WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Kliff Kingsbury 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:07.480 Hey, everybody, Welcome to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast. 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:10.959 I'm your host, ESPN announcer and Arizona Cardinals play by 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.680 play voice Dave Pash at Pashpod. That's how you can 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.320 check us out on Twitter keep up to date on 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:19.439 what's going on with the Dave Pash Podcast and also 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:24.520 good information on previous podcasts. We are presented by bet MGM, 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:28.480 official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals and Hila 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:33.320 River Hotels and Casinos. Thank you so much for checking 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.280 us out for listening to Hall of Famer Kurt Warner 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.080 and All Pro safety Buddha Baker on our first two 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.760 episodes of the Dave Pash Podcast. We've had great response 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.040 on social media, got a lot of nice techs and 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.240 emails from members of the media and in the sports 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:52.400 world who have really enjoyed hearing from Kurt and from Buddha. 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:55.640 And in the near future, we're going to dive into 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.000 what the national media has to think about the twenty 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.520 twenty one NFL season. We're also going to have on 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.400 some guests that go beyond the sports world into the 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.240 entertainment world. But today we sit down with Arizona Cardinals 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.160 head coach Cliff Kingsbury. Cliff, of course, in his third 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.360 year with the Cardinals, his first coaching job in the NFL. 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:18.720 It's also one of his first jobs outside the state 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:21.840 of Texas. He sat down with me and talked about 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.600 his Texas roots, what it was like being the son 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:28.680 of a football coach, playing at Texas Tech and ultimately 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.560 coaching and then getting fired from his alma mater. I 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:34.360 got to know Cliff a little bit when he was 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.399 coaching in college, working free ESPN and calling college football 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.640 games for the last two decades. One of the things 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.560 we do when we come to a university to call 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:47.000 a game is we sit down with the coaches and 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.360 we have a meeting and we get to discuss the team. 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.920 We get to talk about the players as well as 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.240 the upcoming game. We sit down with a head coach 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.240 as well as the offensive and defensive coordinators. And I 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.920 remember a meeting at one of kingsbury stops and talking 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.720 with Cliff, it was very clear he was destined for 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:10.839 bigger things. Kingsbury's coach some of the most dynamic quarterbacks 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:13.920 of the last decade at the college level. That includes 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:18.880 Patrick Mahomes, Johnny Manzel and Baker Mayfield. What was that 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:23.639 like and how do those experiences compare to coaching Kyler Murray? 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:28.720 And why all of a sudden, after seemingly endless skeptics 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.280 proclaiming that the air raid system quarterbacks will never succeed 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.200 in the NFL, are there now a large number of 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:39.320 those guys not only having success, but thriving and getting 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.880 to a Super Bowl. Cliff dives into his expectations for 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.280 the twenty twenty one season, the pressure that he faces 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.440 in a very important year for the team, as well 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.000 as some of the top new additions to the roster. 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:58.679 So here we go the head coach the Arizona Cardinals, 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:06.960 Cliff Kingsbury. Well, Cliff, first of all, Man, I really 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.400 appreciate you doing this. You know, I always knew, because 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.440 I wasn't a great athlete, I always knew I wanted 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.680 to be a broadcaster. So in high school played little football, 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.560 played little basketball, played golf, could have played D two, 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:20.880 But I knew I wanted to go to Syracuse to 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.600 be a broadcaster. When did you know you wanted to 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.680 be a football player, Because I don't think people realize 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.400 how good of a player you were in high school 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.200 and then at Tech. I mean you said a ton 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:35.000 of records, school records, conference records, NCAA records. Why did 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:36.680 you know you want to be a football player? Yeah? 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:38.520 I was kind of born into because my dad was 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:40.920 a Texas high school football coach, and then I was 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:45.280 born in Central Texas, which is, you know, football's a religion, 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.240 and so I knew at an early age just going 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.320 to practices with him being around the game, that I 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.320 really loved it, you know, fell in love with playing 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.200 quarterback and kind of rolled with it. Like high school 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:57.680 football and Texas. I don't know that people outside the 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:01.839 state realize what it's like. You have to play football, 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:03.880 Like if you're an athlete and you want to be 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.720 an athlete, you have to play football. I think most 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.280 young men, if they're into athletics, get drawn to it 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:14.240 just because it's so popular. I mean, all the girls 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.160 are going to the games, everybody's talking about the games, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.640 every news stations covering the games, and so I think 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:21.520 naturally we're kind of pushed that way. And I grew 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.520 up in a smaller town which the entire city got 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.080 behind the team and pulled forward and helped raise us all. 