How's everybody doing today doing pretty good? Yeah, a lot No, I just feel like I'm just going out there and just having fun playing with my teammates not thinking too much And just doing my job You know, there's something that I can't control He's an awesome player a great player and would be fun to play with him So, you know, if we end up getting them then we get them if we don't then we don't but No offense to him. He's a great player I'm just glad I'm like I like playing with who we have here. So Oh a hundred percent. Yeah, he would be a great mentor, you know, I've watched de hops since I was younger One of one of my favorite players and you know, he just cares itself the the right way And then his game on the field just speaks for itself. So I would say just playing fast physical Not thinking too much and just having fun And you know, I feel like to myself that all those things are showing and I'm just keep getting better and better each day Now, what's the confidence level in that wide receiver that you guys can go out and consistently make plays? It's high because um, thank you You know, we just pride ourself on having fun. That's one thing coach. We're out teaches This is just to go out and have fun not think too much Everybody's gonna make mistakes.  Um, I would say on the AJ part No, but on the thinking too much. Yes Just because I'm just coming in I want to show what I can do and then also I'm a person that prides myself on I do not want to make a mistake and when I did make Mistakes last year I would just hold on to the mistakes and it would lead to more mistakes and now I'm just like move on to the next play Relationship like in terms of building with Brian. Um, I mean, it's fine Just getting extra work with him here and where where he wants me and then also just being there Even when he doesn't tell me and then him coming up to me and just like that's the I like that spot Where you were at just keep doing that and keep getting better and better My confidence just going out playing fast moving on to the next play not worrying about mistakes And just having fun I would say closer to the end of the season where I just finally was just like, you know if it happens it happens and just move on and It's progressed all the way to now So I just came into the league with a little bit of a reputation as a fastball pitcher What have you seen from him and in terms of his ability to throw touch stuff when I feel like well He's a great player. Um, he keeps getting better and better each day. Um I mean in the NFL it takes time. You're not you're not just going to come in and just Be the guy. Um, so you know with him just keep getting better and better and each day Just learning from that day learning from the mistake you made the other day and just moving on from Variations of throws. Yes What's more comfortable that you feel in year two just as a pro compared to last year? Um, I mean my confidence is out the roof. Um, I just I just want to have fun and just play for the Titans I would say I talked to Colton a lot. Um, he's very smart Intelligent, um, and he just he's one thing about me. Um with him How smart he is Robert asked him a question and um, he knows his stuff. He knows the plays And um, that's something that I kind of struggle with coming in And um, he's already on top of that. So I just encourage him each and every day Just keep getting better and better with his routes Listen to rob because you know, he knows what he's talking about. So, yeah It seems like your personality on the practice field is coming out a lot more than maybe last year Is that is that helping you as far as being the leader of the young leader and even just the outright leader I would say that just comes from having fun. Um, not going out there thinking just knowing like you're gonna make mistakes and just keep having fun Yeah, um, that's just stuff that I've grown up before getting here doing And it just took time for me to relax and get back to myself and um, you know, I'm able to do that now No, I I gave him um had soft because he you know, he had great coverage But you know, we we compete each and every day some days he wins some days I win and um, we just keep making each other better Um That's it comes from the confidence Where we talk go back and talk about me having confidence on going up and making those balls not thinking too much During the route just running the route having fun going up and making plays for a team.  So that's helped a lot. Um, just being able to go in with ryan malik And um, coach rob and tim and just get ahead on certain things and just making sure like when it's time to come out here and practice That I know what i'm doing.  Um, it helps a lot just because um, you know, I know he'll throw me the ball But also just, you know, making sure that I gang the confidence of all the older guys Them being able to you know, maybe one day go up to coach break and be like throw him the ball You know, he's I'm confident that he's going to make the catch And that's just something that I pride myself on just having the confidence in everybody and them and me And you know, we know that you've shown progress What exactly is it beyond the confidence that has allowed you to show that problem? Oh, that's a good question. Um I would say just trusting guy Trusting his process following the you know, the road that he's put me down Um, and just coming to work with my head down every day just knowing that you know, I'll make mistakes But I'll keep getting better and better Has it helped you getting more confident having a quarterback like ryan? Like kind of stabilizing you as a 10 plus year veteran and like having Something solid at qb throwing you the ball and guiding you through the process Yeah, that helps out a lot just because um, you know, he knows what he's talking about So I listen, um, you know, I haven't I haven't been in the league as long as he has So, um, just hearing from him and hearing from all the older guys just help my confidence go out the roof So So you keep us updated on any possibilities of adding personnel There's a report from the NFL network that deandre hopkins is going to visit on sunday Uh, can you is that accurate and uh, you're looking forward to uh making a pitch to him Uh, yeah Well, the first thing is we want players that want to be here, you know I think we want One people that want to be here and then we'll work through anything else and so You know, we brought in a bunch of different players Deandre will be somebody that we'll bring in next week early next week at the end of this week and Yeah, go through the same visit that we go through with everybody and then you know start the process What's the visit like that? Like what can you pull from that visit? I mean, is it a recruiting opportunity or like how did how did Is that benefit you know? You know, I mean, I'm past the recruiting I did that at in college And I mean, I think that again would really just want people that want to be here And then if that works out then you go on to the next step So this will this will be pretty much it until we you know, either sign or or don't sign the next player This will be um, you know Again, this if that's what you're going to ask your question about today paul Um, I'm going to give you another opportunity, but I'm going to talk about the players that are here And when deandre's here, I'll visit with them and then we'll move on when we Make any other transactions from there We just talked to trailing in He's just even different on the podium, right? We see him out there. He looks different more confident And that's the word he used just how much did help for him to be here with tim kelly Even last year having him as a mentor Well, I think just what it is is just a you know, it's a maturation process. It's it's everything in his life um lining up just personally and professionally physically Being able to get some footing and get healthy, you know, there was he was really making some strides and then unfortunately You know had a couple injuries last year and uh When he was able to be out there it was effective and continued to improve But then I just think the off season has really just set him up well for for where we're at now Yeah, like uh, tajae spears Do you try to throw as much at him as he can handle early on and just kind of see what sticks? Or do you try to gradually bring him along in the audience? You don't want to overload some of these these players these younger players to where there's frustration I think that there's a real fine line between that um You know, I think that's our job is is trying to figure out how much is Is too much and then pull back and always explain to him like You know, there's there's going to be a learning curve with everything that we put in um Ask you to work through that and and then we'll Try to pull back where we need to pull