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Football Doesn't Lie: Halftime Coaching, Superstitions, and State of Officiating · Football Doesn't Lie

0:08
Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Football Doesn't Lie.
0:11
Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Zadzora, joined by Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells. Bill,
0:16
Speaker 1: what's good in you this week?
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Speaker 2: Everything's great, Catherine. Beautiful up here in the Adirondacks. The
0:21
Speaker 2: leaves are turning. It's one of the great places in
0:23
Speaker 2: the country, and I'm happy I'm here.
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Speaker 1: I am too, but you're not staying with us very
0:27
Speaker 1: long because you migrate during the winter, don't you?
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Speaker 2: You know, when the temperature starts getting down to freezing,
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Speaker 2: I got to get down there and get in my
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Speaker 2: pool and start swimming and working out and doing those
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Speaker 2: things down there in that heat. Got to stay in shape,
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Speaker 2: you know.
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Speaker 1: We're going to have to go do some episodes on
0:42
Speaker 1: the beach, I think. That's good.
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Speaker 2: Let's do it.
0:44
Speaker 1: I'm ready.
0:45
Speaker 2: I love it.
0:46
Speaker 1: So, ladies and gentlemen, don't forget to subscribe to Football
0:48
Speaker 1: Doesn't Lie on whatever platform you're listening on so you
0:52
Speaker 1: never miss a new episode. They drop every Thursday. Each week,
0:56
Speaker 1: you'll get an inside look at the game from our
0:58
Speaker 1: very own Hall of Fame coach, Bill Parcells. His stories,
1:01
Speaker 1: his perspective, and insights you simply aren't going to get
1:04
Speaker 1: anywhere else. Are you ready to rock and roll?
1:07
Speaker 2: If you're waiting on me, you're backing up, Catherine.
1:09
Speaker 1: Let's go then. All right. I want to start off
1:12
Speaker 1: with the Cincinnati Bengals game because they were down 13
1:15
Speaker 1: to zero at halftime against the Baltimore Ravens. Bengals ended
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Speaker 1: up tying them in the third and dominated the last quarter.
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Speaker 1: Very exciting to watch. They ended up scoring 35 unanswered
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Speaker 1: points in the second half against the Ravens. Now, side note,
1:29
Speaker 1: and I know he's not a big producer, but I
1:31
Speaker 1: was really enthralled with the Jacoby Lane's catches. He had
1:35
Speaker 1: some really good catches in the first half. But again,
1:39
Speaker 1: we'll see if that keeps up. Going back to halftime, though,
1:43
Speaker 1: because they really turned it around. In your experience, what
1:47
Speaker 1: is it like in the halftime? What are you telling
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Speaker 1: the guys? What are they doing just to kind of
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Speaker 1: switch that mentality?
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Speaker 2: Well, Catherine, halftime in the NFL consists of 13 minutes.
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Speaker 2: You don't have time to do a lot of things.
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Speaker 2: And if you don't have your halftime, Completely structured. It's chaos.
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Speaker 2: You have assistant coaches running around there trying to talk
2:10
Speaker 2: to their players. Everybody's got something to say. Players are
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Speaker 2: going to the training room. So I had a very
2:16
Speaker 2: explicit structure. And here's what it consisted of. And we
2:21
Speaker 2: only have 13 minutes now. The first 10 minutes, I
2:26
Speaker 2: wanted to leave the players alone. No coaches talking to players.
2:31
Speaker 2: Coaches are in the coach's room, and we are discussing
2:36
Speaker 2: our strategy for the second half, what we learned from
2:40
Speaker 2: our experience in the first half, and how we're going
2:44
Speaker 2: to plan to attack them, especially if we're getting the
2:46
Speaker 2: ball to start the second half. It's a complete structure.
2:50
Speaker 2: And if you don't give the players a little time
2:54
Speaker 2: to decompress, And relax and get their head on straight.
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Speaker 2: It gets to be a chaotic environment, which is very
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Speaker 2: counterproductive to your success. So first nine or 10 minutes
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Speaker 2: by themselves, decompress, get your equipment, go to the training room.
3:14
Speaker 2: At the 10 minute mark, you position coaches, you go
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Speaker 2: talk to your players and make it short. Tell them
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Speaker 2: what you've seen. Tell them what you want them to
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Speaker 2: concentrate on second half. And then the last minute is
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Speaker 2: for the head coach. And it didn't take me more
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Speaker 2: than 30 seconds. Fellas were getting the ball. Here's what
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Speaker 2: we're going to do. Here's what we have to do
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Speaker 2: to alter our path, like apparently Cincinnati did. Or if
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Speaker 2: we're ahead, let's just start fast in the third quarter.
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Speaker 2: Let's not give them any hope. Let's try to put
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Speaker 2: the nail in the coffin right early in the third
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Speaker 2: quarter so they don't have any hope going into the
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Speaker 2: end of the game.
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Speaker 1: So knowing that there's only 13 minutes and it's so structured,
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Speaker 1: do you have a stopwatch? How do you know when
4:00
Speaker 1: it's time to get out?
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Speaker 2: First of all, the officials come to the door with
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Speaker 2: two minutes remaining and they give, and I usually stood
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Speaker 2: by the door near waiting for the officials. And with
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Speaker 2: two minutes ago, they come by and say, two minute
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Speaker 2: warning coach, you got to be out there in two minutes. Well,
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Speaker 2: When that happened, I wanted dead silence. I didn't want
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Speaker 2: anybody moving around. I didn't want anybody talking. They should
4:23
Speaker 2: have had time to take care of all their business,
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Speaker 2: whatever it was, training room, bathroom, whatever it was. It
4:30
Speaker 2: should be done by them. The assistant coaches have already
4:33
Speaker 2: talked to the players. And then I have the last
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Speaker 2: minute to tell them the way we're going to go forward.
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Speaker 1: And everybody always followed that rule?
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Speaker 2: Well, I had a young coach that came to me
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Speaker 2: from the Detroit Lions, and he was kind of an
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Speaker 2: independent operator. And in our first preseason game, I won't
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Speaker 2: mention his name, but in our first preseason game in
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Speaker 2: the summer, which now we have 75 players, so it's
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Speaker 2: more chaotic than when you have 53. He's in there
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Speaker 2: running around. He misses the coaches meeting. He doesn't come.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't show up. So I had a little talk
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Speaker 2: with him after the game. And I said, listen, our
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Speaker 2: halftime is going to be structured a certain way. I
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Speaker 2: learned this in high school from my high school coach
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Speaker 2: and my college coaches. Here's what we're doing at halftime.
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Speaker 2: And you are going to be a participant. And if
5:22
Speaker 2: you miss the coaches meeting like you did again, you're
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Speaker 2: probably not going to have a job on Monday.
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Speaker 1: Oh, that would be a hard conversation to have with
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Speaker 1: your wife.
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Speaker 2: Well, you just got to get it the way you
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Speaker 2: want it, Catherine. Halftime is a very important time. And
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Speaker 2: if you don't watch it, it gets away from you
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Speaker 2: immediately because you only have 13 minutes. And so I
5:41
Speaker 2: had a very tight structure. Leave the players alone. Let
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Speaker 2: them decompress. Position coaches then talk to the players. Very
5:47
Speaker 2: short time. And then at the end, I get to
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Speaker 2: say what I want to say.
