Two-Time Super Bowl Champion Coach Dean Pees to Keynote BGSU’s Gridiron Classic

 

Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | Football

by Vincent Briedis, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – BGSU alumnus Dean Pees, one of only eight defensive coordinators in National Football League history to coach in a Super Bowl with two different teams, was announced today as the featured dinner speaker at this year's Gridiron Classic.  The Gridiron Classic, scheduled for Monday, June 17 at Toledo Country Club, is an annual golf and dinner event with all proceeds going to support the BGSU Football program.

The 15th annual Gridiron Classic golf field has a very limited amount of foursomes still available, but dinner guests for the evening are encouraged to register online HERE for an elegant outdoor dinner overlooking the Maumee River after the golf outing. A Coaches Social and Silent auction in the River Room at the Toledo Country Club starts at 5:30 pm on the June 17, followed by dinner and a program with emcee, and fellow BGSU alumnus Jerry Anderson, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Pees graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1972, then became an English teacher and the head football coach at Elmwood High School. Six years later, he became the defensive coordinator at the University of Findlay where he helped the team win a national title and two conference championships. He spent a 25 seasons as a college football coach, including stops as an assistant at Miami (OH), the U.S. Naval Academy, Toledo, Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Pees was the head coach at Kent State from 1998 to 2003. As a college coach, Pees' teams won two Mid-American Conference championships at Miami (OH) and Toledo and reached bowl games in four consecutive seasons — three times at Michigan State and once at Notre Dame.

In 2004, he became linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. In 2010, he was hired as the Ravens linebackers coach before taking over as defensive coordinator. While in the NFL, he was a part of seven divisional championships, three AFC championships and three Super Bowls — 2004 and 2007 with the Patriots and 2013 with the Ravens.

Contact Nathan Anderson at nander@bgsu.edu or 419-372-9446 with questions about golf or dinner at the Gridiron Classic, or register for both online HERE.

Why Dean Pees is Falcons biggest defensive offseason addition

 

Coaxing respected defensive coordinator out of retirement was huge win for Arthur Smith, Terry Fontenot

Jul 13, 2021 at 12:07 PM

Scott Bair

Falcons Digital Managing Editor

Defensive coordinator Dean Pees during organized team activities on June 17, 2021.

 

Dean Pees doesn't need to flash two Super Bowl rings to earn your respect. His reputation precedes him. That'll happen naturally after 40-plus years in coaching, with so many of them spent as one of the NFL's best defensive coordinators.

 

He has led the Patriots, Ravens and Titans through golden eras highlighted by deep postseason runs. His defenses have been excellent in the only metric that truly matters: preventing points. Pees has eight top-10 scoring defenses in 12 seasons as coordinator thanks in part to a creative, effective scheme that's somewhat hard to pin down.

 

3-4 or 4-3? Classification isn't pertinent when adaptability and unpredictability seem to be a scheme's greatest strengths.

 

Blitzes come from everywhere. Pre-snap alignments suggest one thing, then defenders do another. Tape from a previous game may not foreshadow what's happening in the next one. In short, dealing with Dean must be confusing as heck for a quarterback. Oh, and his former players love him.

Coaxing Pees out of retirement was as important as anything new Falcons brass have done this offseason. That's why he's the right guy to help a Falcons defense that has fallen on hard times.

 

And, yeah, I know. That's not a fresh take. It has certainly been said between the time head coach Arthur Smith brought Pees back and now, likely more than once.

 

It has become so apparent during my Falcons crash course that it had to be restated from a megaphone on a mountaintop. This deep dive started when I took over as Digital Managing Editor on June 1, initially using OTAs and minicamp to focus on roster construction. The NFL offseason has gone church-mouse quiet since, with coaches and players alike relaxing on white-sand beaches before training camp starts later this month.

The down period has provided time to examine Falcons schemes, especially while impatiently waiting (taps foot, checks watch) for moving trucks to cross the country. Arthur Smith's offensive system seems effective and efficient. Pees has a real knack for maximizing roster strengths, which is all you can ask from a coordinator.

Coaches typically deflect praise like this with a common refrain.

 

Players make plays. Execution over everything.

 

In other words, no call works unless the players make it effective. There's truth to that, but coaching them up well and putting them in position to succeed will go a long way in helping this Falcons defense improve.

 

Pees will certainly take advantage of an athletic linebacker corps featuring Deion Jones and Foye Olukuon. He has a pair of smart, veteran safeties in Erik Harris and Duron Harmon. That will help Pees' plays run well. Creative blitzes should energize a pass rush that sagged last year and didn't do enough to help teammates on the back end.

