Linebackers Coach Jason Tarver (11.15.24)

Can you maybe just talk a little bit about getting Jordan Hicks back and what that’ll mean for you guys? 

“Yeah, really proud of Jordan how he worked through everything he had to work through to get back. And Jordan’s so experienced and such a good player and deals with adjustments and positioning really well so that we can use all of our guys to be in certain spots for what they do well, like Mohamoud (Diabate), Devin Bush, who’s gotten better, or Winston (Reid), Nate (Nathaniel Watson), who’s ever in there with them. Jordan can really work with the next guys and with the safeties to make everything right.”

 

With JOK (Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah), first of all, how’s he doing? We haven’t seen him yet. Is he around, is he in good spirits?

“He’s good. We miss him. We love him.”

 

With a guy like him that does so much for you, how do you go about trying to replace everything he does from a skill set?

“Well, he’s so special and everything that he does, both as a human and of course, as a player. So, you don’t replace it, but what you do is — our job as coaches is one, help everybody get better, and then two, is to get the 11 guys that are on the field to stop the offense. That’s our job. So, to answer the question, it’s a little like we just said, there’s some things that Jordan does really well, both in coverage or in rushing. Same with Mohamoud, same with Devin Bush, so we’re going to use them in certain alignments or if they happen to be blitzing or whatever we’re doing within the scheme, we’ve become a little bit more interchangeable.”

 

How difficult is a guy like Alvin Kamara for your group to deal with? Especially if they kind of hunt out matchups and all the places they line him up. Just all that stuff.

“Yeah, he’s really special and they do a good job of moving him around. And so, we got to know where he is and where he is in the formation and then that can depend on his width or where he motions, and we got to be ahead of the motion. They do a really good job with their motions. So, what we got to do is be ahead of it. And it is a lot of times it’s the linebacker and safeties working together. Like Coach (Jim) Schwartz says, we’re the nerve center of the defense, so we got to — we actually just went through a walkthrough doing that right now before I came in, we got to be really good and on top of it because one, they do a great job scheming him open and then of course, he can do anything. We got to get as many of us near him as we can, as many times as we can.”

 

As a position coach, when you see two guys like Mohamoud and Winston, the paths they took are very similar as undrafted guys. What type of pride do you personally take to see guys ride that difficult path to becoming regular contributors on the team? 

“Yeah, I’m smiling because it’s just what we said, our job is to help everybody get better one play at a time. And every time I walk in here, in this building, that’s all I care about. Whoever is in the room, we’re going to help them be the best they can be because each one of us, all we would ever want in life is to be the best we can be and take advantage of opportunities. I’m really proud of those guys and the rest of the room. I mean, Devin, first year in this scheme and just getting better at playing every position. Mohamoud, again, I don’t know how many career starts, but it’s not very many and just his ability to go focus and go to the next play. Winston, his ability to lock in and really limit mistakes, he really doesn’t make the same mistake. If they can keep staying on that, they’re going to have really productive careers. But more importantly, play each down that they’re in to the best of their ability.”

 

How have you seen Mohamoud get better in his year and a half here?

“First thing Mohamoud did is — the most important offseason of your career is the first one. Because now you know, like, ‘Am I strong enough?’ We talked a lot about this in the past with Jeremiah, figuring out his playing weight and holding it helped him become a really good player. Mohamoud really took the offseason to heart; he worked, he grinded, whatever the word is, he did it and came back strong and determined. Our meeting, I ask questions really fast, really quickly, and we compete to get the answers right and the adjustments and he just got better, and better and better. It’s hard to beat Mohamoud on the right answer right now. So, his work ethic on and off the field and then his ability to focus within the plays. I thought two weeks ago he really improved in his emphasis for the week, which was the pass game feel because he was going to be in more on third downs and red zones and things like that. He really improved, so we give him one thing a week and keep him going. But it’s first his work, second is focus and then the experience of knowing where he is in the defense.”

 

What do you think he does best on the field?

“I think Mohamoud really likes contact, and likes to get off of blocks, shed things, and run and hit. But he has a unique skill set, which is one of the reasons our organization really liked him and we were lucky to have recruited him and kept him, is he can rush, he can really run and it’s where the NFL has gone. It’s almost linebackers and safeties are becoming positionless; they’re all going to rush, they’re all going to cover, they’re all going to shed. Mohamoud can really do those things, and he’ll do more of those things as he continues to develop and be in those spots. So, as you’re helping the guys, you want to kind of keep them in their core position, but then lead them to the other spots they’re going to be. So, we’re doing some things where he’s still in his core, but there’s a few other things we can start doing with him.”

 

Along those lines, you mentioned that like that putting them through some different quick questions and tests and kind of make them identify things. How much did that help him when I believe he took over as the green dot for a couple of games there? Just how much did that kind of help him kind of be that guy calling things out and sort of identifying?

