We have with us fan favorite
of HBO's Hard Knocks entering its 10th
year coaching in the NFL,
11 year NFL veteran boasting four hundred
twenty five tackles, thirty one sacks and
two interceptions.
Former defensive lineman,
coach of the Oakland Raiders and now
defensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals,
Coach Brenston Butler.
Coach Buck, how are you doing today?
I'm doing great.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you for coming on.
You know,
I was a big fan of yours when you were
a player, a big fan of yours when you were
coach of the Raiders, obviously made
a huge impact on the team, on the fans.
Tell us a little bit about your time in Oakland.
Oh, it was great, actually.
You know,
first of all, getting a chance to coach for
a franchise like the Oakland Raiders
know one of the pillars of the NFL growing
up, being a Raider fan,
having my Godfather actually play for the
Raiders.
And, you know, a lot of my best friends,
Chester McGlockton, my best friends from college
playing there, was drafted there.
Mo Collins is one of my better friends after
the retirement, you know, played.
So having the chance to wear the silver
and black on the sideline, you know, it was
a lifetime dream of.
Yeah, absolutely, and you wore it well,
you know, you definitely,
you know, being a fan of the Raiders,
being somebody who's been around, you know,
been around the team,
have been around the greater culture, you
embody that spirit.
You embody the, you know,
the true definition of a raider and once a
ranger, always raider.
You know, myself, obviously, my dad played
for the Raiders.
And so I've I've been around the team for
a while.
James has spent a significant amount of time
around the team,
having family members
that have been part of the team,
as well as being part of the team himself
in the front office.
James, you have anything that you'd like to
ask?
Well, absolutely, Coach.
I mean, we both share something.
I mean, my GodFather played on the D line.
Who who was your who was your godfather?
Otis Sistrunk.
Oh, yes.
Oh, from from the University of Mars,
the University of Mars, that's right.
Absolutely.
And mine was mine was John Matuszak.
So both just.
Oh, wow.
Absolute.
Right.
Just you know,
I learned so much from that man and just not
just off the field, but on the field.
I mean, that's an awesome commonality.
Yes, it is you know, the thing about
the Raiders back then, they were thieves.
So I want to say they were they were so
few, but glorified like no people are getting
a raise when they want to be one.
And I know when they come back home to Columbus,
Georgia,
and they'll sit around my dad and tell the
stories and, you know,
show off his Super Bowl ring like it was like
larger than life,
you know, it was larger than life.
And, you know, just growing up and just
just watching, just watching the Raiders and
everything.
Anybody know that MALLOZZI You know, it was
always like a band.
And this is like and they say, hey,
I'm going to get all the rough players.
I can get someone to say they don't.
And they all come together and they go they
go crazy magic together.
And, you know, and that's what that's what
it was.
And, you know, I even
know people laughing all the time because
I'm from Georgia, south Georgia.
And I was afraid of saying, you know, I remember
getting disqualified
from the case because I was I
wouldn't take out my Rangers T-shirt.
I competed in my Rangers T-shirt and he got
disqualified.
And I had to go to the Georgia State
Athletic Board and, you know,
the decision, you know, just to win.
But that's not being afraid of saying,
you know, I was me
and a couple of my buddies.
You know, we just we just grew up now.
You thought we was from L.A. or Oakland.
This is the greatest gift that we had.
And that's that's awesome.
You know, I think that, you know, that's that's
a great story because it's
you know, that's the thing with Raider Nation
is we're not just in Oakland.
We're not just in L.A. I mean, you know,
we talked about all
the Central University of Mars.
And, you know, one of the things that I
would say is the Raiders could play on Mars
and I'd still be a real fan.
You know, it's not about where they're at.
It's not about where you're from.
It's about being wearin that silver and black
and being part of Raider Nation.
And you're absolutely right.
You know, Raider Nation is a band of misfits.
We're crazy.
We're nutty.
We're, you know, the criminal element.
Everything that they said
about it is is true.
And, you know, we embody that.
We love it.
You know, it really is, if I remember,
I played across the bay for the 49ers
for three years and I was buy we
had a home game, I would go to the Raider
home game and, you know, just just hang out,
hang out at the stadium.
