be. And\n\n760\n00:31:14.530 --> 00:31:15.840\nso to me, that was\n\n761\n00:31:15.840 --> 00:31:19.200\nit's clear as day, like we can't play this game. And you're having those\n\n762\n00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.240\nconversations with them\n\n763\n00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:23.370\nand the officials. And it's like the stadium doesn't even exist. Like you don't\n\n764\n00:31:23.370 --> 00:31:24.560\neven realize there's\n\n765\n00:31:24.560 --> 00:31:27.580\n67,000 people in the stadium. And it was a Monday night game and people are\n\n766\n00:31:27.580 --> 00:31:28.800\nwatching the TV.\n\n767\n00:31:28.800 --> 00:31:34.060\nYou're really just focused in on the human aspect of things. And you could tell\n\n768\n00:31:34.060 --> 00:31:34.320\njust the\n\n769\n00:31:34.320 --> 00:31:38.340\nexpression on the Buffalo player's faces, how traumatic the experience it was\n\n770\n00:31:38.340 --> 00:31:38.800\nto watch some of\n\n771\n00:31:38.800 --> 00:31:43.440\nthem they loved and played with and go through that moment. And so I think we\n\n772\n00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:43.840\ncame to the right\n\n773\n00:31:43.840 --> 00:31:47.430\nconclusion with with all the necessary people and fortunate to see Demar\n\n774\n00:31:47.430 --> 00:31:48.480\nplaying this day.\n\n775\n00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:53.760\nYou know, Zach, you you have such a great perspective. You round up on people.\n\n776\n00:31:53.760 --> 00:31:54.160\nYou know,\n\n777\n00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:59.840\nyou look for the lemonade out of the lemon. But fans, we don't always have that\n\n778\n00:31:59.840 --> 00:32:00.240\nkind of\n\n779\n00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:05.780\nperspective a lot of times. And I mean, you got a little bit of a problem in\n\n780\n00:32:05.780 --> 00:32:07.440\nCincinnati just keeping\n\n781\n00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:12.700\nyour mayor under control. And I remember before that Kansas City playoff game a\n\n782\n00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:13.360\ncouple of years\n\n783\n00:32:13.360 --> 00:32:18.640\nback. The mayor declared something like got a play us day. He called Arrowhead,\n\n784\n00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:20.160\nthe chief stadium,\n\n785\n00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:25.520\nBurrowhead and said Joe Burrow should take a paternity test to make sure that\n\n786\n00:32:25.520 --> 00:32:26.640\nhe wasn't Patrick\n\n787\n00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:32.960\nMahomes father because he owned him so much. Joseph Lee Burrow, whose three and\n\n788\n00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:34.160\nL against Mahomes\n\n789\n00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:38.580\nhas been asked by officials to take a paternity test confirming whether or not\n\n790\n00:32:38.580 --> 00:32:39.600\nhe's his father.\n\n791\n00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:44.400\nWhat was going on in your mind when all that trash talk was coming?\n\n792\n00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:48.000\nI mean, we do our best to avoid the bulletin board material. And so there's\n\n793\n00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:48.560\nsome things that\n\n794\n00:32:48.560 --> 00:32:52.780\nare beyond your control. You can't control what's going on, aside, Jen and fans\n\n795\n00:32:52.780 --> 00:32:53.360\njust trying to have\n\n796\n00:32:53.360 --> 00:32:57.580\nfun with the situation. I'm not paying too much attention to those moments.\n\n797\n00:32:57.580 --> 00:32:58.240\nThey certainly had\n\n798\n00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:03.400\nthe last laugh that weekend. So I don't know that that had much to do with it.\n\n799\n00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:05.760\nBut we do we do our\n\n800\n00:33:05.760 --> 00:33:08.640\nbest just to focus on what we can control and not worry about what's going on\n\n801\n00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:09.120\naround us.\n\n802\n00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:17.020\nNow, how about this beautiful trophy? Hey, I've got some wise words for that\n\n803\n00:33:17.020 --> 00:33:18.480\nCincinnati mayor.\n\n804\n00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:23.840\nKnow your role and shut your mouth. I don't know if the mayor is still there or\n\n805\n00:33:23.840 --> 00:33:24.800\nnot. Did he get\n\n806\n00:33:24.800 --> 00:33:32.480\nreelected or is he had to run again or what? He's still going strong. You know,\n\n807\n00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:33.040\nI have to tell\n\n808\n00:33:33.040 --> 00:33:36.870\nyou, this has been so much fun. And I want to ask some more with my lightning\n\n809\n00:33:36.870 --> 00:33:37.600\nround of questions.\n\n810\n00:33:37.600 --> 00:33:41.520\nAre you ready for this? I'm ready. What three words would your players use to\n\n811\n00:33:41.520 --> 00:33:42.320\ndescribe you?\n\n812\n00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:47.580\nConsistent. Understanding. Thoughtful. What's one word your family would use\n\n813\n00:33:47.580 --> 00:33:48.560\nthat your players\n\n814\n00:33:48.560 --> 00:33:52.140\nprobably wouldn't? Funny is what comes to word. But I don't know if that's the\n\n815\n00:33:52.140 --> 00:33:52.560\nright.