 

Building this defense up will take some time, so let's temper expectations in this first season. Just having Pees in red and black, rocking a headset, will make this unit better. When the Falcons gain the financial flexibility to be bigger players in free agency, when Terry Fontenot gets another crack at the NFL Draft and if position coaches can develop young talent on the roster, Pees system will look better and better.

 

Having access to it is a coup in itself, and should help the Falcons both now and in the future.

 

Former Titans player gives glowing endorsement of Falcons' DC Dean Pees

 

Get to know more about the new signal-caller for Atlanta's defense 

Feb 18, 2021 at 04:16 PM

Kelsey Conway

AtlantaFalcons.com reporter

https://www.atlantafalcons.com/video/new-falcons-dc-dean-pees-speaks-to-the-media-for-the-first-time.

As a 38-year-old offensive-minded head coach for the first time in his career, Arthur Smith will have more on his plate than ever before. He knows it and that's exactly why when he presented his plan to Atlanta's brass during the interview process, he knew who he wanted to be in charge of his defense: Dean Pees.

 

Pees, 71, has 47 years of coaching experience and has been a defensive coordinator with three different NFL teams. And while he thought it was time to retire following the 2019 with the Tennessee Titans, he realized after being out of the game for one year how much he missed the game and being around his players.

 

Smith wanted Pees to join his staff and Pees wanted to work for Smith. It was a perfect pairing as the two coaches worked together on Mike Vrabel's staff in Tennessee from 2018-19. 

 

Everywhere Pees has been success has quickly followed him. He's one of eight defensive coordinators in NFL history to coach in a Super Bowl with two different teams, the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. Now he'll be tasked with getting the Falcons' defense playing at a high level again and there isn't a better man for the job, at least according to one of his former players.  "When it comes to getting a defense to buy into his message and his system, there's no other man in the NFL that a defensive-minded player would want to work for and learn under," Wes Woodyard said.

 

Woodyard played for Pees during his two-year stint as defensive coordinator of the Titans. The 34-year-old linebacker said Pees "is one of the best defensive coordinators to ever coach in this league."

 

Under Pees' leadership, the Titans ranked No. 3 in points per game (18.9) and No. 12 in 2019 (20.7). Woodyard saw firsthand the impact Pees can have on a defense from the minute he stepped in the building.

 

Given his experience and the success he's had, Pees has the respect of everyone he has an encounter with.

 

"There are a lot of guys that don't have the experience of play-calling, let alone the experience of calling games in playoff moments, primetime games and Super Bowl games," Woodyard said. "Coach Pees has that experience. When you talk about schematics, he's one of the best."

 

Pees is known for his pressure looks and ability to create a scheme that creates confusion for quarterbacks. During his time with the Ravens, it was Pees' defense that helped Baltimore win it all in 2012. The Ravens' Super Bowl winning defense ranked 12th in scoring and peaked at the right time in the postseason registering nine sacks and 10 takeaways. 

 

And while his scheme has certainly proved to be successful over the years, it's the way Pees leads his players is what puts him in a class of his own.  

 

"He's a leader of men," Woodyard said. "I think the thing we most respect about Coach Pees is that he's always the same guy. He's this upbeat guy that everybody is inspired by. Coach Pees knows how to recognize what talent he has and how to move guys around and get them hot and put them into positions to make plays."

Why coaching legend Dean Pees matched Bowling Green coach’s six-figure gift

 

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/1324098758972329984

By John Brice -

 November 4, 2020

In mid-September, with little to no fanfare, Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler approached athletics administration officials at the school with a proposal.

What if, Loeffler asked, he reallocated $100,000 – a whopping 20 percent of his full salary – to cover a portion of the projected budgetary shortfall due to COVID-19 to assist in feeding the players in the Falcons’ football program?

Not a gift, with any tax breaks. Not a wink-and-a-nod to shift money now that later would come into the coach’s pocket.

Loeffler, who hasn’t wanted to comment on his gesture, focusing instead on Year 2 in his Bowling Green rebuild that begins tonight against rival Toledo, made this “voluntary salary reallocation that allowed us to maintain the supplemental nutrition program for players,” BG officials said.

Oh, Loeffler also inspired a gift in like kind: $100,000 from retired coaching legend and Bowling Green alum, Dean Pees.

