"I learned a lot of football from Coach (Nick Saban). The biggest thing I learned … Coach (Pete) Carroll and Coach Saban maybe are different in some respects but both are very successful coaches. I think one of the things I learned from Coach Saban and Coach Carroll is that both of these guys have a really, really clear vision about how they want to play football. That is one of the biggest things I took away from Nick."

"It's about being developmental. How much can you find out about this player? And what can you draw out of him? It takes a lot of time and effort. Those relationships are really important."

"I've learned that there are a lot of different ways to be successful. The one thing I have learned, and you can really feel it, is if it's the same messaging and phrasing every day, that consistency shows up in players."

"One of the things I've learned from Coach (Pete) Carroll is how to use our featured players. There's a tendency to say, 'Oh, he doesn't fit the system.' Coach Carroll is more like, 'What does he have that's special?' "

"Our challenge for our own players is to make sure we take care of us first and our assignment. The term we use is, 'Let's make sure we have our cleats in the grass and ready to attack and play,' because that's really our style. … We spend a lot of time (dedicated) to how we play and style."

"That connection with the players is one of the things I enjoy most about coaching. Some of the time, it's not just on the classroom, but on the grass. We have a blast coaching with these guys. We challenge them."

"Knowing that you can connect with the group, that's one of the things I like best about coaching."

"Hofstra was really the first chance where I got to lead my own group. The Jets had training camp there, so we were always around that. But then, when I got to the Niners, I thought I knew a lot of football. And I realized that I knew nothing."

"I've been fortunate. Like most people in all professions, it's just the amount of hard work that you put in. So for me, just each step of the way, it was to put in as much hard work as you could. For me, it's worked out."

"We have such trust in these guys, we really do. We want them to play at their fastest and we know for us to play at our best and really fast, that there can't be so many checks. … that you are thinking less about going after somebody and getting your cleats in the grass and attacking."

"The scheme part of it is important. But I guess I learned in my time what's just as important is the players in terms of, you really want the best fundamentals you can have. It's tackling. it's all the discipline things that go into football. So we want our guys attacking in that way as much as we can."

"Sometimes when we play no-huddle teams, we don't have tons and tons of calls here where we put all this stress on someone and have different checks and different things in the game. They can get a call in quickly and go."

"You've been around Pete (Carroll) enough to know that he doesn't want his team intimidated by anyone or anything."

"I think, fortunately for me, I have had a lot of opportunities to watch guys, so you learn from the good experiences and you learn from some of the ones that you go, 'Well, that didn't go maybe as well as it could have.' So I don't know if there is a moment that just comes down on you, but I know that is something that I wanted to do, lead a bigger group for a long time. That is really part of the reason I wanted to become a defensive coordinator — in hopes that one day I will have the opportunity to become a head coach."

"It's about the players. It is about our role to see how far we can take the guys. That is one of the things I loved most about coaching is how far you can develop the players. It is 100 percent about the players and the things I love most about coaching is how far we take a guy from where he is now to where we think he can go."

"I would say one of the things I like and enjoy the most about our team is the ability to connect with the players. They are all different. How we find ways that motivate one guy might be different than how we motivate another guy. What are some of the unique things for one guys is unique for somebody else. It is honestly one of the best things about coaching … getting to know all of these guys and finding out what makes them go."