“Huge, because it’s that quick reaction. Like I got to look at the room and then all of a sudden, they have, let’s say they got an extra alignment at a tight end and that’s where we’re set in the front. I got to see the whole thing go right-right, then get everybody aligned and put myself in the right spot. The quick reactions are the key. We just got to mimic that as many times as we can. Like today, for example, I give them a review and there’s the draw-and-play, a run or a pass, and then there’s the calls and they have to teach it back to me tomorrow. Mohamoud’s have gone from — it’s been really cool and some of the guys in the past have just mastered it; Anthony (Walker), Sione (Takitaki), Devin is really good. But they have to be able to teach it back because we’re professionals, we got to be able to teach what we do. Mohamoud is like, when he gets his answer, he doesn’t even miss a word anymore. So Moud, you better be right tomorrow, by the way. But that’s all in the plan of that and it’s really cool to see the grasp when they really grow and they really understand it. And then every once in a while, I’ll put something wrong on there and see if they catch it, okay? And Moud’s caught the last two, or if I misspeak, they’re all over me, and I like that. Like, ‘There you go, get it right.’ So just how willing he’s been to stay in the process to build himself into a player has been really impressive.”

 

How have your guys handled the adversity of this 2-7 season? 

“What we think about is being the best we can every play and what’s been interesting in our room is when, coaches always say it, and it’s next man up. Our room has had different starters almost every game, so we’re just going in and attacking every week, and that’s it. And this week we talked a little bit about it, they get in a bunch of formations, they change groups, they use all their personnel, they got tight ends and running backs and people everywhere. We got to be able to get everybody lined up, be that nerve center and line everybody up. So really, we’re not even thinking about that. We’re thinking about on play one, is number seven in or not, or, what are our rules right here? We stay in that, whatever you want to call that, our little neighborhood. We’re in there because we got to figure that out to be the best we can be this weekend.”

 

You mentioned number seven, Taysom Hill, when he’s in does he sort of dictate what they’re doing? How much can you get a read off of what they’re going to do from him being in the game?

“Well, he’s a Swiss army knife, you can use him to do anything, and we know that, too. He can be carrying it, he can be catching it, he can be whatever, he can move across formations. Like, the first play of the game last week, it got called back, but they put him out wider, threw him a boot, and it got called back, but he scored. So, he can kind of be everywhere, so what we got to do is use our rules. We got to use our rules on the formations and if he’s in certain positions, backfield or whatever, we got to be correct on our alignments so that we can handle whatever they do.”

 

With Winston, I mean, I know even that one game they were using him on offense in those jumbo packages. How does he just embraced unconventional opportunities like that? 

“I think it’s great. I think positionless football is amazing. Like, if you see one of the young men on the roster and they have a skill set to do something like offense, defense, special teams, it’s all the same, it’s football. With the linebackers, we talk about three words; linebackers play special teams, it’s what we do. Like, it’s defense, let’s go, and then sometimes it’s offense, we get to block. So, the more Winston can do, the better, we’re happy. I’m excited for him.”

 

When you talk about Hill? Is there anybody in the league that even comes close to kind of that skill set and the versatility that he provides? 

“I don’t know. Again, I’m going in my neighborhood. I think now we don’t really compare. We got be ready for the opponent to go 1-0 each week. We just know the things he can do and they’re so multiple that there’s other things he can do if he’s in the other positions and then we got to use our rules to deal with that. So, I mean, I know that’s a narrow answer, but that is our answer because that’s how we have to deal with it. It’s how we got to go play in and play out and be able to attack this weekend.”

 

I’ve heard (Kyle) Juszczyk, the fullback for San Francisco, is as a comp. Would that be, I mean, you played them a year ago, would that be a fair comp for Taysom Hill? 

“I think the offensive systems that have grown throughout the league have guys like that team or this team that all can kind of do the same thing. So, in the schemes, the offensive coordinators can use them to do that. So, I mean, comps, I’m not big comparison, but similar schemes, yeah, we’re going to study so we know what may be done within in a game and make sure our rules can handle that. So that system is moving more into the league. More people are seeing it. The people from the system are going to different teams. So now you know, ‘Oh, yeah, they may use him like this, or we may get this kind of motion, or he may motion over here on the screen,’ whatever it is. So we’re constantly studying that more than — because you don’t know who’s going to be active every week, if that makes sense.”

 

Jordan, just through his battle to get back on the field, and it’s clear that his dedication to get back on the field is really strong. What do you think his influence on the younger guys like Mohamoud and Winston has been this season? 

“Well, I think Jordan’s the same every day, and that’s the ultimate compliment. When you’ve seen as many things in life and in football as Jordan has, you can’t help but be drawn to him because all he cares about is making plays, being great himself, making plays, and helping his teammate make plays and being a great dad. You can’t be more proud of that and you want to be around that. So just his presence, just being around him, you feel that, and that’s really unique and it’s really awesome. And I hadn’t coached him before, right? But a lot of people that I know had coached him and just they all texted or called right away, ‘Oh, you’re going to love Jordan. He’s the best.’ And they were right.”