C-Mac
05-06-2005, 09:18 PM
Branches of Marty's tree spread
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The year was 1991, and James Saxon's time as a Chiefs running back was nearing its end.
Saxon was in the process of stripping off his pads after practice in the locker room when coach Marty Schottenheimer wandered by.
“He was almost past me when he stopped, turned around and said, ‘Sax, I think you'd make a good coach someday.' ” Saxon said. “The first thought I had was he was trying to tell me something, sending me a message that the end was coming. But that got me thinking about coaching.”
Schottenheimer's vision for Saxon proved correct. Saxon is a coach with the Chiefs, working daily with Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and the other running backs.
As it turned out, Schottenheimer planted similar coaching seeds in every corner of the locker room during the 10 seasons he coached the Chiefs, ending in 1998. An extraordinary number of Schottenheimer's former Chiefs are known to be coaches. Twenty-two could be confirmed, and there may be more coaching at small colleges or high schools around the country. At least two others, quarterback Steve DeBerg and wide receiver Willie Davis, are former coaches and may get back into the field.
Some of the 22, like Saxon and several other NFL and major-college assistants, coach for a living. Others, like Danan Hughes and Tim Grunhard, do it for the satisfaction by assisting at Kansas City area high schools.
Schottenheimer was genuinely surprised when he was read the list.
“I'm amazed by the number of names you've given me,” said Schottenheimer, now coaching the San Diego Chargers. “That's a whole bunch of guys to move into the coaching arena.”
Coaching has always been the natural career progression for former players. For example, almost all of the Chiefs' 19 coaches played college football.
NFL players tend to get into coaching in far less-frequent numbers. For so many former NFL teammates to head into the profession is even more unusual. That's the not-so-subtle guiding hand of Schottenheimer at work.
“I remember Marty saying one time that when he was done playing, he went out and sold insurance,” said Grunhard, an assistant at St. Pius X High School. “He said that year and a half or two years was the most miserable time of his life. A lot of us took heed of that. Not all of us do it for a living. Some of us do it as a supplement to our living. Either way, you get your satisfaction and you feel like you're making a difference.”
Some on the list, like wide receiver Hughes and linebacker Greg Manusky, had future coach written all over them while they were playing. Both lasted for several seasons more on smarts than natural ability.
Others, like Albert Lewis, were predicted to walk away from football for good once their playing days were finished. One of the most skilled cornerbacks of his era, Lewis was intense and prepared but not considered patient enough for the grind of the 14-hour days of coaching.
But Lewis helps coach the Chargers' defensive backs.
“Albert came in here on the minority internship program and was so good that we kept him,” Schottenheimer said. “We wouldn't let him go. He's a talented young coach.”
Only Lewis and fellow cornerback Kevin Ross, who helps coach the Vikings secondary, were considered exceptional talents as players. To Schottenheimer, it's no coincidence those with lesser abilities are the ones who gravitated toward coaching.
“The quality about these guys is that when you have a discussion with them about the strategy and the fundamentals and the techniques, they can recite it to you chapter and verse because they devoted a considerable amount of time to that part of it,” Schottenheimer said.
“That's the common thread. Saxon and Jon Hayes, Tracy Simien and Kimble Anders … I have great admiration for how much they got out of their ability. They were always prepared. They always played to the hilt, gave everything they had. What they may have lacked in great physical skills they made up for with their competitiveness and a great understanding of what was necessary for them to win more battles than they lost.”
Many NFL players have a difficult transition after their playing careers are finished. So much energy is put into preparing for football that it can be impossible for some to shift gears when it's over.
“It's definitely a scary situation,” said Hughes, who played with the Chiefs for six seasons. “I've seen guys struggle with that when they're 40 and they've been out of the league five, six, 10 years. They still haven't found their way in what people call the real world.”
That's why some of them become coaches.
“The things that most guys miss when they're done playing are the camaraderie and the competition,” said Grunhard, who jumped on the offer when it was extended by St. Pius. “Both of those can be served through coaching.