back So it would be the same for for tajae or you know colton or any of the young Defensive backs that are trying to learn a new or a different position Yeah, I thought it was you know good. It was competitive again. We're we're trying to You know make sure that we stay up and and take care of each other the When you talk about the red zone, it's just everything is a little quicker and happens a little faster the windows are tighter you know in coverage and so You know, it's a fine line between competing and making sure that you know in the spring that we defer to To the offensive player so that we're not you know putting in anybody at any sort of risk and that we're following the rules Herald out here, but I know he's been building working. How much can he benefit from this time? What's he how's what kind of progress is he I think good? You know, it looks looks really good. He's engaged in the meetings and You know, it's good to go in there and and see denico and and ardent and harrowed in there in the meetings with With crow and and and coach low And then the young players that are in there. So that's a really good mix and a really good blend In terms of his touch and how much does that develop with a young quarterback at a stage Like this and throughout his early years Well, I think that um You know accuracy is critical, you know the decision making From the quarterback position you know, so when you see the The teaching that can go on with the red zone and how quickly You know, you have to make a decision and then be able to to be accurate because of those tight windows You know, I think it's just a complete process. So, you know to evaluate anybody right now the Seven or eight practices of off-season work is not You know, I think it's about development and improvement and I've seen you know that from everybody I'm sure your reference in the 50-yard go balls where we're trying to get guys up to 90 speed So I don't think that's a very good.  So um There was about six or seven defensive pass interference penalties So when you're referencing, you know our ability to try to get players in 90 percent And I don't know if that's a accurate Description and certainly Accuracy is very very critical. We have to be able to move the ball down the field Felt like that was something that trailing was doing well and chig, you know, we saw him yesterday be able to do that So there there is a there is a timing element to them You know making sure that the ball is in a place where those receivers can go up and make a play Tell some of the Colton Dow was talking about deal with the highs and lows Of off-season. What do you tell young guys about getting too high getting too low after always just you know I mean really what we're trying to work on with mental performance and that mental recovery of just getting back to center You know one second you're up because you make a play and then you get beaten Like I told the team after the practice like this for andre dillard to be working against ardent key You know ardent's you know, you could throw seven or eight moves in one practice and that's That's good work. And so that's good work for ardent. It's good work for For andre and they've been able to take care of each other and stay off the ground But you know, that's what we've tried to do we've tried to do that instead of doing seven on seven is try to throw the football with With guys, you know russian and as long as we can take care of each other And and stay away from the quarterback and do all the things that we need to do. I think that can eventually help us Forgotten Well, that's your fault that's not That's why i'm trying to take care of today. Good luck These guys are tough They have an agenda Uh Hasan was And he and he actually came up again today. Frank and I were talking just Before practice. He is a player that shows When the pads come on like that's just what it is. He's not going to wow you with the speed He's not going to wow you with his flashy moves, but I mean it's a Very good special teams player for us a physical tackler for us He kicked off a turner for us It's a physical runner So excited for where he's at and how he can help and contribute and do all those things and And find a role for this football team, but he he is not going to be a guy that's going to you know stand out with Shorts and helmets on you know he Guy you put pads on and when you have to tackle him or when you have to start hitting guys Which is good for football. He does a good job at that I do feel you guys have handled just the distribution of reps So you got a veteran in tannahill learning the offense second year playing willis and obviously a rookie in levels How how do you handle distributing those? Pretty much how you've seen today, you know ryan goes out there with a first unit rotate the second and third I think the two-spot jog throughs have been really good. You know, I think there's a good pace to practice I don't think there's too many guys standing around and then we get back into the speed work and then You know allow everybody to get some work in the jog throughs both groups Both lines of scrimmages offensive line making calls Uh linebackers seeing run fits and and for the most part guys You know taking care of each other trying to get some of those runs in and started to fit some of those runs From a defensive standpoint, but just doing it at a pace that's conducive to learning They're in here working hard communicating I think that you know for the most part the communication in the huddle you know seems to be Good for where we're at at this point in time and it seemed like we're we're having too many calls repeated or hey I need another I need it again or you know guys lining up in different spots But you know each day we put you know new stuff in and you know, so I think it's been it's been good Well, it's continued to develop and You know has always you know has played well and contributed And played a you know a bunch of different spots for us down around the line of scrimmage Been back in the back part of the field and so you know Would just you know has when he's been out there. He's he's helped us and you know A couple injuries that he's had to work through but he's always tried to work through them quickly as possible and I love his communication. He could it's just him and kevin back there give you a lot of um You know comfort it's christian folton dealing with another soft tissue injury that's been the issue with him You've asked too many questions for today And knowing who did Our trail is going to comment on other guys's learning, huh? Trace at a low bar He made a great impact on his on the local pro day made a great impact um Was very coachable When we made corrections throughout the the workout he took to him Asked him to try to catch some punts. He said he had never done it. You know said just try it You know, I mean we're not gonna You know, we just want to see and evaluate everybody here He tried to do that. He tried to learn from that experience when we met with him You know, he was able to process the information with rob and the zoom and so we felt just good about You know who he was and he's continued to to get better and show up and Good-sized player and it is I think there's a lot for him to still learn and improve on How big of an opportunity does monti have this year to take a bigger role in the defense? And what kind of things are you looking to see from him going into year three? Well, we all have great opportunities each and every day we come to work. We have an opportunity to to prove You know the the right to be here and to to provide value to the football team Moni's working hard getting in shape looks good running around I hear him communicate more. I think I go by that in the spring with linebackers is When you can start to hear him more a little bit communicate and talking things through Fit in the right places That's what I see for moni. So, you know again inside linebackers It's you know, unless you're matched up in coverage I think the spring is a tough time to see you know when we get in there and you know for him to be physical And play fast and and be around the football and and hopefully knock it loose and create those types of plays that we We hope just from his skill set and then be you know the same Impactful special teams player. He's taking a lot of pride in being on the punt team. I get to work with him You know half the time over there Um on the punt team and he's taking a lot of pride in that seeing him and Giff in there So, you know, he was one of our best holdup guys I've used him as an example a lot of just building confidence on special teams and then you know just stringing good days together Which he's done Well, I just like his personality just to you know, the play will will speak for itself. I love his maturity is just It's kind of got