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Speaker 1: Now, when you do share what you want to say,
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Speaker 1: obviously you're talking about what they're doing in the second half.
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Speaker 1: But you're also known for having quotes. Do you give
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Speaker 1: them like a... A pep talk, a little like hurrah
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Speaker 1: at the end? Because you don't like when I use
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Speaker 1: the word pep talk. As you said, I'm not giving
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Speaker 1: them a pep talk. I'm teaching them.
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Speaker 2: I'm trying to teach them. I've referenced this before on
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Speaker 2: the show. What are the things that cause us to lose?
6:19
Speaker 2: And what are the things that allow us to win?
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Speaker 2: And my points of emphasis are always on that. Now,
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Speaker 2: usually at halftime, I said something about, fellas, we need
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Speaker 2: to start fast in the third quarter. Don't go out
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Speaker 2: there and be wandering around for the first five minutes
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Speaker 2: of third quarter. Let's go. We're coming out, and we
6:39
Speaker 2: come out of the, to use a rodeo term, we're
6:41
Speaker 2: coming out of the gate bucking. And so let's go now.
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Speaker 1: So you're essentially teaching them a little bit of mental,
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Speaker 1: what I would call fortitude, but I think you'd call
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Speaker 1: it mental discipline.
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Speaker 2: Mental discipline. You have to live within structure. And if not,
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Speaker 2: chaos occurs. And when chaos occurs... It's like pandemonium. You
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Speaker 2: don't get anything done. So halftime was an explicit, structured,
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Speaker 2: short period of time when you try to get your
7:11
Speaker 2: team mentally geared up for the second half and also
7:15
Speaker 2: explain to them the strategical part of the game that
7:18
Speaker 2: you might have altered at halftime, something else you're going
7:22
Speaker 2: to do a little different, those kind of things. But
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Speaker 2: let's get back to the task.
7:27
Speaker 1: I wish I would have been there at halftime in
7:29
Speaker 1: the Bengals game. change room just to see what was
7:32
Speaker 1: said because they really turned it around. I was really impressed.
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Speaker 2: So was I. And the thing about the Bengals, the
7:38
Speaker 2: Bengals have always been a pretty good team offensively. But
7:43
Speaker 2: what gets me thinking about them as maybe a legitimate contender,
7:48
Speaker 2: and I'm not ready to say that quite yet, but
7:50
Speaker 2: their defense this year is much better than the traditional
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Speaker 2: Bengals defense has been. So I think they got a
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Speaker 2: legitimate chance.
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Speaker 1: Oh, interesting.
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Speaker 2: Well, Jacksonville's the same way, exactly, almost. They look like
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Speaker 2: they're pretty prolific on offense, but their defense is better
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Speaker 2: than it has been. So those are two teams there
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Speaker 2: in the AFC, along with Kansas City, that I think
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Speaker 2: you're going to see contenders. New England looks pretty good, too,
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Speaker 2: even though they've had a little setback here and there.
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Speaker 2: They still look like, to me, they might be a factor.
8:27
Speaker 1: Oh, it's getting exciting.
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Speaker 2: It is. Let's go.
8:29
Speaker 1: Let's go.
8:30
Speaker 2: Let's wait until Thanksgiving, though, okay?
8:33
Speaker 1: It's in my calendar. It's in my calendar. I'm marking it.
8:37
Speaker 1: So another actually really good one, and they remain undefeated,
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Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. They beat the Colts, so now they're 6-0.
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Speaker 1: Once again, the defense was completely dominant, and the offense
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Speaker 1: only scored one touchdown and ended up with 16 points.
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Speaker 1: And we've talked in the past about the Bills, right?
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Speaker 1: The Bills' defensive struggles. and how it's not sustainable in
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Speaker 1: the long run. Do you find, flipping it around with
9:03
Speaker 1: the Vikings, that having that offense, because they have only
9:07
Speaker 1: scored over 20 points twice this season, do you think
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Speaker 1: that level of offense is sustainable for the Vikings?
9:12
Speaker 2: You know, you've got it exactly right, Catherine. The answer
9:15
Speaker 2: to the question is no. If they don't improve offensively,
9:19
Speaker 2: no matter how good their defense is, it's just the
9:22
Speaker 2: reverse of Buffalo. Buffalo's defense got to tighten up, but
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Speaker 2: you have to produce points in this league. You know,
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Speaker 2: you've got teams like Dallas that are prolific on offense
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Speaker 2: in the NFC. You're going to have to see them sometime.
9:35
Speaker 2: And unless you can put points on the board, the
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Speaker 2: answer to the question is no, I don't think it's sustainable.
9:41
Speaker 2: But the further they go, the better chance they have.
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Speaker 2: And they've been doing very well. And I take my
9:46
Speaker 2: hat off to them. It's not pretty, but the results
9:50
Speaker 2: are good.
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Speaker 1: You know, I'm actually really excited to see the Vikings
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Speaker 1: against the Bills just because one has a strong offense,
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Speaker 1: one has a strong defense.
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Speaker 2: Exactly. I know you seem to have adopted the Vikings.
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Speaker 2: as your kind of in-house... Who is it? Are we
10:07
Speaker 2: just one of those multiple fans that picks out the
10:10
Speaker 2: team that's ahead for the week? Or aren't the Bills
10:13
Speaker 2: your team?
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Speaker 1: So respectfully, I don't actually have a team because I'm
10:17
Speaker 1: so new to the game. The Bills is kind of,
10:19
Speaker 1: because I'm in Saratoga Springs, we have a lot of
10:21
Speaker 1: Bills-backed bars. I feel like I've watched a lot of
10:24
Speaker 1: them and I appreciate them and I know more because
10:26
Speaker 1: I hear people talk about it. But talking about all
10:29
Speaker 1: these teams with you, I feel like hopefully by the
10:32
Speaker 1: end of the season, I will have a team. Right now,
10:35
Speaker 1: I'm just so fascinated by all of them and really
10:37
Speaker 1: analyzing before I jump in because I wasn't raised, you know,
10:41
Speaker 1: with a family that followed, like, we're, you know, we're
10:43
Speaker 1: Raiders team, that's it. Or, you know, so this is
10:46
Speaker 1: all new to me and I'm really enjoying it. But
10:49
Speaker 1: I do know that the Vikings are playing the Bills
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Speaker 1: on Monday Night Football, November 9th, and I'm going to
10:53
Speaker 1: be watching that.
10:54
Speaker 2: I know, but who are you going to be rooting for, Catherine?
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Speaker 1: I think I'm going to go for with the Bills.
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Speaker 2: Well, that's your team. Maybe. You're from the area. I understand.
11:03
Speaker 2: You have to have the degree of allegiance now. Yeah.
11:06
Speaker 2: When they play each other, you can't be split. You've
11:08
Speaker 2: got to tell us who you want. The Bills, right? Oh,
11:11
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm going to write that on my chalkboard.