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.240 So it was a unique, great experience. Did you want 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:32.400 to be quarterback right away? Was at the position you 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.320 always wanted it was? Yeah, I was a huge Joe 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.520 Montana fan from an early age and so I fell 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.400 in love with it at an early age. And then 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.120 your dad, obviously being a coach, was that harder. Was 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.760 he harder on you because you were a son? Definitely, 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.800 especially playing quarterback in a small town. I think he 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.760 had to show that there was no special privileges being 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.760 given and even the opposite of that, And so my 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:00.000 brother and I got a pretty rough from a coaching perspective, 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:01.920 But looking back was it was by far the best 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:03.800 thing they could ever have him to us, And Um, 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:06.280 that experienced being I would play for him was something 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.400 I'll always cherish. So you and I are I think 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.479 I'm a few years older than you. But obviously the 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.200 forty nine ers were were great when you were growing up. 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.440 Was that the reason Montana they were winning Super Bowl? Yeah? 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.200 I think so. From an early age, I just followed him. 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:21.920 UM love that he was never the biggest, strongest guy, 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.440 but found a way and was always so poised in 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.080 the big moments. You played other sports, were you better 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.320 at any of them? In football. My best sport growing 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.360 up was soccer. Um but my dad being a high 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.919 school football coach. Once I get high school, that dream 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:40.400 was struck. But I love soccer. I still love soccer today. Um. 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:44.680 So I played everything, which was awesome, but I always 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.119 came back to football. Yeah. I can't imagine like having 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.120 your dad as a high school football coach and tell him, 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:50.200 you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna go to the 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:52.520 other boy. It's like trying to decide between being a 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:54.760 police officer or a firefighter. For your dad's a police officer, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.200 You're not gonna be a firefighter. There's no data football 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.040 that's how That's how I was going to go down. 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.160 So were you a Spurs fan because you grew up 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.360 outside of San Antonio? Were you a Spurs fan? Were 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.839 they good when you were growing They were rolling? Yeah, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.920 it was like David Robinson, Tim duncan Era and so 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.200 we got to hop on that bandwagon for a while 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.120 and that was a lot of fun. And then Popovitch, 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:19.400 just the way he does something, just the success he's 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.360 had regardless of who they putting the line up, is 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.800 someone that's fun to watch. Now that I'm a coach. 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:25.480 Have you had a chance to talk to him ever, 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.120 I haven't. I haven't heard great things and no people 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.000 that know him and they speak really highly of him. 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.600 You should reach out, you should get because he you know, 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.520 covering him for you know, the last fifteen years. He's great. 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.640 He's great with other coaches, like he loves talking to coaches, right, Yeah, 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.719 because his philosophy isn't just basketball. I mean, the guy 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:45.880 reads all the time, right, He's obviously very up to 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.320 date on politics and everything and food and wine and 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.640 all that. It's interesting because I remember talking to a 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:52.479 couple of years ago about Belichick who you played for? 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:53.640 And I want to get to that in a second. 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.720 But they've never met, or at least until two years 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.559 or they had not met. He had read Bill's book, 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.440 but they had never met. You would think those two guys, 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:02.919 no doubt that they definitely from a far seemed like 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.599 they would have a lot in common philosophically speaking. Yeah, 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:08.560 my favorite Pop of its story. I don't know if 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.320 you're like a wine guy, but obviously Pop is. And 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.600 I don't know how watch ESPN, NBA. You're watching a 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.520 lot of times. We don't have a reporter, so the 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:18.280 play by player. The analyst has to get up and 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:19.560 go do the interview. And I don't know if you've 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.760 ever seen him do oh yeah, he'll leave him stand 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.280 in there, yes, yes, Like I've had many a time 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.640 where he doesn't give a good answer. Now he's great, 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.080 like in the production meaning ahead of time and everything, 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.040 but he hates which I understand. It's in the middle 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:32.760 of a game game, right, the last thing you want 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.480 to do is probably talk to the announcer. But it's 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.240 like just two questions. So anyway, this is like two 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.480 years ago, I think, doing a game with Doris Burke 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.160 and we go in there. We say, okay, I'm not 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.640 doing this. Doris is doing it. But I told her 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.560 I would buy her a bottle of wine. Pop goes, 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.040 I get to pick, all right, that's fine. So anyway, 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:52.160 she does interview him before it this was not on TV. 