things figured out. I like sitting there having breakfast with him and having a cup of coffee and talking and You know, so he's he's been a Welcome addition leadership you're communicating Looks like he's been here for much longer than what he has I Trey get get a number of the kicks at least so far in the offseason is he you know Is there is a pecking order yet or is or what's the the situation on no no pecking order yet? I know uh, trey's been kicking pretty much every time that you guys have been out there It's just the way it's been but kaleb's been doing a great job too. So we're Excited about the competition that bow trey and kaleb are having right now and they're both doing a really good job But yeah, there's no pecking order right now And of course what goes I mean how has it seems like when we've been out here he's been pretty good Yeah, he's done a really good job for us You know, he's got a lot of confidence coming in from texas tech and uh, he's striking the ball really well and I believe he's uh, only missed a couple kicks throughout the offseason and um Really proud of him the way he does his work each and every day and uh, hopefully he just continues to get better Are there areas you've seen him improve your one day or two? Yeah, uh, kaleb, you know just coming in from iowa last year We really liked how he kicked a straight ball and he's really improved and continued to do that Maybe even better than he did last year Leg strength same thing. We really thought as far as kickoff wise. He was really strong, but uh This offseason has really helped him out and his kickoffs have been even stronger That was uh, I know we've talked about kyle, of course had a couple of the bobbles But you guys wanted to give him you know more of an opportunity. How's he responded so far? Are you seeing sure-handedness or? Yeah, yes, we have uh confidence is back with him He's been doing a really good job same as mason kenzie same as eric Kiaras all those guys have been out there doing a lot of work With our coaches and us and it's it's been great. So yeah, kyle's got a lot of confidence back there and uh, you know Hopefully we see it in the preseason the same way as we're doing right now and uh looking forward to him Coming out there and showcasing his abilities with tajae spears. He didn't do much in the return game in college What were some of the traits that you saw that Wanted made you want to put him back there and how has he done so far? Yeah, one of the biggest things that I saw on film was his speed obviously whether it's offense Um, just going out there and doing his thing, but that that whole speed aspect Really got us excited and he's been doing a really good job Now he's had to learn it a little bit more because he didn't really have that many opportunities in college So him just going back there trying to catch the ball with a little bit of forward momentum He's continuing to learn how to do that a little bit better But uh, he's anxious to learn he wants to come out there and be the best that he can be and that's the exciting part about him With the new fair catch rule Uh, does that change what you look for in the kickoff returner at all? Yeah, and again, we're still looking for a little bit more clarity from the nfl about the rule other than if we fair catch it We'll get the ball at the 25 yard line Because there's other different aspects whether they kick off from the 50, you know Is it still going to be the 25 yard line? But yeah, I think uh scheme-wise it could be different each and every week Whether a team wants to hang the ball up to the goal line and we want to call You know call fair catch great But I think that's going to change each and every week for us Of what we want to do Maybe we want to take advantage of a kickoff team that stats wise haven't been really what you know Really good the past couple weeks, but we can change that up each and every week Is uh, is is mike uh ravel a pretty tough guy on punters Uh reason I say like like brett's comments sort of jokingly the other day wanted every punt out at the At the five yard line and so forth and and he's kind of you know Been critical a little bit of ryan stone asked to I wonder if he in general do you think he's pretty tough on on punters I think coach ravel has a high standard for every position Whether it's punter kicker long snapper a gunner a quarterback a running back Like we all do we all have high standards and uh ryan now kind of You know We he needs to raise his standards even more too. So yeah, I think uh, coach ravel does it You know where he wants the guys to be at their best at each and every time whether it's a field pun or a plus 50 And when brett, you know said that in his retirement. It was you know Tongue in cheek a little bit, but he he meant it though because coach ravel feels like Hey, you know our best players need to play at their best at any point in time and you know ryan Showcase last year what he could do for us. So We consider him a pretty good football player for us and we expect those standards each and every week You've mentioned specific things. He's worked going this off season. How do you think those are going? What's what's you still need to get better at? Yeah, uh, it's been it's been unbelievable right now We've seen the improvement You know last week he had one of his better days yesterday was was really good as far as his field puns We got to get better in a little bit more plus 50 But we have seen what I talked about last week was we're trying to match the hang time with his distance and uh You know yesterday was was really well Even though he was upset. He hit one bad ball out of about 13 or 14 As far as field puns are concerned, but we've seen that consistency with him of getting the hang time in the direction correlating For the snapper the holder and the kicker Do you start that process during this time of the year or do you wait until closer to rosters finalize? That's a great question. No, we try to do it as much as we possibly can early on Because you never know what's going to happen to uh morgan cox Ryan stonehouse all those guys, but for a long snapper or a short snapper We're trying to get these guys out before practice have them after practice anybody who has any ability to snap We want to see how they can do and then during practice We'll try to put them in at certain times to see how they react to guys that are really rushing Craig how is stonehouse doing with the positioning on the field, uh, you know trying to you know, keep using the sideline better Yeah, uh really well too. Um, we're not asking him all the time to Be the directional punter that brett kerne was Uh, because there's not many guys that have ever done that like brett kerne But um, if he can get it in the vicinity of what we're looking for, uh, we're happy about that So, uh, he's been really focusing on that and doing a good job too You know Carving out a role for yourself through special teams impact Last year you talked about a couple guys that had surprised you with the effort and the way that they presented themselves on special teams Has there been anybody any of the undrafted guys or somebody that's been kind of exceeding your expectations early on? Uh, I mean, I think they're all doing a really good job. Uh, whether it's tajae, whether it's josh wiley, whether it's colton dow Some of the other guys that we do have as an undrafted Um, I think they're all willing to learn and get better Um, but I would say, you know, I'm impressed by all of them because they're all coming to work and working really hard for us In trying to learn how to play special teams in the national football league Got touched on the kerne retirement from last week. I mean anything from his days with you that Uh, behind the scenes story that was funny about him or your daily interaction with him that That stands out. Oh every day Uh, you know, just the the relationship that You see him having with Um, whether it's teammates, whether it's coaches, whether it's with his family Um, you know, I was just I felt special being a part of his career Um here, but uh, you know every day was just such a great day to learn from him and and find out how he goes about his business and Um, not only as a professional football player, but as a but as a dad and a husband to um, Just learned a lot from him. It was awesome You hear players talk about how a coach made them a better player. Brett mentioned you, some of the other coaches through his life How did Brett Kern make you a better coach? Oh, jeez Uh, uh, in a lot of ways, um, you know, obviously he's such a great player And he did a lot of great things for this organization and he made my job a lot easier. Um, where Not to say you're not coaching a great player because every day we're trying to coach Um, whether you're a great player, whether you're an undrafted free agent, we're