Adrian Clayborn is somebody that relentlessly brings that attitude, energy, and toughness.
Number one, from a tackling standpoint, we teach strike zone hits, and we want to hit absolutely as hard as we can in that strike zone, and that's absolutely what we call a batter in the batters box from the chest all the way down to the knees.
We're not Seattle East. We're our own Atlanta, and there are definitely things I learned from Coach Carroll. He had probably the single biggest influence on my coaching career.
Going to the Super Bowl is not the reward. It's playing really well and winning.
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.
I would never recommend losing on a bye, so that one definitely stays with you.
It's that preparation that goes into each week. We have a term: 'Trust your training, trust your teammate, and trust yourself.'
I think some people have a rare ability to focus. As a player, Earl Thomas has it. When he was at practice or in a game, he was always on; he was right there.
Our intent of how we're going to play doesn't change.
For me, it was watching the New York Giants growing up, with Bill Parcells and Lawrence Taylor and that whole crew coming up through the '80s. And then, as I moved on to college, I thought I'd want to coach for sure.
We talk about toughness as a quarterback: it's not sometimes the physical part that you see; it's the mental toughness and the 'I'm going to stand in here, take this shot,' and 'I'm going to deliver it to my guy.'
Every game, we're going to go for it, so when we get into playoff time, it's not like, 'You've really got to ratchet it up. You've really got to do something different.' Then what have I been doing the whole time?
What we can control is our readiness.
The longer we keep looking back in the rearview mirror, it takes away from everything that's moving forward.
I don't second-guess our playcalling or wanting to throw it. Honestly, we've got terrific guys. We know how to matchup. We know how to get open. That part of our game is so intact.
One of these topics we talk about with the team on our 'Competition Wednesday' is iron sharpening iron. That's the process we go through to get each other ready, and that's why we have some periods where we get to compete against one another.
Iron sharpens iron, and that's one man getting another guy ready to play.
We want to play a really physical style ball, and so, for us tackling, we know we are shoulder-based tackling team, and we want to hit that strike zone just like you're throwing fastballs into that catchers' mitt just as hard as you can.
Tackling still comes down to leverage and owning that leverage and making your hits.
