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8
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Check Your Ego at the Door

“If you take yourself too seriously, no one else will.”

—FRANK LAMONTE

 

 

It was late February 1983, and the three o’clock bell rung. “School’s out,” I said half aloud. “Off with my teacher’s hat and on with my sports agent’s hat.” Unlike some of the teachers who required a change of wardrobe to go off to their second job, I wore the same attire. The guys did everything from house painting to carpentry to make a few needed extra dollars. One teacher was an auto mechanic, another was a security guard, and so on. Some of the women sold Mary Kay and Amway products after school. While some of the teachers dressed casually, I wore a suit or sports jacket, and always with a tie. On this particular day, I was wearing a dark blue suit.

Minutes after the school day ended, I was driving down Highway 101 to the Santa Clara Marriott Hotel. At 4:00, I would be meeting with three of the Toronto Blue Jays’ top executives. If the negotiations went well, by the end of the day I would have a signed multimillion-dollar contract for my client, Dave Stieb, the team’s ace pitcher. Paul Beeston, vice president; Pat Gillick, general manager; and Wayne Morgan, international director of scouting would be on the other side of the table. The Blue Jays wanted me to come to Toronto, but I requested having the meeting locally because my client, Dave Stieb, lived in Morgan Hill, about 20 minutes south of the Marriott.

“This would be convenient for Dave,” I told Beeston’s secretary, “and like you mentioned, Wayne Morgan also lives in Morgan Hill. It works for me too because I teach high school, making it difficult for me to get away during the school year. If the meeting is in Santa Clara, I’ll come down immediately after my last class and be there no later than 4:00. Also, there are daily connecting flights between Toronto and San Jose.”

The next day she called back to tell me that Mr. Beeston and Mr. Gillick were booked on a flight from Toronto that arrived in San Jose at 2:00 P.M. “They’re staying at the Santa Clara Marriott,” she added, “and look forward to seeing you at 4:00 P.M.”

“I know the hotel,” I replied. “It’s the nicest in the area. Thank you for arranging the meeting and have a nice day.”

Admittedly, thinking ahead to the negotiations, I had been somewhat apprehensive throughout my classes that day. I shouldn’t have been because I represented the Blue Jays’ number one pitcher and a favorite with the fans. My concern, however, focused on the poor relationship between Stieb and the team’s management, yet neither side was to blame. Dave’s previous representation had gotten him into a war with the organization that had been going on ever since his rookie year in 1979. His agent made continual threats to sign him with another team when he became a free agent. That’s what caused the bad blood. Stieb was the franchise’s superstar, and the Blue Jays’ first starting pitcher with a winning record since they became an expansion team. With a 17-14 record and a 3.25 earned run average in 1982, Dave was named the American League Pitcher of the Year by the Sporting News. In 1979, he had signed with the Blue Jays as an outfielder, but later became an All-Star pitcher, and at age 24, he was in the prime of his career.

On my drive to Santa Clara, I kept thinking about the one positive thing I had going for me. I had something the other side wanted. This put me in the driver’s seat. But then I knew that I’d be meeting with three of the Blue Jays’ top executives, who had fought bitterly with Dave’s former representation. The previous year Dave had lost his arbitration case and earned $250,000 for the 1982 season. So from past experience, sitting down to negotiate a Stieb contract was not their favorite pastime. The Toronto media had devoted major coverage to the longtime dispute between the franchise and Stieb; hence the pressure was on these men to come home with a signed contract.

Now along comes a new agent representing Stieb—a history teacher who requested the meeting to start in the late afternoon to coordinate it with his classes. This had to have them thinking that I was some local yokel who was clueless on negotiating a major league baseball contract. The last thing they needed was to sit down with a “loose cannon.” I kept speculating on what they would be thinking. “Who knows what could happen when you negotiate with an amateur,” they must have thought. Of course, I was only anticipating what was going on in their minds because, had our roles been reversed, that’s exactly what I would have thought.

From the lobby of the hotel, I called Beeston’s room to let him know I was downstairs. “We’ll be right down,” he said.

Immediately I picked them out from the other guests in the lobby. They looked like a team of distinguished lawyers, each dressed in a dark suit, each carrying a briefcase. After a friendly introduction, Beeston said, “We made arrangements with the hotel manager to use a room off the lobby. It’s right over there.” The four of us walked toward a hidden alcove in the back, a private area with an open-arch entrance but without door.

There was the usual friendly conversation about how the rain that day was out of character for California weather, but it still beat being in Toronto, Canada, in February. They asked me how I happened to be a high school teacher and a sports agent. I gave them the usual spiel about my career, knowing they were sizing me up, trying to figure out where I was coming from. I knew the routine and I obliged them. Back then, I worked it to my advantage when the other side didn’t know me from Adam. I always figured I had an edge because I had done my homework and knew a lot about them. Not wanting to tip my hand, I played the role of a small-town high school history teacher. It was my version of Columbo, the disheveled detective that actor Peter Falk played in the popular 1970s television series by the same name. And like Columbo, on this particular day, I had a raincoat with me to toss over my shoulder.

“Okay, let’s talk business,” Beeston said, “and let’s see what we can do so both sides can walk out of here happy.”

“That’s right,” added Pat Gillick. “It is important to the Blue Jays organization that we do the right thing for all involved. It’s counterproductive to have a ballplayer with a chip on his shoulder and has contempt for management.”

“I couldn’t agree more, gentlemen,” I replied. “Now I think we should be looking at this as a team effort. We are not adversaries. We want to do what’s fair for everyone. In the long run, it will result in a win-win for everyone. As I see it, we’re here today to establish what both sides can agree is a fair market value for the services of my client.”

“Well put,” Beeston said.

For the next four hours, we talked and talked. Now and then, a waiter from the hotel’s coffee shop stopped in to refresh the coffee. Although it was a friendly meeting, the negotiations were going nowhere. This is when Paul Beeston said to me, “There are three of us, Bob, and only one of you. That’s unfair because it is difficult for us to talk in front of you about some of the questions you’re asking. Here, however, we can’t really say anything among ourselves because it wouldn’t be polite to ask you to step outside.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “because the way I see it, one of two things has to happen. Either the three of you will go out of this room to talk to each other, or I can go out of the room and talk to myself.”

