#87 Andy Hill

Episode 87 features former Andy Hill, who reflects on a coaching journey that spanned more than three decades, including 24 years at the University of Missouri and multiple Super Bowl appearances with the Kansas City Chiefs. Andy shares lessons on leadership, recruiting, culture, and relationships, emphasizing that great leaders are competitors, connectors, and people of character who consistently uphold standards. He also discusses the impact coaching had on his life as a husband, father, and mentor, while highlighting the importance of surrounding yourself with quality people and building organizations where everyone shares the same vision and purpose. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

I'm gonna go ahead and introduce you. Um Okay. This this is uh this is fun for me, probably the funnest one I've done. Um Andy Hill. You've got a bunch of them. I know, but you're probably the funnest because you know you knew me. I I mean we've known each other for a long time. We started coaching at Missouri right around the same time. But Andy Hill, um Missouri royalty, what I call you. Um Trenton, Trenton, Missouri native, and and um walked on at Missouri, lettered four years, played receiver, um, and then you got into coaching. And and amongst other things, I mean you were the head coach, you're the offense coordinator head coach at Hutchinson um community college there in the Jayhawk League. Is this still the Jayhawk League? I think so, yeah. I believe it is. Um, and then you got hired as a receiver's coach at Missouri in '96. And got I Andy, I didn't know you were there for 24 years. Yep.

unknown 1:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

That's unbelievable. And then and then you went from Missouri, you went over to Kansas City to the Chiefs and worked with Tobe and was assistant special teams coordinator and have two Super Bowl rings and um in the Missouri Hall of Fame and all kinds of stuff. But um you know what? So I appreciate you coming on. I I kind of wanted, I think your perspective is, you know, everybody's perspective that we have on is unique, but I think yours is kind of cool. And you know what story I tell everybody still to this day? The Kent Lehman story. Oh yeah. When we were at camp and we had a receiver, I think he became a Secret Service agent, didn't he?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Yeah, oh yeah, I got a good story with that too.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah, so um, but Kent was this little white receiver. Um, and you know, in in camp in August, it's super hot and super humid. And he's he was always a cramper, but he started cramping really, really bad. So he goes after practice, he goes to the to the hospital and gets a bunch of IVs. And I don't do you remember how many bags he had? Did he have like four bags? It looked like four. Yeah, but you and I were were rooming together, and um we hear a knock on the door like 11 o'clock at night. It's Kent. And you remember how big his face was? I mean, Kent probably weighed, what, 175, 180? And when he when we opened that door, he looked like he weighed about 225 pounds. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