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.560 He goes, this is for the wine, you know. But anyway, 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.720 I get a voicemail from the next week, like maybe 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:00.400 it's two minutes long. I still kept on my phone 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.840 because it's hilarious. He's like naming all these wines, which 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:04.480 I knew they were, but he's like spelling him out 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.559 like I've never heard of him or anything, and so 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.880 I text him when I it was maybe two months later, like, Hey, 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.200 tonight's to night. We're having the wine. Here's the wine 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.200 I pick. Text me right back, awesome, great choice. Let 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:18.840 me know how it is. So we have the wine. 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:22.400 We take a picture me Doris, our producer director, and 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.120 they're playing that night. They're playing the Suns and we 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.600 were in Portland doing a game the next night. So 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:30.480 I trying to think should I text him like they're 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:32.200 playing the night and they're like, yeah, just texting the 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.040 picture whatever. I'm like, Okay, I texted, you know how. 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.720 It doesn't say delivered. So now he's in the game, 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.679 you know whatever. I keep looking. I didn't go through. 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:41.600 It didn't go through. And then we're at dinner and 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:46.960 somebody says, hey, you might want to check ESPN dot com. Okay, 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.040 they got beat by the Suns, and he went off 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:53.920 in the post game on the media like, oh my goodness, 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.840 first thing he's going to see is this picture of 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.120 us with the with the wine. I'm telling Quinn Snyder 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:02.840 the story. The next night, he's got his hands in 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:06.439 his head like this. I called PJ Carlismo is really 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.160 close with them and said, is Pop gonna kill me? 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.520 The next time? Seem says no, he probably made his night. 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.280 He never said a word about it. So yeah, but 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:15.160 I would not want to get on the wrong side 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:18.160 of him. No, that's for sure. But he's great with 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.559 with coaches and I think, uh, you know, just his history. 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:23.600 One thing about him and Bill and obviously you played 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.120 for Bill, so you can speak more to this than 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.880 I can. They're hard on the star players. Is that 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:30.720 Did you notice that at the time that you were 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:32.880 in New England? No question. I mean Brady got it 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.920 probably worse than anybody, and obviously he had a bunch 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.719 of players, but that bad ball tape, he would he 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:40.439 would show up on it and it was a no 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.920 holds barred on him. And I think guys, you know, 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:45.720 did appreciate that that they knew, Hey, everybody's gon treated 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.480 the same way, and I know it helped Tom during 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.360 his career, and you know he's talked about that. Did 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.959 you have any specific experience you remember your time with 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.200 coach Belichick? Yeah, I think more than anything, just his 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:01.000 attention to detail was second to none. I mean, he 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:03.920 would ask questions, you're in preseason game and he'd be asking, hey, 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.000 who where's the third string nickel? From? Where did he 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.320 go to college? You know? And he expected that type 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:13.520 of study habits and research and everything you did. And 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:15.959 I think that just shows in the way his teams 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.520 were so prepared weekend and week out. Tom was already 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.240 established at that point, but he wasn't who he is now, right, 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:22.920 did you see it? I mean, could you tell like 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.960 this guy's going to be one of the all time greats? Yeah? 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.839 You could. It's funny because the year I got there, 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:31.600 we started off two and two, and everybody was like 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.400 they hadn't made the playoffs the year before, and everybody 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.240 was saying, oh, Tom was a flash and a pant. 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.600 You know, the Boston Meet, it can be a little 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:38.960 rough this' then the other, and then you know the 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.240 pageots are outed off fifteen straight and then go on 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.080 and make this epic run. But there was no doubt 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.160 his work ethic. I mean, he's completely obsessed with being 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.040 the best ever. Every waking moment has spent trying to 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.199 accomplish that goal and just watching him practice, the way 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.720 he carries himself, the way he leads, the way he directs. 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:57.920 I mean it's phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it. 