Out the back wants to throw Dune whiteside deep watch Tesla.

We signed to five and so touchdown.

Detroit Lions that Who's Beautiful.

Football is back in Detroit and that means the twenty in the Huddle podcast is back.

I am Tim Twentyman, senior writer for the Detroit Lions, and I am glad to welcome in Ray Agnew, the assistant general man for the Lions.

And Ray, let's start with this.

Obviously, Monday and Tuesday are tough days, right, You've got to tell thirty seven guys that their dream of playing in the NFL is over.

But when you get to Wednesday, what's that excitement?

Like when you've got your guys, right, you've got your practice squad.

Those are the guys that you're gonna go to battle with for four months, hopefully five months, right, and just the excitement of kind of this before you get rolling.

Yeah, I mean it's a good feeling, you know, once you get the team together.

I mean it hurts that some of those guys go, but then you get back on the practice squad, so you're happy.

But the great thing is like when you see a kid that has earned his spot on the team, and you able to go up to women and say, hey, man, congratulations, you know, good job.

You know, so that part is great because there are some kids, some great stories that come from small schools or whatever, and then they make a team and then so it's exciting to congratulate them.

You know.

I thought it was interesting you guys when you whittled that down to an initial roster, you went to fifty.

You know, you had some trades, you had some claims, but when you in Brad Holmes and GM talked Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, it was about the fifty guys that we kept made the team.

Can you just explain that a little bit, because it's not always about just getting to fifty three.

There were fifty guys in you and Brad's opinion, that made the team.

Just explain that.

Yeah, you know, when you look at it, man, you can you feel like these fifty guys legitimately made the team.

They were the best fifty players, you know, not a knock on that the first three out or whatever.

But because I don't want to talk talk about those guys like they can't play football, right, you know, but we feel like at our standards, we had fifty guys that made the team and you don't have to have a fifty three man roster, you know, Yeah, and then then you could look outside, you know, with the claiming and all that stuff.

But Brad said this before.

Dan has said this too, and it maybe plays off that a little bit.

Is you guys have sixty nine players on the roster, and you view it that way, don't you.

I think it was sixteen guys or sixteen transactions last year where you guys had to get some help because of all the injuries and stuff.

That's really how you view this, isn't it?

Is it sixty nine because you're gonna use.

Those guys, no question, those guys, All those guys will play at some point.

They will help us at some point.

So you're still excited about them.

You know, they're just on the practice squad rather than on the acting.

When you look at that practice squad, were you gets happy about getting a lot of those guys back?

And I want to ask you, obviously you can't give away saying trade secrets trade secrets here, but you and Brad have done a really good job over the last few years of not getting guys claimed, of knowing which guys you can maybe pass through to the practice squad.

What kind of projection work it goes into that and what makes you guys so good at that?

And are you happy with getting the guys back and the practice squad that you formed.

And I'm not going to give you all that, but we we there is you know, we there's some things we we look at, Yeah, well we feel like this guy can probably make it through, you know, and and you know sometimes this past history of you know, what's happened in the league, but there's some things we look at that we feel like this guy, he'll make it through and been pretty good.

So you've got some guys there, I think that are going to be able to help you guys this year at some point be able to step in and play from the outside looking in.

And I know you're defense, so this is right at the heart of what you're about.

That Detroit Lions defense in camp was terrific.

I think if you break down the days the offense and defense played each other, I would probably give the edge to the defense in terms of just maybe winning the day or winning the period.

What's your thought on this defense heading into this season.

You guys were obviously good in a lot of areas last year.

But is this one of the better defenses on paper going into the year that you guys have had.

I would say yeah, and because healthy.

Now we're still missing a big, a big piece and you know lean you know, but but yeah, I would say being healthy having hutchback and you know Davenport back.

Those guys are tremendous football players and corners.

Brad talked about terry On.

Terry On has grown grown and he's he's looking really good.

And EJ was a big, big pick up, you know, great pickup.

