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Football Doesn't Lie: Clock Management and Mike Ditka Memories · Football Doesn't Lie

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone, to another week of Football Doesn't Lie.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Catherine Zadzord, joined by Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells.
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  Speaker 1: How are you, Bill?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing very well, Catherine. You ready to rock and
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  Speaker 2: roll today?
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Rock and roll.
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  Speaker 2: Let's go.
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  Speaker 1: And before we get into it, as always, I just
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  Speaker 1: want to remind everyone that we're here every Thursday, so
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: make sure to hit subscribe and join us every week
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to learn more about football in an in-depth way through
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  Speaker 1: Bill's perspective and actually get some insights that you won't
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  Speaker 1: find anywhere else. But going right into it. We're going
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  Speaker 1: to start with a bit of a somber subject. I,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we lost Mike Ditka this week, Bill, and
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  Speaker 1: you actually had a relationship with him and coached against him.
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  Speaker 1: Had some pretty important moments in your career.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. You know what, Catherine? We were constituents. He got
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  Speaker 2: to be a head coach just two years before I did.
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  Speaker 2: We were both really followed the same career path, play,
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  Speaker 2: assistant coach, coordinator, head coach, and then coach. This guy
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  Speaker 2: was a wonderful man with that gruff exterior, and he
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  Speaker 2: appeared one way, but I can tell you firsthand, this
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  Speaker 2: guy was a good human being. He did so much
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  Speaker 2: to help people. He restored pride in football to the
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  Speaker 2: city of Chicago, but all that to me was ancillary
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  Speaker 2: to the fact of what kind of human being he was,
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  Speaker 2: because I know for a fact all the things he
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  Speaker 2: did to help so many people, and I would obviously
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  Speaker 2: convey my condolences to his wife, Diana, who I know,
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  Speaker 2: and his family. We lost a real good man there,
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  Speaker 2: a real good man, a good human being.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it kind of shook everyone. What do you think
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  Speaker 1: made him such a force, both as a coach and
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  Speaker 1: as a person?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, he was a very good player, outstanding player,
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  Speaker 2: first tight end ever inducted into the Hall of Fame,
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  Speaker 2: I believe. Besides being a good player, he played. He
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  Speaker 2: went on the path, assistant coach, coordinator, head coach. He
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  Speaker 2: brought a championship to Chicago. But as I said, all
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  Speaker 2: those things are ancillary to the guy that I knew
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  Speaker 2: as a human being because he did so many good
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  Speaker 2: things for so many people. And I had a great
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  Speaker 2: deal of personal admiration for him. I know.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he was really involved in local charitable causes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Helping homeless, helping other players.
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  Speaker 2: He was a special guy. He really was.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, big heart, even though he had, like you said,
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  Speaker 1: a tough exterior.
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  Speaker 2: Gruff exterior, but inside, gold.
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  Speaker 1: When you think of him, is there a specific memory
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  Speaker 1: when you had an interaction with him that stands out
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  Speaker 1: in your mind?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, when he beat me in the playoffs, 1985 in Chicago.
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  Speaker 2: You know, they had one of the best teams I
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  Speaker 2: ever coached again, the 85 Bears, arguably one of the
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  Speaker 2: greatest teams in history. But that particular day, we had
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  Speaker 2: a chance to beat them. And a couple of very
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  Speaker 2: unusual things happened. My punter was punting out of the
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  Speaker 2: end zone. He whiffed the ball. He missed the ball completely.
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  Speaker 2: It was windy. They recovered for a touchdown. The game
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  Speaker 2: went pretty much to the wire, but they were a
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  Speaker 2: better team than we were at the time. But the
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  Speaker 2: next year, Cass, we got them.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I love it. Good memories. Well, our thoughts and
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  Speaker 1: prayers are with his family and friends because that's a
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  Speaker 1: tough one to swallow.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Hey, listen, when you lose a constituent, it gets
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  Speaker 2: you right there.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know.
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  Speaker 1: It's funny because we always talk about the relationship and
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  Speaker 1: the friendship building that you have with your teammates as
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  Speaker 1: a coach, but also, you know, as players. but also
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  Speaker 1: with your rivals. You know, there's some respect there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, as I said, over a period of years, when
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  Speaker 2: you get to know a guy for a long time,
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  Speaker 2: you find out really what's inside of him above and
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  Speaker 2: beyond the coaching and playing and all that. Catherine, since
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  Speaker 2: you are now a budding football expert and you're learning
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  Speaker 2: a little bit more about the game, I thought maybe
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  Speaker 2: today we would do a little role reversal where I
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  Speaker 2: Maybe I asked you a couple of questions instead of
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  Speaker 2: being the responder. I'm going to allow you to do that.
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  Speaker 2: You down for that?
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Let's go.
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  Speaker 2: All right. Well, just a nice general question. What surprised
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  Speaker 2: you from last week's games?
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  Speaker 1: You know, one that surprised me, and I actually want
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  Speaker 1: to dissect this a little bit, is the Texans, the
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  Speaker 1: Houston Texans game. Because they played the Titans and they
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  Speaker 1: were both 0-4. Obviously, somebody had to win, but they
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  Speaker 1: really dominated that one. They're now 1-4. But what I
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  Speaker 1: found interesting, because, you know, I'm a stats girl, last
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  Speaker 1: year they started with 0-3 and then ended up with
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  Speaker 1: 12 wins in the end. So obviously it's too early,
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  Speaker 1: but they had a slow start.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, you don't want to dig yourself a hole,
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  Speaker 2: which they have done in the past couple of years.
