Dual Q&A with Mike Johnson & Joe Tresey, ctd.

Do you care more about execution or do you care about talent? Would you rather have a guy who does things the right way 100 percent of the time, or someone who does someone better, but only 50 percent of the time?

Mike Johnson: “I want the team that executes. I want the team that plays the best together, collectively. I you do that consistently, that team will have a chance to win every game. It’s not always the best team that wins, it’s the team that plays the best every single game.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to execute a football play. It is harder to get 11 guys to be synchronized doing the right things, moving in the right direction every single play. And that is why I love coaching football.”

Joe Tresey: “You’re talking about a guy who has got a heart as big as the room, but sometimes get it done? You want consistency. That’s what you want. The give-and-take is, like you say, the guy who doesn’t have it every down you want, but has more talent. You have to evaluate that. Even though he doesn’t have it every down, does he have enough to win football games for you? Versus, the guy who can’t win a game for you but is in the right place every time. I think that’s an evaluation process. The whole key to coaching is getting a guy, whoever that is, to get it going every time. And being smart enough to know when you’re going to sub him, when you’re going to rest him. And if you give him rest, and he still can’t do it, what you hope is the next man in is going to have enough talent and competitive juices that he’ll be able to pass that guy eventually. At the end of the day, it’s all about winning. We all know that, and we want our best players on the field. It comes down to, is your best player always your best player? Or is he your best player in certain situations?”