Winston Moss on Fast Track to Head Coaching Job
December 2, 2008
The list of coaches who have influenced Winston Moss reads like a list from a Hall of Fame of some sort.
Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Art Shell, Jim Haslett and Dennis Erickson to name a few.
But ask Don Soldinger, who was Moss first football coach at Miamis Southridge High School, and hell say it was that schools janitor who most shaped Moss into the football player he was and now coach that he is today.
That school was like Camelot, Soldinger said. No graffiti. It was spotless, the bathrooms, the hallways. People would come from all over and say, Wow, its unbelievable. When I tell you it was Utopia, it was the one place in that community, which is a pretty rough neighborhood, where you felt good about walking to the building.
And now?
Its a mess, Soldinger said. Its a wreck.
The reason?
The schools janitor retired. That janitor was Norm Moss, Winstons father.
His dad was a champion in his own right, Soldinger said. He took a lot of pride in his work at that school, and Winston picked up on that.
Which is why it should come as no surprise to learn what some say is Winston Moss best attribute as a member of the Green Bay Packers coaching staff.
Attention to detail, Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said.
Perhaps more than anyone on Mike McCarthys staff, Moss appears to be on the track toward a head coaching job. In 2007, McCarthy gave Moss the title of assistant head coach to go along with his duties as linebackers coach.
Several have parlayed the assistant head coach designation into an NFL head coaching position. The most recent was Mike Singletary, who took over the San Francisco 49ers after Mike Nolan was fired in midseason. Last offseason, the Miami Dolphins hired Tony Sparano as their head coach after he had served as the Dallas Cowboys assistant head coach.
At age 42, Moss remains relatively young as far as the coaching business goes and has yet to interview for a head coaching job, but his time seemingly will come if the Packers continue to win.
Hes a very impressive guy, Sanders said, a man of high character and has the attributes that you look for in a guy that youd like to have running your program if youre an owner.
It was no accident that Moss got into coaching after his 11-year NFL playing career ended due to a neck injury during the 1997 season. He had been planning for life after football almost from the beginning of his playing career. Perhaps the only surprise was that Moss ended up in football at all. He never played any organized football before high school.
Norm wanted him to come out for football, Soldinger said. We had him on the JV team and he was maybe 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds. He just wasnt very strong and didnt look very athletic and ran like a 5.4 (40-yard dash).
Determined to play, Moss went to work in the weight room and eventually his body caught up to his determination. He grew to 6-foot-3 and became an all-state linebacker. He started as a freshman on the University of Miamis star-studded 1983 national championship team coached by Schnellenberger. He also played for Johnson at Miami. It was during his NFL playing career with Tampa Bay (1987-90), the Raiders (1991-94) and Seattle (1995-97) that he learned from the likes of Shell, Haslett and Erickson and became sold on the idea of coaching.
Back when I was with the Raiders, I had some opportunities to call some defenses in the game and had some success with it and fell in love with it, Moss said. When I got to Seattle, the first thing I told the coaches there they were from the University of Miami so I had a relationship with them already I asked them if this was my last stop and my (playing) days are going to be over with, I want to go into coaching. So I knew long before I stopped playing that I wanted to get into coaching. So when I had my career-ending injury, the opportunity came up as a quality control (assistant with Seattle in 1998).
It was short lived because Erickson and the staff were fired after the 1998 season. Moss spent the 1999 season out of football but when Haslett was hired as the New Orleans Saints coach in 2000, he hired Moss to coach linebackers. It was in New Orleans where he met McCarthy, who was hired as Hasletts offensive coordinator. Three days after McCarthy was hired as the Packers coach in 2006, he brought Moss on board.
Moss wont deny his desire to climb in the profession.
Im preparing right now to make sure that if that opportunity does come, Ill be ready for it, Moss said. I still have a desire a strong desire to call plays and be a coordinator. So I have that as a goal. I think theres a challenge there for me, and I want to be able to see that through. Whichever happens first, if the opportunities present themselves, Im (interested in) either one.
When Moss first arrived in Green Bay, he could be surly and difficult to deal with for reporters. He appeared to disdain interviews and offered little more than short, curt answers. But when reporters returned for training camp this past summer, they noticed a sudden change in Moss. He not only appeared more comfortable in front of the media but willingly answered questions with long and thoughtful answers.
Perhaps Moss realized that part of being a head coach includes engaging in meaningful dialogue with reporters, but he wouldnt say whether someone encouraged him to change his approach or he did it on his own.
You cant control every situation, whether its a positive or a negative, whether you disagree or agree, Moss said. Ive accepted it and just gone out there and answered the questions. I think youve got to be able to communicate and regardless of whether youre feeling bad or feeling good, whether youre in agreement or disagreement, youve got to be able to communicate to not only convey how youre feeling but also be able to understand the relationships or the dynamics between the media and the organization.
Yes, I do want to be a head coach and if I want to do it well, Im going to have to be able to communicate.