Panthers introduce new head coach Matt Rhule.
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00:00Well, this is fun. You know, I just want to, just a couple things, just reflect upon this
00:09process that we just went through, which was a little bit of a whirlwind sort of process.
00:18And just want to thank a couple people first. I want to thank Mike McCarthy for putting
00:24up with us in Green Bay when we went up there to see him. I want to thank Eric Benemy,
00:32who went up in Kansas City. I was pretty much hacking all over the place because I was in
00:37the emergency room the day before, two days before we went up there in Kansas City. So
00:42I hope I didn't get him sick when I was up there, but it was that important to be up
00:46there. And of course, you know, we plan to have this go on for a little bit longer, but
00:52then we went down to Waco, Texas. And we got down there and we were pulled up in Matt
01:01Rowe's house, and right behind Matt Rowe, who was pulling up from his trip from Mexico.
01:06He was in his shorts and Mexico t-shirt or whatever. I don't know if he had a suntan
01:11or what, but I helped him in with the luggage a little bit. And then Julie had all this
01:16food out there, which was just too much food, you know, so she was just feeding us this
01:20stuff. And Marty Herney had about 25 meatballs there, just as an aside. And we started interviewing
01:28Matt, and we were all sitting there interviewing Matt, and it was me and Marty and Steve Drummond.
01:36And we're interviewing, we're going on, and Marty, I don't know, Marty Herney, you know,
01:42so Marty's going with this toughness, this question, so that we're going through about
01:46halfway through the interview, and Marty Herney starts melting down. And you can see
01:50Marty says, man, I've got to get in, I've got to get in, I've got to get in recruiting
01:54mode now, I've got to get in. So Marty's there, he goes from total interview mode to start
02:01putting on the recruiting mode. And Steve and I just looked at each other, we looked
02:05at Marty, and we didn't say a word, and we just all went in recruiting mode. Because
02:09we knew we had something special, and something that we thought we could build something up
02:14here. And, you know, we're more, as I said, I was more than excited. So happy his family's
02:20up here today. I'm already trying to give him too much sugar, I think, so I have to
02:27calm myself down a little bit. But this is a great day, and I just want to thank the
02:31Rolls for being up here, and I'll turn it back over to Mick. So thank you. Thank you
02:36all for coming today. Thank you, Rory and Ryan.
02:44And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome a builder, an innovator, a motivator, a hard
03:01worker, and the new head football coach of the Carolina Panthers, Matt Ruhle.
03:27Thank you very much. I appreciate you guys showing some of my past press conferences.
03:32I had to kind of cross a couple things out, because I really believe in what I believe.
03:38And it was really, really humbling for me to sit there and see that, and then to stand
03:43up here and see just, you know, just the outpouring of support from the community, from the organization.
03:50On behalf of my family and I, thank you so much. And Mr. Tepper, Mrs. Tepper, Dave Nicole,
03:58I thank you so much for entrusting me with your prized football franchise. And I can
04:05promise you this, I'll work each day with everything that I have, and I'll hire a staff
04:09that will work each day with everything that we have that makes you proud of your organization.
04:15You know, Mr. Tepper talked a little bit about it, but it was really clear from the
04:20moment we pulled up to our house. I got off the plane from Mexico, we had spent a couple
04:26days there after the bowl game, and I called Steven and said, hey, we're a couple minutes
04:30away, we're maybe a minute late. And I believe in process, I believe in doing things the
04:35right way, and I think when you're trying to make a decision about moving your family,
04:38what job you're going to go to, all those different things, you want to go to someone
04:41who does things right. And when the owner, when Marty, the general manager, when they're
04:46already at your house before you get there, when they help you carry things in, when you
04:51see them sit there and talk to your kids, I sat there with my wife and I said, there's
04:55no doubt that we share a common vision. There's no doubt that we believe in doing things the
05:00right way, and I thank you guys for the process. It's been so first class, and I know that
05:06Mr. Tepper, I know that Marty will truly be partners as we move forward. You know, for
05:11anyone who knows anything about me, they know that family's the most important thing to
05:15me. And I would not be where I am today if it were not for my wife, Julie, my son, Bryant,
05:21my daughters, Vivian, Leona. Years ago, Julie and I, before our son was born, he was eventually
05:27born, we were at Western Carolina, and my first recruiting trip, I had strep throat.