trying to coach him up, but You knew that he had everything in order. Um, whether it was his practice habits, whether his game habits, whether it was looking at apps for Different weather where he'd come up and talked to me Well, I think the wind's gonna come out of the southwest at 12 miles an hour coach at 12 33 and stuff like that But you know, you learn a lot from him and he just made my job a lot easier In this mini camp, what kind of progress are you seeing out of that receiving core room? I mean, they're so young. They're so Not a lot of um Game experience behind some of these guys Uh, how are they developing and how much more are you going to need to see once we get to camp? Yeah, I think, you know, we're going to continue to need to see Uh, improvement from everybody, right that You know, it's fun to come out here and throw the ball as much as we have been but it's not real football We don't have pads on there's obviously different rules and things along those lines that we're buying by but um with the wide receivers, you know It's been a complete Change in terms of the the pass offense. So they've been doing a good job Uh, really coming out and learning and being clean with their assignments You know, for the most part we're coming out of here and and everyone knows what to do And they're going going out there and doing a good job and and executing at a high level The thing that's been fun to watch has really been the chemistry That's kind of been built between the different quarterbacks and the different wide receivers So, you know, the tight ends and the running backs we can put them in that same category also So, uh, you know, they're they're doing a good job doing everything we're asking them to do We've thrown a lot at them. Obviously yesterday you guys saw some first second third down We're going to move into the ready area today.  What are the things you like about what you're seeing from I guess from Ryan Malik and Will and with I guess Six days left of work. What do you what do you need to see here as you're close things out? Yeah from from all of them, right every day coming out here and just showing improvement in whatever area They're they're really focusing on You know asked them at the beginning of of you know, whenever we got together the first time in April I think I'm really just trying to to to pick one thing each day to come out and improve on um You know, so For them that's going to be unique to each each individual and and as long as they continue to show that improvement and whatever they They're they're focusing on throughout that day That's good. And that's what we need all three of them have done a really good job of showing command in the huddle We're asking them to do some different things at the line of scrimmage And and they're they all three of them have have been doing a really good job and have been cleaning that aspect This offense feature motion And and what what can you gain from that as opposed to? having people still Yeah, I think uh Obviously if we if we feel like that's what's best for us and you know against that opponent we're going to utilize it You know motions can do can do a lot of things for you that they can You know, they can provide you advantage in terms of leverage in terms of grass in terms of numbers Cause communication or cause the defense to communicate But it can also do some things that where if you don't get an expected look it can kind of throw a wrench in your plan So, uh, you know as a coaching staff, we're doing a good job of making sure that we're going through and studying You know how different defense is kind of a Approach and handle different types of motions And if we feel like it's going to be advantageous for us, we're going to utilize it In terms of becoming more well rounded It seems like that his role in the past has been to either run a deeper out and track a deep ball Or clear out a safety for somebody else. How's he doing as far as adding to his Tool kit. Yeah, uh, you know similar to all those other guys. He's coming out here and made a good catch yesterday on On a shallow on a third down Came running across the field Uh, you know was available was was right where the quarterback needed him to be Um, so yeah, race has been doing a good job over the past however many days we've been out here What's kind of gone into your, um, Guess decision on who gets work win at the quarterback position as far as how the reps have been going with with Malik and Will Yeah, um, you know those those two have been getting equal amount of reps um And and really we've been trying to make sure that Uh, each guy ryan malik and and will that all three of them are getting Uh, what they need so it's not, you know slanted in any direction Uh, trying to be as fair as we can to make sure that that uh, Everyone's allowed to again continue to learn the offense continue to improve Uh, you know and it allows us to kind of to see where they're at as players When a guy's got a good fastball like will does how do you go about kind of working on Taking some off in the appropriate situations and working on touch Um, yeah, I think that's part of of learning how to be a professional quarterback. Um, you know Yeah, he can sit there and he can rip and he's got a strong arm But it's also, you know To to use the the baseball reference having a different pitch in your bag too if you need it No one and it's not just having it. It's knowing when to use it In in the location of the balls and and all that thing and and all that, you know That's a big adjustment for quarterbacks coming even coming from the sec coming to playing in the NFL It's a totally different game. The rules are totally different Obviously, it's a different animal in terms of the the speed of the defense and Um, and speed of the the guys that you're throwing too. So he's been doing a good job Uh, you know learning learning the different throws that he needs to use when and where to use them You mentioned the biggest difference in the offense is coming mostly from that passing game looking at the wide receiver court Specifically, what are they doing differently now as they're learning than they did a year ago? Yeah, it's just it's just different route concepts. Uh, you know in in terms of it's You know Yeah, I would say just the biggest thing is just being able to utilize different route concepts You know everyone runs similar routes, okay In terms of their ability to to run an individual route But we may be pairing them up a little bit differently than than we have in the past and um, so And and as you guys have heard from from a lot of people that I come up here and talk to you We're calling it different things too. So there's a little bit of a process that that goes through with that Um, but yeah, like with all the different techniques and in any different concepts that we may be running Again, they've been spending time in the in the classroom talking talking it over with the quarterbacks talking it over with the wide receiver coach You know coach more and making sure that everyone's on the same page when we get out here With levis he's discussed like higher standards, but also this being an experimental period for him And he's making mistakes. How have you seen him just kind of bounce back from those mistakes and and learn from them? Yeah, he's he's done a good job with that. Um, you know Now's the time to make the mistakes, right? Uh, you know and and so far will has not been, uh, you know An offender in terms of of being a a guy who makes repeat mistakes So that's the biggest things, you know, it's it's all it's all well and good To come out here and make mistakes as long as we're learning from them and and he's done a good job doing that Um, and and we have not seen the you know, the repeat mistakes show up Just is there a challenge when you're developing a new offense of Not wanting to lose what works for a guy who hasn't successful, you know, absolutely Like I said in in I think coach for able to hit on it at the end of the year You know, we've we've mentioned it a couple times up here like We've done a lot of good things here On the offensive side of the ball, um, you know was was the production what it needed to be, you know last year now, but It's not all broken, right? So being able to utilize the skill sets of the guys that we have and being able to To continue to do the do the things that we've done well here is something that We need to do in order to make sure that we're as successful as we want to be balance a uh, how do you balance Taijai Spears being a rookie and not wanting to overwhelm him with All the things that he can do and is capable of with a unique skill set Yeah, I mean we're gonna give him as much as he can handle just talk to well with everyone. Um, Again, that's part of this process now is to see what what can these guys physically and mentally handle. Um, and and you know They've all done a good job of being able to kind of answer the bell Whenever we put something new on their plate So, uh, we're gonna continue to do that in terms of the the passing game What what are you seeing from taijai? What kind of where was he and and maybe what kind of strides if any has he has he made? Yeah, uh, you know, you did The athleticism he's able to use to be able to get in and out of breaks has been really good.  