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Daily issues at NFL camps don't just include practice schedules
BY CARL KOTALA
FLORIDA TODAY ADVERTISEMENT
It was the middle of last season and St. Louis Rams coach Scott Linehan was sitting in his office when defensive end Leonard Little walked in.
"Coach, can I talk to you?"
Linehan braced himself for what Little would say next. He figured the player had a big issue he wanted to discuss.
"Can we have more pasta on Thursdays for lunch?' "
"I mean, he literally came into my office and sat down," Linehan recalled. "I was looking him eye-to-eye and I said, 'Yeah . . . Yeah, sure. Is that all?' "
Yep, that was all. So Linehan, a rookie coach at the time, made an executive decision. More pasta on Thursdays.
Think life as a first-year NFL coach is all about implementing new schemes, getting players to buy in to your philosophy and in some cases, changing a culture of losing that permeates the locker room -- maybe even the city?
Well, it is. But as rookie head coaches such as Miami's Cam Cameron, Oakland's Lane Kiffin, Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin, Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt and Atlanta's Bobby Petrino will find out this season, it also can be about so much more.
Baltimore's Brian Billick said men work their entire lives to prepare for and eventually get an NFL head coaching job. And once they go through the interview process, they think they're ready to go. Until two days later, when they feel like they're lost.
"I can't remember if it was Bill Parcells or Andy Reid, or who told me that every day you come in there are going to be five things that you don't anticipate," New York Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "You may have a great schedule set up for that day, but you need to have the flexibility to deal with the challenges that come up on any given day."
Dealing with the media obviously is much different as a head coach, where press conferences are the norm. They usually are less frequent for assistant coaches.
Green Bay's Mike McCarthy doesn't believe his personality changed once he became the Packers head coach, but he noticed people treated him differently. His life felt like a fishbowl.
Like it or not, a head coach is one of the most visible pieces of any NFL organization. With that comes a certain degree of celebrity that might not have the paparazzi at the door day and night, but it can lead to some awkward situations.
Philadelphia's Andy Reid was vacationing with his wife on a remote Caribbean island several years ago when he literally stumbled across a boatload of Eagles fans.
"My wife takes a lot of pride in making these reservations to places where nobody goes, where nobody's going to recognize you," Reid said. "That was a classic. It was (fans from) the 700 level (cheap seats at the old Veterans Stadium).
"They were in rare form. They had a boat they had rented. They had been partying on that boat. I heard them a mile away. And it was dark. Pitch black. But it sounded like 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' Yo, ho, ho. Then they came in (to shore) and see me and it started -- 'E-A-G-L-E-S.' "
Yo, ho, ho indeed.
While it is important for every new coach to establish his own identity, their own style, Carolina's John Fox believes most will follow in the footsteps of the men they have worked for.
"Typically, you're going to be, as a head coach, a little bit like what you've been with as a head coach, because that's all you know," he said. "It's not like there's a manual, 'How to be a head coach.' You really don't know. A lot of it is if you have good instincts, good people skills. You never can pre-plan everything. Something happens you didn't plan for.
"It's exciting. You're not going to be bored."
Fox chuckled when he said it, recalling his own days as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants -- and just how naive he was about the day-to-day responsibilities an NFL head coach can have.
"I remember being so stupid, sitting in a defensive staff meeting one time -- at the time, Jim Fassel was our head coach with the Giants -- saying, 'I wonder what Jim does all day?' " Fox laughed. "Because that's how stupid you are as an assistant. You really don't know, and I'm in the same building.
"You have roles and you have tunnel vision for what you're doing. When you're the head coach, you've got to see everything. And sometimes, you don't want to see everything."
Entering his sixth season as the Panthers head coach, Fox has seen just about everything submitted for his approval.
Because as first-year NFL coaches find out, this job is a lot more than just about the pressure of winning.
Sometimes, it's about the spiciness of chicken wings.
"The things that come across your desk, it's . . . are you kidding?" Fox said. "They want hotter chicken wings? That kind of stupid stuff. Nothing happens without it coming across your desk when it relates to the football team. What hotel are you going to stay at? Here are the pros and cons, we've got to choose. Just countless things. Where are we going to have our offseason retreat this year? When's the golf tournament?
"Everything. What kind of gumbo are we having? How are the chicken wings being done? Where am I sitting on the bus? Can my kid come to practice? How about my father-in-law? I don't want my father-in-law at practice. You name it, you hear it."
