bosshogg
July 25th, 2006, 08:00 AM
http://scstate.blogspot.com/2006/07/bond-with-college-coach-keeps-carson.html
Bond with college coach keeps Carson going
Jeffries saw future Hall of Famer's potential early on
By ARON ANGEL
Giants.com
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
NEW YORK -- Former South Carolina State University coach Willie Jeffries can recall his first interaction with Harry Carson as the head of that school's football program.
"He was sitting on the steps when I got to the old gymnasium where our offices were," Jeffries said . "My first day on the job. Harry was sitting on the steps waiting for me and he said he was ready to stay, but he told me the guys down in the weight room weren't lifting weights right. That was what he told me our first meeting when I walked in around 8:30 one morning. He said, 'Coach, they're not serious down there.'"
That was Jeffries' first glimpse into what has become Carson's legendary work ethic. As a 13-year member of the Giants, Carson was voted team captain due in part to the example he set on the practice field.
On Aug. 5, Carson, a nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has enjoyed a celebrated career that included a Super Bowl victory in 1986 as well as the opportunity to play with the likes of Lawrence Taylor, George Martin, Brad Van Pelt, Jim Burt, Phil Simms, Brian Kelley, Gary Reasons, Curtis McGriff, Maurice Carthon, Pepper Johnson, Sean Landeta, Leonard Marshall, Phil McConkey and Bart Oates, all of whom showed up last week at Gallagher's Steak House in Manhattan for a press conference organized by the Giants to honor Carson.
Many of Carson's old coaches were present as well. Former Giants coaches Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Belicheck all took time out of their schedules to come congratulate Carson on what many believe is a long overdue accolade.
Also in attendance was Jeffries, who watched as Carson morphed from a raw and undeveloped defensive lineman in college into the unstoppable linebacker that he became in the NFL.
Jeffries said Carson was on his radar, even before his college days at SCSU. Jeffries was an assistant coach at North Carolina A&T, when Carson, a full-time defensive lineman and part-time fullback in high school, came looking in search of a football scholarship. Jeffries watched some tape of Carson and liked him immediately.
"I liked him the day he came there because I had watched him on film," Jeffries said. "Any coach looking at that guy, you sign him. He could play some place. He didn't have to play as a lineman and he didn't have to be a fullback. He had a great athletic ability, as we all know now."
Jeffries wanted to sign him, as well as offer him a full scholarship. But a few weeks later Carson received a letter from Aggies' head coach Hornsby Howell, saying that the program didn't have any more scholarship money to offer him.
Carson enrolled at SCSU, and endured a freshman season in which the Bulldogs won only one game. In the meantime, Jeffries went on to coach for a season and a half at the University of Pittsburgh, where his success eventually earned him the job as head coach of SCSU.
This would begin Jefries' longstanding relationship with Carson, first as his coach, then as his mentor, and still to this day as his friend.
"I'm sure happy that (North Carolina A&T) didn't have any (scholarship money) because he would have been playing against us in the same conference," Jeffries said of Carson.
Like Jeffries, Carson also acknowledged the impact that their relationship had on his personality and his football career.
"I stand here today because South Carolina State, and in particular coach Jeffries, whipped me into being a leader, whipped me into being a good player on the college level," Carson said. "He became basically my father figure, my mentor. He was the one that delivered the news to me that my father had passed away. We've always maintained a very close relationship. Any time I have any important decisions to make I try to run it by Coach Jeffries because I trust his wisdom."
It was that same trust that allowed Jeffries to move Carson from defensive end to nose tackle his senior year.
"When (Jeffries) asked me to make the switch from defensive end to nose tackle my senior year, I was like, (I) don't want to play nose tackle," Carson said. "But for the betterment of the team I was willing to make that adjustment and as it turns out it was really a blessing to have been able to play the nose tackle position as a senior."
That season, his first ever at nose tackle, Carson racked up 114 solo tackles and 30 sacks. That was enough to attract the attention of a number of NFL coaches, including Schottenheimer, then the Giants linebackers coach, who believed Carson would make a good middle linebacker in the NFL.
With two consecutive fourth-round selections that year, the Giants took Carson with the 105th overall pick in the 1976 NFL Draft. Schottenheimer was so eager to see his new project in action he worked one-on-one with Carson prior to training camp to help him learn his new position.
"I want to thank Marty because Marty could have drafted anyone," Carson said. "He had to pick in the fourth round -- the Giants had two fourth round picks and could have drafted anyone -- but he chose me as a player who had never played the position of linebacker. And he brought me to camp a month early to teach me how to play middle linebacker.
"Everything I tried to do, that he tried to get me do, I did ass backwards, but I think I got the same or better results and he just sort of threw his hands up and just allowed me to go out and play. Marty is an excellent teacher, an excellent coach. And I owe him so much."
Jeffries can't take the credit for Carson's transition to middle linebacker, but he did have the foresight to move him to the middle of the defensive line, a switch that allowed Schottenheimer to see Carson's ultimate potential.
"Where I put him his senior year, all Schottenheimer had to do was stand him up, and get him two yards off the ball," Jeffries said. "So that really was a blessing in disguise."
As was their unforeseen reunion at SCSU. Neither one could have known then the significance their relationship would have on each other.
"I think I was always close to him and guided him properly," Jeffries said. "I can't take any credit for the other part, but I think just as a friend and a coach, as he told you, I was real tough on him. I think that helped Harry to know that what he was doing was right. Because he always did the right thing. It's great when your best player is your best person."