So, um, again Looking to see uh, some improvement from him today as we moved down to the right area and we'll see, you know Where his trajectory ends up going Taijai spears and of course the versatility that he does have Are there any other guys that do stick out to you as far as their versatility and the skillsets that they may be able to use in other areas?  Does that change what you can do blocking scheme wise when you have kind of an athlete first movement first guy? Um I mean not really we're gonna ask him to do to do the same thing that you know My big ugly brother did down here and they're they're totally uh, totally different animals Tim with this being your second time around as an offensive coordinator Is it easier? You know, do you take the lessons? You know that maybe you know, we all get better when we see things for a second time around Can you point to anything that maybe you're doing differently or you wanted to do differently? Sure second chance. Yeah, I would say Being more confident in terms of my beliefs in terms of what I believe I want this offense to look like um sticking to that Uh, but in the same in in the same breath not being too proud to take input from the different members of the coaching staff I think we've got a great coaching staff You know from charles london to just now You know with haas with tony With rob all these guys have have a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of experience in different Systems and so it's been great for me to be able to trust those guys and to be able to take their input And all of us kind of put this thing together You know because obviously it's going to be a a different deal, but it's going to be our deal. It's not mine. It's not it's not anyone persons It's truly a collaboration of all those coaches in there. And I think that's probably the biggest take Are the biggest difference from from the first going on with it Crush you the most about maybe charles london and that maybe the influence he has on the quarterbacks. Yeah, he's very he's very um It's very it's very smart. He's very intelligent very even keeled. Um, which is probably a little different You know different makeup then then when I have them probably, you know yell a little bit more than he does But just the way he looks at it and he's he's very intelligent in the way that he's able to relay that information to the quarterback I think he puts it in a way to where um You know, there's a lot of times where where us as coaches we make things more complicated than it has to be And so if we're going to ask him to go out there and play quickly and play efficiently We've got to be able to present information to them in a way that's going to allow them to process it in an efficient manner Um, and and he's done a great job with that with those guys With guys like derrick and ryan who've had success obviously under the way things were done before As far as learning and adapting to the new system. Yeah, you know, I think that's obviously a better question for them I don't want to speak for them. Um, but from from my viewpoint, um, it's been great You know ryan from from the different meetings that I've had with ryan throughout the spring He's come in here and each and every day open-minded You know providing feedback You know providing different ideas And and derrick's been the same way. So, uh, you know, obviously I think that that question's Better sooner for them, but as far as from my vantage point, it's been great It would make clear you thought and expected kevin to be here when when the time came Seeing him on the field this week. What are you seeing out of him? And uh, you know, how nice is it to have him on the field right now? Uh, I'd say as expected, you know, um, like I mentioned last week or a couple weeks ago No reservations about him not being here. Um, just in terms of his ability to be ready to go when he did get here So it's good to see him back out there the energy. I think the the guys feed off him I think it's really good for that db group some younger guys Um, some new pieces So to get his voice in there is always a benefit for them. Um, so it was good to see him back out or moving around You can have that that grouping you touched on this too, but kind of after kevin and amani Not a ton of experience there. What's kind of the challenge maybe working some guys though?  So I think that third and fourth safety spot It's up for grabs right now, you know So we're working some different guys there modans getting some getting some work back there as well Trying to utilize his versatility and what value he can bring to us defensively But it's going to be interesting as this thing plays out through the next couple weeks and then the training camp where that thing goes Kristen Fulton do to keep I guess progressing even though he's not out there and What what's your communication like with him during the stretch? Yeah, I think with all these guys when they're we're not when they're not out there going It's what you can do you got to focus on what you can do being engaged in meetings Doing everything you can to improve whatever it is Um that you can when you're not on the field, right? So I think he's he's been in there. He's learning Obviously with crispy anew. That's a little bit of an adjustment for all those guys. So get them back around him And then just communicate with Sean murphy bunting The younger safeties and younger corners I think all that stuff's valuable right now that he's not missing out on even though he's not out on the field Of the new additions to the locker room on the defensive side Who is sticking out the most to you as far as their leadership and maybe their impact with the impact? Yeah, I think all the additions we've signed in free agency have shown up in in different ways throughout this offseason.  He comes into work. He talks to other guys He coaches other guys. He asks really good questions Um when what's going on with us schematically I think you you feel ardent out there Like you feel him his ability to rush his ability to affect the quarterback Like it's noticeable and it's been noticeable here throughout these ota. So hopefully that continues and then obviously with Sean Like just the size the speed all those elements. He's challenging. He's competing. Um, so all that stuff's been good I'm i'm pleased with all those guys Addition of a guy like that line up inside outside pretty much everywhere along with archery like how much does that open up things for Yeah, it gives us a lot of versatility, you know And I think the other great thing about that td is just the depth, you know We can plug and play if something happens one week, which Unfortunately the past two years has been more than we would like right but There's guys that can go in there and feel those roles and we got depth outside We got depth inside even if it's just potentially one person doing it, you know So, um that versatility is a huge piece. It adds a lot of value. It makes things a little less I would say complicated for us when we do have to transition if we get an injury or somebody's out for whatever reason Getting back in swinging it's good to see him back out here. He's been a long journey for him kind of getting back to where he's at now. Um He's challenging. He's competing Knocking the rust off early. I felt the first few few days out here. It was good to see him out here yesterday I thought he had his best day yesterday. So hopefully that continues Good great It was his birthday on monday So rookie saying happy birthday yesterday, but he's good. He's engaged. He's around. He's in meetings doing everything he can right now Anybody taking over the pine with the bend gone? Uh, not yet So we'll see we'll see where that goes. But right now I think uh harrell escaped on monday Yeah, uh It It doesn't happen overnight with those guys. Um, I was having this conversation yesterday just about jeff from year one Deal with the hto starting late To year two what he kind of was coming into his own and figuring it out to progress into where he's at now and he's our He's our guy that sets the tone Automatically we want to be physical. We want to be relentless. You see that from him every snap. I would Put a lot of money on it That there's not another deline in the league that plays as hard as jefferson has played and play out And when you get that from a deline man, it resonates throughout