WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.919
<v Speaker 1>He is going to be talking about obviously today's NFL,

2
00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.639
<v Speaker 1>but then Sean will get with him on some of

3
00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:10.679
<v Speaker 1>the legendary seasons he had as a coach for the blitzberg.

4
00:00:10.839 --> 00:00:11.039
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

5
00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.359
<v Speaker 3>Remember, he's the architect, the guy I mean when you

6
00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:16.120
<v Speaker 3>talk about building your house and he's from top to

7
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.399
<v Speaker 3>bottom of the Zone Blitz. To describe that before coach

8
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.359
<v Speaker 3>gets back on, it's when you see a defensive lineman,

9
00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:24.640
<v Speaker 3>just give you who are a defensive end who's all

10
00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.320
<v Speaker 3>of a sudden they show Blitz, the defensive guy drops

11
00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:30.519
<v Speaker 3>back into the area and they're bringing somebody else. Yeah,

12
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.479
<v Speaker 3>he is the architect for the Zone Blitz and one

13
00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:34.479
<v Speaker 3>of the very very best of all. Well, he's the

14
00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:36.679
<v Speaker 3>architect in the as good as we've ever had it

15
00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:37.200
<v Speaker 3>coaching it.

16
00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:39.920
<v Speaker 1>He was enshrined to the Hall of Pro Football Hall

17
00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.640
<v Speaker 1>of Fame in twenty ten after his playing career. He's

18
00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:43.880
<v Speaker 1>going to be talking about his book Legendary.

19
00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:45.600
<v Speaker 3>If we had his coach Lebo there, if we had

20
00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.520
<v Speaker 3>if we had Hall of Famers coach, did you hear

21
00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:50.039
<v Speaker 3>my question?

22
00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.399
<v Speaker 4>It's Sean Salisburg. How you doing, sir, I'm doing well, Sean.

23
00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:54.240
<v Speaker 2>I did not hear.

24
00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:56.920
<v Speaker 4>Oh, Okay, yeah, it's good. Good to have you on.

25
00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:59.359
<v Speaker 3>I said that, you know, as a guy who grew

26
00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:01.479
<v Speaker 3>up watching you play as a quarterback in the NFL,

27
00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.760
<v Speaker 3>playing against you in a broadcast career, then as a

28
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:06.480
<v Speaker 3>player who's in the Hall of Fame, and as a

29
00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:09.920
<v Speaker 3>coordinator defensive coach, all the great things you've done, we

30
00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.000
<v Speaker 3>may not have had a better guy that belongs in

31
00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:15.280
<v Speaker 3>the Hall of Fame in both. And so my question was,

32
00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:17.840
<v Speaker 3>why don't we, with all the work you put in coach,

33
00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:20.280
<v Speaker 3>why don't we have assistant coaches in the Hall of Fame.

34
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:21.439
<v Speaker 4>Do you guys ever talk about that?

35
00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:29.159
<v Speaker 2>No? No, I went in in two.

36
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.480
<v Speaker 4>Thousand and ten, right as a player.

37
00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:40.280
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, and everything that I did was the statistics,

38
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:44.239
<v Speaker 2>and everything was compiled in a fourteen year career from

39
00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:50.120
<v Speaker 2>fifty nine to seventy two. So I can remember going

40
00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.120
<v Speaker 2>through my life every now and then saying, well, my

41
00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:55.959
<v Speaker 2>statistics were as good as some of the guys that

42
00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.359
<v Speaker 2>are in there. But there's so many people that they

43
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:05.079
<v Speaker 2>have great careers, and each year there's more of them

44
00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:09.039
<v Speaker 2>to retire who have great career with great statistics, and

45
00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:13.000
<v Speaker 2>they can only put so many in there. And I

46
00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.879
<v Speaker 2>never felt like I was the type of guy that

47
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.560
<v Speaker 2>would be walking around saying, hey, man, I should be

48
00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:19.479
<v Speaker 2>in the Hall of Fame.