And I was friends with Charlie Garner
and and like Collins and those guys are just
some of those raiders are like,
no matter what you're worth, they move like
a loser.
They move like a game, like they moved in
a pet no matter where you came from.
Once you put their silver and black on it,
just like your personal change.
So I remember when Charles Wilson got
drafted, you know,
he was just no close to me.
No just young naive guy coming out of Michigan
two years later.
I like that's the Raider family.
Like, I was like, you know, what a great ever
play.
You just see the whole persona.
It's the first book I ever bought was they
called me The Assassin.
You know, Jack,
you know, I bought that book as a child
and read I think I probably read about 30
times.
I actually had my son read it once.
He got to the A's to play football with the
Raiders.
Just, you know,
he's just everyday synonymous with, you know,
you you spilled over
to the Star Wars, the motorcycle gangs, the
skull and crossbones.
My favorite all time is not death.
You know,
that's the greatest nickname of all time.
And,
you know, having the chance to come out there
and be a part and be a part
at the old facility and being
at the stadium, being a part of the last
game, you know, I was like, man, I had to
do this one time.
I life to go live.
One of my dreams come true.
Yeah.
And, you know, one of the things about being
part of that,
that last team in Oakland, you had
a very talented young defensive line.
I think that, you know, we
the Raiders have always prided themselves
on having a great line and always had some
great stars that delight how long John Matusik,
Otis's Reggie Kinlaw,
you know, guys like that, you know, even guys
later on in their career where
you have a chance to McGlocklin, you've got
to Sam Adams.
You know, you were very fortunate to have,
you know, two rookie defensive ends come in.
And Max Crosby in Cleveland.
Farrell, you had Jonathan Hankins, you had
Big Mo.
First,
tell me a little bit about those guys
and what excites you about what they're going
to do in this league.
Well, first of all,
talk about Oakley and Max being two rookies
who, when I was there,
was trying to redefine the defensive line
and get back to the to the glory days
of two guys coming off the east at the feet
of one another.
You know, Cleveland is you know, I know he
got a lot of flack, but,
you know, it takes time to be a to become
a professional football player craft wise.
But he embodies what it takes hard work and
never complains.
No super smart one to be coach.
Know a lot of people can be confused with
college.
The coalition says one thing is carried over
to the NFL.
No, it's like learning a brand new language
all over again, you know?
I mean, it takes some time of making mistakes
and getting better.
But Clean Clean was a great pick with Max.
Max was that guy that we saw on CNN is like
he don't look extremely big.
He don't do this right.
But he is super productive.
And you tell my son, my boy, to be a writer
match for us to go down.
You know, he he was born to be a Raiders
and those two guys right there.
I know for me, you know,
I fell in love with him in the draft
process because I could just envision them
in silver and black and really bringing that
defensive line back to where it
needed to be to young guys that could grow
together for the next six to 10 years.
And you got to Cornerstone's within you.
So and Mo, here's a guy that we all know.
His story, you know,
could have been a top 10 pick.
But what happened at the combine with the.
What did he start?
He had a heart issue.
He he started to come into his own.
And Mo is so talented.
You know, he he's he's so talented.
He's he's another one of those raiders where
you see him tall and he's
soft-spoken, but he is that way to something
happen to him.
He turned to animal, you know,
and he's you know, he's super explosive.
But for most, you know,
the good thing about those guys, those guys
are still young.
They're still developing.
You know, Mohraz is going to be
a different player three years from now because
he has so much talent.
He just has to tap into it.
And he's still he's still growing.
And and Hank is was a guy he was the classic
raider.
Get a guy who made a name for himself
in New York, got the big mining in Indy, and
now you're not that good.
And then he signed a deal with the Raiders
and he recreates itself because he fears and
the thing I like about Hank Williams,
though, he looks like just a big nose guard.
He's a super athletic,
you know, big man who plays hard all
the all the all the time and and, you know,
spoke to him last year.
And I told him, I said, man, I don't know.
Will be nobody conform you to just be in a
space either.
Nope.
This is what the sports lead now, because
that's what you can do.
He reminds me of I mean,
when the Raiders signed Jerry Ball in the
early 90s, definitely.
