Inside LB Play and HS Recruiting W/ Coach Randall Moss

We go inside moments of the Northwest Classic and What Makes a Great LB W/ Jean Ribault HS Alum and Current Savannah State University LB Coach & Savannah State Assistant Basketball Coach

Twitter: @behindTW904

Transcript

Introduction

Speaker 0:00

Every Friday in the 904, the whistle blows, but the real game starts after. This is behind the whistle: 904, where we give you stories straight from the guys who lived them. I'm your host, Coach Moss, raised in Jacksonville. I've sat in these stands, walked these sidelines, and heard what really happens when the light goes off. From Ribault to raines, From Mandarin to First Coast. If it matters on the north side, south side, west side, or the beaches, we're talking about it. This is 904 football, no filter. Let's get behind the whistle. Welcome in, everybody. I'm your host, Coach Moss, and I have the pleasure of introducing my first guest on our debut episode. None other than my twin, Coach Randall Moss, who is a 2012 graduate from Jean Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida. From there he went to Savannah State where he's coached linebackers as well as DB's. Also, he's been an assistant coach for the men's basketball team where he's a 2025 SIAC champion. So, Coach Moss, for people who don't know, tell us a little bit about what got you into coaching. Thanks for having me on. So, what got me into coaching is actually the current athletic director at Jean Ribault High School, senior high school. Coach William Griffin. I was in his avid class and he needed somebody to film to film practices and games. So that's how I initially started off. The more I kind of was around him, and the more I was around football, it started to become it started to become something that I was highly interested in. I always loved sports. So initially my career path, I wanted to be a sports broadcaster slash analyst. But just being around the game converted me to wanting to be a coach. Thank you for that. So as I know you went to Ribault High School, I know the big there's a big rivalry down there called the Northwest Classic. Can you tell me about what's the biggest memory that you have from that game? The biggest memory that I have from that game was two big two big memories I'll gave you. Actually, three. Okay. First would be my first ever Northwest Classic I went to. It was when Javon Bell caught that pass over three guys, and Ribault ended up beating the Raines Vikings. It was very memorable. Even just everybody in the stands was saying kick the field goal it was probably a 50-60 yarder. But coach Anthony Flynn, one of the greats, uh, made a great call and throwing it up to the best player on the field. Secondly, would be I think this might 've been 2010, 2011, playing at Raines, having their players come up to me and some of the coaches talking trash. I'm like, shoot, we not playing in the game. And then thirdly, was that same game after beating them, having to wait around, wait around for somebody to come open the locker room because they couldn't swallow the fact that they lost to the Mighty Trojans. I love that. Thank you for that insight. Um, can you tell for people who don't really understand? Can you tell from your perspective what makes the rivalry so great and why people come from all over, especially like in college or if they're grown to come to that game? Yes, I just think with the schools being so close together, this rivalry spans years and years. To this day, I I don't like, I don't even like going into Raines High School. It's just uh, I guess somebody said it's a good hate to have for them, but I'm not I'm not a big fan of the Raines Vikings, just that, just that Ichibon, all that stuff. I'm not a fan of it at all. I think it's just the amount of neighborhood support they get, whether they're playing football, basketball, baseball, whatever sport it is, it brings out the community, it brings out the best in each player and coach, or the worst in them. Thank you for that. So we're going to kind of shift into your college coaching career. So, what's one thing about coaching at the college level that fans don't see on Saturdays? Um, I'll probably say the amount of work and time that goes into game planning, managing young men, dealing with um the pros and cons of having not only young men, but people that it might be the first time they actually being on their own and having some kind of personal responsibility. So really just trying to mold young men and whether you win or you lose, trying to teach life lessons and help them improve on and off the field or the court. Um Yes, sir. So this next segment I kind of like to call it the linebacker mindset. So, in your opinion, Coach Moss, what what what makes a great linebacker? Like what traits? And before I before I get into that, don't forget now the last couple of years I've been focused on linebackers. But um where I really got started was with DBs. Shout out to Coach Cordell Taylor, former second-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. But just to go into the the mindset of linebackers, that's just like everybody likes to throw around the term dog, but it's truly just a person that's plays with extreme violence. Um extreme violence, able to