Once you've proved to [the players] that you can help them become better players, you've earned their respect. They respect if you've achieved at a high level in this league, but that's not what they respect you for as a coach.

Jobs are hard to come by, so players are extremely motivated to do whatever it takes to keep their job.

After several years in the league, when a player becomes a vested veteran in the NFL, they play under a different set of rules. For instance, if you cut a vested veteran mid-season and they don't get picked up by another team, you owe them the remainder of their salary.

There is a great amount of precision within each individual's technique and role in the play. When you put 22 of them out there, it can look chaotic but when you break down individual performance, it looks less so.

I learned through apprenticeship. I was an assistant to a defensive coach, and I'm still learning.

Veterans get priority in the training room and better parking, but there is not a whole lot of difference in terms of how they're treated in the competition for playing time. To me it doesn't matter if a guy is a 10-year veteran or a rookie. If the rookie is better, he finds his way onto the field.

Once you've proved to [the players] that you can help them become better players, you've earned their respect. They respect if you've achieved at a high level in this league, but that's not what they respect you for as a coach.