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“Aztecs Football….So Long-Rocky Long”

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San Diego State football has lost its leader.

Rocky Long has left the building, taking with him an (81-38) record, bowl wins, upsets wins over Pac 12-teams, and enormous respect from virtually everyone he crossed paths with.

He retires, with a (146-107) career ledger, at two schools that had not won in decades, first New Mexico, then up on Montezuma Mesa.  He exits with 43-career wins in the Mountain West Conference, more than anyone.

Aside from the 1960s-70s run of Don Coryell, no one has ever done it better that this guy from New Mexico.  He never had a losing season with the Red & Black.

Hard to believe it ended so quickly, but I should have sensed it when I found his University Email had been turned off on Monday.  Should have guessed it when he came off holiday break and called a coaching staff meeting, not in the Aztecs Athletic Center, but at a restaurant.

SDSU says Long has decided to retire, approaching his 70th birthday.  Others believe he may still wind up as someone’s defensive coordinator before all this is said and done.

The platitudes, the comments, the smiles, the laughs, the snippets of philosophy were fun to take part in.  So too the memories of big wins against the likes of UCLA..Washington State…Stanford…Arizona State and the uplifting victories on the Blue Turf at Boise State, and in the ice-box conditions in Wyoming.

He hands the keys back to Brady Hoke, who was (13-12) in two years here, setting the program on a course of success, before he left to take the Michigan job in the Big 10-Conference.  Hoke came back last year, and worked his coaching magic  in the defensive front, pushing Long’s defense to the #8-ranking in the country.

Continuity in the Aztecs football program is important.  Long-Hoke-cut from the same cloth.

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AD-John David Wicker

..Celebrate the career of Rocky Long-the winningest coach in MWC history.
..Came to me right before Bowl Game-said he was thinking retiring
..Asked him to think more after holidays..came back December 26th-retire
..We won the minute he came here

..Great moments..great players
..(4-1) vs Pac 12-teams the last 4-years
..Two rushers-who had 2,000-yard seasons
..Built great defenses-nationally ranked
..Fortunate to have been with him develop this culture in football
..It is about toughness-grit-opportunity to beat anyone-blue bloods included.
..Rocky embraced being part of the athletic department
..As 1st time AD…I leaned on him as I learned the ropes
..Brady is part of the fabric of Aztecs football
..He ended a long bowl drought when he got here
..Brady built a foundation and Rocky added to it
..Brady believes in student-athlete experience
..Coaching search..started thinking about changes
..Rocky wanted continuity in the program
..We talked about not blowing up what we have
..Talked to others-but Brady being part of architects of this..was important.
..We spent 8-hours with Brady talking about the job-he will continue this
..We did 2-hour conference call one day
..Went to Dayton for 6-hours meeting decided to promote him
..I did not demand Rocky fire Off Coor-Jeff Horton
..I talked to 3-other candidates about head coaching job-but Brady was #1
..Brady was on ground floor of program-knows it all
..Rocky said we should hire him
..I met with President-Rocky-Associate AD to determine candidates
..I didn’t know Brady-was meaningful to spend a lot of time with him
..Money was not-never an issue-we have resources to compete MWC
..New stadium coming on board will help our revenue even more.

Rocky Long

..I decided to retire from coaching
..This university has allowed us to be successful
..The culture here is something special..be part of this for 11-years
..It’s time to step aside after 20-years as a head coach
..I enjoy coaching but not enjoying  all things as head coach
..Time for a new face-not a pretty face-new voice-Brady Hoke
..Brady will create excitement…an exciting time to be an Aztec
..The very best thing about the program is the young men in program
..We have good people…kids becoming men
..Our leaders are special players and people
..There are no “I-Guys-Me Guys” in this program..No “look at me types”
..Our veteran players police the roster
..It took Brady and I …4-to-5 years to change the culture
..We have exciting President and exciting AD…it’s time.
..Brady bringing me in was luckiest day of my life
..It worked out well for me and him too
..Hoke is the best defensive line coach in country
..He is good guy…great head football coach
..Told JD before bowl game-told him thought I as thinking of retiring.
..Was right time..best time to retire
..Word got out I was retiring..word got out..people called..
..Went and visited…Yes had 3-offers
..As of this moment I am retired…but I love coaching..most fun I had
..I would only consider coming back here as Def Coordinator
..It’s Zach Arnett’s time to shine as Def Coord
..If he ever left, I would consider working for Brady-but not before then
..I loved to coach and recruit…most fun I ever had
..JD tried hard to change my mind
..When you have my experience-you can’t change my mind
..I might help someone coach-not going to stay away from football
..Brady and I have similar philosophies-win every game
..Power 5-won’t schedule us-know they will be in for a fight
..Half of Pac 12 won’t play us anymore
..There wasn’t one thing that happened that made me decide.
..You never quit when you are (7-6)..going out 10-wins was key.

