Mike Macdonald: "Zach Charbonnet's Talents Were On Display"

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

All right, all right, Brian, everybody get us going.

Mike Macdonald (0:06)

Not everybody's camera's on.

Brian (0:10)

Hey coach, Ernest Jones mentioned yesterday that you are like someone, it's like you're on the field with him when you're in his helmet. And he talked about the experience of having you in the helmet with him.

What kind of personality or persona do you try to project when you're in the helmet with Ernest Jones? And what is he like back to you in those communications?

Mike Macdonald (0:37)

Well, I hope he doesn't mind it because sometimes I can't help myself. I try to stay calm. I mean, just try to stay calm based off the situation.

It's tricky because sometimes because of like after a stoppage or something like that, you have more time when the offense lines up or what you're thinking. And more of like a high leverage situations. And there's a lot of times where the 15 seconds are up and we're out of luck and they just got to go play. So I'm sure there's some times where he wants me to be quiet so we can just go play. So we'll work through those times.

Bob (1:14)

Bob? Yeah, Mike. With the running game yesterday, some of the players kind of mentioned that the gap scheme stuff seemed to work really well yesterday. I was just curious, sort of what, I guess, how much that was a factor or the schemes that you used were a factor and also why that would have worked. And if there's things about the personality you have right now that would make that specific scheme work well.

Mike Macdonald (1:40)

Well, I mean, the way the NFL is nowadays, you can't just live in one world, so you got to be able to run both. I mean, we had success with some gap yesterday, and we had a holding call on another, on a zone run that I thought was a really well blocked play. And just we had a holding call. So there's another couple of zone runs too. So I wouldn't say it's just exclusively gap, but it is nice to have that kind of world of plays come to life for us where we're not a predictable operation, where all types of play types are kind of on the table at any given point. So that'll be beneficial for us moving forward.

SPEAKER_1 (2:23)

Jen.

Jen (2:26)

Along the same lines of offensive line, Sataoa mentioned that getting all the reps with the first team made a big difference in how comfortable he felt going into the game. Did you see him react, respond or take a step forward in any way?

Mike Macdonald (2:40)

Yeah, I did. I thought he played a really good football game. You can see all of his talents on display. He saw some confidence. I thought he played well in the Jets game too. Like I said, he did have a little bit of a slow start that way. We talked about this yesterday after the game, but just continuity up front and having the same five guys. Not only is Sataoa taking all the reps, but it's all the other guys across from them that Olu is used to communicating with and having on a consecutive streak here going in. So I think all those things are contributing to those guys playing well.

SPEAKER_1 (3:17)

Mas Vida.

Mas Vida (3:18)

Hey, Mike. This morning on the radio, you were talking about your continual improvement process. And you mentioned getting hit in the head. And, yeah, like get each other between the eyes. Sorry.

Mike Macdonald (3:33)

Yeah. Should we get hit me right between the when you're just just hit me between the eyes instead of don't just don't beat around the bush on how you're making points. Just kind of tell me what you're thinking. We'll take the emotion out of it and just let's just talk about it rather than wasting a bunch of time talking about a bunch of fluff.

Mas Vida (3:52)

How have you been able to build trust and integrity so that that can happen and you can move with the players in the organization focused on the ultimate goal?

Mike Macdonald (4:02)

Well, I think there's a consistency piece that really matters. If you're just like we talk about integrity throughout, people have talked about accountability and stuff like that. Remember, I was talking about, hey, I'd rather use the term integrity. Hey, we're going to do what we say or what we're going to do and what we're going to be about. And we're going to back it up through our actions. So I think just as a coach and as a leader and the players too, like having conversations where you're creating an environment where you feel like you're heard and you're valued and you're making the decisions that are best for the team. And that kind of decision criteria is consistent on what's driving on what you're doing on kind of a per decision basis. Hopefully, and I think this is true, that the guys respect that and that builds trust as you're consistent over time.