With that, they cracked up. If there was ever a turning point in negotiations, this was definitely it. My remark broke the ice and led to a breakthrough in the negotiations.

“And we thought there may be a problem negotiating with a high school teacher,” Gillick remarked with a grin.

“I like this guy,” chuckled Beeston.

In all business deals, it always helps to sell yourself to the other party. They liked me and I liked them. Once rapport is established, reasonable people will generally find a way to compromise on the terms of a contract so both parties can walk away satisfied. Stieb’s previous agent was arrogant and hoity-toity; Beeston, Gillick, and Morgan were salt-of-the-earth guys. I felt comfortable with who I was—a high school history teacher. I didn’t pretend to be some hotshot agent who wanted to impress everyone with how important and smart he was. And I wasn’t there to make unreasonable demands. I was there because I had a job that required me to negotiate the best possible contract for my client. In short, there was a mutual respect, and each side felt comfortable with the other side.

By 10:00, we had agreed to all the terms and they took out a 20-page boilerplate major league contract that I had reviewed earlier in the week. We filled in the blank spots pertaining to salary, time periods, incentives, and other terms that were written by hand in an addendum. I called Stieb and said, “Congratulations, Dave, you’ve got yourself a six-year, $6 million contract with the Blue Jays. Come on down so you can sign the papers and we’ll celebrate.”

Meanwhile, Morgan was able to get Alexander’s, the hotel’s elegant restaurant that closed at 10:00 to serve dinner to us. Dave had eaten hours before, but he did join us in making a toast over a glass of champagne. After the toast, Gillick said, “I’ll tell you one thing; I never want to negotiate with a history teacher again!”

Beeston laughed and said, “You know, we accomplished more in four hours with you, Bob, than we did in four years with Dave’s previous representation.”

The next morning we all flew to Toronto to attend a major media conference at the Sheraton Hotel where the Blue Jays announced the signing of Dave Stieb. It was the biggest media event that the Blue Jays ever had. That evening and the following day, it was all over the news that the fight between Stieb and the franchise was officially over. The media hailed the signing as “the Treaty of Toronto,” and Dave Stieb became known as the Six-Million-Dollar Man.

One reporter wrote, “Bob LaMonte was the straw that stirred the drink.” I always liked that line because it reminds me of who I am. My client is the star—he’s the one in the limelight, not me. As long as I never forget that I am only the stirring straw, my ego will never get the best of me.

 

 

*  *  *

 

 

IN 1982, WHEN MIKE HOLMGREN coached quarterbacks at Brigham Young University, a young ex–Cougars lineman was one of his assistants. That assistant was Andy Reid, a graduate school student working on a master’s degree. “We hit it off immediately,” Holmgren reminisces. “I liked Andy right away. We thought so much alike—and, in fact, we still do. I told him, ‘If I ever get a head coaching job, I want you to join my staff.’ ”

The fact that Holmgren and Reid took to each other like two peas in a pod is no mystery. Both are salt-of-the-earth guys who don’t allow their egos to get in their way. They were a natural fit.

Holmgren was true to his word. Once in Green Bay, one of the first assistant coaches he hired was Andy Reid. Reid’s title was: Assistant Tight Ends/Assistant Offensive Line Coach. Four years later, he was named the quarterbacks coach, a job he held for two years before being hired as head coach by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Ever since we taught high school history and coached back in the mid-1970s, Mike and I have remained good friends. In fact, when he joined the ’49ers, I was there behind the scenes, advising him on the negotiation of his contract. In those days, coordinators didn’t have agents; however, as his friend I worked as his unofficial agent.

When the Packers asked him to come in for an interview in 1992, Mike asked me to represent him. As his agent, I didn’t only negotiate his contract, I debriefed him after each interview because if he didn’t make a strong first impression, there’d be no contract to negotiate. The interview presentation I developed for Mike has since been continually refined and used for my other clients that were recruited for head coaching positions. I had the good fortune to have Mike Holmgren as my first head coach client because there was so much demand for his services. Representing him was what you’d call a “sure thing.” Right from the beginning I knew we’d have a successful conclusion to the interviewing process.

When Holmgren was named head coach at the Packers, I decided to retire from teaching and become a full-time sports agent at the end of the 1992–93 school year. My decision was based on several factors. First, I would have completed 25 years of teaching. Second, our son Brian would graduate high school, making Lynn and me empty-nesters. Third, with Holmgren as my first head coach client, I decided to specialize in representing coaches. By this time, NFL teams had salary caps for the players, but not for coaches. With the kids out of the house, Lynn and I moved to the Reno-Tahoe area in Nevada and have conducted our business from there ever since.

To avoid any potential conflict of interest, Lynn and I stopped representing NFL players and concentrated on coaches and general managers. Little did I know that Holmgren would recruit and develop so many future NFL head coaches during the seven-year period he coached the Packers. Altogether seven of his assistants went on to become head coaches over the next decade. Nobody else in the history of the NFL had ever spun off so many head coaches in such a short period of time.

Marty Mornhinweg is another head coach who has a long history with Holmgren. When Holmgren was an assistant coach at Oak Grove High School in San Jose, California, Marty was the team’s all-state quarterback. As a four-year starter at the University of Montana, Marty established 15 passing records. While quarterbacking the 1987 Arena Football League champion Denver Dynamites, a knee injury ended Marty’s playing career. Marty worked under Holmgren in Green Bay for two years, 1995–96, as an assistant coach before spending three years as an offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach with the ’49ers. In 2001, at age 38, Mornhinweg was named head coach of the Detroit Lions. After two losing seasons in Detroit, he lost his job and was hired by Andy Reid as a senior assistant head coach with the Eagles.

