El HuddleWill Selva and MJ Acosta-Ruiz are back for another episode of El Huddle!
This week we're joined by Carolina Panthers Safety Xavier Woods! First, Xavier walks us through what a day in the offseason is like for him and reflects on last season.
Next, we he shares his experience at the combine and what it was like to be there coming from a small school.
And finally, he shares what it feels like to have a new coach leading the team and what free agency is like.
In Huddle is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio MJ.
We have another esteemed guest here on the l Huddle podcast and he is a safety for the Carolina Panthers. And if you're an opposing quarterback and you see this man, you don't want to throw in his direction because your quarterback rating goes down into the low six.
Come on now.
Yeah, So not a good thing if you're an opposing quarterback, But if you're him, it's all good.
Baby. Xavier was a safety for.
The Carolina Panthers, joining us the Hell Huddle podcast Exaber. So, now here we are, it's the off season. What do you do now in the off season that you can't do during the season.
Well, I mean, first off, just take your guys for having me. But yeah, and I'll.
Take my I would say take more like every day, take my kids to what they call them more in school, sleep in sometimes. Definitely get to sleep in a little bit more during the off season. But I would say definitely the main thing will take my take my kids to what they call school or therapy every day and just be there with them.
How many how many kids do you have? Exaber three?
Three three, two daughters and a son four to three and about to be two year old.
Wow, so so yeah, who gives you the most trouble.
The two year old the boy.
Boy because he runs, he runs behind the both of them, and so he think he can do what they do. It's kind of like, yeah, you can't do that yet, little buddy. No.
The thing is just like I have a boy myself, and they're almost like one of those like little super balls that you put in a quarter and into the machine and out comes the super bowl and you throw it against the wall because they just want to bounce off of things, run through things. If honestly, like my son was such where if we were in a large warehouse, he would find the shard of glass.
That's how he would.
Most Definitely definitely I call I call a three year old undertaker because in the morning she just wakes up and just she wakes up and just raid the party part. And then like I said, the two year olds like he wants to run around with with with with his older sisters.
And then the four year olds she's calm.
I would say, she's she's kind of like get out of my face.
Yeah, that track as the oldest daughter.
I got it.
Yeah, you get it.
Yeah, she kind of.
Three girls, and my brother is the youngest as well, So like I get the dynamics.
Like she looks like she's annoyed with a lot of times.
Yes, Wayne Till the team.
Have a teen daughter.
God, they're also close in age, so they're always going to be They're always going to be really tight.
Yes, Yeah, it's going to be really special.
Speaking of tightness, I think just the the camaraderie that you gain not only with being with your family, but of course during the season you spend more time with the team than you do with your That's just the reality thing for us. We're here with our coworkers more than we are at the house. So I'm glad you got that balance down in the off season. But what has it been like in Carolina, especially now in the transition. You've got a new coach, new guy in town, coach Canales, So there's you know, there's a lot to navigate through for all of you guys.
I mean I haven't been in, but I mean I think we're all excited.
Yeah, just to hopefully win some ball games. Definitely come out what we did last year. Man, we just want I want to win ball games. At this point, I mean kind of, it's more I would say this all season with the new coaching staff, it's more go, I just want to just see how things go. Just come in, just not really have any expectations, because last year, I think the expectation was through the roof, was just the coaching staff coming in, and so now this year, we just want to, you know, just come in, no expectations and just see how things go.
What were the text like between you and some of the guys when you heard that you got a new coach?
Uh?
I would say it wasn't kind of like it was more so just like uh. I think I think we're definitely all right, We definitely excited, but it was more so just just.
Like thank God at this point.
And I think just defensively, I would say, more so defensively, I think the guys we talked more about just our guys, our our coaches staying together.
I would say defensively. Offensively, I would.
Think those guys are side as well, but just defensively, just our guys are staying together, and that makes it, that makes the word that means the world to us. That way, we just having the same scheme, same coaches. I think it's all the coaches coming back, so that means that means the most of us.
That makes a difference, huge difference, you know, I just huge difference. I was I was looking at a picture of you here from when you were at the combine, and of course this is the option, like the younger prospects are looking at their future. Do you remember Do you remember that? And how vivid is that in your mind?
I definitely remember to come by.
I definite remember waking up at five am to go take adhearancean test. I think that was probably actually in the crazy part of our room with Jordan Lewis, who we ended up being drafted together with that.
