Interview with Coach Tom Herman about the Bears he's coached

Intro all right welcome back everybody another episode of making monsters we're now in the thick of camp and preseason has now begun we saw the Bears play a Hall of Fame game so we're looking at to some of the players that maybe are looking to make the roster or who have gotten new contracts with the Bears which are a few of them and we are joined by coach Tom Herman he is now the FAU football coach head coach down here in Florida which I also coach am in Jacksonville uh so we're not too far away uh but thanks for hopping with me I really appreciate it appreciate you having me uh so the main Colin Johnson reason uh you've been several places when it comes to Ohio State and Iowa State and Houston but also Texas and Texas is the big one I want to start with uh and for a few reasons actually uh but Colin Johnson Colin Johnson I think was probably the star of the Hall of Fame game the dude's huge 66 big receiver and I I covered the Jacksonville Jaguars too so when the Jaguars drafted Colin Johnson I remember seeing him for the first time at OTAs and being like this is one of the biggest humans I've ever seen out on the football field um but just tell us a little bit about Colin Johnson his strengths on the football field and what you saw with him when he was at Texas yeah um and as big as he is as a human being he's he's probably got a bigger heart too he's he's an unbelievable young man um you know skill set wise I I haven't coached one like him before and haven't since uh you're right he's God blessed him with an unbelievable frame in in terms of his uh size but I I think a lot of times big tall receivers get labeled as guys that maybe can't run uh really well and uh Colin can certainly run he's athletic for a big guy uh but I I think his dominant trait to go along with that size is his ball skills you know he's uh uh got really really strong hands he times his uh jump or attacked to the football uh extremely well and like I said for a big guy he can do a little something after the catch too uh but his strength is going to be in one-on-one coverage using that big frame and and his exceptional ball skills yeah and he Colin Johnson career had a bit of an interesting career I know um I think you you came there when he was a sophomore I believe so freshman season played every single game uh during the next couple years he ended up getting losing his starting spot and was kind of a backup for a couple years but from what I've heard that kind of taught him some lessons during that time and he took that as a learning experience tell us a little bit about that time and how Colin Johnson handled that and then was able to kind of regain that in his junior senior year yeah I I don't I don't ever remember him necessarily being like out of good graces or anything I think you know we were rotating more wide receivers at at the time and um he kind of hadn't really separated himself he he really didn't show us um maybe the the real uh I hate to use the dog you know the the the physical intense guy that that he is that he that he truly is inside we we weren't seeing it for whatever reason and um you know he took that to heart and I I think just kind of once he felt comfortable in the offense and um realized you know this this is big boy football and you know um I'm I'm definitely good enough if if I put my mind to this and and I I show my true colors every day and uh he he was a joy to be around on the end in his career I believe as a captain so I mean he's a uh unbelievable player but like I said a a great young man that did have some some ups and downs but I I think he finished uh his last year at Texas with 70 something catches I believe you know a bunch of touchdowns so he ended on a great note for sure yeah and I think I'm rooting for Colin Johnson I have since he's been drafted I think that when you see a guy like that and like you said most of the time it's just kind of like oh these big guys of course they're going to be able to make contested catches but I feel like Colin Johnson goes beyond that and we talk about all the levels of a wide receiver of Route running and the hands is a thing blocking ability we know Colin Johnson has that ability too yeah I probably took out route running for for a big guy he is he's a very very crisp um detailed route Runner too so I feel like coach and this is a part of the NFL injuries I just feel like that is kind of what has hindered him obviously but if he can say healthy I think he has a place in the NFL would you agree with that I I yeah absolutely and um I'm excited that that the Bears uh are are seeing hopefully uh his best football yeah and it could be a Roshan Johnson career fun room with a guy like DJ Moore Keenan Allen Roma dun just drafted and then a Colin Johnson could be a really fun dangerous offensive room but I do want to go with one of the other guys for a minute that you also uh coached for a bit at Texas which is Roshan d Johnson another guy I'm a big fan of with around draft time uh a lot of beon talk rightfully so but uh Roshan Johnson was there and I a lot of people have told me if bejon was not at Texas then Roshan would have been the number one and we would have been talking about him and similar similar light tell us a little bit about your time with Roshan and what you think he can do too when when it comes to being a running back yeah I don't know how often he's told the story but but he came to Texas as a very highly recruited quarterback and uh as a true freshman we were fairly deep at quarterback and not at all at tailback and he was he was built well and so on and so forth and we said hey you were you were Mobile in in high school you know can you give us some depth you know as a true freshman at tailback and you know when the spring rolls around we we'll move you back to quarterback and as a true freshman he went out and and was phenomenal at that position and we had a talk that spring we were actually uh going to move him back to quarterback and he he said you know we kind of made the decision together that probably his best future uh to play professionally would be at