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Speaker 2: I'm going to write it down. I'm going to say
11:17
Speaker 2: Catherine's for the Bills.
11:19
Speaker 1: Well, you know, yeah. As long as Josh Allen is playing,
11:21
Speaker 1: I'll be for the Bills. How about that?
11:23
Speaker 2: Hey. I wish he was playing for me. I like him.
11:26
Speaker 2: He's one of the great ones.
11:27
Speaker 1: I know, him and Mahomes.
11:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, both of them.
11:47
Speaker 1: While talking about the Vikings, they actually traded J.J. McCarthy
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Speaker 1: to the Giants, and what a huge... triumph for McCarthy's
11:54
Speaker 1: first Giants start. They won big against the Texans, and
11:58
Speaker 1: I call it an overtime thriller. Did you catch the... Well,
12:02
Speaker 1: of course you catch the game.
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Speaker 2: Yes, I did. Well, you know, I go back to
12:07
Speaker 2: the circumstances that created this trade. When you lose your
12:12
Speaker 2: starting quarterback, it is a very traumatic experience for your franchise,
12:17
Speaker 2: for your players, for your organization. And the Giants... to
12:22
Speaker 2: their credit, acted quickly. They made a trade. They think
12:26
Speaker 2: they have a competitive team. And that trade is an
12:30
Speaker 2: indicator that they really believe they have a chance or
12:34
Speaker 2: they wouldn't have wasted draft choices and things like that
12:38
Speaker 2: to acquire that player. They think they have a chance
12:42
Speaker 2: to compete this year. And they think, and apparently they're correct,
12:46
Speaker 2: that this guy is going to give them a good
12:48
Speaker 2: chance to compete.
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Speaker 1: Well, I was actually quite surprised because McCarthy had a
12:53
Speaker 1: challenging and limited stint beforehand. But we talked about this
12:57
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago with Kirk Cousins coming to the Raiders,
13:00
Speaker 1: how sometimes you can have the talent, but you don't
13:04
Speaker 1: necessarily have the system to shine. And with Kirk Cousins,
13:07
Speaker 1: he came back and he's got the right coach, the
13:10
Speaker 1: right team. And it looks like J.J. McCarthy coming to
13:13
Speaker 1: the Giants was maybe that for him.
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Speaker 2: Catherine, it's exactly what you just said. Sometimes the environment
13:20
Speaker 2: is what you need. And you get to the right
13:22
Speaker 2: place with the right coach that can teach you the
13:27
Speaker 2: system and the system fits you well. And it looks
13:31
Speaker 2: like that's the case with McCarthy and upward and onward.
13:35
Speaker 2: And it was a very, very good move by the Giants, apparently.
13:39
Speaker 2: And it was also an indicator that they think that
13:43
Speaker 2: they have a legitimate chance this year or they wouldn't
13:46
Speaker 2: have made the trade. They'd be planning on next year
13:49
Speaker 2: or the year after. So they made it with the
13:52
Speaker 2: intent of we're competing right now.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, obviously, McCarthy must have a new level of confidence.
13:57
Speaker 1: But you've always told me that confidence comes from demonstrated ability.
14:02
Speaker 1: I love that saying.
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Speaker 2: That's true. You have to show yourself you can do it.
14:07
Speaker 2: And when you're a new player coming to a new team,
14:10
Speaker 2: you have to show that team that you can do it.
14:12
Speaker 2: And it couldn't have started better. Yeah.
14:15
Speaker 1: And now, so McCarthy clearly has the confidence, but as
14:18
Speaker 1: a coaching staff, do you think they share the same confidence?
14:21
Speaker 1: Because yes, he demonstrated the ability, but it was only
14:23
Speaker 1: for one game and knock on wood, hopefully it keeps going.
14:27
Speaker 1: But do you feel like you need to see a
14:29
Speaker 1: bit as a coach? Do you need to see more
14:30
Speaker 1: from him before you make that? Okay.
14:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
14:32
Speaker 1: No, we're good.
14:34
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to the question exactly, but
14:37
Speaker 2: You have to have constant conversations with the new player,
14:41
Speaker 2: particularly at the quarterback position. And you have to gain
14:44
Speaker 2: an understanding of the concepts that you're currently using that
14:49
Speaker 2: he likes, okay? And the ones also that he's not
14:54
Speaker 2: as sure about. So you want the player to have
14:57
Speaker 2: the opportunity to be successful, but you have to work
15:01
Speaker 2: with him and jointly decide, well, here are the things
15:05
Speaker 2: that I like to do, coach. Here's the concepts that
15:08
Speaker 2: I understand well. Here's what I feel like I can execute.
15:12
Speaker 2: And then you try to structure your game plan in
15:15
Speaker 2: line with that. Now, I can just tell you one
15:17
Speaker 2: quick story about two quarterbacks. I had a quarterback named
15:21
Speaker 2: Phil Sims, a traditional job back quarterback, was a very
15:25
Speaker 2: good player for me. And he got hurt. Ninth, tenth
15:29
Speaker 2: game of the season. We still had six games to go.
15:32
Speaker 2: And I had a backup quarterback. named Jeff Hosteller. Now,
15:37
Speaker 2: Jeff Hosteller wasn't a rookie. He'd been with us four
15:39
Speaker 2: or five years, so we knew what he could do.
15:43
Speaker 2: But it was a diametric opposite of what Sims was.
15:48
Speaker 2: He was not a traditional dropback quarterback. He was very athletic.
15:53
Speaker 2: He would like to sprint out. He rolled out. He bootlegged.
15:57
Speaker 2: He was very active and mobile. He could scramble. He
16:01
Speaker 2: could extend plays easily. He just wasn't the picture-perfect dropback, quarterback, throw, execute,
16:09
Speaker 2: that kind of thing. So we had to adapt. Let's
16:12
Speaker 2: let this guy do what he seems to be able
16:16
Speaker 2: to do and what's natural to him, and let's make
16:19
Speaker 2: that a big portion of the game plan. And fortunately,
16:25
Speaker 2: it worked out very well for us. I love that.
16:27
Speaker 1: And it's funny because it seems like as a head coach,
16:30
Speaker 1: you know, you want to tell them what to do
16:31
Speaker 1: and you want to have some sort of control. But
16:33
Speaker 1: to a certain degree, you have to let go of
16:35
Speaker 1: that control and really let your players shine. Because obviously
16:38
Speaker 1: they know what they're doing. You guide them, you teach them,
16:41
Speaker 1: but you just pray to God that, you know, they're
16:43
Speaker 1: taking that and taking off with it.
16:46
Speaker 2: The key point is there, you've got to create the
16:50
Speaker 2: structure to let the talent flourish. And the structure may
16:55
Speaker 2: be different from one player to another. So obviously McCarthy,
17:01
Speaker 2: back to the Giants, they seem to have figured out
17:04
Speaker 2: what he does well and just let talent flourish. Let
17:08
Speaker 2: it flourish and structure it so that it's capable of flourishing.
17:13
Speaker 2: Don't try to put the square pegs in the round holes.
17:16
Speaker 2: It doesn't work.
