Jaguars' OC Shares Thoughts on Thomas Compared to Justin Jefferson

Grant Udinski is 29 years old but he already owns a lifetime of experience.

Flat broke as a volunteer college coach in 2019, he spent nights driving for Uber and living in his car -- until Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Snow found out and gave him a spare bedroom during spring practice.

Without income, and because the hobby cost him virtually nothing, Udinski became a hiker. And as his career began to blossom – he followed Snow and head coach Matt Rhule to the Carolina Panthers in 2020, and then landed with Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota two years later -- his competitive spirit pushed him to hike on bigger and bigger trips.

Now, the new offensive coordinator under Liam Coen, he’s hoping Jacksonville is his biggest trip yet. Here are excerpts from Udinski’s My Sports Update interview with Ari Meirov on Tuesday.

On Trevor Lawrence and his potential to return to the consistency he displayed earlier in his career: “I think it comes down to our processes and trying to refine those and stick to those. And if we can create the right processes for Trevor and, perhaps more importantly or equally as important, the right processes around him, I think those will drive the results, and those will speak for themselves.

“So, ultimately, it's just focusing on trying to refine those processes, trying to make sure that we're being supportive in as many ways as possible, and making sure that he has the pieces he needs to be successful. Whether it's the information, the opportunities, the practice reps, whatever it is, to create that environment for success and the circumstances for success. And then just doing it on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute basis will really ultimately determine that final result.”

On his front-row impressions of Travis Hunter and starting on both sides of the ball: “He's been an injection of energy into not just the offense, but I think the team. What you see on TV of him dancing around or bringing the juice and all that energy to practice, that is genuine. That's the real deal right there.

“So, he's a lot of fun to be around, not only because he brings that energy, but because he is a football guy, in the sense that he loves football, wants to be great, willing to work, wants to talk about things, wants to go over things. And like Liam said, I know he's mentioned it multiple times, he can run all day. … I'm excited about the challenges of splitting time between offense, defense, and the many different roles that he'll play on our team. And if there's a guy that can do it, I'm excited about seeing him approach that challenge.”

On comparing former LSU wideout Briant Thomas to another former LSU WR, Justin Jefferson: “There's a lot of similarities there between the guys, but there's a lot of ways that those guys are different. But, once again, I think the same excitement that I have for Travis, I have very similar feelings toward BT.

“Now, he has proven himself more than Travis because he's played last year and had a great year last year, but I think what we can do within this offense and what he can continue to do if he continues to work and improve will only really scratch in the surface of his potential, really in that regard. So, I'm excited to see what the final product looks like…There’s no misconceptions about the amount of work that it’s going to take for us, or for him or for Travis or for any of those guys, to get there.”

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