WEBVTT - Doug Pederson and Frank Reich 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.119 What's going on everybody. I'm Peanut Tillmans. This is my guy, 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:16.599 Roman Harfer, and this is the NFL Players Second Acts Podcast. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:20.439 We're in Phoenix, Arizona, at the NFL Annual Meetings. We've 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.119 got golf, we've got sunshine. We're trying to hit the 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:26.040 ball straight. I'm terrible at golf. You got like a 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:28.640 two scratch is you're a true strash golfer. Don't be 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:30.680 lying to our people. Don't be lying to him like that, 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:32.960 because I'm gonna tell you to continue to follow us, 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:34.800 because we don't lie to you on this podcast. Here, 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:37.640 give us a follow, hit like follow, give us a 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:41.239 review or a comment. Anywhere you listen to your podcasts 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.479 at whether it's iHeartRadio or Apple podcasts. Please tell a 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:47.519 friend to tell a friend to tell a friend. Come 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:49.640 check us out. This is what we do. We bring 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.920 you top tier guests, former players that are now all 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.600 in their second acts doing great things. And we got 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.120 two good ones to day. We got two former players 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.920 that are now head coaches. We have the Jacksonville Jaguars 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:05.240 head coach Doug Peterson and the new head coach of 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:12.679 the Carolina Panthers, Frank Reich, check it out. Today, we 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.119 got a special guest with us. This gentleman is the 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.440 head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously played for 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.200 the Packers. He won a super Bowl when he played 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:23.920 with the Packers, and he won a super Bowl when 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:27.040 he was a head coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. Welcome 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:33.080 to the show, Doug Peterson. You know what, let's just 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.280 get the awkwardness out of the way. Coach with the 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.679 Eagles could how what was it like to be in 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.120 Philadelphia to win a championship? Playing in Philadelphia under Shan 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:45.319 Well Sean Payton on the Saints we go to Philly. 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.800 He was like, look, the game. The game plan is 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.280 to get the crowd to boo by halftime because it 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.040 is so rough. And the fans they are so special 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.920 and they are so unique. What do you mean you 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:03.200 mean they're like they helped bring the Teagle? What was 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:07.240 that like? It was, Um, it's very special. I played 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.000 in that city. I worked with Coach Reid on his 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:11.799 staff in that city, and obviously I was a head 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:15.440 coach in that city. And it's um, you just said 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.320 something right there. When you were with the Saints and 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.600 and coach Peyton said, Hey, if we can jump up 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.960 and the crowd's gonna turn. Well. I took a Jacksonville 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.520 Jaguar team in there in Week four, Week three or 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:27.840 four this past year and I said the exact same thing. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:30.200 I said, guys, if we get up on this, on 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.680 this guy, on these guys, the crowd is gonna turn. 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:35.600 And it was four, we were up, fourteen, nothing about 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:38.959 to go in twenty one, nothing and the crowd was 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.359 turning on him. It was turning on him. But but 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.240 that's their that's their passion. And then for for us 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.320 to win a championship that year, um, the way we 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.280 want it with the guys that we want it with. Uh, 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:52.079 you know, as you guys know, it's a special it's 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.040 a special bond. We've all been in the locker room. 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.880 We all understand what that means. And and uh, you know, 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.600 we lost some guys that year. But for the city 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.760 of phil Delphia to wait fifty two years and that 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.280 organization to win a championship, you know, Coach Reid took 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:07.760 him to a Super Bowl, and I have a lot 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.520 of respect for Coach Read they lost. He's been to 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.240 like five or six NFC championship games with the Eagles, 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:17.040 you know, and and so for us that year, um, 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.359 it's it's very special. And um, you know, I hate 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.000 to say, but there's a lot of Eagle fans around 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.320 this country. Yeah, I run into all the time. I 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:26.560 just couldn't get down with the grease selling them. The 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.200 poles didn't they like, oh, they didn't want him to 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.400 climb up them and to tear him down. But they 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:35.200 were still climbing up the boy were trees and they 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:38.800 just yea, yeah, they're just different. They got that little 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.280 jail selling and they had like a holding room in 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.520 there in the stadium. I mean, it's just Philly's Philly, man. 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:47.840 I mean I think that's I think that's what makes 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:51.120 Philly so unique. And a lot of respect for those fans, 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:53.840 and and I'll tell you they're they're passionate, but they're loyal. 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:56.440 I mean we I hate to say, we could be 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.880 four and ten and they're still gonna show out there's 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.720 they're gonna pack that you know, that stadium, and you 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:04.640 know they're gonna hang with you all season long. So 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:08.400 how would you compare Eagles fans to Packer fans? Now, 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.760 Packer fans are like, oh you know that that real 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.640 deep Wisconsin on all. You know, all they got that 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.680 that thing there. Oh, I've been there a few times. 