First off, I know you’ve been coaching for a while – how did you get started as a coach and why?
I grew up the son of a coach – my dad coached high school football and I figured I’d end up coaching too. I was fortunate to have been able to play in the NFL first. I enjoy coaching this age of kids – 14-year olds are knuckleheads and it’s fun seeing them grow up.
How have kids today changed since you came up as a high school football player?
Now you have school choice – back in our day you played where you lived and grew up with those guys. Social media has changed things too – now kids put themselves out there and post everything. Some of it is good, some not so good. Everything is bigger and brighter now – the lights are on 24/7.
Who helped you as a young quarterback making it in the NFL?
When I got to Green Bay Don Majkowski was the starter and Brett Favre was behind him. Steve Mariucci was the quarterbacks coach and he worked with us a lot. I learned a lot from Brett – with him anything could happen at that point in his career!
Mike Holmgren had a great pedigree with quarterbacks too having coached Joe Montana and Steve Young. They took a risk with a young quarterback room – me, Brett, then Mark Brunell…. to their credit they stuck with us and gave us opportunities. We just had to show them we could be trusted.
You played numerous sports in high school and college – football, basketball, golf, baseball, track…how helpful was that for you?
It’s different today. You still have some two-sport athletes, but three-sport athletes are rare. It’s tougher now – the competition level has grown as kids have specialized more. Back in my day kids didn’t really do that as much – now the average athlete can specialize and make it tougher for the multi-sport athlete. When they train year-round with weight and speed specialists it makes the competition tougher. I still like to promote kids playing other sports though – we’ll figure it out. If they are good enough they’ll still rise to the top.
Were you happy to be traded to Cleveland – and were you aware of the degree of the rivalry between the teams then?
When I was with Green Bay it was the Bears, and in Philadelphia it was the Cowboys. In Cleveland it was the Steelers. I was aware somewhat of the rivalry but until you’re in it you don’t realize how heated it is.
I started the first game back for the Browns since they got their franchise back – it was a Monday Night game versus the Steelers. We were not good- we were an expansion team and they got after us really good. We played much better against them that second game.
What was that experience like for you?
It was a lot. We had a grace period with Browns fans knowing it was our first game back. The energy was high especially with the Steelers coming to Cleveland. I think people were mostly just happy to have football back.
I had signed a seven-year deal when I was in San Francisco but then ownership changed. When Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark went to Cleveland they had familiarity with me so they brought me in. I knew they would draft a quarterback round one and they did – taking Tim Couch. I knew I was there to help the rookie quarterback – my time starting was always going to be limited – but I didn’t know it would be that short!
Cleveland then had a bunch of cast-offs – they didn’t have any real high-profile guys then. It was tough sledding but it was a fun time to be there.
How did the coaches get all of those guys together and on the same page?
Once it got to just football things settled in – it was just a bunch of people trying to make the team. Carmen brought in his guys and Coach Palmer wanted his own guys. It wasn’t cohesive from the owner to the head coach. It was two different schools of thought – Dwight and Carmen were West Coast Offense guys and Palmer was a Parcells school of thought guy. So they weren’t on the same page.
They had a bunch of rookie receivers too. It was a lot of young, inexperienced players. A lot of tough sledding.
Any memories stand out from that Steelers game you started?
I remember the excitement and the crowd. The Steelers were good then – it was a mismatch really. As a quarterback you feel helpless – they were bringing blitzes from everywhere and we weren’t quite ready yet. It wasn’t funny for us – maybe it was from the Pittsburgh end!
What do you think of the way the NFL has changed since you played?
As a quarterback you like that the pass game is more prevalent. Some of us are still old school though – you see quarterbacks now leading receivers over the middle with seam routes and we would never have done that to our receivers or they would have been knocked out. And roughing the passer calls – even as a quarterback sometimes we just say “Come on!” I’m not sure how you can play defense in today’s world. Back then as a quarterback I enjoyed the risk you took standing in the pocket and making plays. It was part of the game. Now that’s not a big risk anymore for quarterbacks. Quarterbacks today I’m sure like it – it’s more exciting for the game. NFL coaches have become more creative too – they’ve taken plays out of the college game – they aren’t too proud to do that.
I spoke to Dick LeBeau who said the only strategy that went from the NFL down versus from college to the NFL was the 3-4 defense. Why do you think that is?
It was always that way. As a high school coach I tell my kids that in the NFL we always knew what three fronts the opposing team would run. We’d know what they did schematically. But in high school you have no idea what you’ll see! It’s not orthodox or sound sometimes but you’ll see something different every week. I think NFL coaches fear taking chances – they’re afraid of getting fired. There’s a lot of money at stake. If things backfire they are too afraid of the backlash. So they get more predictable and cautious.
In Philadelphia Jimmy Johnson had what we called retirement blitzes. He’d blitz two guys off the edge which wasn’t very sound. It left the A-gap wide open if the blitzers didn’t get there first. He was rolling the dice. But he knew that at his stage in his career that if they scored he could just retire! He could afford to take those chances. You never see that in mid-career coaches!
Are you looking to get back into coaching at the college level?
I coached at BYU as their offensive coordinator before going back to high school coaching. I have seven grandkids and like the lifestyle now of a high school coach. For me, I enjoy that. I take it seriously but it leaves time for family and to pursue other passions.