Frank Ragnow on the Detroit Lions, Dan Campbell's Training Camp & Alim McNeill

Intro it's definitely something like what you talk about like the mental aspect of It kind of the chess game within the game is something that I've it's a different part of the game that I've really fallen in love with it's it's almost like you feel like you're battling the defensive coordinator sometimes like playing like the Vikings and I see Harrison Smith on the line of scrimmage and and I guess right and he's actually the Deep safety like it's like a let's go you know and then meanwhile I got to block a freak Show like you as I'm trying to do that so there's a lot 's a lot going [Music] on green light pod Minnesota takeover we got a couple Minnesota boys here Bo all and the Butter King I'm joined by Frank regn now Minnesota's finest Frank thanks for coming on man no problem thanks for having me man of course yeah so you told me that you are in our lovely home state of Minnesota at the moment soaking up soaking up the lovely Minnesota Summers as long as I can until I head back to beautiful training camp yeah man it's it's the Calm before the storm right now when do you guys report like next week Tuesday yeah o you got a little bit of the Sunday scaries oh my gosh no I know you're excited and you're you've been working your ass off all offseason and you're ready to go but dude I've been retired now for a couple years and if someone even says the CW around me I get a little goosebumps you know it's crazy we were I was at pan su's wedding this past weekend and we were you know we were all just kind of chatting about it and it's crazy how everyone's just like yeah well like it'll you have that moment of time where you know you get that time off after vet camp and then you know you have like Fourth of July and you're like oh I'm free like I have some time before Camp obviously like you keep training and you stay up today with everything and then the fourth hit and you have a good time then after that you look at the cend you're you're like [ __ ] I got two weeks days here we go yeah um so I want to know what you've been getting up to I follow you on Instagram and your your outdoor page and everything like that you've been looks like you've been fishing a lot man yeah that's kind of the that's kind of the memo for me lots of fishing we have a family cabin actually just north of uh International Falls in Canada that you can only get to by boat or plane and no phone service no electricity all this all the good stuff so I spent a few weekends up there and then a week up there and really kind of grind to get my fix away from the world yeah that's your Grizzly Man right yeah yeah that's where you become Grizzly Man that's it that's where it was born yeah I don't want to like dox your secret hidden cabin location but I don't know if it's up near like Lake of the Woods but I've been up there fishing a couple times and it's it's beautiful man it's first of all the fishing is incredible you feel like you don't have to you're like I'm not even trying that hard sometimes to catch some of the walleye and like the smallmouth bass and and stuff like that but like yeah it looks like you caught a big musky as well I never caught one yeah they're they're freaking sick literally they call them the fish of 10,000 cast and it's real you have to literally cast 10,000 times but when you hook up it's like the most rewarding feeling ever I caught a big one so that was pretty sweet is that like the premere catch that you had this summer or is that I went out to um there's a place on Lake Superior it's called standard Rock they call it the lonliest place in the world it's like 44 miles off Shore and it's a lighthouse with a bunch of Reeves and and Reeves or reefs whoa re go re we're we're we're really smart on this podcast bro anyway there's a bunch of reef and like you can only get there like 10 days out of the year because of the wind and everything so we got out there one day and I caught a pretty big lake trout and that's pretty Co yeah that's awesome man I'll have to check that out well yeah sounds like you've been enjoying your you know the Calm before the storm before camp here I'm sorry but we got to Dan Campbell's Training Camp talk Camp a little bit I'm not going to lie man I'm a huge fan of like the lines the way your organization is run I was actually in Detroit for the NFL draft you know back here in the spring which was really cool I like Detroit man I think it's it's a it's a cool City it's got a lot of flavor to it um but I've always been curious with Dan Campbell being like a you know kind of the guy that he is the energy that he brings the intensity and being a former player just kind of wondering how that translates into you know like practice especially fall Camp because he's got to be be a guy that understands what camp is and looking from the outside it seems to me like he probably appreciates you know the grind and physicality of Camp yeah he's like a good balance man he's like a he's he's from the bill parcel's tree so I guess that means people like they work they go and he definitely has that and he knows and it communicates that to us like here's the deal I'm gonna do what I think is best for the team and that's gonna involve like we go we have some days that we call them red line days where they're pretty pretty juicy but also he he'll listen to us yeah he'll listen us he'll talk to us and uh kind of feel it out and he'll understand where the team is and evaluate but it's pretty cool how he he really evaluates camp and makes a plan that he thinks going to be best fit for us having days that are going to be old school banging real yeah physical days and then days we'll let