He was bloated from IV bags for sure. Yeah. Well, it's funny you say that. Uh, Kent Lehman, one more final story with him. We were at the Super Bowl a year ago uh in New Orleans, and because Trump was going to the game, we had to go through metal detectors at the hotel, and Secret Service is part of that. So Kent Lehman asked to be at our Chiefs, he's based in Dallas now, asked to be at the Chiefs hotel. And so I got to see Sarah got to see him, I got to see him, and and uh it was pretty cool because he's he's still doing it, but he was on Obama detail in the White House for a while, and so he he's doing great.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yeah, I think he wasn't he on it the Obama's girls detail too. Yes, wasn't he specific to that? Yeah, yes, and I'm sure and people people don't understand like that whole vetting process is crazy. I I remember, I mean, I I did I the only reason I know he's in the Secret Service is because they called me. I mean, yeah, you know, years and I know they did you too, and the background checks that they do on people. I mean, I was like, I I was kind of scared when the Secret Service people called me, and I'm like, wait, what the hell? Yeah. Um, but that's why, that's why we coach, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Absolutely. Guys like him, he's a good man.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Tell everybody kind of, I mean, I kind of went through it, but just tell everybody, you know, kind of your journey into coaching, why you wanted to get into coaching and and how that all came up, and who was, you know, kind of who was super influential on that decision.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah, so uh I was working uh really when I got out of school, I tried out to play for the Chiefs, uh, can't see Chiefs in '85 and tried out the Calgary Stampeders the next year. Didn't make either squad. So I really worked in banks and investments for like the next four to five years. And I figured out I opened up an Edward Jones office in a small town in Missouri and kind of figured out that, you know, that uh making tons of money was not really a motivating factor for me. So I was fortunate enough to have a chance. Uh a former coach of mine, receiver coach at Missous, was now the uh at the time the offensive coordinator at SNU. And uh he he got me on as a volunteer GA really in the springtime. Sam Pittman, who just was the high the head coach at Arkansas, uh at the same time got about the Hutcheson Community College job. And so I was very fortunate to get hired. Uh right, we were getting married in 92 at Hutch. Like you said, I was assistant coach for a couple years, head coach for a couple years. Then Larry Smith was kind enough to hire me at the University of Missouri back in my alma mater in 96. Uh, had worked summer camps. You know, I was a head coach at Hutch, and I brought helmets and shoulder pads over to rent to the kids because at the time in high school Missouri you couldn't bring your own high school pads and shoulder pads and helmets, which makes no sense obviously. But at the time, that's what the rules were. So I brought a big old U-Haul full of pads, and uh Coach Smith was able to see me coach a few times in the summertime, and then when the job came open, Eric Wright, who was the receiver coach at the time, uh quit, retired, resigned, whatever you want to say. Then uh coach was I was lucky enough to get on at Mizzou, and then I was there, like you said, 24 years, uh through three head coaches, Larry Smith, Gary Pinkle, Barry Odom. And then in 2019, um I was not retained by the current head coach at that time, and then got lucky enough to get on with the Kansas City Chiefs in COVID year, 2020, was my first year there. Uh four Super Bowls in five years. We won two of them, lost two of them, but just a tremendous, I guess, crescendo to my coaching journey, and and it was um very special way to finish up.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Um before I ask about the other two, what what was it like um coaching for Barry Odom, who you actually coached in college? I mean, we both did, but um, you know, being an assistant under a head coach that that you were formerly a guy that coached him and saw him grow up. Was that was that cool or was that interesting?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

