Tony Carter Defensive Coordinator XFL Orlando Guardians Discusses Game 4 Review & Vegas Vipers Game!

Well, I think guys are, you know, still playing hard, starting to understand what needs to be done. We didn't perform the way we should have last game, gave up too many explosive plays. Um, that's something we've been talking about all year. Um, had some blown coverages, some missed assignments. Um, so I got to do a better job as a coach of getting guys to understand exactly what we're asking. That's something we've been talking about, you know, and been doing this week. Just trying to be disciplined and do your job first before you do anybody else's job. Yeah, Coach Carter, always a pleasure. And I just wanted to kind of get your thoughts on any player, coach or fan at this point that's starting to lose confidence in this team. Can you please say something to them? Uh, well, I think that I mean, if you're all in four and you know, there's there's no no ifs, and buts about being or nobody wants to be or or, um, I think we just got to go out and just get a win, honestly, and it starts each and every day. Um, I mean, we still alone. We got six games left, and I think that, you know, we go out here and do what we're supposed to do and get a win. Um, I think people in Orlando are excited about the Guardians. They still came out and supported the last game. Um, a lot of fans stayed to the end, so that was great to see. I think we just need to go out here and give him some cheer for, you know, me being a coach for the team. Um, I'm excited still, and I know some of the fans are still excited. Um, and you guys are here every week, so I'm excited. I was expecting to see two guys, you know, since growing forward. But I'm glad you got shoved up. Um, but I think at the end of the day, uh, it's a it's a part of it's a part of the game. You know, you're undefeated. They love you. You're losing, and it's like, you know, everybody is something has to happen. So we're excited as coaches. Players are still excited. We're gonna broaden, you know, try to put our best foot forward. Coach, you mentioned that there were some big, big plays, um, that that you guys gave up one of them, but in particular was the the double forward pass thing unique to your league. Yeah, I see your eyes get big there. Um, is that something now that now that kind of Houston showed it and put it out there? Do you think that's something that not just you guys, but you think defenses throughout the league will see more of? And then will that impact your preparation moving forward? That's one of the best plays I've ever seen. I'm not gonna lie to you. Um, once when they ran it, I was like that that that has to be against the rules. You know, the way they ran it was was very impressive. It was a really good play hats off to them doing it. I mean, if I was on, if I was an offensive guy, I would try to run the same play, but it was very impressive. Um, they got us and I think that that was one of the plays. I think it was on ESPN and on everything. So it was definitely a great play. Um, I'm sure some of those pop one coaches are drawing up. They're trying to see if they can do it. I think it's against the rules. And you mentioned about the coverages and that's something that I mentioned as well to coach Buckley. Was it the communication or was it just the fact that guys are just trying to do too much? I would never blame a player. You know, I always look myself in the mirror. You know, I didn't do a good enough job making sure guys are in the right spots. I didn't do enough. Did enough job to making sure guys are doing what they're supposed to do. I didn't do a good enough job, you know, being detailed on on making sure guys understand, you know, eliminating those big plays. So I look myself in the coaches, you know, players are gonna be players. I've been one of them and, you know, it was not like a guy that got, you know, caught on or most. It was a guy guys running free. So that's that's on the coach. That's how are you, coach? Um, I noticed this game. You did a lot of different disguises with coverage. Was that more to confuse them as far as giving different looks so they couldn't figure out what you were doing? Or was it more to slow that down? So your pass rush, you get there because they've seen a little bit of a diminishing return on the pass rush. Yeah, well, I think, you know, disguise them. They were running shooting, so they get the ball out fast and then they switch it up and protect and take shots. They're pretty good offense. They keep you on your toes. So we tried to play like a chess match game. I mean, we had a couple of, you know, a series where, you know, we stopped them and have three or four, you know, three and outs in a row. Uh, so, guys, we're definitely capable of stopping anybody. We go against. I think it's just executing on