17:18
Speaker 1: I know I've tried. so i think structure is actually
17:22
Speaker 1: the word of the week i think it's come up
17:23
Speaker 1: enough now structure is so crucial in this game at
17:27
Speaker 1: halftime and during but actually structure how does structure come
17:30
Speaker 1: into play the next topic i kind of want to
17:32
Speaker 1: tackle is fourth down because i feel like there's no
17:37
Speaker 1: structure there no it's always been a hot button issue
17:40
Speaker 1: right it's it's um when do you go for it?
17:44
Speaker 1: When do you punt? Everyone seems to, you know, be
17:47
Speaker 1: so aggressive now. And I don't know if it was
17:49
Speaker 1: always like that, but the tensions are high. And the
17:51
Speaker 1: Packers-Lions game actually really highlighted this for me because the
17:54
Speaker 1: Packers went for it on the fourth down four different
17:56
Speaker 1: times and they converted three times and the Lions went
18:00
Speaker 1: for it twice, but they didn't get either. And one
18:02
Speaker 1: of them was actually even on their 24-yard line. I
18:05
Speaker 1: want to know, when do you decide on fourth down?
18:07
Speaker 1: Because it can be such a gamble.
18:10
Speaker 2: It's a calculated risk, Catherine. Yeah. If Sometimes you don't
18:14
Speaker 2: have a choice. The time and the clock are against you.
18:18
Speaker 2: It's prohibitive. You have to do it. If you give
18:21
Speaker 2: up possession of the ball, you may never get it
18:24
Speaker 2: back and you're not going to have a chance to win.
18:26
Speaker 2: So it's not a gamble. It's a calculated risk. But
18:32
Speaker 2: as I said, when the clock is prohibitive, you have
18:35
Speaker 2: to take it or you never know whether you're ever
18:37
Speaker 2: going to get another chance to get the ball back.
18:39
Speaker 2: And the structure on the fourth downs little tighter formations.
18:44
Speaker 2: We don't want the defense to be able to penetrate
18:47
Speaker 2: into our backfield and tackle the guy before he gets
18:50
Speaker 2: back to the line of scrimmage. We only need one
18:53
Speaker 2: or two yards, so we tighten the formations down. We
18:57
Speaker 2: use bigger people on the front line and at the
19:00
Speaker 2: tight end position to try to avoid penetration. And another
19:06
Speaker 2: axiom that I used to try to follow is I
19:08
Speaker 2: didn't want to run to the perimeter. I wanted to
19:11
Speaker 2: run straight at him as quick as I could. That's
19:14
Speaker 2: the way I always tried to do it. Now, not
19:16
Speaker 2: always successful, but percentage-wise, that's the best choice. Straight lines,
19:21
Speaker 2: the quickest way.
19:23
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
19:24
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
19:24
Speaker 1: So you definitely do calculated risk, but sometimes, you know,
19:28
Speaker 1: I'm a big person that believes in follow your gut intuition.
19:33
Speaker 1: Did you ever have those moments where you thought... you
19:36
Speaker 1: know what, this is crazy, guys, but you just have
19:38
Speaker 1: a feeling, right? And whether you tell them or not
19:40
Speaker 1: because you want to show them confidence, but you're just
19:42
Speaker 1: like you're following your gut, you're following that intuition, you're
19:44
Speaker 1: doing something completely different or crazy, and it works out.
19:47
Speaker 2: Well, yes, but I try to prepare my team for
19:49
Speaker 2: that situation. in this way. I might have a team
19:52
Speaker 2: meeting with them sometime during the week, and I would
19:55
Speaker 2: say to them, now, fellas, this might incur some form
19:59
Speaker 2: of a risk and an element of chance into the equation,
20:05
Speaker 2: but I want you to know I am going to
20:07
Speaker 2: do everything that I can possibly do to allow us
20:12
Speaker 2: to win that game. And that might include taking some
20:16
Speaker 2: chances when people don't think you should. But when I
20:21
Speaker 2: call on you to do that, I want everyone to
20:24
Speaker 2: be on point. Don't think it's just another play. It's
20:29
Speaker 2: not just another play. It's probably win or lose. So
20:34
Speaker 2: let's approach it that way.
20:36
Speaker 1: Do you find that there's been a lot of changes
20:38
Speaker 1: in the fourth down over the years? Or do you
20:40
Speaker 1: think it's just as, I want to say, aggressive as
20:43
Speaker 1: it used to be?
20:44
Speaker 2: I was a fourth down guy myself. I took plenty
20:47
Speaker 2: of chances. When I was confident in my team and
20:50
Speaker 2: when I was very confident that we could get a yard,
20:53
Speaker 2: you know, I had a monstrous left tackle named Anamudu.
20:59
Speaker 2: I'll give you his name so you'll know what I'm
21:01
Speaker 2: talking about here. His name was Jumbo Elliott. So Jumbo
21:05
Speaker 2: kind of gives you an idea. He's of 6'6 and
21:09
Speaker 2: 300 and something pounds. And I had a great blocking
21:12
Speaker 2: tight end. And I had a big running back named
21:16
Speaker 2: Otis Anderson. That gave me a degree of confidence. Because
21:20
Speaker 2: if I put Elliott at left tackle and my good
21:23
Speaker 2: blocking tight end, Mark Bavaro, and my big 230-pound tailback,
21:29
Speaker 2: Otis Anderson, and we forced them into that location, I
21:34
Speaker 2: felt like I had a pretty good chance to convert.
21:36
Speaker 2: And as a result, I approached it a little more
21:39
Speaker 2: aggressively because I was confident in the players I had.
21:43
Speaker 1: Absolutely. It's calculated, but you also have the confidence because
21:46
Speaker 1: you have, you know, you have the guys that can perform.
21:49
Speaker 2: I like that. That's what you're trying to do.
21:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. You choose wisely. You do your homework.
21:54
Speaker 2: Well, you have to get a little lucky, too, because
21:56
Speaker 2: those six, seven, 320-pound guys don't come out in the
22:01
Speaker 2: draft all the time. We were just lucky to get
22:03
Speaker 2: them and combined him with a good block and tight
22:06
Speaker 2: end and a big back, and we had something we
22:08
Speaker 2: could rely on. And once you have that, you get
22:12
Speaker 2: more aggressive.
22:13
Speaker 1: I always enjoy watching those guys. big guys when they're
22:16
Speaker 1: just carrying two other guys on their shoulders and still
22:19
Speaker 1: powering through. Damn, they did not miss leg day.
22:23
Speaker 2: No, that's right. It's nice to have a big power back.
22:25
Speaker 2: It really is.
22:26
Speaker 1: So we always do a segment called, Would He Play
22:28
Speaker 1: For Me? And we talk about a player, but since
22:30
Speaker 1: we talked about the fourth down, somebody who is more,
22:35
Speaker 1: I would say, an aggressive coach in the league on
22:37
Speaker 1: fourth down. And I actually just recently found out he's
22:41
Speaker 1: one of your guys. I want to know, would he
22:43
Speaker 1: coach or work for you dan campbell well he.