It was interesting because yeah, really we coached together too before he got the job. So it was kind of like you saw him from a coaching perspective. Uh, but it was very interesting. You know, I think that it was his first coaching job, and so I think he probably learned a lot in his steps as being a head coach at the time, too. So it was very interesting because you you're almost you're a peer, you coached him, and then you're a peer, then he's the head coach, and so we had a uh certainly a different relationship than most guys that we were coaching with.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah, he still calls me coach, and I keep telling him, I'm like, Barry, you can call me Corby. Nope. Yeah, I'm calling you coach. I'm like, okay. That's weird for me. I'm like, but um, I I want to talk because you were on the last the last team that you were a player at Missouri for the last team that went to a bowl game before we went to another bowl game in '97. Um so those 13 years of Missouri not going to bowl games. And and with Larry Smith, with my dad coming in, um, and you know, kind of building that and getting us back to um, you know, the bowl games, and and you know, people people knew what we were gonna be tough and we were gonna run it down your throats and play action and on defense, we were gonna fly to the ball and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, those last, especially that last year that we were there before we got fired, um, you know, I know we had a lot of young kids, we had a ton of injuries, but um going through that process of a rebuild, um, you know, with with my dad, and and I want to talk about Coach Pinkle because you know, there there's a lot of coaches that I have a respect for in this world. Two of the biggest ones that I have the most respect for are um Gary Pinkle and and Dick Tomey and Coach Tomey because they both followed my dad, you know, Coach Tomey at U of A, and then Pinkle came in. And and the the amount of class and um humility and just gracefulness that that both of them and especially Coach Pinkle, you know, had for what we did, even though we got fired, um is rare and it's special. So I want to talk about that transition, but what was it like, you know, building that Missouri program that you played at? You were a part of the last team, building that up to where we were finally having some success.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah, I think you know, I was very fortunate to come in uh after the third year of of Coach Smith's tenure at Mizzou. And at the time there were several good players that they recruited already on campus, Brock Alibo, I think part of your book, there's there's a lot of uh Corby Jones, there's tremendous talent that were already in place. So I think that if you look at that 97 that went to the first bowl, like you said, in 13 years, um it really was holding everybody to a standard that Coach Smith did, and then having the ability, the the players, the the quality players that we had were able to overcome because I th I know that year we were three and three, we got uh beat pretty soundly at Kansas State, and then we won four of our last five games. I'll never forget the elation of getting bull eligible at Colorado. Colorado, yeah. Um, and that was such a big win because I think we I have to look back at the exact stats, but I know we held the ball for over 40 minutes at a 60-minute football game just by, like you said, running it down their throat and controlling the ball, taking care of it. And that was such an elation, uh great feeling as a coach, knowing that finally he got back because of the quality of uh player, but also the standard that Coach Smith set in our, you know, with the coaches and certainly with the team, those guys uh overcame a lot to get to that point. And that was pretty cool. That was we know two bowl games in a row, um, you know, and then kind of had a little, like you said, some young guys and some and kind of some transition to those old veteran players, Ron James, you know, Harold Pearcy, all the guys, DeMonty Cross, all those players were now gone. So those young guys kind of went back and we had a little fallback. But then going on to what Coach Pinkle, I I want to say this that, you know, when Coach Pinkle got the job, he he said immediately, he said, had Larry Smith not taken Missouri to a couple bowls, uh, he would not have been even interested in the Missouri job at the time. So there's a lot of, like you said, respect between those kind of coaches that old school that have tremendous uh track records, but also respect for each other.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Well, I think, and I think you'll probably agree with this, but there there's certain head coaches. I mean, every head coach has their unique talent as a head coach, right? Some are builders, some are next level guys. Um and and my dad was a builder. I mean, he was a program builder. Like that's if you look at his history, even as C, I mean, when he followed Ted Tolner, and you know, and and Ted Tolner's, you know, great, great human being and and and a great coach, but um they were down and he had to rebuild SC. But that was what he thrived on was going into the two lanes, the U of A's, you know, the Missouri's, and yeah, building it back up, right? I mean, that was kind of his pattern. Um, and so, you know, for for the next coaches to be able to see that. And like Coach Pinkle said, and I I, you know, we had Coach Pinkle and I, when when you know he came in, he got hired, and you have to go through every staff member and talk to him. I still remember taking in, you know, all my evaluations of every player, my recruiting area, and all that kind of stuff, and sitting down, you know, in this chair that for six years I was looking across from the head coach, and that head coach was my dad. And it was weird, but he was he was very, very just gracious and and I could tell, and he's like, you know, and we just talked, and and you know, I I told him up front, I said, Coach, I said, No way you're keeping me, I know you're not. I said, and I I get it. And you know, he he was very very giving, um, and again, very gracious. And so what what was it like having gone through a rebuild and having Coach Pinkle come in and now just elevating the program to a completely different level?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Well, um, I was kind of funny because I was the new guy, you know, on their staff. They brought everybody from their former place in Toledo, and so I was still the new guy, even though I was a Mizzou guy. We'd been there for uh four seasons with Coach Smith, and so you know, or five seasons, I guess. But I was a new dude already in my hometown, and that was very weird. Uh, it was kind of awkward for the first, I'd say, maybe a couple years, just because I had some really good friends like yourself, John Hoke, Andy Moore, different dudes on that staff that uh still keep in touch with uh that you know they were really good friends of mine, Dave Tobe. Um so all those guys now are you know going different places, and here I am just sitting there. So it's pretty weird the first couple years. Uh once I figured out kind of what Coach Pinkle was about and uh the guys on that staff were about, you know, we didn't have an assistant coaching change from 2000 to 2008. We had the same exact staff, which is pretty unique in college football. Nobody moved on. So it was a probably a tribute to Coach Pinkle, also the success that was being built. But it was tough uh because you still until you got a really we got one player, Brad Smith from Ohio, that came in and really changed the program, uh, changed the how we played, you know, he could put the football in his hands and he he made all kinds of you know things happen just out of out of nothing. And so getting a guy like them allowed us to get other recruits down the road because once you can win and people can see you can win, Missouri's always been considered to be a sleeper job, but if you can get some quality Division I type dudes, five-star type players, then you can actually move up the level. I think that's what uh in like 05, 06, 07, we got some really good recruits and and had a chance to compete at the national level, which is nice.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Yeah. And it, I mean, people you know, it that taking it to the other level, like that presents a whole different batch of of issues, expectations, demands. Yeah, um, everything just gets heightened. I mean, from recruiting on. And you so tell me this, because Brad, Brad Smith, when he came in and was the quarterback, I mean, he kind of changed. I don't know what happened. I can't believe that just one person and Brad had a great, great career. But I mean, then you have, and I don't know the order, but you have Chase Daniels, you have Matty Mock, you have um Drew Locke, you know, and I'm sure there were some other guys I'm forgetting that were like. Wayne Gabber, yeah, you got the Wayne Gabber. Yep. Yep. Um, but you know, you take it, and I and I know you you had your your time at at Missouri, I mean, you coached the receivers for probably your you know the longest time you're there, but then you coached the quarterbacks for a long time, you're special teams coordinator for a couple years, and um you know you had that opportunity, but um, from a recruiting standpoint, because I've always told people, I've had people ask me, like, who's the best recruiter you've been around? And and you're at the top of that list. And um, and I I don't know, I don't know, and it just wasn't your ties to the state of Missouri or Kansas or you know, the St. Louis area, that kind of stuff. But um, what was your approach in recruiting? And and I know everything has kind of changed, um but when you were how did Yeah yeah, how did you excel just as a recruiter? What what was important for you to do to sell the University of Missouri, sell parents, counselors, coaches, grandparents?