05:32And I called the coach, like, thinking like coaches could have a day off. I didn't know
05:34at the time that coaches don't get a day off, and he said, you have strep throat, that's
05:37too bad, get to Charlotte, you have to go recruiting. And so I got in the backseat of
05:41the car, and Julie drove me to West Charlotte, and I walked in, and I talked to the coach,
05:45and I did my job, and she drove me all day around the schools in Mecklenburg County,
05:49and then we drove back to Cullowhee. She's a special woman, and I would not be able to
05:55be here, I would not be able to have had success at Temple and Baylor if it was not for her
05:59and for my family now. You know, sometimes making a change is easier for the coach. I'm
06:04going to stay here, and they're going to head back. So I appreciate them. I appreciate
06:08all that they've meant to me. My mom and dad, who've moved to Temple to be there with us,
06:12moved to Baylor and can't be here today, I'm so grateful for them. Julie's dad moved to
06:16Waco as well. We want to be a part of this family, and we're grateful for our family
06:21that we have.
06:25People have asked me, you know, why the call, why the draw, why do you want to take on this
06:35next chapter of your life? Well, coach, you had a great thing at Baylor. Why did you want
06:39to go to the NFL? And it's really simple to me. I start every, I start every decision
06:43in my life with why, and I'll tell you this. I love the game of football. I was a kid that
06:50grew up in New York City and, you know, basketball all around me, and from an early age, I loved
06:56the game of football. My mom would, when my dad was working, my mom would take me out,
07:00and I would say now, as I ran a flyer out, she'd throw the ball as far as she could,
07:03and I'd go over and try to catch it. And my dad, once a year, twice a year, would drive
07:07me to Pennsylvania to Penn State and watch games. I love the game of football, and football's
07:11done so much for me in my life. I was able to go to Penn State and was not a great player,
07:17but I was able to, in some small part, contribute to that team. I was able then to go on and
07:24get my master's degree because of football. I was able to get into coaching, and football's
07:28brought me in all these places and to meet all these people, and it's brought me here
07:32today. It's a special game. It's the greatest game that there is. You walk into a locker
07:38room, there's guys of all ages. There's guys from all different parts of the country. There's
07:41guys of all shapes and sizes, yet they come together to form a team and play the hardest
07:48game that there is to play. They play in bad weather. They play when they're injured. They
07:52play when they don't feel great. They find a way to get it done as a team. It's the greatest
07:57game that there is, and as I sat here and was trying to make a decision about my life,
08:02I said to myself, Matt, what do you want? And I want to go and be a part of the greatest
08:08game at the highest stage, and I just had to figure out where. I'm so excited to be
08:15a part of this community. I'm so excited to be a part of this team. I'm walking in, and
08:20I just saw Steve Smith, and I'm sitting there saying to myself, my goodness, the people
08:23that have come before me, the greatness. I met Julius Peppers earlier, like Julius Peppers.
08:31The greatness of the men who have played the game for this franchise, and I want to continue
08:39that and build that. I want to make sure that the game is played the right way each and
08:45every day, not just in the games, but on the practice field, in the meeting rooms. I want
08:49to make sure that we honor this game that's given so much to us, and that we build a team
08:54that cares about each other, that plays hard for each other, and I think that all starts
08:58with me. So as I sit here and I accept this tremendous opportunity, I just want you to
09:05know that I will work tirelessly each day to bring you guys a championship, to bring
09:10you a championship, because that's what this region deserves, and that's what the players
09:15who came before us deserve, and that's what the guys in that locker room, as I've had
09:19a chance to meet them, that's what they deserve. And as I said so many years ago, how do you
09:23do that? You just start building. One day at a time. I truly believe that everything
09:29counts and that everything's important. The way that I park my car in the morning, the
09:35way that I walk to the practice field, the way that I watch tape, everything that I do,
09:41everything that our players do, everything that anyone associated with the Carolina Panthers
09:44do, everything has got to be our best each and every day. And when you live a life like
09:49that where everything's important, where no days are throwaways, you can be proud of
09:55the guy next to you, you can be proud of your effort, and most importantly, eventually success
09:59and championships will come. I was looking for an ownership who believed that. I was
10:05looking for a general manager who believed that, who believed that life is not just about
10:09setting goals, it's about process. It's about the daily steps, the daily grind that you
10:15have to go through. I wanted to find people in an organization that's tough. That's tough.
