HBO’s critically acclaimed ‘Hard Knocks’ series premiered 25 years ago, when the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens were chronicled throughout training camp and preseason. It was a groundbreaking behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of an NFL locker room, the off-field lives of coaches, players, and other staff, the tough world of roster cuts, and countless other aspects of the sport the average fan previously had limited or no access to.
At long last, after previous resistance
over a decade ago, the Seattle Seahawks are finally on board. Furthermore, they’re the first reigning Super Bowl champion since the Ravens to be ‘Hard Knocks’ headliners.
On Monday, Field Gulls had the opportunity to interview Pat Harris, lead director of ‘Hard Knocks’, who provided some insight into the filming process and how the Seahawks have taken to their first appearance. A former high school quarterback, Harris has been with the program in some capacity for over a decade, and this year he’s tasked with directing a season centered around the Super Bowl champions.
This was a 20-minute interview, so some questions were omitted for length reasons and may be used another article, while some answers were condensed for clarity.
You’ve been around ‘Hard Knocks’ for over a decade, but this is your second season as the lead director, last year you got to chronicle your childhood team, the Buffalo Bills? Looking back on it now, what was that experience like for you personally?
Pat Harris: “It’s very surreal even hearing you say that I’ve been doing this a decade, uh, is still kind of crazy to me. I don’t really see myself as having been doing it that long, but that is factually correct. Last year was surreal. I think even getting to see some of those random phone memories that pop up, even knowing I got to spend time with my family during the month of July and August, which, unfortunately I have not been able to do in the last decade. I think those are just cool memories that I’ll always have with me and always kind of cherish. So I’m very happy to just [have] good memories.”
Did you have any standout moments from last season? I know Buffalo Joe, Joe Andressen, him making the roster again last year was great just for the local rooting interest.
Harris: “Yeah, so I actually personally love the Josh Allen, [biometric expert] Chris Hess stuff we did. That was a piece, actually, tried to… I read some stuff on Chris Hess years prior and pitched a piece at NFL Films, and it didn’t ever come together. So then it was kind of a full circle moment when we found out Chris was going to be coming to camp. I got to do some of the biometric stuff and the super high speed throwing mechanic stuff. So that was kind of a cool, personal project, getting to see how that all came together and then, kind of letting our camera people,flex their muscles a little bit. That’s always a cool one that still sticks out in my head.”
This is the first time a reigning Super Bowl champion has been featured in a traditional training camp Hard Knocks since the very first edition 25 years ago with the Baltimore Ravens. Do you think, in a way, that this actually can garner even more general viewer interest knowing you’re chronicling the champs?
Harris: “I would hope so. I think that’s our plan. You know, it was kind of similar to the Bills last year, picking some of the best teams in the league and trying to showcase the stories a little different than it might be with a team coming off the first overall pick, like we’ve done in the past. So I think the hope is that, yeah, we want to obviously showcase the Seahawks more, if those East Coast fans just don’t know as much about this team. We want to be able to take this opportunity to do that, but I’m hoping that, yeah, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than the Super Bowl champs.”
It’s interesting you bring that up with the East Coasters because it seems like the Seahawks have generally been perceived as this sort of afterthought champion, just like those Ravens were, kind of like an out of nowhere team to win it all. Do you see this as also an opportunity for non-Seahawks fans not just to get to know the team better, but some of the players and their personalities and also just help viewers get a better sense of ‘Ah, this is why Seattle was able to win the Super Bowl’?
Harris: “No question. I think that was kind of our thought coming in and it’s exceeded expectations, I think, since we’ve been here, starting with Coach [Mike] Macdonald. I think he’s just been incredible. He has welcomed us with open arms. He’s embraced us being here. And then there’s just so many personalities. I think it’s fun to see the players getting comfortable with us after a couple days and really just trying to, you know, being able to showcase their true selves, they’re not nervous, having us around or anything. So I’m hoping that that’s kind of the two-pronged effect that obviously makes for great TV, but then the random fans can just kind of fall in love with players and people and ideally an organization.”