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  Speaker 2: You don't want to dig yourself a hole to the
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  Speaker 2: point where you're playing totally under pressure in every ensuing
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  Speaker 2: game because you know for a fact that if you
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  Speaker 2: have two or three more slip-ups out of 14 or
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  Speaker 2: 15 games remaining, only two or three, that's probably going
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  Speaker 2: to eliminate your playoff chances. And so you want to
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  Speaker 2: get off to a good start. You want to get
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  Speaker 2: off to a confident start. And when you're 0-4 or
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  Speaker 2: now 1-4, you know, you're still in the hold. You've
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  Speaker 2: got to keep digging because you can't afford too many
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  Speaker 2: more slip-ups or you're not going to make it.
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  Speaker 1: I wonder, though, if this is the win they needed
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  Speaker 1: to gain that momentum and that confidence.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we're going to find out. But as I always
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  Speaker 2: tell you, Catherine, let's wait until Thanksgiving.
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  Speaker 1: Got it, Coach.
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  Speaker 2: Got it.
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  Speaker 1: Actually, another thing that I really loved watching this week
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  Speaker 1: was the 49ers, the Christian McCaffrey, when they played the Seahawks.
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  Speaker 1: That guy could not be brought down. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if you saw that video clip. He was like just
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  Speaker 1: carrying all these guys to tackle him. It was really impressive.
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  Speaker 1: I like that one.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, Christian comes from a football family. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And he's growing up with the game. He's a very
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  Speaker 2: good athlete. He's playing on a good team. And he
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  Speaker 2: is one of the key members of that good team.
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  Speaker 2: And they're not going to be able to sustain excellence
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  Speaker 2: without Christian. good performances by him. But I can tell
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  Speaker 2: you firsthand, he's up for it. And he's a very,
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  Speaker 2: very good player. And as a running back, he's very good.
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  Speaker 2: But he also is a threat in the passing game
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  Speaker 2: because when he catches the ball in space, he's a
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  Speaker 2: threat to score with it. He can just do about
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  Speaker 2: everything that that position requires. And when you have versatility
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  Speaker 2: like that, it's very good for your offense.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And he's improving that. So actually on Sunday, we
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  Speaker 1: watched the games together or a good portion of them,
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  Speaker 1: which I love doing because hearing your commentary live is
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  Speaker 1: very special. There's words that come out of your mouth
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  Speaker 1: that I'm sure we wouldn't say on air, but it
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  Speaker 1: was really entertaining, actually. And a really good one was
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  Speaker 1: the Giants versus the Commanders. And you even said, hey,
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  Speaker 1: you know, Washington, it's bringing back so many memories.
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  Speaker 2: You know, the Redskins at the time and their championship coach,
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  Speaker 2: Joe Gibbs, won three Super Bowls. They were my fiercest rival.
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  Speaker 2: They were in the division along with the Eagles and
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  Speaker 2: the Cowboys at the time, but they were our fiercest rival.
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  Speaker 2: And the memories I have are so vivid of going
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  Speaker 2: down to RFK to play them down in Washington. It
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  Speaker 2: was an older stadium in the 70s. People would jump
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  Speaker 2: up and down and the stands would move and it
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  Speaker 2: was like not real stable and it was always a
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  Speaker 2: wild scene down there. But in my entire football career
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  Speaker 2: of experience, when I start thinking about the past and
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  Speaker 2: the games, that place is one of the most vivid
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  Speaker 2: in my memory and it was a very special place.
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  Speaker 2: And especially if you could go down there and win.
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  Speaker 1: Which, let's talk about that because that game ended up
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  Speaker 1: in a tie in overtime.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's a rare thing nowadays, you know, but a
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  Speaker 2: tie is better than a loss.
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  Speaker 1: Is it though?
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely better than a loss.
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  Speaker 1: But what's your famous saying about ties?
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  Speaker 2: Ties like kissing your sister. Exactly. Just doesn't do it
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  Speaker 2: for you. Exactly. But when they comprise the final standings,
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  Speaker 2: it's the number of wins that puts you where you
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  Speaker 2: want to get. And That wasn't a win, but it
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  Speaker 2: wasn't on the other side of the column either. So
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  Speaker 2: if the situation came up where you were tied with
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  Speaker 2: somebody with a number of wins, but they had more losses,
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  Speaker 2: you're going. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: The overtime was actually something that I ended up looking
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  Speaker 1: into because I didn't realize that overtime was not introduced
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  Speaker 1: into the NFL until the 70s. And when it was
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  Speaker 1: first introduced, it was sudden death, which obviously that changed,
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  Speaker 1: which I think makes it way more fair. Do you find, though,
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  Speaker 1: that there's a benefit into going into overtime?
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  Speaker 2: Well, sure. You still have a chance to win the game.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what you're there to try to do. And so,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I think the league has regulated it. So
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  Speaker 2: there are two possessions. They like the drama for television
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  Speaker 2: on the forefront. And the sudden death thing was very exciting.
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  Speaker 2: I know I was in a couple of those games.
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  Speaker 2: Those are very exciting because, you know, one mistake and
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  Speaker 2: you're done.
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  Speaker 1: But that almost seems unfair, though, with the sudden death,
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  Speaker 1: because if you don't win the coin toss.
