Chargers Camp with Mike McDaniel and Cameron Dicker

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2:18Welcome to NFL Daily. where we've got your favorite football hipster's favorite coach with us to start the show. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm with one of those football hipsters, Jordan Rodriguez, and yes, Mike McDaniel, the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, opening up the show with us. Are you aware of that, your football hipster popularity? Yes.

2:48I think being yourself allows you a vulnerability to have both people that cheer for you and other people that hate you so I kind of entered in when I decided to be myself I kind of know what the stakes are so I appreciate that this is part of the population that isn't hating on me for now. Another way to say football hipster would just be like people that love ball. Like Jordan Roderick.

3:16Jourdan Rodrigue:You're the people who love football's favorite football coach. That's how I would have probably introduced you. Yeah, that's what... Greg chose a different one. I don't want to build you up too much. Which is cool. I think you don't want to just start off just building you up, but we'll be doing that. Both were great elite compliments. I very much appreciate it. We're happy to have you here, Mike. You've been here now a minute, Southern California. You had the interview for this job. And I'm thinking watching Herbert throw some dimes out there today about what it was like for you as a coach looking at all those plays which you have talked about before you took the job and watching what Justin Herbert did last year and what stood out the most to you that you could potentially take advantage of as this coach?

4:12Oh, I thought, you know, it was just such an incredible opportunity, one that I'd never had professionally where, wait, I can, you know, just the opportunity to coach these guys, in particular him, you know, is something that, you know, I really appreciate having, you know, there's not many talents like that in all sports, you know, whether it's quarterback position or regardless. And, you know, I'm just glad that I've been chopping wood, you know, for 20 years in this league before I had the opportunity to do that so I wouldn't have regrets. So it's, I mean, I was, it was a weird situation because you're on the heels of, you know, I only know one way to attack a job.

5:02So my expectation is that, you know, I do a good enough job to keep it. And then when you you'd think that you'd be pretty down when you when you lose a job. But, you know, right in front of me was this opportunity to really do something that, you know, you're very blessed to even get the opportunity in your entire career. So, yeah, it was, you know, I think I said this before, but I feel I felt fortunate that I was prepared for the opportunity, you know, because it's this is it's something that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I if I wasn't ready for the moment. So it's been awesome.

5:51Jourdan Rodrigue:I'm glad you alluded to some of how you approach the job and how you approach, I think, football in general, just covering you for a couple years, Mike. I always appreciated where you find ideas and how you think about doing new things within really understanding who your players are and trying to do new interesting things with them. And you're sort of like you don't really care where the net is cast. You just want to find cool stuff to do. So when you're watching these clips and you're going, I saw the quote where you went over every single one of Justin's plays and the concepts and all of that.

6:27Jourdan Rodrigue:Was there anything that really sparked or anything he does specifically that sparked an inspiration for you or got you thinking about how you want to design things or really kind of got that juice flowing for you? Well, you know, I think with the breadth of the example, you know, I did not want to just take a leap of faith and base stuff on assumptions. So watching it, you know, watched all of his passes from his whole career. And I found, you know, plenty of examples where he was playing. He was distributing the ball with conviction early in the down. And then I saw. So there was there was things, you know, that, you know, in the in years past that have been a staple of the offense that I could see that he could do.

7:15And then, you know, there was just he has a spatial awareness, a feel. You know, I was really taken aback with all the things that he could he could do, extending plays and making plays. And then just, you know, there's some crazy, crazy. I watched all of his passes. So you got you got about 15, you know, 15 throws, 60, 70 yards down the field that, you know, you're not sure is possible until you see the clip. So, you know, I think for me, it was the feeling has just been both excitement and focus because, you know, I think the, like I said before, you don't get these opportunities. And, you know, I think it got me immediately watching all the film, got me super motivated to make sure that I worked with Jim and the T's were crossed and the I's were dotted on the staff.

8:24because I figured, okay, well, if I can get all the right position coaches to really buy in and push and teach and create relationships with these guys, it will be an opportunity to, you know, I love football. I love creating competitive advantages for players. And, you know, it's something that, you know, looking at the, you know, professional athletes this is a game about them and they work their whole lives to get a finite window and you have you know you're blessed with this opportunity and pack them and i wanted to make sure that uh you know i was in the best space to do that uh and i thought i think it started with the staff obviously with um jim joe and uh john spanos all being supportive and you know it's And I think we put together an unbelievable offensive staff, which is really allowed.