He reminds me of a of first a quick first
day, a powerful no Congress to pass the buck,
stop the run.
I mean, you have to be the glue because he
he's you know, he's only twenty eight.
Twenty seven.
He's the old he's got a whole group.
I say I like you could be the list in the
whole this group together.
But I'm super excited for where they can go.
You know, I was just I was there to help lay
the foundation.
You know, these guys are going to be so
much better this year because they're a year
older.
They seem more they know what to expect
and they got one hell of a coach man coming
in.
So it's going to be exciting to see what they
do.
Yeah, no doubt.
How about you?
How about your boys there in Arizona, coach,
I mean, what's got you know,
what's lighting the fire there
for for the deadline there in Arizona?
The thing here for them is getting back to
work before I left.
You know, it's a young group of guys, you
know, who are who are coming
in and trying to rebuild this things from
Ground Zero.
And I tell the guys,
just like I told my Okemah.
You know, a lot of people
use this analogy, everybody drive through
neighborhoods and sweep through the houses
and talk about the building.
All of the architect, the builder was great.
The most important person in building the
house is the guy who lays the foundation
of that foundation is is messed up,
is one inch all for cement, doesn't sell the
right.
I don't care how pretty
the house is going to collapse.
And like I told the guys, OK,
I like I might just be able to lay
the foundation and somebody else might
come along and build a house
with the foundation of his Lillywhite.
It can last forever.
And that's what we're doing here in Arizona.
Which gives me aside,
these are a bunch of young guys.
Don't know.
They don't know.
And you know, and I come back into a place
where I had success, my first coaching job
and have success here.
You know, coaching players move countless
the rocket docket.
Innocenti Jones for a two years before I got
a live left here.
But now I come back and I can pull from those
memories and those guys respect it.
And they're accepting the challenge of being
a foundation and, you know,
having a young group, they keep me in the
hall.
I so I'll be energetic when I show up
to work every day because they are eager,
they eager to learn and they always ask, as
you do, how to open, go no get so good.
I like they put in hard work.
I like and what we do is we develop a trust
I like, they trust,
they trust me to know that I
was in it for them and I had to trust them
to allow them to be a part of it, of what
was going to do was going to be special.
So right now we're building that trust through
training camp and the guys really
got me excited because they're chomping
at the bit for the season to start.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that's all.
I mean, can you talk about Chandler Jones?
And I think that Chandler Jones is one
of those guys that doesn't get the recognition
that he deserves.
He's been the top Sadlier year over year,
year after year.
He was phenomenal when he was in New England.
He's been phenomenal.
Lights out in Arizona.
He's a top defensive end in my eyes.
And he's one of those guys that constantly,
constantly,
consistently flies under the radar under the
national publications.
And, you know,
he's he's a guy that definitely
commands commands a lot more respect.
He's a guy that is very disruptive
in the league and he's a guy that I've always
been excited to watch.
Tell me your excitement about coaching him
this year after getting back after working
with him for a few years.
I'm super excited because he's he's even gotten
better since I was here.
And, you know, Chandler is a consummate pro.
You know, he's always working on his craft.
The one thing that I admire about Chandler
is he knows exactly
the type of pressure he is.
He doesn't listen to guys.
Oh, you got to where we see, you know,
you've got to win with power, can knows who
he is and he works on it every day.
And he and he's so super smart that if he
does get block in practice, though, he make
a mistake.
He immediately diagnosed what he did wrong.
You know, he doesn't go too far with over
the line and block me.
I've got to change.
No, he he takes so much pride in being a perfectionist.
He's like some I had to do all my footwork
was wasn't right.
My eyes were in the wrong place.
But he comes to work and he's always smiling.
He's a kid at heart, but he plays hard.
You know, people don't understand.
He he played the same linebacker position
last year and had nineteen sex and the same
drugs to 35 percent of the time.
So and and he's a whole run here.
He'll need a whole bunch of at best get a
hit.
She
will go to for three or three for three
every game he goes out there
and that's the great thing about him.
And no, just getting back and catching him
in his prime was I think he's just now hearing
that was going to be good,
but he's going to be good also to because
he's got life easier for those young guys,
you know, because he's going to draw the attention.