LINK
BY CARL KOTALA
FLORIDA TODAY ADVERTISEMENT
It was the middle of last season and St. Louis Rams coach Scott Linehan was sitting in his office when defensive end Leonard Little walked in.
"Coach, can I talk to you?"
Linehan braced himself for what Little would say next. He figured the player had a big issue he wanted to discuss.
"Can we have more pasta on Thursdays for lunch?' "
"I mean, he literally came into my office and sat down," Linehan recalled. "I was looking him eye-to-eye and I said, 'Yeah . . . Yeah, sure. Is that all?' "
Yep, that was all. So Linehan, a rookie coach at the time, made an executive decision. More pasta on Thursdays.
Think life as a first-year NFL coach is all about implementing new schemes, getting players to buy in to your philosophy and in some cases, changing a culture of losing that permeates the locker room -- maybe even the city?
Well, it is. But as rookie head coaches such as Miami's Cam Cameron, Oakland's Lane Kiffin, Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin, Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt and Atlanta's Bobby Petrino will find out this season, it also can be about so much more.
Baltimore's Brian Billick said men work their entire lives to prepare for and eventually get an NFL head coaching job. And once they go through the interview process, they think they're ready to go. Until two days later, when they feel like they're lost.
"I can't remember if it was Bill Parcells or Andy Reid, or who told me that every day you come in there are going to be five things that you don't anticipate," New York Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "You may have a great schedule set up for that day, but you need to have the flexibility to deal with the challenges that come up on any given day."
Dealing with the media obviously is much different as a head coach, where press conferences are the norm. They usually are less frequent for assistant coaches.
Green Bay's Mike McCarthy doesn't believe his personality changed once he became the Packers head coach, but he noticed people treated him differently. His life felt like a fishbowl.
Like it or not, a head coach is one of the most visible pieces of any NFL organization. With that comes a certain degree of celebrity that might not have the paparazzi at the door day and night, but it can lead to some awkward situations.
Philadelphia's Andy Reid was vacationing with his wife on a remote Caribbean island several years ago when he literally stumbled across a boatload of Eagles fans.
"My wife takes a lot of pride in making these reservations to places where nobody goes, where nobody's going to recognize you," Reid said. "That was a classic. It was (fans from) the 700 level (cheap seats at the old Veterans Stadium).
"They were in rare form. They had a boat they had rented. They had been partying on that boat. I heard them a mile away. And it was dark. Pitch black. But it sounded like 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' Yo, ho, ho. Then they came in (to shore) and see me and it started -- 'E-A-G-L-E-S.' "
Yo, ho, ho indeed.
While it is important for every new coach to establish his own identity, their own style, Carolina's John Fox believes most will follow in the footsteps of the men they have worked for.
"Typically, you're going to be, as a head coach, a little bit like what you've been with as a head coach, because that's all you know," he said. "It's not like there's a manual, 'How to be a head coach.' You really don't know. A lot of it is if you have good instincts, good people skills. You never can pre-plan everything. Something happens you didn't plan for.
"It's exciting. You're not going to be bored."
Fox chuckled when he said it, recalling his own days as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants -- and just how naive he was about the day-to-day responsibilities an NFL head coach can have.
"I remember being so stupid, sitting in a defensive staff meeting one time -- at the time, Jim Fassel was our head coach with the Giants -- saying, 'I wonder what Jim does all day?' " Fox laughed. "Because that's how stupid you are as an assistant. You really don't know, and I'm in the same building.
"You have roles and you have tunnel vision for what you're doing. When you're the head coach, you've got to see everything. And sometimes, you don't want to see everything."
Entering his sixth season as the Panthers head coach, Fox has seen just about everything submitted for his approval.
Because as first-year NFL coaches find out, this job is a lot more than just about the pressure of winning.
Sometimes, it's about the spiciness of chicken wings.
"The things that come across your desk, it's . . . are you kidding?" Fox said. "They want hotter chicken wings? That kind of stupid stuff. Nothing happens without it coming across your desk when it relates to the football team. What hotel are you going to stay at? Here are the pros and cons, we've got to choose. Just countless things. Where are we going to have our offseason retreat this year? When's the golf tournament?
"Everything. What kind of gumbo are we having? How are the chicken wings being done? Where am I sitting on the bus? Can my kid come to practice? How about my father-in-law? I don't want my father-in-law at practice. You name it, you hear it."
LINK