\n\n816\n00:33:52.560 --> 00:33:57.280\nDad funny is more the better way to put it that my players maybe don't see.\n\n817\n00:33:57.280 --> 00:34:00.800\nIf you could be one person for a day beside yourself, who would it be?\n\n818\n00:34:00.800 --> 00:34:07.230\nI think I'd own a team, not a football team. Just own just own another sports\n\n819\n00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:08.000\nteam.\n\n820\n00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.220\nYour biggest pet peeve. People that create problems. Who would play you in a\n\n821\n00:34:12.220 --> 00:34:12.800\nmovie?\n\n822\n00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:17.600\nCoach Taylor, I think from Friday Night Lights. I'd let him continue as coach\n\n823\n00:34:17.600 --> 00:34:18.080\nTaylor.\n\n824\n00:34:18.080 --> 00:34:21.680\nWhat's a habit you've had that's been instrumental to the success you've had?\n\n825\n00:34:21.680 --> 00:34:27.040\nTaking notes and that's been helpful for me. One thing about Joe Burrow that\n\n826\n00:34:27.040 --> 00:34:27.680\npeople would be\n\n827\n00:34:27.680 --> 00:34:33.130\nsurprised to know. How genuine he is, how truly he is. He's comfortable zone\n\n828\n00:34:33.130 --> 00:34:33.440\nskin.\n\n829\n00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:40.320\nOn average, how many times per season do you say who day? A lot. Let's go with\n\n830\n00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:41.760\n500.\n\n831\n00:34:41.760 --> 00:34:47.600\nThe one thing you do just for you. Play golf twice in summer. I go to Vegas. I\n\n832\n00:34:47.600 --> 00:34:48.080\n'll say this.\n\n833\n00:34:48.080 --> 00:34:52.390\nI go to Vegas once a year. I got a group of about 20 friends. We go to Vegas\n\n834\n00:34:52.390 --> 00:34:53.120\nonce a year,\n\n835\n00:34:53.120 --> 00:34:56.670\nevery March, April. And I would say that's just for me. That's for me to go\n\n836\n00:34:56.670 --> 00:34:57.200\nplay craps,\n\n837\n00:34:57.200 --> 00:35:00.720\nfor three days. Now be honest, Zach, do you come home a winner?\n\n838\n00:35:00.720 --> 00:35:04.000\nI have come home a winner. I don't always come home a winner.\n\n839\n00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:09.360\nBesides your family and friends, what's your most prized possession?\n\n840\n00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:14.080\nI'd say I'm looking right now at a conference championship t-shirt and hat.\n\n841\n00:35:14.080 --> 00:35:18.300\nThe t-shirt and hat division, it takes you back to some great memories. When\n\n842\n00:35:18.300 --> 00:35:19.760\nyou win those as a team,\n\n843\n00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:22.970\nwhether it's the division or the conference, they're sitting right in front of\n\n844\n00:35:22.970 --> 00:35:23.280\nme. It's a\n\n845\n00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:26.710\nconstant reminder of that's what we're striving for. If I turned on the radio\n\n846\n00:35:26.710 --> 00:35:27.680\nin your car,\n\n847\n00:35:27.680 --> 00:35:32.400\nwhat would I hear? Country music or right now, college football talk radio.\n\n848\n00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:36.400\nWhat's one of your daily rituals? Something that you never, ever miss.\n\n849\n00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:40.390\nIt's been a lot of time with my family. I mean, I think every moment I'm at the\n\n850\n00:35:40.390 --> 00:35:40.720\noffice,\n\n851\n00:35:40.720 --> 00:35:43.600\nI'm going to be with my kids and my wife. What's something about you a few\n\n852\n00:35:43.600 --> 00:35:44.720\npeople would know?\n\n853\n00:35:44.720 --> 00:35:49.030\nFor coffee first thing in the morning, no chance. All right, fantastic Zach. We\n\n854\n00:35:49.030 --> 00:35:49.680\n're out of the\n\n855\n00:35:49.680 --> 00:35:54.140\nlightning round. Just a few more questions and I'll let you go. And your family\n\n856\n00:35:54.140 --> 00:35:54.960\n's been with you\n\n857\n00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:59.310\nevery step of the way. They lived every high and every low in this job. And how\n\n858\n00:35:59.310 --> 00:36:00.240\ndo you keep the\n\n859\n00:36:00.240 --> 00:36:05.200\nscoreboard from walking through the front door with you after a game, when you\n\n860\n00:36:05.200 --> 00:36:06.560\n've had that loss?\n\n861\n00:36:06.560 --> 00:36:12.080\nYeah, it's really challenging. I think that I felt that from my kids when I\n\n862\n00:36:12.080 --> 00:36:12.480\nwalked through the\n\n863\n00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:16.780\nfront door, they're worried after a loss, what's his reaction going to be. And\n\n864\n00:36:16.780 --> 00:36:17.840\nso I'm good about\n\n865\n00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:22.070\nputting on a smile on my face and trying to change the topic quickly and show\n\n866\n00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:23.440\nthem that I'm going\n\n867\n00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:27.760\nto be dead. You don't have to worry about that. But shielding them from the\n\n868\n00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:28.640\nrest of the world\n\n869\n00:36:28.640 --> 00:36:33.770\nafter a loss is challenging. But it's good. It develops a lot of personality\n\n870\n00:36:33.770 --> 00:36:34.880\ntraits and skills\n\n871\n00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.580\nthat are going to be important for them to be successful in life. That you're\n\n872\n00:36:37.580 --> 00:36:38.080\ngoing to have to\n\n873\n00:36:38.080 --> 00:36:43.200\ndeal with some hard times and some criticism. And so that part, I enjoy helping\n\n874\n00:36:43.200 --> 00:36:43.840\nthem through\n\n875\n00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:48.210\nthat walk. Once your family taught you about leadership, that football, frankly\n\n876\n00:36:48.210 --> 00:36:48.880\n, never could.