Defensive Coordinator Mike Rutenberg (3.4.26)
Opening statement:
“What’s up, everyone? I didn’t write an opening statement, but my heart has an opening statement. I just wanted to tell everybody and everybody in the organization and in Cleveland that I couldn’t be more excited to be here. Our family couldn’t be more excited. Excited for this opportunity to work with this organization, a great, historic organization, work with these great players and coaches. Of course, I want to thank the Haslams, Coach (Todd) Monken, Andrew Berry for bringing me here and everybody else involved with that process. And also thank all the people who helped get me here, the different coaches along the way, the different mentors. I’ve had. I’ve had some incredible ones. And of course, my family. First, my parents, my sisters, who I grew up with, and then my why – Stacy, my wife, Laney and Luke, my children. Probably like all of us, if we have kids or significant others, why we do it. So beyond fired up to be here. Excited to meet you guys and get rolling.”
Do you have to win over the players who were so fond of Jim Schwartz? How does that work?
“Any new opportunity is about building relationships, right? And relationships come from the heart. So we’re going to build relationships. I’m going to learn about the players, learn about the coaches, share my story and learn their story. And whatever is important to the players, I want to learn about them. Whether it’s their families, whether it’s football, any outside interests, I’m going to dive right in and build those relationships.”
But do you think that is a challenge because Schwartz was so liked?
“I mean, obviously tons of respect for Coach Schwartz and admiration. Any time you go into a new opportunity and meet new people and meet new players and coaches, it’s always about building those relationships. And I can’t wait to start those relationships with all the players.”
Todd mentioned that he could only see a way forward where the system, the scheme, is the same. With that defensive pass rush being so prominent, what’s your plan to keep things the same, but also maybe put your touch on what this defense needs to be? “It’s always going to be style over scheme. No matter what, the way we play, how hard we play, playing for each other, how fast we play and how violent we play. And that’s always going to be over scheme. Us going after the ball and then putting our players in the best positions to be successful, it’s always going to start with the front. It forever and always will in the history of football. And we’re going to continue to do that.”
How about Myles Garrett? Have you heard from Myles yet? Or have you guys connected in any way? “We have not spoken face to face. We’ve both been traveling a lot, and I cannot wait to meet him and learn from him. Obviously, amazing amount of respect for him as a player and all the great things I’ve heard about him as a person.”
How excited are you to continue what he’s already done and maybe even help him elevate his game or just tweak his game a little bit?
“Totally. I don’t think I could be more excited. I’m beyond fired up. I can’t wait to see all of his superpowers, learn about his superpowers and figure out what’s best for him to help him continue to achieve those superpowers.”
Outside of Myles, just looking at this defensive front, I know Todd’s been so adamant about liking the way they attack. What do you see when you see how this defense has performed the last three years in that regard?
“Keep attacking, keep getting downhill. Keep attacking, keep getting downhill. Like you said, not only Myles, you’ve got great players across the front. Maliek (Collins), Alex (Wright), Isaiah (McGuire), Mason Graham. I could keep going across the front, and the backers behind them who were involved with Carson (Schwesinger) and, you know, obviously Dev (Bush) had a great year last year and Moud (Mohamoud Diabate) had a great year and the safety’s behind them with Grant (Delpit) and Rocket (Ronnie Hickman), everybody’s involved, but it’s always going to go back to the front.”
You obviously have a lot of experience working with Robert Saleh over the years. You know, he mentioned at the Combine that if Gus (Bradley) hadn’t taken the job, you were in the mix and was someone he was considering. So just what’s it been like working for him? What have you kind of learned from him along the way that you’re bringing here to Cleveland?
“He’s one of those people that I mentioned who’s helped me along the way. It started in 2014 when he was the linebackers coach and I was the assistant DB coach at the time. And what I’ve learned from Robert, and I’m going to speak on football, he’s a great person and a great friend. That goes without saying, but he taught me how to prepare players. He taught me how to get players to play hard, to play fast, to play violent on Sunday. He taught me how to prepare players for what’s coming, how to help them anticipate what’s coming, to help them respond and not have to think or react. And I give him a ton of credit for that. I’m forever grateful to Robert for what he’s done for my career.”
Can you just talk a little bit about Dom Capers and how he might be able to help you? What does he bring to the table? I think you were pretty instrumental in making sure that he’s here. “Well, everybody was involved in getting him here and I really appreciate the organization for allowing us to bring coach Capers here. Our relationship goes back to 2018 and ‘19. We actually, for a time being, shared in office, which was the defensive staff room. And he gave me his manual for Kevin Greene. I mean, like, that is like gold to any coach. The manual for Kevin Greene. And Dom was obviously instrumental in coaching Kevin and all those great defenses. But what hasn’t Dom seen? Like what scheme hasn’t he seen, what style hasn’t he seen, what technique, what evaluation process? So we’re all going to rely on Dom. A to Z and Z to A. And what’s amazing about Dom is he does it literally from his heart. He just does it to help. And all the people he’s done this for in previous roles would echo that. So cannot wait to keep working with coach Capers.”
