Exclusive with Former Oilers Cornerback Cris Dishman

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First, can you let us know about your coaching career -your start in the XFL and mentors/approach?

I’m the defensive backs coach now for the XFL’s New York Guardian team. It’s such a young league I don’t have much to talk about yet, but we’re looking for quality guys who may not all have been able to make it in the NFL but who have a fire and passion for the game.

The coaches that helped shape my coaching career were guys like Nick Saban, who helped show me technique and was very demanding. Phil Bennett as well – he was very family oriented. Pat Thomas coached the defensive backs with the Oilers and he and Rod Perry ended up giving me the techniques and drills that are the foundation for the drills I use today with my players. I had some great coaches over my career.

How did the coaching bug start for you?

I retied in 2000, and when I did I had to get right into something or my mind was going  to start wandering.  I actually got into the rodeo circuit for a few years, then approached Charlie Casserly when he was with the Texans for a coaching job. He told me I should be sure first that I wanted to get into coaching, so I coached for the NFL Europe Berlin  team. That’s when the passion began for me.

OK – let’s get into the Oilers-Steelers rivalry. Why was that rivalry so heated at times?

Well, there were two different coaches in Glanville and Noll who just didn’t like each other. You knew it was Steelers week – it was different than other weeks. We’d had dolls dressed up in Steelers gear we’d punch on our way to practice and slap dummies in Steelers colors.

When we played in Pittsburgh we never actually stayed in Pittsburgh – we’d stay across the water.  Glanville always felt we were being spied upon – that they had guys listening to our meetings in the hotel and stealing our playbooks.

When we practiced during Steelers week, those weeks we practiced in pads and hit and tackled each other. We wanted to be prepared physically and mentally for those games.

Any truth to that from your perspective?

Ah…with those two coaches anything was possible between them considering how much they hated each other.

Why did they hate each other so much?

I just think it was he spirit of football – they were both so competitive. They both wanted to beat each others’ asses so much. That brought the rivalry out in all of us too. It just developed into some bad blood. They didn’t like us and we didn’t like them.

I remember when I was a Plan B free agent I actually went to Pittsburgh for a visit. I went out to dinner with Tim Lewis who was the defensive backs coach then and had a very nice dinner. But I realized as it was ending that I just couldn’t come here and play. I remember walking into the building and everyone was very nice and welcoming. Even Jerry Olsavsky who I got into a fight with the year before. He even offered to take me to dinner. I just knew though that I couldn’t come to Pittsburgh and play for them.

Any guys you liked – or didn’t like -lining up against?

Rod Woodson and I were friends. When he came to Houston I’d go to their hotel and tell him where I parked and he’d come to the car and we’d go out for dinner. The same when we played in Pittsburgh. But we never talked after that once we got on the field. We were friends – but not on the field. When he was returning punts I was still going to try and knock him out – he had the Steelers uniform on.

Ward used to hit me with those crackback blocks. I swore I’d get him back when he did that. All the receivers were good – Lipps. And here was Bettis, and Dawson, who I knew and played against in high school.

Any memories that stand out?

Well, there was the brawl of course. Eric Green – the big Steelers tight end – caught the ball on the sidelines and was going in for a touchdown and was showing me the ball as he went in. Taunting me a bit. So after he scored I gave him a good hit. Now, I was 180 pounds and he was like 260 pounds – I’m not sure how much he felt but I was happy with it!

Well, the offensive line, our defensive line, Olsavsky from the sidelines – there was a big brawl. It took a while for the refs to get it all under control.

There were always other little things too. Like when we went to Pittsburgh to play somehow our showers wouldn’t work even tough theirs did. We got the Cleveland Browns treatment!

And one day I remember when it was snowing. You looked across the field and your can see that on their side all of the hashmark and sideline lines were cleared – you could see them all. They blew them all clear. But on our side nothing was cleared – you couldn’t see a thing.  You knew what happened off course!

What do you think of rivalries in in the NFL today?

With free agency and guys leaving from one team to another all of the time, it’s hard to find the rivalries to be like they used to be. Back then we just didn’t like the guys on other teams in the AFC Central. Now guys don’t stay on their teams for long. They don’t build that comraderie with their team and often know and are friends with many of the guys on the other teams. There is less loyalty to teams. So I don’t think you really see rivalries like those ones we had anymore.

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