HAVING A BALL F
resh into his new position as Vanderbilt’s head football coach, Robbie Caldwell sat down with Commodore Nation to discuss philosophy, emotion, Jerry Clower and sheetrock before the start of the Commodores’ 2010 preseason camp.
Commodore Nation: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given about being a head coach? Robbie Caldwell: “Delegate. You’ve got good people, you surround yourself with great coaches, which I feel like ours is as fine as any in the country; but you know I’ve always done things in my group—and whatever responsibilities I was given as an assistant head coach—and I liked to do it. I grew up working, and I thought that was your responsibility, so that’s been the hardest thing for me is to let our people work. They have responsibilities, and they’ll take care of them better than anybody. I just need to stay out of their ways sometimes. I want them to be able to work. I’ve never worked under a job description—whatever needs to be done, I was just always trained that way in this business.” CN: Looking forward to the first game, how do you think you’ll act on the sidelines as a head coach? RC: “Coach Johnson was very emotional, yet he could keep a calm head when it was time to make a decision. I hope to be able to do the same. I’ve got to, because it involves everybody now; but I will continue to be emotional, because it’s an exciting, fun time. On offense, the players have to play with a more controlled emotion because they have to make decisions. If a guy moves six inches, eight inches, it may change the whole blocking scheme. But defensively, you can be a little more emotional, so when [the defense is] on the field, I want to make sure I show that, as well.” CN: What are the differences in philosophy between Coach Johnson and yourself? RC: “Really, none, in the fact that we both grew up in the football realm thinking defense first. We kind of had the philosophy that if they don’t score, we’re going to be okay. That’s always been our deal.... We will continue the same philosophy: attacking defense. You know, Coach Fowler and Coach Bryant would always ask me—and not just me, but any offensive guy—’what do you think about this,’ because we’re the ones who’ve got to block it, try to stop it. We try to share ideas. What’s the hardest for us as an offensive line to block? And in
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return, defensively, they would say ‘This is the toughest play. This is hard for us to defend.’ We share ideas all the time.” CN: Coming into camp, you’re the most familiar with the offensive line. What can you tell us about that unit? RC: “One thing about that group is that we always ask them to play two positions to help them get on the field sooner [and] gain a greater knowledge of the system, so most of them have done that. Our last scrimmage in the spring, most people did not see it, but we had seven guys and they all played different spots and had a ball, and we did very well offensively. So the continuity’s there, but we’ve got to add some pieces to the puzzle. We’re going to have to have some freshmen step up, and that’s what they came here for. That’s part of the decision, the great academics and the chance to play early. We’ll give them that opportunity.” CN: In the weeks since your promotion, have you had any time to sit back and soak it in? RC: “No, but I tell you what, I’m enjoying it. I’m so proud. I love selling Vanderbilt. I really love what this university stands for. The true student-athlete. It’s just very special. I think that’s the way college athletics should be.”