He's going to draw the attention is going
around my young guys to have success early
and then they could be able to carry the load,
you know, with him.
That's awesome.
I mean,
that I'm going to go right field on this,
I mean, out of out of all the teammates or
people in your life coach,
who who was the one person that pushed you
to where you got today?
Probably our
team is wise or just life in general
for life in general was with my even
my dad and my mom, you know, I mean,
you know, when I was nine years old,
I told my dad I want to be a professional
football player
and I couldn't play football is about
to be well, I wanted to be
a professional football player.
So it was you know, it was I was to be it
for my age group.
He didn't want me to play up.
You know, I had to play the 13 year old
and nine, you know,
and when when I told him I wanted to be
a professional football player, his main focus.
There was to guide me to it everything I
needed to know, and then knowing my mom, my
mom, making sure that, no,
she was always at the game, my dad,
you know, even when I couldn't play,
I got a brand new football uniform and equipment
every summer.
He taught me every position.
Now I know how to swim out the ball and how
to play.
Also, the line quarterback running back, wide
receiver defensive back.
And he just he made me become a fan
of the game called Sit
and Watch It and queers me on.
You know, who is this guy?
What do you do?
When he didn't do good, did you watch this
game?
And so I got a greater appreciation for the
game.
So I played I played it as a fan.
I live in a dream, you know?
I mean, so far from it, I haven't.
And I always when I played,
I was just like, no, the same.
I always want to leave
the game with more than just
watching the game were more than just, oh,
my team won.
My team lost.
I want to I want that experience.
And so when I play and I train,
I got rid of I definitely I played I wanted
to get a sense and experience
something they could take home other than
a program and so on.
And that pushed me,
that pushed me throughout my career.
And it just it just kept me going.
It just it just kept me going.
My dad would talk every game from high
school, from junior high high school, college
pros, even I was coaching.
And everyday you go into the game,
you know, after the game, how do you go?
What do you see?
What you think you need to work on this and
those type things that embedded in me,
that I got to be my best everytime I go out
there.
Right.
So you knew as well I had a dad like that
as well.
Blessed to have a dad like that where you
know dang well that I could deal, I could
go film.
I can be in the film room with coaches all
day.
I did not want to be in film with my dad that
night.
Right.
Right.
I mean it was like,
you know, coach, you busy.
I got to go to bed at night.
I got to be in the same house with this guy.
Right.
But it was crazy.
You know, I had
to have games and I remember having games
in high school.
I'm at my at one game high school at seven,
six.
And Almatov, where, you know.
Yeah, people are great.
I am.
And all my day I could talk about was the
three hour news.
Oh yeah.
Well the three hours missing and and he
would wake me up in the morning that week
and I had to run he just in those three
because you know, you know, I mean and so
it was a great it was a father son type
that you get to sports that that's priceless.
I mean, Jerry Rice has a similar story
about his dad's dad was amazing and used to
throw bricks.
Right.
And that's how Jerry created his craft with
timing and good hands.
But just just to touch on this real quick,
the exact same thing you just talked about
with your mom and your dad.
And that's all laying foundation.
And that's the thing.
That's your coaching style.
And that's what I that's the one thing I
think the fans and just the league that we
love that I mean,
the guys that were in the trench like you,
that that's that foundation.
We love that, you know.
Yes, and that's my coach.
When I when I got to the coast, I said, what
kind of coach I want to be.
You know, I've been with a guy.
There was a yell and scream but didn't
care about, I believe, the guy that was a
quiet guy and didn't do anything.
And he did, but he couldn't coach anything.
So I wanted to be a mixture of both.
And a lot of people like to see players.
Coach, I don't think I'm a player.
I think I'm a truth teller.
And I tell all my guys
will be brutally honest with you if you're
doing a great job.
I must say he's doing a great job of you,
doing a horrible job.
You're doing a horrible job.
I'm not going I'm not going to leave any black
and white out there.
I'm not going to leave anything for gas
because I know football's a tough sport, absolutely
beautiful.
I've seen guys on teams just know the just
thing to have a great camp and the coaches
patting them on the back and you get the kids
and this guy's crying.
He saw because you don't understand because
the coach had told him where
you messed up a couple of days,
you should have been doing this better.