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Yeah, um I appreciate you saying that, but I I think you know, I had some good guys helping me. There's, you know, uh with Coach Smith's staff, those there's some good recruiters on that staff that you got to see how they did things, but I think I was pretty fortunate. I think we were fortunate because uh his Larry Smith's plan was to put you in an area and let you work the area, you know. Uh the problem with recruiting at the time kind of evolved to positional recruiting where it's a receiver is in Tucson or a receiver is in you know Colorado. If you're just recruiting receivers, you don't really have a connection. And I think that some of the best things we did at Missouri at the time, we kind of divided up where your recruiting area was. You stayed in the area, you learned the coaches, you were watching guys work out that were sophomores and freshmen that you could see that you knew they're gonna be good in years to come. They saw you in school a lot. Um I bet I always tried to be as visible as possible in those, you know, you couldn't talk to kids back then that were freshmen sophomores, but you could be around and they could see you. And so I always just tried to be around it and not, you know, even sometimes there were teams like Rockhurst in Kansas City or Blue Springs in Kansas City that didn't have uh a great player that year, but they're a great program. So I always go visit them as much as I would somebody, some school that had a guy coming up. So I was always in the schools that that uh were successful and you know, primarily always had recruits, maybe not every single year, but I just tried to be visible and uh and tried to be honest and then and then have fun. You mean there's there's a lot of you know put a smile on your face and go to work.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Yeah, well, you and and Tony Alford were the are the two best recruiters I've ever been around. And yeah, Tony was in the back of the state.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

He's that dude. Tony's that guy, he's always there. It seemed like you turn around, he's always in your back pocket.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Yep. Yep. Um, what what are two things? Because there's a bunch of parents that listen to to this podcast too, and and you know, I I I between friends, ex, you know, guys that I've coached, people that I've coached, um, you know, word of mouth. I mean, there's quite a few athletes that I mentor, and a lot of it has to do, you know, it does have to do with leadership and character, but a lot of it has to do with the recruiting process. And I kind of mentor the families, and and I know it's changed a lot, but um, you know, there's so many outside influences now, and everybody thinks, you know, these seven-on-seven coaches or trainers or this person or that person thinks that they understand how it really works. And and, you know, so families are getting a lot of advice. It's not accurate and it's not truthful. And I think there's a couple things that have never changed. But when you were recruiting at that level, what were the two, what were the first two things that you wanted to know about a kid?