Gruden, Reid, Sherman, and Mornhinweg came to me because I represented Mike Holmgren. I met them when they coached under Mike. They knew Holmgren was satisfied with my work and he recommended me. “Lynn and Bob will do a lot more than simply negotiate a contract for you,” Mike told them. “They have the complete package starting with interviewing for a head coach’s job to financial advice.”

I have also represented three other NFL head coaches who were not Holmgren “spin-offs.” Past clients include Vince Tobin, who was head coach for the Arizona Cardinals from 1996 to 2000; he was recommended by a mutual friend. Another referral came when Bill Devaney, the assistant general manager of the San Diego Chargers told John Fox to call me. Bill thought we’d be good together. It was as simple as that. And in 2003, Jim Mora called to ask me to represent him. He said his decision to choose me was based on my reputation. Being a sports agent is like any business—do a good job and your reputation generates more business.

 

 

 

PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL IN THE UNITED States is a small industry in which everyone either knows everyone else or knows somebody who knows someone an outsider wants to meet. With the number of players and coaches who move from one franchise to another each year, everyone in the business has a contact with all 32 teams in the League. With all the television coverage and filming of games, there are no big secrets in the League. There are ways to find out what your competition is doing and figure out how to play them. So when players and coaches jump teams, there’s not a lot of worry about them giving away confidential information that will put your team at a serious competitive disadvantage. For this reason, head coaches don’t lose a lot of sleep over a coach “defecting to the enemy.”

Does this mean that coaches don’t mind having a top assistant coach leave to join another team? Of course they mind. Nobody likes to lose a good key employee. And in particular, highly competitive NFL head coaches don’t. It boils down to this: When you have somebody who is outstanding at his job, it’s hard to replace him. And when you lose somebody who jells with the people in your close-knit organization, he’s going to be missed.

Holmgren recalls years back when other people gave him a chance and encouraged him in the beginning stages of his career. “I’d be the ultimate hypocrite,” he explains, “if I didn’t do the same thing. Early on I let my guys know that. I say, ‘I would hate to lose you, and I hope you stay. We need you around here. But if you feel an opportunity of a lifetime is within your grasp, I will do everything I can to help you.’ ”

Mike and I have had many conversations on this subject. He specifically told me about how talented he believed Andy Reid, Jon Gruden, and Mike Sherman were. “These guys are special,” he’d tell me again and again. “They will be able to go on to the next level. No question about it. They’re very valuable to me, and I’m going to hate to lose any one of them.”

“I’m telling you this as your friend,” I’d reply, “you’re absolutely right about each of them. They will become head coaches in the National Football League. And when that time comes, I know damn well you’re not going to be a happy camper.”

“I know that, Bob. And they’re so good, they won’t make any stops along the way—you’re not going to see them taking a head coach’s job in college even though none of them has ever had head coach experience. They will go straight through the pipeline and be successful head coaches. I know these guys—they’ve got the right stuff.”

They also had Mike Holmgren, a wonderful mentor. He didn’t teach them classroom theory about leadership. He taught them by example. He was a perfect role model. Most important, Holmgren didn’t possess the kind of ego that would keep them in check. I have observed that insecure individuals have big egos; consequently, they resist having talented people around them, who, in turn, might outshine them. Likewise, it’s their insecurities that induce them to hold people back from advancing. They don’t have the self-confidence to believe they could make it own their own.

As an outstanding leader, Mike Holmgren knows how to delegate to his assistants. Again, he is secure with himself, so he gives them lots of room to excel. He gives them plenty of authority and he depends on their performance to produce winning football teams. Thus, his coaches play crucial roles in the overall success of the organization. Each is an important cog in the wheel. Certainly, like any successful leader, he doesn’t like to break up a winning combination. Yet, he is very magnanimous when it comes to letting members of his coaching staff move on to another team. “You can’t stop a good man from an opportunity,” he has said many times. This doesn’t mean that Mike has always been happy with me on certain occasions when I represented one of his assistants for a head coach position. It hurts him to let a top positional coach or a coordinator go. Yet Mike is a big enough man to understand that had he been in their shoes, he would have done the same thing when the right opportunity presented itself.

Mike is living proof for the coaches who have worked under him and others in the League that a quarterback coach or a coordinator can advance to a head coach position. He dispelled the notion that previous head coaching experience is mandatory to success at the top job. Today, my job is considerably easier when I talk to franchise owners about whether one of my coordinators is head coach material—and at the time of this writing, I represent 12 NFL coordinators. When someone comments on how this lack of experience might disqualify a client as head coach material, I point out: “Yeah, I heard the same doubts expressed about Gruden, Reid, and Sherman, and you’re right—none of them had been a head coach at any level. Nor for that matter was Mike Holmgren. But you are either going to hire him now or someone else will hire him later.” This is exactly what I told the Carolina Panthers right before they made an offer to John Fox. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Fox took over a team with a 1-15 record, and two years later, the Panthers went to the Super Bowl.

 

 

 

ON SATURDAY NIGHT, JANUARY 19, 2001, the Raiders were playing New England in Foxboro Stadium, giving the Patriots a home team advantage in a playoff game that would determine which team would face the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game the following weekend. The real home team advantage was not the stadium packed with biased Patriots fans; it was the weather. The game was played in a blinding snowstorm that worked against the visiting team’s players from California, not acclimated to horrific northeastern winter weather. Aired on CBS, the game had a 17.4 rating, the network’s highest Saturday prime-time rating in seven years. An audience of 28.4 million television viewers had witnessed the New England Patriots eat away at a 13-3 lead going into the final quarter, and with seconds remaining on the game clock, a Patriots’ touchdown made the score 13-10 in favor of the Raiders.

Then in one of the most controversial plays in recent history of professional football, Patriot quarterback Tom Brady faded back to pass and was stripped of the ball. The Raiders recovered. The referee had ruled a fumble, and it appeared as though the Raiders were on their way to the AFC championship game. With no time-outs, the Patriots’ season seemed to have ended. But wait, an instant replay ruled it an incomplete pass and the Patriots still had a faint chance to kick a field goal and put the game into overtime. Millions of Americans who viewed the play and the replays on television believed that Brady had fumbled. However, referee Walt Coleman applied the “tuck rule,” meaning that Brady had not completed his throwing motion and had not tucked the ball away with the intention of running. With 27 seconds remaining on the clock, Patriot kicker Adam Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal that barely cleared the goalpost, sending the game into overtime. On the Patriots’ first possession in the overtime, Vinatieri kicked a 23-yard field goal to win the game.

