Wanted to pass along an interesting series Andrea Kremer is doing on NFL Network this week.
NFL Network’s four-part series titled ‘Coach Speak’ began last tonight on NFL Total Access. Kremer sat down with Jets head coach Rex Ryan, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians for a roundtable discussion on a variety of topics. A new edition of ‘Coach Speak’ will air each night on NFL Total Access through Thursday.
Tonight’s topic will focus on their coaching staffs and their weekly schedule.
Here’s the link to watch last night’s segment.
Some interesting stuff in the excerpts:
On how many births they missed:
Rex Ryan: “I missed one. Not recommended. It was my first year coaching in the National Football League; I was coaching under my father in Arizona and you know how you fight that nepotism and all of the kind of stuff. It was actually at a minicamp. My wife was like 10 days over but she was still teaching. She was supposed to hang in there like two more days and [Michelle] is tough. But I got that call and then I realized how stupid it was that I wasn’t there. That’s my biggest regret in coaching. Absolutely.”
On how to maximize time spent with family while being a head coach:
Bruce Arians: “You have to have a very special woman. I’ve moved mine 16 times. Worst thing that could happen is my daughter had to go ninth, 10th and 11th grade to different schools. And I said I will not move you your 12th grade year – I got fired. I moved so she stayed.”
Tom Coughlin: “I moved my daughter when she was going to be a senior, moved her to Green Bay. I said I’m sorry to do this Kelly but we have to work, we have to eat.”
Ryan: “There are two kinds of coaches wives: great ones and ex ones. There is so much truth to that. One of the huge reasons that all of us are in the position we’re in is because of our wives.”
On what from their wives is non-negotiable:
Coughlin: “She has to have five days at the end of the season. She calls it her contract; we’re going, there is no dispute, there is no discussion.”
John Harbaugh: “All I know is that when the season is over and they finally get us back, and we start getting involved in the daily routine, I always get scolded. ‘We have a routine, you can come along if you want but don’t mess up my schedule.’”
Coughlin: “It used to be I come roaring in after the end of the season, start giving orders. ‘Who do you think you are? You just got here, I’ve been running this ship here for four, five, six months and you haven’t even been around.’ You learn your place real quick.”
Coughlin: “Because of the nature of the game and what the game has given to all of us, it has benefited our children tremendously. My youngest is so passionate. She is unbelievable, and my two sons think they’re personnel directors. They’ll text me stuff, I don’t know how they do it. They get information before anybody else does.”
Harbaugh: “My wife, she has the app on her phone and she calls me up and says you guys just did this. I’m like, we did? She has a ding on her phone sometimes before I know what we’ve done. It’s like hey Ozzie, what did we do [laughing]?”
On Friday nights with his daughter:
Harbaugh: “I can’t wait to get home to see her. The best time is one of her practices or one of her games sitting in the stands and watching your kid do the sport. That’s what Friday night is for us. So Ingrid and I, our date is to go watch her practice and stop by Chipotle on the way home. That’s what we end up doing. I can’t wait for it.”
On Rex Ryan’s decision to go watch his son Seth play for Clemson and the criticism he received for it:
Coughlin: “If that’s all you have to write about, then you have to think about your job.”
Ryan: “It was the first college game. It’s something that I’d do a zillion times over again. What’s great is that I think there were five other coaches that did the same thing – I’m the only one they singled out for some reason…But you know what, they can write it next year too. If I get that opportunity, I’ll go again.”
On their children:
Harbaugh: “Right before the Super Bowl, Allison was on the sideline and just when they got done with the National Anthem – and your kids are a part of this thing whether you want to believe it or not; they know. So she looks up at me and this right before the kickoff, she says, ‘Daddy, we can do this.’ I got a lump in my throat.”
Coughlin: “I was an assistant and we won the Super Bowl against Buffalo in Tampa. I went around to the back door and opened it and I let my two sons in. I said all of the moving and all of the things that you guys have gone through, I asked them if they thought it was worth it. ‘Yeah Dad, it was worth it.’ That meant a lot to me.”
Ryan: “I was in college when the ‘85 Bears [won the Super Bowl]. So my brother and I – and I think there was a reason why we were on the sideline. Number one I think my dad had sold the tickets [laughing]. But literally, we’re down there on the sideline and that was when they picked him up on their shoulders and carried him out. I think the only time it’s ever happened in the history of the National Football League [they carried] an assistant coach. You talk about feeling great, that was unbelievable. And then being there yourself as a coach and then looking around like, ‘Oh my gosh, I made it myself.’ It’s incredible.”