When it came to your time with the Falcons last year, what did the role of defensive pass game coordinator look like for you on a day-to-day basis and how are you approaching the secondary? And this is a unit that’s really built on playing man defense, man to man coverage. But do you see maybe an avenue to maybe even diversify that and play some more different coverages?
“I couldn’t talk about the Falcons without talking about Jeff Ulbrich first. Brick and I, he’s my brother in coaching. Brick taught me about style over scheme. Brick taught me about leading through relationships. And him and his family are super important to our family. And I want to make sure – Brick, I love you and I thank you. And I couldn’t talk about the Falcons without Raheem Morris. Had known Ra and got the chance to work with Raheem Morris and thankful for the opportunity he gave me to become the pass game coordinator. That role helped me see it globally from the pass game and also tied into the front as well because of some of the things we did. And I’m grateful to those guys. I’m grateful to the players there who helped me in that role. And I learned a ton, not only about front to back, back to front in that, but also how to manage the different situations and situational football. I’m forever grateful. I don’t know how much secret sauce I’m going to give you on where this system’s going, but I promise we’re going to attack and play as hard as possible.”
Mike, it’s not often that first time coordinator inherits a unit like you’re inherited who was coached by a pretty good coach for three years. So is there any pressure on you to keep it going and to even improve on it?
“First of all, I feel very fortunate to be part of this unit. I feel very fortunate to work with the staff who coached this unit and then feel very fortunate to work with these players who have achieved great things. Similar to the previous question, anytime you go to a new job in this profession, it’s about building the relationships, getting us to play as hard as fast and violent, which is part of our heart, mind, fist as possible and whether were at the Jets, Falcons, going back to the Jaguars, coming to the Browns. My year at the Niners, I’m just bouncing around. It’s always going to be the same approach of building the relationships and helping the players be as successful as they possibly want to be on Sundays.”
What’s it like walking into a staff that’s largely established and then how can that help you transition to getting to know the players?
“Yeah, once again it’s very lucky. I’ve been fortunate to have some previous relationships with some of the guys on the staff. I’ve known Jacques Cesaire for a long time. Our time goes back to the University of San Diego. We did not work together. I was there, don’t quote me on this, I was only there 10 days. He came after, but we worked for a man named Dale Lindsey, who was a Cleveland Brown actually and told me stories about is it Doug Dieken and (Dick) Modzelewski, Is that right? He told me stories about these guys for years and he’s not doing very well, but when I walk into that indoor and I see those pictures, I think of Dale and his wife texted me and said, I saw you’re at Cleveland. So that’s a little part of my heart and history with Jacq. I’ve known Tarv (Jason Tarver) since we both coached on the field, linebacker drills. He was actually one of Brick’s assistant position coaches at the Niners. I swear he must have been like 19 when he was doing that. And we’ve been able to put our brains together over different things over the last couple of years. Ephraim (Banda) and I crossed over when we got into the league a little bit and had spent some time together. So fortunate to have history with those guys. And as you go through these processes, you naturally do research. Everybody can read a bio, but you dig deep. Right on the humans. And everyone spoke so highly of the guys who are here as human beings and football coaches. And then I get here and to meet Zach Dunn. I mean, this guy is a wealth of knowledge and is going to help us a ton. I meet Brandon Lynch, superstar. Sees it very globally. Highly, highly detailed. Can see why him and the corners have such a great relationship together. Jeff Anderson, he’s been here for a number of years and was promoted to coach the nickels. He’s been doing great things and will continue to. And then we were fortunate to bring a couple people. Ralph Street, our assistant d-line coach. He brings a passion and energy that I think we’re all going to be proud of. Match it with Jacq’s and then our defensive line, we’re going to be attacking. And a couple guys who I worked with at the Jets, Paul Worrilow and Shaq Wilson combined, could not be more excited about this staff. Make sure I didn’t leave out anybody. Coach Capers!”
Going back to your time, all the way back to the beginning. How did you get connected with Coach (Joe) Gibbs? And what were those that, you know, at the very beginning of that opportunity, you know, what did that kind of establish for you?