Most people who witnessed what had originally been called a fumble were unconvinced that the replay revealed an incomplete pass. Mike Holmgren put it quite simply: “If 100 out of 100 guys in a sports bar say it’s a fumble, it’s a fumble.”

After the game, Jon Gruden was interviewed on network television. The then 37-year-old coach had no apologies for the loss. Instead he humbly said, “In life you usually get what you deserve.” He never blamed the referee for what most viewers thought was a terrible call that literally snatched a victory away from the Raiders and abruptly ended their season, thus killing their dreams for a Super Bowl victory. Interestingly, prior to hiring Jon, the Raiders had the worst reputation in the League for shouting at the referees for bad calls. That’s not Jon’s style. At the time of the game, it was the biggest event of his lifetime, and he never blamed anyone, not once.

Later, Jon and I discussed what he had said on national television. We concurred that many things can happen in a close game to determine the outcome. A ref misses a face mask violation or a personal foul. Or he does see one and your offensive unit has a big play called back, plus a 15-yard penalty. The ball takes a bad bounce. The ref places the ball down on the grass an inch or so short of a first down. There are all kinds of things that can go against you. Jon and I agreed that to be a big-time winner in the NFL, your team has to be so good that even a bad break doesn’t determine the outcome of the game. In other words, winning football teams must expect some bad breaks and still win.

Two years later, I was with Jon when Tampa Bay destroyed the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego on January 26, 2003. This time, at age 39, he had won the biggest prize in the entire world of sports—the Super Bowl, viewed by 138 million Americans and an estimated one billion people in 180 other countries around the world. And what does he say this time? He complimented his players, their former head coach, Tony Dungy, and his former team, the Oakland Raiders. Most interesting was what he didn’t say, which was, “In life you usually get what you deserve.” He’s a class act.

 

 

 

IMAGINE BEING THE HEAD COACH of a team of 20-something-year-old players making millions of dollars and you are the one who commands them to do grueling, fatiguing exercises for hours at a time. Not only do you command them, you insist that they jump on it! You order them: “Run. Now sprint.” “Okay, do it again.” “Jump when I tell you to jump.” Remember, they don’t want to do it. In summer training camp when the temperatures hit 90 to 100 degrees, who would? No boss in corporate America demands subordinates to do anything even close to this—and particularly not seven-figure employees, some making several times the boss’s salary! Nobody in any other business deals with so many individuals with such enormous egos and matching paychecks. Even when Jack Welch was CEO of General Electric, he didn’t have to do that. It is doubtful that he could have done it.

Do you see where I am going with this? There are a lot of egos that must be controlled, and if not handled properly, there are bound to be major clashes between personalities. I’m talking about the kind of clashes that result in conflict. Conflict that devastates morale and destroys team unity! So far, I have only covered the egos of players and coaches and the potential clashes between them. There are also the Titanic-sized egos of the team owners. Remember now, these are extremely wealthy individuals, and they, too, have big egos. It takes a certain kind of super-rich person to want to own a professional sports team, most likely somebody who craves to be in the spotlight. Their egos haven’t been sufficiently satisfied by the accumulation of vast wealth. An NFL franchise, however, is just the ticket for an ego trip of a lifetime.

This is an unusual business. In other fields, the top guy—the boss—makes the most money. In the NFL, the head coach is the boss and he has young players in their early 20s who make a lot more than his coaches and even he. In today’s society, people are often judged by their paycheck. It’s the job of the head coach to make sure his highest-paid players respect their lesser-paid teammates and coaches. For instance, Mike Sherman has a $100 million player, Brett Favre on his team. Favre is quick to credit his teammates for his success. He constantly praises the Packers’ offensive line and receivers for the team’s success. Favre, a true team leader, is humble and serves as an excellent role model for his teammates. Sherman can count his blessings that his marquee player is an individual of high character as well as a gifted athlete. Favre has never flaunted his paycheck in the faces of his teammates. To him, it’s a nonissue.

“I make it very clear to the players at the beginning of each season,” explains Sherman, “that the best players are not always the best-paid players. I point out that there are discrepancies, and after I’ve talked to them, nobody goes around saying, ‘I make more than you,’ or ‘I’m more valuable than you.’ ”

Like Brett Favre, there are other superstars in the NFL who have remained humble and unspoiled by their fame and wealth. Not only has this made them better team players and more valuable to the franchise, it enhances their longevity in the game. That’s because they remain loyal to their strong work ethic that helped make them superstars. The best example I know of such a player is Jerry Rice, who holds the NFL record for the most touchdown catches. Rice has also had 11 successive 1,000-yard seasons, and has gone to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years. In 1995, Rice had a career-high 122 receptions, scored 17 touchdowns, and gained 1,848 yards.

While visiting Mike Holmgren when he was with the ’49ers, I watched Jerry Rice at a practice during summer camp. The temperature was 106 degrees and many of the players were having trouble making it back to the huddle after each play. And there was Jerry Rice, who caught a five-yard pass thrown from the one-yard line and he sprinted 95 yards to the end zone. During the workout, all other receivers stopped running after they caught the ball. I was told that during practice sessions Rice runs every ball he catches to the end zone. He’s still doing it. This is what makes him football’s all-time greatest receiver. No matter that he’s already a legend, he hustles today at age 42 with the same vigor he did as a rookie just breaking into the League. Rice refuses to let his success go to his head. He continues to apply the same strong work ethic that made him a superstar. That’s Jerry Rice!

Like Favre and Rice, Mike Sherman hasn’t allowed his ego to tarnish his success; he continues to do the very things he did to become a head coach. Mike is the consummate overachiever. He will keep working at whatever he’s doing until he gets it right. For example, if there were 250 eligible players for the NFL draft, he personally would watch film on every single one of them. Sherman is the head coach now—he plans on staying there by being as conscientious today as he has always been.