\n\n877\n00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:54.140\nEverybody's different. Everybody, my family's different. And they all respond\n\n878\n00:36:54.140 --> 00:36:54.400\nto different\n\n879\n00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:59.660\nthings. And they all have different passions. And so again, you're not always\n\n880\n00:36:59.660 --> 00:37:00.240\nhaving the same\n\n881\n00:37:00.240 --> 00:37:03.650\nconversation with everybody. Sometimes you got to change the tone and find a\n\n882\n00:37:03.650 --> 00:37:04.560\ndifferent message.\n\n883\n00:37:04.560 --> 00:37:08.110\nAnd I think leading the football team is no different. When I think about it,\n\n884\n00:37:08.110 --> 00:37:08.560\none of the\n\n885\n00:37:08.560 --> 00:37:13.470\nthings that I've noticed in this conversation is that you have a real\n\n886\n00:37:13.470 --> 00:37:16.080\ncapability or ability\n\n887\n00:37:16.080 --> 00:37:21.750\nto flip the script at things that could be negative, you turn into a positive.\n\n888\n00:37:21.750 --> 00:37:22.800\nThe media can be\n\n889\n00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:26.640\ntaught, but you say, hey, they've got a job to do. Your kids have to put up\n\n890\n00:37:26.640 --> 00:37:27.520\nwith a lot of the\n\n891\n00:37:27.520 --> 00:37:33.290\nconversations that they hear at school and on social media about last week's\n\n892\n00:37:33.290 --> 00:37:34.000\ngame.\n\n893\n00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:37.760\nBut you say, that's good for them. And it toughens them up. Where did you pick\n\n894\n00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:38.880\nup this skill of\n\n895\n00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:44.000\nflipping the script and the being the person who just looks at the sunny side?\n\n896\n00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:50.960\nIt doesn't do me any good to be negative. I figure that out early in my career\n\n897\n00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:52.240\nis some of my darkest\n\n898\n00:37:52.240 --> 00:37:56.880\ndays as a coach for when I didn't like my job. I came in with a bad attitude. I\n\n899\n00:37:56.880 --> 00:37:57.360\ndidn't like the\n\n900\n00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:03.680\ncircumstances. And that didn't do anything for me in a positive way. And so you\n\n901\n00:38:03.680 --> 00:38:04.640\ncan control your\n\n902\n00:38:04.640 --> 00:38:08.190\nattitude. I know that's a silly coach, speak, dads, whatever it is, but it's\n\n903\n00:38:08.190 --> 00:38:09.520\nthe truth. And\n\n904\n00:38:09.520 --> 00:38:12.650\nthat's what I try to manage every day when I come in the office. You've already\n\n905\n00:38:12.650 --> 00:38:13.360\nbeen to one\n\n906\n00:38:13.360 --> 00:38:18.930\nSuper Bowl and you obviously want to get back and win one. Is that how you see\n\n907\n00:38:18.930 --> 00:38:19.840\nyour unfinished\n\n908\n00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:24.900\nbusiness as a coach? I mean, I can't imagine living here not having a Super\n\n909\n00:38:24.900 --> 00:38:26.240\nBowl trophy. So that's\n\n910\n00:38:26.240 --> 00:38:30.010\nthat's what drives me every day. That's that's what I dream about every, every\n\n911\n00:38:30.010 --> 00:38:30.640\nwaking moment I\n\n912\n00:38:30.640 --> 00:38:33.160\nhave when I'm not at work and not with the family. I mean, it's it's that's\n\n913\n00:38:33.160 --> 00:38:34.960\nwhat drives you. And\n\n914\n00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:38.920\nand I can't imagine not having that. And so that's that's the motivation. You\n\n915\n00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:40.640\ngot a story Zach about\n\n916\n00:38:40.640 --> 00:38:46.320\nyour upbringing that influenced your leadership the most. Backyard football. I\n\n917\n00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:47.520\nthink just I grew\n\n918\n00:38:47.520 --> 00:38:50.860\nup on a cul-de-sac where I believe five kids on my street was the starting\n\n919\n00:38:50.860 --> 00:38:52.000\nquarterback of my high\n\n920\n00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:57.280\nschool. So you can see how competitive our street was. And you had to rally the\n\n921\n00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:58.240\nkids from around\n\n922\n00:38:58.240 --> 00:39:02.260\nthe neighborhood. And we competed every day in every single sport. I think I\n\n923\n00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:03.200\nhad the greatest\n\n924\n00:39:03.200 --> 00:39:07.960\nchildhood of anybody that walks this planet. I truly do. I think it's it's why\n\n925\n00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:08.720\nyou see a lot of\n\n926\n00:39:08.720 --> 00:39:13.310\nkids that are on my street are coaching college and pro sports or athletic\n\n927\n00:39:13.310 --> 00:39:14.400\ndirectors at SEC schools.