First, how is it being back on the West Coast at Oregon – miss the snow?
I’m a West Coast guy. I was born and raised in L.A. I was at SMU and worked my way up to the Pac 12. I always wanted to come back especially for an opportunity like this.
I wanted to talk to you about that opportunity – but first, who were some of the mentors that shaped the way you coached?
Dante Scarnecchia in New England – the way he went about coaching the game. The discipline he imposed and the regimen and routine. He was a former military guy – a former Marine – he pushed routine and regimen – he believed that in order to do something right you had to do it over and over to get it right every day.
June Jones – I played for him in college and coached for him at SMU. The way he cares about his players – not just because it’s the right thing to care for your guys. But it carries you further as a team when you do – they want to play for you and please you. I use that in my recruiting now. Those relationships you form – I try to form those early. You get more from people when you create those relationships.
Mike Cavanaugh was my offensive line coach in college. He was a technician too – like Dante. He helped shape the way I teach guys.
And last year – Chris Morgan in Pittsburgh – he brought many things too. Everyone has a different thing they bring – different verbiage, different physical approaches. I’m 45 years old – there are always new things I can learn.
How important from your perspective is it to be a coach who also played the position?
In some ways it definitely is. Sometimes we see guys who didn’t play as pencil-pushers that draw up things on a board but may not understand if the guys in the room can really do those things. I don’t want to take away anything from those guys – but it can be harder for them to understand if players can really handle what’s being asked of them if they didn’t do it.
Conversely, sometimes it’s harder to be a former player – especially if you were really good or a superstar. Some things just come naturally and it’s hard to explain how they do it. If they are coaching guys who aren’t as gifted or as passionate as they were it can be hard to help them understand how to do it.
So, it can go either way. And guys who didn’t play – maybe they think more outside of the box. They don’t think about it the way it’s always been done – they may be less cookie-cutter.
What made you decide to take the job in Pittsburgh in 2019?
It was perfect timing. My contract wasn’t renewed at UCLA due to some NCAA issues and that’s when Mike T. reached out. Two teams reached out to me before but I was having some success at UCLA.
I sent some guys to the NFL – maybe that’s how Mike thought about me – through word of mouth. The NFL is a small fraternity. I’m not sure. But they had me come in to interview and I jumped on the opportunity. I thought being around Mike and that organization – I could learn a lot from someone like that and be a sponge in that environment. It was a great opportunity.
I interviewed and I got an offer on the flight back. It was perfect timing
Who were the guys in Pittsburgh that helped you the most and how?
Randy Fichtner – seeing the offense through his eyes – pulling me aside and showing me some things. I played in the spread in college but he helped show me so many new things.
Shaun Sarrett too – we helped each other. And Pouncey and Ramon. It’s different running a room with guys not too far from your own age – you have to learn to get that rapport with them but at the same time their respect as a coach. Shaun and Randy helped with that.
Anything specific they taught you?
Just schematically and what to look for in guys. Nothing specific – more of a general how to look at things. Randy especially had seen so much – just seeing things through his eyes to learn how to see what he saw.
A lot of veterans left when you were there – it was a young line in Pittsburgh. How were you approaching those guys in terms of coaching – in essence building the plane as you were flying?
It was difficult. It was a real veteran room at first. It went from guys who played forever together to all young guys. It was fun working with them – difficult but fun. It’s fun because they have that desire to learn. It wasn’t always pretty but when you find success with them it’s all the more enjoyable. They are all invested. It’s tough though – but enjoyable.
When it was just the older guys, that room kind of ran itself. You would add things here and there but they had seen so much.
Was there anything systematically you guys tried to do to help them?
You try to do some things with their skill sets but at the same time you’re trying to find long-term pieces. You can’t get too creative when you have a Hall of Fame quarterback in the backfield to protect. We had a new offensive line, a new offensive coordinator, a new running back. I looked at the lineup and we had four new starters on the offensive line and tight end. I just thought “Oh shit.” I’d have certain conversations with those guys and realize they didn’t know what I was talking about. Kendrick wasn’t a true center – he was a guard we were moving to center. So keeping him emotionally upbeat – telling him we knew he was still learning the position – I was there helping him stay the course.
Any ideas on whether he’s best moved to guard, like Ben said?
I’m not sure – I wouldn’t want to say what they should do there. That’s up to the team now and how they want to work with him.
What made you decide to take the Oregon job and how did that come up?
Dan Lanning reached out to Mike T. and let him know he wanted to pursue me for his staff. It was a great opportunity for me to get back to the college game in a top notch program on the West Coast. They have former NFL, SEC and PAC 12 coaches. The defensive line coach was my roommate in college and another coach I coached with at UCLA.
So it was a good group I wanted to coach with and the Associate Head Coach title was important.
Leaving midseason opened up for some speculation as to why – what led to the midseason departure?
Mike and I discussed it. We wanted to keep the decision for me to go to Oregon between us so it wouldn’t be a distraction. But it got leaked somehow and Mike had to deal with it. I appreciate how he handled it. We were fighting to get into the playoffs and people were asking too many questions and it became a distraction.
Looking back on your time in Pittsburgh – any memories stand out most to you?
Just the guys – how they welcomed me the first time I got there. The way Ben was too – he didn’t have to be that welcoming – and I still laugh at the video of him dunking on me!
I raised two boys by myself and Coach T. always asked about them. One is now at Kansas St. Just the family environment – it was very cool. It’s unique to that organization. I know a lot of people say that but it’s true.
And one cool moment – going to New England in the opener. We lost but it was good to see everyone across the way. Two storied organizations – it was a cool moment to see everyone. It was the first time being back there – it was cool for my kids too.
Any others stand out?
Going 12-0 during that run – every game was a dogfight. I wondered how we did it every game. We always seemed undermanned but we got wins even when Ben was down.
And seeing guys like John Leglue and J.C. Hassenauer play. It’s unfortunate that some guys got hurt but seeing them play was really nice. That is my favorite part really. Seeing practice squad guys getting an opportunity to play and having some success. Maybe they land on the 53 somewhere because of it later in their career. That’s definitely my favorite thing.
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