Pees on Wednesday detailed to FootballScoop.com how Loeffler’s selfless act motivated the longtime college and professional coach and his wife, Melody, to immediately give back at a school that has given their family so much through generations.

It all started simply because Pees phoned Loeffler to thank the Falcons’ coach for sending some Bowling Green items after Pees had conducted a private instructional clinic for the BG staff.

“I called to thank him and we got to talking about the situation there and he mentioned he had donated a pretty good chunk of his salary to the football program and he really needed some help because they were running short of money,” said Pees, whose decorated coaching career includes stints on the staffs of Lou Holtz, Nick Saban and Bill Belichick, as well as head coach at Kent State, among other stops. “My wife (Melody) and I kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Maybe we ought to do something to help.’”

He then explained that his family’s desire to help boiled down to a couple of basic but fundamental reasons, the list generational of those touched by Bowling Green in the Pees family.

“It really just hit me that Coach Loeffler would do that,” Pees said. “It’s one thing when coaches are making $4 million and donate a little bit, but I know what it’s like in the MAC and they don’t make those kinds of salaries. It was really unselfish and a generous thing he did for his program.

“And it is my alma mater, and football has been great to me and my family in my lifetime here. I’ve been blessed to be all the places I’ve been. I’ve never had a bad job. I’ve never had to go seek a job. I was blessed to have an unbelievable 47-year career. My wife and I have been able to help our family and do some things that I would not have been able to do had it not been for football.”

Which left Pees to ask himself one rhetorical question?

“Who better to help than our own alma mater and our own school?,” Pees asked. “(Melody) grew up in the area, 15 minutes from there, her Mom and Dad worked at Bowling Green, we have a daughter that went to Bowling Green, I’ve got three sisters who went to Bowling Green, we’ve got a grandson in school now at Bowling Green. It’s kind of our school.”

The Pees family made just one stipulation on their six-figure gift: the money had to be dedicated solely to the football budget.

“Having coached in the MAC, I know sometimes people donate to a MAC team and it ends up in the general athletic fund,” Pees said. “Scot felt he needed to use it for nutrition and to feed the team.”

As Bowling Green made fiscal cuts across its campus and athletics budgets, 10% was slashed from the football operating budget.

The Falcons had projected a $200,000 budget this 2020-21 year for supplemental nutrition for their athletes.

Now, that figure has been made whole, and the Falcons’ coaches and players have one less worry as they return to action tonight against rival Toledo, a team whose nine-game winning streak in the series was halted last year in Loeffler’s Bowling Green debut.

It all meshes together for Pees, Bowling Green’s 2019 commencement speaker for the school’s college of education.

“Work hard and love the job you have; I use the term rise. That’s been my motto all along,” Pees, who retired from coaching last January after he helped lead the Tennessee Titans to the AFC Championship game, said. “I actually played the piano and wrote a song for the commencement. Too many people nowadays want the easy way out, and are just looking for the next job when they have a job.

“One of the reasons I’ve been lucky to be successful in my career, I never looked for another job. It’s just come. I was happy as a high school coach, a small college coach, MAC, Big Ten, Notre Dame. I’ve loved every job I have ever had. I’ve never interviewed for a job and never been fired in 47 years. I attribute that to loving the job and working hard. If you do that, just enjoy the job you have, and be loyal and faithful to the people you work for, it will work out.”

Peter King's Football Morning in America: The Profile

Dean Pees • Retired Tennessee defensive coordinator • Photographed in Nashville, Tenn.

Pees, 70, retired last week after finishing his 47th year of coaching at the high school, college and NFL level. It’s one of the most interesting careers in coaching history. Not only because he got to coach under two legends, Nick Saban and Bill Belichick, but he also got to coach under two coaches he coached as players—John Harbaugh (Miami of Ohio, then the Ravens) and Mike Vrabel (the Patriots, then the Titans). Thirteen jobs in 47 years, and . . .

“I’ve never applied for a job. I never got fired from a job. I never really sought another job. I never said, ‘I’m going to climb the ladder.’ I just did the job I had at the time, did the best I could. And I was lucky: I loved every job I had.”

Starting in Bloomingdale, Ohio (pop: 754), at little Elmwood High School.