9:25I mean, there's been, I would say, probably five things a day over the last five practices that we've been able to try that I've never done before. You know, and I think it the the it really opens your eyes to a lot of different schematic things and just different opportunities that makes. I mean, I'm living the dream right now.

9:56Jourdan Rodrigue:Can I ask you about that, too? When you come out here, you look at this roster every every time I'm out here, I see, first of all, the size of all the players, even your skills are like some of the Omar and Hampton's like one of the. most giant humans ever. And, you know, but you also have speed and I'm looking at the personnel options you have. You could play with a fullback. You could play with multiple tight ends. You could do all these different kinds of things and you have speed and you have the quarterback. And I'm wondering, like, where do you go when you start to build with these players?

10:28Jourdan Rodrigue:What options do you see in terms of you? You mentioned it yourself. You like to create advantages, whether it's personnel or concept with these players, but also their ability and exploit space. So where does your mind go? And can you kind of take us through how you think about putting these guys in those positions? Well, I think the most important thing, you know, the thing that I don't think about is I don't think about inventing stuff. If you stay true to your core of what is your job. And for me, as I see it to create advantageous situations for all these players, than your kind of solution-oriented reverse engineering issues.

11:12And what, in this time of year, what's real cool is we, you know, I'm just trying to facilitate all different personnel groups and be able to, you know, like we are very confident in ultimately being able to play in whatever personnel group is, you're not dictated by we can be dictated by the personnel of the defense and what guys do we want to exploit, what guys do we want to stay away from what things sometimes base defense is way different than nickel when you're playing an opponent or vice versa so I think for me I'm not trying to, I'm just trying to with the coaching staff, make sure that we are at the top of our game from a technique and fundamental standpoint across the board, whether we're doing 10 personnel or 13, you know, and just to give ourselves some options as we, you know, go into the regular season, because that's what I see from this group.

12:25And what's been so cool is you have a lot of solutions on the roster, and it's going to be a lot more difficult for – I could be as varied as I've ever been in personnels, which makes you harder to practice and prepare for as an opponent and hopefully creates more of those advantageous situations for all the guys. Do you have a hand in that team building? because you look on the offensive line, there's a guy, Cole Strange, that comes along with you from Miami, and then you just look, just watch and practice today. Obviously, a lot of variety, but Charlie Kolar is in the mix, of course. Njoku is in the mix.

13:06It's a big team out there, and I'm thinking, do you have a big hand in that vision of what happened? Well, fortunately, the powers that be, both Jim and Joe, allow my voice to be heard. now I will say that one of the reasons this this place was so attractive to me personally was because of you know uh most specifically the last couple draft classes you know the the players they're drafting or the players that on the other side of the country I was targeting and you know and and so I knew there was a lot of like-minded um uh you know really evaluation And then, you know, I don't I'm not the general manager or head coach.

13:53So I'm very fortunate that they want to hear me. And we're all fortunate because we were very consistent with in. And there was a lot of agreement in this offseason when it came to the free agency and draft. And so I think that, you know, it's one of the reasons I feel very fortunate to be here. Um, and, uh, one of the reasons, uh, this team has a great chance to be successful is because you have everyone moving in the same direction. Um, which is one thing that I knew, uh, was a non-negotiable for me in my next opportunity. So it, it, yes and no, I mean, uh, they don't have to ask and they don't have to listen.

14:43And, you know, I think it wasn't like I was standing on a soapbox preaching. It was, you know, I'll have conviction with my opinion and they happen to share it. So it's been a tremendous off season that way.

14:58Jourdan Rodrigue:My I had this theory last year. There was a lot of injuries and obviously seems knock on wood, of course, seems like things are going really, really well in camp so far in terms of health here. I thought that the charges were because of that roster building and because of some of the things they were willing to try offensively and defensively, a really great combination of where football is going right now and where it was like 30 years ago too, at the same time, all in one place. Can you speak to that a little bit and what you think this team is that's so representative of where, where football is right now?

15:29Well, I think you have, you know, on all three phases, you have um systems that you know are coordinated uh in a in a evolution always evolving fashion um there's a lot of uh unique players on this roster in all three phases that have skill sets that allow you to do things that that are different you know the first thing that comes mind is you have a player like Derwin James, you know, and there's a, he's able to play three to four different positions in different personnel groups in all situations. They can play light, they can play big on defense. You know, I think Coach Ficken has been as good as they get in the return game and he has a lot of juice there to be multiple and do some creative things.

