First, can you let us know what you’ve been doing with yourself lately?
I’ve been staying busy – trying to get my workouts in and spending time with my family. I train guys too as they get ready for the combine and training camps – I work with a group of guys that call me when they have some guys they want me to work with.
Still want to coach?
I’ll tell you, I still feel like I can coach. I feel great and follow the game to keep my mind sharp. If somebody wanted me I think I could help. I feel that way still – I love the game and have a lot left to give to the game.
How would you describe your coaching style and who helped mentor you as a coach?
For me, being around Jerry Glanville when I coached with him with the Oilers – he made you realize you can’t get caught up in yourself. It’s about the players and making them better.
I loved that about Jerry. And he never panicked. He never got upset. He’d deal with things in a relaxed way. If there was a problem, he’d ask how you could fix it. “Do we have a drill for it? Can we fix it?” That was his approach.
I liked that. There wasn’t any yelling or screaming. He had a calm manner – it was a business. I enjoyed that aspect of working with him. They had a lot of veteran coaches there too. They’d listen to you but you had to learn their system first – then you could develop your own style and approach.
He could be tough though…
I remember him telling the officials when they had a few calls he didn’t agree with – “Mr. Official – can you come over here – can I talk to you? You know the NFL stands for Not for F’in Long if you keep making those calls right?” We’d crack up – that was his way of doing things. Some people didn’t like that. He loved Elvis and would leave tickets for him at games. Some didn’t like his way of doing things, but that’s the way he did it.
He did have a toughness about him. If we lost a game, he’d tell the guys we’d take it out on the next team we played though. He didn’t dwell on it.
One game my first year as a coach, Warren Moon was hurt so we went in with out backup – Cody Carlson. He dislocated his finger so we had to play our third string guy. This was against Kansas City. We three for 24 yards I think, but we ran the ball for a lot of yards – Rozier had a big game and we ended up winning 7-6..
After the game I thought Jerry would be upset at just scoring seven points, But when I saw him he was laughing. He told me these were the games you had to win. That you have to appreciate every win.
I loved that – he didn’t get caught up in how you won – you just want to win. As a coach I was tough on players during the week, but on gamedays I would back off like Jerry did. I wanted the players to be able to focus on their jobs and move on quickly if they messed up.
What made you decide to become the Steelers’ Offensive Coordinator in ’98?
In ’98 I was the Quarterback Coach for the Vikings – I had coached Warren Moon, and Brad Johnson was having a big year until he was injured. The Steelers lost Chan Gailey, so Bill Cowher called me and asked me if I was interested in the job.
I went in and interviewed and was offered the job. I met with Kordell and the other coaches and they all wanted me there. The Vikings were being sold then too so I didn’t know what was happening there.
How was Kordell to work with and how were you able to deal with the marriage of his athleticism and his need to be a “true quarterback”?
He was a very athletic quarterback – that’s why Bill gave him the “Slash” name. But he was still living by that name and we wanted him to be a quarterback.
Kordell had success as a rookie. But that offseason he was traveling and doing a lot of commercials and things so I never had a chance to get on the same page as him and get to know him. It was difficult – I wanted to spend time with him but that wasn’t happening. No excuses though – you just have to find a way to do things. But it was tough.
Kordell was a different kind of guy, I wanted to spend time with him – he was still young. The thing is, you can have a good year in the NFL as a young player, but then teams will study you and learn what to take away from you. Teams studied him – I think you saw that in the AFC Championship game when he threw those five interceptions.
I just wish we could have spent time in the offseason. I ran the Steelers’ system – I wanted to bring in the system I ran in Minnesota but Bill was worried that Kordell was a young quarterback and so he didn’t want to make any changes.
What happened after that season?
Things didn’t work out. I asked Bill and the Rooneys to let me out of my contract. I knew it was going to be tough working with Kordell – he and I had our differences, let’s just put it that way. It was easier to move on, so I did.
What prompted your return when Coach Drake passed away?
The year before the Steelers had asked me to come in and work with some of the young wide receivers – to observe and consult – but I had other things going on and couldn’t do it. But they called and asked me to come in the following year and I was able to do so. Darryl and I were also friends.
When Darryl passed away, he, I and James Daniels were all living in the same suite together. We used to all meet in the morning for breakfast and talk before our 8 am meetings.
Well, James and I were at breakfast talking and we were wondering where Darryl was. He should have been there by then. We called up to the room but there was no response, so we went up to the room. When we went in, James found him and told me Darryl wasn’t responding to him. He called the trainers and I went to tell Coach Tomlin. I told him Darryl wasn’t responding and he said “What?!” I told him again and he went up – the trainers were there trying to revive him and then the paramedics came, but they couldn’t revive him.
What happened after that?
They asked me to stay – I was in the receivers room helping already with those guys – it was a very young room. Diontae Johnson and James Washington were two guys they asked me to spend more time with before Darryl passed – so I already knew them and was working with them.
When they asked me to stay I said yes. It wasn’t about the money – the Steelers were always such an awesome organization – such great people – some of the people I knew in ’98 were still there. I had to say yes and help them stuck it out.
How did you handle working with those young guys and getting them through that – especially as Darryl was a friend of yours as well?
For me, I enjoyed working with and developing young guys. Helping them through growing pains. Every player is different – growing up they all had different things they went through. I want to get to know them as people – sometimes they don’t know who to turn to and I wanted to help them and be there for them.
Diontae – his mom had just recently passed away – he was a bit standoffish and quiet at first. I had to get to know him so he could feel comfortable with me.
James went through some tough times the year before and that was hard for him. The main thing for him was to boost his confidence – to get him to be confident again in what he could do.
I think they both ended up playing well and having good seasons.
What did you do to help them through all of that?
We would say a prayer before each meeting – something from the Scriptures or something else – me or player would say one. We talked a lot about life- that it wasn’t easy sometimes. Everyone goes through something and you have to make sure you trust and believe in yourself. We talked about that – that you can’t dwell and lose focus on the job. We discussed life and opened up with each other. We let each other know that we were all in it together.
After we exercised we all said “Coach Drake!” and we had his picture hanging up in the receivers room. He raised some of those guys. When I came in he asked me to talk to them about my experiences as a coach. They asked me about the guys I coached – about the four Hall of Fame receivers I coached – Owens, Jerry {Rice}, Moss and Carter. They wanted to know about those guys.
What did you tell them?
I said that none of those guys ever griped about working hard – no matter how hard we had them work. In fact we sometimes had to slow them down.
That was the mindset I told them they had to have. JuJu was a pup then himself – he wanted to know too and I told him they never complained. That sometimes things don’t go your way, but it’s how you respond that matters.
Then we lost Ben to injury – it was tough. We had young quarterbacks and it got very tough for the receivers. We had to hold them all together and not let them get frustrated. We had to get them to trust the process and held that room together. It was tough, to be honest. But their attitude was great.
After the first few games we lost, they were frustrated not getting many opportunities. Ben was an experienced quarterback but the other guys were young and still learning. We didn’t win some games we should have and went 8-8.
What do you think of the wide receivers room now – enough talent there to win with?
I felt they needed another piece to the room. You need a dominant guy that can take over a game.
Think Claypool can be that guy?
I honestly don’t know enough about him. I know he’s a big guy who can be very good in the red zone.
So if the Steelers ever give you a call and ask you to come back…?
I was asked to come back, but then Coach T. went another direction for some reason. I’m not sure why – your guess is as good as mine. I went to the Senior Bowl to scout some guys because I thought I was coming back, but when I got back they told me they were going in another direction. But he’s the head coach – he can do what he wants. I have no problem with that.
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