the unit Right, so I think his play his play style Is exactly what we're looking for in terms of defensive football here Um, and then I think the vocal aspect being able to hold guys accountable He's growing with that. He has and he's he's not afraid to do that. And I think Obviously he's he's became a veteran like he was young With daiquan jones and some of those old jurrell casey some of those older guys Who were good examples for him early on of what it takes what it looks like to be a leader here And I think he's he learned from them understand kind of how he's progressed and what his role is for us defensively How is it to have denico autry back and i'm just curious like he he goes about his business in In kind of a quiet way, right? But what does he like inside those meeting rooms and he brings so much knowledge I feel like to the table. Yeah, it's great to have him back. He's the old savvy vet. Um, He spun a beer round. He's a he's a country dude who's Into fish and hunting and all that type of stuff. So a little bit different personalities some of these other guys Um, but he's relatable to everybody. I think he's got a unique Store unique perspective that resonates with a lot of guys because he went undrafted And he's thought his butt off to be where he's at. Um At this point and then I think finding the success lateness career Also is a testament to who he is and the way he works whether it's here whether it's somewhere else He's been ready to go and it Again, he's another guy right now with us that when he comes back in it's It's easy, right? It's a easy fit easy to get him back out there To get him playing with the guys just because he's familiar with what we've done and where we're going All the changes they're going on an offense and maybe the up tempo How will that maybe help your defense and get ready for the season? Yeah, I think anytime you can Put us in stressful situations. It's good for us right now. That's what practice is for as we know It's never going to be perfect out here um But all the different challenges that they're presenting to us right now It's only going to benefit us in the long run. It might not be Be what I like to see every day out here right now in the spring, but um at the same time I know It's it's one thing that we're going to see now that might come a little bit easier to us when it pops up come fall You know, so um the tempo is always stressful for us. It is it's it requires Guys being locked in guys communicating fast It it makes us play with more urgency, which I would like to think we play with urgency all the time But as you guys know, that's not always the case. So I think that that helps us emphasize that So it's been good for us Settle in more maybe at the nickel spot that like he's done a little bit in in these OTAs How much can that kind of help him? Whereas last year he was kind of all over the place as a rookie. Yeah Year one to year two I think his comfort level with possibly being able to handle the in and out Is going to be a little bit easier for him Just because his knowledge his experience of playing a little bit both last year Um, but anytime you're asking a guy to do multiple things There's always a concern as the coach of what's too much, right? So we got to really hammer down as this thing goes and we're evaluating throughout and I spoke to a few weeks ago that corner position is going to be as competitive as any spot on our team, right? So as that thing plays out and we kind of see where we can get the best 11 on the field Hopefully we can settle him in somewhere where it's not as week to week and out and out This year rather to get more reps a big role in this defense Where would you like to see him take his game at the next level in year three? Yeah, I think for him it He's he's in that year one to year two mold for me, right? Because he he had the injury Worked his way back a little bit But this is a big development offseason for him I think the learning the understanding continues to progress with him I think having Aziz in there has helped him here throughout this spring as well Just the experience the knowledge of the game Um, but it's it's the consistency with all these guys You look across the board Year one year two year five doesn't really matter Like the guys that are able to do it day in and day out and be consistent and not have the laws Are the guys that we're going to be able to count on count on play in and play out on sunday, right? So driving home being the same guy every day having the same focus the same urgency And this doesn't just go for money, but for all these guys Where we can rely on your own sunday to be where you're supposed to be do what you're supposed to do And be locked in ready to make a play when it comes your way


Welcome back to Think Tech, it's Talking Tax with Tom. We're gonna talk about yet another slush fund. Woo, they're everywhere, we'll be right back for that. Welcome to the show, Tom. I'm so interested to find that you've found another slush fund. And we've been talking about slush funds and special funds and the like and money tucked away in the corners of state government for a long time. And now another one, what is it? How did it come to light? And what is good or bad about it? Well, we've been talking about rainy day funds for a while. This one is literally a rainy day fund. When Hurricane Iniki hit us in 1992, a lot of the private insurers who were insuring houses and stuff said, well, we don't wanna insure Hawaii anymore, they left the market. So the state decided to come up with this agency called the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, HHRF. And they put some money in it and they allowed it to issue, base policies for residential dwellings. And so they did. And then about a decade later, the private insurance market wasn't so jittery anymore. Insurers came back into the market. So there really wasn't anything for the HHRF to do. So it closed its operations in about 2002, but it still had a bunch of money. And at that point, something very interesting happened. I mean, the statute that created the HHRF said that if the Hurricane Relief Fund dissolves, then the money is supposed to go back in the general fund. Did that happen? No, it did not. At that point, HHRF had over $100 million in it and they let it sit there. And it still sits there to this day. Now, it has kind of a storied history because back in 2010 or so, you remember, we were just reeling from the great recession of 2008. People were out of work. There was like a lack of money everywhere and we started for a low Fridays. You remember that? For a low Fridays was basically a day when the state gave everybody an unpaid day off once a week because they couldn't pay everybody for seven days or five days in a week. But there was some concern about kids in our public schools because they weren't getting taught. And there was some concern that they'd be left behind and things like that. So some bright legislators had the idea to fund these instructional days out of the balance that was in the Hurricane Relief Fund. But of course, it'd be paid back now. What they did was they put a spinal tap into the GE tax saying that for a couple of years, the revenue from the GE tax would be used to pay back the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund to replenish it. So to this day, it's still there. It's got $186.7 million in it and it's just sitting there. And why do you ask? We already have a emergency and budget stabilization fund. It's got several million, several hundred million dollars in it. It got $500 million last year. It's getting $500 million this year. It's getting $500 million next year, according to the budget that was just passed. And so my question to the lawmakers out there is, yes, we need to squirrel some money away in case of emergencies, but isn't it helpful for you to know how much we're squirreling away? It doesn't really help anybody to have all these monies sitting around idle in all of these places where people don't necessarily know about them. So you can pull the wool over people's eyes if they ask what's the condition of the state and whether we have any money sitting around. Well, the answer is yes. And getting it out of there requires an act of the legislature to do, doesn't it? So it's not like it's available for the same purpose or even a related purpose of going forward.  