10:23Keep pounding isn't just a slogan, it's a way of life. That when things are hard or
10:27when things are good, how you feel or what's happening can affect your effort each and
10:32every day. I wanted to come be a part of an organization that believes that, and I know
10:39that I found that. We're going to have a tough, hardworking, competitive team. Tough
10:45to me means that each and every day, no matter how we feel, no matter what the circumstances
10:49are, we're going to come to work and we're going to do our job and get it done. I want
10:54to have a hardworking team, a team that believes in relentless preparation. I want guys that
11:00love football, I want coaches that love football, that each and every day are searching for
11:04an edge. And then I want guys who are competitive, that want to be the best, whether we're playing
11:11Madden or if we're playing in a championship game. They want to be the best each and every
11:16day, not just compared to the guy across them, though that's important, they want to be at
11:21their best. They want to be the very best that they can be in everything that they do.
11:28I think when you have that mentality in the locker room, you can be special. When you
11:31have it with your coaching staff, you can be really good. And when it starts with your
11:34owner and it starts with your GM, you can be memorable. And that's what I found as we
11:42sat there and as I went through that process, a group of men that are committed to doing
11:47this the right way and doing it in a way that maybe hasn't been done. To the people that
11:52work in the building, to the people that wake up each and every day trying to make sure
11:56that the Carolina Panthers are their best, I just want you to know that I just want to
11:59be a small part of what we're all going to do together. To the people in the community,
12:04I want you to know that we are so excited to raise our kids here. We're so excited to
12:07give back to the community here. We want to be a part of this area. And to the players,
12:16I want you to know that each and every day I'm going to give you my best. I'm not a perfect
12:20man, I'm just doing the best I can to be the best that I can be. But I want you to know
12:24that if I'm going to ask you to be tough, hardworking and competitive, I'm going to
12:27do that myself. I'm going to tell you when I'm wrong and I'm going to push myself to
12:32be the very best that I can be. I'm going to hire the best staff that wants to be here.
12:37I want to coach guys that want to be here. And I want us to have not just a great season,
12:42but a great team that endures forever. So on behalf of my family, please let me say
12:49thank you. And if you would just bear with me, I want to make sure I thank all the players
12:53at Baylor, all the players at Temple. I would not be here if it were not for them. The guys
13:00who believed in me and bought into me, the guys in Texas that bought into this guy from
13:04Philadelphia, the guys in Philadelphia that bought into a coach they didn't know, all
13:07the coaches that worked with me, the staff, the administration at Baylor, the staff, the
13:11administration at Temple, Mack Rhodes, Linda Livingstone, Pat Craft, thank you so much.
13:17I had great, great, great partners at Baylor. I found great, great, great partners here
13:22in Marty and Mr. Tepper. And I look forward to working each and every day with you to
13:28make us the best organization in the National Football League. We've already started working.
13:35After I'm done, I'm going to take my suit off and get back to work. And I promise you,
13:39I'll get my best. Keep pounding.
13:57So with that, we'll take questions. Guys, we have mics in the aisle. So just raise your
14:02hand and we'll try to get a mic to you. We're going to start right here with Scott.
14:09Congratulations and welcome, Scott Fowler from the Charlotte Observer. Could you speak to the
14:15quarterback situation you will inherit and particularly your plans, although I'm sure
14:21that at this point you're still thinking about it, but what you're going to do with Cam Newton?
14:25Yeah. And to be quite fair, I probably haven't had a chance with regards to really any player
14:31yet to talk to Marty and Mr. Tepper in terms of long-term vision. So I would never want to speak
14:36out of school or uneducatedly. What I will say is this, I had a chance to talk to Cam yesterday
14:42and I have the utmost respect for him and what he's done. And I love the way he talked to me,
14:46to be quite honest. He didn't want to talk about the past. He wanted to talk about the future.
14:52But other than that, I would much rather talk to those guys and kind of get a feel for not just
14:56Cam, but all the players in the roster and really have a good process moving forward
15:01for the entire roster. Let's go to Jordan.
15:06Hey coach, welcome. Time and again in your own, as you say, your own processes at various programs,
15:13you have inherited very little, adjusted and then worked with what you had to turn the program
15:19around. Can you think of a couple of specific examples where you have made your players
15:27successful by creating success for them despite the situation? Yeah. I mean, I think we took over
15:33at Temple. We were moving up in conferences. So we had been in the MAC and we had gone into the
15:39Big East and then the American Athletic Conference. So we kind of needed a reboot.
