What you realize is when you have an environment and an atmosphere like we had at Marist, where guys cared about each other, the coaches were great teachers and communicators, whether it's high school, college or pro, I think coaching is coaching.
It's kind of ironic that the only Super Bowl I've been to as a fan was when the Rams played the Titans. I was at that game. My grandpa, when he was still involved in the NFL, he got me tickets for my birthday.
You show me anybody that's great in anything they do, I'll show you somebody that's persevered, demonstrated that mental toughness to overcome some obstacles and adversity.
When you look at what we want our individual player to represent from that makeup, if you will, we're looking for mentally and physically tough players who are smart and want to compete. And when you say smart, you're talking about situational awareness. Guys that are instinctual. That are smart football players.
What I think about is about the opportunities that Mike Shanahan gave me as an inexperienced coach. I think about watching a Kyle Shanahan work. Just seeing the stuff he was running, his approach to different scenarios, and getting another understanding of what you can do as an offense... all of that helped me grow.
With the inexperience I do have, I feel so fortunate to be around Wade Phillips.