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.400 I feel like they're like the nicest fans though, Like 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.480 they are extremely nice and loyal in the cold, and 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:28.880 they get so much snow. They don't throw snowballs out there. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:34.120 Hold on, hold on bread far Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, they've 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:38.280 had two quarterbacks for like fifty years and you know 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.080 what I'm saying. So they've had it well, they've had 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:43.839 it good. They've been to they've had a lot of success. 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:45.680 They've been to a lot of playoff games, a couple 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.839 of Super Bowls. So it's a different crowd. But you're right, 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.080 they it's a it's a um. You know, in the 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:53.800 in the in the winter time, you're gonna see nothing 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.760 but blaze orange, you know, because they just caught got 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.640 out of the hunt Huntever and then they came to 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.320 a game at twelve noon. Um. But again, they're they're 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.680 they're very loyal, they're very supportive, they're passionate about the Packers. 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.280 I loved playing there for the eight years that I did. UM. 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.640 And again, there's a lot of Packer fans around this 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.039 country and I still run into a lot of them. Yeah, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.960 they travel well, they do. They travel well. So when 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:21.159 you so when you were in Green Bay, um, I 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.760 was back on our Brett farm, Like, what was that 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.640 experience like for you? And how did you make it 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.480 last so long? Being his not just the back back 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.760 up to him, but that quarterback room what we had, 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:33.880 like because you had a lot of great coaches there too, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:37.320 and all those Uh I had Steve Mariucci and ninety 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:38.880 five when I went there, and then and then it 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.440 transitioned to to Marty Morton Wagg and the ultimately we 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:43.520 had Andy Reid. Yeah, you know, Andy Reid was our 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:48.120 position coach there. Um. And you know Daryl Bevil who's 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.839 still coaching, he's in Miami right now. Um, you know, 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:52.680 he was one of our position coaches at the times. 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.600 We've had a lot of a lot of great coaches, 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.120 you know, coaches. Tom Rossley was the offensive coordinator at 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.120 the time, you know, and and then you know in 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.799 our room, there was there was Brett, There was Jim McMahon, 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.720 There was Matt Hasselback Jim, Yeah, Matt Hasselbeck was in there. Man. Yeah, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.520 you know, we've we've had you know, Henry Burrus, who 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:20.640 oh my good from Canada? From Yeah you know why? Yes? 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:25.400 In Chicago app a great cup? Yeah, I want a 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.440 great cup. So we've had we've had really really good 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:34.040 uh quarterback rooms. Um. Obviously they were very lighthearted rooms. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.560 There was football being taught, but we we enjoyed each 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:40.720 other and had had had a great time. So Doug 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:44.119 following up that question, so after you finish your career 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.320 playing wise, when did you know you wanted to get 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.360 in coaches? You just routed off seven different great head 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.520 coaches that were all around you at your different times 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.320 in Green Bay. We weren't even talking about with Derek. 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.000 Coach Rhodes was coaching defense too. I wasn't with him 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.240 though we missed. I missed I missed coach ros That's fine, 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:07.400 but you still had an influence of yeah, when did 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.320 you know that you want to get in that professor? 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:14.080 So my my last my last two years in Green Bay. Um, 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.160 I really started thinking, you know, I was the backup 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:21.760 quarterback and it really started getting me. Um thinking about 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:23.440 what I wanted to do after football, how I wanted 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.760 to transition. I wanted to stay in football somehow, someway 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:28.880 and so the wheel started turning. And it was not 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.520 untill that last year in two thousand and four that 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:33.400 I really felt like coaching was going to be in 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.320 my future. I just didn't know at what level, whether 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.320 it's gonna be high school, college, pro. You know, I 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.760 spent a lot of time with coaches picking their brains, 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:43.800 you know, to see just as you guys know, the 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:45.800 grind of a season, to grind a lot of year. 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.720 It's a lot a lot of time what these coaches 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:49.720 go through them like, I really really want to do 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.840 I really want to do that. You know, maybe if 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.120 you college. You know, if you're a college coach, you're 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.320 on the road recruiting, biting two cell phones. You know, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.520 it's a recruiting phone, and you're I don't know if 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.280 I want to do that. And so I settled on 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.680 high school football. Uh. Mike Sherman, who was my head 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:08.800 coach in Green Bay when I when I stepped away, 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.000 um gave me some great advice because he was a 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.080 high school football coach, you know, in his time. And 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:15.720 he said, he said, Doug, he said, just you got 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:17.880 to find a place where you enjoy teaching the game 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.840 of football. Yeah, wherever you can go and just teach 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:23.840 the game, figure out where that is for you and 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:25.680 then and then plug in. And so for me it 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:27.520 was it was high school. So I as soon as 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.480 I retired, I got into high school football down in Shreeport, Louisiana. OK. Yeah, 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:35.200 I did that for four years. It was Calvary Calvary Academy. 