Mike Sherman is not a man to bask in his own self-importance. Even as an NFL head coach, he feels uncomfortable riding in a limousine, so much so that he tries to avoid them whenever possible. Although he works long hours, he stops at the dry cleaners and the grocery store on his way home to save his wife Karen from having to make an unnecessary trip. I chuckle when I think about him telling me how he splurged during his first year as head coach. “For the first time in my life, Bob,” he said, “I called information and then, for an extra 25 cents, had the operator connect me.” “Yeah, live it up,” I kidded him. Success can destroy some people. Not guys like Mike Sherman.

 

 

 

AFTER BECOMING HEAD COACH OF the Carolina Panthers, one of the first assistant coaches John Fox hired was Jack Del Rio. Fox gambled with Del Rio when he gave him the job of defensive coordinator prior to the start of the 2002 season. It was only Del Rio’s sixth season as an NFL assistant coach. He had spent the previous three years as linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Del Rio was only 39 years old at the time Fox hired him. He was an 11-year veteran linebacker, beginning his professional career in 1985 as a third-round draft choice picked by the New Orleans Saints. The former Southern California All-American player also played for Kansas City, Dallas, and Minnesota.

The Panthers defensive unit was sensational with Del Rio at the helm. By the end of the 2002 season, it ranked second in the League after a dismal 31st spot in 2001. Much of the success that John Fox enjoyed in his debut year as a head coach has been credited to the Panthers’ strong defensive unit. In his first year as a defensive coordinator, Del Rio became a rising star in NFL coaching circles. He was also a hot prospect for a head coach position. On January 17, 2003, nine days before the Super Bowl, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that Jack Del Rio had been selected as their new head coach, the second in the history of the franchise. At age 40, he was the second youngest head coach in the NFL, just months younger than Jon Gruden.

With Del Rio as Baltimore’s linebackers coach from 1999 to 2001, the Ravens finished second in total defense for three consecutive seasons and won the Super Bowl in 2000 when its defense set the NFL 16-game record by allowing only 165 points. “I wanted Jack to be my defensive coordinator, and a lot of teams were after him,” says John Fox. “I explained to him, ‘You will get an opportunity to be a head coach if you come here. I’ll promote it, and I will help you.’ I didn’t think it would happen a year later like it did.

“It was the first time in the history of this organization that an assistant coach had become a head coach. Although everyone around here was disappointed to see him go, I like to put a positive spin on things. As I told Mr. Richardson, ‘He’s already gone, so we have to look at it as a good thing.’

“ ‘A good thing?’ he questioned.

“ ‘Yes. This is the way we have to treat it. A good thing.’

“ ‘How’s that?’

“ ‘It’s an honor, that’s how. It’s really quite complimentary,’ I replied. ‘Look at Mike Holmgren and the mileage he’s received for having so many of his assistants move on to a head coach position. The way I see it, what we do and what every organization tries to do is locate and develop the best human talent available. It’s a difficult job, but not difficult to figure out. This is true in all businesses as well as ours, and I’m not just talking about players. I’m talking about assistant coaches, trainers, everybody. At the end of the day, when you get the best talent available in the market, you will have the opportunity to be more successful than the others. When we’re viewed as an organization that helps its people become successful, we’ll be able to attract more talent. On the other hand, if we’re known as an organization that holds people back, talent will avoid us like the plague.’ The team owner concurred, nodding his head indicating his approval.”

Yes, it’s true that Holmgren has had many of the best positional coaches and coordinators leave to take jobs with other teams, and all were key people who were difficult to replace. On the plus side, it became easier for him to recruit new talent because the word was out that “a job with Holmgren had promise for advancement.” An organization that doesn’t let go easily eventually develops a reputation for being a dead end for people at the tail end of their career. So while they may hold on to people, there is a high price to pay because down the road recruiting top talent becomes increasingly difficult. I liken it to a college football team that has a star player go early in the NFL draft. While it hurts to lose a standout athlete, it helps when it comes time to recruit the most talented high school seniors for their freshman class. Having said that, Mike Holmgren lost seven generals over a seven-year period, and continued to excel as one of the NFL’s premier head coaches. What a remarkable feat; it’s something I consider a strong testimony to his exceptional leadership skills.

 

 

 

“I THINK REAL LEADERSHIP IS empowering others,” says Mike Sherman, “and then holding them to a higher standard because you gave it to them. I’m always saying to our coaching staff and personnel people, ‘I can delegate authority, but I can’t delegate responsibility. I am giving you authority and the power to do your job.’ This lets them know that I expect more out of them, but at no point am I absolved of my responsibility.

“I have the same message for the players, but they are reluctant to assume bigger roles. That’s because this is what they’re evaluated on. It’s like I recently said to the team: ‘I’ve been leading this team for four years, and now I’m giving it to you guys. I want you guys to step forward because I really want to develop leaders from within. Just how far we go rests on the leadership that comes from you. I want this to be your football team. I’ve been a leader here for the past few years, but now I want you guys to do it. I want you to have ownership. It’s not just me. We have to forget about contracts and salaries for the next several months. We’ve just got to be one team and the leadership has to come from the locker room—not the general manager’s office down to you but from the locker room up to me. I want you to lead. And we will see how that works.’

“People like to complain about leadership,” Sherman adds, “but at the same time they don’t want to lead—they want to be led. But a good leader is able to get his people to step forth and assume a leadership role.”

A modest man, Sherman did not add, so I will, that only a secure man can invite his people to lead. An insecure man with a big ego doesn’t want anyone taking a leadership role; he fears it will undermine his position.

I have said many times that Mike Holmgren would make an excellent CEO in corporate America. Perhaps nothing better exemplifies his ability to lead than how he has recruited and developed strong people to assume leadership positions. Imagine a CEO of a major international multibillion-dollar company losing seven senior members of his management team. This is exactly what Holmgren experienced.