I definite remember that. I definitely remember Indy at the at the little hotel on the ground. The hotel they have a little train.
I don't know I have it, but they had a little train in the middle of the hotel where you like you're gonna like tour or whatever, and look.
At it that l.
That led to the stadium.
So I remember that walk over and then just performing and then coming back. But it was definitely I definitely remember everything about.
It, right well, what was your what was your mindset when you were doing that walk. Were you thinking, Hey, I am a prospect from Louisiana Tech, this is a dream come true. Are you thinking, oh, sleep, I gotta perform now, I can't mess around, Like what was your mentality as you were walking into Lucas Oil Stadium and thinking about what was ahead of you?
I think it was definitely like, I come from a small school, so I gotta perform. I gotta put on a show out here with my test. And then I kind of felt like I was very I was a lot more confident in my skill work. I don't think I ran the fastest.
Forty that I could have there, but just coming.
Just down that walk, it was like, you gotta perform, you gotta pull on a show.
Just coming from you where you're coming from, you can't have me slippage.
Well, did you look at some of these guys and you say like, I'm better than that guy. I'm better than that guy. I'm better than that guy, Or you're like, oh wow, that guy's good.
That guy is good too.
Oh yeah, but I knew uh some of the guys. I guess I think I came out with Jamal and Jamal Adams and and you know he went to l s U.
And so just being I mean I went to school.
It was text so I still and I think jam I thought the word jama.
I thought Jamal was just one of the one of the best safety.
I think you think he wanted the best sad I had seen at that point in college. So, uh, then watching him do skill work, and then you know, I definitely had that mindset of I'm buried in a lot of these guys, and hey, this guy's pretty good too, So I definitely had both.
Yeah, it's size, it's a competitive nature. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you guys are together at that point for sure. You know. And of course last season, you guys had the top prospect, the top draft pick, Bryce Young. It was obviously a tough season for him for all of you guys, but I feel he really stayed resilient right as young as he is, and even through like the trials, I feel like he's a very grounded person and a very grounded player. How do you see your young QB really growing and evolving as you go into next season?
Now, I definitely think you hit it right head on. I think he's definitely grounded. He was definitely a good young man. I think I told his parents this is what I said. I told his parents, man, y'all raised the handcup a young man. I think I seen him after the Tennessee game. I told him that they were waiting for him. He just granted, like what he had to go through this year, how he just ballowed and how he just stayed rezilting, how he didn't blow up on his teammates or just you.
Know, losing and confidence in himself. That speaks the world.
But it started from just seeing how even the preseason game won, how you know, I think one of his first players was a sack and how he got hit and him bouncing up and just just shaking it off. Just how the course of the season went, how he just stayed, like said, resilient, just just humble and didn't blow up, didn't blow up, didn't blame anybody. I think that's that's that spoke the words. So not only uh, his guys, but just the whole team as well. I mean, because we know it was it was.
It was kind of a.
Disaster, uh, not not just over there, but just the team period.
So what we had to go through well.
What what effect do you think that coach Canalis is going to have on Bryce Young?
Mm hmm.
You see his track record.
I think his track uh it speaks loud and that's and that's one of the things that I said when they picked him.
I think he has a trem minister record.
And we with Rush, you know, or even Baker that was uh anybody say that we didn't. No one expected uh them to uh Baker to be what he was in Tampa Bay.
And they were. They were pretty good.
So take trat definitely speaks for itself and hopefully that he can help help Bryce condescend to where he's supposed to be.
What about you, What are the goals you have for this upcoming season, on this next stage of your career?
And I just want.
I just want to win.
That's the only.
That's the only like, the only goal is to win. I think everything else falls in place when you're winning. You get all the accolades you want when you wining. Some guys you know, oh never mind, won't say that, but you know, I think it definitely when you win and you definitely get you definitely get uh the accolades or the over maybe you get overrated a little bit when you when you're on the winning team, when you're making them part in the playoffs. But just winning, winning is the is the main goal. I haven't made the playoffs in the year two, I mean going to year eight, so that's the only that's the only focus.
Yeah.
You know, also, Exavier, so you were drafted by the Cowboys, which I'm sure for you coming from Louisiana Tech dream come true. You're there and then you're let go by the Cowboys. So then you have to then go move on to another team. Talk about like the process of kind a free agency or or moving on to other teams or for team doesn't deem that you're part of their future and they're moving on and now you're forced to move on and refocus. What is that process?
