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The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Richard Sherman Podcast - Jeff Hafley on REBUILDING Dolphins, roster cuts, 2026 Draft Picks & NFL coaching philosophy
00:34:23
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- [00:00]
Jeff Halfley
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
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Podcast Narrator (Superhuman)
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- [00:37]
Jeff Halfley
Within probably 10 days, I'd put on £10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
- [00:43]
Podcast Narrator (Superhuman)
Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:50]
Jeff Halfley
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- [00:55]
Podcast Narrator (Superhuman)
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- [00:57]
Jeff Halfley
Come join our sweat sesh on TikTok.
- [01:02]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
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- [01:26]
Richard Sherman
Sometimes AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything. Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast. We got an incredible guest today, one of my favorite coaches. He got his start as a DB coach with the Bucks, the Browns, then he was my DB coach in San Francisco. Went back to college to Ohio State, then the head coach at Boston College, then the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay packers, and now the head coach for the Miami Dolphins. I want to welcome the great defensive mind and a good friend of mine, Jeff Halfley. Appreciate you joining me, brother.
- [02:04]
Jeff Halfley
Thanks, Sherman. It's good to have you on. Cool to see you doing this, even though you could probably still be playing or coaching, which you never take me up on my offers. But one day you will.
- [02:14]
Richard Sherman
One day I will. One day.
- [02:17]
Jeff Halfley
Not. Not that time yet. But eventually you're going to get the itch and you're going to be off the podcast deal and you're going to be the one being interviewed.
- [02:24]
Richard Sherman
Yeah. Yeah. You're going to be off your second super bowl. And I'm going to be like, yeah, this is probably about the time. I should probably go ahead and dust it off my shoulders and get involved. You've coached college, you've worked as a coordinator in Green Bay, and now you're leading a team in Miami. Which part of your journey do you think has. Has had the greatest impact? Because it seems like such a quick trajectory, trajectory. But there's so much work and so much work you've put in behind the scenes, so many man hours that you've put in. So much, so much dedication, so much lock in, and you're finally getting to see the fruits of your labor.
- [02:56]
Jeff Halfley
I, you know, I think I've been lucky with all the stops. You know, I think one thing that, you know, I've been fortunate. It's been a long journey and it's been, you know, there's been some ups and downs, but, you know, just coaching a position, for example, I think, you know, I learned I was able to coach from a young age. Whether I was coaching you or Ronde or Revis. I've been around some really, really good players and I, I learned how to connect with those players and I learned how to pick their brains, and I've learned from really good players kind of like you. And I would always have conversations. You'd ask me questions, I'd ask you questions. I took a lot of pride in always learning and never stop learning. And then I took a lot of pride in teaching. So I think, you know, being a position coach, I learned how to connect with players. I learned the game, I learned how to teach. I think that was huge. And then, you know, even I had to make that hard decision. When I left the Niners after my time with you, I wanted to call plays, and I was ready to call plays. And I think, you know, sometimes people get caught up and, you know, staying in the NFL or being in a certain place or being a certain level, you know, I got fortunate to have the opportunity to go to Ohio State and, you know, I, I learned how to be really a coordinator there. And then quickly I became a head coach. Right. So then I had to learn that. And was I ready for that at 39, 40 years old? Probably not. You know, you're not, you're not, you're not as ready as you think you are, but you kind of go through the, you go through the years and you grow and you learn. And so then I kind of got prepared in that sense, right? And then I took, I left, obviously, everybody kind of knows that story. And then I got to coordinate again, but this time in the NFL. But I think with the head coaching experience, I was even more prepared to do that, you know, and then obviously now I get a second go around, but kind of a strange journey going back and forth, but I think I'm much more prepared this go around, you know, after those experiences. So it's Been great.
- [04:58]
Richard Sherman
You've been around some of the. What most would consider some of the best coaches in the National Football League in terms of head coaches with. With Kyle Shanahan and LaFleur, even at Ohio State, you know, one of the best college head coaches. What do you think you've learned or what is one thing that you've taken from each of those coaches that's helped you in your journey?
