First, can you tell me how you got started working at San Diego State?
Well, after I stopped playing for Pittsburgh in 2015, I went to Toronto and tried playing there for a while. I just wasn’t the same after my knee was so messed up, so I called it a career.
After that I worked in corporate America for almost two years but I hated wearing a suit and tie everyday. So in 2018 I went back to football on the coaching side. I went to the University of San Diego – a non-scholarship FCS school – and worked there as a graduate assistant. I got my feet wet there to see if I liked it. I helped coach the offensive lineman there and reignited my passion for the game.
After a year – in 2019 – I got an offensive line coaching job at a Division III school in Ohio – Oberlin College. I wanted to run my own offensive line room and was able to do that there. I didn’t care at what level or where, so I moved to Ohio and got my feet wet as a coach at the Division III level. At that level you do pretty much everything – academics, coaching, teaching classes. It’s not like Division I where they have people who do those other things.
After that I went back to San Diego State and got offered a job as a recruiting coordinator. I started off evaluating offensive linemen and tight ends.
Much like a scout?
A lot like that, yeah. I worked with the coaches and did that through 2020. After that I was promoted in 2021 and ran the recruiting for the entire offense. Now, as of February I am the Director of Recruiting and do that for the entire team.
As a recruiter and coach, are there guys who helped shape the way you approach that work?
San Diego State is very much a blue-collar team. Guys here play with a chip on their shoulder. That’s been the blueprint since Coach Brady Hoke came here in 2019. They look for toughness in players – physically and mentally. They don’t want the guys who like the glitz and glamour – they want football dudes who love to play the game. I know what the coaches look for in players, having played in the program and with many of the current staff.
The position coaches have certain things they look for in players. Things they like. I know our offensive line coach wants tough guys at offensive tackle. If a guy is 6’2″ but is a tough S.O.B., he may be a better fit than a 6’5″ who plays like Jane instead of Tarzan.
A big San Diego State-Steelers connection lately!
I love it! Especially for those young guys. I was with Billy Dunkle in 2020-2021. I was able to watch him grow and mature into the tough lineman he is now. We need more West Coast guys out there. They’re a tough breed but guys on the East Coast don’t know that – they don’t see us play a lot since our games start so late!
It’s a good fit. The fans in Pittsburgh are second to none – I remember that. Even as an undrafted free agent walking around, people would see me and recognize me. I was like “How do you know who I am?”
Do you talk to those San Diego State guys at all?
When Dunkle came out I gave him some tips and stuff but that was a while ago. Now it’s a busy time for those guys and it’s stressful for them. They’re just trying to make it. I know how that was!
Stepping back – how did you end up in Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent?
Going into the draft a couple of teams reached out to me. In the end I chose Pittsburgh frankly because they didn’t draft an offensive lineman that year. I felt like that was the best opportunity for me to make it on the practice squad at least, if not on the active roster.
Also. it was a veteran team and being able to be around those established guys like Foster and Pouncey and pick their brains – that was huge for me.
Who were those veteran guys that helped you most- and how?
Ramon Foster helped from day one. There were five of us that were undrafted free agent offensive linemen. He was an undrafted free agent – he understood where we were coming from. That first day he took us all for dinner and shared his experience with us and let us pick his brain.
Pouncey too. He and I got close when we were rehabbing together. That was a huge difference for me in helping me to learn the game much faster.
Ramon also helped me with study habits and little tidbits of techniques like hand placement in pass pro and aiming points in the run game.
Any moments stand out most to you of your time there?
The offensive line room meetings. Just cracking jokes and the day-to-day position group conversations. Learning how to joke around and push guys’ buttons. That’s the stuff you miss the most.
My first day of camp in Latrobe – just walking down the hill at St. Vincents. Where I played in college the practices were closed. Walking to Steelers practice and seeing the fans lining up – that was surreal.
Any advice you give to a free agent offensive lineman trying to make a team today? How do linemen catch coaches’ eyes – it’s not like a receiver or back who can make a highlight kind of play?
The biggest thing is consistency. Can you do the same thing in practice one that you can in practice 10? You have to be consistent in knowing your assignments and alignments and play calls. That’s the biggest learning curve. If I could go back and do it all again I’d try and pick things up quicker. The faster you pick things up the more comfortable you are and the faster you play. I’d tell them to study as much as you can and pick things up as fast as you can so you can cut it loose when you play. Stay in the playbook and be a student of the game. I wasn’t until I started coaching. That’s when I realized, “Holy shit! There’s a lot more that goes into this than I realized!”
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