So when I saw the coach,
I wanted to be truthful with my guys.
And I want them I want them to know him, to
be honest with them.
And I think you heard me say on the show,
it's never about you personally.
It's all about your football.
Yeah.
I mean, I love my guys.
You know, I'd do anything for any guy ever.
Coach called me right now and say they
need me anything and I'm a break my league
trying to give it to them.
But I'm also going to break my leg,
trying to be totally honest with them, too,
because that's why I think that we
all need because for me,
it's not about giving you stuff.
They're going to help you on the football
field to help you become a better person,
a better father, a better uncle, a better
brother.
And it's all about honesty because a person
can trust you.
They how can they really love you and be there
for you?
So I try to build a trust with my guys and
just honesty and always tell them
every day you come in here
to work and I give you enough.
Be honest with no, come to me or help me challenge
me to be a good boss.
Make me go home and watch him
and and research stuff because you want to
be seeing more.
And what's worse,
once you get that feeling inside the room,
I can say what I want to to make sure they
want to do me.
But anyway, we walk out the door, we're like
brothers because, you know,
we all got family members and we don't all
get along.
We all say some stuff, you know,
that that when we met or we tried to make
a point where they will stay until the till
and fight anybody.
And that's kind of culture.
I try to be inside my defensive lineman.
And I think that's one of the biggest things
is is building that culture
and having having those guys, you know, we're
going to have you back and having
players, you know,
that you're going to go to bat for.
That's your brothers.
You know that.
I said something on on Twitter one day
talking about, you know,
what's going on in the world today.
And it really rings true that if everybody
in the world just spent 15 minutes inside
a football locker room,
a lot of problems could be solved
because when you get in the locker room, you
get those pads on.
It doesn't matter if you're black, white,
anything, it doesn't matter.
It's a brotherhood.
And I think that that's one of the things
that we go out there and we fight for people.
We fight for our brothers.
We fight for the man next to you.
Right.
You always say, look at me.
I look in the eyes of the man next to you
and that's the person you're fighting for.
Now, Coach, transition a little bit.
You know, we talk about the foundations.
We talk about, you know, setting that ground.
You're son,
you've been building a foundation with him
and he's now going to Oregon house.
How's that looking for him with, you know,
everything that's happening
with the PAC 12 hours training's going.
How's that looking out?
It's looking good.
He's been he's he's been blessed by his son.
He's worked for no cause,
just like I told my father at that age that
that's what I wanted to do.
That's what he told me.
And I used to tell my wife, I'm never going
to force them to play sports.
I want to become actually the police force
and go out at three or four times.
Now, I know he's really he's really wanted
to go out and do the things it is to be, to
be good, to be graded.
And that's what he's done.
And now he's been blessed to play for high
school here in Arizona and of high school.
And all this actually was the first to offer
them.
You know, he had other offers where at the
end of the day, he's like there,
you know, I'm truly loyal
to the person who loved me first.
He like organ came in and they showed me
love and and in from day one,
they was like, this is a formidable offer,
you know, is going to be here until you say
you don't you don't you don't want it.
And, you know, he went to he wouldn't have
been a couple of times and, you know,
he met the coaches and he liked
the atmosphere like atmosphere there.
And it's been great.
You know, we're Kovik and stuff going on.
We really I turned the garage
into a gym when were being closed down.
So and I wasn't allowed to go into the building
as a coach.
So he became he became in my my people's business,
you know, so we train together.
We miss and I was able to, you know,
work on technique stuff with him because I
just practice coaching on him.
He practice getting coached for me.
And and then if he's in Arizona and start
to turn around, they're actually
formally kicking off their season.
Their first game is October the 2nd.
They moved everything back.
But right now at the high school level, they're
practicing
and know getting in shape.
But he's been training the whole year and
he's he's excited about having his
team together and now getting ready to go
play.
He's a preseason USADA all-American.
And, you know, so he's trying to see all this
hard work.
No, no, no.
Come true.
And he his whole thing is that I just want
to be better than who I was yesterday.
And that's that's his approach.
And that's that's the way that's the way we
go.
And I was like, you can't make the same mistakes,
make new mistakes the next day.