“When I was done playing, I felt like something was missing. I was lost. I felt like a ship without a rudder. When I got back on the field, it gave me direction again. We took a team that was basically a bunch of guys who had never won and we won a state championship. I was bit by the bug and it's been there ever since.”
After he finished playing with the Eagles in 1995, Saxon returned to college to finish his degree and think about what he wanted to do with his life.
He initially settled on teaching, but the more he thought about it, the more sense Schottenheimer's remark made.
“I always prided myself when I was a player in understanding what I had to do and trying to see the big picture,” he said. “That's what helps me in coaching now.”
Saxon hooked on at Rutgers, coached at the time by Terry Shea, Saxon's offensive coordinator in college at San Jose State and now also an assistant for the Chiefs.
“Coaching is something you're prepared for whether you're aware of it or not,” Saxon said. “It's an extension of what you're doing. I look back now and think, ‘What took me so long?'
“At first, I was totally intimidated by the whole idea. I didn't know if I'd be able to exist in this world. But then we got into a meeting, and we started talking football, and it was like putting on my size of shoe. It just fit.”
Hughes is one player who made the successful transition to the business world. He's a home mortgage lender for U.S. Bank.
That doesn't prevent him from being an assistant coach at Lee's Summit High.
“During the season, I go into work at 6 or 6:30, work through lunch, and then I'll leave about 2:45,” Hughes said. “I'll hustle to practice to get there by 3. I'll have just enough time to change in the car and walk out to the practice field. I'll get off the practice field and go home and finish up some work from the office at home on my laptop. Then I'll repeat it all again the next day.”
The schedule is worth it to Hughes, who plans to coach again in the fall. He works with the wide receivers and almost lives vicariously through them on Friday nights.
“It's easy to see on the first day of training camp exactly what your guys don't know,” Hughes said. “Then, at the end of the season, it's rewarding to look back and see all they've realized. What I love is to work with a totally naïve kid and then to transform him into an actual football player who knows how to read defenses and run routes and catch the ball correctly and has some success.
“That's where it pays off for me. We're not getting big bucks to stand out there on Friday night.”
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The year was 1991, and James Saxon's time as a Chiefs running back was nearing its end.
Saxon was in the process of stripping off his pads after practice in the locker room when coach Marty Schottenheimer wandered by.
“He was almost past me when he stopped, turned around and said, ‘Sax, I think you'd make a good coach someday.' ” Saxon said. “The first thought I had was he was trying to tell me something, sending me a message that the end was coming. But that got me thinking about coaching.”
Schottenheimer's vision for Saxon proved correct. Saxon is a coach with the Chiefs, working daily with Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and the other running backs.
As it turned out, Schottenheimer planted similar coaching seeds in every corner of the locker room during the 10 seasons he coached the Chiefs, ending in 1998. An extraordinary number of Schottenheimer's former Chiefs are known to be coaches. Twenty-two could be confirmed, and there may be more coaching at small colleges or high schools around the country. At least two others, quarterback Steve DeBerg and wide receiver Willie Davis, are former coaches and may get back into the field.
Some of the 22, like Saxon and several other NFL and major-college assistants, coach for a living. Others, like Danan Hughes and Tim Grunhard, do it for the satisfaction by assisting at Kansas City area high schools.
Schottenheimer was genuinely surprised when he was read the list.
“I'm amazed by the number of names you've given me,” said Schottenheimer, now coaching the San Diego Chargers. “That's a whole bunch of guys to move into the coaching arena.”
Coaching has always been the natural career progression for former players. For example, almost all of the Chiefs' 19 coaches played college football.
NFL players tend to get into coaching in far less-frequent numbers. For so many former NFL teammates to head into the profession is even more unusual. That's the not-so-subtle guiding hand of Schottenheimer at work.
“I remember Marty saying one time that when he was done playing, he went out and sold insurance,” said Grunhard, an assistant at St. Pius X High School. “He said that year and a half or two years was the most miserable time of his life. A lot of us took heed of that. Not all of us do it for a living. Some of us do it as a supplement to our living. Either way, you get your satisfaction and you feel like you're making a difference.”
