Post by Purple Pain on Aug 10, 2019 19:24:23 GMT -6
Lots of good stuff in this interview:
VikingNations: Chatting with Chad Greenway
...
I hate to bring it up, but here is this, as well:
Other interesting stuff at the link. Give it a look:
www.vikingnations.com/2019/08/chatting-with-chad-greenway.html?m=1
VikingNations: Chatting with Chad Greenway
Who was your favorite coach that you have ever played for?
Greenway: “The most talented coach I ever played for in my career, it would be hard to go against Kirk Ferentz at Iowa, and he's talented in multiple ways: in one sense he's taking 18 to 22-year-old guys and making them into men and great people. I would say the most talented football coach from an Xs and Os standpoint and a motivational standpoint is Coach Zimmer. As far as Xs and Os, he’s brilliant, and he understands the game at another level that I never had an opportunity to learn until I met him. He teaches you another level of the game and how to see it differently from a defensive standpoint. Given that he did that on the other side of the ball as well, I would say hands down Coach Zimmer because he has the total package.
What was the hardest transition to make in your specific position from a Leslie Frazier lead defense to a Mike Zimmer lead defense?
Greenway: “Just learning really how to blitz and learning how to be that player to fit the more aggressive style. The Tampa 2 system I played for 8 years under Mike Tomlin and Leslie Frazier was more of the ‘bend but don't break’ mentality. In that system it was more of a 'we will give you yards but make the stop when we need to,' and we had some very successful years with that style of defense, but Coach Zimmer is much more about playing downhill, being the aggressor, and more of taking the game to the offense. I think that was something I had to learn and try to fit more of the attack mentality, and from a schematic standpoint it was about getting better in Man Coverage and learning how to blitz.”
You played against a lot of great players in practice like Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre, what do you think is one thing that you've learned from them by facing them every day?
Greenway: “I would say from guys like Brett, it was learning how to anticipate but also how to have fun and love the game. Brett had a love for the game and a certain kid mentality with the game that kept him playing for so long at such a high level. He was never into the ‘Normal’ stereotypical way to prepare for the game, but he was such a talented player. The NFL is a reaction business and you just really have to let your instincts play and I feel like that's how Brett played. Now you hear about these Quarterbacks who are really smart, try to see what happens before the play comes, and know what to expect - I would say that Brett had all of those intangibles. What made him really legendary was his ability just to play and react to what he saw, and just go do it and that's what he did really well. Adrian was just a guy who was just physically so good, and it was incredible to see him just constantly stay on top with the way he trained.”
Greenway: “The most talented coach I ever played for in my career, it would be hard to go against Kirk Ferentz at Iowa, and he's talented in multiple ways: in one sense he's taking 18 to 22-year-old guys and making them into men and great people. I would say the most talented football coach from an Xs and Os standpoint and a motivational standpoint is Coach Zimmer. As far as Xs and Os, he’s brilliant, and he understands the game at another level that I never had an opportunity to learn until I met him. He teaches you another level of the game and how to see it differently from a defensive standpoint. Given that he did that on the other side of the ball as well, I would say hands down Coach Zimmer because he has the total package.
What was the hardest transition to make in your specific position from a Leslie Frazier lead defense to a Mike Zimmer lead defense?
Greenway: “Just learning really how to blitz and learning how to be that player to fit the more aggressive style. The Tampa 2 system I played for 8 years under Mike Tomlin and Leslie Frazier was more of the ‘bend but don't break’ mentality. In that system it was more of a 'we will give you yards but make the stop when we need to,' and we had some very successful years with that style of defense, but Coach Zimmer is much more about playing downhill, being the aggressor, and more of taking the game to the offense. I think that was something I had to learn and try to fit more of the attack mentality, and from a schematic standpoint it was about getting better in Man Coverage and learning how to blitz.”
You played against a lot of great players in practice like Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre, what do you think is one thing that you've learned from them by facing them every day?