And I really wonder, I mean, you're covering this and once in a while you write in Civil Beat about these special funds, but is the government responding to that? Is the government shutting down special funds? Shouldn't this $180 million be put into the general fund instead of being squirreled away at an item? Well, yeah, I mean, that's what the legislature wrote when they enacted the Hurricane Relief Fund program. They said when it shuts down, the monies go back to the general fund. Did they follow that? No. And what about the spinal tap you talked about? Define how that worked or worked? There are every so often earmarks that are enacted by the legislature off of the tax revenues that come in. For a while, there was a spinal tap on the GE tax to fund education to the $290 million a year. That went away, you know, maybe a couple of decades ago. But there are still earmarks on various taxes to do different things. Like the transient accommodations tax has a bunch of earmarks for land conservation and tourism marketing and to pay for Turtle Bay, among other things. The conveyance tax has earmarks. The barrel tax has earmarks. And this, you know, is kind of disingenuous really because when you kind of divert taxes like that, you really lose track of how much you're making. Well, yeah, who's in charge of that? Who's in charge of looking at these lush bonds and figuring out, you know, how to take the money out, how to change the purpose, how to establish them or terminate them? Who's looking at that? Well, I mean, you would think that the legislature would have some way of looking at that because they need to pass the statute that establishes the fund or terminates it. The agency responsible at the state government under the executive branch of the Department of Budget and Finance and we do know that the state auditor goes in and takes a look at pots of money that each agency has every once in a while, every so many years and writes a report because, you know, of course, the auditor has no power to terminate funds because those are established by law. So they have to report to the legislature which sometimes follows the recommendation and dissolves like unneeded pots of money so they go into the general fund or wherever they're more needed. But sometimes the legislature doesn't do anything about it. I don't understand the spinal tap thing because it doesn't make sense. It's not necessarily related. If you laid this down in front of some objective an analyst, he would say or she would say, what's going on here? It doesn't make any sense. It's all, you know, patchwork. It's a patchwork. I mean, even without special funds, the idea of the spinal tap really troubles me. Why do we need to do that? You know, if we're taxing people, put it in the general fund. When you need the money, as you need the money with a budget, take it out of the general fund. Why assign it to a particular source of revenue? Sounds like the, you know, very clever but lazy. Somebody ought to straighten all this out. It should be simple for a citizen to understand. Here's the reality. You get these guys come in for two years, right? And they do these clever things. The end of two years, you got a whole new bunch of legislators in there. They don't know. They forget. And so it goes on, you know, in the back room. Yeah, so what the legislators say is, or what the activists supporting these funds say, or the agency supporting the funds say is, we need a dedicated source of revenue for this cause or that cause. What's a dedicated source of revenue? One where you don't have to go back to the legislature every year and beg for the money. That's what their definition of it is. Even though they may say something else, that's what they're really thinking. I suggest to you, what we need is a consistent policy where you don't have to go back to the legislature and beg for the money. If a given expenditure is worthy, then the legislature should see that as a continuation of a consistent policy. This is really, you know, a way to ensure the funding to a certain agency or a certain purpose, which may change over time, like the hurricane fund.  Can I take a little of your time and tell you a short story? Sure. Early part of the 20th century in Maui, the merchants were very concerned with the bubonic plague. They thought that would be very destructive to business in Maui. And so they established, on a county level, they established the Maui Quarantine Fund. Actually, I don't even think it was government. It was just a bunch of merchants created a trust called the Maui Quarantine Fund. And they contributed to it. And they contributed, you know, maybe tens of thousands of dollars. But then bubonic plague went away. There was no bubonic plague. So the funds stayed there. Nobody did anything about it. And a hundred years later, okay, it had hundreds of thousands of dollars simply by, you know, appreciation and interest. And so the question was, what do you do with this? The private fund? What do you do with this? Well, you remember the doctrine of sea prey, Tom? Sea prey? Yes. It's an equitable remedy in the state courts, allowing you to modify the original purpose of a trust.  It was a judge sitting by himself, herself. You had to convince the judge that it was close enough so that the people who were established to trust in the first place would agree that this was a good change. So ultimately... And it's impossible to execute the current purpose of the trust. Exactly. Exactly right. And so, you know, back in the, I guess it was in the 70s or the 80s, a lawsuit was brought in equity for sea prey of the Maui Quarantine Fund. And the idea was, well, it shouldn't just be bubonic plague. It should be public health. That's okay. And that was granted. And the fund then, you know, became much more current and addressed all public health. So it seems to me one of the elements... We're talking about a lot of issues here, but one of the elements is the ability to change the purpose of the fund. I mean, in a transparent way. So everybody knows what you're doing. Don't you agree? Well, sure. My question is, why is there so much resistance to dismantling machinery like, you know, a fund for bubonic plague when the threat that it's supposed to address is no longer present? We have, you know, insurers back in the market that the fund shut down operations in 2002. Why didn't somebody wind it up?  We may as well, you know, save it for... We might use it someday. Yeah. I think what you're saying is, let's leave this money where it is. It's like a quiet bank account. And when we really need it and where we figure it out, then we'll come back to the legislature and say, we want to do a tap on this money and we use it for something else. But that's not good fiscal policy, is it? No, one of the things that you got to have in fiscal policy is you got to know how much, you know, you got to know where your money is. That's one reason why we rail against special funds so much that it's, you know, very easy to hide stuff.  How are you going to keep track of everything? Yeah. Especially when new pockets are created and closed daily, it seems. Is Hawaii alone in this kind of perverse way of treating these pockets of money or is this all over the country? I don't think it's all over the country, but I don't think we're unique either. I haven't really studied that extensively, but I am surprised by the extent to which we have, you know, special funds of this that, you know, this that or the other thing. We have thousands of them. And we have criteria in our state law that says, you know, here's when you establish a special fund and here's when it's not appropriate. And the auditor goes around and tries to enforce this, but every session there are, you know, bills and bills and bills, you know, adding or deleting more spinal taps on these taxes, establishing or deleting special funds. And on top of that, agencies can establish special funds administratively and sometimes do whether, you know, whether or not the legislature wants it. So there are all these moving pieces that not only the legislature, but the auditor has to kind of screwy around and try to grab. So we even know how much money we have in the state. I mean, one of the, I remember when Sylvia Luke, you know, our current Lieutenant Governor, when she came in to be House Finance Chair, one of her, you know, initial projects that she imposed upon herself was trying to find out how much money the state had. And she found it was impossible. Well, okay, that's a subjective conclusion.  