First, let’s talk about your coaching career – how did you get started?
I’m now in my third year as a head coach at a division III school – Southern Virginia University. I’m really enjoying it. I started off as the defensive line coach, then the defensive coordinator and now the head coach. It wasn’t exactly the way I thought my coaching career would go but It’s been rewarding and very exciting.
After I retired in 2009, I got into high school coaching and dabbled in volunteer coaching for other schools. I moved my family to Samoa after that and went off the grid for a few years before coming coming back in 2015. I looked for a coaching job and helped out at Southern Utah with Ed Mann. I worked with him for one year then he went to BYU and I went to Southern Virginia.
Who were some of coaches who helped your coaching style and approach?
As a player one coach stands out to me – a guy who helped teach that toughness was a key part of the game. I use a lot of what he taught me – thats Robert Anae – the offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia now. He was my offensive line coach when I was in junior college and was a major influence for me – my first real coaching influence.
Dick Toomey was also a major influence – he recently passed away. And other coaches along the way as well. I modeled my coaching style after them. As an offensive lineman, it’s like refiner’s fire – especially in this day and age. Brian Billick used to limit our reps to keep us healthy, but he also wanted us to be tough and put s in tough situations. The tougher you are the less help you need.
Looking back on your rivalry with the Steelers – what was the driving factor in the success Baltimore had then versus Pittsburgh?
When I look back at those days I think that the healthy rivalries were the ones that were a bit nasty. You don’t make rivalries out of teams you beat up regularly. Those battles – I just remember how similar we were – we were like two alphas. We were just so similar – we felt like there was only room for one of us.
For us it was a pride thing – especially for the guys on the offensive line. Me, Ogden, Mike Flynn – we wanted to be the dominating offensive line in the division. We had a great defense with Ray Lewis and the guys but we wanted to take care of our own business. We wanted to be better than Faneca and the rest of that Steelers’ offensive line.
How did our offense find success versus the Steelers’ defense?
The Steelers of course ran that 3-4. That could be a positive or negative. For me as an offensive lineman it made things simple in a way. They did it so well – but their aim was to wait for us to make a mistake. But we knew how guys there played and where they would be. We kept things simple on offense to avoid mistakes. It became a battle of attrition. Their defense didn’t make mistakes – it was disciplined and were so complicated. So we kept it simple – the gameplan was condensed. We just focused on getting the running game moving and cleaning out the box, as offensive linemen. We tried to do the basic things well and keep the offense less complicated to reduce mistakes. That helped us.
What do you remember most about those games – anything stand out to you?
I remember those Mondays after the games – I felt those games in my neck and back. Kimo and that big club of his. It was always a good fight.
What I remember most about those games as an offensive lineman was how guys like Porter and Farrior ran their mouth at our running backs – especially Jamal Lewis – and the trash talk back and forth. We used to tell our guys to shut up – to stop getting them angrier! We had to block those guys! And Harrison – he was with us first then we let him go and he ends up going and playing so well with the Steelers. We used to say he was a disgruntled, angry Ravens employee.
Who were some of the guys you lined up against that you remember most?
Playing guys like Kimo, Hampton, and Hoke two times a year for eight years or so – you get to know each other in battle. You definitely get a mutual respect for each other, We tried not to talk to them before the game and then we’d try to beat each other’s brains in during the games, Then, we’d be like, see you in six weeks! It was definitely a mutual respect.
The guys we faced in out conference – we considered so many of those guys to be very good at their craft. I always thought they if I played well against them, then that’s when it was really fulfilling. You play against guys that are good in high school and college, but battling against these guys twice a year – success against those guys had much more intrinsic value to me.
What do you think of the rivalry today between the two teams?
I watch football now – mostly college football. But I make my family watch the Ravens versus Steelers games. It’s still a great rivalry. My nephews and I watched some of the older film of the games I played in versus the Steelers. They told me “Uncle – most of those hits would get guys kicked out of the NFL today!”
That physicality was a big part of the rivalry. I’m getting older – I guess you could say I’m old school – but the game has changed so much now. It’s still two heavyweights though fighting – a conference pride thing. Harbaugh and Tomlin are two strong head coaches. It’s still a healthy rivalry.
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