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  Speaker 2: And— No, that has nothing to do with it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean— Well, if you're the first one, yeah, absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: because if you're the first one to kick off and
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  Speaker 1: you score then it's done the other opponent doesn't have a.
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  Speaker 2: Chance well first of all if you're the first one
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  Speaker 2: to kick off the other team is getting the ball
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  Speaker 2: if you receive the kickoff.
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  Speaker 3: First you're the first to receive yeah then you had
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  Speaker 3: a chance but as I said television affected that they
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  Speaker 3: wanted the drama they wanted the The drama to continue.
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  Speaker 2: So now if someone does score in overtime, the other
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  Speaker 2: team gets an equal possession. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Talking about overtime, the Bills versus Rams on Monday night.
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  Speaker 1: Did you watch that game?
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  Speaker 2: Of course. Oh, my God. What do you think? I'm
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  Speaker 2: a football guy. I watch football.
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  Speaker 1: I know.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. But listen, here's what you need to know, Catherine.
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  Speaker 2: I did a study once, and I'm being very serious
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  Speaker 2: about this. Of course. that 50% of the games in
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  Speaker 2: the NFL, and I don't know that this stat is
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  Speaker 2: absolutely still correct to the nth degree today, but I
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  Speaker 2: imagine I'm pretty close. 50% of the games are decided
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  Speaker 2: by seven points or less, and 50% of those are
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: decided by three points or less. So you know going
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  Speaker 2: into the season, if you've got a 18-game schedule, seven,
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  Speaker 2: whatever it is now, you're going to be in four
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  Speaker 2: or five games that maybe even more that are come
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  Speaker 2: down to that three points or less or seven or
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  Speaker 2: less kind of situation. And it's, operating under duress. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you saw it with the Giants-Washington the other night. The
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  Speaker 2: clock management, they lost track of it. Somebody did. You
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  Speaker 2: can't tell what's going on in the headsets. You can't
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  Speaker 2: just blame the sideline because it's chaos. Everybody's going. It's
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  Speaker 2: high tension. There's voices on the headset. The quarterback, you
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  Speaker 2: don't know what he's hearing or not hearing.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think it was miscommunication on that one in
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  Speaker 1: the Giants?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't know the answer to the question. What
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  Speaker 2: I do know is that quarterback, who is the one
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  Speaker 2: charged with the clock management, he had 55 seconds. They
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  Speaker 2: let it run down. They ran another play, and they
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  Speaker 2: were not judicious with their use. Now, they had no timeouts,
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  Speaker 2: but they can still clock the ball, and they had
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  Speaker 2: time to do it, and they just didn't get it
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  Speaker 2: done because of misjudgment. And I have to, and I
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  Speaker 2: don't want to assign blame to anybody, But the quarterback's
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  Speaker 2: the guy that steers the shift. He's the one in
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  Speaker 2: charge of organizing the offense, getting the clock stopped. And
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  Speaker 2: to have the clock expire in that situation, no matter
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  Speaker 2: what the circumstances, it's unexcusable and inexplicable as well.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking about overtime and quarterbacks. Josh Allen, it was
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  Speaker 1: his first win in OT.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm sure he's happy about that. But that kind
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  Speaker 2: of stat doesn't make any difference. You know, it's this year,
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  Speaker 2: it's now, it's in the present. They won that game.
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  Speaker 2: History doesn't mean anything in football.
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  Speaker 1: What I love, though, so we were chatting about this earlier,
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  Speaker 1: and you were saying, listen... Their offense is solid, but
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  Speaker 1: one day they're going to meet a team, and you
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  Speaker 1: may have mentioned one that could stop them, but they're
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  Speaker 1: going to meet a team that will be able to
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  Speaker 1: stop them, and their defense just isn't strong enough right now.
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  Speaker 2: In my experience in football, Catherine, I have never seen
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  Speaker 2: a team go all the way to the championship that
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  Speaker 2: was surrendering 30 points a game to an opponent. Good point. Now,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not saying it couldn't happen because strange things happen
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  Speaker 2: in these games, But based on history, if Buffalo's defense
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  Speaker 2: doesn't improve, down the road, they're going to have a problem.
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  Speaker 1: How do you think they do that? Change the playbook
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  Speaker 1: a little bit?
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  Speaker 2: When you're giving up 30 points a game, you're trying
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  Speaker 2: to do everything you can to change that narrative. And
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  Speaker 2: with practicing different players, whatever is available to you, sometimes
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  Speaker 2: you're just stuck with not quite enough talent.
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  Speaker 1: And.
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  Speaker 2: That's when it's difficult because not only does that affect
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  Speaker 2: your defense, it affects the mentality of the offense in
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  Speaker 2: that they're so intent and feel like they have to
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  Speaker 2: score every time they get the ball or else they're
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: probably not going to win because the games are 35
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: or 38, 35 and that kind of game. it affects
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: your offensive play calling and it affects your ability to
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: control the game properly. So when you're bad on defense,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that the word bad is there because
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  Speaker 2: they are winning.
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  Speaker 1: But if you're not a strong.
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  Speaker 2: History shows that if that circus stays in town and
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: they're giving up 30 points a game, that somewhere down
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  Speaker 2: the line, it's going to get them. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: My favorite post-game video clip I saw was of the
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  Speaker 1: Rams head coach, Sean McVay. And he even said, and
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  Speaker 1: I love that they get interviewed right away because, you know, it's.
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  Speaker 2: Still- You think that's fun, Catherine?
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  Speaker 1: I know. Listen, I live that life.