If you could take a time machine and go back to, say, the 2013-2014 era, back when the Seahawks actually turned down hard knock, do you think it would have been an amazing experience to have ‘Hard Knocks’ be there during the Legion of Boom years?
Harris: “From what everybody’s told us here, yes, they said that was like the cliche ‘made for TV’ team. I think it would have almost been too perfect looking back. You know, I wish we could have. It’s been fun seeing some of those guys pop around training camp, even the clip we posted with Richard Sherman coming by [to see Bud Clark]. So I think it’s fun to see them show up, but I think that would have been probably a pretty iconic one as well to document that team.”
Some teams kind of run away from ‘Hard Knocks,’ some teams welcome with open arms. So what can you say so far about how the Seahawks organization has taken to the ‘Hard Knocks’ crew being there and just being a part of this whole process for the first time?
Harris: “They’ve embraced it right off the bat, I think we had a very good first conversation. We came down here when the Seahawks were first announced. Met with [Mike Macdonald], GM [John Schneider], front office, and it was amazing to see their—I think they were excited for this opportunity from the beginning and that’s held true all throughout.
“And I think that’s, you know, kind of been a trickle-down effect for all players and staff and coaches and the fact that everyone’s embraced it, has been great for us. Our crew, you know, we say countlessly, that everyone top to bottom has been so friendly and really welcomed us here. So I think it’s been great for that perspective. And I think the players just feel comfortable knowing their coach is being himself. They’re not seeing anything change. I think they’re just operating the exact same way.”
And it also has helped that the weather has just been lovely at this time of year. It dispels the myth that it rains in Seattle all the time.
Harris: “It’s amazing. I think a lot of smiles from our crew—we’re definitely used to camp, you know, usually being pretty hot and humid and uncomfortable and that has been far from it. We preemptively had to get crew sweatshirts this year for the first time because thought it might be a little chilly in the mornings, which it might be to start off, but again, that’s kind of first world problems for us. I mean, the area, the weather, just being right on the water, I feel like it’s one of those when the vibes are just higher when you kind of have that water breeze coming in your face.”
For the uninformed people who are just tuning into ‘Hard Knocks’ for the first time, how long are they scheduled to film the Seahawks? Are you going to be going all the way to cut down day on August 30th?
Harris: “Yep. So we will be here. I think our last day of filming, if my days are correct, will probably be the 1st or the 2nd of September. That Tuesday, I believe it’s the 2nd, will be our last episode, and we’ll film right up until that. That’ll carry all the way through cut day and then the way it works now is obviously [the Seahawks] playing the first game of the season on a Wednesday, so it worked out well. I think we’re able to get our last show in and they’re able to take a little bit of a break and then they’ll be able to ramp up for the start of the season.”
I imagine that the average fans don’t realize just how much filming goes into what is still ultimately a one hour show per week. So just a general estimate, how much filming do you think you have to do on a weekly basis? Like, what percentage of what gets filmed actually makes it into the final cut?
Harris: “We usually say about 300 hours of footage makes up every one hour of TV that we make, which is a crazy number, but having been on the other side of it and back at [NFL Films] going through it and seeing everything that comes in, I can, I can attest that it is accurate. Especially with, you know, all the robotic cameras, we’re filming practices that are 2.5 hours at times. So when you really start to do the math, it’s very accurate. And it makes for great TV, but it’s certainly not easy, to hone in on that one hour. It’s a grind for all the people back there. We have people working through the night now with the time difference [at NFL Films in New Jersey], basically have all the footage logged for when producers come in on a Wednesday morning that the most recent practice for Tuesday is logged in at their disposal. Just so we can kind of keep up with the relevancy, but also the tight turnaround being a weekly show.
The Seahawks had Sunday off, so no practice, no nothing. What is off-day like for ‘Hard Knocks’ as far as filming?
Harris: “That’s typically when we’ll go off the field with players. Go to their houses, hotel rooms, they’re going somewhere—the guys that become characters, we usually try to just ask them, like, ‘Hey, what are you doing on a normal off day?’