Brady Hoke

..Coach Long has made it fun..10-years ago…and then this past year
..Our friendship goes all way back to Oregon State in the Pac 10
..Our president has great commitment
..We have great players who have defined this program
..Toughness-effort…on field-in building..on the campus..
..We are about accountability-respect-trust in this program.
..We have pride in ownership in SDSU football…past-present-future
..You never get chance to do something twice in life-so fortunate to have this chance
..Will meet with staff tomorrow to talk about direction
..A leader has to lead is team with his type of men on staff.
..People don’t want to play SDSU
..I want first class guys…integrity-character on this team.
..My core-that’s who I am.
..I am proud of my career….2nd chance coming back at place we love
..There is no dream job out there for me now
..I feel real fortunate to be able to come back again

..If it wasn’t for friendship and professionalism with Rocky-I might not have come back.
..I learned a lot at Michigan-we didn’t fail..put 11-guys in NFL one year
..I lost my President and AD at Michigan-that was hard
..I learned a lot under Mark Helfrich at Oregon
..Learned a lot from Chip Kelly-How to practice
..We are keeping the 3-3-5 defense
..We can run the spread but still play power football too
..I intend to get my ‘hands dirty’ and help coach defensive line
..My job is to grow these young men
..I was told last Saturday-Rocky was retiring..Final offer Tuesday night
..I tried to talk Rocky into staying
..I will evaluate the offense and the staff
..We must change the ‘pace of the game’ on offense next year.

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“Aztecs Football–Winning But Losing”

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What is next?

Maybe we find out sometime on Wednesday.

Maybe not for a week or so.

Maybe never.

Rocky Long has done marvelous things at San Diego State, driving a moribund program into the upper echelon Group of 5-schools, and becoming a dominant force in the Mountain West Conference.

But maybe he has reached the end of the road here.  Maybe he needs a new challenge.  Maybe he wants to go somewhere and get paid.  Maybe he wants to be part of something respected, in the community, or maybe by his own Athletic Director.

Long was in upstate New York to meet with Dino Babers of Syracuse University on Monday.  The national writers believe it was to be considered for the Orange Defensive Coordinators job.  I was told it was to become Assistant Head Coach or possible Coach in Waiting.

Long is also mentioned as a candidate for Mike Leach’s Defensive Coordinators job at Washington State, and quietly to the vacant job at USC under Clay Helton.

The jobs are big time.  They pay well, 1M at Washington State, as much as 1.2M at Syracuse, and 1.5 or more at USC.

Long’s phenominal run at SDSU has led to an (81-38) record, but you could never tell by crowd turnout at SDSU  home games, with the stadium never sold out, in fact never really approaching 30,000 paid customers per home game.

SDSU has never been able to configure a plan to get San Diego to embrace the greatness of all the things Long has done.

There could be lots of reasons for Long’s decision to look at something else.

..A chance to go to a Power 5-school and do what he does best, teach defense and win and be in a New Year’s Day game.
.
..A chance to get a quality payday in the twilight of a fine career.  He makes (878,000) per year, and is only 7th on the payday list in his own conference.

..A chance to go somewhere where college football is held in high regard, compared to San Diego, where the Aztecs have not replaced the departed Chargers in the hearts of football fans.

..A chance to go somewhere without the drain of being a head coach dealing with 105-players, and an assistants staff under siege.

