As a graduate assistant, you’re really competing with the other GA’s on the staff for the attention of the head coach. In college football he is unquestionably the boss. I worked with the offense. I spliced tape. I almost never went home, and that’s no exaggeration. I had a little army cot in the office, and I slept there for a while. It was doable. They had showers and a steam room and toiletries—everything you’d need. I stayed in San Diego for two seasons. Not a bad place to be a single, aspiring coach.

No, no, let’s throw the ball and try to get out of bounds,” Fassel said. ” Now, Fassel generally gave me complete freedom as a play caller. Nonetheless, we called the pass play. Cardinals defender Justin Lucas intercepted Kerry Collins’s pass and returned it for a game-tying touchdown with four seconds left on the clock. The call was obviously a mistake. We had no business running a play like that so late in the half. God knows I’ve made my share of bad calls over the years. So I know one when I hear one.

I know,” he said. “Listen, before you tell me anything, I want to visit with you. I’m over at my house. I’ll send a driver over. ” “Sounds good,” I said. We sat in the library of Jerry’s house in Highland Park. It was just a chat. Not about being persuasive. Just assessing where we were. He didn’t make any commitment about my future if I chose to stay. He didn’t name some amount he would pay me. He did not say, “You’re going to be the next head coach” or anything like that. What he said was: “I do want you to know we think a lot of you.