49
00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:23.199
<v Speaker 4>You don't have to, We'll say that for it.

50
00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we'll see a pretty large half side to be

51
00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:30.199
<v Speaker 2>talking like that. So I've benefited from that. Actually, there

52
00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:34.240
<v Speaker 2>is an avenue now for everyone connected with the game

53
00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:37.639
<v Speaker 2>to get in there, as you've got owners coming in

54
00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:43.280
<v Speaker 2>now and general managers are making it and the Hall

55
00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:47.800
<v Speaker 2>of Fame has really rectified that dead end that they

56
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.199
<v Speaker 2>had for assistant coaches, and there will be some get

57
00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:52.039
<v Speaker 2>in there, I'm sure.

58
00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:54.719
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, absolutely, And if you weren't already in as a player,

59
00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.120
<v Speaker 3>you would be at the top of the list with

60
00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.159
<v Speaker 3>a lot of the Tom mooreries of the world and

61
00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.840
<v Speaker 3>the great assistant coach. I've been for this for two

62
00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:02.759
<v Speaker 3>decades because all the work you do, and the head

63
00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:04.879
<v Speaker 3>coach gets the credit and I get it, but all

64
00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:06.240
<v Speaker 3>the work you put in and we're going to get

65
00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:09.879
<v Speaker 3>to the zone blitz here and your book in a second. Coach,

66
00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:13.479
<v Speaker 3>you obviously have been following football and covering it and

67
00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.039
<v Speaker 3>talking about it and teaching it and playing it for

68
00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:17.159
<v Speaker 3>so many decades.

69
00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:19.240
<v Speaker 4>How do you feel about today's game?

70
00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:21.719
<v Speaker 3>Well, what do you give me one thing you like

71
00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.439
<v Speaker 3>and one thing you don't about the current state of football.

72
00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:29.639
<v Speaker 2>Well, you know the old guys, they always say they

73
00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.240
<v Speaker 2>are back in my day. You know, I'm not one

74
00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:37.719
<v Speaker 2>of those kind of peopful. I played in my era,

75
00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:42.639
<v Speaker 2>and I coached in that era, and now it's somebody

76
00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:47.039
<v Speaker 2>else's turn. I enjoy today's game. I look forward to

77
00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:50.520
<v Speaker 2>each season. I watch as much football as I possibly can.

78
00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:56.000
<v Speaker 2>It's in my blood, of course, as I had fifty

79
00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:00.360
<v Speaker 2>nine consecutive seasons in the National Football League fourteen player

80
00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.479
<v Speaker 2>in forty five as a coach. So you're not going

81
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.360
<v Speaker 2>to retire and say I'm done with that. It's going

82
00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:08.240
<v Speaker 2>to be with you for the rest of your life.

83
00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:13.080
<v Speaker 2>I think the game has ever bit as exciting and

84
00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:16.639
<v Speaker 2>entertaining as it was. But it's a very very different game.

85
00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:24.240
<v Speaker 2>And do I care for it as much as the

86
00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:26.920
<v Speaker 2>one that I played? Probably not all the guys that

87
00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:30.399
<v Speaker 2>I played with the same thing. But I think that's

88
00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.000
<v Speaker 2>just a normal situation of all of us who lived

89
00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:39.120
<v Speaker 2>in our era and now somebody else has turned. They

90
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:44.600
<v Speaker 2>certainly are financially a success with the salaries that the

91
00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.800
<v Speaker 2>players are making, and I don't be grudge them at all,

92
00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:53.399
<v Speaker 2>and everything is going all the word en up with

93
00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:57.839
<v Speaker 2>trend as I say, if I were a king, as

94
00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.600
<v Speaker 2>they say, I would change a few way the games played.

95
00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:04.079
<v Speaker 2>But I was a defensive guy all the way.

