Pastoral Resources

You know, a football coach is nothing more than a teacher. You teach them the same subject, and you have a group of new guys every year.

For me, it is just the total experience - from the time I first started as an assistant coach until I wound up at the University of Texas for 20 years.

I knew that when I resigned from the University of Texas that I would never coach again.

But I haven't met a player or a coach whose goal isn't to win the Super Bowl.

But as my voice coach keeps saying, if we actually spoke the way they imagine the Elizabethan voice might have been, we wouldn't be able to understand it.

And when I went to Houston, they had a conditioning coach by the name of Gene Coleman. And that was the first time I had gone to an organization that had a program with a weight room and designed specifically for pitchers.

I wish my teammates, coaches and the entire Lions organization all the best.

It was a wonderful experience to play in the NFL, and I have no regrets. I truly will miss playing for the Lions. I consider the Lions' players, coaches, staff, management and fans my family. I leave on good terms with everyone in the organization.

I was on Oprah's show recently talking about the people who impacted me the most. One was a teacher and one was my soccer coach. I didn't even go into my family, who had the most influence.

I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing there ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning. And I hope that I've done that in my 33 years as a head coach.

I criticize a lot of players and coaches. But I back it up with facts. A lot of times guys get mad at me because someone told them what I said. I say, 'You're wrong: Go check the tape.'

I try to help developing junior chess. When I lived in USSR, I got a lot of free help from very good coaches - now I am trying to repay that debt.

There are times I might coach one or two workouts a year when the regular coach gets caught in traffic.

Well my thoughts on American swimming are that our prospects look favorable, but we may not have as strong a showing in the gold medal count as in previous Olympics. But I am not coaching.

So you get two good hours on the field about every day, you get about an hour and a half in the meeting room and that's pretty much all you need to thoroughly coach your team.

So I don't really believe that how many years you've had in the league determines how well your players play... Coaching is coaching.

Our coaches want to be a part of South Carolina football when they win it for the first time. When they win the division, when they win the SEC, win a major bowl game, etc. The opportunities to do it all for the first time here make it extra special.

But as coaches, we need to get a little more fire and passion and be more demanding that our guys get the job done. I think players will respond to that, and we'll see.

I do have some young coaches, but I don't really believe that is the biggest problem we have here.

I think I've got an outstanding defensive assistant staff that's really going to help us have consistent, strong defenses. And offensively, we have an excellent staff. We've got some younger guys on offense, but that's what I coach and have my entire coaching career.