- [05:19]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah, I think with Kyle, just the accountability he held his staff to and how demanding he was. And I mean. I mean, you know, you had. You had to know your stuff. I mean, he'd come in and he'd challenge you in. In a good way, but he would challenge you to. Do you want to see how convicted you were? You want to make sure you were on your stuff? And, you know, I take. I take a lot of that and just how he approaches the staff and, you know, how demanding he is to make sure that, you know, he's preparing the players, you're preparing the players, they're preparing the players in. In a really high quality way and that you're on your stuff. I always appreciated Kyle for that. He just. He made sure you. You knew what you were doing, and if you. If you didn't, it was not going to be a very good day. And then I thought he was really good in front of the team. I thought the way that he coached the whole team so we could see him coaching the offense, the defense, the special teams. He was up there. If you remember, in those meetings. I try to. I try to emulate that the best that I can. So when you're up in the front, you're not just a defensive guy or an offensive guy. I'm coaching everybody. I'm coaching the offensive players. I'm coaching the scheme on both sides of the ball. I'm coaching the special team so the players can all feel me in that regard. I thought Matt did such a good job of, you know, holding the players accountable. I think, you know, Matt had a standard. He set the standard, and he didn't deviate from it. And I think in this league, a lot of times people kind of walk by some stuff, but Matt wouldn't do that. And at times you'd be like, hey, Matt, that's just a little thing. But it wasn't to him. And I think he really taught me that lesson. As I go through this now and I'm meeting with the team and I'm having these conversations that, you know, the standard you walk by is a standard you set. And you can't walk by anything, especially now, as we're trying to build this the right way and build the culture the way that we want it, especially that we're going to have a lot of really, really young players. I just, I think Matt did such a. And I think that's one of the reasons they've consistently won and been a playoff team and they'll take the next step soon.
- [07:22]
Richard Sherman
Yeah, that takes me to my next point about what you're walking into in Miami, because it seems like you guys have made such huge, monumental foundational changes, but in terms of restarting and establishing a new culture, it was necessary. It was necessary to get some of the, the. The, you know, their big money, big name guys. But in order to start the culture that you. You want to achieve, sometimes you got to make hard decisions to get that. To get that started. So you. You guys got rid of Tyreek, you got rid of Tuatanga Vailoa. What went into those decisions as you, as you started to. To see the kind of landscape of the Miami Dolphins and what, what was necessary?
- [08:05]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously John, Eric and I had a lot of conversations about that, and, you know, it's really. The situation that we walked into. I think there was. There was over 33 free agents on the, on the roster when we got here. The cap situation was really difficult, so we, we had to get in a healthier spot as far as the cap goes. So. So we had to make some really hard decision with some really good players who I have a ton of respect for, and they're still going to have a lot of success in this league. We just weren't in a situation where we were able to keep them as we build this thing going forward. You know, so hard decisions are made, really good players had to leave the team, and now we find ourselves in a position where we just drafted 13 players. I mean, just think about that. I mean, Saturday I felt like we were picking every five minutes in there, but what does it do? It. You know, we're going to be young. I mean, we have some really. We have some really good pieces, don't get me wrong. I mean, we got some vets on the team that, you know, are as good as players as I've been around, and they're awesome people and they have great leadership qualities and. But with that, I mean, we'll probably be one of the youngest, if not the youngest team in the National Football League with all the rookies that we are going to bring in and, you know, will that be Hard, Sure. I think playing a lot of rookies is. Is difficult at times, but at the same time, we get a chance to develop those players and we get a chance to teach them and. And have them grow up and teach them the way that we want to do things. As we build this thing for the future, I think it's going to be about the foundation and what we want that to look like. And in some ways, it will be. It will be nice to start fresh like that.
- [09:38]
Richard Sherman
No question about it. I mean, because you don't have the. The kind of skeletons and ghosts of the past regime and the past staff kind of. Kind of still hanging, lingering around the building, for whatever that's worth. But you did bring in Malik Willis. You brought him in. You guys made him your. Your number one quarterback. You got to see him kind of develop and grow in Green Bay.
- [10:00]
Jeff Halfley
What.
- [10:00]
Richard Sherman
What did it mean to kind of bring him in and be able to target him early on and know that you. You had a guy that you can trust and believe in going forward?
