Some players you pat their butts, some players you kick their butts, some players you leave alone.

Sparky Anderson taught me this a long time ago: 'There's three ways you can treat a person. You can pat 'em on the butt, you can kick 'em in the butt, or you can leave 'em alone.'

I think players need a pat on the back but they also need a kick in the rear. They have to understand it's a matter of getting the job done.

We are more than bunch of nerds. We can kick butts, too.

For some players, that works great. For some, it's getting our butts kicked (45-7 at USC last year). For Sam (Keller), it's about how we execute.

A team will take on its manager's personality. If it's a laid back manager, you'll have a laid back personality. The players will see that if it's OK for the Manager to be laid back, then you'll have a laid back team.