running back and uh he made us all right because he's uh and you there's no secret to me the ones that that make it in that League you you're talking about and Colin Johnson and Roshan Johnson two of the top 20 human beings I've ever had the honor of coaching so uh it is certainly no surprise uh a leader amongst leaders Roshan is he's uh you can tell he was he's always been the guy in charge he's got a quarterback mindset and I think playing quarterback growing up his whole life really has given him maybe a different view of the game and and his vision uh and patience in the back field is is really impressive that's what I was just about Russ Johnson to say I'm sure experiencing it from the quarterback view for so long does give you a different view from what you're looking at than maybe if you grew up being a running back or wide receiver or some of those other positions what would you was he was telling me uh in college you know he was talking about safety rotation in terms of knowing where the blitz was going to come from so you know he he would be more tuned into his Blitz responsibilities as a running back and I like I don't know that I've ever had a running back talk to me about safety rotation so I love that and that's you can tell he's smart he's one of the things we didn't get to see a whole ton of Russ Johnson this year we're expecting a big uptick of we what we say Rojo um but I think what would you explain what type of back would you explain him as because a lot of people here kind of say he's going to be that short down third down type of back can he do all of it or does he is he a little better in a certain area he's yeah probably better in the the short space um tough yards uh contact yards um but I I I I think that would be selling his dynamism a little bit short you know I I do think that um he has making Miss ability you know and and he's he's what I call kind of slithery you know he's not a uh just jump here jump there kind of guy but he's got this smooth silky slithery way of of making guys miss in the open field so yes I I do think his strength is going to be between the tackles getting tough contested yards but um he's pretty damn good at the other stuff to yeah I'm super excited Jaylen Johnson for him in year two here and so I I also mentioned at the top of this you were with the Bears in 2021 I don't want to remiss on Justin Fields again we've talked a ton about Justin Fields so I'm not even going to go there right now um but I do want to talk about another Johnson we've talked col Johnson Roshan Johnson a guy that was in his sophomore year on the defensive side of the ball when you were there and Jaylen Johnson who has just become one of the best corners in the NFL just got a big contract with the Bears um and I know it's been a couple years since you've been there but where are you surprised at all that Jaylen Johnson's turned into the corner that he is no not at all you know this is a guy that um it was evident you know when you're in the NFL they're they're all really good right but um he stuck out you know that he he was just always around the ball always his length and he he was really smart in terms of um not to get too silly but like the tempo in his pedal and he just he he could run rounds for white outs uh as good as anybody had seen and like you said in in just his second year in the NFL it was it was impressive it's really Cole Kmet been fun to watch him his growth but like not only get better as on the football field but also how he's become such a leader on the Bears defense and I mentioned at the top two how little players are left from that 2021 season that's kind of how much Ryan PES has done in the in these few short Seasons as the GM has really turned the roster around but uh another player that was there who was one of my favorite I'm also Notre Dame fan but Cole KT and I think that another player that to me just year by year has gotten better and better and almost underrated in the NFL uh what did you see initially that sophomore year from Cole KT and how do you feel his place is in the NFL well I'm I'm glad the Bears don't underrate him you know they they they I think are are pretty well aware of his value you know that that's another very cerebral guy probably could play quarterback if he needed him to you know he's he's that smart and um extremely conscientious and just a to to see a guy with that frame be able to move and do the things too in in the pass game that he can do it it was really impressive too so um I think he's got a bright I don't I don't know I don't follow that League a whole lot but you're a little busy yeah I'd be I'd be surprised if there's you know more than a handful out there that that are uh better equipped for that position than him yeah and that's what like I said DJ Moore he's he's one of my favorite I already was excited when the Bears drafted I'm surprised he's not the mayor of Chicago by now I know he did I they I don't know if you watched any of Hard Knocks but in the most recent Hard Knocks they was showing him throw out the first pitch at the Cubs game and they're like Chicago native Cole K and it's just like everybody loves Cole you're from Chicago and you everybody Embraces that and loves that um another interesting thing coach as I was kind of looking into some of the connections that you have because originally it was just Colin Johnson and the more I dug in the more I saw you had several connections here in Chicago and whether it be with current players that you coached or ones that are now there another one if we go back to the 2017 season of with when you were in Texas your first game was against Maryland there was a wide receiver named DJ Moore in that game that had 133 yards and a touchdown uh in that game DJ Moore I mean I feel like he is one of the players that you just talk about being a wide receiver who one of the best when it comes to yards after the catch one of the best when it comes to those contested catches deep balls I feel like he can just do a little bit of everything man he yeah that was a long day but it was a good day for him yeah he he was uh one of if not the best players on the field