Like, it's definitely I've never talked about this, but when does didn't bring me back after my rookie contract was up, that definitely was like, yeah, it was like a stablished thing, humble. It definitely humbled me because you know, just being down He's on top of the world or in the league, and definitely definitely humble me. That brought me like back down to earth, made me want to work even harder. I was definitely just like sad and mad, just all types of emotions, uh, coming from that. Just and how that played out not even you know, not even a call or not even a you know, stuff like that. So that definitely was like a dagger. But it's something myself going to agency and going, you know, my period define agency period after Dallas, we had a we had a bad year, ye I think we were and I had a bad season as well, and so they kind of contributed. I think I was on the ladder end of getting picked up in that free agency period of Minnesota. But my mindset going there, no distractions, just keep my eyes for and just play the best ball that I've played and just proved, you know, prove myself right, because I definitely didn't have the best season the year before and we were terrible and playing Dollas. Everything gets blown up. So when you're when you're playing good, you're the best place in the world. You're playing bad, you are the worst player ever in the universe, in the Milky Way Galaxy, to the Dallas to.
The Dallas fans.
So minute, I just wanted to play the best ball and then just I contribute that a lot to Harrison the year that I had there, and so I think I played pretty well. And then just the the phrasing period after that that went totally different. After having a good year and the house picked up and got a nice contract with the with the Panthers.
Yeah, it all, it all works out in the end. But we were just having this conversation, especially about just humility and how quickly the league can humble you one way or another, whether it's in a game where whether it's a contract dispute situation or whatever. Right like, it is cutthroat. The business is just hard and it's hyper competitive. And thank you for being so candid and so open about talking to that, because a lot of folks don't see that part, right, They just assumed like I.
Was definitely like, you know, yeah, I was definitely. I was definitely down for a little minute after that. And then then even throughout just that I'll see that, you know, just and this is no knock on anyone, just you know, they didn't they didn't want me back, and then they got other guys, which which they've been a heck of a players as well, but it's like, damn, it's really like you think they're better than me.
Really, it's really how it was.
And so I was a little bit down about that, but like I said, I think I've taken back kind of. I think I shooped back well, and so.
Uh yeah, but just that was definitely uh definitely yeah.
Yeah, you're doing all right. You know, University built character for sure and through it.
Yeah, I know you really And honestly, it's just last year was such a trying year for you because a lot of fanfare with Frank Wright coming in and his pedigree and what he was going to bring, and then everything just kind of spiraled down. I mean, how did you guys handle that adversity, because that's a lot in six months.
Not just six months, even the year before, if you if you add that on what happened even the year before, that's four coaches in the matter of like two years, if you just so.
But it was kind of like deja vu, like.
When when they left, Frank goes kind of like he would go again, we just did this a few months, like a year earlier. It was a little bit I think this one was a little bit more like this one went over a way smooth than then. Then then the last year, how you know, Frank, we didn't even Frank didn't even get to speak to us.
He just left or what. I don't know what went on there, but uh, last year it was kind of like a regular team meeting year year one, and it was like a team meeting and.
Uh, what's I forgot the coach name? Uh, but the coach he came in like a regular meeting and then it was like, hey, there, let me go.
And then that's when Woolkes came in and so but uh, this year, Frank didn't get to speak to us. The owner came in. It was like, hey, we let Frank go. And after that it was like back to normal, to go back to meetings, to go back.
That's the thing. It's on the player side, like on the front office side, the coaching side, Like it's a lot to navigate throughout the league, throughout your career and even just on a season to season basis. So I'm I'm excited for it. Like it's very clear that you have the right mentality that you are already such a leader to the guys who are coming in now, so they're very lucky to have you. We're excited to see what happens this season, because you're right, there's only up right, So, like I think to your point, like, let's get out there. So I'm excited for you. I'm excited for you guys and to see what's next. Xavier. We appreciate you coming through and just a real real ass conversation.
Like for real, I mean this is not being fake.
I mean you just like laid it out, you know, for us, really candidly, really openly and honestly, and we really really do appreciate that. And we'll be definitely rooting for you, my man, coming up in this season and that brighter days and more wins are there for you.
Yeah, go catch those babies running around.
Thank you, thank you. Yeah hopefully, yeah, definitely win. I think you can only go up from two. That's it.
No, no, no, no doubt.
We reeked that, no doubt, only up from.
Thank you so much. In Huddle is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
