00:00And somebody who works with Will Anderson very closely, Matt Burke,
00:05the defensive coordinator, joins the drive.
00:08And, Matt, we were just listening to Will Anderson
00:11as he was speaking to the media since he got that new contract,
00:14which was the biggest no-brainer of the offseason,
00:18is to go ahead and lock him up.
00:20And I know you're happy that he's going to be here for years to come.
00:23I'm curious from you.
00:25You watch him, you coach him every day.
00:26What's the next step for Will Anderson?
00:29Where is it that he can take his game all the way
00:33or up another level compared to where it already is?
00:37Yeah, I would say it's funny.
00:39Listen, I was sitting on the press conference, obviously.
00:41And the one thing I think that's been underrated about Will is he literally,
00:46I was telling Rod, I was sitting next to me, Coach Rod Wright,
00:49and I was like, man, he's literally gotten better every year.
00:51And he takes something, you know, whatever,
00:54if he's seen something or he's seen something,
00:56and literally, like, just drills down and works on that all offseason.
01:00And to listen to him talk about finishing at the quarterback
01:03and trying to convert some of those pressures into sacks and stuff,
01:06obviously he had a lot of sack production.
01:08And, you know, I thought, like, this year he, like, got the ball a lot better,
01:11had a bunch of sack strips.
01:12I think he might have loved the league.
01:13And sack strips, you know, was something he really focused on last year.
01:17But for him to talk about sort of, like, that last finishing point, you know,
01:20in this league with quarterbacks, like, sometimes the difference between a pressure
01:25and a sack is just that one step or just getting to that move quicker,
01:28whatever those things are.
01:29And so I think just shaving some of that time off and really making, you know,
01:33he's at the quarterback almost every play, right?
01:36He's pressuring.
01:37He's disrupting.
01:38It's what we ask him to do.
01:39But I think his focus of, like, how can I just take that extra little half a tick off it
01:44to convert those into sacks and finish some of those plays.
01:47Hey, Coach, since the, you know, the announcement was made that he'd got the contract,
01:54that worked everything out, you know, in the media, we work in it.
01:59We obviously are big fans.
02:00We listen.
02:01You know, there's been a lot of, you know, is Will Anderson box office,
02:05is Will Anderson this, is Will Anderson that.
02:07And it's no disrespect, just a lot of conversation.
02:10And I've tried to make it a point since that was announced that Will Anderson,
02:14albeit great player, Will, the off the field or the intangible side of Will Anderson
02:20is what puts him over the top for an organization, any organization,
02:26damn sure our organization here with the Texans.
02:28Can you speak a little bit to the guy out of pads and how important he is as a leader
02:35and a pillar in the organization?
02:36Yeah.
02:37I mean, it's just, it's, I mean, it's literally immeasurable.
02:40I mean, when it finally went through this weekend, I texted D'Amico and I was like,
02:46man, awesome.
02:46So, so happy we got that done.
02:48And he, he took me back and was literally, he goes, that's an easy decision we'll ever have to make.
02:52I mean, he does everything right.
02:55You know, I mean, I always said this, I mean, he's, and we have a bunch of hard workers on
02:59this team,
02:59on this defense and, and he's probably one of, if not the, I always hate singling guys out,
03:06but I mean, he's an elite worker and to see, you know, some of your best players
03:09and some of your highest paid players be the hardest workers.
03:12Like it's hard for everyone else, not to sort of like follow in that, in that line,
03:16you know what I mean?
03:17And so for him to, to show the work ethic and the work rate that he puts in every day
03:22to be a good human being, to, to be encouraging and everything to everybody on the field
03:28and just set a standard, that's, that's a really, really, really high bar.
03:32I mean, that, that's as, as valuable as all the stuff he does on the field.
03:36And I think it's probably hand in hand in terms of how that all goes together for him.
03:39So it's, yeah, he's, he's, he's a better person and human being and worker and leader
03:45than he is a player.
03:47And that's, that's saying something because he's a really, really good player.
03:50Defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans, Matt Burke joins us.
03:53And Matt, um, everybody was impressed by this Texans defense last year as it was the
03:59best in the league.
04:01Where do you though, as you, someone who coaches this unit and looks at this unit, where do
04:05you see that this defense can get better going into next year, even if without dominant they
04:11were last year?
04:12Yeah.
04:13I mean, there's all, we're always looking for ways to improve, you know, and obviously
04:16as we get into this part of the season, our players just reported back yesterday.
04:20Um, you know, so, and we've talked to them about, Hey, everyone's looking at our tape.
04:24How can we find holes in the defense?
04:25How can we do this?
04:26So, you know, we're trying to add to some things and changing things and just challenge
04:30our guys to sort of like I talked with will, uh, or about what will in terms of, you know,
04:34just that last little bit, like, how can we tighten some things up, man?
04:37Can we take a little bit more away?
04:38I mean, uh, there's some areas, some of the explosive passes.