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.400 I was in there with evangel Christians. It was pretty good. 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.120 They beat the Brakes office a couple of times. Um. 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.199 But yeah, I did high school coaching for four years. 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:49.080 But in my was that immediately after you right after 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:54.640 five I got no time head. Yeah, I went right 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:56.920 it as a head coach, um and did that for 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.040 four years. But there was still something inside of me 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.920 that there was more. Right, there was more. And having 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:04.720 been in the league for a combined total about fourteen 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.520 years on and off, you know, when you're around the game, 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.120 you want to get to that next level. And so, 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.120 uh Andy Reid had a had a quality control job 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:18.080 open and hired me in two thousand and nine to 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.120 come back to Philadelphia as a quality control guys. So 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.360 I dumped from high school back into the NFL. So 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.599 did you have any other plans or career plans or 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.199 goals aspirations, I would say outside of coaching when you 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.640 were done. No, this is what it was like, Man, 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:37.319 I'm going on chips are like here we go. Yeah, no, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.840 I you know, I'm a business major, got a degree 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:41.600 in business. But I was like, I don't think I 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:44.280 really want to sit behind a desk or you know, 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.720 I'm not the type that's gonna go sell something. Yeah, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:50.320 you know, I was a football guy, and so I 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:52.640 mean you could be a head coach, so like, yeah 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:54.480 you could. I'm feeling it now, like you you could 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.600 sell me with it. You can sell me with that. 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:58.960 I like your I like your confidence. How was what 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.920 are those conversations like though? When you you know you 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.280 typically it's the oc DC and then you have a 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.000 successful season or two and then your name kind of 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.160 gets floated around becoming a head coach, Like what are 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.080 those conversations like? Is it just are you on the 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:18.520 phone talking to other teams? Is that you're your agent? Like, Hey, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:23.319 I got some news, m Philadelphia Eagles want to possibly 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.840 your your name's been trounation And a good question because 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.760 you as sean something very similar to this yesterday. Yeah, 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:32.640 like how does how does that even? Like occur or 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:36.079 how does it arise about you coming head? So for me, 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.560 for me, I was the offensive coordinator in Kansas City 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.200 with with Andy Reid, you know, because we when Andy 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.440 got fired in Philly in twenty twelve, got hired in 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.079 twenty thirteen. He brought me as an offensive coordinator. I 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.240 was just a quarterback coach and Philly left to go 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.800 be AZOC and then you know, we had we had 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.600 early success in Kansas City. Alex Smith is our quarterback, 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:58.800 and we had early success for those first two three years. Well, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.560 as you guys know in this in this business, ocs 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.640 and DC's, when you have success, their names start to 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.920 pop up around the different circles for for head coaches 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.120 and and so for me, my agent, you know, had 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.960 been been kind of talking to, um, you know, some 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.880 of these different circles, the guys that you know, the 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.400 powers to be around the NFL, and and um you know, 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.079 actually it was in twenty fourteen my name had come 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.280 up the first time and I told my agent said, 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:26.920 I'm not ready. I'm not ready to be head coach. 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.240 I need I need another year. I'm just I'm just 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.240 not there yet. Um. So I played or coach the 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:35.599 twenty fifteen season, and that's when what's from Philadelphia And 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.400 there was a lot of familiarity with going back to 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.320 Philadelphia for me. Uh, it was a good transition, good 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.720 fit and um got hired in twenty sixteen. So in 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.120 that that little time where you were like, I'm not ready, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.679 did you start to prepare in another way? Did you 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.480 start to say, Okay, I might need to think about 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.280 you do app you need to? You do you have to? 