What makes him so exceptional? First, he goes after the best talent without concern that somebody in his organization might outshine him. All too often business executives are guilty of passing over talented people because they view them as a threat. Only the strongest leaders say, “I surround myself with people who are smarter than I. They make me look smart.” Second, as Holmgren has proved, he wants his people to succeed and he knows when to let go. As much as he hates to lose a key man, he realizes that there is a time when he must bite the bullet. It is not idle words when he says, “You can’t keep a good man down.”

 

 

 

IT WORKS THE SAME WAY in corporate America. Some companies become known as dead-end places offering no opportunity for advancement, while others are hailed as a stepping-stone for future advancement. Companies that provide internal opportunities for advancement are desirable places to work, and good leaders create opportunities in a variety of ways. First, they provide incentives for managers to promote their subordinates; and second, they aggressively “grow” their companies. Without growth, a company becomes stagnant and its people can advance only when somebody retires, leaves, or dies. Conversely, with growth comes opportunity because new stores, plants, and divisions necessitate more management. As senior people move up the ladder, others within the organization advance in their footsteps.

A healthy sign of good leadership is a company that is able to promote people from within. When management can’t fill key positions at the top of the organization from within, it signals that the company has failed to develop its own people. This is a weakness—well-run organizations train their people sufficiently to enable them to move up the corporate ladder. This is what capable management does. Having to seek people externally also hurts morale. Employees think, “No matter how well I perform, it doesn’t matter. The company will hire somebody from outside.”

A strong leader has a succession plan in place so the company can continue in the event of his untimely demise. A leader with a big ego doesn’t have a succession plan because he doesn’t think anyone is good enough to replace him. Or equally foolish, he thinks he is invincible and will reign forever. As an example of how important a succession plan is, the United States Army requires every officer to have multiple subordinates ready to take over his or her job. General Electric has an emergency leader-in-waiting should something happen to its CEO. The principle is simple: The fate of the organization is more important than the fate of the leader. If a qualified person isn’t able to step in as the result of a catastrophe, the organization will be severely impaired.

A succession plan also serves as an assurance to employees, customers, and vendors that the company will continue under able leadership when its current leader and management team are no longer around. This assurance makes employees feel secure that their future will not be jeopardized should something unexpected happen to the boss. Likewise, customers and vendors are assured that business will go on as usual because they too have a vested interest in a company that they partner with. A supplier, for instance, could suffer irreparable harm if a major customer went under due to the loss of its leader. The same is true for a company that depends on a key supplier for its wares. I have seen cases when companies have gone with a higher bidder because they didn’t want to risk depending on a supplier that didn’t have a succession plan.

 

 

 

STRONG LEADERSHIP ALWAYS STARTS AT the top of an organization, and a head coach with a big ego is certain to clash with a player who is similarly endowed with a big ego. Conversely, a head coach who manages his own ego sets a positive example for his young players to follow. As their leader, he must also serve as a role model and a mentor.

For the past decade, Mike Holmgren has served as a role model to seven other head coaches who worked under him. His role model was Lavell Edwards, BYU’s legendary head coach. “Coach Edwards was one of the most successful coaches ever, and as good as anyone I’ve ever seen in the way he treated people,” tells Holmgren. “He never put on airs with anyone, and was so humble. I had so much admiration for him that I said, ‘I want to be like that.’ He was a real inspiration to me, and I try to be that way with my players and assistant coaches.”

When Mike Holmgren signed his present contract, he became the highest-paid head coach in the history of the game. No matter, he’s still the same Mike Holmgren I knew when we worked together as high school teachers. Mike simply refuses to allow his success to go to his head. “As soon as you start believing it’s you [not the team], you’re headed for a fall,” he says. “I know that I hired them [the players, coaches, etc.] but I have good coaches that do a vast majority of the work around here. And without good players, we don’t win games. So it gets back to the team concept. Nobody does it by himself. Sure, I’m the head coach so I may be the one that makes the call. Someone has to make the tough decisions. Someone has to be responsible for taking the risk. But it’s the whole group that makes it work. As head coach, you really have to understand that. It’s not you.

“Do you really know what keeps me in my place so my ego doesn’t take over?” he says with a grin. “It’s my family. My wife Kathy is the greatest person in the world and I have the most wonderful four daughters, and now two granddaughters. Well, to them, I’m just another dad. Sure, in my world, as a head coach, I can get people to do things. That’s what head coaches do. But around them, their classic line is, ‘Hey, Dad, I’m not working for you.’ Believe me when I tell you that they know how to keep me from getting a swelled head.

“On a more serious note,” Holmgren continues, “every time I look around at the other people in this business, I think to myself that there’s an awful lot of smart people in this League. That includes a lot of football coaches and some brilliant money people. Sometimes it’s a matter of some of us being a little bit more fortunate than others.”

After he’d won the Super Bowl on Sunday, January 26, 1997, in New Orleans, I rode back from the Super Dome with Mike to the hotel in a limousine. We’re sitting there together, and I said to him, “Here we are two former high school history teachers. In a million years who would have ever thought we’d be in a limo like this after having won the Super Bowl?”

Mike leaned over to me. “You know, Bob, as great as this moment is,” he said, “is it that much different than when we used to get on the bus after we won a championship game in high school?”

That’s Mike Holmgren. Here he is at the pinnacle of success in the world of sports. A billion people watched him orchestrate a 35-21 win over the New England Patriots. And he’s equating the high from a Super Bowl win, arguably the biggest sports event in the entire world, to the thrill of driving home on the school bus after a big high school win.

Gary Reynolds, now in charge of offensive quality control for the Seattle Seahawks, also worked under Holmgren in Green Bay. He recalls a similar experience with his boss after the same Super Bowl. “After the game, we flew back from New Orleans that night and there was a huge parade in Green Bay to celebrate our victory on Monday. Now on Tuesdays, I’d always accompany Coach Holmgren to his TV show. So on that Tuesday, when we got in his car, I noticed that the backseat of his car was piled high with clothes. ‘What are those?’ I asked.

“ ‘I gotta go to the dry cleaner,’ he said, ‘to drop some clothes off for Kathy and the girls.’