- [10:09]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah. And I think you know this because, you know, you were around the league for so long. It's so important that when you. When you get any free agent, that you know exactly what you're getting. Right. I mean, you've been in locker rooms, I've been in locker rooms where you watch tape, you fall in love with the tape, and you get a guy and he might not fit your locker room, he might not fit your culture, he might not fit you. People know what Malik's like as a player. In a small sample size. He's went out in the two years that I was with him, and he did a really nice job in some very big moments, in some big games. I got to see him in practice every day. So he was our scout team quarterback. So I was actually. I communicated with him more than I communicated with Jordan because each week I wanted a certain look, I wanted him to play a certain way. I wanted him. I wanted him to be free and play the game because I didn't want to tell him who to throw to. But there are weeks I wanted him to stay in the pocket because that's quarterback we're going to play. There's weeks when I wanted him to run around and scramble. There are weeks where I wanted him to operate in a certain manner. So him and I developed a really good relationship. And then obviously, I got to see him play. And he's competitive, he's tough, he can throw the ball. He's accurate. He's really accurate down the field. And he's really athletic. I mean, he's strong. He can make plays with his feet, and when he breaks the pocket, he's really accurate. And then on top of all that, I love the person on the field. Off the field, he's got this unique way that he leads. He's not this outspoken, loud guy, but people kind of gravitate to him. So to get a quarterback like that, which is the key position of our team that you trust as we build this foundation and we have a type of leader that we want, I think that's huge.
- [11:49]
Richard Sherman
No question. It's. It's. It's colossal. Especially when you talk about the leader of your team and establishing a culture and having people buy in. If the, The. The guy who touches the ball every play is bought in, everybody else usually follows. And do you think as a head coach, your approach is different than a coordinator? Because in Green Bay, you guys, you guys grew from year one to year two. You got better in terms of the rankings down the board. Your players spoke very highly of you, and you talked about you, Your relationship with players and the input that you. You accept from those players. And I think that has been something I always respected and admired about you, is that you do. You do sit and listen. You know, you'll sit there and listen to a player's opinion and, and have the conversation. Unlike there's some coaches that are saying, hey, it's my way or the highway. Like, I, I may hear you out, but I'm not going to change anything based on those conversations. But if you listen to Xavier McKinney, you look, listen to Keshawn Nixon, Quay, Micah Parsons, and how they talk about you, I think that had an incredible impact on. So do you try to keep that approach as a head coach?
- [12:51]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah. And for sure, especially, you know, maybe not so much with the rookie who's just trying to figure it out, but like, like you, for example, right? Like after. After plays, I'd run up to you and be like, hey, what'd you see? Because I'd want to. You might have done something that, you know, by the letter of the law wasn't correct. But I would ask you, what'd you see? And I'd ask you why? And a lot of times you would give me a really good explanation, and I'd kind of smirk and be like, yeah, that makes sense. And then there's sometimes to be like, okay, but please don't do that again because I'm going to hear from Solid and Kyle, and it's just, hey, you know, we can't be doing that. But I, I do want, I'm always asking why. I want to know what people see, I want to know what they think. Because ultimately I want, I've always wanted players to be comfortable within the scheme, right. And it's like, Sherman, what do you think on 3rd and 7, coverage wise? What do you think of this wide out? What do you. Within a series and let's go have a conversation and try to get it called. I mean, you're the one out there playing, so as long as it fits within the scheme. Like I like all the calls, like if I asked Micah, like, hey, where do you want to line up? I can create a one on one with the guard, the tackle. Like, who do you want to line up against? I mean, he's going to have more ownership in and he's going to want to go out there and he's going to have success whatever he does anyway. But it's those conversations that we have or, you know, Kwei, I want you to pick this guard or this running back. Like, what do you think on this one? I like these three calls. How would you rank them? I like them all. So I'm going to. But if a player knows that he's got some input and he has some ownership, he's going to put his best foot forward. And I want guys to play the game like that. That's really, really important to me.
- [14:23]
Podcast Narrator (Superhuman)
Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all. Embedded in the games and with the athletes.
- [14:38]
Jeff Halfley
For a full year, within probably 10 days, I'd put on £10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
- [14:46]
Podcast Narrator (Superhuman)
Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [14:54]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
In 2023, former Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd found himself at the center of a paternity scandal. The family court hearings that followed revealed glaring inconsistencies in her story. This began a years long court battle to prove the truth. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens? Correct.