gotta have played. You're not giving up the explosive play. If you take away two explosive plays, then it's a totally different game, you know? But I think we gave up to really exposed to play the trick play. They got us. But outside of that, you know, just some explosive plays. They dropped. Well, so, uh, they do a good job of mixing it up, and we have to be more prepared in our preparation. And it's on me to you guys. Ready? Do you feel the blown coverages were more of the case of the, uh, shuffling of the secondary? Or was it just it was a good job of them mixing up their looks and confusing you guys? Um, yeah, man, it's probably a mixture of both. They did a good job of mixing things up. And, you know, also, you know, as coaches and myself, we have to do a better job of making sure guys understand their role, their responsibility, their assignment on each and every play. Uh, so whenever something like that does happen, then I look myself in the mirror first. Coach, I know you're the defensive coordinator, but I always like looking at things from the perspective of the guys that's practicing against him. Quentin Flowers came in last week, and he's had some time to practice. You've seen him a bit in practice. What's impressed you so far about his game and getting acclimated to the team here? Athletic, very athletic. He can throw it pretty good as well. He has a little some zip on it. Um, so I like him as a person and as a player. I watched him a lot in college. He was one of my favorite guys. Uh, I watch USF all the time. You know, he was one of those guys that you didn't know what was gonna happen on each and every play. So I'm excited to see him. Hopefully he gets an opportunity. Um, and we definitely could use some spark. Coach, talk about a little bit of your leadership in the linebacker inquiry. Got Terrence Plummer with 19 total tackles. Terrence Smith with 18 total tackles. Talk about the impact that that's had on the defensive side of the ball. Given the fact that you went into Houston, the number two rated defense in the XFL and total total defense. Yeah, I mean, I don't really look at that stuff personally. Uh, I'm just focused on the wind, lost column, um, trying to just get better every day. But those guys are definitely doing a good job for us. They're playing at a high level. Uh, they do everything we asked. Hopefully, you know, emotionally and they lead by example. So it's showing. Um, I think those guys are definitely NFL caliber players. Um, you know, I'm just trying to do a good job making sure, you know, I don't put too much on their plate, keep it simple for and whatever they're asked to do, they do without a doubt. And in that thread talking about their leadership, how can you take that and get it to catch fire with your defensive unit? Because a lot of what we've seen on both sides of the ball has been consistency issues and some undisciplined plays. How can you take their leadership and get that to spark the rest of the team so they'll follow their lead? Get that buy in. I mean, I think guys have bought in. I think it's just, you know, we have a few mental breakdowns, you know, throughout each and every game. That's been our problem. Uh, you turn on, you know, second quarter. We're pretty good in second quarter. Turn on third quarter without it. Fourth quarter is like repressed. First quarter starts off pretty good. So it's like we're streaky and I think, you know, that could be the pressure of guys wanting to get a win. So they try to do things that are outside of what we asked to do instead of just keeping it simple and doing your job on every single play. And one thing I like to say is don't get bored doing your job. You know, don't get bored doing it. Don't get bored by brushing your teeth every day. Something you should do. Don't get bored, you know, by setting the edge of your defensive end. Don't get bored of your deep safety by being deep middle because the football guys will find you as soon as you're undisciplined as they provide them. Yeah. And keeping on a positive note, you know, Terrence Plummer, Terrence Spitz has been really, really doing their thing on the defensive end. What other players on the team defensively or even offensively, in your opinion, has really stepped up? I know Jacobi Jones is doing a good job for us. The defensive end spot, you know, he had, I mean, stat-wise, I'm not sure what his stats are, but he's a force in the running game, in the pass game. He's definitely a bright, you know, one of the brighter sides on the defense. Matt Evens is doing a good job in the secondary. He's been a leader mentally and emotionally for us, and he's been making some plays here and there. So I think those two guys have been doing a good job. I just want to see more, you know, collectively. It's a team sport. We need everybody, you know, to win. We need everybody