“ ‘You just won the Super Bowl, Mike! Are you kidding me?’ He wasn’t kidding. I go, ‘Wow.’ ”

In high school, Holmgren excelled on the gridiron, becoming a high school All-American quarterback, and was sought after by colleges across America. He went from a 3,592-yard passer in high school to a bench warmer at USC. This would have destroyed a boy with an overgrown ego. High school yearbooks are filled with photos of football heroes who never saw their pictures in print again—pathetic grown men who spend the rest of their lives retelling stories of their boyhood glory when they were “somebody.” They keep living in the past because their egos prevent them from moving forward and risking failure! Holmgren isn’t a man whose ego prevents him from taking risks for fear of failure. He didn’t back away from coaching when one of his first high school teams lost 22 consecutive games. Again, it would have been a good time to call it quits but that’s not Mike’s style. It’s what people with big egos do—they must find something else that feeds their ego. They can’t deal with failure.

As long as I’ve known Mike, I’ve always been impressed with how he places the needs of his people first. Self-absorbed people with big egos don’t tend to the little things for other people. Their self-centeredness smothers their desire to serve others. Holmgren, however, knows that when people’s morale is up, so is their performance. He understands that serving their needs has priority over attending to his own needs. For example, when some of his African-American players complained that there was no place in predominantly white Green Bay to get a haircut, Mike imported the services of a Milwaukee barber. When they expressed their dissatisfaction with the training-table culinary selections, he procured a soul-food caterer to make biweekly deliveries of meals from Milwaukee. True, these are no big deal but they are thoughtful gestures—the kind of things people do for others when their egos don’t get in the way—the kind of things that don’t go unnoticed.

 

 

 

AS A FORMER HISTORY TEACHER, I can assure you that the history books are filled with accounts of leaders with big egos who have self-destructed. Simply put, their arrogance was their downfall. This is true in any arena, and in particular in the highly competitive world of business where every strength must be used to an advantage and every weakness must be minimized. In our free enterprise system, people have choices about with whom they do business and for whom they work. Business leaders who fail to check their egos at the door are destined to see customers, vendors, and customers walk out the door.

I have been blessed to represent five head coaches who are exemplary leaders. All come from humble beginnings and have not allowed success to go to their heads. I am privileged and honored to be associated with such fine men. As their agent, I advise them on everything from contract negotiations to financial matters.

Having said this, it has been a two-way street; over the years, I have learned so much from them. I have observed them in action and have been privy to how they motivate their people to perform at peak levels. I am in awe of the respect and loyalty they receive. I am impressed with their ability to take men from diverse backgrounds and lead them to work together as a team.

What each of these five head coaches has done can be emulated in every business. As they have remained humble, a business leader must not allow his ego to cloud his judgment. Such men and women in leadership positions do not inspire others to follow. They will not be respected or trusted, nor will they receive loyalty. Nor will they be liked. Instead, they will be perceived as self-serving individuals who promote their own selfish agendas. It is important to note that people work harder for leaders whom they want to succeed. They do their best work for leaders they care for, whom they admire.

When I negotiated Dave Stieb’s contract with the Blue Jays in 1983, my mission was to sell them on certain terms that were most favorable for my client. But first I had to sell them on Bob LaMonte. Once they were sold on me, getting them to agree on the terms of the contract was the easy part. Had I walked into the meeting with a big ego, I am certain I would have encountered resistance that would have jeopardized the negotiating process.

Recall the first thing Jon Gruden did when he became Tampa Bay’s head coach. When he initially met with the players and coaching staff, he praised his predecessor, Tony Dungy, who was popular during his years with the Buccaneers. “I respect the job Tony did,” Gruden said. Then he added, “I don’t know how I got here, but I am here, and I want you to give me a chance. Give me the opportunity to implement my program here. I need your help.” Note that he humbly asked for their help.

When there is a change in management at the top, employees are understandably apprehensive. They don’t know what to expect, but they do anticipate change. In the case of Gruden, they might have been expecting a young, cocky person, but his humility quickly dispelled that notion at that first team meeting. Over time, they have since found out that this first impression was indeed the real Jon Gruden. He was the same man whom they saw on national television after Oakland got beat by New England in the 2001 playoff game, the man who said, “We get what we deserve.” Today, the Buccaneers know that their young, dynamic head coach is genuine, or as the players say, “the real deal.”

There are many people in leadership positions who will not confess to wrongdoings. Again, it’s their egos getting in their way. To them being wrong is a sign of weakness—they think admitting a fault or an error compounds the appearance of being weak. “The human element in professional football or, for that matter, any field, will cause mistakes—this is bound to happen,” Andy Reid says, “and when it does, you can’t hide it under the table. You’ve got to admit that you messed up.” Reid is the first to admit when he is wrong. With Andy Reid, there is no hidden agenda. He expects the same of his people.

People with large-sized egos are most apt to get into trouble when they are successful. “One of the traps in this business,” says John Fox, “is the big ego trip that follows success. Most people simply don’t know how to deal with prosperity. There have been many great teams in this League that split up because people’s egos got in the way. Here, I’m referring not only to players and coaches. I include general managers and owners. There is a slew of people with big heads that a head coach contends with.”

The salaries of head coaches have skyrocketed in the past decade; so has the pressure to produce. With a 2.5-year average life span of a head coach, there is no room in the NFL for a head coach with an oversized ego. There is too much talent out there for a franchise to tolerate it. At today’s salaries, management wants—and demands—excellence. Those who fail to check their egos at the door are gone; long term, the players, the assistant coaches, the owners, and the fans will grow tired of them. Having said that, the NFL is a business. If bottom line numbers aren’t met, the head coach is gone.