\n\n928\n00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:19.140\nThey're having success and all sorts of businesses because of we were outside\n\n929\n00:39:19.140 --> 00:39:19.600\nplaying\n\n930\n00:39:19.600 --> 00:39:29.520\ncompeting, arguing, resolving conflict, developing athletic skills. And and we\n\n931\n00:39:29.520 --> 00:39:30.480\nmanaged it ourselves.\n\n932\n00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:34.160\nWe didn't need the adults telling us how to do it. We figured it out. We\n\n933\n00:39:34.160 --> 00:39:35.840\ninvented instant replay.\n\n934\n00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:39.490\nI think in 1995 we invented instant replay. We took a video camera. We stood in\n\n935\n00:39:39.490 --> 00:39:40.080\nthe end zone of\n\n936\n00:39:40.080 --> 00:39:43.910\nwhat L field we filmed it. Then if there was a challenge, you challenged it and\n\n937\n00:39:43.910 --> 00:39:44.640\nwe wouldn't\n\n938\n00:39:44.640 --> 00:39:48.520\nwatch the video camera. And then we made it a collective decision. The 15 of us\n\n939\n00:39:48.520 --> 00:39:49.360\nstanding there\n\n940\n00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:55.520\nof of of who won the challenge or not. So I really think that that helped me.\n\n941\n00:39:55.520 --> 00:40:01.040\nIf you had to boil down one thing that you love about coaching the most, what\n\n942\n00:40:01.040 --> 00:40:01.840\nwould it be?\n\n943\n00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:06.800\nBeing around the players and coaches. I really every day you get to walk in\n\n944\n00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:08.000\nwith guys that have\n\n945\n00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:13.060\nvery light-minded with you. And and we're serious. I mean, we get to work and\n\n946\n00:40:13.060 --> 00:40:13.840\nwe get our job done,\n\n947\n00:40:13.840 --> 00:40:17.200\nbut it's also you're around guys. You like being around and you can have some\n\n948\n00:40:17.200 --> 00:40:17.680\nlight-hearted\n\n949\n00:40:17.680 --> 00:40:22.590\nmoods. And so I enjoy coming in here every day. How do you think about culture?\n\n950\n00:40:22.590 --> 00:40:22.960\nI mean,\n\n951\n00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.050\ndo you come up with five behaviors you want everybody to have? Or I mean, what\n\n952\n00:40:27.050 --> 00:40:27.760\n's you thinking\n\n953\n00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:31.460\nabout culture? I mean, how do you how do you really make it happen in the Bigg\n\n954\n00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:32.640\nles organization?\n\n955\n00:40:32.640 --> 00:40:36.860\nNo, it's just that everybody's in it for the same purpose to help us win. And\n\n956\n00:40:36.860 --> 00:40:37.280\nno one's\n\n957\n00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:39.610\ndistracting from that. But I think it's important that we have a million\n\n958\n00:40:39.610 --> 00:40:41.040\ndifferent personalities.\n\n959\n00:40:41.040 --> 00:40:45.260\nI think that's some guys survive here because we let them be themselves. And we\n\n960\n00:40:45.260 --> 00:40:45.840\n're not going to\n\n961\n00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:48.840\nput them in a box and say you got to get a dress like this all the time and you\n\n962\n00:40:48.840 --> 00:40:49.520\ngot to act like\n\n963\n00:40:49.520 --> 00:40:53.310\nthis all the time. Sometimes you got to get a read on a guy that maybe that's\n\n964\n00:40:53.310 --> 00:40:54.080\nbeen told to\n\n965\n00:40:54.080 --> 00:40:58.040\nmany other places. And it hasn't worked for him because they were so straight\n\n966\n00:40:58.040 --> 00:40:58.800\nlaced with that.\n\n967\n00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:02.630\nSo I try to let guys within the confines of what's important for our culture\n\n968\n00:41:02.630 --> 00:41:03.920\nand our team rules\n\n969\n00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:07.720\nbe themselves and let their personality shine through. And and I feel like we\n\n970\n00:41:07.720 --> 00:41:08.560\n've had some guys\n\n971\n00:41:08.560 --> 00:41:11.600\nthat we got the most out of because we've allowed that that to happen for them.\n\n972\n00:41:11.600 --> 00:41:18.080\nLast question. What's one piece of advice you give to anyone who wants to be a\n\n973\n00:41:18.080 --> 00:41:18.720\nbetter leader?\n\n974\n00:41:18.720 --> 00:41:24.240\nI feel like I I learned the most when I wasn't in charge. I learned the most\n\n975\n00:41:24.240 --> 00:41:25.040\nwhen I was a quality\n\n976\n00:41:25.040 --> 00:41:29.960\ncontrol or a GA working for other people and seeing how you're treated when\n\n977\n00:41:29.960 --> 00:41:31.600\nyour role is just as\n\n978\n00:41:31.600 --> 00:41:35.830\nimportant as anybody else's. And so I you learn a lot about people that way.