96
00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.160
<v Speaker 3>That's the voice of Dick lebou Hall of Famer Dick

97
00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.920
<v Speaker 3>lebow and in my mind, one of the great defensive

98
00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.000
<v Speaker 3>coordinators and coaches and teachers we've ever had in the

99
00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:15.240
<v Speaker 3>National Football League. As he joins us, sorry, coach, your

100
00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:19.120
<v Speaker 3>book legendary, which is going to be a phenomenal read.

101
00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.199
<v Speaker 3>And I was trying to explain before you came on

102
00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:23.000
<v Speaker 3>the you know some of the just the nuances of

103
00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.879
<v Speaker 3>his own blitz and nobody you are the architect. Nobody

104
00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:28.120
<v Speaker 3>taught it better and now it's used all over the league.

105
00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:31.800
<v Speaker 3>And as a quarterback, we didn't read defensive lineman drop

106
00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:33.439
<v Speaker 3>it into our coverage and we're trying to throw a

107
00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.800
<v Speaker 3>hotter a side adjustment. So how did this, well the

108
00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:39.279
<v Speaker 3>book come about? But how did your your thoughts on

109
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.959
<v Speaker 3>the zone blitz that became Blitzberg and so special?

110
00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.360
<v Speaker 4>How did that originate with you? Where did that start?

111
00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:53.959
<v Speaker 2>Well? Because you know the able saying necessity is the

112
00:05:54.040 --> 00:06:01.079
<v Speaker 2>mother of invention, uh Bill Walsh and the West Coast

113
00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:04.839
<v Speaker 2>passing offense as quick release and Don Corriel who's throwing

114
00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:08.439
<v Speaker 2>all over Jim Jones with a run and shoot, and

115
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:13.519
<v Speaker 2>these new concepts are throwing the ball all over the field,

116
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:17.759
<v Speaker 2>not huddling half the time. They were blitzing the league,

117
00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:21.639
<v Speaker 2>and they were just a step ahead of the defense

118
00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:25.399
<v Speaker 2>and really of the history of the game as it

119
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:28.800
<v Speaker 2>has evolved. In the system where the offense who gets

120
00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:31.319
<v Speaker 2>to call the play, they know who's carrying that, and

121
00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:33.120
<v Speaker 2>they know who's throwing it, who they're going to be

122
00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:36.439
<v Speaker 2>throwing it at, they know the snap count. The offense

123
00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.199
<v Speaker 2>has that Advantag's just just the way the game is

124
00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.279
<v Speaker 2>played and the defense have to figure out it's a

125
00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:46.800
<v Speaker 2>stimulus response game. So I think if you trace the

126
00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.319
<v Speaker 2>history of the league, you can see where the game

127
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:54.759
<v Speaker 2>has evolved into more wide open, higher scoring, bigger yardage plays.

128
00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:59.279
<v Speaker 2>And they had the balls. I think was probably the

129
00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:01.639
<v Speaker 2>first guy to come up with the reads, and they

130
00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:04.399
<v Speaker 2>had come up with a way to keep the pressure

131
00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:08.879
<v Speaker 2>off the quarterback by breaking off routes and throwing to

132
00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.439
<v Speaker 2>empty space and leading the guy into the area that

133
00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.240
<v Speaker 2>created big plates for the offense. And in looking at

134
00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:20.800
<v Speaker 2>it and studying it and figuring out I was in

135
00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:25.720
<v Speaker 2>charge with the job of restricting the game of those

136
00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:31.839
<v Speaker 2>plays and really stopping that system. And it was an evolution.

137
00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.000
<v Speaker 2>I thought, well, what if when they broke off from

138
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.839
<v Speaker 2>who was blitzing from us into an area that they

139
00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:42.160
<v Speaker 2>could lead the ball as far as they wanted to

140
00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:47.360
<v Speaker 2>and run away from the coverage, they were going to

141
00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:51.480
<v Speaker 2>be successful. So I looked at areas where I could

142
00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:55.839
<v Speaker 2>still blitz and overload the protection and have success with

143
00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:59.920
<v Speaker 2>pressure on the quarterback, but still not exposed. One guy

144
00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:02.639
<v Speaker 2>hap to be covering their best receiver all over the

145
00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.959
<v Speaker 2>field with no help. So it was an area of

146
00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.759
<v Speaker 2>defensing behind the pressure up on front. See Bobby Knight

147
00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:13.160
<v Speaker 2>and I were good friends, and Bobby Knight was great

148
00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:18.079
<v Speaker 2>basketball coach. He won a fantastic amount of basketball games.