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.360 You have to really transition your mind from you know, 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.800 you're you're an offensive coordinator coaching one side of the 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.800 ball right now, you gotta think big picture. Yeah, you 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.920 gotta think organizationally. Yeah, not just the football side, but 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:11.120 you're also dealing with the business side, right businessman? Yeah yeah, 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.319 So for me it was about okay, learning learning more 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:19.200 of the business side too, and and you know, um, 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.280 but do you do that as like so when you're 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.520 the OC in you're under like I think Andy Read 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:27.720 we can say he can be a Hall of Fame 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:32.280 coach one day, like he's an amazing coach, But you're 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.040 you're doing a job calling all the plays and getting 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.800 the offensive side of the ball or offensive players ready. 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.640 Do you get coached as the OC. Are you actually 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.200 like taking notes on how coach Read is running the team, 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.640 how co Tread is running the business, how co Tread 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.760 is interacting with the team, how co Tread is doing 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:56.240 everything with the GM and the pro personnel in college, Like, 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.480 did you start taking notes of like, Okay, this is 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.600 what he this is what he does. Okay, he does this, 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.040 he does that? Like are you still getting coached herself? 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.360 You know. It's it's interesting because the three years I 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.440 was in Kansas City being the offensive coordinator, I got 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:10.679 to spend a lot of time with Coach Read because 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.200 he's an offensive mind and all, and so we did 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.560 game plans together and the whole thing. So those three 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.840 years he really started pouring into me what it was 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.080 like to be a head coach. Okay, and so for 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.760 three years I was just like a sponge just absorbing 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.559 everything that he all his knowledge and wisdom and everything, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.280 because you know, he's been fourteen seasons as a head 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.960 coach in Philadelphia before he went to Kansas City, and 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.640 so this is the first time sort of behind the 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.320 scenes look for me of what a head coach looks like. 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:44.480 And so he but he does that with all of 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:46.360 his guys. You look at the Sean mcdermotts and the 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.560 Ron Rivers and the guys that have you know, Matt 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.319 Naggie's and the Eric the enemies of the world and 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:53.559 those guys that are going to go on to have 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:56.720 been head coaches and will be head coaches. You know, 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.439 you just named like six head coaches that came off 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:01.840 of him. I guess I didn't realize that, you know, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.319 But but that's what he does. Yeah, and he he's 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:10.000 more about coaching his coaches than he is coaching the players. Yeah, 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.040 you know. And um, and that's what he did for 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.480 the three years. And that's Uh. You just got to 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.200 be a sponge and take it all in. So when 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.760 you're when your coaching career ended with the Eagles, all right, 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.200 you you really took You took a whole year off. 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:28.040 I did. And how important was that for you to 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.880 take a full year off to kind of decompress. I 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.480 did that after my career playing Gears. P Nut did not. 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:37.840 I did not, so foolish. What would you say was 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.360 the reasoning behind that and would you suggest it for others? 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:44.560 The reasoning for me um coming off of the twenty 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:46.720 twenty seasons right after the twenty twenty seasons. That's the 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.880 pandemic season. It was rough on all all clubs, and 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.960 it was obviously rough on us in Philadelphia. We didn't 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:57.400 play well. Quarterback issues and things like that, and I 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:00.920 was not in a good place mentally physically. I just 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:04.200 was not in a good place. And and and um, looking 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.800 back on it, it was probably a blessing to be 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.000 released because I did take I did. I need I 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.640 needed time. I needed time, you know, for me, I 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:14.320 needed to get away from the game. I needed to 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:17.400 get away from from football and just separate myself just 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.280 a little bit and really kind of clear your head 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.360 and really think about what life is going to look like. 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.600 Either either you're going to step away from the game 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.400 and retire, or do I want to continue and coach. 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.120 And so as the twenty one season went, and I did, 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.640 you know, I had some issues with my brother and 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:38.760 and um, you know, he passed away to pancreatic cancer 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:40.040 that year. So I got to spend a lot of 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:42.960 time with our brother. I appreciate it and spend a 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:44.760 lot of time with him and his wife. And so 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:46.880 there were life things. We had a wedding, our oldest 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.120 son got married that year. So there's things in life 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.400 that come up. And sometimes, as you guys know, and 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.880 football you miss, right, you miss sometimes the job proceeds 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:00.320 family and that's you know, you don't you don't like that, right, 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.360 So this gave me a chance to really dig into 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:05.560 the family a little bit and be around family and 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:10.560 and um, also give me a perspective to how, if 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.920 given an opportunity again, how to how to coach again, 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:15.600 and how to be a better coach, and how to 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.800 really influence players right, and how to how to lead 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:24.240 an organization, lead a team. Um, because I knew it 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:26.160 didn't take long. It took a couple of months, but 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.040 I knew I wanted to get back into coaching. It 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:31.600 wasn't I wasn't done. I was young. I'm young. I'm 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:37.880 in you know, mid fifties, but I'm relatively young something. Yeah. 