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  Speaker 2: You think that's fun?
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  Speaker 1: I get it, but that's- I don't know whether you
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: do get it.
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  Speaker 2: The emotions are running so high.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a huge loss.
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  Speaker 2: And the immediacy of the demand on your time and
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: to answer those questions. You, sometimes you don't have time
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  Speaker 2: To put the emotions away completely. And unless you have
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: enough personal discipline to just kind of zip it closed
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: for that press conference, sometimes you wind up saying things
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: you shouldn't say.
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  Speaker 1: But I appreciated that raw frustration from him because I'm
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: sure that's what all everybody that was watching that's a
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: fan felt the same way. You know, so I appreciated that.
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  Speaker 1: I like that they do it right away because it's
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  Speaker 1: nice to be like, okay. Yes, I feel the same way.
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  Speaker 1: It's like validation.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: These 17 or 18 games, they represent your livelihood for
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  Speaker 2: the whole year. So they're all important. And there is
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: a high degree of emotion and it manifests itself all
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: the time. But as I said, when you get into
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: that press conference, you got to be a different person.
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  Speaker 2: And it takes a lot of discipline when they're under
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: high emotional duress to do that. And I can tell you,
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  Speaker 2: Because I've had my times there when I opened my
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: mouth and said a few things I shouldn't have said too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm going to go back and check those clips later.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay.
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  Speaker 1: Another head coach, though, that also had, he zipped it
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: up because he kept it a little more contained. But
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: he even said, and this is the head coach, Nick Sirianni,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: the Philly Eagles. After the Eagles-Jaguars game in London, which
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: was another really good watch, he said, I didn't make
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: the right decision. I lost us the game. So the
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Eagles took the lead with eight seconds left and still
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: lost on a walk-off field goal. It was— I had to
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: go and rewatch it again because it was intense. But
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on that one?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the problem with football is everybody judges the wisdom
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: of the decision by the outcome.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: The outcome, yeah.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Now, I actually think he made the right decision.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I would kick the ball. I probably wouldn't have kicked
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: it the way he kicked it. I would have probably
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: tried to kept it lower, rolling on the ground, more
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: difficult to field, that kind of thing. But, Catherine, when
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: you do that, you also have the opportunity to risk
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: that when you kick it low, that it hits one
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: of the receiving team's players on the front line and
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: they recover right there, which gives them better field position.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: It's a decision I think I always would... Try to
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: kick it deep because the further you keep them away,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: the better. Unfortunately, they give up a long kickoff return.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: That's the kickoff coverage. That's where the mistakes were made.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: It wasn't the decision. It was the fact that the
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: coverage did not cover properly. And when you're covering a kickoff,
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: you feel like you should be able to get them
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: before they get to the 40-yard line.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And especially with the, like you said, and we've
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: talked about this before, the field goal kickers are... crazy
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: powerful nowadays. You can't give them that opportunity.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. They're so good these days, the punters
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: and the field goal kickers. It's changed the game. And,
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: you know, in my day, a 46 or 47 yard
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: field goal was a big kick. And in the 50s
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: was unusual. Now they're kicking in the 60s.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, 68 is the record.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: And so you have to take it into consideration. But
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: still in all, I don't blame Sariani for that. I
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: blame the kickoff coverage team. for not holding up their
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: end of the bargain.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: No, that's totally fair. On the same vein, though, the Eagles,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: they have a losing record for the first time since 2021.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: They also had arguably their best player just suddenly retire, right?
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: The right tackle, Lane Johnson. As a coach, how do
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: you manage it when it feels like the wheels are
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: coming off?
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Very good question. Not the easiest one to answer. My
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: formula was always this. You have to be very careful
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: as a coach to never allow your team to feel
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: that you personally have lost confidence in their ability. I
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: think you have to try to, I don't want to
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: say false bravado or anything like that, but I think
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: you have to try to be analytical. And sometimes the
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: way to be analytical is to inquire from them, Catherine.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: So you go into a team meeting and you say, hey, listen, guys,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: is this what we are? Is this what we're going
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: to be? Is this what we're going to tolerate? Or—
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Here are the things we've got to alter to change
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: the course of this season. Now let's get working on
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: those things now before it's too late.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: So it's almost like you don't want to skip a
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: beat and keep right into it because if you lament
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: the fact that you lost a great player, it might
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: slow you down a little bit.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: You know, players are used to injuries. It's next man up.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: That's why we have 53 instead of 33. Let's go.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: So another impressive play that we watched actually was the
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Vikings versus the Saints. That was a good one. Now
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: in the third quarter, we were watching this game together
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: and you told me, keep an eye on that Justin Jefferson.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: And sure enough, he had an insane touchdown catch with
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: triple coverage. Like the guys were on him. It was something.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Now they do their little victory dance and you even said,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: he's a thorn in my side. Yeah. Again, this is
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: the commentary I love.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: I never really competed against Justin, but I can tell
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: you he's the best receiver in the national football now,
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: in my opinion. He is somebody you have to deal
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: with and you have to try to negate. And if
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: you don't do that, then their offense is going to
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: be pretty effective because he alone... can cause enough trouble
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: to create an advantage for his team.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Well, he's definitely an asset because.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: And these guys, these receivers now, Catherine, I saw somebody
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: caught 17 passes the other day. Another guy caught 16. Oh,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: my God. Do something about it, please.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Double coverage.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. Let's go. Put all 10 on them
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: if you have to.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: At this point, they may just have to because the
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Vikings are still the first in their division right now.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: So that being said, let's get back to Jefferson because
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: he's only played 98 games in his entire career, but
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: he has 45 receiving touchdowns, 598 career catches, and he's
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: averaging 89.2 receiving yards per game. I know these are
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: just stats, but that being said.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: No, they're not just stats. Those are factual things.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah. But that being said, you commenting, oh, he's a
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: thorn in my side. Would he ever have played for you?