- [15:12]
Jeff Halfley
I doctored the test once.
- [15:14]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
It took an army of Internet detectives to crack the case.
- [15:17]
Richard Sherman
I wanted people to be able to
- [15:18]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
see what their tax dollars were being used for.
- [15:21]
Jeff Halfley
Sunlight's the greatest disinfectant.
- [15:24]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
They would uncover a disturbing two more men who'd been through the same thing.
- [15:28]
Richard Sherman
Greg Gillespie and Michael Mancini.
- [15:30]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap Laura Scottsdale Police as the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences.
- [15:42]
Jeff Halfley
Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news at a Maricopa county as Laura Owens has been indicted on fraud charges. This isn't over until justice is served in Arizona.
- [15:53]
Podcast Host (Various Ads)
Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [16:00]
Clifford Taylor IV
A win is a win, A win is a win.
- [16:02]
Richard Sherman
I don't care what y' all say.
- [16:04]
Clifford Taylor IV
Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor iv. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And for more behind the scenes, follow at CLIFFORD and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.
- [17:03]
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- [18:14]
Richard Sherman
And you talked about how young your team is and, and how drastic. There's big changes being made. I think there's a team in your division, the New England Patriots, who had a similar amount of turnover and a new staff and everything, and they were able to have some success early on with the, with young guys just early establishing their culture. A lot of buy in from the guys, maybe a few select veterans here and there, you know, some journeymen who were just able to put together a really good season. And, and does that give you a little bit of, of what's possible within the division, even though, you know, people may have a little bit lower expectations just because of the cap situation. You lost so many veterans, et cetera, et cetera. Do you still feel like, hey, we'll, we'll have a chance to battle and compete each and every week?
- [18:57]
Jeff Halfley
Well, I think, I mean, just like anything you would do, I mean, any situation I want to go in, I want to win in everything that we do. You know, I think the expectations for, for right now are like you talked about. We have to build this foundation and build this culture the right way. And, and I know people don't want to hear, like me say that, but I think that's really important. And then you and I always talked about competition. Like you always talk, I remember to this day, you always talked about to me, when we first got to San Francisco, we didn't quite have the competition that you did in Seattle. And you talked about how those best teams and the best defenses, you have to create that competition to push guys to improve every single day. We need to create that by drafting these players and signing some free agents. We need to create that competitive way right now. And I think that's really important. And then the other thing, for me, it's going to be, I just, I want to play harder than everybody that we play against. And if they're not living up to that standard, there's going to be someone else in back that I'm going to put in. So as long as we start to do that and we play hard and we play smart and we coach well, then, yeah, I want. I want to win in everything we can. What's that going to look like Year one? I'm not sure, you know, but. But I'm excited to build it the right way, and. And I want this thing to be built so we can have sustained, Sustained success over time. And that's really part of the reason I like this job so much is because, you know, ownership's been awesome. Working with Sully's been awesome. I think we have a shared vision, and, you know, I'm excited to start building it that way.
- [20:29]
Richard Sherman
You guys end up drafting 13 players, like you said, and I'm sure, you know, the. The draft boards kind of fluctuate weight throughout the day. You know, there's obviously surprises here and there, but you guys were able to get Kaden Proctor, Chris Johnson, Jacob Rodriguez, Caleb Douglas. Which one of these guys? You know, out of 13 guys, was probably the most surprising. Where you guys were like, man, we weren't expecting him to be there, and he was, and it worked out.
- [20:54]
Jeff Halfley
Oh, probably. If one guy I didn't think would be there when we took him was probably Rodriguez, I would have thought I would have. Be. I thought he would have been picked sooner. Just his college tape. I think the upside, I think the potential, I think the leadership capability, the playmaking ability, the production, I thought he would have been gone by that pick. So when he was. When he was still there, that one, we were all pretty excited about that pick. I mean, you could even say the same. I mean, I know for us, like Proctor, I mean that when he was still available for us to pick, then when we picked because we moved back and got two extra picks and he was going to be the guy we took at 11, but we got him at 12 with two extra picks on top of it, which I thought was an awesome job by John Eric. With his size and his potential and how young he is, he's a guy that we could be looking at down the road, and people are going to say, wow, how'd that guy get drafted at 12 at a premium position? With how young he is, how big he is, and how talented he is, that one I think people might look back on in a few years and try to figure out what. What made him fall, too.