..A chance to not have to be responsible for an assistant coaching staff, which earns just 1.4M total in salaries in an expensive city to live in.

..A chance to work for some other AD aside from JD Wicker and his quirky personality.

..A chance to get away from the Mountain West Conference, its rinky-dink reputation, and a leadership team that cannot market its schools or get a decent TV contract.

..A chance to be part of the Power 5, not the disrespected Group of 5-conferences.

..A chance to walk way from a street fight with the AD, who might be mandating changes to the offensive coaching staff, going against the loyalty part of Long’s DNA.

It is stunning to look at the Mountain West payroll and see where the winningest coach is situated on the dollar ladder.  In the just completed 2019 season, Long was 7th in salary.

..1.8M-Mike Bobo-Colorado State…since fired
..1.6M-Brian Harsin-Boise State
..1.5M-Jeff Tedford-Fresno State..just retired
..1.4M-Craig Bohl-Wyoming..never won a title
..975K-Troy Calhoun-Air Force
..900K-Gary Anderson-Utah State in first year back
..878K-Rocky Long-SDSU..(81-38)..Dean of Coaches-9 Bowls

USA Today’s Salary list for the MWC shows SDSU’s football budget (15.5M), ranked third behind Colorado State (21.6M) and Fresno (17.8).  Oddly, national power Boise has a budget of (11.8M).  In terms of salaries for the football staff, Boise is tops with a (4.8M) coaching payout.  Wyoming was second (4.6M).  San Diego State is ranked 4th at (3.9M)..  So the Aztecs are in the upper third in football money, but their head coach is in the bottom third.  Does not make sense.

How could San Diego State allow this situation to exist, to have this icon of a coach on the Montezuma Mesa be so poorly compensated? Are dollars tight at state schools here?  Yes, but so are they other places around the league.

The Aztecs went 11-years without a winning season.  Brady Hoke and Rocky Long changed all that, but it does not appear they have been rewarded.  Granted no one expects anything like the (9.9M) package Dabo Swinney gets at Clemson or the (9.6M) haul made by Nick Saban at Alabama.

For a school that made a fatal mistake and fired Beth Burns-the women’s basketball coach,  and had to pay over 4.5M in wrongful termination plus legal fees, how could they not better take care of a great coach and possibly a greater man?  They haven’t won anything since where before they went to the NCAA tourney a number of times.

As this program has grown, we have seen all types of head coach.  Al Luginbill-forever the snake-oil salesman.  Ted Tollner, the ultimate gentleman.  Tom Craft and his schemes.  Chuck Long who became a fraud and failure.  Brady Hoke and his forceful personality.  To where we are now, all those wins and bowl games, under Long.

I’ve been around a lot of unique college coaches, doing play-by-play, sports talk and covering teams.

From the old school standards of Woody Hayes, to the beliggerance of Bo Schembechler, to the demands of Frank Kush, to the team first theory of Bobby Ross, to the emotional pitch of Marty Schottenheimer, to the XO-intelligence of Norv Turner.

Rocky Long has a piece of each of those coaches as part of his fabric.

He has every right to look for something different, if his heart and his head tell him it is time for a change.  SDSU’s leadership better look within themselves as to what they could-should have done better to keep him.

Rocky Long, unvarnished, unfiltered, has brought us a special experience at SDSU.  From culture, to accountability, to honesty to dedication.  He’s done all he could.  Maybe San Diego State has done all it could too.

Or maybe Aztecs leadership should have done better.

I can hear Long sales pitching that every recruit in upstate New York, should want to wear ‘Orange’.  Or praising ‘Cougar Weather’ up in Pullman, Washington.  Or standing and tell his defense to ‘Fight On’ his way if he were to become a USC Trojan.

If he leaves, we might get Brady Hoke-revisited as his replacement.  If he leaves, he might take Brady Hoke with him, and that would be our double loss.

We find out shortly.

Aztecs football-winning, but now possibly losing the man responsible for it all.  It would be good for the coach, bad for those of us left behind who care about the Aztecs.

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“Aztecs Basketball-Halfway Home-Midseason Grades”

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They are (15-0) in a season of surprises.
They are rated 7th in the nation in the AP Poll.
They could conceivably be unbeaten by the time the Mountain West Conference post season tourney opens.

