VaqueroTD
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Good interview. Not your typical Press Conference interview.
Good stuff for you Big Mike doubters.
Quick Summary:
Good stuff for you Big Mike doubters.
Quick Summary:
- (Dak?) I saw Dak this morning. Will see on next Monday morning. He's doing everything he can.
- (Your message to players at last Team Meeting: Be Safe and Smart. What about DK?) I visited with Demontae Kazee this morning. Pending legal matter, so I can't comment, but we are aware of everything that happened.
- (Ted Lasso. Steve Kerr said reason everyone likes it is Culture beats Scheme.) I like the show a lot. The message is outstanding. I agree with Kerr. Growth, culture, and development. You can see some of the writers have taken past experience. Love it from a coaching perspective. Relate to your players, staff and get everyone to believe in that common goal and sacrifice. You learn this as you move up the ranks. There is always potential for people to change.
- (Moments in show you directly relate to?) My transition was easier than Ted Lasso's. Adversity was higher than normal with the pandemic. The transition year is always the foundation moment whether you like it or not. I can't tell you enough about the experiences we went through last year and dealing with adversity.
- (Parallels?) Absolutely. Locker room is the sanctuary. It's the most important part and how the personalities come together. You have to put in the maintenance and it has to fit, or the group as a whole will not reach its potential. Sometimes it takes a year to get the culture right. Every sport is different. Patience is not tolerated in our industry. I'm always laughing at the show because I can always relate.
- (You watch it as entertainment or do you critique him as a coach?) Positive, negative, zero reinforcement. I love the fact that Lasso usually comes with positive reinforcement because that is the best path for growth. There are times though you have to use negative reinforcement. My generation probably saw more of it.
- (Did you get feedback from your Gruden comments last week when you said we all need to treat each other better?) No feedback. I coached for Gruden in the 90's. I think anytime you see someone hit something you have to deal with, you have to ask yourself how can I learn from it. We all have moral compasses, at the end of the day we all have the same goals. But we are transitioning from a different generation, it's an evolution.
- (Coach evolution for you? ) It's been natural for me. My parents were big on respect and how you treat people. Respect your last name. Be prideful. Be proud of the neighborhood. I would always tell people "I'm from Greenfield." In Pittsburgh, everyone had so much pride in their neighborhood. Those lessons carry with you. My mother was a district justice, my father was public safety, I was raised the right way.
- (Lessons from your youth? Working your way up through a bar?) A lot of stories from the bar. Not all SFW. Going back to Ted Lasso, it does remind me of my young days and my dad's bar. Bar was packed in the morning before shifts and after shifts. Take care of your steady people. I've always looked at strength & conditioning, trainers & staff, as the bartenders. You gotta know your people. I always learn a lot more listening than talking.
- (Armchair social media on 4th and 1 decisions. We don't know what the coach has learned.) I can tell you calls I made in 2001 as a coordinator. I have great appreciation for individuals that go the long way. You have to do all the little things. I still use routines I had as quality control. I don't pay attention to the critics. There's always 4 or 5 plays you wish you could have adjusted. That's football. I have watched Kellen go through that too. 82 plays, but the other 78 you did a great job. Dallas is definitely different. The longer you coach, the longer it stacks up. But it goes with the job responsibility. We put a tremendous amount of energy in game decisions, we have a process, I'm a big believer in processes. At the end of the day, the decisions I make are meant to get the players to win the game. Analytics has become a weapon for the media. With game mgmt, you need to break it into 2 categories. You have situations either aggressive, neutral or conservative. You may have concerns the public isn't even aware of. There's a reason we're that way at that point. But if it's a game decision, that's real. It's just part of the job.
- (You're processing something that happened 2 plays ago? Possibilities must be endless?) Definitely. That's why you have a preparation process. Most important part of going for it on 4th down, making sure Kellen knows coming out of 2nd down, you're in a 4 down situation. If your process is in order, you're giving players a chance to be successful. A lot of detail to make sure we're ready for those decisions.
- (UT Baseball Fan?) Yes, I've been to many games. Great program.
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