Thursday, February 18: Meet The Coaches – Jacob Burney, Defensive Line
Posted by Matt Terl on February 18, 2010 – 10:15 amYou’ll notice a lot of things about new defensive line coach Jacob Burney from this interview. He seems legitimately enthused to be in Washington, for example. And proud of his son, a defensive back at the University of Colorado. But the main thing that caught my attention was his voice, which is very, very deep. If he winds up in conversation with Brian Orakpo and Chris Samuels, the whole thing will be borderline subsonic.
http://p.castfire.com/1Ll7r/video/247397/redskins_2010-02-12-103919.895.m4v
UPDATE: Courtesy of Intern Bryce, here’s the transcript for those of you who don’t watch videos.
On what is appealing about the defensive line:
“Oh, I think it’s kind of natural for me a little bit. It’s right down there where the action is. It’s happening fast, and that’s where the big guys are, and I kinda lean that way a little bit.”
On his previous coaching experience:
“It’s been a while. There’s the University of New Mexico in ’83-86, University of Tulsa for one year after that, where my youngest child was born, Mississippi State after that, after Mississippi State, University of Wisconsin, UCLA, Tennessee, then I went pro with the Cleveland Browns who became the Baltimore Ravens. Five years there, three years with the Carolina Panthers, seven years with the Broncos, and now here with the Redskins.”
On how much of playing the defensive line position is innate ability:
“Oh, the more innate then the more success ultimately a player may have. But as far as the teaching part is concerned, absolutely, they’re athletic, those guys are willing. To play defensive line you’ve got to like the game, you can’t just trick anybody when it comes to that. So as far as the technical part is concerned, most of those guys are conscientious enough to learn the technique part of it and they will improve what they already have in their [pocket].”
On how good Albert Haynesworth is:
“Albert [Haynesworth] is a fantastic player, just tremendously disruptive and a big ol’ powerful body. Just very good movement, you know, just some real natural reaction to what he sees and those kinds of things, so I’m really looking forward to working with Albert and he’ll be a fantastic player for us.”
On if he knows what position Haynesworth would play should the defense switch to a 3-4 scheme:
“Not really. Coach [Mike] Shanahan and Jim Haslett and those guys will probably answer those questions a little better than I will at this particular point. Right now I’m just getting to town a little bit, getting my feet wet, and I have met with all the defensive lineman and just a great bunch of guys. I’m really looking forward to working with all of them.”
On if he gets the sense that there is a strong sense of camaraderie within the defensive line unit:
“Absolutely. There are leaders: Philip Daniels, and Cornelius Griffin, and Albert [Haynesworth], those guys take a lot of pride in what they do, and you really can feel that there’s a connection. As with the defensive line unit, as we’ve talked before, there has to be because it’s tough duty down there. And the tougher the duty, then the more you get that bond between guys.”
On his son, Benjamin, who plays for the University of Colorado:
“Well Benjamin out there, just talking about a father, he’s the best thing since sliced bread. He graduated with a degree in Film Making, and played there at the University of Colorado. Played defensive back, he started out there as a junior at corner and then he red-shirted after that because he had some injuries that he overcame. I’m probably much more proud of that that anything because he came back and he started as a senior as a safety and did a fantastic job for them.”
On if Benjamin has aspirations to play football professionally:
“Don’t they all. Yes, he does. He’s training in Florida, like somehow Florida is the place to train these days, I guess. But he’s training down there and hopefully he’ll get a shot with somebody.”
On who are some of the great players he’s coached:
“Michael Dean Perry at Cleveland, Trevor Pryce at Denver, Mike McCrary at Baltimore, you mentioned [Elvis] Dumervil, I coached Reggie White at Carolina. I almost said Tennessee; we’re both from Chattanooga. Those are really a few of the names of people that I’ve had the opportunity and the privilege to coach.”
On how much he’s looking forward to the job:
“Oh, I’m looking forward to it. Just kind of explained, but Mike Shanahan, that’s my guy, so when he called I was really glad to kind of connect with him again. All those places I named earlier, Mike is probably the longest tenured guy that I stayed with, and that was because I have tremendous respect for him, really like his approach to the whole situation, players and coaches alike. And then Washington, it’s kind of ironic, I told him once we kind of shook hands on it, when all those things happened in Denver, my first thought, and my first conversation with my wife, was, ‘You know, it’ll be kind of nice to get back East and be on the Washington Redskins staff,’ I promise that’s what I said. And all of a sudden, a year later we were sitting here. Very interesting that it happened that way.”
Tags: jacob burney, JacobBurney, meet the coaches, MeetTheCoaches
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