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:02.040 I wonder because how good you were in college. Forever, 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:04.000 it seemed like guys that played in the air Raid 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.520 system were dismissed in the NFL, and then the last 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.360 few years now. I don't know if Baker was like 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.760 the first, but it seems now that you've got all 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:13.880 these guys come from the air Raid, do you think 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:15.959 like if you were coming out now, would you have 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.000 been a higher draft pick and still be playing. Yeah, 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.280 I don't know. I don't know. I think I definitely 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.000 had my opportunities and probably didn't didn't make the most 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:24.880 of them. But it has been fun to see being 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:26.440 a guy who was on the front end of that 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.240 with all that skepticism and then you know, my first 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:30.920 year in coach and getting to work with Case Kingham, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.480 who broke every passing wreck ever has made a ton 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.000 of money in the NFL, has been a starter. To 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.120 see him being will kind of break that barrier, or 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.559 being a smaller guy who played in a spread system. 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:42.720 And then watch the other guys that you mentioned, Baker 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:46.040 and Patrick come through, and Kyler and Deshaun, I mean, 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.160 all these guys that have played in these wilde them 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.240 and spread offenses. It's fun to watch. I mean, you 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.640 coach so many of them. You mentioned Baker, You coach Baker. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.560 Did you start him as a walk on? Right? Yeah? 0:11:55.600 --> 0:12:00.199 He was the first true freshman walk on quarterback ever 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.480 started Power five game. And he had come in and 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:04.560 he wasn't even there in the spring. He came in 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.840 in the summer and just as you see now, just 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.320 had that mox he had that confidence and just took 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:10.640 in a rand and he was a lot of fun 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:15.400 to work with. What was it like going from him, well, 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:17.559 I guess before him it would have been Johnny. What 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:19.400 was that like? Because you got another guy who had 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.880 a lot of MOXI guys rallied around him. He won 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.720 games because of you know, the special playmaking and his leadership. 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.400 It was incredible. I mean, you have some familiarity with 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.880 Texas and him and their passion for football down there, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.480 and to watch this young man from Central Texas who's 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.040 under size and scrappy and doing things in the field 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:43.240 that nobody had really seen to that point was phenomenal. 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.720 The ultimate gamer, ultimate competitor. I mean, he didn't always 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.800 grind during the week, but on Saturday his teammates knew 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.360 he would, he would run through a wall for him 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.120 and to watch this guy's rally around him and to 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:56.040 be a part of that their first year in the SEC. 0:12:56.440 --> 0:13:00.880 It was an unblue or experience. When you got into coaching. 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:02.560 Did you do it to become a head coach or 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:04.760 was it just you know, my dad did this. I'd 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.199 love football. I'm gonna stay in the game. Really, I 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:09.720 had no plans again in the coach and I think 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.400 having grown up a coach's son, you see the long hours, 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.360 you see how much has put into it, You're like, 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:17.120 I'm not doing that. I'm gonna do something. I'm making 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.599 a ton of money and do something else. And somehow 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.600 the game brought me back to it. I've started University 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.839 Houston as quality control. It just says kind of a 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.400 part time, let's see if I like it, and just 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.160 fell in love with being around the guys again. I 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.160 didn't realize how much I'd missed it until I got 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.880 back around him and just tried to work hard every 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:36.440 day and took it from there. But there was never 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.880 any big aspiration growing up, like hey, I wanted to 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:40.559 be a head coach. I just kind of took it 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.600 a rand. So after playing, what did you think you 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.360 wanted to do? I wanted to maybe do real estate, 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.600 you know, I got a degree in business management, just 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:50.960 try and make a bunch of money somehow, And didn't 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.640 work out on that end. And I tried to play 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.640 for a long time. I played in Canada, I played 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.200 in Europe. I'm at I played every league imaginable and 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.720 kind of chase that until the end. And then, like 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:03.640 I said, it's kind of brought me back to football. 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.040 I remember, I'm pretty sure I had you at one 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.640 point at Houston, but I definitely remember the year at 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.040 A and M. And I was working with Brian Greasy 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:13.040 at the time, and you know a lot of times 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.800 the production meetings with TV for the assistant coaches, it's 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:18.720 an opportunity to kind of get their name out there, 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.560 and you know a lot of times we walk out 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.560 of there like that guy's a head coach and you 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.920 were one. And it was, you know, the year that 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.160 Johnny had the incredible year. We did I think the 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:29.880 LSU game, which I think you lost and he didn't 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.080 play well, but it was the one game he didn't 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:33.920 play well all year. But I remember coming out of 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:35.600 that meeting, and Grease and I were both like, man, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.600 that guy's impressive. So was it something do you think 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.840 because of your playing, because of I don't know, maybe 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.160 your time with Tom at all some and then also 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.760 just you know, your upbringing that it was easy for 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.960 