15:42And when I went to Baylor, you're supposed to have 85 scholarship players. I started the first
15:47year with 45 that were inherited. And so to me, the key to being a great leader is not to make
15:52excuses and complain and just get to work, right? Figure it out. So what we did both of those places
15:58is we found the guys that were going to fit. And if they were freshmen, they were freshmen. If they
16:03were seniors, they were seniors. But we found the guys that fit in that thing I talked about,
16:07being tough, being hardworking, being competitive. And we played them. And we gave them experience.
16:11We played them through the adversity. And my first year at Temple, I was 2 and 10. My first year at
16:15Baylor, I was 1 and 11. But we were a championship caliber team in three years. And so I think the
16:20thing for me is it's easy to talk about process. It's easy to say, hey, these are the things we're
16:25going to do. Will you still be saying that when you're having not a lot of success? And so I was
16:31able to do that twice. I learned a lot from that. And I think our players, the biggest thing I learned
16:35from those things, Jordan, is that the players learned in those years where we had adversity
16:40that I wasn't going to throw them under the bus. I wasn't going to talk bad about them. I wasn't
16:44going to say we're losing because I was right there in it with them. And our coaches were right there
16:48in it with them. And when we started to have success, they realized like, hey, these coaches
16:51are for us. Because that's really what this is supposed to be. The coaches are there to help the
16:55players be their best. I was going to say it, and I get caught up sometimes. But as we talked,
17:00I'm so committed to our players. And I know Mr. Tepper and Marty are so committed. Our players
17:04have them the very best in terms of sports science, in terms of recovery and regeneration.
17:08This should be a place that players say, I want to go there. We practice hard, and we prepare hard,
17:13but we do the things to extend your career and allow you to play at peak performance. And so
17:18I think our players saw that in those hard times, and then they had success, and we really had a
17:22great relationship. David? Yeah, David Newton, ESPN.com. When David Tepper was describing what
17:29he was looking for in a coach, he talked about how the transition from the college level is very
17:34tough. What about your experience on the college level is going to help you make that transition
17:39and be successful? Yeah, I think anytime you talk about like in global terms like that, I think it
17:45comes down to different people. I had a chance to be in the NFL. I worked under Tom Cawthon. It
17:50wasn't a real long experience, but I think it was a good experience. And so I think I went to be a
17:56college coach saying, hey, this is how I'm going to do it. You know, I played for Joe Paterno. I
17:59worked for some great coaches, but I worked under Tom Cawthon. I went back to the college game and
18:04said, okay, I'm going to do it this way. And so different than a lot of guys, I've kind of done
18:09it that way. And I think the players that you look at that I've had come out of Temple and come out
18:14of Baylor, we have a lot of guys in the pros, and we have a lot of guys that get there and get second
18:18contracts and have had a lot of success. And I think that's because I'm going to be demanding,
18:24but I'm going to be demanding of myself first. I'm going to want accountability,
18:28but I want accountability of my staff and I first. I think players that I've had, I mean,
18:33when you can communicate with them, when you have the same vision, that's the one thing,
18:36as I've talked to guys so far, every guy that I've talked to has reminded me that, hey, coach,
18:41we're all in this for the same thing. And I completely agree. So I think the college thing
18:45is maybe true for a lot of guys, but I think for me, I've had some unique experiences.
18:49Hi, coach. Elena Getzenberg, Charlotte Observer. Welcome to Charlotte.
18:52Thank you.
18:53In the assistant hiring process, where are you with that? And are you looking to bring people
18:57from Baylor or other places? Where are you looking for to bring your assistants from?
19:01Yeah, I'll have a diverse staff and a mixed staff. I have, I think, one of the best staffs in
19:07football at Baylor. A lot of my guys, I got to Baylor from the NFL. So a lot of guys have NFL
19:14experience. But I think two things. Number one, there's a lot of guys that I know that are
19:20interested in coming here. And there's a lot of people that are really excited about this
19:24organization. And they're really excited about what Mr. Tepper and Marty have already started.
19:29And so I'm getting calls from guys that say, hey, I want to be a part of that.