So and obviously not too safety.

They're you know, hacking football players.

So we we like what we had on defense, and it's gonna be interested.

Is Aiden gonna pick up right where he left off last year?

Because I think we could both agree it's gonna be He was on track to be the defensive player of the year.

What what has stood out about him and his play in camp?

To you?

It just seemed like the kid keeps getting better and better, you know, and I mean he's he's he's amazing man.

He comes to work every day, he works and works against the best tackle in football in my opinion, you know, every day and they go at it.

Man, they make each other better.

Iron Truman's iron, right.

What about Tyler the rookie, because obviously with the leam who you mentioned, you know, being out till October, November, whatever it is, you know, a few weeks, he's gonna get an opportunity to play, and you guys are gonna count on him early.

What have you seen from from the rookie defensive tackle?

I mean, you know, he's a young guy.

There's some growing pains, but I thought for the most part, kid had a good camp, played well, he competed.

You know, there's some things he hasn't learned because young, you know, but I think he will help us.

Out this year.

For guy as big as he is, three hundred and thirty pounds, he's got pretty nimble feet.

He's gonna play on the other side of line scrimmish.

Loads, no doubt, you know.

And once that kid grow and learns and the game slow down for him, this guy's the limit for him.

Is that the exciting part too, because you guys rank thirtieth against the passing and look, a lot of that had to deal with injuries and aiden changes everything in regards to the marriage, between the rush and the and the coverage.

But are you just excited about that that that marriage between the rush and coverage.

It looks like you guys got the guys in the back end to kind of get the hands on football's play the kind of man coverage that you want to and Aiden and Marcus stay healthy.

And what we talked about with Tyler getting a lean back, you're gonna be able to rush the quarterback a lot better than he did too.

You excited about that marriage and what that could mean for the defense.

No doubt.

I mean being a defensive guy myself and being on a team that was pretty good defensively and getting after the court back and covering, you know, you can dictate to the offense what they do when you got that much, you know, yeah, And but you know so I'm looking forward to that.

All right, Let's go on the other side of the football.

The offensive line.

Obviously three new starters along the interior.

You guys have been, you know, really known as this this team that develops and has this best offensive line in football.

And it's been that way now for two three years.

With Graham's got a ton of experience.

I want to ask you about Ratla's first the rookie.

What did you guys like about him in that process and what you liked about him?

Did you see it on the field in training camp?

Yes, so everything he liked about him on the field.

I mean, first of all, the kid loves football.

He loves playing.

He's physical, he plays our brand of football.

It's tough, gritty, verstual.

He can play guard and center.

We really see him as a long term center, you know.

And but you know, starting out at guard, we had no problem with that.

That kid.

The kid could play, you know, he just had to come in and do it.

And uh, he did a great job in camp.

In my opinion, if I remember correctly, I think the same path Frank Ragnau took.

You know, he played guard before he moved back to center.

And it's just there's a lot going on at center for a young guy.

When you got a veteran like Graham, you guys feel pretty good about him stepping in.

I think that's the better position for Granted, he can play guard and center, but I think he's better at center.

And the kid, mahogany man, that kid just keep getting better at me.

To me, that was my guy that I watched the camp that had the best camp to the most growth.

You know, I thought he really grew as a player this year.

And uh, I like that kid a lot.

That kid got some toughness to him.

Me ready, Uh, you know, he loves the game.

You know, So playing next to a guy like like Taylor too, you know, when you get an experience playing between two experienced guys, is that kind of helped him propel him a little bit ahead?

Oh yeah, yeah, I mean that helps.

That helps a rookie, you know, a young guy when you got somebody next to you that can kind of lead you, you know.

But a kid got some some uh some some toughness to him.

Though.

Speaking of the offensive line, I thought maybe one of the more underrated things that you guys did this offseason was bringing back Hank fairly.

And I'm just curious, what's the what's the the the the image, the picture of him from the front office when you look at him, the job he's done with developing guys in the offensive line, the consistency that you've had in the offensive line.