“Everything. Not a lot of sleep. Had really no idea what I was doing, but it was unbelievable. Vinny Cerrato gave me my first chance. And it goes back to all these people who came before us, who helped us along the way. I’ll be forever grateful for. And Vinny gave me my chance, first as an intern. Then he promoted me to scouting assistant, like the greatest promotion of my life at the time. And Coach Gibbs gets hired and basically needs someone to do whatever he asked. And Vinnie volunteered me. And it was awesome. It was unbelievable. We could sit here for hours on what any person has learned from Joe Gibbs. But what I really learned is true work ethic. Everybody says work hard. Coach Gibbs was true work ethic. His answer was to keep working and keep fighting and keep working and keep fighting. And I saw that as we went from I can’t remember our first year record, but into the second year into the playoffs. And it was truly through work ethic and keep fighting and keep swinging and keep fighting. I FaceTimed his executive assistant, Cindy. And then I FaceTimed with Coach. All I could see was his side of his head cause I’m not sure he knew that to put the phone right here, but he reminded me about football. It takes great athletic skill, it takes violence, and it takes intelligence. He told me, don’t forget that, Rudy. And that really was my start. And I’d be remiss If I didn’t mention Dewayne Walker, who I met, who was the DB coach when we were in Washington, who literally taught me how to coach and brought me from Washington to volunteer intern at UCLA, to secondary coach in New Mexico State, to Jacksonville Jaguars, who I kid now is basically just a free consultant. Every time I call him now. So D-Walk, I thank him. And I know he was here and built some great relationships here.”
I know the overlap was brief, but what were you able to learn about this organization from the coaches who were here and are now in Atlanta?
“Yeah, the overlap was brief. Everyone speaks beyond highly of this organization in Cleveland. It was really cool to hear them rooting for me, to hear them speak so fondly of the people in this building, the people in Cleveland, the players, the coaches, the organization. It was awesome to hear.”
Seems like everywhere you’ve been, your players really sort of gravitate towards you. Why do you think that is?
“It goes back to the first question, life is about relationships. Marriage and parenting is about relationships. And that’s been my approach to find out what’s important to the players. I’ve told this story. When I first met C.J. Mosley, the first question he asked me is, what’s the close call? I said to the tight end. He asked me a couple other questions. I don’t want to give away too many answers, but I answered them in football. He basically walked away from me. I was like, oof. I got no chance with him. He’s my brother now. We just had breakfast at the Combine. But what I learned is C.J., he ticked by football, and then we built a bond of brotherhood, and now we talk about being a great father and being a great friend. He’s in business now, and we’re able to have those conversations. I go to Quincy Williams, was in Jacksonville with Quincy, and we drafted him. Quincy and I connected from the heart. From the start. It went heart to football, and we spent a lot of time on our hearts and then a lot of time on football. And I used those two examples and amazing relationships with Jessie Bates and Xavier Watts, Kaden Elliss, Jamien Sherwood. Richard Sherman taught me so much about being a football coach. And now we get to discuss what it’s like being a man and a husband and a father. And it just goes back to finding what’s important to everybody, finding out their why, sharing my why. Maybe their why is football. Maybe their why is a hobby. Maybe their why is their family. And if we can find something to connect, it’ll always come back to the heart. And we when that happens in my experiences, it’s unbreakable bond. When things get hard, you thrive in those moments.”
How about play calling, defensive play calling? What has been your experience so far, whether it be in preseason games or whatever the case may be and how do you feel like you will transition to that full time role of doing that?
“I’ve been really fortunate that at the previous two stops my bosses have given me opportunities to call plays in numerous different experiences. Preseason games, call it periods, scrimmages and obviously there’s no substitute for doing it. But that was a huge help. And then not only that, they offered great advice, suggestion, criticism at times of how to improve that. And for me, any new experience I’ve had, Mary Kay (Cabot), I’ve just tried to be where my feet are. I’m not going to sit here and tell you every time somebody says something, I wrote it down and I was like, this is what I’m going to do this. I just tried to be where my feet are and absorb as much as I possibly can. I learned a ton about play calling and hit and Coach Ulbrich’s process of game planning over the last four or five years and that’s been huge for me. And eventually as you learn and are around people who you really respect, it just becomes part of you. And I’m excited for that journey.”
When we talked to Todd at the combine, he mentioned in hiring you, like he just felt like it was your time. And Coach Ulbrich, I know made the comment he felt like he would get a DC job this cycle or next cycle. Is that how you kind of viewed this opportunity in interviewing and do you feel like its your time? “Stock. I’ve just tried to really, really be where my feet are and tried to kick butt, almost cursed, kick butt every place I’m at every second of every day. Again, heart, mind, fist going in that direction every day, bringing positive energy, trying to learn as much as I can, trying to help the people who I work with and awesome experience this offseason that it came. And I’m forever grateful to the people who helped me here, forever grateful to the Haslams, coach (Todd) Monk and Andrew Berry and can’t wait to get rolling.”
As the game’s evolved and offenses has evolved too. Obviously, defenses have had to catch up to the way that the game has evolved and the offenses have to. How has maybe the way you view defenses maybe shifted as the game has evolved?