\n\n979\n00:41:35.830 --> 00:41:37.120\nAnd so then, you know,\n\n980\n00:41:37.120 --> 00:41:41.040\nwhen I worked my way up and I'm a head coach, I tried to reflect back on times\n\n981\n00:41:41.040 --> 00:41:41.520\nwhen I was the\n\n982\n00:41:41.520 --> 00:41:45.180\nlow man on the troll and poll and how people treated me and and the work they\n\n983\n00:41:45.180 --> 00:41:46.080\ngave me. And\n\n984\n00:41:46.080 --> 00:41:50.990\nand so I try to I try to work through that with everybody that we've got on our\n\n985\n00:41:50.990 --> 00:41:51.680\nstaff.\n\n986\n00:41:51.680 --> 00:41:56.520\nWell, Zach, I got to tell you, I want to thank you so much for this\n\n987\n00:41:56.520 --> 00:41:58.320\nconversation and for taking\n\n988\n00:41:58.320 --> 00:42:03.670\nthe time, especially as you're getting ready for the season. You know, I know\n\n989\n00:42:03.670 --> 00:42:03.920\nhow\n\n990\n00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:09.100\ncrunched you are. And I want to wish you all the best as you develop your team.\n\n991\n00:42:09.100 --> 00:42:09.600\nAnd I hope\n\n992\n00:42:09.600 --> 00:42:14.190\nthat you do get to that Super Bowl someday and when. And if there's one guy who\n\n993\n00:42:14.190 --> 00:42:14.800\ndeserves it,\n\n994\n00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:21.000\nit's you. You're one heck of a good guy. And, you know, I'm pulling for you. I\n\n995\n00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:22.080\nknow for a fact\n\n996\n00:42:22.080 --> 00:42:27.480\nthat I'd love working for a guy like you. I appreciate it, David. Thank you.\n\n997\n00:42:27.480 --> 00:42:28.320\nThis is a lot of fun.\n\n998\n00:42:34.160 --> 00:42:38.800\nWell, David, we both got our Cincinnati bangle orange on, which is so\n\n999\n00:42:38.800 --> 00:42:39.520\nappropriate for this\n\n1000\n00:42:39.520 --> 00:42:45.440\nconversation with Zach Taylor. What a guy. Yeah, he's just a really super super\n\n1001\n00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:46.320\nindividual. I mean,\n\n1002\n00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:52.280\nhe's he's very authentic. He only knows how to be who he is. You know, he's a\n\n1003\n00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:53.600\nvery human guy.\n\n1004\n00:42:53.600 --> 00:42:58.720\nYou know, probably the most one of the most focused guys I've ever ever talked\n\n1005\n00:42:58.720 --> 00:42:59.520\nto him. And he's\n\n1006\n00:42:59.520 --> 00:43:04.430\nall football. I mean, but the thing that I really like about him, he has a way\n\n1007\n00:43:04.430 --> 00:43:05.120\nof putting things\n\n1008\n00:43:05.120 --> 00:43:10.400\nin the perspective. And when did that become ever more evident than, you know,\n\n1009\n00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:11.520\nwhen, you know,\n\n1010\n00:43:11.520 --> 00:43:16.160\nDemara had that, you know, cardiac arrest and he just called off the game\n\n1011\n00:43:16.160 --> 00:43:17.760\nbecause he just knew that,\n\n1012\n00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:22.200\nyou know, everybody's mind was going to be somewhere else. But that's the kind\n\n1013\n00:43:22.200 --> 00:43:22.800\nof guy he is.\n\n1014\n00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:28.090\nHe's focused, but at the root of it all, he's just a hell of a good guy and a\n\n1015\n00:43:28.090 --> 00:43:28.880\ngreat human being.\n\n1016\n00:43:29.520 --> 00:43:33.440\nWell, David, like we do at the end of every episode, I want to debrief some of\n\n1017\n00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:33.760\nthe\n\n1018\n00:43:33.760 --> 00:43:37.090\nconcepts that really stood out to me from this conversation with you and coach\n\n1019\n00:43:37.090 --> 00:43:38.000\nTaylor. The first\n\n1020\n00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:44.760\none is something that you just spoke to. The guy loves football and he is so\n\n1021\n00:43:44.760 --> 00:43:46.480\nfocused on football,\n\n1022\n00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:51.600\nwhich obviously is his job. But what do you have to say about, you know, how\n\n1023\n00:43:51.600 --> 00:43:53.120\nthat passion for what\n\n1024\n00:43:53.120 --> 00:43:58.380\nyou do can translate to other leaders? Well, I think, you know, every leader\n\n1025\n00:43:58.380 --> 00:43:59.360\nthat I know that's\n\n1026\n00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:03.590\nreally successful loves what they do. I mean, whether it's Warren Buffett who\n\n1027\n00:44:03.590 --> 00:44:04.560\njust loved being\n\n1028\n00:44:04.560 --> 00:44:10.050\nin finance and said he tapped answers to work every day or, or, you know, you\n\n1029\n00:44:10.050 --> 00:44:11.040\npick the, you pick\n\n1030\n00:44:11.040 --> 00:44:14.590\nthe leader, I guarantee you that they're going to tell you that they don't look\n\n1031\n00:44:14.590 --> 00:44:15.840\nat their job as a\n\n1032\n00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:19.810\njob. They look at it as almost like a hobby. It's just they get to go to work\n\n1033\n00:44:19.810 --> 00:44:22.400\nand and do what they\n\n1034\n00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:25.950\nlove. And the important thing about doing what you love is when you love\n\n1035\n00:44:25.950 --> 00:44:26.480\nsomething,\n\n1036\n00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:30.800\nyou know, you don't feel like you're working and you want to get better at it,\n\n1037\n00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:31.040\nyou