How big of a move was that, you know, getting getting Hank back here?

The real big moves one of the probably the biggest moves.

Uh, He's done a great job with the offensive line.

I got a history with we signed Hank and Saint Louis.

I could play for hus.

I was doing the pro stuff there with the Rams.

But so we go a long way back.

But he's he's good man, and to have him back was just outstanding.

You know, y you made the move to trade Tim Patrick to Jacksonville, got back a little bit of capital, opens up probably some opportunities for the rookie Isaac Tesla.

Just what you thought of him in this process and just from the outside looking in.

Obviously when Saint came in, he was pretty advanced for a rookie guy.

We didn't see it really generate on the field in terms of consistent production till maybe the second half of his rookie year.

But what have you seen from from Isaac and his ability to maybe step in and help you guys right away?

Oh?

Man, I mean the kid is uh, first of all, he works hard.

First, he loves football, good route run and catches the ball well.

But uh, you know, he really just started coming on and camp man and I Ki kid had a great camp, had a good camp, and it just got.

Better and better.

And better and better and better, and he still he still got some growth to do, but he's he's he's continuing to grow, and uh we're looking for, you know, f some good things out of him this year.

A couple more for you.

Obviously, a lot's been talked about, uh, the coordinator change.

Just what do you like about John Morton?

What do you like about Calvin Sheppard in those roles now having seen them for you know a few months now, in.

Those roles, Oh, they both uh you know, preach toughness as a coach, and then they both uh you know, demanding on the players.

Uh.

I think Kevin, you know, been around Shep a long time.

Uh, you know, scouted Shep as a player, and uh you know Shep is very confident and tough, yeah, you know, uh gritty, Uh you know.

So, Uh been been excited for both of them guys.

Obviously we lost two guys that are you know, highly productive, but I think we got two guys that are you know, pretty toughness and uh and they aggressive guys, you know, so I think we'll be right just fine.

With John in particular.

How much of an advantage is that having a quarterback that's been in the league for ten years, that that that this offense was built and John was on staff when it was built around him and the things that he does.

Well, John knows the personnel.

John obviously knows Jared.

But how is that how those two work together?

It seems like it's been pretty in sync here over the last month.

And the advantages of having a guy like Jared who's seen everything in this league been around when you're have a new offensive Cordner and you're implementing maybe subtle changes, but a few different changes.

Having a guy as veteran as Jared, how important has that been?

It's been great.

It's really extremely important because he can handle it, you know.

Yeah, young man, young guy may not be able to handle it, overwhelmed.

Yeah, everything, he.

Can handle it because at this point he's seen pretty much everything, you know, So that's exciting, you know, just to think about it.

Is really exciting.

Well, I want to end this podcast with how you ended you and Brad's press conference down with the media and it just you guys were asked of just about the confidence in this team, confidence in this roster.

You've been on really good teams, right, You've been to super Bowls?

Is this a team in your opinion?

Is this a roster that's built And obviously health plays a factor.

There's a lot of things down the road, but right now, starting September, this is super Bowl type roster that you guys have built here.

Obviously that's the expectation.

But I see a little smile on your face.

Is it a super Bowl caliber?

Yeah?

I think I'm safe here.

I won't give brass more questions, but I do I do.

I do think this this team will build to get that and that that you know, that doesn't guarantee we get there.

We got to go get there and win it.

Uh and uh, I think we're built that way.

I think we have the players.

You know, like I say, when you got difference makers, that's when they in the playoffs, that's who win the game.

Guys with different.

Makers, the guys like Aiden Saint Brown.

I'm not saying that again.

Because there are plenty of guys that just named those two guys, you know that's I mean, Gibbs, I mean we got plenty, you know.

Yeah, Branch Kirby, I mean that's what you need, right, I mean, you need guys that are different makers in the end, and this roster's got plenty of them.

No quick yep.

