University of North Carolina Athletics
A Conversation With Gary Tranquill: Part II
January 26, 2001 | Football
y: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: You've coached in both the NFL and college. Which did you prefer?
Coach Tranquill: "Frankly, I didn't see any difference in the actual coaching part of it. Those guys at the NFL level want to be better, and they can spend more time at it than college players can."
TarHeelBlue: Who listens better, a college player or a pro player?
Coach Tranquill: "I can't tell the difference. Sometimes in college you have guys who don't pay attention, sometimes in the league you have guys who don't pay attention.
"I was fortunate to work with some really fine quarterbacks and some really fine, competitive people who wanted to be better and worked at it. That's what it takes, along with some ability.
"It was all the other things that I didn't like about pro coaching. Front office stuff, the financial part of it. You'd have a good player and a week later he'd be gone because maybe he wanted too much money. That's the part that I didn't care for.
"The actual coaching, the on-field coaching, the meetings, I don't see any difference."
TarHeelBlue: What kind of athletes do you prefer having on the offensive line?
Coach Tranquill: "I like big guys who have good feet and are tough. One of my old coaches used to say it takes absolutely no ability to be mentally and physically tough. If you're mentally and physically tough, you have a chance regardless of your athletic ability.
"Now, obviously, you'd like someone who has athletic ability and is mentally and physically tough. I think that the tone of football toughness is set by the front seven on defense and that offensive line. That's where toughness begins.
"Now, how do I like them? I like big guys that can move and will hit you and are tough. There's also got to be a good chemistry among the offensive line, because those guys playing along side one another have to be able to communicate with one another, they have to know what's going on, then they have to play and finish plays.
"I like them big, I like them mobile, and I like them tough. If I had to list those traits in order of preference, I'd reverse the order. I'd say I like them tough, then I'd like them mobile, then I'd like them big.
"This is a toughness game. It's still blocking and tackling. When people lose sight of that, you're going to lose.
"I think football's still a game of toughness, especially mental toughness."
TarHeelBlue: Is the offensive line the hardest position to learn to play?
Coach Tranquill: "I think so. There are a lot more techniques involved. You're playing assignment football. Any time you're playing assignment football and you're involved with a lot of combination schemes, it's not easy to learn, it takes longer.
"You can take a wide receiver who has great ability and he doesn't have nearly as much to learn as, say, an offensive guard. Once a great running back learns blocking schemes, you give him the ball and don't try to coach him too much.
"It does take a while for those offensive linemen to get a feel for what's going on."
TarHeelBlue: What type of athlete do you prefer at quarterback. A mobile guy, a big, stay-in-the-pocket guy, or what?
Coach Tranquill: "I don't get hung up on size, I don't get hung up on mobility, but I like to have it. With all the blitzing that's going on today, you've got to have a guy who has the ability to move. But, I don't think that's necessarily a trademark for success, because there's some guys who are not mobile who can stay in the pocket and throw the ball with accuracy to the right guy.
"I think you have to build what you do offensively based on the guy you have.
"I coached Bernie Kosar at Cleveland. He wasn't a very good athlete, but he lasted 12 years in the NFL. He had a great knowledge and feel for the game. He understood defenses and coverages, and he had great anticipation. He overcame physical limitations with that. I think there's a place for those kinds of guys.
"If you have a guy with great athletic ability who can't make the right judgements and decisions, you're not going to be very successful with him.
"You have to do what your quarterback can handle. I think we can tailor what we do to what we have. That's important not only for the quarterback position but for the whole squad."
TarHeelBlue: You've coached a lot of great quarterbacks, and they're all different. Are there any particular traits that they have in common?
Coach Tranquill: "I think the number one trait for a great quarterback is mental and physical toughness.
"When things don't go right, other than the coach, who gets blamed the most? The quarterback. You've got to be mentally tough, you've got to be able to handle that.
"You've got to be able to handle the pressure-cooker situations, when it's 3rd and 5 and you've got to get a first down with the clock winding down. He has to be willing to be the man.
"He's got to want to do it, and confident enough to know that he's going to get it done. That's the biggest part of being a quarterback, having that kind of grit.
"You always hear things like, 'this guy can't run, this guy can't throw, but he's a winner.' Then there's guys with great running and throwing ability, but they don't win. Why?
"Maybe the guy who's not as good physically has something deep down that lets him win. Maybe it's leadership ability, a 'let me have the ball when the game's on the line' mentality. That's what separates them.
"I think the quarterback can elevate everybody. If he's tough, has some ability, has leadership qualities and some degree of accuracy, he can get the job done.
"Toughness and leadership qualities are a high prerequisite for a great quarterback."
TarHeelBlue: You've coached in a lot of places. Which coaches have had the most influence on you?
Coach Tranquill: "I think you grab a little bit from everybody. I played at a little school in Ohio (Wittenberg), and my coach was a man named Bill Edwards. He was a big tough guy who liked to throw the ball. We were probably a little advanced in the passing game for that time.
"Dave Maurer was my position coach at Wittenberg. He and Edwards combined may have the best won-lost percentage of any two guys in the history of football. oth were small college coaches of the year, maybe twice apiece. Those guys had a great impact on me.
"I've been around guys like Woody Hayes. I coached the secondary at Ohio State. You don't need to say much about Woody. He was a great man.
"George Welsh has had success at Navy and Virginia, two places where nobody thought that you could win. He was totally different than those other three guys.
"Then, Don Nehlen at West Virginia was a great coach. I worked with him twice. Again, he's different than those other guys. There are different traits from each one of those guys that I have picked up.
"I've been fortunate to have been around some excellent coaches. I worked with Nick Saban, who's now at LSU, four times. He's done a terrific job wherever he's been.
"These guys were all good people first. I think that's the most important thing. I've been around some good people, and hopefully some of it has rubbed off on me."
TarHeelBlue: Do you count on the quarterback to be your leader on offense?
Coach Tranquill: "Yes. Everybody leads in different ways. Some guys never say anything and just exude leadership, then there's some guys who talk all the time and get it done. Then there's some guys who just know when it's the right time to say something.
"Leadership comes in all kinds of different packages and shapes and forms. ut, the most important thing is to get the rest of the guys to rally around him. No matter how they lead, if they can get the rest of the offense to rally around them and play a little bit better than they should be playing, that's what you want.
"I had a coach who used to say that if you have four or five really good players on offense, or defense for that matter, those guys pick the other guys up by their bootstraps. They make the guys around them play better, and I think that's true."
Part III: Monday, Jan. 29