 

 

 

ADEPT BUSINESS LEADERS DON’T OFFER excuses when sales and profits are down. They don’t blame others for company failures. Conversely, leaders with big egos can’t accept the fact that they performed poorly. After a weak quarter or bad year, when did you ever hear a CEO say, “We get what we deserve?” For example, read what the CEOs of national retail stores say when sales and profits are down due to a poor Christmas season. You won’t see many of them admit that their marketing efforts were weak or they stocked their stores with the wrong merchandise. They won’t announce that their stores were run-down or that their customers received inadequate service—the real reasons why sales were down. It’s never the CEO’s fault when business is bad. Instead, you’ll hear such lame excuses as: “The weather was too warm so consumers weren’t in a holiday mood.” “There was too much snow and ice so shoppers couldn’t get to our stores.” “Thanksgiving was late this year so our Christmas season was shortened.” “These are tough economic times.” CEOs take note: You usually get what you deserve. Hot or cold, the weather is never predictable. And having Thanksgiving come late shouldn’t come as a surprise—this is predictable. The weather and the day of the month that Thanksgiving falls on should be factored into doing business. And the economy? Why is it that other retailers had a good Christmas season? They had the same weather, worked by the same calendar, and they too contended with the same economy!

Weak business leaders are quick to point the finger at others. In the retail field, you’ll hear CEOs scream, “We bought the wrong inventory for our customer—fire the merchandising manager.” “It took too long to get the merchandise from our warehouse to the floor. Fire the vice president of distribution.” “Our systems were down. Fire the IT manager.” Rarely does the CEO take the hit; there’s always a fall guy. To paraphrase Andy Reid, “You can’t hide your mistakes under the table. You’ve got to admit that you messed up.” How often do you see CEOs admit that they messed up? Why can’t they understand that it takes a strong man to say, “I was wrong.” It’s the weak man who is unable to admit to error in judgment. False pride is a dangerous thing. Some history experts believe that Richard Nixon would have fared much better had he admitted to making a mistake during the early stages of the Watergate fiasco. Had he done so, the public would have been forgiving, and Nixon would have finished out his second term. Note from Nixon’s experience, the longer you wait to admit being wrong, the more damage is done, particularly when it’s inevitable that a faux pas will eventually be exposed.

Leaders with humility seek solutions to problems from their people. They listen to what employees say; they respectfully and graciously thank them for their input. Conversely, big egos prevent arrogant leaders from listening. These know-it-alls can’t bear being told by subordinates how to improve conditions. They aren’t willing to listen because they are too insecure to admit that somebody beneath them might have a solution they were unable to come up with. It is only when business is doing so poorly that they begin to listen to advice. Only when they get beat up and hit over the head enough times do they eat crow. Then they begin to find solutions and, in time, turnarounds occur. Then look at what happens. When times are good again, they revert back to their true form; their arrogance resurfaces. Like business, their personalities are cyclical.

Bosses with truly big egos find themselves surrounded by yes-men because subordinates have been conditioned to tell them what they want to hear. Those who disagree with the boss are ridiculed and silenced. The boss’s strong personality is too overbearing for his subordinates to stand up to. They agree with him because they want to avoid confrontation. Consequently, the boss gets no feedback. He hears only what he wants to hear. Employees are unwilling to take risks; creativity and innovation are stifled.

A strong leader must make people feel comfortable voicing disagreement and he must be willing to listen. Not only does he listen, he thanks them for their straightforwardness and encourages them to speak out. This does not imply that he must always have a consensus because there are situations in which a leader must act with conviction and defy the opinion of the majority. I am reminded of a story about Abraham Lincoln and his seven cabinet members. “Each of you has an equal vote,” the president told them, “which is a combined total of seven votes. You should remember, however, that I have eight votes.” There are times when a strong leader must move forward without a consensus.

People ask, “How does a successful businessman who has built a dynasty become so arrogant? And with such a big ego, how did he ever become so successful?” Oftentimes, when this individual was first starting out, he had humility. Later, success spoiled him. In the early stages of his company, he spent time in the trenches, talking to employees, calling on customers and vendors. Years went by and as his company prospered, he lost touch with his people and customers. His claim that “I built this company and I know my customer” is no longer true; he doesn’t know it. Sometimes it happens so gradually over time that he is unaware that he’s lost touch. For years he has had a high profile in business circles and the community. He sits on corporate and civic boards—people come to him for advice; they shower him with praise. No wonder he thinks he knows all the answers. Unlike Jerry Rice, who continues to run every pass he catches in practice to the end zone, as the CEO has prospered, he has stopped listening to employees on the assembly line and calling on customers in the field. He no longer practices what contributed to his early successes.

Good leadership provides opportunities for people to grow. A strong leader doesn’t keep a subordinate from advancing either internally or externally. Sometimes this means losing a key employee to another organization. But this is a risk one must take in business in order to attract the best people. In the long run, this enhances a company’s reputation as an organization that treats people fairly and provides them with opportunity.

My job as a sports agent isn’t limited to negotiations and giving financial advice. I also serve as a sounding board to my clients. I never sugarcoat what I say to them. Everyone else tells them what they want to hear, I tell them what they need to hear, and sometimes it’s not pleasant. For example, I’ll say, “Look, we lost because you called a bad game. We’ve got to get better.” Or I might say, “Man, if we can’t run the ball, we’re done.” What they won’t hear from me is, “You’re a great coach. It’s not your fault that we lost.” Business leaders must surround themselves with people who tell it to them straight—no sugarcoating.

One more bit of advice. Lighten up. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Have some fun. There are times when I’ve heard a coach say before a big game, “Okay men, let’s go out there and have some fun.” A common denominator shared by all five coaches featured in this book is that they all have a good sense of humor. Like Andy Reid, successful business leaders sometimes use self-deprecating humor, making themselves the butt of a joke—people with an ego problem are unable to laugh at themselves.

It is true that football is a game, but to the men who play it on Sundays, it’s a business. Just the same, allowing yourself to have fun is part of a healthy attitude toward life and is appropriate in every business. Loosen up and have some fun. Let your people have fun; it will make them feel good about themselves. Create an environment that makes people excited about coming to work every day, and where they’ll enjoy working so much, they won’t keep looking at the clock at the end of the day when it’s time to go home. When people feel this way, it will permeate your organization and flow out the door to your customers. Like my dad always said, “If you take yourself too seriously, no one else will.”