19:31Because I think what you see here is you see alignment. You see an owner, you see a general
19:36manager and a head coach that aren't forcing themselves to do things. They see things the
19:40same way. And people understand that that's how you win in this league. When everyone's on the
19:45same page, you're going to be successful. So I'll probably get here. I'm going to start working with
19:50Marty today or tomorrow, whenever, and start working on getting some people here. But the
19:54one thing I've learned and the advice I've gotten from so many people in this league is don't rush,
19:59get the right people. And so that's what we'll do. Brett. Brett Jensen, WBT. How much, can you go a
20:05little bit more into the sports science aspect of it? And how much of that was a sticking point
20:09to making sure that you came here and making sure that Mr. Tepper was going to build something that
20:16you were happy with? Well, it was nothing really about, hey, are you going to build? I mean,
20:20I think as we started talking, the worlds of sports science, the worlds of analytics are
20:23things that I'm interested in. And as we talked, we had just a common interest in those things.
20:27And so I think the big thing about, they're always evolving. And I think really it's just
20:31a commitment to, it's a commitment to the application of things like we have catapulted
20:36Baylor. They have catapult here where you monitor the loads on players. And it really just comes
20:40down to the application of it. And can you get alignment from your football staff to your sports
20:45medicine staff to your sports science staff? So we didn't get into great detail about, hey,
20:50we're going to do this, this. And it was just more like, this is what I believe in. This is what they
20:53believe in. And to me, again, I just believe in common vision. If we believe in our players
20:58having the very best, then we can be really successful. And so I think when you're in
21:02college football, things people don't realize is we're all, we don't get to draft anybody.
21:06And I don't get to offer somebody a signing bonus. So like we're all trying to get the best
21:09stuff. So we were way ahead of a lot of other college teams in terms of the sports science
21:14that's at Baylor. And so I've kind of gotten very used to it. Nick. Nick Carboni from NBC Charlotte.
21:23David kind of explained his aha moment that he and Marty had when they switched to kind of
21:28recruiting in that pitch to you. Did you have a similar moment where you thought this is an even
21:34better fit than I may have even thought coming into the interview and why not take other interviews
21:38as you were reportedly scheduled to? It was a long, first, it was a long, long, long meeting,
21:43you know, so there was a lot of time there to talk and I think that was good. Right.
21:49You know, for me, I go through this, you know, I'm a football coach. I'm just dissecting it. We're
21:53talking and we were just talking. It wasn't like, it wasn't scripted. And I think that was the
21:57biggest thing when I took it away from it was, man, I can, I can sit there and talk to these guys
22:02for probably five more hours because we, we, we, we're having a great conversation.
22:06You know, Julie's kind of in the room, out of the room, she's in the next room. And my aha moment
22:10was when they left and she was like, what are you doing? Like, you need to go work for them. Like
22:14you, that's, that's you. And, you know, we've had, we've had lots of opportunities over the years,
22:19college, and she's always been right. She's always been right. And we've done some, we've taken some
22:24jobs. People said, where are they, you know, why are they not, why are they going to Baylor? They've,
22:26you know, she's always said, go here because of those people. And the second aha moment was
22:31when my son came downstairs and he said, are we going to Carolina? I said, no. And he stormed,
22:34this true story now stormed out of the house. He said, you had one job, like he wanted to be here.
22:40So, um, you know, I just think when you find something that's right, it's right. You know,
22:45and I, we, we said it's right. And, and then fortunately the next morning they, you know,
22:48they, uh, they offered me the job and I took it. Steve Reed. Hey Matt, welcome to Charlotte. Steve
22:54Reed from the Associated Press. Um, I'm sure you had at least a chance to take a glimpse at this
23:00roster. What are your initial thoughts on what you have here to build with and, uh, where you
23:05want to go in the future as well? Yeah. Um, you know, because I've kind of been involved in their
23:09game and then a couple of different things to be quite honest, I'm kind of looking at a couple
23:12different, um, rosters. So, um, I, I can't talk in great, great depth. You know, I know some key
23:18pieces. Um, I've watched now, yesterday I tried to watch some games, I watched three, four, five
23:22games. And so really my next steps are, you know, my family's going to go back, uh, tonight and I'm
23:27going to stay here. And my next steps are really start to get to know the guys, start to, you know,
23:32watch the tape and then, uh, hire a staff. And so, um, I'd hate to talk, you know, without,
23:38without having a great sense of what I'm really going to say, but, um, I've, I've started that
23:42process and, uh, started getting to know some of the guys as well. Guys, we're going to take two