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: He's a great player. I would want him. But now
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: if I was playing against him, I can assure I
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: would do everything in my power to negate that segment
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: of their offense. Now, I faced a few great receivers.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you one funny story. The Cardinals had a
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: receiver that was blazing fast. His name was Roy Green,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: and we played against each other a lot. We knew
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: each other, and And he knew that I was going
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: to be trying to do something to deal with him.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: So every once in a while in warmups, he would
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: kind of jog over to me and say, hey, Bill,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: what do you got for me today? I said, boy,
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: I got a lot of bad news for you. I said,
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: we're either going to roll into you on the zone
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: if we're playing zone. and jam your release, or if
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: we're playing man to win, we're going to have two
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: guys on you. So I'd say, really, you can just
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: take the rest of the day off. Don't worry about it.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, again, I don't know. I think if you were
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: playing against Jefferson today, you'd have a hell of a
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: time trying to get him because, again.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Well, you've got to do something. You can't allow it
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: to continue to happen.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Well, they'll keep trying.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Well, you have to allocate the resources to do it. And,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: you know, you just can't let it go on the
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: way it is. And you have to attempt. Now, it
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: doesn't always work, but you do your best.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Well, this week we saw a lot of action in
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: the red zone, as we often do. I actually want
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: to learn more about the red zone because all that
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: I know, it's the last 20 yards before the goal line.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: What changes of strategy are there when you're playing in
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: the red zone?
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Like, does the playbook— Well, let me tell you— Let
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: me tell you the major change is you're now playing
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: in a compressed area. It's not the whole field. It's
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: not 80 or 90 yards. It's 30 yards. Yeah. Ball's
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: on the 20. Say you have it on your 15
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: going in. You only have 25 yards to operate. That
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: is restrictive for the passing game. And here's why. They
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: have more defenders in a smaller space.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: More chaos.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: So it's more confined. Mm-hmm. So your passing game alters
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: in this respect. You can't throw a long pass because
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: there's not enough yard. You throw it out of the
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: back of the end zone. So the pass routes are
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: usually shorter, quicker, more deliberate. The quarterback has to put
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: a little more velocity to make sure to get the
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: ball into tighter spaces and all those kinds of things.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: So you have to be judicious in your passing game
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: because that's where you're risking turning the ball over. I
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: can't tell you how many times I sat up in
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: front of my teams when I was coaching and say, fellas,
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: we have to run the ball into the end zone.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: I don't want to be having to throw it all
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: the time down there because it's too confined. It's too compressed.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Too many balls get tipped and they've got too many guys.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: We have to be able to run the ball into
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: the end zone. Yeah. So, okay.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: That being said, which one do you find is more difficult,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: a red zone offense or a red zone defense, if
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: you had to pick one?
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: I would say offense because they immediately restrict your ability
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: to attack on all fronts. You don't have room to
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: do it. Mm-hmm. But defense, I think it's almost an
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: advantage because you have more players defending a smaller compressed area. Theoretically,
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: that should be easier to do. That's why I want
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: to run the ball into the end zone so I
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: don't have to throw it.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: So red zone plays to me, it's like edge of
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: your seat, no matter who you're watching. Because like you said,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: there's more confusion, there's more chaos. I know, I can
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: sense your intensity, especially as a coach, like, okay, this,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: you know. This is it.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: Well, this is scoring here.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, scoring time.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: It's either scoring or we're keeping them from scoring.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: But that being said, the players must be just rushing
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: with adrenaline. Do you think that creates more room for mistakes?
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: I don't know exactly where the rushing with adrenaline. You know,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: you're in the scoring zone, so you're eager. You want
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: to get the ball in the end zone. I think, Catherine,
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: or I used to preach that. That our concentration has
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: to be enhanced the closer we get to the goal
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: line or the closer our opponent gets to our goal line.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: We have to enhance our concentration.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: That's got to be hard to do, though. I mean.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: That's football.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Kudos to them if they do it, but I can
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: see the stress, the scramble.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: There's certain areas of the field that are compressed. You
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: have to operate under duress and... Higher tempo and all
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: those things. But here's the key, Kath. Run the ball
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: into the end zone and you don't have a lot
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: of those problems.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Just run it. Okay. Let's shift gears now because talking
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: about defense, we are almost done with our critical factors.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: And there's actually two positions. So being new to football,
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: I did not know anything about and I still am
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: a little unaware. So I want to start. We've got
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: two more in the defense to talk about. First, I
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: want to touch on the critical factors for the cornerbacks.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: The cornerbacks are generally charged with defending defense. the fastest
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: players on the opponent's team, the wide receivers. A cornerback
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: has to have speed and quickness to keep up with
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: the speed that the opponents have. If you're too slow,
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: you're probably not going to be too good as a cornerback.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: But you also have to be a good tackler, okay,
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: because if you miss tackles, you're the last line of
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: defense there. You know, if you miss tackles, they get points.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: So quickness, speed, good tackling. That's what I want in
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: the corner.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: And you probably, again, this is a position where bigger
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: is better, most likely, right?