know,\n\n1038\n00:44:31.040 --> 00:44:35.010\nso you want to learn and just keep raising the bar and getting better and\n\n1039\n00:44:35.010 --> 00:44:36.800\nbetter. And that's,\n\n1040\n00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:42.790\nthat's very exciting. So loving what you do is almost like job, job one, when\n\n1041\n00:44:42.790 --> 00:44:44.080\nit comes to,\n\n1042\n00:44:44.080 --> 00:44:49.760\nto, to, to making sure that you live a life that's fulfilled. And just listen\n\n1043\n00:44:49.760 --> 00:44:50.800\nto this guy talk about\n\n1044\n00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:55.920\nhis neighborhood kids that he played football with how much he learned from\n\n1045\n00:44:55.920 --> 00:44:56.800\nthem and how much he\n\n1046\n00:44:56.800 --> 00:45:03.960\nenjoyed it. They, they invented instant replay the first thing, but he just, he\n\n1047\n00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:05.440\n's into it. And,\n\n1048\n00:45:05.440 --> 00:45:10.500\nand I love it. I do too. I'm curious, just drilling down into that a little bit\n\n1049\n00:45:10.500 --> 00:45:11.760\nmore for people who\n\n1050\n00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:16.500\nmight be really successful on the outside, but aren't in love with what they do\n\n1051\n00:45:16.500 --> 00:45:17.200\n. Do you think\n\n1052\n00:45:17.200 --> 00:45:21.940\nthat that's a disadvantage? I think it's huge disadvantage. You might be good\n\n1053\n00:45:21.940 --> 00:45:22.560\nat what you do,\n\n1054\n00:45:22.560 --> 00:45:28.000\nbut you're missing out on the, the joy of, of participating with something that\n\n1055\n00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:28.400\nyou're really\n\n1056\n00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:32.970\npassionate about. You know, I would hate to go through the motions of a job.\n\n1057\n00:45:32.970 --> 00:45:34.480\nYou know, I was\n\n1058\n00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:38.040\nvery blessed that, you know, I, I happened to, you know, fall in love with\n\n1059\n00:45:38.040 --> 00:45:39.200\nmarketing very early\n\n1060\n00:45:39.200 --> 00:45:42.460\nout in my career. And then I fell in love with leadership and I just kept\n\n1061\n00:45:42.460 --> 00:45:44.000\ngrowing and growing and\n\n1062\n00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:48.300\nworked on the things I needed to work on to get better as a leader. But through\n\n1063\n00:45:48.300 --> 00:45:49.520\nit all, you know,\n\n1064\n00:45:49.520 --> 00:45:53.890\nI ended up doing, working on the things that I was most passionate about, which\n\n1065\n00:45:53.890 --> 00:45:54.640\nwas people,\n\n1066\n00:45:54.640 --> 00:46:00.890\nyou know, customers, you know, marketing, you know, that's what I loved. And,\n\n1067\n00:46:00.890 --> 00:46:01.920\nand that's why I\n\n1068\n00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:06.830\nthink I was so happy at what I did. Yeah, and a big part of why I think you\n\n1069\n00:46:06.830 --> 00:46:07.920\nwere so successful\n\n1070\n00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:11.670\nwith the help of the team around you too. Well, there's no question, but you\n\n1071\n00:46:11.670 --> 00:46:13.200\nknow, the, the, the,\n\n1072\n00:46:13.200 --> 00:46:16.800\nthe people around me made me look a heck of a lot better than I really was.\n\n1073\n00:46:16.800 --> 00:46:23.680\nDavid, another thing that really stood out to me about this conversation was\n\n1074\n00:46:23.680 --> 00:46:24.880\nthat coach Taylor\n\n1075\n00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:29.790\ntakes the time to really get to know the people that he's coaching. They're not\n\n1076\n00:46:29.790 --> 00:46:30.320\njust a number,\n\n1077\n00:46:30.320 --> 00:46:33.710\nthey're not just a statistic that he can enhance. I mean, he really deeply\n\n1078\n00:46:33.710 --> 00:46:36.000\ncares about their stories.\n\n1079\n00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:39.360\nI mean, he talked about sitting down with someone and asking him, you know,\n\n1080\n00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:40.880\nwhen's the first time\n\n1081\n00:46:40.880 --> 00:46:44.870\nyou remember picking up a football, say a little bit more about what leaders\n\n1082\n00:46:44.870 --> 00:46:45.840\ncan learn from his\n\n1083\n00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:51.590\njust obsession with getting to know the real person. Yeah, his whole thing is\n\n1084\n00:46:51.590 --> 00:46:52.000\nlike,\n\n1085\n00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:56.800\ntell me your story. He wants to know your story so he can know who you are,\n\n1086\n00:46:56.800 --> 00:47:00.630\nknow what you're all about and understand what really drives you, what really\n\n1087\n00:47:00.630 --> 00:47:01.280\nmakes you tick.