- [22:04]
Richard Sherman
Right? I think there's so much, you know, so much guesswork in this draft because these are human beings, and you just never know how they're going to react to the league. But I think a lot of that and a lot of these projections kind of, kind of get lost in that. You know, they get away from the tape. So you see Jacob Wright regas, his tape looked incredible. But then you, you get into the nuance and they're like, well, he ran this 40 time. His 10 yard split is this. And it's like his tape looks like he could be one of the best linebackers in the National Football League. When do we get away from that? Like, but, no, but you're sher.
- [22:34]
Jeff Halfley
You're right though. But like if you look like, if you look at the guys we drafted, like, just take a look at that list and who we drafted on defense. Like, like it's right up your alley. They're smart guys who love football. And you know how we know they love football? Because watch how hard they all play. I mean, you're talking about some tough dudes. They're productive dudes. Even like we took the safety pretty late in the draft, Taft from Texas. I mean, you look at his production, how hard he plays and how instinctive he is and the type of person that he is. I just, I think he did a really great job of drafting competitive, smart, productive players who. The tape says they're already good football players.
- [23:12]
Richard Sherman
Yeah, I was just about to ask you something and you pretty much answered my question. But I was going to ask what traits were you looking at in these players and what similarities did they have? But like you just said, it's production, it's dog. It's, you know, the, the.
- [23:24]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah, I want guys who love football and like every time I want tough guys who love football and every time we talk about, well, how do you figure that out? I can't figure that out on a zoom and I can't figure that out if I spend a 30 visit for an hour in my office. The way I can figure it out is when I turn on the tape, how hard does he play? Does he run to the ball? What does it look like in the fourth quarter when he's tired? And how competitive is the guy? Is he one of these guys putting his hands up and pointing at a teammate? Is he clapping when he makes a mistake and, and looking all around, does he take the next play off? Is he, you know, is he turning stuff down? Like, those are the guys that, as we build it for this, I don't want that. It's just, I want the guys who are going to be competitive on every down and, and give everything that they have. I mean, shoot, man, you were coming off of your Achilles and you were running on the backside. You know, I still tell people those stories, man. You were. You were running on the backside. I mean, like. Like you were 10 years earlier. I mean, I remember one of your first one on ones like you were not ready to go, and I remember you got beat on a route, but, man, the coolest part in the world is you put your head down and you just finished because you didn't care, man. That's who you were. And, you know, not to make this about you, but those are the type of guys that you win with
- [24:35]
Richard Sherman
after the season's all said and done. You know, you're in February, we're fast forwarding down the line. We're. What do you want people to say about the team and the season your team just had?
- [24:44]
Jeff Halfley
I want to see. I want to see one. All the things that I talked about. When they turn on the tape, I want them to see a bunch of guys that fly around, that play for each other, that play smart, physical, tough football. And I want to see improvement throughout the year. We got to be playing our best football in the last game of the season. That. That's going to be so important, you know, and that we celebrate some of those, you know, successes that we have along the way, understanding that we're building this thing, and those are the things that are really, really important to me.
- [25:14]
Richard Sherman
Sounds like great things to talk about. Now, we talked about your staff a bit off camera, but you were able to bring some of the guys from Green Bay, which you, Downer and Duggan, and you talked about the time that you spent with them. And I think you brought an offensive line assistant from. From maybe Boston College. Would you talk about the. The way those relationships have manifested and how important that is to. To continuity and just, you know, who you are as a coach and a person.