“Any offseason you start, no matter where you are or what your scheme is, you better get better. You better find a way to get better in every facet of defense, starting with your style. Are we playing hard? Are we playing fast? Are we playing violent? Are we going after the ball, like that is first and foremost? We’re going to be talking about that every day. Our heart, our mind, our fist, the ball. We’re going after it. We are going after it. And then schematically and fundamentally, you have to find ways to adapt, evolve and create every off season. So not only are you doing that per what the offenses are doing, you’re doing that with your own scheme to continue to get it better and better and better to put the players in the best position.”
Have you had a chance to meet, since he’s local, have you met Denzel Ward yet? And yes or no, but I mean, what are your thoughts on Denzel as a player?
“I’ve tried my best to meet whoever I can, and I was able to talk to him on the phone, which is awesome. Again, like a lot of the players we’ve talked about on this defense, how fortunate are all of us to be able to coach guys like Denzel Ward? And again, not only the human being he is, but the player he is and all the amazing things he can do on the field. And that goes for Denzel, I could just keep naming them, right? Across the board this defense is filled with great players and great humans.”
Mike, when you think about the development of young guys, Carson, and then guys looking to take leaps, like Alex Wright, what’s your philosophy? What can you do to maybe get more out of these guys and take their game to a different level?
“For sure. I’m always going to go with what they do well. Like, let’s focus on what players and coaches do well. First, I’m going to get repetitive and you’re going to get annoyed. Are we playing hard? Are we playing fast? Are we playing violent? We’re playing smart, right? When I say play fast, guys, that’s playing smart. If we’re smart, we play as fast as humanly possible. Are we going after the ball? So, it’s always going to be what we display, our style. For any player, let’s find out what they do well and keep building on them, keep putting them in those positions to do well. Same for us as coaches. Let’s put us and our scheme in positions to do well. And if there are areas where we can improve let’s make sure they coexist with the things they do well. Let’s not focus on anything that we’re not doing well. It’s not worth it. It’s negative. Let’s go positive and keep building on all the great things that they do well, whether it’s tape, walkthrough, drills, themselves doing it, perhaps somebody else doing it, perhaps somebody on our team doing it, and just keep building on the positives.”
What makes you trust that Todd Monken is the guy who can turn this franchise in the right direction?
“Well, I’m gonna tell you exactly what makes me trust him. I’ve known him really well for two weeks now, and that guy is the right guy for this job. He is an incredible human, an incredible leader in two weeks. Great wisdom already, deals in solutions, which is awesome. And then I don’t think I need to talk about how good he is as an offensive coach, because we’ve seen that. So, I’ve been able to see it. I’m forever grateful to Coach Monk. We’ve had some times where we’ve just sat together and hung out, and I’ve learned a ton from him. I cannot wait to work with him and for him.”
What do you want to say about the rookie season that Carson Schwesinger had? And how do you feel about having a guy like that be your green sticker guy on the field?
“Really lucky, again. Again, like this defense, we’re going to build on all the strengths that they have, and we’re going to make it ours, and we’re going to find out where they want to get better, where they think they can get better, where they want to take certain things. It can be a very collaborative effort. Carson is unique. He can do it all. Let’s build on the great things that he does. Keep putting him in those positions to help him take his game to another level.”
One of the things that anybody who’s worked with you said is just that, like, how passionate you are. I think we’re obviously seeing some of that today as well. Why is it so important to you to, you know, bring that passion every day and in the way that you your players especially?
“I don’t know any other way. My dad always told me, have a steel chin, chin up. Have a steel chin. Take your shots and keep going. Be a drill bit. So you just go, you just go, you just go. And we go with positive energy. It’s real now. It’s honest, it’s fair, but it’s going to be positive, bringing swag, bringing celebrations. And everybody, in my opinion, wants to be told they did well. That’s human nature. So, let’s tell people we did well. But at the same time, when it’s time to address certain things that need to get better, let’s show them how good they were, and let’s take them there as players, coaches, and all of us. And that’s just the only way I know how to be. I wonder if my kids think this same way. I don’t think so.”
How did you get into sprint football?
“Because I wasn’t very good at football. I really wanted to play D3 football and ice hockey. That’s all I wanted to do, and that was my dream. And one day, my dad clipped out a roster. I believe it was Middlebury College, but I can’t remember. And there were not a lot of dudes from Maryland on that roster, let’s just say. There weren’t a lot of guys from the United States on that roster. So, my hockey dreams of college went away pretty fast, and I was hoping to play D3 football. I was fortunate to get into Cornell, and then I learned about lightweight football. And you can tell with my personality, I saw it and just dove right into it, and that was it right there. And there’s other stories that go into it about not being very good and winning the most improved award too many times and getting hurt. But I just tried to be as physical and smart as I could because I didn’t really have the athletic ability, but I was gonna bring the energy.”
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