Well, Ray, I appreciate you taking the time.

Everybody's obviously excited for the season to get going.

Good luck to you.

Thanks Man, Welcome back to the twenty in the Huddle podcast.

That was great stuff from Assistant General Manner Ray Agnew, and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to welcome in.

Brian Faccini.

Brian Viaccini is the chief Communications and brand officer for the Detroit Lions and obviously a lot of excitement heading into the season.

Brian, you oversee all aspects of communication, marketing, brand management, game presentation, the community relations.

So if you have any complaints, that's Brian dot No.

Music changes suggestions.

Yeah, we take it all.

You know, you spent ten years at Nike.

You were also in the NBA for a number of years too, and say Antonio in Portland, I believe Lahoma City, Oklahoma City too.

What was the selling point?

Why was this opportunity with Detroit so exciting for you?

Was it just the NFL?

Was it what you saw with Detroit?

Was it a combination of both?

Kind of take me back to five years ago when this opportunity came up.

Yeah, I think I think it's all of it, to be honest, but I think, you know, when it the opportunity came to me, I wasn't really looking for it.

It popped up.

And it was like, sure, Detroit Lions football, let's let's talk about that.

It wasn't until I met I met with Rod and then met with Sheila and Mike Disner, and I think those conversations really sort of sold me on, Hey, this is there's something interesting going on here.

There was an interesting perspective from leadership sort of on how they saw the team evolving, and we had really good, frank conversations about sort of what I wanted out of it, what they wanted, and so that started kind of the ball.

And then sitting with Brad and Dan, I came out to Detroit, sat with them and really listening to the way that they spoke about the team, they spoke about what they wanted to build here.

It really was evident to me there was something special going on and that it would make sense.

To be a part of that.

You spend time at Nike, right, we talked about branding, like is there a bigger one you know around?

You know, but that relationship I'm glad you touched on because that relationship between the general manager and the head coach.

How important is that to an NFL franchise, to an NBA team, to all the places that you've been around, when there's just when it all falls in place and they have the same vision.

Just how important is that?

Because it's not like that, Brian.

Everywhere, it's not And I think you know, honestly, it's not just the head coach.

And GM, it's really all of leadership.

I think that's really like I know rightfully so.

Brad and Dan get a ton of credit for their relationship and the work that they've done, and I think what people don't see is how aligned all of leadership is.

I think that is what and it starts with ownership.

Absolutely starts ownership.

And that's really what makes the difference.

Is I think when you A know who you are as an organization, and B have a clear desire or a clear direction on where you're going, that to me is what really sets successful teams apart.

And I think we've got some of that here.

I think that can be anywhere, that can be in I've seen it at Nike, You've seen in the NBA.

It can be in the automotive industry, it can be anywhere.

When you have those two elements, that really is what sets you up for success.

There's a lot of things that have to go right, yeah, still, but that really puts you in a position to be successful.

And I think we're lucky we have that here, as you mentioned starting with the Ford family down like, we have that, and that's what I think sets us apart right now.

As a Detroit Lions brand.

Ever been stronger in your opinion, And I know you haven't been here a long time, but you've talked to people and you work with people that have been here a long time.

Has it ever been stronger?

I mean, obviously not since I've been here.

This is is as strong as we've been.

I think, you know, we had a guy named Barry Sanders, and when you got a guy like that, uh, you know, in your in your lineage, your brand's pretty strong.

And so I think I think it's you know, moments in time.

The brand obviously ebbs and flows, and I think right now it's really strong.

And I think it's a byproduct of what we just talked about, which is we know who we are, we know what we want to be and where we're going, and that that helps us on the brand side to really share that.

With the fans.

You've been part of some great organizations that have gotten a ton of fan support.

You look at Okay see and you look at obviously with the Spurs and what they had built, what they were for so long.

What do you think Alliance fans.

They're a little different breed, aren't.

They They are?

But to me, it's it's passion, Like that's what you see.