\n\n1088\n00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:06.880\nAnd if somebody talks about their life and, and what they're into and, and why\n\n1089\n00:47:06.880 --> 00:47:08.000\nthey're into it and\n\n1090\n00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:12.000\nwhat had a profound impact in their life, you kind of get a sense of what this\n\n1091\n00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:12.640\nindividual is\n\n1092\n00:47:12.640 --> 00:47:15.820\nall about. And while you're learning, you're also saying to the other person\n\n1093\n00:47:15.820 --> 00:47:17.200\nthat you care about,\n\n1094\n00:47:17.200 --> 00:47:22.320\nand he understands what Dale Carnegie knew inherently and Dale Carnegie was the\n\n1095\n00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:22.800\nbest sales\n\n1096\n00:47:22.800 --> 00:47:26.550\nperson in the world is that people love to talk about themselves. And, you know\n\n1097\n00:47:26.550 --> 00:47:28.400\n, getting people to\n\n1098\n00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:34.420\ntalk about themselves opens them up and it's, it's such a great win-win. And\n\n1099\n00:47:34.420 --> 00:47:35.440\nduring that process,\n\n1100\n00:47:35.440 --> 00:47:38.640\nhe talked about himself as well. I'm sure he told that neighbor in football\n\n1101\n00:47:38.640 --> 00:47:39.680\nstory many, many time.\n\n1102\n00:47:39.680 --> 00:47:44.800\nI hope he did tell that story because it's such a good one. And throughout\n\n1103\n00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:45.680\nthese conversations,\n\n1104\n00:47:45.680 --> 00:47:49.280\nwhen he's getting to know the players on his team, it's not just like they tell\n\n1105\n00:47:49.280 --> 00:47:50.640\nhim their story and\n\n1106\n00:47:50.640 --> 00:47:54.490\nthen he forgets about it. I mean, he actually really pays attention and shifts\n\n1107\n00:47:54.490 --> 00:47:55.680\nhow he coaches\n\n1108\n00:47:55.680 --> 00:48:00.270\nthese people based on their past, which brings me to the next real standout\n\n1109\n00:48:00.270 --> 00:48:00.880\ntheme from this\n\n1110\n00:48:00.880 --> 00:48:05.360\nconversation was, which was Zach's attention to detail. I mean, not only does\n\n1111\n00:48:05.360 --> 00:48:06.880\nhe really care, but\n\n1112\n00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:12.420\nhe is laser focused on all the little things it takes to get a team working in\n\n1113\n00:48:12.420 --> 00:48:13.360\nthe right direction.\n\n1114\n00:48:13.360 --> 00:48:18.720\nExplain a little bit about the importance of this attention to detail and how\n\n1115\n00:48:18.720 --> 00:48:19.360\nyou saw\n\n1116\n00:48:19.360 --> 00:48:23.580\nthat Zach really emphasizes this and his leadership. Yeah, I think he\n\n1117\n00:48:23.580 --> 00:48:25.280\nunderstands that, you know,\n\n1118\n00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:31.620\nthe best way to learn is to, is to really be an observer. And, you know, you\n\n1119\n00:48:31.620 --> 00:48:32.560\ncan really learn\n\n1120\n00:48:32.560 --> 00:48:38.410\nfrom, from history. And, you know, by recording every practice and then looking\n\n1121\n00:48:38.410 --> 00:48:39.520\nback at your\n\n1122\n00:48:39.520 --> 00:48:44.110\njournal and, and picking up the key learnings, it really prepares you for the\n\n1123\n00:48:44.110 --> 00:48:45.200\nfuture. And,\n\n1124\n00:48:45.200 --> 00:48:48.990\nyou know, if you, if you look at history, history is really good for two things\n\n1125\n00:48:48.990 --> 00:48:49.600\ncooler.\n\n1126\n00:48:49.600 --> 00:48:53.650\nOne, it is to learn from, you know, to learn what you did well, what, what\n\n1127\n00:48:53.650 --> 00:48:54.880\nworked, what didn't\n\n1128\n00:48:54.880 --> 00:48:58.960\nwork. It's also to inspire you what's possible. You know, you, you know, I'm\n\n1129\n00:48:58.960 --> 00:49:00.000\nsure he's got a lot\n\n1130\n00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:05.360\nof learnings here that really led to touchdowns and great plays and, and wins.\n\n1131\n00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:06.800\nAnd I would love to\n\n1132\n00:49:06.800 --> 00:49:12.560\nread his journal about the Super Bowl that, that he lost. And, and I, I\n\n1133\n00:49:12.560 --> 00:49:14.640\nguarantee you, that guy\n\n1134\n00:49:14.640 --> 00:49:18.540\npicked up a lot that he's going to take into that next Super Bowl that's going\n\n1135\n00:49:18.540 --> 00:49:19.520\nto help him be a\n\n1136\n00:49:19.520 --> 00:49:25.720\nwinner. And, and, and I think every leader should really find some way to cod\n\n1137\n00:49:25.720 --> 00:49:26.880\nify what they learn\n\n1138\n00:49:26.880 --> 00:49:32.000\nalong the way. And, you know, there's nothing like writing things down. I think\n\n1139\n00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:32.480\nwhen you write\n\n1140\n00:49:32.480 --> 00:49:35.260\nthings down, you have a tendency to remember them. Yeah, David, there's\n\n1141\n00:49:35.260 --> 00:49:35.840\nactually a lot of\n\n1142\n00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:39.540\nresearch about what happens to your brain when you actually write things down\n\n1143\n00:49:39.540 --> 00:49:40.560\nand how it improves\n\n1144\n00:49:40.560 --> 00:49:44.370\nyour ability to recall things and to actually put those things into practice.\n\n1145\n00:49:44.370 --> 00:49:46.560\nSo I, I just love that\n\n1146\n00:49:46.560 --> 00:49:49.290\nabout Zack Taylor. And it goes back to what we mentioned at the beginning,\n\n1147\n00:49:49.290 --> 00:49:50.720\nright? He is all\n\n1148\n00:49:50.720 --> 00:49:55.360\nfootball and just always tries to consume and remember all the little things\n\n1149\n00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:56.560\nthat it takes to\n\n1150\n00:49:56.560 --> 00:50:01.130\nreally win. David, other than just getting excited about football season and\n\n1151\n00:50:01.130 --> 00:50:01.520\ngeneral,\n\n1152\n00:50:01.520 --> 00:50:04.960\nwhat do you want people listening to this episode to walk away thinking about?