play sideline to sideline. Nowadays, it's not just you playing from A-gap to A gap. You got to be able to run sideline to sideline, gotta be able to cover. The more versatile you are, the more time you can be on the field. But again, it's really just about the violence you play. When you cut on the tape, you don't really want to see somebody ankle biting or just wrapping around the leg. You want to see guys running through guys because this football is a violent game, especially at linebacker. It can't just be physical, it's gotta be mental, you gotta be able to read and react. In college, you're expected to do a lot more. Make all the calls, make the adjustments, make sure everybody's on the same page. It's just you gotta be a great reactor because the offense knows what they're doing, but you gotta know, okay, is this zone? Is this the gap scheme? Um, is it a pass play, run play, RPO? Like you gotta understand your assignments. So what what is the hardest thing to teach a high school linebacker when they get to college? Probably patience. A lot of times the guys just want to run downhill, and a lot of times that aggressiveness can be used against you. But what I'm really seeing is these freshman linebacker, a lot of times you have to either be in a really great program or be a great learner to be able to play right away, because that is a position that honestly is not coached the way it should be on the high school level. A lot of times guys just they just play in fluid, they just play, play see ball, get ball, but it's a lot more that has to go into it. To me, it's the hardest position on the on the definitely on defense, maybe even right behind maybe quarterback as far as the mentality standpoint. Because you got to be involved in the run the pass game. You gotta be able to make the checks, read, react in one to two seconds. If one mistake, it could be a touchdown or a big play that gets to the third level. Hey, Coach Moss, we're shifting gears a little bit from the mindset to more X's and O's questions. So, Coach Moss, can you walk us through your read keys versus zone team and what do you teach your guys, what do you teach your eyes to be on? I'm not going to specifically go into what we do or what I teach, but I tell you it's two ways to do things. Just from an overall read standpoint, there's two ways you can teach it. Some guys teach from the guards to the back, and some guys step and read off the back. And a lot of the things when you talk about that zone, it depends on if we're talking about 11 personnel or 10 personnel. So if you got that tight end that yo off the ball that some people call a sniffer or a fish, so you got to understand, okay, if you can step off that guy initially and then get downhill. But again, that's really that question you asked is really multi-faceted because it also depends on what coverage we're in. Do I have one backer in the box or do I have two backers in the box? Now, me, I'm talking from a four-down standpoint because that's what I believe in. Four down, now, you can get into some odd stuff with some sort packages. But base wise, I'm talking from a four-down standpoint. And if I got two backers in the box, I can be one back, one gap. Them linebackers can be one back, one gap. Get downhill. Now, depending on what they have to them. If you got a nose to your side, then now you got to read how that end plays it. If that tackle blocks down on that end, then that backer has to blow that B gap. If that tackle blocks blocks down on that end, trying to wash them inside. Now they got to lean shuffle out to play that C gap. If they if they're especially in the zone read situation. But again, one back on gap. If I got one backer in the box, you have to stunt the front. You got to close one of those inside gaps. Because if you don't now that backer has two gaps to play. Now, if you got an exceptional back linebacker that does a great job of playing lateral, he can play both. But again, you really don't want to put him in that situation because a good offensive coordinator, then he's just gonna start running gap scheme, pulling guys inside or running center wrap, different things like that. So you don't want to put him in the bind. So you gotta stunt the front. But again, just from an overall key standpoint, we're stepping with seeing that back. Now, if we if it's one back one gap, now it doesn't really technically matter where that back is because we're just playing our gap. Now, when you get that extra yo, if you get that extra yo in there, now is when I need to step off of him to get my true key. Yeah, sir. Thank you for that, Coach Moss. Again, um, behind the whistle 904. We take you behind the behind the whistle so you can kind of understand what traits that college coaches are looking for for, and if you're a player, what things that you need to do to take your game to that next level. So now we're gonna kind of dive into like 904 and recruiting. So, as a college coach, what's one big thing that you do that you think parents and players need to know as far as the recruiting process? Recruiting has definitely changed. The biggest thing is having patience and having the right fit. You can have 100 offers, but you can only sign to one school. So fit, and then don't think even when I'm