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, I think uh one of them was character, you know, and and was he a guy you could depend on when it comes down to the fourth quarter and when things were getting tough. Are you are you responsible? Are you grritty? Are you competitive that uh that says, you know, because I think there's a lot of lead athletes like you're talking about, there's seven-on-seven coaches, there's a quarterback trainer, there's a receiver trainer, there's all these other trainer guys, and and I think there there's there's positives about that, but also you know, getting away from the high school coach, listening to the high school coach uh was huge, you know. If if a guy said, hey, he's probably an eight out of ten in his competitor, which he's trying to tell me the guy doesn't he's not really a competitive guy, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

And so you wanted you wanted to be in uh arenas that had trust with the coaches, trust with the counselors, trust with the people that worked in the schools, and then what they would tell you, and then you'd have to believe that they are uh telling you the truth, the sense that uh the guy's competitive. And I think if you look at uh you know Corby Jones, for example, who played quarterback back in the day, I mean, as competitive as there ever was, uh, and certainly was able to kind of pull people through it to victory, because of I think you're looking at come competing and obviously uh the ability to to withstand uh I don't know how to how to really say it, the ability to withstand the pressure of of winning football. And I think that you know we always tried to find guys that won that were successful, whether they played quarterback or their position. If you're successful at your High school, there you're probably one of the guys pulling the train uh forward, and you you you knew what it took, what kind of grind it took to be successful in college too. So can be a competitor and have success, those those two things I think combined uh led guys to be successful in college.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

How much when you were on the recruiting trail, how much did I mean obviously grades came came into account big, I mean, right? But did you could you associate guys that struggled with their academics with that competitive nature in regards to they may be a great player on the field, but if they're not taking care of their academics or they're having issues or they're not doing every, you know, they're not going to tutor and they're not doing extra study and that kind of stuff to get their grades up. In your mind, was that kind of a precursor to your first thing that you said was, are you a guy that we can count on?

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It's you know, how you do one thing is how you do everything. That's what you hear a lot. Uh the truth is there are some guys that maybe have poor um academic standards where they are, they might have no help whatsoever. They don't really know what it takes to be, you know, to be successful in the classroom. But if a guy has is just refuses to to go to study hall, refuses to get extra tutoring or to do those things, that really says a lot about him. I think there's there's examples of of guys being successful that maybe have a 2.4 or 2-5 GPA in high school and go have a 4-0 in college where they just never really had the people there backing them up and didn't have the structure. And when you have the structure and you have people trying to help you and you refuse to get the help, then it really tells me that you can't be trusted.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Yeah. Well, you know, it's funny about that because a lot of people don't know this about junior say out, but he was a Prop 48 kid coming out of high school, which means back then a Prop 48 kid was basically your academically, you didn't meet the NCAA standards academically, but you could still come in. Um, and I can't remember if you could be put on scholarship or not. I don't think so. I don't think you could go back then. No, so like what Junior did is he was a Prop 48 kid, so he couldn't play his first year. He had to maintain a certain GPA in order to become eligible the next season. That kid, uh I mean, I can't say kid, that man, he his he got a 4.0 both semesters. And the problem with him was in his household, the reason he was a prop 48 kid is because in his household they only spoke Samoan. He was Samoan, they only spoke Samoan. So I mean they're there there's situations like that, you know, whether it's this, you know, from a support standpoint or culture standpoint that that you know is is happens a lot. Um I want to ask you about leadership. I I I want to I want to start by asking you, and I know this is gonna be hard because the men that you've coached, whether it's college or or at Hutch and at Missouri or at the Chiefs, I mean, there's great ones. I mean, I I'm sure you couldn't even name them um all. And who who were a couple of the who were the a couple of the best leaders that you've ever been around? That's my first question.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Yeah, I mean, uh, most recently, obviously, with Kansas City, it's it's pretty obvious that um Pat Mahomes is about as good of a person as you'll ever be around. You know, he's he's engaging, he he works his butt off, he cares about other teammates, he's always encouraging people. Um just a tremendous leader, and but he's character-wise, he's a great family person, he's a great father, and you know, everybody in that building is on his shoulders, and he's able to handle that. The other guy in Kansas City that's so special and and you can see it day to day is Travis Kelsey. Um he's a connector, and I think that's huge with any level. But when you have a player like him who respects Coach Reed, he respects all the coaches, he emulates what he, you know, what the coaches are saying, but also he's connecting to the players on the team. So he's a he's a direct connection between the coaches and the players and the players to players. He's that dude that makes everybody feel comfortable. I mean, that's I've said it uh several times in the last year. I mean, there's gonna be a guy undrafted from NAU might come to the Chiefs on the first day. Travis Kelsey will walk up and shake the guy's hand and say, My name is Travis Kelsey, and the guy goes, Travis Kelsey's talking to me, you know. But that he's just he's a connecting guy, and he helped uh so many kids mentally that uh were struggling. He would see that and go to them. So those two guys, leadership-wise in Kansas City, were very special. Uh back at Mizzou. I mean, you look at uh, you know, to have a great team, you need the quarterback to be a good leader. Chase Daniel was as good as um as I've been around because he is um he's again, he's doing everything right. He's he's trying to he's hugging all the linemen before every you know we go up to the team period. He gives every uh all five linemen a hug. I mean, he's just he's a connector as well, but he was a great leader at Mizzou. There's so so many Brock Olivo pulled the train back when you were there. I mean, such a unique guy. There's so many uh great players, Brad. Justin Smith. Yeah, there's there's uniqueness that uh Justin Smith, Brad Smith, Chase Daniel, Brock Al. There's there's five to ten guys that were uniquely leaders, and not always uh it they're all different, but certainly uh made a very big impression on everybody else.