22:47
Speaker 2: Played for me yeah and uh i think when you
22:52
Speaker 2: play for a coach you sometimes learn things and see
22:56
Speaker 2: the way he does things and when i watch dan
23:00
Speaker 2: coach detroit i think i'm watching myself because he does
23:04
Speaker 2: things i don't want to say the way that i
23:07
Speaker 2: did them he has his own team he knows his
23:10
Speaker 2: own players i don't know the players like i used
23:12
Speaker 2: to But he has that attitude. And I know when
23:18
Speaker 2: he was playing for me, he saw it from me
23:21
Speaker 2: and guys like Sean Payton that was on our staff
23:25
Speaker 2: and a combination of us. And then coincidentally, Campbell worked
23:29
Speaker 2: for Payton when he was in New Orleans. So that
23:32
Speaker 2: kind of reinforced that kind of philosophy that we had
23:40
Speaker 2: used and it just carries forward and it's what he's
23:43
Speaker 2: doing now he's the third in line myself Sean and
23:47
Speaker 2: now him that's good so.
23:49
Speaker 1: Did he get his gruff and tough exterior from you
23:51
Speaker 1: or is that something he always had no.
23:53
Speaker 2: Oh no he's a rough and tumble character now you
23:56
Speaker 2: don't want to fight him Catherine it would be it'd
23:59
Speaker 2: be a long day if you had to fight him
24:01
Speaker 2: but he's a good person he's a good man he's
24:04
Speaker 2: a highly principled guy he coaches hard he knows what
24:08
Speaker 2: he's supposed to be doing And he's doing a good
24:11
Speaker 2: job at Detroit. I'm really pulling for them.
24:15
Speaker 1: So I think we got our answer. He would definitely
24:17
Speaker 1: be on your staff again.
24:19
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
24:21
Speaker 1: Now, if he were to call you, because I know
24:22
Speaker 1: you guys probably chat, right? So since he's one of
24:25
Speaker 1: your guys. So as the Lions head coach, did you
24:27
Speaker 1: hear from him this week?
24:28
Speaker 2: I talked to him last week and we text this week.
24:32
Speaker 2: I just told him congratulations. on your win, your defense
24:36
Speaker 2: perked up a little. Detroit's defense had not been too
24:39
Speaker 2: good to start the year, but they perked up, and
24:42
Speaker 2: I just thought, oh, nice win, Dan. Your defense perked up,
24:45
Speaker 2: and that's a good sign.
24:47
Speaker 1: If he were to, I'm going to flip it around,
24:49
Speaker 1: if he were to call you today and be like, hey, coach,
24:51
Speaker 1: I know you're retired and all, but would you come
24:54
Speaker 1: help us out, get on the payroll for the rest
24:57
Speaker 1: of the season, would you work for him?
24:58
Speaker 2: I'm a little too old for that action, Catherine, but
25:03
Speaker 2: I would come and consult. If he asked me, I
25:06
Speaker 2: would definitely do it. Now, I'm not looking for a job.
25:09
Speaker 2: I don't want to do it. But if he asked me,
25:12
Speaker 2: it's one of your former players you know. And, you know,
25:15
Speaker 2: as you know, there's a few of them that are
25:17
Speaker 2: head coaches that I speak with periodically. And when they
25:21
Speaker 2: ask for advice, you have to give it to them.
25:23
Speaker 1: That blood kinship you always talk about.
25:25
Speaker 2: That's a blood kinship. It's hard to explain it, but
25:28
Speaker 2: that's what it is. And you know what, Catherine? What?
25:30
Speaker 2: It lasts the rest of your life. It doesn't go away.
25:33
Speaker 2: It's never disappearing.
25:35
Speaker 1: Ah, it warms my heart to hear that. on the
25:51
Speaker 1: coaching topic. I found some interesting news about you. Your
25:56
Speaker 1: buddy Mike Tenbaum shared a story and I want to
25:59
Speaker 1: hear it from your mouth. I never pegged you for
26:02
Speaker 1: a superstitious guy, but there's a time where you return
26:05
Speaker 1: to the dentist chair every single week. Tell me about it.
26:09
Speaker 2: I had a dentist friend of mine that I was
26:12
Speaker 2: working with at the time and I had had a
26:15
Speaker 2: little cavity and he had filled it on a Friday
26:19
Speaker 2: because that's the lesser day. It was late Friday afternoon.
26:23
Speaker 2: He was willing to see me, and he took care.
26:25
Speaker 2: I told him, Doc, this is bothering me. I got
26:27
Speaker 2: to get it fixed before Sunday. He said, just come.
26:30
Speaker 2: So I came. He fixed it, and we won the game.
26:34
Speaker 2: So I said, Doc, you know, I'm pretty superstitious. I
26:36
Speaker 2: may have to come back here next Friday, too. So
26:40
Speaker 2: all the ensuing Fridays, I had to go over there
26:44
Speaker 2: and for two seconds sit in that tennis chair, because
26:47
Speaker 2: I'm a little superstitious as well. And That is a
26:51
Speaker 2: true story. I'm not proud of it. Why? That's just,
26:56
Speaker 2: we don't want to tempt fate. That dentist could have
26:59
Speaker 2: had something to do with the win.
27:01
Speaker 1: Listen, did you go back for the rest of the season?
27:03
Speaker 2: I did. I did. I went back until we lost.
27:08
Speaker 2: I went back, what, six or seven ensuing weeks.
27:11
Speaker 1: That's crazy.
27:12
Speaker 2: That's the way it is.
27:13
Speaker 1: I love it. Well, it's funny because I ended up
27:16
Speaker 1: doing some homework when I found this out because I
27:19
Speaker 1: wanted to know what else is out there, who else
27:22
Speaker 1: is doing it. these superstitious procedures, because usually for me,
27:26
Speaker 1: superstition was always like, you know, don't walk under a ladder.
27:29
Speaker 1: If you break a mirror, you get seven years bad luck.
27:32
Speaker 1: I never looked at it this way until, you know,
27:34
Speaker 1: I started looking at sports and understanding that I just
27:38
Speaker 1: wanted to deep dive into it because it's such a
27:40
Speaker 1: cool psychological trait in humans for me, right? It's, some
27:45
Speaker 1: would say, a survival mechanism.
27:46
Speaker 2: Yeah.
27:47
Speaker 1: Something that wasn't surprising, though, I found out that George Seifert,
27:52
Speaker 1: the former head coach of the 49ers, he would not
27:56
Speaker 1: step on the logo on the field. But I remember
27:59
Speaker 1: one time when I was visiting the Ottawa Senators change room,
28:02
Speaker 1: I was about to walk on the logo in the
28:04
Speaker 1: change room and I almost got tackled. They're like, no,
28:07
Speaker 1: you cannot step on it. It's bad luck. So that
28:09
Speaker 1: one didn't surprise me. I think that's a good superstition
28:12
Speaker 1: to have. There's a couple more he had, though. George
28:16
Speaker 1: Seifert had a lucky sweater.
28:18
Speaker 2: Right.
28:18
Speaker 1: Always had to have his lucky sweater. And do you
28:21
Speaker 1: remember those certs mints? I don't even know if they
28:22
Speaker 1: still make them. I remember when I was a kid.