a freshman or a sophomore, I got a whole bunch of time. Now, those freshman sophomore years, maybe junior a little bit is when you should have a wide net. Chasing the big schools if you don't have those offers. But as it gets to later in that junior year, especially that summer, going to your senior year, if you're not hearing from those Power Five, four schools, and they just invite you to go to these camps, a lot of times it can just be money grabs. So make sure you're going to places where you have a good chance of getting evaluated, and you're not just a number when they got hundreds of kids and you can't be adequately evaluated. Also, you have to be a good evaluator of character because most coaches they're gonna tell you what you want to hear, but make sure that they're not just telling you how great you are, and they are telling you how or what areas they feel like you need to improve on to be the best version of yourself. Yes, sir. So recruits out there, I hope y'all y'all listening to it as well as parents, because this is some very insightful information you won't get anywhere else. So also, Coach, can you talk a little bit about how has NIL and the transfer portal changed the way that you recruit high school athletes? Well, being at a division two school, we're not we don't we don't we don't really facet in the NIL. That's more of a D1 type of thing. But as far as the transfer portal, it's it definitely has changed the way you recruit high schoolers. Now, some programs just live in the portal. Um I'm more of the mindset of you still need to recruit high school because that's the life lifeline and lifeblood. But you use the that portal to supplement your recruiting class, or maybe a position where you need to have someone that's done it on that level, because you recruiting high school is really just a guessing game. But kind of the luxury that you have at Division II now is because of the transfer portal, you're able to get some higher quality athletes that you may not have been able to get before because it's a lot of untapped high school potential and talent because of the transfer portal. Okay, and this would be the last question as far as on the recruiting level before we get into another topic. But so, Coach, when you're recruiting Jacksonville, what are some red flags that'll make you pass on a kid, even if he exhibits like the elite traits that you're looking for as far as being able to cover, being able to hit, and playing, playing the way that you want a linebacker to play? Um, I mean obviously what they're posting on social media if you're talking to their head coach and they're and it's not a rave, you're not getting a rave review and the negatives or something that you can't negotiate with because you gotta have high character kids. And the other thing is when you going to practices or games, and, it's not even necessarily when the play is at them, but when it's not at them, how are they responding when something bad happens? How is their body language? Are they supporting their teammates or are they downgrading them? When the team is on offense, are they engaged? Just those things that everybody may not actually see. The mental part has to match the physical. So now we're going to kind of shift into where I kind of like to see the talk about the leadership characteristics. So, coach, in my opinion, middle linebackers have to be alphas. Is there a way to build that in a kid who's quiet? With that standpoint, it's either you got it or you don't. Now, sometimes kids are alphas, they just don't like the vocal part. So if they are, some guys just do it with with the actions. But if you have a guy that you're you're I've molded some guys where they might not have liked to talk, but you you have to. The other thing is um, even on that point, you have to to be a mike, unless, I mean, maybe some defenses have a will or somebody else call the plays, but a lot of times the mike is setting the front, they're making the checks, talking about the keys, alerting different things. So you gotta be able to talk on the field. But the bigger thing is getting them to communicate off the field, keeping everybody in the same point. But you can build it, but a lot of times that takes time depending on the kid, just getting them out their shell. Usually the more comfortable they get in the defense, the more vocal they will be ina other aspects. Yes, sir. Thank you for that, coach. Um, can you tell me about a time that you had to bench a starter? If so, how did you handle the room after that? Um Yeah, I've done that quite a few times. The latest I the latest I ever when you say bench, do you mean not play or not start? Not play for just a certain period of time, whether that's a quarter or or a series or two. Now I have not started a guy, maybe didn't play a couple series for some pre-game antics. But I mean you you have you have benched guys for if they missed a Practice or uh Missed a meeting, things like that. That's more so disciplinary things, but um as far as that goes, I mean one players are players are naturally selfish, so some guys they see that as okay, this is my opportunity. But from an overall standpoint, people they they respect when you're consistent as far as disciplinary-wise. But if it's one person