A Mid-season report card on the Aztecs:

BRIAN DUTCHER…No one expected this, not even him.  So many new parts to add to a thinned out roster, but this team has come together.  Strong floor leadership, a bunch of guys who can shoot threes, rim protectors in the big man department, a deep bench to play lots of roles, and defense, always defense.  He distributes minutes and job responsibility based on the opponent.  Grade (A)

MALACHI FLYNN….Sitting out a year after the Washington State transfer, allowed him to polish his shooting game.  His last season with the Cougars was poor in terms of shooting.  Now he makes plays, drives to the hoop, can stroke it outside, and hit threes too.  A complete player, and maybe a surprise at how fast he has produced…Grade (A)

MATT MITCHELL…The old dog of the group, is a very different player now.  Trimmed down, looks like he has taken over 20-pounds, but is still physically tough to handle down inside, when he has the ball and goes for the fall on defense.  Can play rough house defender and muscleman, and not afraid to take fouls.  Real unsung hero.  Does not always pile up stats, but does so many intangible things.  Grade (A) for all his roles.

YANNI WETZEL…Vanderbilt transfer can score, can play down on the block and always seems to be in motion somewhere doing something.  Still think there is something coming from him on offense, where some nights hot, others not.  Athletic for as big as he is.  Grade (B)

KJ FEAGIN…A real warrior in the backcourt with his defense first personality.  Always in your face.  Can score, really can defend.  One of reasons opponents are turning the ball over 15-times a game and shooting just 36% from the floor.  In final year of basketball, making a huge difference.  Grade (A)

NATHAN MENSAH…Huge upgrade in his offensive skill set, now active at both ends of the floor.  Always in traffic rejecting shots, grabbing rebounds on both offense and defense.  Not intimidated by this level or job he must do each night.  Real student of game.  Learned to bang and leap.  Just think about his growth from last year to now, and where he might be by next year.  Grade (B)

JORDAN SCHAKEL….Started year with a flurry of threes, though have not seen as many lately.  Gifted athlete who can run floor and is playing with much more confidence.  Still room to grow and groom going forward.  Grade (B)

TREY PULLIAM…Expected more earlier from him since he played so much in Texas JUCO ranks, but has been lost in numbers game in backcourt.  Could still make an impact before this is all done.  Grade (C) only because of limited playing time.

JOEL MENSAH…Growing into valuable short minutes guy and will be needed coming off bench as tourney time approaches.  Only scratched surface of offensive skills.  Really young player.  Grade (C)

ADAM SEIKO…There is a skill set there, but yet to show it because of limited playing time.  Still has two more years eligibility left.  Grade (C)

AGUEK AROP…Injuries have hampered him, and yet to show the street tough form he showed second half of last season.  Part of Dutcher’s ‘bench bunch’-we need this done-go go it.  Really physical warrior guy playing with bigs.  Still to be heard from this year.  Grade (C)

NOLAN NARAIN…Looks the part, but illness and injuries have really derailed him.  Career did not pan out after what appeared to be promising start.  Grade (C)

KESHAD JOHNSON….Future begins next year.  Sit-learn-practice and get ready to play next season.  Reminds me of explosiveness of Jalen McDaniels and other past Aztecs bigs.  Not ready for prime-time and no need to rush with all the talent infront of him.  Grade (D) only because this is really a red-shirt type season.

Team (15-0)…
Team Grade Point (3.0)

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“Wildcard Weekend–What I Saw”

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BUFFALO-HOUSTON

..Josh Allen-Bills QB-hit all the checkboxes showing as a rookie growing up on the job…Big plays…big 42Y-run…TD pass…TD catch on throwback play…2-bad sacks…bad grounding penalty.  He learned a lot at the end of the season and in postseason.  Watch the Bills add more offense to his team.

..Bills defense…big fast…run to the ball…lots of hats on the tackles…What a turnaround in just two short seasons, and a very young group of players on that side..