04:41I mean, how teams are trying to get at us, uh, you know, some of the scoring red zone stuff.
04:45There's some areas that we feel that, uh, there's definitely some, some room for growth
04:49and improvement.
04:50And so we're going to try to hammer at those through this off season and, and, and get back
04:54with, uh, with a little bit higher goal in mind, obviously the season didn't end the
04:57way we wanted it to.
04:58So, uh, we're going to try to do everything to ensure that it ends the right way this year.
05:03There's a, there's a new player that's coming over with, uh, with a pretty good, pretty
05:06good resume, uh, in that secondary man, Reed Blankenship, just that that's one guy that
05:11I think most fans are aware of and anxious to see and kind of how he, he
05:15helps his defense, man, just your thoughts on, on him and adding him to this already,
05:19uh, special group.
05:21Yeah.
05:21Yeah.
05:22Obviously, uh, yeah, has, has some success and a, and a successful program, uh, up in
05:27Philly, um, really, really sharp, really, really smart.
05:31And I think like, you know, as you look for some guys to fit in, in terms of guys that
05:34can do a lot that are good communicators, uh, good workers, uh, again, showed up yesterday,
05:40ready to go.
05:40Um, so I think just another, another piece to add to the, to the unit in terms of, uh,
05:46guys that are going to be on the same page.
05:47And I think he's going to be able to kind of like correct some things from a communication
05:52standpoint and just make sure we're all on the same page and in the right spots.
05:56But, um, he's had a knack for kind of attacking the ball, uh, in his career, punching balls
06:00out and then being around it.
06:01So hopefully again, we obviously preach a lot of takeaways and trying to get the ball.
06:04So a lot of things to be excited about what we're coming on board.
06:07Hey, let's, let's talk a little bit about Matt Burke, man, because I, I, I, no, no, no,
06:12serious, serious, man.
06:13Look, look, look, Matt, let's, let's be honest.
06:17Had D'Amico Ryan's handed you them play calling responsibilities and you wasn't worth a damn.
06:22We'd have tried to run you up out of town, man.
06:23I mean, but somehow, somehow the, the defense, you know, the game held somehow the defense got
06:28better and, and, and continue to play at an unbelievably high, high rate.
06:33What, what is, uh, you know, just, I mean, obviously, so you did a great job is what
06:37I'm saying, man.
06:38I, I mean, I obviously as a fan, I respect the hell out of it and, and, and I'm proud
06:41of that, but what you personally, uh, from a play caller perspective, just in your coaching
06:47career, what, what does Matt Burke hope to improve on from, from last year to this year,
06:51not necessarily as a play caller, just overall your approach to the game and coaching.
06:55Yeah.
06:56Yeah.
06:56My approach is always the same.
06:57Uh, and just, it's funny to listen to this, like, you know, I think D'Amico's philosophy
07:01is, is an alignment that, you know, our, our job is, is to put these guys in the best position
07:06to make plays and, and to be the best version of themselves.
07:09And, and so I think as all I try to do is as we were looking at game plans and
07:13how
07:13we, you know, we have new players, like you just mentioned and, and how we deploy them
07:17and what, you know, how do we make them perform?
07:20I'd always hated, uh, you know, coaches that just like, this is my system and this is what
07:25we're doing and you guys got to do it.
07:26And it's like, man, we try to evaluate every year's new, every year's different.
07:29We have different personnel.
07:30We play a different schedule.
07:33Uh, you know, so for us, our job is to, to take all that information and, and really put
07:38the pieces in place to, to let those guys go do what they do, you know, put Will Anderson
07:42in a place where he can go perform and, and get the mattress we want and all those things.
07:47So, uh, that's all I try to do is, is we have a really good staff, uh, top to bottom.
07:51And I try to take all that information that's kind of gathered and, and just sort of deploy
07:56it as best I can, man.
07:57Stay out of the way, really good, stay out of the way to good players.
08:00Well, congrats, man.
08:01It was, it should be talked about more, man, but you're a hell of a job.
08:05And, um, I mean, the backbone of, of the, the organization, that defense is special, man.
08:09And, and, uh, you're a big part of it.
08:11We appreciate it.
08:12Yeah.
08:12I appreciate it.
08:13It's good to be here.
08:14I mean, everything that, you know, Will was talking about in his press conference.
08:16I mean, the people in this building, uh, everywhere, staff, players and stuff, I think there's
08:21been a very concerted effort, uh, to bring like the right type of people into this organization
08:26and into this team.
08:28And, and I think that's where it shows.
08:29So we're going to try to try to keep doing that this weekend too, hopefully.
08:32All right, coach, man, we appreciate you, uh, giving us some time, man, and, uh, uh, get
08:37ready for this, uh, off season program starting to get, uh, get back at it again, coming up.
08:41Uh, we're ready.
08:42We're ready.
08:43We're already going, man.
08:44All right.
08:44All right.
08:45That's a DC, uh, Matt Bert.
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