149
00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:21.720
<v Speaker 2>We believed in pressure on the ball, and once you

150
00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:24.879
<v Speaker 2>believed that, you had to try to figure out the

151
00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:26.879
<v Speaker 2>best way to do it. And that's all that I

152
00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:30.319
<v Speaker 2>was doing, was looking for the safest, best way to

153
00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:32.840
<v Speaker 2>put pressure on the quarterback where he just doesn't go

154
00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:34.960
<v Speaker 2>out there and throw the ball all over the field

155
00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:41.000
<v Speaker 2>and score fifty points on you so that was the problem,

156
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:44.879
<v Speaker 2>and I would say that sometimes we went down the

157
00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:49.159
<v Speaker 2>wrong road and searching for the solution. I can't tell

158
00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:52.120
<v Speaker 2>you how many diamond boards I went off into an

159
00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:55.519
<v Speaker 2>empty pool, my friend. But I did it on the

160
00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.240
<v Speaker 2>practice field, and by the time that I tried it

161
00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:01.200
<v Speaker 2>in the game, it was ready to go, and we

162
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.440
<v Speaker 2>had the advantage to be in the first ones. And

163
00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:09.360
<v Speaker 2>so it was really dramatically successful in the early years

164
00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:12.000
<v Speaker 2>because the offenses hadn't seen it, and in much the

165
00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.519
<v Speaker 2>same as us with the new stuff that the offense

166
00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.279
<v Speaker 2>does with the motion in the ship and then sign

167
00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.320
<v Speaker 2>it counsel and whatever they do to confuse us. I

168
00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:22.799
<v Speaker 2>was just trying to level the playing field up a

169
00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:26.480
<v Speaker 2>little bit and let my guys attack and confuse the

170
00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:27.440
<v Speaker 2>offensive players.

171
00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.759
<v Speaker 3>Well, nobody has done it better as a defensive coordinator

172
00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.840
<v Speaker 3>in the history of this game. The book is legendary.

173
00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:35.679
<v Speaker 3>It's Dick Lebow, Hall of Fame player and in my mind,

174
00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:37.360
<v Speaker 3>hall of fame coach. If we had him in there

175
00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:39.480
<v Speaker 3>as assistants. Nobody's done a better.

176
00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:39.720
<v Speaker 4>Coach.

177
00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:42.200
<v Speaker 3>I know you've got a busy schedule talking to a

178
00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.039
<v Speaker 3>lot of people. I can't thank you enough, and i'd

179
00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:46.559
<v Speaker 3>love to have you on again. Spend an hour talking

180
00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:48.360
<v Speaker 3>x's and o's. It's intriguing and if you want to

181
00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:50.519
<v Speaker 3>know about zone blitz and how it was applied, this

182
00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.799
<v Speaker 3>is the man architect, Dick Lebow, Hall of Famer coach.

183
00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:55.039
<v Speaker 4>Thank you so much for your time.

184
00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.840
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Sean, it's been a blast.

185
00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:01.480
<v Speaker 4>It's always honored to talk to you too, sir. Thank

186
00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:02.000
<v Speaker 4>you very much.

187
00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:05.120
<v Speaker 3>Brian, he is uh that's his own blitz and when

188
00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:06.679
<v Speaker 3>you when you hear it all the time, that's where

189
00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:08.960
<v Speaker 3>it started. And it also helps that coach Lebou had

190
00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:11.440
<v Speaker 3>good players, but he put him in position to be success.

191
00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:14.279
<v Speaker 3>That's bad stuff. Yes, awesome to see in Pittsburgh's winning again.