..Deshaun Watson-what fortitude…Quarterback under siege all day…yet made tons of big plays by himself….The 34Y-overtime pass while about to be sacked-amazing….They won-he took 7-sacks…12-additional hits and was pressured out of the pocket 11-times…He has been sacked 56-times this year.

..Don’t like the Houston offensive line, and this is a team that traded for Laremy Tonsil from Miami.

..DeAndre Hopkins is a star, Will Fuller is brilliant, but that’s a lot of money they are paying to Kenny Stills, who does not seem to be part of the package.

————

TENNESSEE-NEW ENGLAND

..Does Derrick Henry bring back memories of the power, the extra gear of speed, like Earl Campbell, or Eddie George or Tony Dorsett.?  He now has over (1700Y) rushing as they go to next week.

..Teacher beaten by pupil, sure seemed to be the storyline as Mike Vrabel outsmarted Bill Belichick with scheme, and his team out-toughed the usually tough Patriots.  They bullied the Pats in their own stadium, and even Vrabel outsmarted Belichick  by eating up clock time by taking delay of penalty calls in the fourth quarter.

..Tom Brady’s career is not over, regardless of what all the network analysts wanted to talk about, but his organization let him down by not acquiring enough off-season skill talent…by not replacing Rob Gronkowski, and not finding the proper mix of wide receivers to solidify the offense.  Brady completed  10-passes to running backs, only 3-to Julian Edelman, and did not get much out of Mohammad Sanu, Phil Dorsett or N’Keal Henry.

..It was bad on Saturday, and Belichick’s press conference on Sunday was even more sour-dour on Sunday.  The Patriots now have to face the off season waiting to solve the Brady contract, the NFL sanctions about video gate, and the still impending discipline directed at Owner Robert Kraft for that prostitution charge from last off season.

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MINNESOTA-NEW ORLEANS

..The Vikings made it a street fight with their defense, and they caused enough ruckus to disrupt Drew Brees and the Saints offense.  It was a thriller, fueled by big plays.  Kirk Cousins finally won a key game that counted in his career, Dalvin Cook ran for big yards early in the game, and Adam Theilen, finally healthy, had a 100-yard game receiving.

..The on going snafus with instant replays and the refs continued, with the non-call on offensive pass interference in the end zone on the Kyle Rudolph game winning touchdown.  Another bad look for the NFL.

..Just wondering where Stefon Diggs was in the Vikings game plan, you know, the one who averages (17.9YPC) this season?

..Love the Minnesota front seven.  Think about this, in one stretch, in the Superdome, the Vikings defense had limited the Saints to 9-first downs in the first 8-possessions.  But I don’t like the Minnesota secondary.

..Taysom Hill, some type of talent.  So what impressed you the most, the 50-yard pass he threw off the bench, the 20-yard TD catch he made, the 38-yard run, or the four first down runs he made in that game?

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SEATTLE-PHILADELPHIA

..You have to feel bad for Carson Wentz, all that production, and all those injuries.  The head hit that knocked him out of the game just 9-minutes into Sunday.  He cannot stay healthy.

..Josh McCown put on a show of courage, running, scrambling out of trouble all day long.  Not bad for a 40-year old journeyman back up giving it all he had.  Seattle wound up with 7-sacks of the Eagles QBs. .

..What a beast Fletcher Cox is at defensive tackle.  He was unblockable all day long, on Russell Wilson, in that backfield.

Equally as dominant, the Seahawks DE-Jadaveon Clowney.  Just ask the Philly offensive unit.

..Russell Wilson and his receiver corps had to do most of the heavy lifting in that game, despite the reappearance of Marshawn Lynch as a running back.  Seattle’s defense came up with big plays all day long to slow down the battered Eagles.   Remember Wilson was without all three of his top running backs, notably Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny.

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“Chargers-End of season-not the end of their problems”

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The Chargers miserable season is over.

Other teams are playing this weekend, the Bolts team is not.

Losing 6-of-7 to end the year was hard to take.  So was the (5-11) record.

They have very hard decisions, and likely expensive ones to make about QB-Philip Rivers, RB-Melvin Gordon and a host of other free agents.

That ache of a miserable finish will likely go away in the off season as the team makes players deals.