28:24
Speaker 1: I know what they are, yes. So he would have
28:26
Speaker 1: to blow on it three times before he put it
28:28
Speaker 1: in his mouth. Funny thing, though, right before he went
28:32
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl 24, he landed in New Orleans
28:35
Speaker 1: and guess what? Forgot his lucky sweater.
28:38
Speaker 2: Not good news.
28:39
Speaker 1: Well, apparently the superstition was perhaps not in play or
28:44
Speaker 1: somebody else did something to get it because they ended
28:46
Speaker 1: up winning it.
28:47
Speaker 2: Well, I can just tell you one other thing that
28:51
Speaker 2: affected me besides the normal things of wearing the same
28:56
Speaker 2: stuff and not doing this and not doing that. If
28:59
Speaker 2: we won a game, the next week I would drive
29:03
Speaker 2: the exact same path I took to work on the
29:06
Speaker 2: day that we won. I would not deviate from that
29:10
Speaker 2: path until we lost. So I'd drive my car on
29:13
Speaker 2: the exact same roads, make the exact turns. till I
29:17
Speaker 2: finally got to the stadium. And I did that for
29:20
Speaker 2: a few weeks in a row.
29:21
Speaker 1: That's a new one. I didn't know that one.
29:23
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't want to tempt fate, Catherine. You know,
29:26
Speaker 2: you never know what's doing it for you.
29:29
Speaker 1: So there's actually another, there's a couple more though that
29:32
Speaker 1: I found. One was a former Bronco center, Tom Nalen.
29:36
Speaker 1: He never washed a particular t-shirt in college, but you know,
29:39
Speaker 1: it was funny when he got to the Denver Broncos.
29:43
Speaker 1: The equipment and staff looked at him and said, no, no, no, no,
29:46
Speaker 1: we're washing it. So that one didn't last long. But
29:48
Speaker 1: through college, he wouldn't wash his practice shirt.
29:51
Speaker 2: Superstitious. Absolutely. I understand it completely.
29:53
Speaker 1: Yeah.
29:54
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
29:55
Speaker 1: There was also Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones. He became
29:58
Speaker 1: so attached to a particular pair of gloves that he
30:01
Speaker 1: would not change them to the point that he even said,
30:04
Speaker 1: my gloves smell like dead animals. But I won't change them.
30:08
Speaker 2: No, I understand, Catherine, completely. I was right in line
30:12
Speaker 2: with those guys with some superstition. I don't think I
30:15
Speaker 2: carried it to the nth degree. But as I said,
30:19
Speaker 2: I went to the dentist office every Friday. I drove
30:21
Speaker 2: the same path to the stadium. So I had a
30:24
Speaker 2: few of those distorted things that I was living to.
30:28
Speaker 1: Well, there's one that I found that actually can totally
30:30
Speaker 1: get behind because this one actually made me giggle quite
30:32
Speaker 1: a bit. So one of the Eagles kickers, he developed
30:36
Speaker 1: a ritual of eating a slice of pizza and a
30:38
Speaker 1: slice of cheesecake because when he was in college, he
30:41
Speaker 1: had that meal the night before a game. And at
30:43
Speaker 1: that game, he actually kicked a 56-yard field goal, but
30:48
Speaker 1: it bounced off the crossbar, but then ended up going in.
30:51
Speaker 1: And his reaction was, the cheesecake did it.
30:53
Speaker 2: The cheesecake. That's exactly— it has to be the cheesecake— Had
30:56
Speaker 2: to be. We got to have it again. Let's do it.
30:59
Speaker 1: And he still apparently does to this day, eat a
31:02
Speaker 1: slice of pizza and a slice of cheesecake every night
31:05
Speaker 1: before a game.
31:06
Speaker 2: Superstition in the game of football is a way of life, Catherine.
31:11
Speaker 2: It's just habits and you, it's so distorted. It's so
31:16
Speaker 2: mentally incorrect, but you still do it because you don't
31:20
Speaker 2: want to tempt fate.
31:21
Speaker 1: So did you ever have a play though, as a coach?
31:24
Speaker 1: You have your own superstitions, and obviously some of your
31:26
Speaker 1: players must have had these rituals or superstitious behaviors. Was
31:30
Speaker 1: there ever a time where you're just like, no, no,
31:33
Speaker 1: this one's ridiculous, this is gross, or this is, no,
31:36
Speaker 1: we're done with this?
31:37
Speaker 2: Yes, I did have one. It was my punter. His
31:40
Speaker 2: name was Sean Landetta. He was an excellent punter. He
31:43
Speaker 2: was a pro ball punter. But Sean had a habit
31:47
Speaker 2: that he would never punt the ball twice. if it
31:51
Speaker 2: wasn't like a game condition. So even when he was
31:55
Speaker 2: warming up, or even if it was Friday, the day
31:58
Speaker 2: before the game, and we're trying to keep the players
32:01
Speaker 2: fresh and that Every time he punted the ball, it
32:06
Speaker 2: was like a game day situation that used to drive
32:09
Speaker 2: me crazy. I said, Sean, I want your leg on Sunday.
32:12
Speaker 2: Don't wear it out here on Friday. He used to say,
32:15
Speaker 2: don't worry, Bill. He says, I know what I'm doing.
32:18
Speaker 2: He said, I know my body. This is the way
32:20
Speaker 2: I do it. And he was a great punter. I said,
32:24
Speaker 2: right on, brother. Let's go.
32:26
Speaker 1: I'm going to have to keep looking at more superstitions.
32:28
Speaker 1: I think I might actually start looking at other sports
32:30
Speaker 1: because there's going to be some wilder ones out there.
32:32
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. I'm sure there are.
32:34
Speaker 1: Yeah. And actually Peyton Manning had one, too. And this
32:37
Speaker 1: one didn't surprise me. It seems super on brand because
32:39
Speaker 1: I heard he likes to be prepared. But before every
32:43
Speaker 1: warm up, he had to read the entire game program
32:47
Speaker 1: cover to cover. That's that's like I like that one.
32:50
Speaker 2: Well, he's looking for fragments of information and they might
32:54
Speaker 2: exist in there. But it was a habit he formed.
32:58
Speaker 2: He felt like it was important to him. And so,
33:02
Speaker 2: you know, you want to stay on the same track
33:04
Speaker 2: if things are going well and that's what people do.
33:23
Speaker 1: So I'm going to switch gears real quick because one
33:26
Speaker 1: thing that was a hot topic this week was the
33:30
Speaker 1: heavy officiating controversy, right? The Detroit Lions, the 20 to
33:36
Speaker 1: 17 win over the Green Bay Packers. The officiating team,
33:41
Speaker 1: the crew was Alex Moore's crew. Now their second highest
33:44
Speaker 1: rate of penalties per game. And I know that you've
33:47
Speaker 1: talked about how you like to do your research when
33:50
Speaker 1: you were coaching, you were doing your research on who
33:52
Speaker 1: was going to be officiating. So you can say, Hey guys,
33:56
Speaker 1: all right, they're big on this and they're big on that.