“I played in a winter basketball league in [northwest] Ohio after college, when I met the principal at Elmwood High School. I was running a men’s clothing store in Bowling Green, Ohio. They had some openings on the football staff at Elmwood and he asked me if I wanted to coach. I said sure. I was hired to coach the secondary and be the track coach. But at our first meeting, the head coach made me the defensive coordinator. I did that two years, then became the head coach for four. Then I went to Findlay College as defensive coordinator and head track coach in 1979. After my first year, I went to Miami of Ohio to learn about their defense—which was the same defense we ran—from their coordinator, Tim Rose. In 1983, he got the head job there and hired me to be his defensive coordinator. Stayed there four years, and then Elliott Uzelac, the coach at Navy, called and hired me to coach the secondary. He got my name from Lloyd Carr, who I’d done some clinics with.

“After the ’89 season, Nick Saban called me. He was the secondary coach with the Oilers then, but he’d just been hired as the Toledo coach. He asked me to fly down to Houston, just to talk. He got my name from [longtime Navy assistant] Steve Belichick. So I flew down, and he offered me the defensive coordinator job at Toledo. Loved working with Nick—so good to me and my family. He left to coach with Bill [Belichick] and the Browns after one year, but Gary Pinkell was hired by Toledo and he kept the staff. I stayed three more years. After signing day [in 1994], Gary said to me one day, ‘[Notre Dame coach] Lou Holtz is on the phone. He’s gonna offer you a job.’ I picked up the phone, and Lou offered me the linebacker job. Then he said, ‘I hate to ask you this, but can you be here this afternoon?’ I said sure, I’ll call my wife on the way. So I was at Notre Dame one year. Then Nick takes the Michigan State job, and he hires me as his defensive coordinator. I was there from ‘95 to ’97. Kent State fires their coach after the ’97 season, and their AD flies up to meet me. We have breakfast, and I guess you could call that an interview, but it basically was a conversation—he just wanted to get to know me. He offered me the job over the phone.

“I’m at Kent six years. One day I had a question about defense for Bill Belichick, and I called him. He called me back and said, ‘I’m losing a linebacker coach. Ever thought about leaving college?’ We met at the scouting combine. He offered me the linebacker job. Great experience, with [Tedy] Bruschi, [Willie] McGinest, [Mike] Vrabel. In 2006, he made me the coordinator. Just a great experience, to see how the very best do it. But after four years as the coordinator, I needed a break. I made a smooth exit from New England. Then John Harbaugh offered me the linebacker job in Baltimore, which is what I needed at the time. How great that was, coaching Ray Lewis. Then John named me the coordinator in 2012. After ’16, I’m thinking of retiring. John said, ‘How about one more year?’ But after the ’17 season, that was it. I retired.

“So we [Pees and wife Melody] went up to our lake house in Michigan. It’s a Thursday night in January. We went out to dinner with our financial adviser, and we’re figuring out the NFL pension and how we’re going to live. Melody was planning this river cruise in Europe. The next morning, the phone rang. I said, ‘Hi Mike,’ and she knew. Mike Vrabel. He’d just gotten the Tennessee head-coaching job. He needed someone with experience to run the defense. He wanted me to be the coordinator.”

Pees’ only son, Matt Pees, was a high school coach in Denver. Dean Pees might have taken the Titans job anyway, but he asked Vrabel if he could bring Matt as defensive quality control coach. Vrabel checked, called the next day to say Matt was welcome on the staff, and the deal got done. Father and son coached together in 2018 and 2019.

“Of course losing at Kansas City was disappointing. But winning at New England and winning at Baltimore in the playoffs, against two coaches I have so much respect for, was an incredible way to go out. That goal-line stand in the second quarter at New England is a career highlight. But this time, I’m done coaching. Forty-seven years is enough. Not saying I’d never do some other job in football, but not coaching.

“It’s been a great career. Very, very blessed. My wife’s been fantastic. My kids have been fantastic—their whole lives, they just take off one jersey and put on another. I’m looking at my grandson right now—he’s 8, and he’s wearing a Titans cap.

“People ask me, ‘What’s your favorite place you coached?’ All of ‘em. They ask, ‘Who’s your favorite player?’ All of ‘em.

“In this football business, who can say they never got fired? Who can say they loved every job they had? For 47 years!”

Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees retires

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 20, 2020, 3:42 PM EST

Getty Images

After four decades coaching football Dean Pees has decided to call it a career.

The Titans confirmed today that Pees, their defensive coordinator for the last two years, has decided to retire.

The 70-year-old Pees spent six years as the head coach at Kent State but was primarily a defensive assistant, both at the college and pro level. Prior to spending the last two years in Tennessee, Pees spent six years as the defensive coordinator of the Ravens and four years as the defensive coordinator of the Patriots.