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, but not always. You can find some special players
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: that are not maybe the exact size that you want.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: I think back to a cornerback that played for the Redskins,
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Darrell Green, outstanding player, another thorn in my side for years,
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: but a lot of respect there. But he wasn't a
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: real big guy, but he was very efficient.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Do you find that they all have something personality-wise or
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: mentally in common?
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: It's a high-pressure position. The corners and the safeties are
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: the last line of defense for the defense.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: So they have to be more aggressive?
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Generally speaking... If you're a corner, you can't get beat
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: deep on a pass. You know, if you can't get outrun,
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: you have to be cautious of that all the time
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: because that's always in play. So you have to be
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: a good tackler. It's just the last line of defense.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: It's critical that you get good play out of your secondary. Now, safeties... Oh, yeah.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: That's the next one. Well, it's a.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: Different position, totally.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: First of all, there are two kinds of safeties. There's
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: a strong safety, usually placed to the strength of the
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: formation or just generally speaking to the side of the
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: offensive team's tight end. And then there's the free safety,
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: who is usually more in the deeper half of the
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: field or right or the deeper third of the field
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: if it's a three deep coverage if there's two safeties
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: back then it's a two deep coverage in zone that
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: kind of thing but So.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Would you say that the safeties is the more versatile position?
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah. The corners have to have speed. If they can't defend,
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: that's that. But safeties are also involved in the run
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: support to defend the running game. And they are vital
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: guys because they, most of the time, the strong safety
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: is the guy that's charged with turning the opponent's play
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: around back into the inside defenders.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: So they have to be like heady players. They have
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: to know what they're doing.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: They have to be versatile. They have to be good tacklers,
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: the safeties. And they have to be physical. A strong
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: safety is more like a smaller linebacker. The free safety,
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: more of a rangy, speedy, cover more ground kind of guy.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: But they both have to be able to tackle. If
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: you miss tackles at the safety position, Catherine, That guy
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: on the scoreboard is going to get tired putting those
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: points up there.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: I bet. There are so many good, like crazy good
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: defensive plays in the end zone this past week. I
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: really like the one with the Eagles and the Jaguars,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: which we mentioned. That was a good one. And your guy,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Sean Payton, the Broncos' fourth quarter defensive stand versus the Chargers.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: It shows you that it gets tougher as the field
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: gets shorter.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: You know, we're going to, in ensuing shows, talk about
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: the specialty of short yardage defense, of goal line defense.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we got to break that down.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: Two minute. We have to do all that because it's
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: an entire different phase. And you usually allocate Friday for
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: those specialty times, short yardage, goal line, red zone, two
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: minute to take a total review with your team in
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: that area where Wednesday and Thursday, you're more on your
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: general running plays, play actions, first and second down, drop
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: back passes, what you're going to do. But Fridays are
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: more specific on the short yardage, goal line, red zone,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: two minute. You work on that a lot on Fridays.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: And Fridays is also lighter, right, in practice?
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: A little bit lighter. You're trying to keep your team
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: healthy for the game, but listen, it's mismanagement and The
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: last thing I used to say to my quarterbacks when
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: we were walking off the field on Friday, in fact,
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: they used to say it to me before I'd say
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: it to them after a while, is, boys, clock, clock, clock.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: Never lose track of the clock.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Why do you think they do? Because sometimes it feels
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: like they do. Is it just there are so many
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: things to think about?
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: There's chaos going on. Especially in the last couple minutes
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: of the game, there's chaos going on. You don't know
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: what's being said on the headset. Whether the quarterback even
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: hears it properly. You know, it's not a poised, quiet conversation.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Emotions are high, not only in the huddle, but they're
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: high on the sideline as well. So you have to
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: try to have enough personal discipline. to communicate properly with
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: your quarterback. And hopefully, if you have practiced these situations
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: before properly, he will already know what he's supposed to do.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: So it's funny you say huddle because I'm curious, is
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: there ever disagreements? Like if the quarterback calls this, do
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: you ever find pushback from other players being like, no,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: we should do this? Does that happen?
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: Everything happens in football. But I wouldn't say that's a
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: common practice. I wouldn't say, you know, the quarterback's the leader.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: He's calling the players. The players are coming in from
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: the sideline. Their job is to execute the play called.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: All right. Now, we've all gotten times where retrospectively we
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: wish we did something different. Of course. That's not the case.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: So their job is to execute the play called and
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: do the best they can to make it work.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: And everybody has to get on board.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. You got 11 out there and they got to
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: function as a cohesive unit.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Do you find that... Talking about cohesive units and also
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: good plays. Like when there's a turnaround and you get
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: a really good play, do you find that that can
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: create a momentum and that is required for you to
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: keep going?
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: Listen, turnaround, goal line stand, a goal line stand, it's
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: an exhilarating feeling for the players if they're successful doing
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: that kind of thing.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: It's changing the energy around. Of course.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: It's up there. We did something great. We stopped them.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: They had at first a goal on the five and
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: they didn't get any points. Well, we like that. That's good.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: That's good defense.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: Was there ever a game that you coached, maybe a
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: high risk game where you're just waiting for everybody to
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: like flip that switch? Like, you know, everybody was kind
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: of down and then, you know, let's go guys. We
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: just need that one play and you get that one
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: play and the next thing you know, you're off and
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: it's just roses from there.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: That happened countless times. Yeah. It's just, it's just the
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: flow of the game changes and you never know when
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: it's coming. You don't never know when the big players
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: are coming and, You don't know whether the great defensive
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: players are coming. But it's a concentration business. You can't
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: be thinking about something else. You've got to be thinking
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: about the task at hand.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: The task at hand and everything else and all the
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: distraction and all the chaos.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: I respect players. Understanding and learning more about this game
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: with you gives me such a better appreciation for the
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: game and for the players and for the coaches. There's
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: so much you're juggling at the same time.