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:47.560 It was same, the same, same hair, y'all like. But yeah, 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.840 so that year was really good. So I you know, 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.000 but you look at Frank Reich. Frank Reich got let 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.360 go during the middle of the season and he got 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.520 right back into it this year, which for its different, right, 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:01.040 it's just but for me, it was what I needed 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.879 at the time to get back in because that window 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:08.159 of opportunity closes so fast in this league that I 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.280 didn't want that to pass by either. Um you know, 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.520 and I had opportunities to be a coordinator again in 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.080 twenty one. I just the teams were not going to 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.480 get the best version of me right right because I 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.280 wasn't a I wasn't a bad place mentally and physically. 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.520 Kudos for you for like realizing that and kind of 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.520 stepping away, and thanks for sharing that. I think a 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:30.840 lot of people need to do more of the you 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.719 know what, I just need take my time off, take 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.400 my three sixty five. You got great advice. Who told 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:39.120 you to take your time off? You your GM my GM. Yeah, 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.359 Mickey Lumis told Mickey Lemis said, you know, if you 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.520 want to be involved with football in any shape, form 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.160 or fashion, he said, I was a just you take 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.320 take some time, take a year off, like you've been 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.840 able good, you played a long career, you made plenty 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.679 of money, Take some time really decompressed, and then figure 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.280 out like self reflecting, like really get away from the 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.520 game and then say you might start sing it again 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:02.920 kind of like maybe what you did well and you start, 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.159 you start, you start feeling better, and you feel like 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.520 you can be a better version of yourself the next 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:12.760 time around. Right, because of the experiences that you went through. Yeah, um, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:14.720 you know leading up to that decision, this, that was 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:19.480 your first break because you stopped playing, stop playing, high 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.800 school coaching, NFL coaching. So yeah, it was your first break, 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:26.120 my first break in a long time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, good. Well, yeah, 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:27.760 good for both of y'all for doing I don't I 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:29.840 don't think I ever took time off. I just kind 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.200 of kept going. So I'm envious to both of y'all 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.680 for for doing that. But yeah, that's another another topic 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.280 another day. So when you were in Philly, Uh, Jalen 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:43.160 hurts you guys drafted him and it probably wasn't received 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.200 well around the league. Now I know you're not with 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.080 We talked about these Philly fans booing, so that natural, 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:54.080 It is natural, but it wasn't very well received in 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:57.320 the beginning, right, I know you're no longer there, but uh, 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.480 he's gone out played well, you know, had an MVP 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:07.359 MVP caliber season. What was it about Jalen that drew 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.000 you to like lacking him and drafting him? So I 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.680 was there obviously when we drafted him in twenty twenty UM, 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.440 and we're we're sitting there on day two of the 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:22.639 draft on Friday, and you know, um, Howie Roseman, Um, 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:27.160 Jeffrey Lurie, myself, I can remember having a conversation saying, Hey, 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:30.560 if if Jalen is sitting there at our pick, we 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:32.840 should pick him. We should take him. And I was 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.960 like yeah, all of us were like yes, yes, And 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:41.240 it wasn't. It wasn't to draft him to replace Carson 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:44.600 Wentz at the time. In this league, you need two quarterbacks, 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.040 you need you need a solid backup quarterback. And so 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.679 we felt like that this was our This is a 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:53.120 great option. He's a tremendous athlete, good quarterbacks, smart kid. 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.320 But before all of that, I've had a chance to 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.560 talk to Brian Dabele who coached me in Alabama, right 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:05.119 Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. You know, I talked to a 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.520 lot of people and just watching his film and knowing 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:13.160 his story. This guy's this guy's wired the right way. 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.560 This guy is a football player. And I just felt 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.560 that if this kid gets an opportunity wherever, whether it's 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.119 in Philly or maybe somewhere else, down the road, this 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.520 kid is gonna shine. I just I just felt that 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.720 my heart of heart's just understanding who he is. And 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.000 so for the short you know, one year that I 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.240 was with him, I saw that I saw his work ethic, 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.880 the way he prepared, and he was he was the backup. 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:43.040