Safety Julian Love
July 30, 2021
Q: What position, coming into camp, would you say you play?
A: DB. Just do whatever they ask me. I’m ready for it all.
Q: What was that experience like last year where you moved around so much in the secondary?
A: It was different, but I enjoyed it. I just tried to be on the football field as much as I can. I’m a student of the game, so I’m always learning. I had some great vets teaching me the game. Obviously, new coaches that helped me a lot. I feel good the longer I’ve been now at each position.
Q: When you’re back there now, most guys are in their second year in this system, can you tell that there’s a lot of smarts back there?
A: Oh yeah, definitely. I think we’re excited to build as a group together. For me personally, this is my first time since I started college with the same D-coordinator two years in a row. I’m excited to work with Coach [Pat] Graham again. I know we all are just eager to get out there and we’ll see how it goes.
Q: How can you tell that guys know what to do? [Defensive Back] Logan [Ryan], [Safety] Jabrill [Peppers], these guys – [Safety Xavier] McKinney’s new obviously, newer. Can you tell during certain plays that everyone is on the same page, everyone knows what they’re doing here?
A: Yeah, I think that’s the expectation of everybody. We’re well into the thing now as a group and building off of last year. Now, it’s just taking the next step. What can we do to get better as a defense? I’d say everybody as group, collectively.
Q: When you look at your group, how competitive is it going to be?
A: It’s going to be very competitive. I think we have a lot of talent. It’s clear to see that. We’re excited. [Head Coach] Joe Judge always says, ‘in the Mississippi heat, it takes more than one set of hands to grease the pig.’ So we’re excited just to all work together collectively as a group.
Q: Is that truly what he says?
A: Verbatim. That’s what he says.
Q: Have you spent a lot of time down south?
A: I guess he did. Not me, but.
Q: Julian, it’s one thing to say, ‘oh we have a lot of guys who like to compete.’ When you know you have a coordinator who wants to use you guys in different ways and it’s proven that he will get you on the field, how much harder does that make you guys work knowing that you’re going to see the rewards because of the way he does things?
A: From day one, Coach Judge, he told us that he rewards versatility and he’s a man of his word in everything he does. As you can see, a lot of us played multiple spots last year. That was no joke. That was not just word play. That’s truly what he believes in, so now this year obviously we have a lot on the back end especially with the secondary, so we’re going to be versatile. Joe Judge, he loves that, and Pat Graham really appreciates that. We’re going to really attack it and be multiple in every way they see.
Q: How do you feel about the idea, at least my perception, that the defense, at least early in camp, has sort of gotten the better of the offense when you guys go live drills?
A: I think we’re just really – I don’t know anything offensively, so I’m not going to speak on that, but defensively I think we’re pretty close. I think we have a good sense of camaraderie already. We’ve done a lot over the offseason as you can see or probably saw that the DBs got together in Tampa with Logan. Just things like that over the offseason kind of help us know each other. That’s all we’re doing. When we meet, we meet hard. And that means like, if anything is slightly off, we’re going to correct it. We’re going to be each other’s group collectively. If the coach sees something, then he’ll tell us. If we see something, we’ll tell the coach. It’s really just kind of getting after it because we’re trying to be the best and that’s what it is.
Q: How much do you think those kinds of things carry over like being together and obviously in regards to being on the field and playing?
A: I think it’s important. I think it’s really important. You think of a work place, you think of a team, a group, a friendship, relationships, you got to know one another. Everyone communicates differently. That’s something that I have always thought since I was young growing up. I’ve got to talk to people differently and just understanding how each person receives knowledge and gives knowledge is important. That’s how we’re learning, so I’m going to talk to the one person differently than I’m going to talk to another one. That’s how we’re building. That’s how we’re growing as a group.
Q: When you have a defense that has the coordinator for the second year, does the playbook get bigger? Does it expand?
A: I think, you know – what would Pat Graham say? He would get in his bag really. You have so many tools, so many weapons that you can be creative. You’re not going to overcomplicate things, for sure, but what he wants us to do is just get our boots on the ground and play fast. However he sees us doing that is how we’re going to do it, and that’s on us, too. We want to be doing multiple things and more things, so we got to get our easy stuff down quick and just really play aggressive and fast.
Q: So of the DBs, who wants to be the smartest in the room?
A: I think all of us. I think we challenge each other so much. Me, I’m a student of the game. Just from where I went to college, people expect a certain thing of me. I try to get a bead on the game plan each day. Hopefully, before Logan because that dude’s in here pretty early, so we’ll see.
Q: How’d you like throwing out a first pitch?
A: Man, that was some high heat, right? I think somebody clocked it at 96.
Q: I think you’re dreaming there.
A: It was a first pitch. I didn’t practice it, so it was fun. I had fun.
Q: Were you nervous?
A: Yeah. There was nobody on the field, just the mascot. I’m like, ‘ok, I got to throw it.’ So I sent it, no lob pitches over here. I sent it.
Q: Was it better than 50 Cent?
A: Definitely better than 50 Cent. Definitely better. Everyone kept sending me pictures and videos of 50 Cent, so definitely better.