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Thousands of people watching.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: And as coaches, we don't always juggle it properly.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: That's okay. That's okay. You know, that makes for our-
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: It's okay if you win.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: I know. It's not okay if you lose.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: I love being on this side of it where I
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: can just observe and comment and yet I have no idea.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: That's why you're a fan.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: That's why I'm a fan.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: And some fans think they know better. I always love
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: that when I'm watching games at bars and You got
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: the people yelling, oh, you shouldn't do all that. It's like, listen,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: put yourself in their shoes. Simmer down.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Oh, they get so hot and bothered sometimes.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: Now we're near the end of today's episode. And I
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: wanted to pick your brain about a few things that
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: happened to us on Sunday off the field. We're not
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: sponsored by them at all, but every time we watch
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: football together, I always bring subs from Jersey Mike's because
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: we love them. You love your turkey sandwich. I love
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: my ham. And when I brought it over this week,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: you mentioned that you actually made a commercial for them
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: for their first ever Jersey Mike's.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: Well, that originated down on the beach area in New
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: Jersey where I lived. And a guy started up and
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: he asked me if I'd help him out with a
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: little promotion. So it was a very short, quick thing.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: It Didn't last long, but I agreed to it. It
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: was just, Jersey Mike's was just in their original inception.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: They were just starting. So they were looking for a
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: little promotion. So I did it, but it's a good product.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we have zero complaints. When do you start actually
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: getting approached as a coach or a player?
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I guess when the advertisers... or the
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: production people think that you could have some kind of influence.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: I personally can tell you there were countless times where
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: I rejected opportunities because they wanted me to delve into
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: areas that I didn't feel comfortable talking about, like politics.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Oh, you already answered one of my questions I had.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like politics. They want you to go over and, okay, hey,
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: could you say something good about this category? You know,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: I was always pretty judicious about that. I didn't want
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: to get involved in an area where I didn't feel
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: I should be listened to because I'm certainly not an
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: expert on politics. Now, I have a party like everybody else.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: I'm interested, but I don't know that much about it.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: Were you trying to protect the Bill Parcells brand? What
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: was your thoughts behind that? And did you ever see
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: yourself as being a brand? Because you're recognizable. Even now,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: we can't go anywhere in this town without somebody stopping you,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: asking for a picture, begging you to come back to
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: coach the Giants again. Did you ever consider yourself a brand?
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: Not really.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: No?
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Not really. But, you know, you have an agent. An
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: agent represents you. People come to him with proposals. He
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: then brings them to you and you jointly talk over, well,
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: should we consider this or should we not consider it?
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: And is it something, Bill, you feel comfortable with? If
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: it is, let's go ahead and go with it. If
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: it's something or an area where you don't really feel like.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: Or even just a product that you don't like.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: Just a product that you don't know much about or
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: don't like, then you say no.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: No. Do you get an agent when you start as
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: players and coaches, or is it something again?
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: No, that's a very common practice. When I first started,
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: it wasn't as common a practice, but I did have
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: an agent from kind of the beginning to the right
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: after the beginning, not immediately, but right after the beginning
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: of my head coaching career, I did have an agent,
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: and he represented me very well, along with a lot
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: of other successful coaches, Joe Gibbs and people like that.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: Another fun thing that happened on Sunday, you got a call.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: It was my favorite thing. Your phone rings. You look
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: at your phone. You're like, listen to this. You answer,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: put on speaker. And your first, your intro to that
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: person was, hey, big money. And then we heard that
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: this man was so jovial and loud and happy to
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: talk to you. I couldn't understand what he was saying
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: because he was so excited. But it was Curtis McGriff.
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: Curtis McGriff was a big defensive line, very big man,
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: six feet six, tremendous, tough guy. From Alabama, he had
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: a very high voice. And for his size, it didn't
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: look like it was coming out of his mouth, but
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: it did. And we've maintained a friendship over all these years.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: I like him very much, and we get along well.
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: And he's doing well now. And you're just happy to
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: see your players be successful. And you do maintain, once
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: you've been on a team and you've coached players, and
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: if you have the good fortune to win a championship, Catherine,
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: I can't explain it to you exactly, but there is
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: some kind of mystical blood kinship that's formed. And it
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: lasts the rest of your entire life. It never goes away.
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: It's always the same.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: And I don't know if people know that or get
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: that because I got to see it and I get
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: to witness it with you when we were together and
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: hang out because you're getting calls on your birthday. You're
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: getting calls on Christmas. You're getting calls on Father's Day.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: from some of these players.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, that Father's Day call is very meaningful
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: to me. But in some cases, I represented the first
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: real male figure of authority with some of these players. Yeah.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: And It's a special relationship, and you have an enduring
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: trust in one another. You can speak pretty much about anything.