And I think, you know, I don't know really if it's the NFL, if it's you know, different cities have been in a few, but like.

The passion that's here is amazing.

And the fact that, you know, the different for me coming in was that there's six days between games and people don't stop talking about the Lions for all six days.

Yeah, you know, NBA hockey, baseball, there's games every day and you move on pretty quickly.

Here it's six days of Lions talk, which speaks volumes.

I think about sort of the passionate fan base and it's sort of.

How they feel about the team.

I think there's what over twenty thousand people on the wait list now too, I mean, isn't that nuts.

I'm just that part of it.

What you've seen from Ford Field?

You do you know, you're head of the game presentation part.

A lot of those people work under you, So what about that part of it?

Do you love about it?

It's just I travel.

I've been.

I marked off Kansas City was it last year a couple of years as the last stadium that I needed to be too because we played them in London.

So I've been to every stadium in the league.

There's something different about game day with Detroit, just the presentation, the excitement, the noise level.

Now, but that game presentation part of it.

The fans really come out and they really make that what it is, don't they.

They do, And that's where it starts, right If you have passionate fans whore excited to be in the building, the rest of it sort of now, you just have to not screw it up, right.

You gotta keep them going, you gotta keep them excited.

But I think you know it starts with that fan base.

Ford Field is different.

Ford Field is up there when it's rolling, when we're playing well and those fans are excited.

It's about as tough a place I think to be an opponent as there is.

You know, I go back to like Sacramento in the late nineties the Kings.

That building was nuts, Utah when you had the Karl Malone Jazz that building.

Those are some of the most sort of like exciting, sort of loud, raucous buildings I've ever been in.

And there's something that is just special.

I mean the most.

I was a part of a Game seven in San Antonio for the NBA Finals.

We beat the Pistons that year, unfortunately for all Piston fans.

Sorry sorry about that.

But that building you walked in and you could feel the building.

It felt different, physically, felt different to walk in.

And there's been a few times at ford Field where you walk in the building and it feels different.

The Brams game perfect example.

Rams game is a great example.

The Jared Goff chances started.

Pre I've never seen that before where everyone was in their seat an hour before the game.

Never.

No, it speaks volumes to like just like the excitement level and what it meant not just the organization but to the city to like have that game here.

So Ford Field's a really really special place.

I don't think people it's hard when you're there every week and you don't go to the places, I don't think you realize how special it is.

So I mean, I love our fans at travel.

One they give us an advantage of the round, yeah, But two, I think they have a deeper appreciation for what it means to be inside Ford Field when that place is going.

No, that's great point.

It's he's speaking of the fan base that's obviously growing outside of American borders as well.

You guys have obviously picked up the Canadian market, the German market, Austria, that that area of the country too.

You're seeing that explode all across the league.

But why were those areas important for you guys?

Well, I think to start them in Canada for obvious reasons.

This is the proximity, and we already have a solid season teaing whole are based from Ontario that comes over for games.

So Canada made a ton of sense to just continue to grow.

We sort of look at Ontario as a continuation of our home market, right, So that one made sense.

Germany everybody looks at it and goes, oh, a Monroe, and that that's a huge part of it.

Having one of the best wider series in the league.

Be from there, speak the language is a huge, huge advantage.

But for us, when we really look at it, there's a lot of synergies between Germany and Detroit.

There's there's flights, right, it's easy to get.

To from here.

There is a lot of commonalities in our partners forward as their European headquarters in Cologne, which is an area that we focused on.

So that there the other thing that we realize when you look into it, and this is true for some markets, but Germany stood out.

There are amazing sports fans in Germany.

They're huge soccer fans, basketball hockey, They're huge sports fans.

It's our job to now get them to converted Alliance fans, right.

They love The games in Munich have been huge, So we'll do some.

Things over there.

In Canada, We're gonna do a watch party week one up at Canada Life Place, which will be awesome for for fans up there.

I think the will be from Detroit that will drive over for it.