unknown 27:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

You know, it's funny because Chase always reminded me of Brock Purdy. So Brock from Gilbert played for Preston, obviously you know that, Jones. Yep, uh Braxton, you know, they they uh Brax was a year younger, but they played together for two years. Um and the thing about Brock that was interesting, what and it reminded me of Chase, like none of these schools, you know, they waited so long because of the size and because the physical attributes. But I remember when we were at Mesquite High School and Um Jimmy and I, Jimmy was a head coach, and so Jim and Preston played each other. And um Brock was a sophomore, and I remember him and Jimmy and I being on the sidelines, and I walked by him at one point, and I'm like, that kid is he has something that I've never seen before. And yeah, and every single intangible that makes a leader a great leader, he had. I loved watching Chase play because you could I could see that. Um what if you if you take all those those guys because they're all from oh I got one question. Have you met Taylor Swift?

SPEAKER_01 29:07

I slept Taylor at high five. Okay, post-game party at uh in Vegas. It was funny.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

It's funny, okay. I I that popped in my mind. I thought it was pretty funny. Um but what what are some qualities that that all of those great great leaders that you've coached, you've had the opportunity to be around, and and even the coaches that you know, because I know Andy, I don't know Andy Reed, but I know enough people that know him, you know, from from guys like Terry Mahan, who played at NAU, who didn't even coach and played for him to you, to Tobe, to just a bunch of people. He fits in that category too, um in my opinion, from what I've seen. So what do all those those individuals possess? What are some things that they possess that kind of set them apart and make them exceptional leaders?

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Yeah, I think there is some fire in their belly that uh makes them want to win. And whatever that means, is it work extra, is it study extra, is it be extra attentive if you're the player as a coach, Coach Reed, because of his you know, I guess his success at Philadelphia, certainly in Kansas City, the players had respect for him. And I know that when you're a leader like he is, there is one focus in the organization. I think it's very hard at all times to get uh everybody on the same page, you know, getting guys have some assistant coaches have agendas, there's all different people, but they have one focus, and and it really comes with Coach Reed and all the the administration there, the leaders there, the owners, they have one sole focus that they focus, they they get through to everybody, and everybody buys into it. And so when you got fire in your belly to be a winner and you have a purpose that everybody buys into, it's hard. The buy-in, I think, is very hard. But when you have guys like you know, Justin Smith at buy-in, Jeremy Macklin at buy-in, Denario Alexander, the guys at Missouri that that are NFL type quality players that buy into your focus and your vision, then you have a chance to be successful. I think the leaders, when you have that one focus and whatever the drive might be, it might be that edge they want that year, they're all going together on the same direction. That's that's very hard to to stop. And I think that if you look at the dudes that have done that and the success that uh I've been fortunate enough to be around, they're all there's dudes that that uh will do anything to win.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

