Q. In the recent past, you have had assistants on your staff who had previous experience as a head coach. Mike Munchak and Brian Flores are a couple of examples, and now Arthur Smith fits that description as well. Guys who have previous head coaching experience, what qualities do they bring that are unique to other assistants?
A. They have a global set of eyes based on their experience. They can step outside the roles that they hold and see the big picture. They’re useful in things outside of their designated jobs, such as in calendar creation and things of that nature. There’s just experience that is useful and helpful to me in terms of some of the things that I have to do. They’re a good sounding board, or an ear for me. It has been a good experience for me to have that, and I am excited about the experience that Arthur brings in that area. More than anything, it’s a good resource and useful for me as I do some of the background-like things, some structural things that kind of come with the job. I’m able to delegate some of those things, too, and lighten my load. That frees me up to do more coaching when I’ve got a guy with that type of experience and I can give some assignments to him. It’s always helpful to me. I’m always really excited about it. More than anything. I just like the perspective that they bring.
Q. Do you think Arthur Smith’s play-calling might be different or impacted a little bit by his experience as a head coach, as opposed to an offensive coordinator who has never had that job?
A. No question. And those are probably his sentiments that I’ve gotten from him throughout this process. I think that when you’ve been a head coach, it forever changes you in a lot of ways as it pertains to ball and coaching. And so I think it does help you evolve as a play-caller or offensive coordinator, and so I know he’s excited and refreshed and really eager to get started with this season.
Q. Chuck Noll always said that “playing football is not…
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