Pees is a two-time Super Bowl winner, having earned one ring on the Patriots’ staff and one on the Ravens’ staff.

Peter King FMIA 1-13-20 The Award Section

Coaches of the Week

Dean Pees, defensive coordinator, Tennessee. In two straight weeks, the forgotten Tennessee defensive boss has shut down two former employees. Against the third-seeded Pats last week, the Pees D held New England to 13 points, had a memorable goal-line stand, and consistently thwarted the Brady passing game. Against the top-seeded Ravens on Saturday night, Tennessee held the most explosive offense in football to 12 points and stymied Lamar Jackson on all four fourth-down attempts. For the first time in forever, Lamar Jackson was totally frustrated. Said future coach Logan Ryan: “We wanted to give him loaded boxes all night to get him out of the run game. . . . Once we had the lead, they had to go to the pass game, and that’s our strength.” Smart plan.

Arthur Smith, offensive coordinator, Tennessee. Anyone who play-designs a Derrick Henry touchdown pass from the 3-yard line will win this august award. And again next week, if Smith calls something so outrageously imaginative in the AFC Championship Game.

Toughest Defensive Coordinator to Face: Dean Pees

Best Receiver, JaMarcus Russell regret: Josh McCown tells all about NFL

By Brian Costello on December 25, 2018

In 16 NFL seasons, Josh McCown has played with hundreds of teammates and against hundreds of opposing players.

He gave Emmitt Smith his last hand-off. He threw Larry Fitzgerald his first pass. He has been on the field with and against Hall of Famers. McCown went from an unpolished rookie out of Sam Houston State to the mentor for Sam Darnold.

“More than anything, it’s humbling,” McCown said last week about all the players he has played with and against. “Those guys I’m talking about, it’s cool talking about them as players, but as people they are even better. To me, I value that so much. I’m so thankful I got to be around those guys. It’s fun to watch guys play at the highest level, but it’s awesome to watch humans operate at the highest level.”

McCown, 39, is unsure whether he will play in 2019. He said he will sit down with his family after the season and reach a decision. If he does call it a career, it has been some ride. He has played on eight teams over 16 seasons.

McCown reflected on his career with The Post and answered questions about who was the best at certain categories. The only ground rule was no current teammates or coaches could be named.

Best hands: “Holy cow. I have played with a lot of great guys, but three guys come to mind and I can’t choose between them — Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith and Anquan Boldin.

“Larry’s ability to track the ball was unbelievable and different than anything I’ve ever seen. The ability to make catches in traffic with Anquan Boldin was crazy because he could have guys hanging all over him and still make the catch. More than anything with Steve, his confidence in his hands to catch the ball and make moves while he was in the air. … I remember thinking he is more concerned with the move than he is with the catch, and it shows you how confident he is in the catch.”

Fastest receiver: “Travis Benjamin could roll when I was in Cleveland. He’s a lot like Robby [Anderson]. Robby might be the fastest, but I would say Travis. The other guy I think of when you say that because he is sneaky fast for a big guy is Mike Evans. He had unbelievable hands, too. I’ve had the privilege of playing with some good guys.”

Best route runner: “Anquan Boldin for sure. He wasn’t the fastest guy, so he had to be efficient with his feet. He was just a technician, just a great route runner.”

Most complete receiver: “Oh geez. I’ve played with some Hall of Famers. Pick your poison or your passion. It’s whatever you’re looking for. Golly, I hate to [choose] because every one of them brings something to the table. If you’re looking for a technician, you’re getting Anquan. If you’re looking for guys to extend fields and make plays on the long ball, you’re talking Alshon [Jeffery], Mike Evans, Larry Fitzgerald. If you’re looking for a playmaker when you put the ball in his hands, it’s Brandon Marshall or Steve Smith. You just throw it out there to Smitty and let him do his thing. A lot of times it’s like pulling teeth to get young receivers to block, but all these guys who are great catchers are great blockers. All of them are complete receivers. I’m close with all of them so picking one of them would not get me more Christmas cards.”

Toughest running back: “Jonathan Stewart was the toughest runner for sure. I’d also say Matt Forte or I played with a guy in Oakland named Justin Fargas out of USC. For that year he played with us, he was a banger. He ran really tough.”

Fastest back: “I played with Damien Anderson my first few years in Arizona. He was out of Northwestern and he could really run. He was fast. D.A. could run.”

