Safeties Coach Ephraim Banda (12.13.24)
This team specifically (Kansas City Chiefs), they thrive in the middle part of the field. How much have you guys stressed that this week, specifically, with this matchup? Especially considering specifically (Travis) Kelce as one of those guys.
“Yeah, I mean, the rapport between him and Patrick Mahomes is insane. You think of the great rapport type, quarterback/receiver-tight ends throughout the history of this game, they’re up there with those guys. So, our understanding of how they like doing things, but more importantly, understanding their adjustments based off of what defenses do is probably the most critical part of that. So, Jim (Schwartz) has done a great job of really explaining that to the group and then putting together a plan to be able to handle the variations that they create in the middle of the field. At the end of the day, routes are a suggestion for them, and we got to be ready to handle and play to those things.”
How has Juan (Thornhill) kind of handled splitting time with Ronnie (Hickman), maybe not being on the field maybe as much as he wants?
“You know what? Like a pro. That’s what he’s done. He’s handled it extremely, extremely well. I’ve said that to him. Very proud of how he’s attacked things. Obviously, dealing with the calf and working through that, we felt it was best to utilize the tools that we have in the room. AB (Andrew Berry) and his staff, again, I’ve said this before, put together a really strong room, and our ability to be able to lean on multiple guys and spread the reps around to give the team the best opportunity to have success, is a testament to the personnel department, but also to the room. It’s a room of unselfish guys who just want to win. And Juan is just like that. One thing people don’t get to see about Juan, he sits where you sit, front of the class. He takes notes. He is active. He’s a great teammate. He’s an awesome student of the game. He attacks everything at a high level. Like a pro.”
[Joking] Dan (Labbe) isn’t a great teammate. He just sits there.
“Oh, he’s not? Dang, man. It’s a show? Oh, so you’re that guy.” [laughter]
Rodney (McLeod) told us back in the summer he wasn’t going to get emotional or anything, being the last lap. Now that we’re down to the last month, how has he been with everything?
“He may not get emotional, but I will. He’s been amazing. Rodney McLeod has been — I’ve said this a multitude of times, he’s been an absolute blessing to this organization. He’s been a blessing to me as a coach. He’s been a blessing as the OG to the players in that room. I’ve said it at the beginning of last week, I’m giving everything I got with him in mind. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that he does get to finish his last ride with a win. It may not be the win that he wanted, in the place that he wanted, but I want to make sure as a coach, and the room feels the same way, that we give him the euphoria of winning as many times as possible on that gridiron because of everything he’s done for this game and for this team and for the coaching staff and the organization.”
Do you hope he goes into coaching?
“So, great question. I’ve tried hard to push him into that space, but I think he’s got some plans. He wants to be an amazing father, he wants to be an amazing husband, he wants to be around for those things and he should go do that. But when it’s time, if he does decide to do that, I’ll be recruiting him harder than I recruited any five-star player in my time.”
Going back, you mentioned routes are a suggestion for them. How much more difficult does that make game planning and preparing for them? Because it’s not as simple as the scout team out there running because they’re going to go out there and they’re going to do whatever they do on any given play?
“Well, it’s even harder when you add the quality of talent that that organization has put together. When you have rapport the way that they do and you have scheme that, the way that Coach (Andy) Reid and his staff have put together, and then you culminate it with the players that they have, it makes it really difficult. And that’s why they have a lot of nice shiny things up on their mantles in that building. So, to answer your question, really hard. But at the end of the day, everyone in this building is here for a reason, and that’s to go win games. And you always want to win games when you’re challenged the most. Those are the ones you remember for the rest of your life. And for us, it’s an opportunity to go out there and measure ourselves, like Kevin (Stefanski) said, against the best and see where we are. And I think this group is excited and have attacked the week with that mindset.”
When you take a look at Kelce, is it the size that makes him such a tough match-up for everybody?
“Size, ability to move, but probably the most for me as a coach studying him, his intelligence. It really separates him. He’s brilliant, at the end of the day. His understanding of the game, leverage, not even leverage on the person that’s on him, but the leverage of the other people around him. Some people can understand, ‘Okay, this water is to my right and then someone’s phone is over here, also to the right, about six inches farther.’ But he sees those two things, but he also sees you two-high. And his ability to feel and see and sense, but also understand and study those things, is really what sets him apart.”