Yeah. What do you because uh when we talk to when I talk to head high school coaches and and their staffs and stuff like that, something that that I put at the forefront of all that stuff is the importance of speaking the same language. Yeah. When I when I uh when I when I say that, uh guys look at me sideways, like what are you talking about? And so when you say you have one focus, you're talking about speaking the same language. Everybody needs to be on the same page, you know. Um specifically, if you're gonna use terminology, you know, you have to be on the same page. If you're gonna enforce certain standards, everybody has to enforce it. That's right. Um, follow up, all that kind of stuff. Um that that goes into the to the one mission, doesn't it? Speaking the same language.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

100%. I mean, if you if you ask guys to tuck their shirt in or touch the line or do things, this is how we do it. Okay, this is our standard. And when the players buy into the standard and the coaches, I'm talking about head coach, uh every assistant coach, then your your leaders that can be developed, and then all the players on the team, when they all have the standard and the buy-in, uh when they tuck their shirt in, when a guy has his shirt untucked and nobody says anything to him, that's what that's how erosion happens within the organization. I mean, in Kansas City, everybody wore white socks in practice, okay? If a new guy came out with white socks with black socks, it wouldn't be Andy Reid saying you got black socks on, you need to go change them. There's 42 players going, hey dude, you're you're not this is how we do it. And I think that's pretty unique that uh, you know, putting your helmet on. If you watch the Chiefs, when they go out for the coin toss, every player has their helmet on. Most teams that they've got uh the NFL standard, they don't have their helmets on. When they get introduced, they have their helmet on. When they do these certain things, this is how we do it. And so whenever guys buy in like that, then that gives you a chance to be successful.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Yeah. What um this is kind of an unorthodox question, but I think it's important because I mean, obviously, I look back at, you know, my coaching career and um and we were talking a little bit before we started recording, but you know, I've been through a lot of changes, had a lot of failures, made a lot of poor choices, made a lot of mistakes, have just pretty much done everything wrong there is to do wrong. And and, you know, I I think you know, the the ability to learn from that and make actually make significant changes in in your life or how you do things or how you approach things or um is essential in growth. So so my question for you, it's kind of twofold, but I'll ask the first one. Um how has coaching changed your life as a husband, as a father, and now as a grandfather and as a friend, as a son, I mean, all those personal things. How do you think coaching has impacted you and changed you for the better from that standpoint in those relationships?

SPEAKER_01 35:04

Yeah, I think you're you're it when you see players like Brad Smith that carry a Bible around their backpack, you know, that there's so much you can learn from quality individuals. And I think being around uh just great men. I mean, Kent Lehman, we talked about Kent. Yeah. I mean, there's so many good people that uh it's it's very funny. Even the guys I played with at Missouri, almost to a man, everybody was successful in some fashion in their life because of the structure and the standard and all the things you want to be around other players and coaches. Uh I think it you you see the good, and you can there's some things you I mean of a hundred players on the football team, there's gonna be five guys that really need a lot of help, you know. Right sometimes they're not they can't even make it four years because of their struggles. But you but you see the good in people and you see the really great qualities that guys and you're going, man, I need to do what he's doing, you know. And so I've I was very fortunate to be around not only coaches but players that just huge, huge character young men that uh that that also made you want to be a better guy. And I think that's the structure and also touching lines, tucking your shirt in, doing that kind of stuff. And I'm when I'm jogging now, I still go touch a line because that's what you're used to doing. And I think it's certainly helped me.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

All right, and then to follow up with that, how has I mean you and Sarah have been married, it sounds like uh 34 years 34 years this year.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

