Brandon Marshall: Inside the Huddle

Michael Gervais (0:02)

The Super Bowl becomes everything. There is so much noise.

Brandon Marshall (0:07)

You have three hours to tell everybody what you know about this game.

Michael Gervais (0:12)

The game is everywhere. The huddle is one of football's great mystery boxes. Players actually spend more time in it than the ball is actually in play. And yet, almost no one knows what really happens inside the huddle. In this episode, NFL All-Pro, Brandon Marshall and I go inside the huddle, not to talk strategy, but to reveal culture, to reveal its impact on the game.

Brandon Marshall (0:44)

Before you can get to what's happening in the huddle, you gotta understand, you know, the huddle, meaning the center, how far away he is from the ball and is back towards the ball, is intentional, where every player is is intentional, where the quarterback inserts himself after receiving a play is intentional. Is he standing up? Is he kneeling down? The eye contact, like we practice the huddle. If you don't get the huddle right, if you don't break the huddle right, do it again.

Michael Gervais (1:15)

Okay, let's start at the beginning, because why is the center have his back to the ball?

Brandon Marshall (1:21)

Well, first off, we're trying to, like that's where we're communicating, right? So we have to protect that huddle, right? And so his back is to the ball, because now where he's a large human, the defense is behind us, so that's our wall, right? And so now we're about to get the information. We can't let them get the plate. But also the reason why he's there too, it's like when we break the huddle, how quickly can we get to the ball? Can we get set? Can we get, start getting the information? Now that gets into all the other stuff. What do we receive in the huddle? And there's only seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds. To now we have to identify the mic. We have to put the protection in place. We have to see where the clock is. We got to bring a guy in motion. The coach is in this guy's air. We're reading at the receiver position. I'm out here and I'm, I got my triangle. I'm looking at the corner. I'm look, no, I'm not just listening. I got to feel that. But I got to look at my corner, my safety. And then I got my backer. That's going to tell me if it's cover three or cover two. And that whatever they roll to post snap determines how I run my route or if my route changes. But I also got to listen in here if the quarterback is going to go into audible. He's going to change something, right? And then the running back is in the backfield. And he has to determine if this guy comes off the edge, I got to go get this guy to break off my route. So there's so much going on within these 20, 25, 30 seconds.

Michael Gervais (2:39)

And the other thing that happens is that a play breaks. Say it's a 20-yard bomb.

Brandon Marshall (2:46)

Yep.

Michael Gervais (2:46)

And then now the whole squad kind of has to catch up to where you just caught the ball.

Brandon Marshall (2:50)

That's right.

Michael Gervais (2:51)

OK, now the clock has started. We have 40 seconds. On the sidelines, the offensive coordinator and head coach are kind of sorting out what play to get in. And then everyone's kind of scrumming around the ball. And the quarterback is outside of the huddle.

Brandon Marshall (3:06)

That's right.

Michael Gervais (3:07)

And then at that point, the quarterback is listening for the play. Now, these plays.

Brandon Marshall (3:13)

OK. Tripp's right. Let's go 11 personnel, 11 personnel. Or don't forget your situation. The situation right now, you just got to the fringe area. Alert, alert this right now. There's alerts in the fringe. Remember, 70 percent of the time they do X, Y. This is the conversation before they even get to the plate. It's all happening. And now it's going. Now we're I'm sending 11 personnel, 11 personnel. Tell Brandon on this one, he goes to the Z. He says here, OK, we can go Trips right, Z zing. We're going to go scat protection. We're going to go actually stretch that. Let's go 385 and then let's go Z bingo X comeback. H swing on two on two. And don't forget, don't forget, don't forget. Remember to look. OK, OK. You see the quarterbacks. I got it.

Michael Gervais (3:54)

I got it.

Brandon Marshall (3:54)

I got it.

Michael Gervais (3:55)

Now the quarterback has to remember all that.