- [25:42]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah. One, I think you win with people. Right. We're going to go through. We're going to go through adversity. It's coming, right? You're either in it or it's coming. It's going to happen. And when you go through hard moments, I think you got to have people you trust and you got to have people that, you know how they're going to respond when. When bad things happen to get through them. And when you go through the fire with people, it's always nice to know who you're dealing with. So, you know Sean. And Sean Duggan, who's our defensive coordinator, I met him at Ohio State. He was. He was My graduate assistant. And he sat next to me in the booth. And when I tell you, like, after spending one year with him, like, he's a guy that in between series, I. I'd ask him the questions, right? Really super impressive, super smart. Played the position at Boston College. So when I got the B.C. job, I was like, he's definitely coming with me. He was a captain there, made him the linebacker coach. Really good with the players, was still learning defense. And by my fourth year there, I named him my defensive coordinator. So obviously a ton of respect for him and his knowledge. I saw him as a rising star. And then when I got. When I left and took the Green Bay job, I told Matt, I was like, matt, we're going to hire the staff. And then at the end, I was like, I need this guy. Like, he's. I got to get him. We'll name him the assistant linebacker coach, whatever we need. But I need this guy. He's going to be a star. And then Campy Anthony Campanelli was my linebacker coach. He left, went to the Jags, be their coordinator. And I said, matt, we got to promote Sean. And by that point, Matt was like, absolutely. This guy's a stud. So he named Sean the linebacker coach. And then when I got the Miami job, you know, Matt interviewed him for the coordinator job. And, you know, I totally get that. And if he named Sean the coordinator, understand he gets to coordinate the Green Bay packers, and he didn't. So I asked Matt if obviously, you know, I could take him with me and be my coordinator. And Matt wasn't going to hold him back to do that. So I got a chance to bring Sean, which is so huge for me because he's been with me for eight straight years. He knows the scheme inside and out. He knows how I think. He knows what I want. So what he's done now is he's organized it all for me. He's presenting in front of the defense so I can go on with the offense, be the head coach right now. We'll sit down and we'll talk, we'll meet, and then once training camp hits, I'll take it back over. But that allows me to be the head coach right now. And I think. I think that's huge. I'm sitting in the quarterback meetings, I'm sitting on the offense installs. Because what I learned this go around is I got to know everything that's going on. I just can't be the defensive coach. I don't want the players just to see me as the defensive coordinator. I want them to see me and feel me as the head coach, and I want to know. I want to know all the scheme. So he's really allowed me to do that. And like I said, I think he's a star, and I'm very grateful that he's with me. And then getting Ryan Downer. Ryan was my DB coach in Green Bay, and he was with me in Cleveland, too. When I was with the Browns. He was one of the assistants we actually sher. We had. Aaron Glenn was my assistant DB coach. Bobby Babich was my assistant DB coach, and Ryan Downer was. We had a really good DB group for that year. So then Ryan, you know, Jonathan Gannon wanted to bring his DB coach and some guys on his staff, which Matt told me. He's like, hey, you want down? I said, want him? Are you kidding me? This is. This is unbelievable. Because now I got the guy that I've been with and sat in all those meetings for two years now. I'm totally. I mean, he knows exactly how I want it. He knows the details. He's a stud, and I don't have to sit in. So I got the linebacker guy, the DB guy, which his friend freed me up so much. And Ryan will be a coordinator down the road here pretty soon, too. He's. He's a great, great human, and he's a really good football coach. And then Matt Applebaum, he was my O line coach at Boston College with NFL experience. So to get him as the assistant online coach is huge. And then I also brought Al Washington. Al was the coaching at Notre Dame. He was my linebacker coach at Ohio State. Al's. Al's got an edge to him, man. He'll get those guys running through a wall, and that's what you need. Oh, it is. It is. Like, I. Him and Campy are a lot alike. Two of my favorite guys, but really good coach, awesome person. And he'll get those linebackers playing run through people, which is what we need.
- [29:47]
Richard Sherman
And then you, you, you. You get to retain our guy, Bobby Slowik.
- [29:50]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah.
- [29:51]
Richard Sherman
And promote him the coordinator, which. Yeah. I love to see his ascension. I love to see all these guys get the respect. He's such a great offensive mind and a brilliant, brilliant man. How cool was that? You know, somebody, another person that you've kind of come full circle with.