23:46more. We're going to go to Joe Person. Then we'll finish with Eric Spanberg. Hey Matt, it's Joe
23:51Person over here. I'm sorry. Uh, could you walk us through the conversations with the Giants
23:57following the interview? Cause I think based on some of the national reporting, there's a
24:01perception that, you know, I think your agent called them after your meeting with the Panthers
24:06and just, could you walk us through that? Um, yeah. Um, my, I, I never had a chance. I'd never
24:12talked to anyone but them. Um, and I, you know, I probably don't want to say anything different,
24:16you know, that would come across in a bad way about anybody. Um, so I just want to talk about
24:20them, but my agent talks to everybody and I'm sure he's had lots of conversations. He's representing
24:24a lot of guys probably also too that are in all these job mixes. So, um, but for me, um, when they,
24:31when they offered the job, um, and, and, and the biggest thing I'll say is when they offered, you
24:35know, a chance to be here for seven years, it spoke to me about the chance, you know, the belief
24:39that we were going to do this together and do it the right way. And there was no doubt. And there's
24:44really no doubt the night before, um, for my family. And there was really no doubt for me after
24:48just having that synergy that we were going to be here. So my agent, I know he talks to different
24:52people, but for me, the only person I talked to was, was Mr. Tepper. Eric. Hey, Eric Spanberg with
25:00the Charlotte business journal. Uh, as I'm sure, you know, your new boss talks a lot about the
25:05Panthers have never had consecutive winning seasons, and he also talks a lot about sustained
25:09success. So with those two things in mind, I'm curious how the two of you have defined success
25:14in 2020, but then also what is that sustained success? What does that look like? Yeah. So for
25:20me, um, what I would say is, is sustained success to me is kind of what I said earlier with that,
25:26that mindset that, um, we want to be great at everything. Like you're never going to hear me.
25:31I'm going to talk about winning Superbowls, but really the goal to me is to be the best at
25:35everything. And I think if you are a lead at everything that eventually Superbowls come and
25:39you can have sustained competitive excellence. And so, um, to me without knowing the roster,
25:45without knowing the things that will come up next year, what I do know is, is if we're, uh,
25:50you know, an eight and 18, then we should be, we should be the best eight and 18 ever for a 10 and
25:5416. We should be the best 10 and 16. I don't know what those things are yet. Um, I'm going to be
25:59just so process driven that I'm really just going to worry about tomorrow and the next day and the
26:02day after that. I think that's where I felt great about the conversations is that we weren't talking
26:08about, um, short-term things. We were talking about long-term. We were talking about building.
26:14We were talking about process. We were talking about doing things the right way. And I think so
26:18often people make mistakes because they set short-term goals. And, um, I don't believe in
26:23that. I believe in setting a long-term goal. Like we want to bring a championship, but then each and
26:27every day you have to wake up and say, what can I do today to make that happen? And, uh, that's
26:31true for, you know, that's true for everything in life in my mind. And it's certainly true for
26:35bringing a, bringing the championship to, to Carolina's. Molly, you'll be the last one.
26:40Thanks. Uh, Hey coach, Molly cotton, seven 30, the game ESPN Charlotte. I know you talk about
26:44not rushing the process when it comes to hiring your staff. Do you place a priority maybe on
26:49bringing a veteran NFL guy in on this stuff? Uh, and not really in terms of like coordinators and
26:56things like that. Cause I think, um, you know, the league has seen like, there's been great
26:59coordinators who are 60 and there's been great coordinators who are 28, you know? So it's not
27:03really that I think one of the key pieces for me is to bring a, bring a veteran guy that can really
27:08work with me and, and, and mentor me. Um, I've always done that everywhere I've been. I've
27:12always tried to have somebody that can be there to, um, to, to, to, to, to speak truth to me,
27:19speak truth to power that can be kind of a right-hand guy. And so, um, I want to have a
27:23great mix. And at the end of the day, all I really care about when I hire assistant coaches is are
27:27they great teachers? Um, you know, that's really what this game's about. It's about getting players
27:32to play their best. And the best way to do that is, is to have guys who, who bring out the best
27:37in their players. And so old, young, none of those things matter to me. I don't have to know them.
27:41I just think when you meet guys who are great teachers who bring out the best and others,
27:44you kind of feel it. And so, um, we're going to try to do that, but I will try to bring in someone
27:48who's, who's been around and lots of guys like that have reached out to me already, which is
27:52great. Um, thanks coach. So that concludes today's press conference. Thank you all so much for
27:58coming, especially you, Brad Hoover, 45 in the back. Um, we're going to have photo opportunity
28:04opportunities on stage. So photographers feel free to move forward. Thank you guys for coming.