\n\n1153\n00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:08.880\nTo wrap this up, but, you know, I think there are three things that we've\n\n1154\n00:50:08.880 --> 00:50:09.360\ntalked about,\n\n1155\n00:50:09.360 --> 00:50:14.000\nthey're important. One is there's nothing like being, there's nothing, nothing\n\n1156\n00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:14.480\nbetter than the\n\n1157\n00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:20.340\npower of focus and what comes from really loving what you do. Number two, you\n\n1158\n00:50:20.340 --> 00:50:20.560\nknow,\n\n1159\n00:50:20.560 --> 00:50:26.760\nreally get to know your people, understand what their story is and that'll help\n\n1160\n00:50:26.760 --> 00:50:27.520\nyou become a better\n\n1161\n00:50:27.520 --> 00:50:31.740\ncoach and a better leader for them. And they're going to know you a heck of a\n\n1162\n00:50:31.740 --> 00:50:32.800\nlot better as well.\n\n1163\n00:50:32.800 --> 00:50:38.670\nAnd last but not least, you know, you have attention to detail to what you do.\n\n1164\n00:50:38.670 --> 00:50:39.360\nAnd there's\n\n1165\n00:50:39.360 --> 00:50:44.100\nnothing like codifying your learnings all along the way so you don't forget it.\n\n1166\n00:50:44.100 --> 00:50:45.280\nAnd even in this\n\n1167\n00:50:45.280 --> 00:50:51.890\nworld of the iPhone and the iPad and all the technology that's out there, there\n\n1168\n00:50:51.890 --> 00:50:52.400\n's nothing like\n\n1169\n00:50:52.400 --> 00:50:58.090\nsome pen and paper to just actually write it down so you can remember it. If\n\n1170\n00:50:58.090 --> 00:50:58.880\nyou still know how to\n\n1171\n00:50:58.880 --> 00:51:05.160\nwrite. Hopefully everyone listening to this show remembers how to write. Well,\n\n1172\n00:51:05.160 --> 00:51:06.080\nDavid,\n\n1173\n00:51:06.080 --> 00:51:10.070\nthank you again for another excellent episode of How Leaders Lead. Thanks to\n\n1174\n00:51:10.070 --> 00:51:10.880\nCoach Taylor for\n\n1175\n00:51:10.880 --> 00:51:15.120\ntaking some time to be on the show. And thank you, of course, to our listeners.\n\n1176\n00:51:15.120 --> 00:51:17.520\nTune in next Thursday and we will see you soon.\n","is_pinned",false,"pinned_at","is_featured","featured_at","mix_url","https://chtbl.com/track/DCB44F/traffic.megaphone.fm/DVL2693908092.mp3","dx_media_id",4304,"video_media_id","thumbnail_image_media_id","published_date","2026-09-10","itunes_episode_id",308,"youtube_id","_UNTVWKvkKs","2026-09-10T15:45:08.000000Z","Listen to this leadership podcast with Zac Taylor, Head Coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, and see how to be more patient and consistent on your way to better results.","dx_url","https://dnl.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/TEyd7iHafFk9jz94Vu1Mz5fKaLEP0KdSZIdMuVWw.mp3","dx_filename","TEyd7iHafFk9jz94Vu1Mz5fKaLEP0KdSZIdMuVWw.mp3","dx_mux_playback_id","3KL02wS01DG9uS8KmBoDdVHcdCCeHxc1CcyS7yfJT1t5s","dx_waveform_url","https://dnl.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/waveforms/4304.json","video_url","video_mux_playback_id","duration",3087246,"thumbnail_url","https://img.youtube.com/vi/_UNTVWKvkKs/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_image_url","dx_media",{"_13":66,"_96":80,"_97":78,"_98":99,"_31":82,"_33":100,"_101":-5,"_102":84,"_87":88,"_103":-5},"video_media","thumbnail_image_media","filename","url","status","ready","txZxGLKbrdHIA6E0000RUiiFq4zZSrmsUTGq4yV31WXTQ","mux_upload_id","waveform_url","preview_media_id","first_name","Zac","last_name","Taylor","job_title","Cincinnati Bengals, Head Coach","Zac Taylor, Cincinnati Bengals, NFL, coach, sports, football","external_links","https://www.bengals.com/team/coaches-roster/zac-taylor,https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/onsi/bengals-zac-taylor-turning-heads-with-toughest-camp-in-recent-memory-01m0jg21q9se",0,"image_media_id",4262,4347,"2026-09-11T17:37:16.000000Z","send_push_notification_at","2026-09-14T19:00:00.000000Z","image_url","https://dnl.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/KBFBVs07JPOSF3sidE4M3Ok0vP5rmKWAO28MY5lZ.png","https://dnl.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/uploads/SziMuiRn5jqBFLApLxYIQJZ4lbAzSan7xvcWf1HL.jpg","https://www.howleaderslead.com/leaders/297/zac-taylor","industry_id",3,"industry",{"_13":125,"_136":137,"_138":140},"industries",[135],"image_media",{"_13":115,"_96":134,"_97":121,"_98":-5,"_31":-5,"_33":-5,"_101":-5,"_102":-5,"_87":-5,"_103":-5},{"_13":116,"_96":133,"_97":122,"_98":-5,"_31":-5,"_33":-5,"_101":-5,"_102":-5,"_87":-5,"_103":-5},"SziMuiRn5jqBFLApLxYIQJZ4lbAzSan7xvcWf1HL.jpg","KBFBVs07JPOSF3sidE4M3Ok0vP5rmKWAO28MY5lZ.png",{"_13":125,"_136":137,"_138":139},"name","Sports","pivot",{"_35":36,"_124":125},{"_35":36,"_124":125},"user","token","favorites",[],"collections",[],"env",{"_149":150,"_151":152,"_153":154,"_155":156,"_157":158},"GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID","644017954836-qpllhu38r0tsrtfq85ukntcvsb0akbht.apps.googleusercontent.com","APPLE_CLIENT_ID","com.howleaderslead.webapp","APPLE_REDIRECT_URI","https://www.howleaderslead.com/auth/apple-callback","APP_URL","https://howleaderslead.com","GTM_ID",""]