34 years coming up next month.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Sarah, if you can hear me, I'm sorry. Um she's upstairs. Um but how has you know being married for for as long as you guys have, and you have a great relationship, and you always have. Um and being a father, how did that change you as a coach? How you approached recruiting, how you approached, you know, the the college kids, the college game, and then how you approached coaching grown men.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Yeah. Uh obviously the the women in the coaching profession have to be special in a lot of ways. And I think you know, running the household whenever you're in season and and gone recruiting or whatever it might be, it's uh it takes a special person. And certainly we we've uh I'm I'm very fortunate to have married and picked out uh a young lady who said yes that has been really good for us and great for our kids as a father. I think you know you got to see again good qualities, you got to see uh when you're not around your kids, every single, you know, every single thing that you can't go to every dance competition or every baseball game or whatever it might be, it kind of hurts you in your heart. So you really try to squeeze the best part of the when you do have time together. And we always uh took a spring break, we always took a summer vacation together because there's that three or four-week window that you have some free time to go do things when you're not um worried about who the next recruit is or what the next football game might be coming up, and so I think the cool thing for my family in particular, and and so having gone drug through the 30-some years of coaching, at least Sarah Hill got to, you know, be on a Super Bowl parade and hold the trophy. I mean, there there's some there's some cool things that uh when Travis Kelsey comes up and gives you a hug, hey Mama Hill, how you doing? There's some there's some benefit to that, but uh it there gotta be you gotta be have a special relationship to be able to get through that for sure, and I think I was very fortunate.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

How how old is Trisha now? She's 30. Well, turns 30 in a couple months. That's what I that's what I thought. So I gotta tell you this, and we'll kind of end with this, and just how important you've been and influential, even though you know, we don't talk a whole lot, but still nonetheless. I mean, I remember so Preston is a couple years older than Trisha. But there's two people that in my life, um, you know, growing up a coach's kid, like, I mean, I and I have no qualms, it was the greatest life, it, you know, but dad was gone a lot. And um, even when he was around, his his mind was out elsewhere, right? And that's a part of being that head coach at that level. Um, he came to everything he possibly could. But watching you as a new father, and then watching John Hoke and him as a father, that influenced me. I mean, that that that did more for me as a father and and how to approach fatherhood when I when when we did have Preston and then Braxton and then Brody more than anybody I've ever been around. So I just want to thank you and uh and Sarah. Yeah, because it was good times. We had to do that. Yeah. And it you know, it still is. I mean, I I just my whole approach to being a father and being a coach. Um, you guys, you and John were were the key factors in in that. So I love you for it and thank you for that.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

So yeah, it's awesome. Well, I'll I'll say this. We had, you know, that your dad's staff at Mizzou have uh we what Sarah and I called Andy Muller two weeks ago on the phone, and we have a running joke about this Boone County ham that we gave Mueller a Christmas gift one year. He set it on his refrigerator for like five years, and so we all talk about this Boone County ham that's still curing at the ripe age of about 35 or whatever. But uh yeah, I John Hoke, it was neat to be able to see guys that I coached with. Uh, you know, he was at the Bears and different places. So I got to see him uh across the sideline. He was at South Carolina his last couple years in college, and so uh Harry He stand, Andy Moeller, the great quality dudes that uh yourself that you know was able to run across and still are friends with to this day.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Yeah, and Tabor too, can't forget about Tabes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, forget about Tabes.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

Poor Taves, yeah. I I I I totally forgot about Tabes. He he's uh he's the best. We I talked to him quite a bit, uh, was able to see him at the combine every year, coached against him a couple times in the NFL. But yeah, he's he's setting it. There's so many good dudes that we we had fortunate ability to be around for sure.

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Yeah, well, Andy, I appreciate it. Love you and your family, and and thank you so much for jumping on. I appreciate it. Glad to go to work.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Great to see you, and and uh good luck with your move.

SPEAKER_00 41:53

All right. Hey, hold on a sec, okay?

SPEAKER_01 41:55

Okay.