getting discipline and then everybody else um doesn't get discipline or gets the ease by has to be consistent for you to have the respect of the room, because if you lose respect of your room, then everything just goes downhill from there. Yeah, that's a great point. Just to piggyback off that, I think it's just it's big to have a standard. If you have a standard across your room, then even when certain players have to get punished, they understand it's because they feel below the standard. And I think that's a key thing as far as getting the best out of your players. So the last thing I'll talk about as far as leadership, but it kind of goes into the health, healthy part. So say so what advice like say if it's a high school player who he's fast, he's a hitter, he's physical, he can cover, but he can't stay healthy. Like, what are some is it are there things that he can do to kind of help him stay stay more healthy so he can be on the field? Well, have you ever heard of rehab? Yep, I have. That's something that I like to call prehab. Oh wow. And I mean it's it depends on the high school you're in as well. But the the things that you'll have resources to in college may not be the same high school. So if you can't take an ice bath, I mean you can do an ice bath at home, just get some ice, put it in a tub. There's different things like that you can do, but you may have to invest into um a normatech or just different things like that. But the biggest thing I would kind of say is if you know you have an issue, like if you have ankle problems, make sure you get your ankle taped or wrapped. But other things you can do is just iceing that ankle, um, different ankle stretches and stuff you can do. Getting a band and just stretching it every night if you got hamstring problems, just making sure you stretch. A big thing is just stretching every night. And just doing whatever you can. Even if you feel like something small, get on it right away. Don't wait until it becomes a problem. And now something bigger, you're missing games. But especially if you have an injury history, those things you gotta spend time on every day, in-season, off-season, obviously lifting weights and strengthening not just the muscle that you may have problems with, but whatever's around it. Like if I got a hamstring problem, I need to strengthen my knee, strengthen my quad, my hip flexor, calf, just strengthen everything around it that's gonna make that muscle even stronger. Yes, sir. And I'm kind of how do you feel about yoga? I'm kind of big on yoga. That's when I t tell my guys that I think they should be doing it. like at least once a week to kind of help become more flexible and kind of and build those those those areas as well. Are you a big proponent of that? I wouldn't say big proponent, but that's that's something that can definitely help. But like I said, just stretching if you really want to be flexible, just doing hip stretches every night is something that's that can be pretty beneficial. Thank you. Rapid fire coach coach I'm gonna ask you a series of questions and just kind of give me your answers. The best linebacker you've coached and why I'll say what Walter Yates um pretty much when he first came in he wasn't extremely he wasn't extremely smart. He was actually 16 coming in to play college football but he's he's he started outside linebacker but he really had a home at Willbacker and he did he does a great job he did a great job of playing downhill lateral lateral was physical explosive through his tackles really good in coverage as well he ended up transferring and going to UCF and doing pretty well there honorable mention, I would say Desmond Young was a really good mike linebacker and then shout out to two current guys one uh Gary Davis solid guy from Cairo, Georgia always was was a guy that's always where he's supposed to be played pretty physical and then the best physically gifted guy I ever coached was Uchenna Nwoha from Atlanta that just graduated I mean just a physical specimen very explosive really slithery slithery can get through any hole he he's the type of player where you like saying no no no no no then he makes the play but yeah okay what's one word that your guys would use to describe your your meetings your position meetings intense, what's one word that you could that you would use to describe Duval football versatile, okay and my last my last thing coach and we'll get you out of here if somebody wants to like if other coaches younger coaches want to reach out to you with maybe questions about maybe they'll get getting started out coaching linebackers or just wanting to understand like how to sell their players where can they reach out to you at reach out to me on Twitter or X at grindtime underscore moss that's G-R-I-N-D-T-I-M-E underscore moss and on Instagram grindtime underscore underscore ssu you're sir coach thank thank you for that insight and I want to thank you for coming on and being my first guest on the Behind the Whistle 904 podcast well folks that's a wrap shout out to my my guest again Coach Moss for coming through and keeping it real you've been listening to Behind the Whistle 904 please remember to download rate and review and turn on that notification bell so you don't miss an episode. See you next time.