off and we'll be more mental so it's it's a good balance yeah I mean I think you know that's kind of how I feel like it needs to be as a nose guard obviously I mean we played against each other you know that but you kind of need those days where you do live goal line and live short yardage and you know bull rushing in pads and stuff like that because it gets you ready for the season but it's kind of a double-edged store because you have too many of those days you feel like you're kind of chopped up uh not your highest headed into the season so it's it's a fine line to walk but I know Hank Frey is your o line coach he's a guy that played in the NFL Center Position as well is that is that a uh Chris Long who's you know green light podcast with Chris Chris played with Hank in I think it was St Louis St Louis yeah yeah and he's a big fan but is he a guy that understands kind of everything that goes into Camp as well or is he just gonna you know guys no he's the man he's uh he's probably been the biggest blessing of my career by far I've had him my whole career which most o line coaches I mean most old linemen don't have that uh luxury and he's not only an old lineman that played but he's a center that played and it's been so cool for him to be able to kind of it's just such it's such a democracy if you will like with everything's an open exchange and we're able to discuss how I see things how he sees things how what's best fit for the room going forward and he's just been a blessing such a huge blessing for me and I think this whole room and I think he's a lot of the reason why we've had some success in the past few years yeah definitely and I think it's interesting to me I have a lot of respect for centers you know because I lined up across from you guys forever um but it seems like it's one of the most cerebral positions you know on the on the offensive line because you guys are you know you're kind of communicating with the rest of the group you have the ability to line up over the ball and try to see uh blitzes call out different slide protections you have a a unique relationship with a quarterback where he's got his hand up your ass every play um have you seen the center position kind of evolve over your time because you're entering year seven right has that position evolved for you over time or it's definitely something like what you talk about like the mental aspect of It kind of the chess game within the game is something that I've it's a different part of the game that I've really fallen in love with it's it's almost like you feel like you're battling the defensive coordinator sometimes like we're playing like the Vikings and I see Harrison Smith on the line of scrimmage and and I guess right and he's actually the Deep safety like it's like a let's go you know then meanwhile I gotta block a freak Show like you as I'm trying to do that so there's a lot there's a lot going on so it's a it's a it's a fun but very uh rewarding position yeah and it's funny you mention the game within the game because my experience in the NFL is like first year when you're a rookie you're just trying to keep your head above water you're just trying to figure out what you have to do to make the team to earn playing time and then kind of as you progress in your career for me at least it's like you kind of expand a little bit okay this is what this is how teams are going to attack us when we're in this defense this is how this offensive system is run it sounds like that's kind of what you're referring to which I feel like every you know every vet that really put pours their love and attention into the game kind of kind of gets to that point so it's it's cool to hear my question for you though is is there a center um or like maybe not a center an offensive lineman or a guy because I you know how it is you have so many guys that help you along or that you try to emulate your game after is there a center that you really watch and try to steal a lot of tricks and tips from or someone that helped you as on the same roster or anything like that there's a bunch of dudes that have been around the league that have been it's been fun to see and watch uh one guy that was kind of similar in my size and stature and uh I like the way was Brandon Linder with the Jaguars if he retired but he was a great guy to watch I like the physicality that Ryan Jensen played with um watching Jason kelse yeah GE he's watching Jason Kelsey pole like he's basically a like a fullback out there just incredible and then there there's a dude on the Saints Eric McCoy that I think he plays pretty Dam good ball so those are a lot of those guys like I I try to as much as I can because all these guys are doing it their own unique way and it's cool to pick up some things you can see from them yeah that's exactly I mean I'll never forget man you got to find a CO or a player that you can kind of you know like I think Eric McCoy is a great kind of stature similar play style as what you do but I'll never forget it when I was in Tampa Bay in 2018 uh my dii coach his name was Brenson Buckner he pulled up tape of Aaron Don he's like Bo why aren't you doing this I'm like the [ __ ] like I can't do this like what are you talking about so you gotta kind of guys that you can emulate your game after you know what I mean it's like dude I can't do yeah like people like are like oh you should be watching Kelsey I'm like I'm pretty how tall is Jason Kelsey kelse is like 62 and a half 63 yeah this guy's like 62 290 polling 90% of the time I'm a different cat I hate to I hate to break it to everybody no I saw a clip of you in space though pulling it you look good man I think it was sell sell short here yeah thanks I appreciate