Some on the list, like wide receiver Hughes and linebacker Greg Manusky, had future coach written all over them while they were playing. Both lasted for several seasons more on smarts than natural ability.
Others, like Albert Lewis, were predicted to walk away from football for good once their playing days were finished. One of the most skilled cornerbacks of his era, Lewis was intense and prepared but not considered patient enough for the grind of the 14-hour days of coaching.
But Lewis helps coach the Chargers' defensive backs.
“Albert came in here on the minority internship program and was so good that we kept him,” Schottenheimer said. “We wouldn't let him go. He's a talented young coach.”
Only Lewis and fellow cornerback Kevin Ross, who helps coach the Vikings secondary, were considered exceptional talents as players. To Schottenheimer, it's no coincidence those with lesser abilities are the ones who gravitated toward coaching.
“The quality about these guys is that when you have a discussion with them about the strategy and the fundamentals and the techniques, they can recite it to you chapter and verse because they devoted a considerable amount of time to that part of it,” Schottenheimer said.
“That's the common thread. Saxon and Jon Hayes, Tracy Simien and Kimble Anders … I have great admiration for how much they got out of their ability. They were always prepared. They always played to the hilt, gave everything they had. What they may have lacked in great physical skills they made up for with their competitiveness and a great understanding of what was necessary for them to win more battles than they lost.”
Many NFL players have a difficult transition after their playing careers are finished. So much energy is put into preparing for football that it can be impossible for some to shift gears when it's over.
“It's definitely a scary situation,” said Hughes, who played with the Chiefs for six seasons. “I've seen guys struggle with that when they're 40 and they've been out of the league five, six, 10 years. They still haven't found their way in what people call the real world.”
That's why some of them become coaches.
“The things that most guys miss when they're done playing are the camaraderie and the competition,” said Grunhard, who jumped on the offer when it was extended by St. Pius. “Both of those can be served through coaching.
“When I was done playing, I felt like something was missing. I was lost. I felt like a ship without a rudder. When I got back on the field, it gave me direction again. We took a team that was basically a bunch of guys who had never won and we won a state championship. I was bit by the bug and it's been there ever since.”
After he finished playing with the Eagles in 1995, Saxon returned to college to finish his degree and think about what he wanted to do with his life.
He initially settled on teaching, but the more he thought about it, the more sense Schottenheimer's remark made.
“I always prided myself when I was a player in understanding what I had to do and trying to see the big picture,” he said. “That's what helps me in coaching now.”
Saxon hooked on at Rutgers, coached at the time by Terry Shea, Saxon's offensive coordinator in college at San Jose State and now also an assistant for the Chiefs.
“Coaching is something you're prepared for whether you're aware of it or not,” Saxon said. “It's an extension of what you're doing. I look back now and think, ‘What took me so long?'
“At first, I was totally intimidated by the whole idea. I didn't know if I'd be able to exist in this world. But then we got into a meeting, and we started talking football, and it was like putting on my size of shoe. It just fit.”
Hughes is one player who made the successful transition to the business world. He's a home mortgage lender for U.S. Bank.
That doesn't prevent him from being an assistant coach at Lee's Summit High.
“During the season, I go into work at 6 or 6:30, work through lunch, and then I'll leave about 2:45,” Hughes said. “I'll hustle to practice to get there by 3. I'll have just enough time to change in the car and walk out to the practice field. I'll get off the practice field and go home and finish up some work from the office at home on my laptop. Then I'll repeat it all again the next day.”
The schedule is worth it to Hughes, who plans to coach again in the fall. He works with the wide receivers and almost lives vicariously through them on Friday nights.
“It's easy to see on the first day of training camp exactly what your guys don't know,” Hughes said. “Then, at the end of the season, it's rewarding to look back and see all they've realized. What I love is to work with a totally naïve kid and then to transform him into an actual football player who knows how to read defenses and run routes and catch the ball correctly and has some success.
“That's where it pays off for me. We're not getting big bucks to stand out there on Friday night.”