And he and he attacks
on school work the same way.
And it gives a lot of pressure from his system
of emphasis.
That's two years older.
She's a volleyball over the state
and she'll be in his older sister, sisters
in medical school, university.
So he has he has a lot of pressure here, a
lot of pressure on.
But, you know, he competes and how he handles
it well, and he's just excited.
I'm excited for.
That's exciting.
I mean, it's really exciting to see to see
your kids out there living out their
dreams, you know,
obviously having one daughter in medical
school, one daughter playing volleyball, your
son going to Oregon,
you get to see your kids live out their dreams.
You're living out your dream continuously.
You know, Coach, I'm going to wrap this up
pretty quickly, but I wanted to end this on
kind of a funny note.
You know, I know that one of the big
things on on the show was you and the defensive
line always had gummy bears.
And, you know, watch, watch.
We saw Trent Brown,
Big Trent Brown on the offensive line,
devour fruit by the foot in less than 15 seconds.
Who on the defensive line ate the most
gummy bears and who would give trying to run
for his money?
What is so funny that the guy that ate
the most gummy bears on the DeLaurentis and
all this one expensive meal.
He kept a couple candy bars.
It was like it was like he
has an addiction to them and
he would eat them.
And being also blunt is perfect,
really catch them in a room every day, you
know, getting half a battle.
I just take the whole bag lunches, don't you?
I have to say, you know, those gummy bears
have like a big mistake to them.
But this meal and the defense in room when
they come to gummy bears, he would give Trent
Brown a run for his money.
Because I tell you, you guys are extremely
sweet, too, because it would be five forty
five a.m. in the morning
and you have a couple of gummi bears out there,
you know that drinking coffee
or juice, gummy bears and know it was crazy.
But those are great times.
Yeah.
Real quick, though, on away games,
we always had Chick fil A for catering, right?
Yes.
And Tinder's.
Would show up on Fridays for home games.
So who was who was always out there first?
Believe it or not, the coaches,
the coach and the coaches did for me, because
coaches know when you work,
you put in so many hours and you look
for anything for yourself and we look forward
for the people to be there.
And coaches will spring off the field even
before the players even got the showers.
You know, coach, to look about,
as I would like to do,
to play that temporary base
for the coaches, all we are all out there
first can
really do like you can't go to to back that
service like you're like.
I just want to walk in, throw like 50 pounds
on the tray and leave.
I heard I heard other stories about Donald
Penn at the training table.
Oh,
I remember snagging a shrimp of Donald Penn's
fajita.
And it was it was pretty.
It was classic.
It is pretty funny.
But, yeah, it's this is this has been blessed.
We're glad to have you on, Coach.
I mean, I like to say a coach for the players
is like a dream come true.
You know, I mean, that's one that's one of
my one of my things.
I can take off my to do list before I take
up out of here.
And it was great.
And I'm excited.
I got to have guys all the time.
We talk like I'm not.
Your coach was still a fan of yours
and I'm happy to see those guys grow up and
get better.
I'm a small business
and so they have the players and
I had a done to be
my resignation was great.
It was everything I thought it was it was
going to be, you know, from the from the capsule
that the game had dark.
It is just the loyalty, though, coming out
of the facility at Alameda and St.
Fans is out there lining the street.
Just want to get a glimpse of their beloved
Raiders.
So I just appreciate my time.
And I salute Raider Nation.
Thanks, Coach, we yeah, we I mean,
we appreciate you, we appreciate everything
that you've done for us.
You know, obviously being part
of a Raider Nation, once a ranger, always
a ranger, except Randy Moss, of course.
But, you know,
we we definitely we appreciate you.
We appreciate you coming on.
Wish you the best of luck this season.
Wish your defense a lot
of the best of luck this season.
You guys have a really exciting young team.
Kyla Murray is electrifying.
I'm excited to see what he does in year two.
And you guys are playing in a tough
division, but it looks like you guys can have
some success.
So I'm excited to see what you guys can do
and excited to see what your line does this
year.
But, you know, once again, thanks for coming
on.
I thank you very much.
Thank you and we love you back later.
.
Y'all got the number.
It won't change
you guys.
Thanks, Coach,