that day and has certainly um shown himself to be an electric player in that league and you know the sky is a limit for him I think he's just coming into his own right now and um you know I from what I heard that the Bears um you know made him a priority and and went out and got him and I think they hit a home run yeah Offense DJ's a he's fantastic and he's another one too that really quickly has become one of the leaders on the team and I think that with with some of the young guys like Aroma dun um Keenan Allen and DJ Moore I think are some of the perfect fits that you can have in molding some of these guys um just a couple more for you coach as we talk about just the league in general and how the offense has slowly just kind of progressed into this full on just full offensive Off full offensive league and for so long the Bears just have been a defensive team that's what it is they could run the ball and they could play defense and now they're kind of having to transform into this high-powered offense to be able to keep up um and I know you say you don't pay a ton attention into the league but how have you seen that transform over the last few years when it comes to some of these quarterbacks especially especially more dual threat ones that can move around and run and use their legs a lot more too yeah I I think you know it's it's weird that in a lot of oh I don't know uh areas things kind of trickle down from the highest levels down to the smaller levels and I think this phenomenon has actually kind of trickled up from high school football into college football and and now into the NFL and maybe it's because of the kind of of athlete that we're playing with at that position at quarterback now um you know that that that league is kind of forced this is what you got you know this is um and they're they're doing a good job of um playing to those quarterback strengths I think and um you're getting creative and and the good thing about that League too is if you got one a really good one you know that chances are you're going to have him for you know God willing 8 10 12 years you know and so you can really kind of grow um with that quarterback I think that's the biggest thing uh uh in that League where you can kind of build uh around those players and and build your offense around we here you know we we're changing quarterbacks every couple years so um you know you kind of have to play with the card play with the hand you're dealt sometimes in in in our level but um but there I think everybody has kind of seen the value um in being able to make plays with your feet at that position and and has really taken hold of it yeah the college football right Realignment now is a fascinating place when it comes to obviously the transfer portal and nil and kind of everything that has dug into how we are seeing teams being built now um so I think the next few years are going to be very interesting to kind of watch and I know the your former your former school that you coached at in Texas now in the SEC so there's a lot of big changes when it comes to that how do you feel about that realignment by the way uh not I mean if it doesn't fect me or my team it's it's hard to yeah it's hard so um I I do worry about college football and the direction that we're headed um you know and and and maybe this is for the better maybe we we do need you know uh a designation of of teams that are willing to you know pay guys you know millions and millions of dollars to comp play them and and some that that can't do that and so um it's headed in a direction that we've never seen but uh I I all this conference realignment I I think it's it's just the beginning of something more permanent down the road yeah yeah I agree watching the way that Justin Fields the Pack 12 went out last year I feel every team it was so entertaining to watch them so it was kind of a bummer to see it kind of dis dis not a whole lot of drama this year right yeah um final one I said I wasn't going to say anything but I feel like I have to with when it comes to Justin Fields because obviously you were there that 2021 season he's in Pittsburgh now I think when it comes to Mike Tomlin we can talk about being one of the the greatest NFL coaches he's been able to do what he does at a consistent basis and never not be above 500 um I I was a big Justin Fields fan I was very proe keep Justin Fields but I do think the Bears were in a very uh very interesting situation when it came to having the first pick even though they weren't the worst team uh thanks to the Panthers but just some of your thoughts on Justin and kind of his the the biggest part of what he what makes him such a good act I would be shocked if uh he's not uh really quality if not Championship winning quarterback in in that League um I I think his upside is tremendous uh physical tools out out the you know what mental tools he's uh a hard worker he you know all of that um you know sometimes we're we're all the victim of our circumstances um you know I I could I tell our players all the time or our coaches all the time you know you could resurrect Vince Lombardi and and bring Nick Savin out of retirement and if he's coaching a bunch of bad players um they're probably not going to be in the Hall of Fame you know and so uh I say that to tell you the same with quarterbacks I I think um they they are a product of their environment and their circumstances and um I think with the right circumstances and and and right environment Justin Fields is going to thrive yeah and I mentioned like I'm Outro a big fan but I also think the guy really busted his butt for the Bears and he did everything he could to put the Bears in a place that he felt like he could and unfortunately like you said the circumstances weren't there for you uh well thanks so much coach for joining me I really appreciate it I know your your season kicks off August 30th right around the corner it's GNA be here before we know it I know it's only August 8th but I feel like once August hits we're pretty much we're in football season you got it for having me Taylor uh go owls and go Bears yes go owls go Bears thank you coach have a good one thank you