Quote

When should a college athlete turn pro? Not until he has earned all he can in college as an amateur.

There are a lot of guys who play in pro-style offenses who are not prepared when they come out of college. Either you're coaching the quarterback to be a quarterback, or you're not.

The players have competed on the level the last 25 or 30 years are always going to be the players that compete at a high level. These guys practice hard, they work on their game, they still hit the ball extremely well.

I learned the major difference between college and pro football. In the pros, you're up against a top receiver almost every minute of time. In college, maybe one comes along every third game.

I think college prepared me at a really high level. High school, you can take some plays off on the defensive end. Not on purpose, but if your man gets tired, you can rest a little bit. But once you get to college, and especially in the NBA, you can't do that. Even if my man gives the ball up, I'm on help side, helping my team out.

There's far more that goes into being a professional athlete than being a college athlete. So many differences that people don't realize. It's not just about playing football and getting paid to do it. There's a lot of things that you have to deal with.

Their practice habits are terrific. I've been around some really good guys from different teams in terms of bringing it to practice. When I was in San Francisco, Bryant Young was that way. Every practice on it.

Some coaches prefer players who will just do whatever he tells them to. It's like, if you're at school with a load of 10-year-old boys and you tell them to jump, everyone will start to jump. But the intelligent boy will ask, 'Why should I jump? Why?' That can be difficult for a lot of coaches, and I understand that.

Any quality player can adjust well to the different demands. It is like a good tennis player who is expected to adjust to the clay at the French Open, the grass at Wimbledon, the hard courts of the U.S. and the heat of the Australian Open. A professional is expected to do all that.