16:27and then, you know, we're not pigeonholed into, we have a lot of really good players that, you know, my job is to make sure that they're maximized and that they're all involved. And, you know, that's my type of problem-solving party. You know, like that's... Sounds like a good time. Yeah, it is a good time. You know, I think, you know, you're not a football team, a football offseason, a football season is not, you're not searching for all roses and no problems it's actually the opposite you want a situation where people can thrive by flourishing together in times of turmoil and I think that you know this this team is really hungry and it's you know I'm not sure if the team's more more hungry than I am or vice versa but It was a great fit in that way because there was a lot of like ambition moving forward.

17:31So I think, you know, this group of people has a great chance to be their very best version of themselves in December and January by stacking days, you know, just by the nature of the leaders. on this team are elite human beings that are the benchmark for how you want your star players to act. So I think that gives us an opportunity to continue to chop wood and be our best football team when we need to be. And all that variety and multiplicity, it gives you a chance to just mess with all the fantasy football players a little more. With all the people out there. Yeah, no, I I feel like I feel like I said something about fantasy in my press conference simply because I've learned over the years that if there's an offseason question about running backs, it's always the same thing.

18:33But realistically, like no one has to worry if a player is playing really well, I'm not going to take them out. It's a good good idea. That's bad business. That's why he's the football hipster's favorite coach. Appreciate you, Mike McDaniel, and my favorite football hipster, Jordan. Thank you. You guys are top tier, and that's why I'm in the seat talking to you guys, because you guys really care about what you guys do, and I appreciate that. Appreciate that, Mike.

19:02Jourdan Rodrigue:We appreciate you. Again, appreciate Mike McDaniel joining us. That made me so happy. Checking that off the bucket list. Just one of those guys I wanted to interview, you and i love that he is comfortable city and awkwardness that's my that's my happy place too yeah i felt it and making other people awkward i mean even when we first said hi to him i i shook his hand i'm like hi greg rosenthal uh i don't think we've ever really met maybe we said hello once and he was like of course you are an educated reporter of facts and i was like okay yeah i'll take that. I'll take that. So of course now Greg's asked us all to just call him this now.

19:44Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes I'm putting that on the business card educated reporter of fact. So we're going to have Cameron Dicker coming up after the break but we've watched all of practice. The interview took place here in El Segundo at the Chargers facility and then we did the interviews and I just thought we'd take some takeaways from practice today anything that you saw that that stood out to you yeah it's charlie colar season yeah honestly i mean the tight end you know he was uh i think again if you really love football if you're paying attention to where football is going right now or at least will go in the next year or so um he was a very very popular free agent signing um and it's clear that Mike McDaniel wants to use him all over the formation.

20:34Jourdan Rodrigue:And he gets open and Justin Herbert dots it on him. He was the star of the day. Yeah, it was fun. He had one that he just dropped right over the top of his shoulders as he was getting a little bit of separation. Was covered fine by the DB. Obviously a mismatch. But Justin Herbert just dropped it downfield over both of his hands and he caught it. It was the easiest thing it looked like the two had ever done. It was incredible. I referenced with Mike McDaniel. about the comment he made about sharing the carries at running back. But I'm more thinking about how are they going to share this at tight end in terms of how much each guy plays and how are they used.

21:13I would personally be surprised, to your point, if Kolar isn't the most important one. Because the way he moves at his size, I think there's a feeling that Baltimore let one get away that they never really took advantage. He has like 400, 500 career passing yards, and you see the way he's moving today. and then you put him on the field, depending on how big you want to be, with Njoku, who was out here today, and then Ronnie Gadsden, who had a great rookie season, and, you know, it's not going to be as good of a blocker, but he had an incredible catch. Like, the best throw and catch of the day was on a one-on-one drill from Herbert to Gadsden, and, like, he moves incredibly.

21:47We already know that, and so Kolar, to me, is going to be kind of the most important move piece that it's all built around, and he's in motion all the time. Like, this is going to be a big Jordan football dork tight ends. I know.

22:00Jourdan Rodrigue:I was starting to feel a little tingly, honestly, because it's so cool to watch the emotions too. And I like watching Mike McDaniel coach this offense and Chris O 'Leary has been running. I think a lot of very, it looks like Jesse Minter's defense. You know, they're rushing some of that NASCAR package look with the extra rusher and they're doing a lot of standup linemen on the outsides and, and the, you know, Derwin James is everywhere as we would expect. But when I'm watching the offense and I'm watching Mike McDaniel coach, he likes to stand in the back of the defense and make sure that the timing of the motions are correct.

