Q & A

A As a teaching job. I think you really have to focus on what's important to you in a high school job. What's important to me, with the way things are anymore, is to teach them the fundamentals of the game, first of all. Be a teacher and a coach. Don't get carried away with Xs and Os, get carried away with teaching them how to block and tackle, the thing that football's all about, no matter what level you're at. So make sure you teach that at a young age, and as you teach that you continue to add to what you're doing offensively and defensively. That's the football aspect of it, but the other thing is really trying to make sure they're going in the right direction in their lives. I admire high school coaches more than anybody around, because they have more influence on a young man's life than any person, period. They've got them at an age where they're having an impact on the foundation of their lives.

Q. If you were back in high school coaching, would you be more sensitive to the off-field aspect than you were when you started?

A Yes. Without a doubt. I think we've all learned the importance ofthat from a lot of things that have happened over the last few years. It's frightening. It just seems to me that kids are angry anymore, forsome reason. I don't know that answer. But you can have such an influence. To me, high school athletics has more influence on kids now than it's ever had, just because of how society is. You get those kids out there, and they have success, and they feel good about themselves. That's a big thing - regardless of how good a player they are, just so they feel good about what they're doing, and feel good about themselves. That has such an impact on what they do. Only a small percentage of kids play college football. The influence you have on them might be what they do their freshman year in college, or what they study, or what habits they have in their lives.

Q. Your star player does something wrong. What do you do?

A You have to not play him, or he'll never learn. You have to teachhim, and he has to learn from it. I think 10 or 12 years ago, I wouldhave probably done that, but now I would do it for sure. When you'reyounger, you're probably not as experienced in what's best for the kid. . . "I think I'm a little more stringent now because of the way things are. It's not acceptable anymore to do something of the things that maybe 10 years ago you could do. That's just how it is. In the old days, a guy got into a fight or something, and it was no big deal. Now, it's a big deal. Because people will sue you, and it's going to be in the paper, and it's a different world than it used to be. I still think you should be innocent until proven guilty, and a lot of times now it's guilty until proven innocent. I think you have to understand the nature of what happened, and who was involved, and you make a decision. But if they do something wrong, they have to understand they're going to pay for it.

Q. When did you know you wanted to become a coach?

A I think I knew I wanted to become a coach when I was really young. I would say when I was fourth or fifth grade. My dad was coaching at Ferndale High School (north of Everett, Wash.), and I'll never forget, Saturday mornings he'd get the film, and he'd put a pillowcase up in his bedroom (as a screen), and he'd watch the film from the night before. So I'd wake up every Saturday morning, and instead of watching cartoons I was watching film. I was doing that all my life. And I wanted to watch the game, and he'd keep running the same play back and forth, and I'd go, 'Come on, Dad, let's go to the next play.' And he'd go, 'Well, this guy's not doing the right thing. We have to see what's wrong here.

Q. Why have you been so successful?

A I think for a couple of reasons. I think I can get the best out ofthe players. They enjoy playing for us. They play hard. And I thinkbecause I let my coaches coach and don't step on their toes all the time or get in their face; they're in a comfort zone where they can operate, and I think that's really important. And I think I have a pretty good feel for what we've done with that offense over the years.