Read the full transcript from STC Chris Tabor's media availability on October 8, 2026.

So how disgusted were you for the first 5 minutes last Sunday?

Chris Tabor: Yeah, I wasn't happy. That's probably about all I could describe it as.

What sort of tactic have you taken with your group this week? Have you been tried to be calm and just teaching? Have you been angry, openly angry with them?

Chris Tabor: I hope I'm just being Chris Tabor, to be honest with you, I don't change. I don't change if it's going really good and I don't change if it's really bad. I think that what you demand and what you want, that should always be the same, right? I want to be consistent. If I'm going to ask them to play consistent, I need to be consistent, but we all got to get better. We have to play better, got to coach better, and that's a work in progress. I mean, obviously at the beginning of the game, to put it lightly and politely was probably atrocious. Then the second half was better, so we're a very, very inconsistent group. And that's hard, but we've got to continue to work to get better, and that's what they're doing.

What was the correct thing to do on that first punt return?

Chris Tabor: We had an employee not fulfill his job requirement.

On your first return, Malik Washington, should he have let that one go at that part of the field? What's the teaching point that he should take into that play?

Chris Tabor: He had a chance to maybe take a shot on goal there, blocked. I mean, it's easy to say because yeah, it's inside the eight. It just needs to be square when you catch the football and execute the fundamentals, and he can do that. He's a really good catcher, so obviously that was a disappointing play.

The catch was higher, at a higher point than you want a punt returner to field at?

Chris Tabor: Yes, correct.

What is the policy that, I guess this is probably more of a Sully and Haf question, but if you have special teams offenders who do it repeatedly, is there a certain limit where you just say enough is enough? I don't know if you personally have, and not naming any names, obviously. Do you personally have a feeling on that?

Chris Tabor: No, I don't have a feeling on that. My feeling is coach them better, that's what I would say.

Reese obviously pulled up running down that punt. What did you like about him to put him in that position at gunner?

Chris Tabor: Reese, I mean, he's played for us a few games here, three games, is that right? And he's been productive, so obviously when he went down, that was a devastating blow.

And what's the process like of now finding who will go at gunner?

Chris Tabor: Just got to find another. Someone has to step up and and fill in, so we will see what that looks like.

What's the most frustrating part?

Chris Tabor: What's the most frustrating part? I want us to play better. I'll say this and I said it last week, I believe in our guys. I do, wholeheartedly. Probably sometimes frustration is because I want it to happen faster, and at this moment, it's not. But for me to say I don't believe in him or move on from a guy, I don't believe that. I've never been that way. My thing is I'm in there with him, how can I make him better if we're still struggling in an area? Is there a different teaching technique that I need to use? My name's on it and their name's on it, so we're in it together. That's how I view it.

Is there an experience that you can pull from in your coaching career that maybe you've been in a similar position where you have a lot of young guys who are learning and the wins aren't coming, but a lot of people in the building are saying that effort is there?

Chris Tabor: Oh yeah, like I love the team. I do; I love the way they work. I get it, we're looking at these short things, correct? I'm trying to find other things. Have I been in a situation like this before? I have. I coached seven years in Cleveland, so I've been there. But to go back to it, keep coaching, keep playing, keep working and find out what the player can do, utilize his talents to the best of his abilities and then put them in those spots. That's what we're trying to do.