it hey you got to come on the Pod so I can gas you up before Camp you know get your mind I need that I need all the confidence I get I know how that goes um Alim McNeill & DJ Reader so I want to talk obviously I'm a nose guy I want to talk about the other side of the ball I did a kind of a film study film breakdown we call them butter breakdowns I do them for the YouTube side of Chris's podcast but I did a butter breakdown on Al mcneel I think he's really developed into a pretty complete player man he seems like a great guy so I was wondering if you're looking forward to going against him in Camp um what kind of player he is and how you've watched him progress over the last couple years he's really talented really really really talented and just a great like since day one he's been just a humble like just a pro and uh it's been so cool to see him involve like last year he he cut a bunch of body fat and really kind of leaned up and you saw he was very Dynamic and he's just hungrier and hungrier and I think he's going to get better and better he's adding more and more little pass rush moves to his tool box or whatever and uh it's been it's been cool to see but the guy worked and he's a he can be that three technique who's the pass R threat but he can also be that nose who kind of plugs things up and early down so he's a he's a very special player he moves well for a big boy too on a lot of the stunts and dude he's a big time baseball player like a freak really oh yeah I didn't know that you should look up clip he like was really good sick yeah I'm gonna check that out we'll do a butter breakdown baseball Edition check out a freak Show athlete and he's rapper like he's just a kind of everything he does is good he seems like a great guy for the locker room too you know just interesting cat um and then you guys added DJ reader as well kind of coming off an injury we don't really need to talk about that too much but I think that'll be a valuable addition for the for the defensive line for you guys yeah I'm looking forward to seeing him he's been a guy of respect in this league for a while and he just does it the right way and everything I've heard about him as a person too has been phenomenal so I'm excited to have him on the team and then yeah the fact that he's just a really really good football player you put those two on the interior on it's going to be pretty cool yeah and I'm sure you played against him when he was with the Bengals or whatever I hav't played him I haven't played oh really yeah so that's wild yeah I know I'm interested to see I think you'll see Toughest Defensive Tackles your your fair share of him is there a is there a defensive tackle because I'm trying to think when I was in so when I was in uh Philly you know we obviously played the Cowboys twice a year and got to go against you know Travis Frederick who I went to Wisconsin with and Zack and it's was always like well [ __ ] they're going to run Duo 30 times with Zeke you know I got my got to strap my helmet up extra tight this week um but is there a a nose guard or a defensive lineman especially in the NFC North that you have a lot of respect for and you you kind of know like it's on every week when you play them Kenny Clark I think he's still underrated he's a really good player and uh it's been fun battling him throughout the years and I think we both have a mutual respect but I know I got to bring my aame every time we go against him he's a good player man he can do it all speaking of guys that are underrated I always love to ask this question when you get vets on but is there a guy that you played with that you're like this guy is so good you know maybe you know things never really bounce his way or he didn't get as much playing time as he deserved but you're like this is a guy who's an unbelievable Pro and unbelievable athlete and he never you never really got the love so I like want to try to give you know get those guys some love I played with a guard he he had a bunch of back issues and it just kind of never really he played but he never really got to flourish with Joe doll like one of the most fluid smooth moving guys and every time he was healthy he was such a good player but he was he was one and then a guy who I think gets love but not nearly as much love I'm going out Grady Jarrett yeah I don't think I think Grady Jarrett is man he's so good and I feel like he still doesn't get nearly as much love as he's a really good football player you know how it is for D lineman where you watch the first you know millisecond of a play to see your get off in your first step and his first step I swear is like four yards long so good he's really talented I'm I'm happy that you mentioned him man because I've always had like I always you know I was with Tampa and watched him for the Falcons forever it's he's a good player yeah all right I want to talk about some Frank & Beau's College Strength Coach coaches quick we actually have some crossover in our in our college football experience from the coaching standpoint that's uh when you were in Arkansas you had Brett buma who's my head coach at uh at Wisconsin and I'll never forget one time I think I was back in at the chanah Hassen Lifetime and I was working out I see the squad rack I'm like what the [ __ ] who is this dude squading and then we ended up like working out together and you were doing Ben Herbert's uh offseason strength program yeah I remember that I think were you were you in the league yet or were you training for the league and I was training for college I think like man this seems like a lifetime ago but I'm pretty sure I was it was right before the draft and I was just back home um you know kind of just chilling like