33:58
Speaker 1: Watch your hands, watch this, watch that. But was there
34:01
Speaker 1: ever a time where it just consistently, let's say like
34:06
Speaker 1: the calls were just so bogus by the referees that
34:10
Speaker 1: you hand, like, how would you handle that? Because obviously
34:13
Speaker 1: it's been a controversy this week just calls that were absolutely.
34:17
Speaker 2: Well, the answer to the question is yes, and those
34:19
Speaker 2: things did occur. But I always used to try to
34:23
Speaker 2: tell my team, fellas, this is not a game without
34:27
Speaker 2: human error. Players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes, and officials
34:33
Speaker 2: make mistakes, sometimes at the most inopportune times. Our job
34:39
Speaker 2: is to not complain about them. Our job is to
34:42
Speaker 2: overcome them. And You've just got to create a mentality
34:46
Speaker 2: is that cannot, that ancillary issue cannot affect your future performance.
34:53
Speaker 2: Things aren't going, you get a couple bad calls, that's
34:56
Speaker 2: just too bad. Overcome them with good play.
35:00
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the players nowadays that are
35:04
Speaker 1: talking about it? Because we've seen some of the players
35:06
Speaker 1: afterwards talk to press and just be like, no, that
35:10
Speaker 1: wasn't okay. or I'm not okay with these calls. What
35:12
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on them speaking up about it? Because,
35:14
Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of nice to hear them voice
35:16
Speaker 1: their frustrations because, like, the teams and everybody watching kind
35:21
Speaker 1: of probably feels the same way.
35:23
Speaker 2: Well, the players are mandated to talk to the press
35:26
Speaker 2: after the game. They have a right to express their feelings,
35:30
Speaker 2: and they can do it. It doesn't bother me. You know,
35:33
Speaker 2: it's just, you just have to, those post-game press conferences
35:37
Speaker 2: are a very, very dangerous time because, I know I've
35:41
Speaker 2: been in a lot of them, and if you're not
35:43
Speaker 2: careful and your emotions are running high, you might say
35:46
Speaker 2: something that you're very sorry for. So you've got to
35:49
Speaker 2: just kind of put a zipper on it when you
35:51
Speaker 2: walk in there, and you've got to be a different person.
35:55
Speaker 2: And if you can exercise that discipline, it usually serves
35:58
Speaker 2: you well. Every once in a while, we're human. We're
36:01
Speaker 2: going to say something that we wish we hadn't said
36:04
Speaker 2: after we read it in the paper the next day.
36:06
Speaker 1: Absolutely. But you say human error. As a coach, you know,
36:09
Speaker 1: if you mess up, You're probably talking to the owner
36:13
Speaker 1: or the organization. Now, if the officials and the referees,
36:17
Speaker 1: like if they mess up, are you calling the league
36:20
Speaker 1: office at all? How do you think that transpires?
36:22
Speaker 2: That's a very good question. You know, I tried to
36:26
Speaker 2: myself establish a reputation with the officials. I knew a
36:31
Speaker 2: lot of them. We played these games every week. You
36:34
Speaker 2: have the crews. You know them. You know them personally.
36:38
Speaker 2: And it's over a period of years. It's not just
36:41
Speaker 2: one game, Catherine. It's years and years, and you have
36:44
Speaker 2: the same crew. And you want to earn a degree
36:48
Speaker 2: of respect from the officials. You don't want to be
36:51
Speaker 2: characterized as a coach who's always complaining about the officials
36:55
Speaker 2: and this and that. So... I never did it. I
36:59
Speaker 2: never wrote a report in my entire coaching life criticizing
37:04
Speaker 2: an officiating crew to the league office. And the crews
37:08
Speaker 2: knew that over the years that I wasn't going to
37:12
Speaker 2: be one of those guys that was crying the blues
37:14
Speaker 2: to the league office. Now, if we had like a
37:18
Speaker 2: new rule, Catherine, that had come into play, and I...
37:24
Speaker 2: thought it was going to be officiated one way, and
37:28
Speaker 2: then as the season started, I'm starting to see a
37:31
Speaker 2: little difference in what's occurring. I might call the league
37:36
Speaker 2: office and say, explain to me how we are going
37:41
Speaker 2: to officiate this situation, because I have a misunderstanding. I
37:46
Speaker 2: thought it was going to be this way, and seemingly...
37:50
Speaker 2: It's the other way. So explain to me exactly what
37:53
Speaker 2: you're telling the officials to do, and then I'll have
37:56
Speaker 2: a better idea.
37:58
Speaker 1: So you're voicing your concern, but you're not filing any
38:00
Speaker 1: complaints or reports?
38:01
Speaker 2: No, I'm trying to find out. It's for my own— I
38:04
Speaker 2: need to know. I need to know what to expect
38:06
Speaker 2: so I can teach my team, hey, these guys, this
38:09
Speaker 2: is the way they're going to officiate it. We can't
38:11
Speaker 2: violate it, or they're going to call it.
38:13
Speaker 1: That's another layer of coaching information that I didn't know.
38:19
Speaker 2: Well— You know, it's part of the game. And as
38:23
Speaker 2: I said, it's not without human error. We're all making
38:26
Speaker 2: mistakes here and there.
38:28
Speaker 1: Now, do you find that the officiating teams have been
38:31
Speaker 1: consistent throughout the years or do you find that they're
38:33
Speaker 1: getting a little more tedious with their calling nowadays?
38:36
Speaker 2: No, I don't think it's anything unusual. I think there
38:40
Speaker 2: are always on the part of the league office points
38:45
Speaker 2: of officiating for the crews and they're trying to protect
38:49
Speaker 2: the players. So this roughing the passer, this helmet-to-helmet contact,
38:56
Speaker 2: they're calling these very strictly to the point where you
39:01
Speaker 2: think they're overdoing it just a little. This is football.
39:04
Speaker 2: Things happen. You know, if it's not a malicious intent
39:09
Speaker 2: or if it's not a late hit, I think we
39:11
Speaker 2: should tolerate it. Okay. But when you see malicious— and you
39:15
Speaker 2: know it when you see it. We all know it
39:17
Speaker 2: when we see it. When you see malicious— or you
39:21
Speaker 2: see a complete violation of sportsmanship, I think it should
39:28
Speaker 2: be officiated very very explicitly.
39:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, diligently.
39:32
Speaker 2: I like it.
39:33
Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to keep an eye on next week
39:34
Speaker 1: because I want to see if there's any more officiating controversy.
39:39
Speaker 2: Oh, there will be. Don't worry.
39:41
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if they're kind of feeling the heat now
39:43
Speaker 1: because everybody's talking about it. I'm sure they're hearing about
39:45
Speaker 1: it from their friends and family and probably like, all right,
39:48
Speaker 1: we'll simmer down next week. We'll see. We'll see.
39:50
Speaker 2: Well, how about the coaches that get beat? What do
39:52
Speaker 2: you think they're hearing about? Oh, gosh.
39:54
Speaker 1: You tell me.
39:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. Not fun.
39:57
Speaker 1: I bet it's not. All right. We're at the end
40:00
Speaker 1: of this episode, and we're going to do that two-minute drill.
