The amount of pressure that I've put on myself as a defensive coordinator for the last 10, 11 years, I really believe there's a lot more decisions that go into that position than the head coach.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I think as far as any kind of pressure on a football team or on an individual in professional sports really depends not only on that individual but the leadership they have on the team and the leadership they have on the coaching staff. A lot of times, they can divert some of those pressures off of the individual and off of the team.
I think I've got an outstanding defensive assistant staff that's really going to help us have consistent, strong defenses. And offensively, we have an excellent staff. We've got some younger guys on offense, but that's what I coach and have my entire coaching career.
I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing there ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning. And I hope that I've done that in my 33 years as a head coach.
I think there is a lot of experiences you have in coaching, and if you learn from the experiences as you go through them, whether it's as a coordinator or position coach, a quality-control coach, a head coach, whatever it might be, and you learn from those mistakes you make.
As coaches, we usually have plenty of changes from one year to the next. Sometimes it seems like it's at one position. Sometimes it's across the board. But this is really a part of every year that we have in coaching in the NFL.
Third down and long is the toughest situation for any offensive coordinator in the NFL.
There is still a big onus to be coached. I understand the best teams don't need a huge amount of coaching, but that's when a coach should decide not to do coaching.
Experience shows that those people who were selected to be a head coach in the NFL met with more success if they had had head-coaching experience.
George Perles at Michigan State was the first coach that gave me responsibility as far as being a coordinator. I learned a lot from that experience.
Any defensive coordinator is worried about two things: a running quarterback and a deep ball. You know, don't get beat deep and don't let the quarterback run, because a big part of your defense can't account for the quarterback as a runner, so he gets a free run.