- [30:05]
Jeff Halfley
Yeah, it's huge. I mean, think about it. Bobby was coaching defense with us those first couple years. It was like me, him and Sal in the room, and he. So he knows all the defensive rules. I mean, you Know him, he's so smart. I mean, and as a person, I mean. I mean, what a stud as a guy. So to have that on the other side of the ball, knowing how detailed he's going to be, organized he's going to be. I mean, he's been trained by arguably, you know, one of the best play callers in the last however many years. And just to have that in the room and listen to him do it, I mean, it's really. It's really cool to be back with him and have a guy I truly trust on the other side of the ball. I mean, I even think when I coached against him when he was at Houston, I mean, he did a really good job there. I mean, he really did. And I know things don't always work out, but he's a guy who deserves another shot. And shoot, he interviewed for head jobs after his first or second year there, and, you know, I'm hopeful that he'll have success here and he'll have a chance because I think he'd be an awesome head coach as well.
- [31:03]
Richard Sherman
I think sometimes when you. When you get to play without the burden of expectation, it, like, frees you. You know, it frees a lot of people to really be who they are. I think sometimes the burden of expectation, people don't. They. They feel constrained. So I look forward to getting to see him kind of go out there and be free and. And coaches tell off and. And watch guys grow and mature. Another question I got, because you're moving out of the booth. He's moving out of the booth, back to the field. You can't be a head coach in the booth. How's that feel?
- [31:33]
Jeff Halfley
Well, you probably don't remember this, but Salah wanted me up in the booth. When you were that year in San Francisco and you came and you're like, no, I need you. I need you to be on the field. No way. So I had to be on the field there, which was. Which was great. It would be fun to be back on the field. Honestly, the last few years, I just felt. I felt it was best for who we had on defense, for me to be up there, see it, take my notes, be calm about it. There were times I wanted to be down on the field. Like, there were moments, especially when adversity hits and you want to get. Get your hands on them and be with them. So there's pluses and minuses, but I'm excited to get back down on the field. It'll be fun. I'll keep my cool and be level headed and, and, and, and try not to cause any problems down there. But I will never forget. I was all fired up to go to the booth and I said, salah
- [32:25]
Richard Sherman
Sherman wants me now, so I'm down here now.
- [32:27]
Jeff Halfley
I'm going down. I got to be with him on the sideline.
- [32:30]
Richard Sherman
I appreciate that. I appreciate you doing that for me. Are you going to. Because, because right now, I mean, I guess most of the league is analytics guys, but, you know, there's still a couple old school, you know, guys that don't really live by the analytics that way. But are you going to be an analytics guy? Are you going to be a. Look at the page and see should you go for it on 4th and 1 or are you going to be a field by the, you know, feel gut guy?
- [32:54]
Jeff Halfley
I'm going to want to know. I'm going to want to know what the analytics says, but I'm going to go on. I'm going to go based on what I think is best for our team in the moment, in the game. I think just, you know, for some guys, just going off the paper and off the numbers is fine. I just. No, I want to, I want to, I want to get a feel for the game. That's kind of how I ended up my last couple years at bc. Just tell me what the analytics say and then let me make a decision based on the flow of the game, how I feel and what the team needs from me in the moment. I mean, there's some moments, man, when you decide not to go for it, your team's going to kind of look at you sideways, too. And when those guys are telling you to go for it, at times it's, you know, they're going to get it for you. You got to make some decisions like that, too. And then there's others where they're going to say, go for them. Like, no way, guys, chill out. We got to punt the ball, right? But I got to make those decisions on what's best for, for each individual game and how I feel.
- [33:45]
Richard Sherman
Yeah, you got guys like Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson who are, who are kind of like becoming the poster boys for just like a different kind of NFL where these used to be just a guaranteed punt situation with these guys. You just like, you really never know. Dan Campbell might just go for it and might just say, screw the rules, screw the analytics. It's fourth and three. We could tie it, but we want to win and we're going for it. It's worked out sometimes, and at times it hasn't. But you know that you live by what you live by.
- [34:12]
Jeff Halfley
I don't feel like playing defense on the, on the plus 30 to start a series either. So if we can punt it, we're going to punt it. It's already hard enough. We get the ball on the 35 now and a touchback. So I mean, you get one first down. And now with these kickers, one first down, one explosive play is three points. So I mean, it's crazy.