It'll be a blast.

And then we'll do some stuff in Germany throughout the year to sort of activate with those fans and continue to bring Lions culture to them because we are.

At the end of the day, We're We're Detroit brand that we believe is emerging.

Globally, and the expectation is we probably play in Germany sooner rather than later.

So obviously, but next year with that extra home game.

I think it.

Rod has talked about this too, that the likelihood that we're over there would would make a whole lot of sense, and that that'll be a fun week.

I think for everybody involved getting.

Over there'd be amazing to go over there and and and be on the ground with the fans.

Community relations is another thing.

What are some of the big initiatives that you guys have going this year that you're excited about.

Yeah, I mean, for us, we'll always remain focused on on education.

That's a big one for us.

That's our found focus is education and then access to sport for kids.

You know, we truly believe that that sports.

I believe I've grew up an athlete in Portland, Oregon, very mediocre athlete, but by grupit athlete, and I think the life lessons you learn from sports are huge, and so we'll continue to push getting kids access to that.

And then education obviously is an important thing to the Ford family that we're then doing through the foundation the other things Thanksgiving for us.

You know, the Lions were part of my Thanksgiving tradition as a kid in Oregon, which speaks volumes to the reach of the brand through the NFL, and so we love that.

We want to be as known in Detroit for Thanksgiving off the field than we are for on.

So we'll do some stuff where we'll focus on food insecurity, working with some great partners, Meyer and Lineage, Gleaner's Food Bank.

We'll work with them and really make sure that it's a great holiday for everybody.

When you have a holiday that's family, food and football, you want to make sure that people have.

Accessed all those things.

And I would make you guys aware of this too, because I talk about my son in hockey quite a bit as well.

But like like myself, Brian has to deal with the missing a lot of hockey games during the football season.

You got a sign he's gonna be a junior, right, You gonna be a junior at North Thorsville playing hockey.

So our sons might cross pass a little bit the senior versus the junior there, but that's fun being the hockey Dan I'd be a little remiss if I didn't ask you about the product on the field as well.

Just you're excited.

But look, I know your job is a hit a lot of the business end of stuff, but your excitement with the product that you're seeing on the field, what's been built, obviously the two go hand in hand.

The business part goes like this, when the product on the field goes like this, how excited are you guys for the product that's been built here by by Brad ray And and Dan and and just moving forward.

Yeah, it starts with football, right like that.

That's that's why we're all here, is to win games.

And I think you know, it's exciting not just winning games, like that's a big part of it, but but the way that we play speaks directly to who we are, who our fans are, what our fans appreciate about the game, And it's really you know, it starts with Dan in that regard, starts with the four family, but then really Dan on the football side, with the fact that it's a blue collar way of playing football.

We're gonna play a tough, physical brand of football, and I think that's something that our fan base really buys into loves can relate to.

And so for us on the brand side, it's just continuing to be authentic, just be who we are off the field the same way we are on the field.

And and it does make it easy, makes it fun trying to tell the my North Hill hockey team to have a little more grant, a little more jamm there.

So so it is fun and I think it does.

It does.

It's a huge advent for us, not just that we're good, not just that we play a certain way, but it's authentic to who we are.

That's that's the key.

It's a fun time, isn't it.

It's a roll in here and you know the roster set, You get excited for week one, you let yourself maybe think about what January February could look like.

It's it's just a fun time, and yeah it is.

And I'll tell you I saw I got a preview.

My guy Max in n Opp gave me a preview of the open video.

I saw that the other day and I got like, to me, it's super like to see those guys and and to to see them come to life and what I know, the way I know Ford Field will react to seeing that like yeah, yeah, I got goosebumpsh watching the other day.

A shout out to one Pride production, to one of the one of the areas that you oversee the social media and the video production, the Barrett who does our podcast.

Great great job.

We have great people over there, but it's an exciting time.

Brian, appreciate you taking the time and uh lines yeah, go lines