Greenway: “I would say from guys like Brett, it was learning how to anticipate but also how to have fun and love the game. Brett had a love for the game and a certain kid mentality with the game that kept him playing for so long at such a high level. He was never into the ‘Normal’ stereotypical way to prepare for the game, but he was such a talented player. The NFL is a reaction business and you just really have to let your instincts play and I feel like that's how Brett played. Now you hear about these Quarterbacks who are really smart, try to see what happens before the play comes, and know what to expect - I would say that Brett had all of those intangibles. What made him really legendary was his ability just to play and react to what he saw, and just go do it and that's what he did really well. Adrian was just a guy who was just physically so good, and it was incredible to see him just constantly stay on top with the way he trained.”
I hate to bring it up, but here is this, as well:
In the 2009 NFC championship game there was a 4th and inches in overtime where it had looked like you had knocked the ball out of Pierre Thomas’s hands, what was your initial reaction after that play and after it was ruled a first down?
Greenway: “Yeah, I knew I had knocked the ball loose and knocked him back, so the initial feeling was that he had got the yardage he needed on the initial jump - which was like 4 inches. Although I didn't think he was stopped on the first surge, it turned out when the ball is knocked loose, it needed to be respotted where he recollected the ball - and with the respot he clearly would have been short. I mean it was just a play in a football game that turned into be a controversial play even though it was just a 6-inch difference. That's just how football works and it was just one of those situations where if that play happens now you feel like it's probably respotted, but the game in 2009 just didn't have that level of review, and they were not willing to flip that call in that situation. But certainly on a 4th down it turned into an impactful situation.”
What was the locker room feeling after you had later found out about Bountygate?
Greenway: “No it wasn't, certainly was not. It was just really a feeling of sheer disappointment. Disappointment in ourselves because when you turn the football over as many times as we did against a good football team. I'd love to say we were the better football team on paper and in that game, to be in that game with 5 turnovers was pretty incredible, but at the end of the day we weren't the better team, we didn't win and you have to move on, but certainly sheer disappointment after walking back into that locker room. It wasn't a sense that we had got robbed or screwed or jobbed, it was just a sense of we didn't do enough. That's just the way it was. You come to find out that some other shenanigans were going on but I still don't know that impacted the direct outcome of the game, although I know some Vikings fans will certainly argue with me on that.”
Greenway: “Yeah, I knew I had knocked the ball loose and knocked him back, so the initial feeling was that he had got the yardage he needed on the initial jump - which was like 4 inches. Although I didn't think he was stopped on the first surge, it turned out when the ball is knocked loose, it needed to be respotted where he recollected the ball - and with the respot he clearly would have been short. I mean it was just a play in a football game that turned into be a controversial play even though it was just a 6-inch difference. That's just how football works and it was just one of those situations where if that play happens now you feel like it's probably respotted, but the game in 2009 just didn't have that level of review, and they were not willing to flip that call in that situation. But certainly on a 4th down it turned into an impactful situation.”
What was the locker room feeling after you had later found out about Bountygate?
Greenway: “No it wasn't, certainly was not. It was just really a feeling of sheer disappointment. Disappointment in ourselves because when you turn the football over as many times as we did against a good football team. I'd love to say we were the better football team on paper and in that game, to be in that game with 5 turnovers was pretty incredible, but at the end of the day we weren't the better team, we didn't win and you have to move on, but certainly sheer disappointment after walking back into that locker room. It wasn't a sense that we had got robbed or screwed or jobbed, it was just a sense of we didn't do enough. That's just the way it was. You come to find out that some other shenanigans were going on but I still don't know that impacted the direct outcome of the game, although I know some Vikings fans will certainly argue with me on that.”
Other interesting stuff at the link. Give it a look:
www.vikingnations.com/2019/08/chatting-with-chad-greenway.html?m=1
... and neither is this Chris guy.