22:35Jourdan Rodrigue:And that was something I had eyes on today. That was so fascinating to me because this is going to, this offense is going to get people with timing too. And with some of the things that maybe break a defense's rules of where they think they're going to align at a certain time in the, in the pre-snap motion. And then obviously the gaps all change too, if it's a tight end or a running back going in motion like that, which they are. And it's, it's so fun to watch. And something that Mike said that really stuck out to me was every personnel is available to him. I mean, this team also has fullbacks.

23:05Jourdan Rodrigue:Let's not forget this team has trying to find a spot for Scott Matlock on the team. I don't know for sure. He's become a little bit of an extra tight end. He's an offensive lineman. He's a fullback, but yes, they have Alec. They have Alec Engold who Mike brought with him from, from Miami. And then they have all these tight ends and then they've got receivers who our dudes like they're they're really really positive positive group and and improved a lot last year in my opinion and what what I love that he said was it's anything from 10 to 13 and then you know he's obviously thinking about 21 22 as well where it's like anything they can do anything they want and and I hope they get a chance to because health is always going to be the biggest thing yeah I if we had all the time in the world for him I was like going to be like do you know the offensive line curse of the Chargers?

23:51Like, are you aware that you're going to be looked on as the savior? So far, so good. This camp, they're trying to figure out their left guard. It's really funny every year because Chargers fans are so obsessed with the offensive line. It's always like an interior line battle that they care about. Like, oh, we don't care about the wide receivers or the tight ends in an interior line battle, which, by the way, Awaska, I believe, is the one listed as a starter. He gave up two sacks today. It was not a good day for him.

24:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, I was talking to somebody on the side about this, and Jake Slaughter, Coyote Owaska, and Trey Pipkins are all still competing. That job has not been decided yet. But over the last several practices, they have been competing all at that left guard spot. It's the only spot on this offensive line where there still is a big question and an open competition. Yeah, and this is a roster, and we'll wrap up with our takes in a little bit, but they find guys, and that's why I wanted to ask Cameron Dicker coming up about the way this coaching staff develops players, except on the offensive line, I would say, and they have a new offensive line coach.

24:52Yeah, which Barry. You could just hear him everywhere. Just F-bomb after F-bomb. This was one of the loudest coaching practices I've ever been to in terms of like, coaches are just yelling the whole time. Like even more. And then one of the choir, like it was a chill crowd here today. It's a hot day. It's a nice crowd, a very chill crowd. But one thing I wanted to make sure I mentioned, which has been the story for this camp, was Hakeem Mesidor stepping in as their third edge rusher. Maybe we'll wind up starting for them in terms of the amount of snaps that he plays alongside Tuli Tuli Polotu and Khalil Mack.

25:30And that he's a 26-year-old rookie. And I talked to Matt Money Smith, our friend. It's just unfair. Like he built he beat Joe Alt a couple of times in the last practice. and you just don't see that, including Adam Mack in Tuli Polo 2. And that, I think for the people that have been around here each and every day, the number one story is like, oh, wow, we got a dude in Mesidor. So, yeah, you watch Adafi Owe leave. I think there's some feeling they might have gotten an upgrade there. And so that is a really good trio on the front end for them to then mix the coverages on the back end.

26:04Jourdan Rodrigue:I had to number check Mesidor a few times because I kept forgetting that that was a rookie out there. he's a freaking dude man well the other funny thing I mean we talk about this a lot coming out of Chargers camps with the size of this team when when we're talking about just being physically imposing we were standing over watching running back drills and you were reminding yourself you know what number everybody is and you're like Omari and Hampton and then it was like oh we don't even need to to remind ourselves what number Omari and Hampton is he's the biggest freaking guy out here. He really is.

26:36And his speed, there was one kind of swing pass during the team drills where he was coming straight at me on the other side. And his speed is just, it's different. So to Mike McDaniel's point of like, if he's playing well, I'm not going to take him off the field. There'll be enough room, I think, for everyone in this backfield. Keaton Mitchell is probably the two right now. I think that's kind of been how camp has evolved and Kamani Vidal behind them, but they're all, they're all going to play. And yeah, I thought Herbo, you know, he always looks good in camp. I mean, he is not going to look bad, but I do like his footwork and that is something I kept an eye on.