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: The sensitivity level is very low, and it's nice when
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: you feel like you can help people. But more, it's
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: nice to have them think of you in that manner,
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: and it's very rewarding personally. It's one of the real
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: benefits from coaching.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's beautiful. I'm kind of envious of that approach.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: connection that you have with these guys, like that big bond.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, I have friends and bonds too, but there's
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: so many of you guys.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's a lot of years and it's
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: a lot of teams and it's a lot of players
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: and it's a lot of coaches. And it's a very, very,
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: as I said, it's a mystical blood kinship. That's the
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: only way I can describe it.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, you spend so much time together. It's no surprise.
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: It's one of the most rewarding things in my life.
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: When you get a call on Father's Day from one
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: of your players, you know what that means. I mean.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: And I've seen some of the letters they sent you.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Like it just, yeah, kind of stares my eyes a
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: little bit.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Oh, now are we going to get into
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: the teardrop section here today? Why not?
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: I get emotional thinking about it.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: There's something about like grown men just having pure love
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: for each other that just warms my heart. It's like
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: I can't even watch a movie with a man crying
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: and without me crying.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, it really is that way. Yeah. And
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: there's a display of affection, you know, and I think
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: I mentioned this to you. When a grown man comes
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: up and kisses you on the cheek.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: And says I love you.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: It's very powerful. Very I love you. You know he
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: means it and vice versa.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: All right. You're giving me chills. I'm going to wrap
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: up the episode, though, with a rapid fire round. Otherwise,
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to keep talking and blabbering and start
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: tearing up.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: Okay, go ahead.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: Let's do a two-minute drill. Are you ready?
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: Fire away. Let's go.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: So in honor of Coach Ditka, I'm going to name
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: some iconic coaches in NFL history, and I want you
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: to describe them.
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: Let's go. Let's start with Mike Ditka.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: A great man, I told you. I have a great
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: deal of admiration for him. A very, very good player.
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: A very, very good coach. But Catherine, a better human being.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: And that's where my admiration was. Beautiful.
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: Next is Bill Walsh.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: One of my fierce rivals. Very cerebral coach. You always
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: had to be alert for some gimmickry and some... things
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: that you hadn't seen when you competed against him. He
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: was a very astute analyzer. He would evaluate your team
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: and have a good method in the way he chose
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: to attack you or defend you. One of my fierce rivals.
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: But one of the great things that happened to me
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: with that man, Catherine, unfortunately, a few years back when
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: I was coaching in Dallas, he became very ill. Mm-hmm.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: And I was aware of his illness. I didn't know
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: to what degree at the time, but he called me
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: up on the phone. He was in San Francisco. He said, Bill,
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: can I come down and see you? Oh, yeah. So
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: he came down to Dallas to visit me. And really
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: what he came to do, Catherine, was to say goodbye
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: and also to tell me how much he enjoyed the competition.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: And we had an extended talk. I'm talking about it
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: wasn't 20 minutes. This was hours. And kind of reliving
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: the old times and the competition. You know, as I said,
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: we were constituents. It's just, he was a very nice man.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: And for him to do that just showed me a
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: respect that I didn't really expect. And it was a
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: precious time for me personally.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: That's beautiful. You brought the tears back, damn it.
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: That's good. Let's go.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll move on. But that's beautiful. I love that.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Bill Belichick.
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: Was with him for 18 years. He was a young man.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: I knew his father well. He came from a football family.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: I saw him escalate slowly up the ladder to the
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: point where he's arguably the greatest coach in the history
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: of pro football. He's got more championships than anybody. He's
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: a good friend. We still communicate. He's the coach at
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: North Carolina now. And I was very, very lucky to
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: have him. He was a good young guy that I
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: saw the whole development.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And part of your coaching tree now.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: Well, that's good.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: How about Don Shula?
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: Preceded me by a few years. One of the guys
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: that I looked up to and aspired to be like,
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: because he was a winning coach with the Dolphins and
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: other teams too, the Colts. But Just kind of like
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: the role model that preceded me. Those are the kind
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: of guys you were looking at. How did that guy
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: get where he is? And you just learn and you
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: try to study and you try to learn from what
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: you see. Yeah.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Would you say he was a mentor for you indirectly?
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: I did have several conversations with him. I don't know
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: that the word mentor is correct, but highly influential in
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: the way I went about things. Yeah.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: Lovely. And lastly, Chuck Knoll.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: Listen, this was one of the best. Another cerebral guy,
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: but he restored pride to the city of Pittsburgh. They won.
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: He was in four Super Bowls, and all you need
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: to know about this man, Catherine, is he didn't lose
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: any of them. He won them all. One of the
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: greatest coaches in the history of the NFL without question.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: I'm going to throw you a curveball. How do you
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: think people would describe you as a coach?
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: I'm going to leave that.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: I'm going to get somebody.
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: Why don't you describe it?
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: You know what? I think I'm going to try to
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: find somebody that's going to come on.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: Why find somebody? You know me well. Why don't you
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: just say it?
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: I know you well as a human being. I think
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: you're the most. thoughtful, giving man.
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you very much.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: I've seen you help countless people, support people, give advice.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: It's what you're supposed to do. I know, and you
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: give me parenting advice. It's so nice. It's what you're.
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: Supposed to do. You try to make a difference for people,
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: and sometimes it's not always in the area of your expertise.
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: It's life. That's what we do.
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, I love that. Well, thank you so much, Bill.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: Another great week.
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: Love being with you, Catherine.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: Me too, and I'm learning so much more And I
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: can't wait to keep going. It's a little overwhelming. There's
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: so much to this game. It blows my mind every week.
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: We'll get through it.
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: It'll work.
• 47:31
  Speaker 3: Let's go.