Bond with college coach keeps Carson going
Jeffries saw future Hall of Famer's potential early on
By ARON ANGEL
Giants.com
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
NEW YORK -- Former South Carolina State University coach Willie Jeffries can recall his first interaction with Harry Carson as the head of that school's football program.
"He was sitting on the steps when I got to the old gymnasium where our offices were," Jeffries said . "My first day on the job. Harry was sitting on the steps waiting for me and he said he was ready to stay, but he told me the guys down in the weight room weren't lifting weights right. That was what he told me our first meeting when I walked in around 8:30 one morning. He said, 'Coach, they're not serious down there.'"
That was Jeffries' first glimpse into what has become Carson's legendary work ethic. As a 13-year member of the Giants, Carson was voted team captain due in part to the example he set on the practice field.
On Aug. 5, Carson, a nine-time Pro Bowl linebacker, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has enjoyed a celebrated career that included a Super Bowl victory in 1986 as well as the opportunity to play with the likes of Lawrence Taylor, George Martin, Brad Van Pelt, Jim Burt, Phil Simms, Brian Kelley, Gary Reasons, Curtis McGriff, Maurice Carthon, Pepper Johnson, Sean Landeta, Leonard Marshall, Phil McConkey and Bart Oates, all of whom showed up last week at Gallagher's Steak House in Manhattan for a press conference organized by the Giants to honor Carson.
Many of Carson's old coaches were present as well. Former Giants coaches Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Belicheck all took time out of their schedules to come congratulate Carson on what many believe is a long overdue accolade.
Also in attendance was Jeffries, who watched as Carson morphed from a raw and undeveloped defensive lineman in college into the unstoppable linebacker that he became in the NFL.
Jeffries said Carson was on his radar, even before his college days at SCSU. Jeffries was an assistant coach at North Carolina A&T, when Carson, a full-time defensive lineman and part-time fullback in high school, came looking in search of a football scholarship. Jeffries watched some tape of Carson and liked him immediately.
"I liked him the day he came there because I had watched him on film," Jeffries said. "Any coach looking at that guy, you sign him. He could play some place. He didn't have to play as a lineman and he didn't have to be a fullback. He had a great athletic ability, as we all know now."
Jeffries wanted to sign him, as well as offer him a full scholarship. But a few weeks later Carson received a letter from Aggies' head coach Hornsby Howell, saying that the program didn't have any more scholarship money to offer him.
Carson enrolled at SCSU, and endured a freshman season in which the Bulldogs won only one game. In the meantime, Jeffries went on to coach for a season and a half at the University of Pittsburgh, where his success eventually earned him the job as head coach of SCSU.
This would begin Jefries' longstanding relationship with Carson, first as his coach, then as his mentor, and still to this day as his friend.
"I'm sure happy that (North Carolina A&T) didn't have any (scholarship money) because he would have been playing against us in the same conference," Jeffries said of Carson.
Like Jeffries, Carson also acknowledged the impact that their relationship had on his personality and his football career.
"I stand here today because South Carolina State, and in particular coach Jeffries, whipped me into being a leader, whipped me into being a good player on the college level," Carson said. "He became basically my father figure, my mentor. He was the one that delivered the news to me that my father had passed away. We've always maintained a very close relationship. Any time I have any important decisions to make I try to run it by Coach Jeffries because I trust his wisdom."
It was that same trust that allowed Jeffries to move Carson from defensive end to nose tackle his senior year.
"When (Jeffries) asked me to make the switch from defensive end to nose tackle my senior year, I was like, (I) don't want to play nose tackle," Carson said. "But for the betterment of the team I was willing to make that adjustment and as it turns out it was really a blessing to have been able to play the nose tackle position as a senior."
That season, his first ever at nose tackle, Carson racked up 114 solo tackles and 30 sacks. That was enough to attract the attention of a number of NFL coaches, including Schottenheimer, then the Giants linebackers coach, who believed Carson would make a good middle linebacker in the NFL.
With two consecutive fourth-round selections that year, the Giants took Carson with the 105th overall pick in the 1976 NFL Draft. Schottenheimer was so eager to see his new project in action he worked one-on-one with Carson prior to training camp to help him learn his new position.
"I want to thank Marty because Marty could have drafted anyone," Carson said. "He had to pick in the fourth round -- the Giants had two fourth round picks and could have drafted anyone -- but he chose me as a player who had never played the position of linebacker. And he brought me to camp a month early to teach me how to play middle linebacker.
"Everything I tried to do, that he tried to get me do, I did ass backwards, but I think I got the same or better results and he just sort of threw his hands up and just allowed me to go out and play. Marty is an excellent teacher, an excellent coach. And I owe him so much."
Jeffries can't take the credit for Carson's transition to middle linebacker, but he did have the foresight to move him to the middle of the defensive line, a switch that allowed Schottenheimer to see Carson's ultimate potential.
"Where I put him his senior year, all Schottenheimer had to do was stand him up, and get him two yards off the ball," Jeffries said. "So that really was a blessing in disguise."
As was their unforeseen reunion at SCSU. Neither one could have known then the significance their relationship would have on each other.
"I think I was always close to him and guided him properly," Jeffries said. "I can't take any credit for the other part, but I think just as a friend and a coach, as he told you, I was real tough on him. I think that helped Harry to know that what he was doing was right. Because he always did the right thing. It's great when your best player is your best person."