- [34:31]
Richard Sherman
It's really crazy. It's really crazy. And everybody's trying to find a loophole in it, a way to kick. You know, the NFL took out the little small loophole of, of kicking it out of bounds at the certain spot. And, you know, but it just sucks. They take, they're taking away great defense. Like, you want to score points, you've done everything to handicap the defense. Now you're just saying, hey, offense, here's 15 free yards. You don't even have to earn them anymore. This is, this is just for you guys. But. And now kickers can kick it from this kick, a 65 yard field goal. So it's like, just get a first
- [35:02]
Jeff Halfley
down, you get a first down, you got a chance.
- [35:04]
Richard Sherman
That's crazy. Last question and then I'll let you go.
- [35:07]
Jeff Halfley
Oh, good.
- [35:08]
Richard Sherman
I've had. I've. I don't want to hold you all day, but we've had some great DBs on, on the show the, the past few weeks. We. We had Charles Woodson, we had Rod Woodson, we had Champ Bailey. We've had Prime. We'll have prime again, I'm sure. But who is like, you're as a, as a football mind, as great defensive coach. Who's your top five DBs of all time?
- [35:31]
Jeff Halfley
Oh, gosh. How about I just name the three? How about I name how many? Here's the three I'm gonna name Darrell Rivas, Ronde Barber, Richard Sherman. Because I got a chance to work with all three, so I know exactly what it looked like. And this is. Take you at. We'll take you out of the equation so everybody doesn't think I'm just being nice to you. Like the difference between the guys that I'm talking about and the rest is the mindset and how they all practiced and what I've learned and what I try to tell people is it's not just talent. It's not what it looks like when we just go out and do individual. It's a mindset and a competitive edge that most people don't have. It's. And I joke about it all the time, but it's when the head coach says it's a walkthrough and the ball belongs to the offense and they're going to catch the ball and there's no PBUs. Those guys weren't okay with that, and they weren't going to let a guy ever catch a ball on him. That's just not how it was. And you know exactly what I'm talking about because we'd have to get yelled at for it because you'd be breaking the ball up. And Revis wouldn't be okay if a guy caught a ball on him. And Ronde Barber was not okay if a guy ever caught a ball on him. There's too many guys right now that it's okay. I just got a ball cut on me. No big deal. Yeah, it is a big deal. Like, take it personal. That's your job. Don't let him catch the ball on you ever. And if not, line up and do something about it. I just. Certain guys have that mindset. There's just. There's not many of them. So I've been fortunate enough to see it firsthand and learn from it and try to teach from it and use those guys as examples. But, I mean, that's three hall of Fame guys that I got a chance to be around, observe, ask questions, coach them, whatever you want to call it. But I've been. I've been lucky to be around some good ones.
- [37:12]
Richard Sherman
I appreciate that. I appreciate that. That means a lot to me. Have. It means a lot. You know, our friendship means a lot. You know, you're one of my favorite coaches of all time, and I'm grateful for the time that we had together in San Francisco. I'm great to be able to. To be a fan and watch you continue to grow and flourish on your journey and get the head coaching position that you deserve. And, you know, I know you. You'll turn this franchise around and get them winning and get them back to where they deserve to be. If you got anything else you want to tell the fans or you want to say, feel free, but I'm just grateful for the time that you spent with me and the giving me this interview during what I know is a chaotic off season for you.
- [37:49]
Jeff Halfley
No, it's all good, man.
- [37:50]
Clifford Taylor IV
I'm.
- [37:51]
Jeff Halfley
I'm happy to see you and. No, just excited about what we're going to build. We're going to do it the right way with the right type of people, and I'm just. I'm really glad to be here. I mean, the support has been awesome. I just. I am really fired up to be here and get this thing started. I can't wait for OTAs to start. Can't wait for training camp, and eventually I'll. I'll be fired up to kick off. So thank you for having me on Sherm, and hopefully we'll talk soon.
- [38:15]
Richard Sherman
Yes, we will definitely talk soon. I mean, the weather in. In December in South beach is going to be a lot different than Green Bay. But, you know, I'll let you get there. I'll let you cross that bridge when you get there.
- [38:26]
Jeff Halfley
Oh, man. All right, well, I'll talk to you soon.
- [38:28]
Richard Sherman
Talk to you soon. I appreciate you.
- [38:34]
Jeff Halfley
This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.