Fearless by Doug Pederson & Dan Pompei

Author:Doug Pederson & Dan Pompei [Pederson, Doug & Pompei, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2018-08-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

When I was preparing to be interviewed for the Eagles’ head coach position, I watched Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference from the end of the 2015 season. In it, he talks about the importance of emotional intelligence. My agent, Bob LaMonte, and I discussed it, too, as one of the qualities that would make me a good fit for the job. It’s all about the importance of having a connection with people and understanding them, of being open, transparent, honest, and direct. Since I became head coach of the Eagles, I have tried to operate with those traits. I want to have a deeper understanding of my team overall, and of individual players and the coaches who comprise it.

Some people might say it’s a new-age concept. I think about that, and about some of the history of the game and the coaches who treated their players harshly. Mentally and physically, they’d beat you down, thinking they were making you better through tough, hard practices and verbal abuse. Some of that stuff you can’t get away with today. You can’t talk to players that way and you can’t work that way. Fortunately, there are rules now that we have to abide by. Rules or not, though, I do believe there is a better way of communicating with your team. And we can practice hard too. We can prepare and study and really drive those points home. In addition, you have to show them that you love them and care for them. And genuinely so.

So I thank Mr. Lurie and Bob for bringing the concept to my attention. I’ve adopted it as my own. I first met Mr. Lurie in 2009 when I came to Philadelphia as an assistant coach. He’s an excellent owner, providing every resource we need to do our jobs. I’m very grateful to him for hiring me. It was an honor to be on that podium in our stadium after the NFC Championship Game and hand him the George Halas Trophy, and then to win the Super Bowl and see the joy on his face when he held the Lombardi Trophy.

He’s been the owner of this team for twenty-four years. He’s a Boston native, and I think he would have loved to own the Patriots. He has a lot of respect for the Patriots and what they’ve accomplished, so you could see the weight lifted after we won the Super Bowl. He’s as genuine as they come, and we have a great relationship. He can come to me, and I can go to him. There is no hesitation about talking. He has a passion for the city, a passion for his team—and he obviously wants to win, but not to the point where he interferes with the coaches. He lets us coach. That’s what he hired us to do. He does like for me to provide him updates on how things are going, to keep him in the loop.

He’s in the building a lot, but even when he isn’t he tells me he’s just a phone call or a text away.

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