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Everyone is an expert
on football

ALL head coaches, even the most professional and suave among them, have felt at least a little bit of pressure from outside sources. For some, frustration may come in the form of radio-show callers who don't say any of the right things. For others, an unflattering article or two may send the blood pressure rising.

And then we hear legends and whispers about shadowy big boosters powerful enough to pull the strings from behind the scenes. That kind of meeting or phone call would be sure to induce stress.

Well, that's nothing.

Coaches who only have that kind of stuff to deal with should count themselves lucky.

That's minor compared to the kind of scrutiny new Hawaii defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville was under when he was a head coach in the pros.

Boosters? Writers? Callers? Well, how about this: One of the world's biggest Houston Oilers fans was a certain guy in Washington named George Bush.

Yes, that one. The president of the United States.

"He would call me up and ask me how we were going to do the next week," Glanville said.

Are you kidding me?

It happened all the time, Glanville said.

That brings a whole new meaning to "Call the Coach."

Now, it sounds like President Bush (the first one) was nothing but complimentary and upbeat. And Glanville certainly seems unscarred by the experience. They've come in contact a couple of times since and are friendly to this day.

But having the leader of the free world asking you about your blitz package on a regular basis had to have been a whole new level of pressure.

Glanville told the story of having the entire Oilers team in the meeting room, watching film.

And then the phone rang.

"You think they can't find you?" he said.

"Doug Smith, my nose tackle, picked up the phone to say hello and he had a speech impediment. He stuttered. And he got nervous, he couldn't tell us it was the president. The whole team was sitting there."

Or how about this: "We'd be walking up the tunnel after the game and the Secret Service would stop us," Glanville said. "And we'd have no idea; they'd go 'Come in this room right here.' And I'd go in the room and the president would be there."

Now that's pressure.

It kind of puts the morning drive-time calls in their place.

But if nothing else, this story should show us that none of this outside pressure is a personal thing.

After all, when Glanville left to coach the Falcons, President Bush started calling Jack Pardee.