Transcript: Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey

Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey

Q: What's this season been like for you?

A: Tough.

Q: Why?

A: The obvious, right? I mean, anytime you don't have a winning record and you're not playing for a playoff run, it's frustrating. Especially after the season we had last year, it was really fun and towards the back end of the year just to be in the talks for it. Just not having an opportunity this year, as far as getting ready for playoffs, it's always difficult.

Q: You've been here for tough years before, but you mentioned last year. Does that almost set you up and almost tease you a little bit to have that taste? Then you come into this year kind of expecting – I don't want to say a continuation, but the expectations were higher.

A: Well, yeah, and that's this league. Every year is a new year, and you have to approach it as such. As we move from one year to the next, that part of it has to be understood. There's nothing given. You look at our schedule, early in the year, it was a tough schedule. We had some injuries early that kind of set us back a little bit, but that's just part of the NFL. That's life in the NFL. You've got to be able to work through those ebbs and flows of the league from week to week. That's just life in NFL.

Q: It's a broad question, I know, but how do you evaluate just the special teams play overall this season?

A: I think we were up and down. We didn't start fast like we wanted to. Last year, we had some pretty big splash plays early in the year, and obviously, this year was the opposite. I think we got better as the year went on, but the continuity was there a little bit more towards the end. Punt team, I think was better. Obviously, (punter) Jamie (Gillan) had a really good year. I think our coverage, other than one return versus Philly, I thought it's been pretty solid all year. So, there's some bright spots there. Some things that you can build upon. Obviously getting on the kicker train, you didn't want to get on that thing. I told you guys about the kicker train. That part of it is frustrating. But I will say this, having those guys in the room has been really good for me as a coach, just to be able to have that amount of knowledge and experience you can learn from, and each guy's different. That part of it has been pretty good, but obviously we would have liked to have a lot more success, more consistency in our return game, but that's just part of it.

Q: What do you make of what (wide receiver) Gunner (Olszewski) has brought to the table?

A: Oh, man. I mean, Gunner's Gunner. The guy works at it. He's very diligent in how he goes about his day. He's a pro. He works like a pro. I think you all saw all of those things come into play when he made that play. Super proud of him and the way he's bounced back. Playing against him and then him coming

over here from Pittsburgh after the troubles that he had and just really refocused on what he needed to do. Obviously, he made a big play the other day.

Q: Have you had any conversations with them about your future here? Do you expect to be back?

A: I mean, I always expect to be back. I've got a year on my contract. I'll cross that road when I get there. Whatever happens happens. That's the NFL. I don't worry about it. Never have, never will. But that's just part of the process being in the NFL.

Q: So, you're still under contract you're saying at least for one more year?

A: Yeah.

Q: How much did the changing of the kickers affect kind of the whole group, maybe even team-wide at times?

A: Yeah, I don't know—I think our group is resilient. I think our guys are. I don't think it really moved them one way or the other. It's kind of hard to put your finger on it. (Kicker) Graham (Gano) was struggling early, he had the injury, and he was struggling, and then the wheels just fell off. You know what I mean? Stuff just got crazy. I think that in the process of that, guys just didn't blink. They didn't. They just kept going, who's the next guy, get him in here and get him ready. I don't think the guys blink. So, it was a rollercoaster ride, and it was definitely a very, very unique experience that I've never experienced before.

Q: Do you expect changes this year in regard to coaching staff in general? Obviously, it wasn't the season you guys as whole wanted.

A: I mean, that doesn't have anything to do with me. Coaching changes, the people who make the changes will make the changes without what I think about it, or what I think might happen is irrelevant. My job is just to focus on trying to beat Philly this week and get our guys playing as hard as they can possibly play for 60 minutes on Sunday. And then at 7:28, or whenever the game is over with, worry about all that stuff then. But until then, I'm not worried about it.

Q: Are you amazed at how fast some of these seasons go? It's like you turn around and it's over.

A: I'll tell you what, man… It is amazing how fast these things go by. I mean, it's like you look up, and it's Week 10, and then you look up now, and that's it. It's Week 18. It's crazy. The older you get, the faster they go. Man, I remember being a young coach, my first job at Kansas City, it was like, good gracious, this thing took forever. But then this year, I'm 50 years old in my 25th year coaching and it just shoots by. Shoots by really fast. It's been good, but yeah, you're right, they come by really fast.

Q: We've seen your son here. What's it been like to have him be a part of this this year?

A: I couldn't explain to you how good it's been just to have him up here. He's not playing anymore. He never had this opportunity like his older brother who's at Florida now. He's never had this opportunity to come to games and be on the sideline, because he was always playing. He always had a football game himself, or high school football, he's always playing, college football. So, this is his first experience, even with all the COVID stuff. This is his first experience ever being able to do it. It's really been cool to have him up here and just have him kind of move around and be with the guys because the guys know who he is. They just didn't see him a whole lot because he was always doing what they were doing. He was playing football. So, it's been really, really good. Appreciate you asking.

Q: Do you think coaching is in his future?

A: No, I don't think he's going to be a coach. I don't think either of my boys will be coaches. My oldest son Tre is at Florida. He's a recruiting analyst at Florida. Obviously, he wants to go into the scouting/personnel side. Trent has his own podcast right now. He started it in September, and he loves it. If you guys just go check him out, he's very, very passionate in his pursuit of the debate. Him and his brother have been doing it in the back of my Suburban ever since they were, I think Trent was maybe seven or eight, and Trey was, like, 16. They've always been just debaters of sports and lovers of sports, so I don't see either one of them doing the crazy stuff that I'm doing.