you to make the transition to coaching. Definitely, I think 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:54.720 along the way, I mean, you always look back. I'm 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.160 a big everything happens for a reason type guy. And 0:14:57.240 --> 0:14:59.560 to be drafted to the New England Patriots, first to 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:01.680 get for my dad, to get played for Spike Dikes, 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:03.760 then Mike Leach, who's one of the most innovative coaches 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.480 of all time, does it his own way, get drafted 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.120 by Bill Belichick, the greatest NFL coach ever, see how 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.040 Tom Brady works. I mean, all these things kind of 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:13.640 lined up for me to circle back and be a 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.280 coach and really get my PhD and coaching, if you will, 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.000 And I've always felt it it kind of played out 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.440 that way, and I've just been very blessed on that path. 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.200 It's funny you mentioned Mike Leach because a lot of 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.680 people see, you know, his press conferences and they think, man, 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:30.640 this guy's nuts. But the guy's brilliant. Yes, he's a genius. 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:33.520 He really is. He's a genius personality. His mind works 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.080 on a different level that I don't think most of 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.520 us can comprehend. And he can be thinking about all 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.600 the football players on one hand and all the historical 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.120 facts of pirates and the French Revolution on the other 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.720 and not many people can handle that capacity. But but 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.000 he can do it. Does he have a playbook? Is 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.200 it just in his head? It's just in his head really. 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.920 I mean he would like you to kind of write 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.240 things out at times, and I think he felt that 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.400 that helped you memorize it. But yeah, I mean he 0:15:58.440 --> 0:15:59.880 can call it off the top of his head and 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.560 signed out. And I don't I don't think he's gotten 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.080 the credit he pride deserves because maybe some of the quirkiness, 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.880 but the impact he's had on football in general and 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.560 at all levels, whether it's high school or college or 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:12.600 pro football. I mean, there's a lot of things that 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.560 he's brought to the forefront of You know, the passing game, 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.480 you get the head coaching job there where you played, 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.640 you obviously knew the pressure in the expectation getting it's 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.400 not the easiest place to win. You know, the year 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:29.400 that Graham and Crabtree were there was you know, a 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.920 magical year. But you know, it's not the easiest place 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.840 to recruit. It's hard, you know, especially with Texas and 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.480 a and m uh, did you know what you were 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.320 getting into? I did? I did. I just have such 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.680 a passion for that place. Just got to know how 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:46.800 much it gave me as a young man, orally grew 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:49.000 me up as a man. And coming out of an 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.400 m the year we had there, you know, there would 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.480 have been opportunities down the road. Johnny was coming back, 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:55.320 Mike Evans, all these guys, and I knew that. But 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:57.520 I just had such a passion for that place and 0:16:57.560 --> 0:16:59.760 still do, and so knew it was the right thing 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.040 for me to do. And unfortunately we didn't win enough 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.200 games there, but the people, the players, all those things, 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.120 I wouldn't trade one one minute of it. Remember doing again, 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.080 you guys were playing Baylor at eighteen T Stadium and 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:15.000 I think Davis Webb, I think Pat Mahomes might have 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:19.120 been hurt. I can't remember Davis Webb started, but Mahomes played. 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.760 Memory's not great on that, but I mean when Mahomes 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.280 played like you could see it for us, we could 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.399 see like, oh my goodness, this is like unbelievable stuff. 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.639 Before when did you know with Patrick Mahomes when you're 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:32.440 recruiting him, I mean, could you see it like this 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:36.280 is ridiculous? Yeah, I had heard. So we had an 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:37.960 Oline coach when I was at Texas, an m who's 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.480 from East Texas, and he told stories about the Pat 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.200 Mahomes senior just a legendary athlete and all these things, 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.200 and so he had turned me on to little Patrick 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:48.720 and I had watched him some and you could see 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.200 it was super ralli he's junior year. And it wasn't 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.280 until I started really following closely getting to know the kid. 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.720 And when I watched the game I think early in 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.359 his senior year, and he had seven touchdowns in the 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:01.800 first half, something crazy, and I'm like, we have got 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:04.080 to get this guy like this is that I hope 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.800 nobody else figures it out. But he was just so 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.480 good at anything you did, whether it was basketball, baseball, football, 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.080 and football was really probably his third sport all through 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:16.000 high school. And I knew if he focused on football, 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.760 the sky would be the limit. And it's been fun 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.320 to watch and how it's turned out I don't think 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.480 you get enough credit for helping him in his development. 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.399 People talk about how gradios, but I mean you were 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:29.600