00:00There is a brand-new play caller in Philadelphia by the name of Sean Mannion.
00:04He's never called plays, and coach, his resume says this.
00:08He's been a coach for roughly 29 months, and he's going to be a play caller,
00:14and this is his first gig.
00:16What's the challenge of being a play caller,
00:19especially with an experienced group of players like the Eagles have
00:22going into this commander game this weekend?
00:27The most important thing for a guy, especially with a guy that lacks experience,
00:30is a game adjustment.
00:32So many of these young guys coming in and become play callers are system guys.
00:36They know the system.
00:37They run plays, and they can pick and choose what they want to run.
00:40But if something happens out there that they're not prepared to see,
00:43you have to change gears.
00:45You have to change personnel.
00:46You have to change what you're doing.
00:47And to me, that's the difference between being a good play caller
00:50and just another guy or a system guy.
00:52And I don't know that he's got that kind of experience.
00:54Maybe he does.
00:55But it takes a lot of years of studying the game
00:57and knowing what to do when things get different,
01:01and they can get different really quick.
01:03All of a sudden, they're bringing the heat 70% of the time.
01:06You've got to have answers for all those things,
01:07to run the ball and to throw the ball.
01:09And a guy with that little experience, I'm sure he's a smart guy, obviously,
01:14and very capable, I'm sure.
01:16But I think the experience and being able to adjust during a game
01:19is going to be something you have to really look at.
01:21You know, Coach, one of the critical things that I've been with him is this.
01:25You know, you might be able to draw a play up,
01:27and you may be able to design a route.
01:29But to me, it's guys like you, Coach, situational play calling.
01:34There's a reason why Vic Fangio on the other side sits in the booth by himself.
01:38He doesn't want anybody near him.
01:40It's his game.
01:41It's his ball of wax.
01:42He makes the calls, and that's why that defense looks the way it does,
01:46and they're elevating players.
01:47So, for me, situational play calling, how can you be on the same page
01:52if you don't even know if you're going to call plays from the booth
01:55or out the field yet heading into Sunday?
01:57What's difficult, and that's why I say when I say system guys,
02:00they have these plays from the system,
02:02but they don't necessarily understand the situations and why you're doing it
02:07and when to take the shot.
02:08This is a good time for this.
02:09You know, they just kind of run plays.
02:11You know what I mean, Dan?
02:12And so what you're talking about is absolutely true.
02:15You know, these situations come up.
02:17You've got to have an answer.
02:17There's a time on third and one to fake it and take a shot at the end zone.
02:21You know, what's the score?
02:23What were they doing on offense?
02:24All those things have got to be going on in your head,
02:26and you've got to have a good feel for that.
02:28And the guys that do, they don't go off that.
02:31I mean, you're going to go off that script.
02:32You've got to be able to adjust and see the situation
02:35and know what to do with it.
02:37Coach, do you agree with this?
02:38Jimmy Johnson told me this years ago, certain play callers want to put a lot of points up
02:43and they want to put a lot of yards up.
02:45There's certain play callers that want to win games.
02:48And to me, I want the play caller that wants to win games.
02:51I mean, being able to utilize the talent that they have there in the huddle.
02:55How did you balance that?
02:57Because you want to maximize your offense as much as possible,
03:00but you want to win games as well.
03:02Now, you can't control the other side of the football
03:04if you're giving up five yards of carry.
03:06How do you go along and how do you balance that heading into a game?
03:11Well, you do have to play off your defense.
03:13You have to understand, you know, the situation in the game as well
03:16and how well your defense is playing.
03:18But I would disagree with him.
03:20Kind of neither.
03:21To me, Dan, it was always a performance level.
03:26We were always chasing excellence.
03:27We were trying to see how good we could be.
03:29And if we ever attained that where we were as good as we thought we could be,
03:34then we were going to win all of them.
03:35We weren't going to lose a game, and that's what we chased.
03:37And along the line, you get yards, you get completions, you play defense,
03:41all the good things that come along with it.
03:42But the bottom line is to win.
03:44And if you're playing at the highest level, you're going to win games.
03:47And so it was always performance-oriented in how well you play
03:50and what you do and you compete.
03:53That's why the story's about Monday night.
03:55Hey, you got to get up for it.
03:56It's a Monday night game.
03:57Everybody's, you know, going to be watching it, blah, blah, blah.
04:00Why aren't you that way every week?
04:01Why aren't you playing a Monday night game every time you line up on Sunday?
04:05You know what I mean?
04:05So every week's a playoff game to me.
04:08And that's the way we looked at it.
04:10It was pedal to the metal.
04:11I didn't care who we're playing.
04:13We're trying to see how good we could play that week
04:16and how good we can get.
04:18It was about your process each week, not about your opponent,
04:21if I'm getting it right.
04:23Hey, Coach, I want to go back.
04:25About you guys doing it right.
04:26I want to go back to what John Madden said during your time.
04:30When you were in that groove, Coach, I remember Coach Madden saying this.
04:34I've never seen anything like this.
04:35These guys are throwing all over the yard.
04:38They're just completing everything at will.
04:40You had Warner throwing 45-yard touchdown passes every single game, it seemed.
04:45It was just an unstoppable offense, and it was dubbed the greatest show on turf.
04:49When you're in a groove like that, Coach,
04:51what's it feel like to be in a groove like that?
04:54Well, the confidence that comes out of that room when you're putting plays in.
04:58It's funny, Dan.
04:58I walk in there, and they're all leaning forward with their pencils.
05:02They're ready for the game plan.
05:03They want to know each one of those receivers has got in his mind
05:06how he's going to fit into that.
05:08You've got to have something for everybody.
05:11That's the thrill, that is being able to do that,
05:13because these guys will respond.
05:15You just keep feeding them, and they get better and better and better and better.
05:18There's no text or there's no way on how you're going to play that game.
05:24You look at what's going on out there, what you have, and you go to work.
05:29If they're in the quarter defense, we know that there's going to be a deep ball
05:33over the middle, and how are we going to get that done, those kinds of things.
05:36If they're in too deep, we know that we're going to pound that ball inside,
05:39and we're going to take some shots up the middle.
05:41Those kinds of things are in granted for us,
05:44but how you're going to do it and who's going to do it,
05:46that's the fun of putting the game plan together.