Best vision: “Emmitt Smith was unbelievable. Kind of like we talk about with an old quarterback, he was able to function because he was so smart.”

Toughest lineman: “Logan Mankins comes to mind. Gosh, there were so many good ones. Joe Thomas because of his consistency. Shoot, Alex Mack, the same thing. All three of those guys were freaking tough dudes.”

Best run blocker: “Kyle Long. He’s a stud. That group we had in Chicago. Him and Roberto Garza and Matt Slauson, holy buckets. Those three alone were probably my favorite group I got to play with in terms of guard-center-guard. Those guys were good. Kyle was unbelievable, just so gifted as a run blocker.”

Best overall lineman: “Roberto Garza. He was just unbelievably smart, tough. He was a leader. It doesn’t get a lot better than Garz as far as overall linemen.”

QB you learned the most from: “I learned a little bit from everybody. It was really helpful when I connected with Kurt [Warner] in Arizona and Jon Kitna in Detroit. Jon was immensely helpful for me. Every one of them I took kind of a different part of their game. It was fun to watch them do what they were good at. Kurt’s ability to process the whole field was awesome. Kit just from a leadership and locker-room standpoint and the ability to lead a locker room and rally guys was just outstanding. Jake Delhomme was kind of the same way. Jake was the master of the two-minute drill. I was always really impressed with him and learned a ton from him.”

Best QB at reading a defense: “Kurt. Just his ability to see the feel and process was so impressive. He was sharp.”

Strongest arm: “Jay Cutler. He could hammer it, man. Both he and JaMarcus Russell. But Jay could really, really throw it.”

Most accurate: “It’s a close one between Kitna and Kurt Warner.”

Young QB you wished you could have helped more: “I was only in Oakland for a year, but JaMarcus [Russell]. He could really throw the ball and the path his career took. You wish you could have connected with him more just to help him out. I look back at that and wish I had more time with him.”

Funniest teammate: “I’m going to go with the tandem of Ryan Kalil and Jordan Gross from Carolina. The two of them together, their sense of humor, they were definitely funniest guys.”

Best overall athlete: “It’s easy to say a skilled guy. Anquan Boldin was an unbelievable athlete, but one of the most impressive to me was [defensive tackle] Shaun Rogers. Big Baby, as we called him. We were playing hoops one time and we steal the ball and flip it up to him and he takes two dribbles and then goes 360 [degrees] and dunked it. I was like, ‘Holy cow. This guy is 330 pounds.’ ”

Best cornerback faced: “Obviously, I think for the longest time people respected and feared [Darrelle] Revis. He was so good. The other one is Champ Bailey. Both of those guys were difference makers for sure, and special players. I think those were the two guys and I’ve always had a ton of respect for Aqib Talib.”

Best rusher faced: “Early in my career it was Jevon Kearse. He was unbelievable. Julius Peppers, I’ve been on both sides of it — with him and against him. You always had to know where he was because he could disrupt a game. DeMarcus Ware, too.”

Best middle linebacker faced: “Brian Urlacher, he was the best. Like in practice, to watch him work was unbelievable and to see him call out plays and process dissect an offense.”

Best safety faced: “Ed Reed. Guys ask me, ‘What was it like to play against Ed?’ I say, ‘You don’t want to know. Let’s not even talk about that.’ Ed was so special. He’s the best safety because of his ball skills and he could read what you were doing. With Ed, you’d read what they were in and he could pick that ball off over there because he’d go on a hunch.”

Toughest defensive coordinator to face: “The guy that comes to mind that always had his guys playing hard and I always respected is Dean Pees, who was in Baltimore all those years. It is always a dogfight when you play him. I think Mike Zimmer as a defensive coordinator and now as a head coach has long been excellent at game planning and attacking what you do.”

Best game-planner you played for: “I really flourished and appreciated Marc Trestman’s approach and Aaron Kromer when I was with those guys in Chicago. I went into a game as prepared as ever with those guys.”

Best play caller: “I got the chance to work with Mike Martz in Detroit. I didn’t play but watching him kind of make his magic was impressive. Mike had an unbelievable sense and fearlessness to him.”

Best motivator: “My first few years Dave McGinnis was just outstanding at just talking to the team and getting guys going every day. Coach Mac was really special.”

Best overall head coach: “Shoot, man, it’s a close one. I have so much respect for Lovie Smith. I enjoyed playing for him. Both he and Marc Trestman in Chicago and John Fox in Carolina as well. John was awesome.”