to, you know, reach some goals that we have, and I think just putting a small emphasis on just doing the little things right each and every day, and those guys are doing it and showing up whenever we play on Saturdays and Sundays. With that in mind, coach, with this Vegas team upcoming, what is it you see out of them when you're studying for them so far? They play a few quarterbacks, you know, both athletic guys. So, you know, you got to be ready for both. They have some pretty big receivers, and they have some little small scat guys out there as well. So they have their roster. I mean, no roster in the XFL is, you know, higher or way lower than others. Every team has good players, and they definitely have some good players. They can be explosive at times. Their defense has some good pass rushers, you know, as far as just watching football and watching them on TV. They do a good job rushing the passer. So I think that it'll be a good game. Both teams are hungry for a win. I can tell you that. So I think that you'll see guys playing hard and be very competitive. Coach, during this unfortunate losing streak, one of the things we've heard is we've practiced well during the week. We just haven't gotten it done on game day. Why do you think that is? You think it's a more of a familiarity thing in practice where guys, of course, because you practice with this guy for months now, you know how to beat him? Or is it just the fact that it's just not translating over to the game? Well, I think it's a team game, you know. In practice, I just coach defense and help out on special teams. In the game, I coach for the Guardians. So during the game, you know, we win together, we all lose together. So I think offense, defense and special teams collectively have yet to come together and put a full 60 minutes together. And I think that's been the cause of us not being able to, you know, get a win. So it's a team game. Obviously, we're not. I challenge the defense to, you know, win the turnover battle. We hadn't won a turnover battle all year. That's been a part of it. Turnovers, penalties have been killing us. So we set some goals out for this week to, you know, not, you know, beat ourselves and also get some takeaways on defense. But it's a team game. So it's the greatest game in the world, in my opinion, as far as team wise. It's three phases, not just two. Special teams are a big part of it. We don't have a special teams touchdown. We don't have a block punt. We don't have a score on defense. All those things help you win games. Yeah. And to that point, a lot of the penalties that have happened, would you say, you know, Stanley, Stanley Mpunga brought this up during the press conference that, you know, he felt as if the ref was kind of shortchanging him. But do you feel as if it's kind of half and half? Or do you feel as if it's more self inflicted? I mean, it's the rules are the rules. If you hold, if you jump offside, you jump offside. If you hold, you hold. You know, the rules are the rules. With all this technology, they get the best look in the world at it. So I think that as a, as a player or as a coach, we have to adjust to whatever the rules are. It's not one sided. It's not any of that. If we're on this one, we're on this one. We should look ourselves in the mirror first, instead of pointing finger at somebody else. And the thing is, on a positive note, you know, I know that sometimes the coaches, people don't always listen to what the coach says, but I did listen to you. I got the, I got the apple chips that you, that you recommended on Instagram. So on a nice, nice lighter note, I wanted to bring some positive energy to this press conference for sure. Okay, let me ask you a question. Did you, did you like them? I did actually like them. I really did. I, I wish they gave a little bit more. It's, it's a pretty small package. You know, I did like them. You got to go to Costco's or Sam's and get your big basket. But I appreciate the recommendation. I, you know, Seneca, cinnamon, apple chips, you put it up on Instagram. I did listen to what you said. I hope the players do the same and win against the Vegas Vipers. And speaking on that, what can the players do on a defensive end that will make you happy? I mean, we got, just get some turnovers. You know, turnovers are contagious. Getting turnovers, you know, obviously a shutout will make any defensive coach happy. You know, if you get a shutout, you know, that's like the ultimate thing, you know, you can do, uh, to, to be a good defense. Uh, but I think just get turnovers, not beating ourselves. I'll just start at that. If we don't beat ourselves, we're pretty good. You know, we don't beat ourselves. All right, guys, we're good. Yeah, that was great. Thanks, coach. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. That's right. Thanks, coach. Good luck. Later.