“I think we try to be as genuine as possible that it’s not as much, ‘Hey, let’s go do this thing and kind of force you into a spot that you aren’t doing,’ but if you’re just sitting in your hotel room and you gotta do some work or study your playbook or you like to be at home with your family and your wife, I think that’s when we want to kind of capture those moments or it makes the most sense. That’s kind of where you get that humanization of these players. And then also a lot of times it’s some of the logistical stuff: filming, meeting room, signage around the facility, or if we want to fly a drone or anything like that. So it’s a two-prong, you know, we’ll be away from the facility, but also there’s usually some work to be done here.“
When ‘Hard Knocks’ first premiered, it was a truly cutting edge, groundbreaking program. And it’s still a staple of NFL Films. As you know, media changes rapidly. You have so many teams resorting to in-house production and they’re having their own ‘Hard Knocks’-adjacent content, if you will. Even players have their own production companies at this and you’ve got other series like ‘Quarterbacks’ on Netflix. So has that made navigating the production aspect of Hard Knocks any more challenging when the landscape has changed so drastically over the past decade or so?
Harris: “It is. I mean, it definitely takes different conversations with how do we differentiate ourselves. I think the positive of it is that players themselves, and even coaches now coming up in that landscape are way more comfortable with the cameras being around. So that’s great, and they kind of understand the production world. They understand what we’re looking for. So that’s been beneficial, but it has challenged us to try to think more outside the box, think more creatively with that stuff like, you know, I mentioned the Josh Allen and Chris Hess, piece—that’s where we want to say, look, we might be one of the few places that can do that, that might stand out to kind of use, tools, use cameras, use connections, to make a segment like that. But also, again, it’s that balance act of, ‘We still have to lean on what the core principles of the show are, and that’s showing that access, and taking us places that the average fan isn’t, normally.’ So it’s this balance of trying to stay creative and stay ahead of the curve, but also not completely changing the style of the show.”
And typically, and you could correct me if I’m wrong, teams will have some input over what gets in and what doesn’t get in. Does that also kind of factor into how things can vary from team to team? Like some teams might be more stringent and other teams might be more hands off?
Harris: “It does a little bit. I think the one thing that I’ve kind of learned from sitting in the screenings when we watch it with the team is it’s always a collaboration leading up to it so that that actual screening really—it’s not as dramatic as I think the outside world might think, you know, it’s not like an argument back and forth. We being NFL Films, we kind of understand how to manage partnerships with these teams. So, the idea of like, even we’ve learned over the years, there’s no hidden cameras here.
“That’s one that I think in this new generation… people kind of think the style of reality TV is more hidden camera. So just trying to alleviate some of those concerns helps right off the bat with players, but I think we develop such a relationship that even the times that there are difficult moments in meeting rooms around the practice field, we talk with these guys, we get to know them, so there is a trust in place that, yeah, we might be showing you struggling, but the hope is that you could kind of take that struggling and put a positive spin on it. So it’s not a constant argument or there really hardly even a discussion for the stuff that makes the final episode and them being uncomfortable with it.”
Is there any one aspect of filming and production that you’ve enjoyed the most? Even just speaking as a fan of the series.
“Practice. Practice moments are always, always the best for me. Because that is really, like, at its core, what the coolest things are, and you just see, like, spending a lot of time listening to head coach, listening to Mike Macdonald mic’ed up, just to see his reaction to things that happen in the moment, after the fact, is kind of understanding him more. It’s been fascinating for me to just kind of peer into an incredible coach. So I’m always, you know, no matter what the player is—it can be a fullback, it can be a defensive tackle. I think anytime you can just hear what it’s like for these guys—and it’s not only the hardships, it’s like the fun moments, you know? They’re singing along to songs or when they start to make movie references and I’m laughing, and I think that’s what keeps me coming out and wanting to be a part of the show. Just be able to peer into that life. It’s just, I love it.”
We thank Pat for taking the time to chat with us, and you can catch the season premiere of the Seahawks on ‘Hard Knocks’ at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. We’ll have open threads in The Feed and probably do weekly write-ups over the next several weeks recapping every episode.
By the way, here’s one more teaser with Mike Macdonald and Nick Emmanwori.