What won’t go away is the memory and the noise of all those home games, with other fans wearing their team jerseys in the stands instead of Chargers fans.  As Bolts players said ‘we played 16-road games a year’.

What won’t go away is the haunting feeling none of this would have ever happened if Dean Spanos had kept his team here as the San Diego Chargers.  The family greed has led to this.  Left behind the memories and loyalty of the years ‘Show Me Your Lightning Bolt’.

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General Manger Tom Telesco-End of Season Press Conference
..Very disappointed how season ended
..Go from playoffs to 5-wins..alot of factors in this ending
..I need to do a better job avoiding the spikes in seasons

..We are disappointed and a bit angry but not discouraged
. .I like the culture-the foundation-love our head coach
..These things are critical.
..Make sure we bring in right players for system
..Need to learn to adjust our schemes
..There is a foundation here to win
..We have to communicate

..Whole league changes year to year..we have to too.
..There are players we want back
..Rivers can still can compete at top level
..We need to look at everything with him..we were (0-6) division
..We’ve done it before-fixed this team-we will
..In a perfect world #17 is your QB forever
..He has meant everything to this organization..a joy to work with

..We need to get removed from the season a bit before deciding
..We have time to re-evaluate everything- we will
..Turnovers killed us…on offense..not getting them on defense
..Red zone offense was a problem as was our 3rd down defense

..The Rivers contract will work itself our..he’s tough..he’s a leader
..I love the quarterback-we need to help him
..I can’t picture him without a Lightning Bolt on his helmet
..His perspective on the team-it’s needs-his career-right on.

..You lose a Pro Bowl LT and OC-that’s tough
..Our sack percentage was 7th least in NFL-we need to fix upfront
..You can’t fix things in-season..you can in off-season
..We must have tough discussions after (5-11) season.

..Shane Steichen-it was hard to come in mid-season-coordinator
..You need to be coordinator in camp to install things-not in season
..He had pretty tight turnaround-he did pretty good job this year

..Melvin Gordon in same boat with everyone
..Gordon holdout did not make me happy
..I love Gordon as a player-he had great games coming back
..He is excellent football player..I like him a lot
..I understand why he held out-we have to get beyond that
..That holdout hurt our football team-we did not have all our weapons

..We need to evaluate how we handled those negotiations
..Every contact situation with players are different

..Everyone in building is hurting right now
..We put everything into this…to go (5-11)..we are exhausted
..We have good coach..we will put the work in to get this done
..We are not ready to evaluate players-staff is exhausted-have time
..We are not hiding from the work we have to

..Mike Pouncey is an incredible leader-we need to see if he can play
..Derwin James showed how good he is-what he did end of year
..Austin Ekeler-great leadership ability
..Nassir Adderly-has to get healthy-he can play-great instincts
..Mike Williams-huge catches-big time playmaker-yardage guy

..If there ever a year to turn the page-it is this one
..We need to win-going into new stadium
..We have a healthy cap situation-most since I have been here

..Every year there are major questions-how do you fix this-that
..We need next group of young players to step forward now
..Young players have it in them to become new leaders
..Young OL we have played have to expand on that in off season now

..Playoffs painful to watch…not being part of it
..In 1998-Indianapolis-we were behind Pacers-Indy 500-1999-we won
..2000-we won a lot of games-did a lot in community-turned the down
..Play consistent-win games with Peyton Manning-it’s Colts town
..Bigger scale here-it’s LA…Bar is high…drive us more-we play to win
..Splash is not important..substance to splash is the key
..Moving to new stadium will be exciting
..Energy going into new stadium for these players

..Be careful of players with big names-can they still play
..We have great support from ownership to get players-need right one
..Carson Stadium-no agent ever mentioned that to me as negative
..We sell our coach-leadership..this QB
..The talent is there at skill position and on our defense-now must add

..Anthony Lynn is not narrow-focused..he sees big picture when talk
..We talk constantly-I know what he wants player wise-talk all time
..He listens…I listen…we put enough good people in room-get answer
..By Senior Bowl-we will have a better feel of our needs
..Will take us a couple of weeks to get beyond this (5-11) finish

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