Goonther goes off on the media

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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...it-to-my-face/

Gunther Cunningham to Lions’ critics: Say it to my face
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 9, 2011, 3:25 PM EST
Gunther Cunningham AP

Detroit’s Gunther Cunningham rivals Dallas’s Rob Ryan for the title of the NFL’s most quotable defensive coordinator, so it’s no surprise that with the Lions taking a lot of criticism lately, Cunningham hit back.

Specifically, Cunningham said it bugs him when he watches former coaches who now work as TV analysts criticizing his defense.

“I’ll challenge any coach to face me in a room, one-on-one, put the tape on and tell me how to coach football,” Cunningham said, via MLive.com. “That’s what I object to. The media, the rest of you, you do your job. But those guys? To tell Jim Schwartz how to coach? To tell me how to coach? Good luck.”

The 65-year-old Cunningham has been a football coach for almost his entire adult life, and he said it bothers him that coaches who lack his seniority are on TV badmouthing his team.

“Here’s the issues for me,” Cunningham said. “There’s some ex coaches on television, in the media, making statements. Why don’t they come and talk to me about it? Tell them to face me and come and talk to me about it. Don’t tell me how to coach. They were in high school, and maybe not even born, when I started in this business. I think I know a little bit about it.

Although Cunningham didn’t mention the names of the coaches-turned-broadcasters whose comments irked him, he did suggest that if they’re working in broadcasting rather than coaching, that might mean they’re not as knowledgeable as they think they are.

“They’re not coaching,” Cunningham said. “They’re on TV. I wonder why they’re on TV? There’s a reason for that. I’m still standing in front of you [the media] and we’re still coaching. We want our guys to play hard. That’s how we play, so people overreact to all of that stuff. I’m tired of hearing about it. I really am.”

The hard truth for Cunningham is that he’s going to keep hearing it until his team starts winning again, and stops making so many stupid mistakes.