40:04
Speaker 1: You ready?
40:06
Speaker 2: That means you're in a hurry.
40:07
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
40:08
Speaker 2: Let's go, Kat.
40:09
Speaker 1: I got stuff to do today.
40:10
Speaker 2: Two minutes.
40:11
Speaker 1: Let's go.
40:11
Speaker 2: Yeah.
40:12
Speaker 1: So which quarterbacks from the past do you think– Would
40:18
Speaker 1: they succeed in today's NFL? I'm going to name some,
40:20
Speaker 1: and I want to know if you think that they
40:22
Speaker 1: actually would be more successful now than they were back then.
40:25
Speaker 1: I'm going to start with Joe Montana.
40:28
Speaker 2: He would be successful in any era of football. He
40:31
Speaker 2: was one of my fierce rivals. I know him personally.
40:34
Speaker 2: He comes from a football family. He's a great quarterback.
40:37
Speaker 2: He's meticulous. He was smart. He could operate his team.
40:41
Speaker 2: He understood your defense. And he was a very, very
40:45
Speaker 2: worthy opponent. And we had a lot of times where
40:49
Speaker 2: we were facing each other. So, you know, you can
40:52
Speaker 2: acquire a degree of respect. Even though he's the enemy,
40:55
Speaker 2: you can learn to respect him. And I certainly had
40:58
Speaker 2: respect for him.
40:59
Speaker 1: All right. Steve Young.
41:01
Speaker 2: Steve, I knew personally as well. He played for the
41:03
Speaker 2: 49ers also. Very athletic guy from Connecticut. We worked together
41:09
Speaker 2: a little bit from time to time. Another very worthy quarterback.
41:13
Speaker 2: He had something that Montana didn't have. He was extremely mobile.
41:18
Speaker 2: So you had to watch him because he could beat
41:21
Speaker 2: you running the ball as well as throwing it.
41:24
Speaker 1: Oh, I feel like he would do well nowadays because
41:26
Speaker 1: there's so much more mobile than quarterbacks.
41:27
Speaker 2: That's right. There are a lot of them and he
41:29
Speaker 2: would fit right in. He'd hit the ground running.
41:32
Speaker 1: Yeah.
41:32
Speaker 2: All right.
41:32
Speaker 1: How about your guy, Phil Sims?
41:35
Speaker 2: Traditional dropback quarterback. Phil Simms could always play on my team.
41:39
Speaker 2: I don't care when it was, what year it was,
41:41
Speaker 2: any place, anywhere, I'll take him.
41:44
Speaker 1: How do you think he would perform nowadays?
41:46
Speaker 2: I think he performed very well. He was a classic
41:48
Speaker 2: dropback passer. He had a great arm, and he was very,
41:53
Speaker 2: very accurate.
41:55
Speaker 1: We know that's one of the critical factors.
41:57
Speaker 2: Accuracy. Got to be able to hit what you're throwing at, Catherine.
42:01
Speaker 2: If you can't do that, you're not going to be
42:03
Speaker 2: too successful.
42:04
Speaker 1: Absolutely. How about Archie Manning?
42:06
Speaker 2: Another extremely, really probably the first of the extremely mobile quarterbacks.
42:14
Speaker 2: to come out of college, high reputation, different kind of quarterback,
42:19
Speaker 2: running around, improvising, bootlegs, rollouts. And he got to the league,
42:26
Speaker 2: tremendous player. And of course, his sons followed suit. Yeah.
42:31
Speaker 1: It's funny you say that because I'm going to side
42:33
Speaker 1: quest here a little bit because you said he was
42:35
Speaker 1: one of the first really coming out and doing the
42:36
Speaker 1: mobile quarterback. Was that never really a thing back then?
42:40
Speaker 2: First of all, There wasn't even the T formation where
42:44
Speaker 2: the quarterback was on the center. When football first started,
42:47
Speaker 2: it was what they called the single wing, which I
42:49
Speaker 2: can't explain it to you, but it is. But they
42:52
Speaker 2: would snap back much like the shotgun is today.
42:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
42:56
Speaker 2: Okay? So most of those quarterbacks were traditional dropback quarterbacks. Nowadays,
43:04
Speaker 2: the mobility is in, the ability to extend plays, the
43:08
Speaker 2: ability to improvise, that's all in play. And very important.
43:14
Speaker 1: I was just curious. I kind of want to do
43:16
Speaker 1: some research and figure out when mobile quarterback really started
43:19
Speaker 1: bumping up because I feel like it was recent-ish.
43:22
Speaker 2: It is, yes. And I have to tell you, it's
43:25
Speaker 2: because we're getting more athletic guys playing the position. The
43:30
Speaker 2: coaches want mobility and the ability to extend plays and
43:34
Speaker 2: do things on improvised and that kind of thing.
43:36
Speaker 1: Well, now how about Randall Cunningham?
43:39
Speaker 2: He was another one of my fierce rivals and a
43:41
Speaker 2: definite thorn in my side for a long time. But
43:45
Speaker 2: he was a tall, linear guy with great speed. He
43:49
Speaker 2: had a good arm. He had great speed. And you
43:52
Speaker 2: had to watch him because he could run for a
43:54
Speaker 2: touchdown anywhere. Just like that.
43:56
Speaker 1: So he'd be great nowadays then.
43:58
Speaker 2: He'd be good. He'd be real good.
44:01
Speaker 1: And lastly, Troy Aikman.
44:03
Speaker 2: Troy Aikman was a more traditional, old school, drop back,
44:08
Speaker 2: stay in the pocket, not extremely mobile, very accurate passer,
44:13
Speaker 2: a great team leader. And he got his team to
44:16
Speaker 2: multiple championships. He's a very good player.
44:19
Speaker 1: Do you think he'd succeed right now?
44:21
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah. Hey, listen, you've got to let talent flourish.
44:24
Speaker 2: You've got to do what the players can do. So
44:27
Speaker 2: your job as a coach and a teacher is, okay,
44:31
Speaker 2: what do I have here? What can he do? What
44:34
Speaker 2: resources does he have? And how do I personally allow
44:39
Speaker 2: them to flourish?
44:40
Speaker 1: Absolutely. What a great teacher. You know, it's funny. I
44:43
Speaker 1: was thinking about this and talking about it with some
44:45
Speaker 1: friends the other day that the things you teach us here,
44:48
Speaker 1: on the podcast is really translatable to life events, right?
44:52
Speaker 1: Like the psychology of result. I was thinking, you know,
44:54
Speaker 1: when you're going for an interview or when you're parenting,
44:57
Speaker 1: I just appreciate all the nuggets of wisdom you give
45:00
Speaker 1: us because when you look at it and remove the game,
45:03
Speaker 1: it is still so accurate for everything we're going through.
45:07
Speaker 1: So thank you. Thank you for doing this.
45:09
Speaker 2: Well, you're welcome. I never quite looked at it that way,
45:12
Speaker 2: but I appreciate your commentary, and I'm glad that you
45:16
Speaker 2: can gain something from it.
45:18
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I can't wait to do this again next week, Bill.
45:20
Speaker 2: Let's do it.