training getting ready to hopefully get drafted I think you were getting ready to return cuz it was probably like late April or May or whatever and you were getting ready I think that was my senior year at high school I think I was getting ready to go to school because I was grilling you about them yeah and you were over there in the chassen lifetime Corner he's not gonna say this everybody he was squatting like 700 just casually while all these Instagram models are doing curls over there this guy that's that's all I got these days bro that's all I got uh but I want to ask you CU obviously I love herb he is so funny I mean he's an intense guy like he kind of looks at you and you know there through Soul yeah he's like looking through your soul and just analyzing your entire body but I want to see if you saw the clip of his presser when he was went to LA just how perfect that was dude when that when that's when that went kind of viral like our college group chat was just everybody was so pumped like it's just like the world can see her like everybody start to see her and it was such a per like how he mentioned he's the same guy every single day like ain't that true we we always talk about the crazy kind of because you know college I feel like the the weightlifting program the strength program in college is such a big deal you almost the rules have changed a little bit but when I was there you spent more time with the weight room staff than your coaches and so you really get to know these guys and he would have us do crazy competitions like lateral plate holds Bo vers Frank if you think Frank is gonna win get on Frank's side if Bo is gonna win get on b side yeah and then whoever lost that team would have to run extra just like crazy mental Warfare like yeah I remember one time we had a kid who showed up late so we whe he he wheeled out the recliner from The Players Lounge had that kid sit on the recliner while we did 150 upd downs and he was he was handing the kid Gatorade yes dude I've told that story before thank you I've told that to Chris before we if you had a guy late in your position group it's like let's say I'm late I was never late one time in college never once because of [ __ ] like like this he would make you like if I was late he would get the recliner you sit down he makes you comfy and then you put a guy on the StairMaster with a plate like holding a plate or hold holding a dowel above their head yeah and we had we had our campus is super hilly at Arkansas so we had one time a kid was still sleeping in the dorms and the dorms on the top of the hill the weight rooms at the bottom of the hill you had to pick a partner and you had to carry your partner up and we all went and we knocked on the door of the the dude get out of bed [ __ ] [ __ ] you yeah crazy back to Warfare exactly no I I love her I'm I'm very interested to hear from uh kind of how that offseason's going I think you know I wish her nothing but love and success but no talking about Arkansas what was SEC Culture Shock it like playing in the SEC man because obviously you know you grew up in Minnesota and I kind of had a little bit you know I'm always kind of curious to see what it's like to go from a you know a town like because you grew up in Chan Hass in Minnesota right Victoria yeah right next to Victoria so then going to you know the SEC in Arkansas like was that a little bit of culture for you oh gosh oh yeah blocking those kids from redw Northfield uh yeah you never gave up a sack in college yeah well I did my prep on this come on now that's a lot of luck that's a lot of luck it was it was quite the shell shock my freshman year I'm not gonna lie there's some freak shows down there in the SEC but that's kind of the reason why I wanted to go down there I knew that especially the defensive line Talent down there is just there was just so many good players like it was hard to beat in my Rel reltionship with Coach Pitman he was the offensive line coach he's the head coach at now and then uh belma was just it was hard to beat say no to yeah you enjoyed your experience at College like is there a favorite stadium that you love in the SEC because I never really got to play in any of those yeah I they're all so PR so cool and so loud I think one moment that really sticks with me is we played Tennessee I think it was either my sophomore junior year and they took the opening kickoff it was the loudest yeah moment of my life life like all those hillbillies down there singing Rocky Top like it was crazy man yeah yeah I want to try to get to an SEC game I I still have never been so I recommend I highly recommend well uh you know Alabama is coming to play in Camp Randle actually in September is that finally this year yeah I feel like that's been on the schedule forever that'll be cool yeah a long time coming hopefully the uh you know the Badgers will show them what Big 10 football is all about the Badgers kind of struggled last year didn't they with fickle yeah so we got a new it's interesting cuz you know it's weird CU it's the spread right yeah exactly we've had such a commitment to running the ball and you know kind of developing big offensive lineman from Wisconsin and Minnesota and stuff like that and now we're kind of transitioning into what I feel like is like the nil era of flashy college football and it's a little different than how we've run our program so yeah hey I'm a homer though for for the Badgers so I think Bucky's gonna have a great year but the big I don't even like I don't even know which teams are in the Big 10 I found out Washington joined the Big 10 yeah this week it's like kind of sucks but it is what it is what's going on um so I want to talk real quick about going