I remember when Neil Abercrombie announced and announced that he was going to bring in technology to identify, you know, all the things we want to know about state government and make that information accessible to the public. You know, for example, I don't know if you remember during the time that Earl Anzai was involved, I think he was Attorney General at the time, the question arose as to how many employees the state had and nobody could answer it, not even close. Nobody knew how many employees the state had. Yeah. And that's, I think, another symptom of the same problem. Yeah. Because employees can be special funded. You have these pots of money and you can pay employees out of them. Okay. So if you have all of these, you know, moving targets as to where the money's at, you also have moving targets as to where the employees are because, you know, most employees that are on state payroll, you know about them because they're general funded. Some of them are not. So if I make you governor just for the duration of this show, for example, I think you'd be a good governor, by the way, Tom, what would you do to fix this? What kind of legislation would you introduce? What would it say? Well, I think for openers, I would want to go back to, you know, the special fund criteria and try to give them some real teeth. That, you know, that there are, you know, bad things that can happen to an agency if they have a special fund that's unreported or it's being used inappropriately. I think there should be some consequences for that. And then we got to start getting rid of the special funds we don't need. Well, how about the state auditor? I mean, it seems to me that, you know, if we gave the state auditor more resources, more people and we gave him or her this assignment of finding out where they are and making recommendations about either modifying them, like C-Pray, kind of legislative C-Pray, or terminating them and putting the money in the general fund where it belongs. And let's say that costs a couple of hundred thousand dollars. If we achieved hundreds of millions for the general fund, if we took it out of those dark spaces in dark places in the back end of the state government and put it in the general fund, we'd save the taxpayers a ton of money. We would, you know, realize enormous amounts of money, hundreds of millions at least. So to spend a couple of hundred thousand and empower the state auditor to investigate all of this would be a very worthy expense, don't you think? Oh, he's already done that. You know, during the pandemic, there was concern about, you know, catastrophic failure of the state budget because of, you know, tourism drawing up and stuff like that. So the auditor took it upon himself to look at all of the special funds that are recorded in the state-famous system, which is where all of the monies are supposed to be recorded. Note, by the way, that this doesn't mean that all of the special funds are there. It's just the ones that are recorded. So somebody can do something about it. There are, I'm sure, funds that are out there that are not recorded because the agency just doesn't reward them. But he took a look at those special funds that were there at the time and he did in fact conclude that there were millions of dollars available to stabilize the budget if the legislature so chose. And of course the legislature did not so choose. No, they didn't really have to because the federal aid came in and so quickly the legislature was consumed with other matters. Like, you know, trying to spend the money that was there and that they did know about. Really, we got to clean this up. You know, it's a kind of collective corruption to let it go, not do anything about it year after year. These special funds probably draw interest of less than a percent. It's a tremendous waste. And then they come up with new taxes, taxes all over the lot that are just piecemeal and these piecemeal spinal taps. And you know, it's really hard for any human being to understand what happens. The first thing we got to do is terminate the special funds and put all of that now and in the future in the general fund. And that means a structural overhaul of the whole notion of special funds, doesn't it? Yeah, I mean, we have to kind of get rid of the concept of so-called dedicated funding. The way our government system is supposed to work is our executive branch spends our tax money and accounts for it to the legislature so the legislature can decide what to fund. I mean, that's how our system of government works. And all of this special funding is by and large is some version of the process. Now, there are sometimes when you legitimately need a special fund, you know, when the feds want to see it. Okay, like the Federal Highway Fund does have requirements that we have a state highway fund, for example. So, yeah, I mean, there are legitimate uses for it, but if not, it really is office getting the budget and kind of blurring the power lines between accountability to the legislature and therefore to the people. Yeah, accountability is a big word here in this analysis. But you know, if you were governor, it sounds to me like what you would do is you would take the list from the auditor. You would add additional special funds that weren't on that special, you know, printout. You would find, you would ask the auditor to find all the special funds one way or the other. And then you would take that and for the most part, except when required like the highway fund, you would terminate them and spill that money, all that money into the general fund. And then you would have another part of that bill would say, let's not do this again. Right? Isn't that what you would do as governor? No, that sounds like a great idea. With the legislation you go along with that, I don't know. Well, it really depends on two levels. I mean, one is the governor himself has to pay some attention to this. And two is, you know, the leadership in both houses, they have to see it the way we see it. They have to see the special fund thing as a perversion. And unfortunately, this is not a campaign issue that they run on or that the rank and file legislators run on. So that leaves it, am I right? That leaves it in the hands of the media. The media and the special interest groups and the special interest groups are going to say, we need the special fund. We need the dedicated funding. You know, we don't want, you know, the agencies to go through the trouble of going back to the legislature time and time again for what, right? So they're going to argue, argue, argue that we need this, we need this, we need this. You know, it's so funny if you, if you walk the halls, starting in the middle of February, actually in the middle of December of any given year and through the legislative session, it would be crowded. The halls are crowded. And the people who are there are seeking special consideration from the legislature. I mean, do you know a business or a nonprofit accepting think deck, by the way, that actually does not walk the halls. That does not come with their hat in their hand asking for money every single year. I mean, half the business community is there in the halls asking for money. Well, the foundation doesn't.  We don't accept government money. Well, we don't ask for government money. Yeah. What I find interesting is, you know, you say, well, all those special interest groups that want to preserve their stream of income from the state. And yet, still, we have all these people walking the halls, a lot of them are special interest groups, some bigger, some smaller. And they, they absolutely require state funding to continue in existence, which is really too bad. That's a whole scenario, which doesn't seem appropriate. And so when you say that they're they're asking or they're there lobbying for continuation of special funds, well, my goodness gracious, there are so many of them. There's so much money involved, not only in special funds, but in, you know, an annual funds that really it's got to be cleaned up. And some of them, you know, I don't want to tell you anything you don't know. Some of them get the money from the legislature because of twist. And I am not going to define twist is an arm twisting. I'm not going to define it. Okay. Well, I think, I think we all know what you mean. Yeah. So, um, okay, let's continue to follow this time because I think this is an ongoing problem. I don't think the media covers it enough. I don't think the state auditor, you know, had had the respect you should have had in making that that list that report. I don't think the legislature was listening then or now. And it really depends on the leadership that is the governor and the two leaders in both houses to actually do something about this. And you can say this is low on the list of priorities. We have so many other distraction points that we have to handle. But after a while, you really have to get to it, don't you? Well, I mean, a lot of our distraction points as you call them, need money. And to figure out whether to appropriately fund them or how much to appropriately fund them, you got to know how much money you have. And we don't. And we don't. Truly and simply. Well, Tom, talking to you always makes me happy. I don't know how. I'm going to take a break now and soak my head for a little while thinking about this problem, which doesn't go away. You're crying towel is right there. Thank you, Tom. Tom Yamajika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, helping us understand what is going around the square building and what is going all around us as taxpayers. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on the show, Jay. Mahalo.