back to Detroit because I've randomly spent a lot of time in Detroit like I said I was there for the draft um but I want to ask about the playoff atmosphere in Detroit because it seemed you know you guys played Tampa um I used to play for the Bucs I had V vea on the podcast actually ear earlier this week it was a huge uh you know big friend of mine literally big friend of mine he said the atmos yeah big boy holy cow yeah he's a load he said the atmosphere was amazing though in Detroit so what what was that game like that was it's crazy because I feel like that game was absurd but the Rams game before it was even more absurd right like it was the Rams game was like there was a buzz like people say there's a buzz there was a buzz in the building like hours before kickoff and it just was crazy and then you got the Jared Goff chance and Stafford coming back it was just there was so much energy and it felt like that whole game was like a rock concert it was nuts and then then you follow up that game too was intense it was a good game like a good battle two like incredible I mean that was my first time in the playoffs so two just incredible home playoff games to start off like it was really really cool yeah and I feel like the people of Detroit have just been dying for a playoff game yeah yeah and they're they're they're great like to see how they showed up and how they've I mean they've stuck with us through I mean I've had some tough years with Detroit and for them to stick through and now to see them be rewarded has been pretty special yeah I feel like that really is kind of you know you kind of take a look around before a game like that and you're like let's go like we we got here you know yeah here we are feeling yeah yeah it's a very special thing thing so listen man I I mean it's Minnesota been great talking with you I want to ask you a little bit about just you know I'm trying to do a Minnesota pod so Blake Cashman is another Minnesota local guy he's gonna come on later yep so I'm gonna ask him a bunch of question but I want to ask you just some very specific um questions about Minnesota because dude I love Minnesota and I feel like people don't get it so slept so slept on right they're like oh like dude I'll tell people from Minnesota and they'll be like May or June they'll be like oh how cold is it up there I'm like [ __ ] 70 Dees all right like what talking about and everybody who moves here they don't leave exactly I'm moving back actually I'm building a house in in Minnesota so we heck yeah dude congrats we can work out at the Chanhassen Lifetime and uh that's that's been taking over that's been taking over by influencers you don't like hey I'm an influencer now Frank oh my I'm the butter Ki I'm [ __ ] with you um but I was wondering if you could on the podcast uh earlier this week one of my co-hosts or whatever was kind of [ __ ] on Minnesota so I gave him a Minnesota sales pitch where I was talking about all the great things Minnesota has to offer I was wondering if you would be willing to give a a kind of a little bit of a sales pitch on the great state of Minnesota not that we want people here that don't want to be here but just if you could extol the virtues of our great state Lake life yeah nobody understands it it's different it's different than any the the you have such a appreciation for Lake life because of the winners and the lake life is so beautiful it is I mean I'm biased that's kind of all I do but it is whether whether you're into fishing like me or wakeboarding anything like there's so many restaurants on the lake it is just that's Minnesota to me yeah but I mean there's Lake life even in the winter you know you can you can snowmobile on the Lakes my parents go cross country skiing on the lakes and then ice fishing like people don't understand iceing like we're not sitting here ice fishing outside over a hole miserable there's like towns like little towns some of the Lakes up north they've got bars on the lake I was telling this to uh one of my friends who's he's just getting into fishing doc his name is Dr fax he comes on green light a lot but uh ice fishing is it's just an excuse to drink beer and when we were in high school like you know like I said we keep it pretty loose on this pod the the uh the DNR is what's in charge of whatever's going on in The Lakes you know not the local cops so if you're an underage kid it's not a bad place to go with your buddies you know what I mean life life hack yeah exactly life hack that's a DNR jurisdiction and like if you can get one of those those uh shannies like those those houses they're literally like a man cave like they're pimped out like you got a fireplace a TV a whole kitchen and then by the way you're sitting there fishing like that ain't a bad gig that's not bad at all man it's a good little life it's a good way to kind of get out of the house in the winter you know no doubt well Frank I don't want to take up too much of your time I know you got to get in the Playbook and get your body right for Camp coming up next week really just want to say thanks a lot for coming on man we'd love to have you back at some point we were trying to get your coach on too I think he's come on at some point but love to have you back on yeah he's a [ __ ] Legend man we sent him a care package actually for Camp you know how like your agency will send you camp care packages yeah so we sent him one it it was just like a bunch of coffee and dip figured it lasted him like a week yeah if that exactly but uh yeah thanks a ton for for coming on man look really looking forward to watch you play You're an unbelievable player and it's been fun to follow your career man appreciate you man thanks for having me