MontrealAlouettes.com
Upon landing in Montreal, new Alouettes head coach Dan Hawkins sat down with MontrealAlouettes.com for an exclusive interview where he covered everything from his playing days and first conversation with Anthony Calvillo to his coaching philosophy, soft-spot for birds and why he’s more than ready for Montreal winters.
What’s it been like so far to work with someone as passionate as Jim Popp who lives and breathes football?
He’s great. He has tons of experience and knows the ins and outs. He’s been a coach and he knows this league inside-out. He has really been tremendous to me both in putting this staff together and explaining the dynamics. I’m sure his experience is going to prove to be even greater once we get this thing rolling.
What’s your first order of business here as head coach of the Alouettes?
Well, we’ve got to get the staff in place and we’ve done a really nice job with that — I really like those guys. I want to reach out to the players because they are the most important part of this equation. We need to make sure they know that we’re in touch with them. We’ve got a tremendous amount of work to do on the playbook as we get ready for the next phase when we meet in probably a month to finalize that. We’ve got mini-camp coming up and then training camp. The other thing is Mr. Wetenhall’s vision for the Alouettes of institutionalizing the franchise here in the city and reaching out to the community, which I think is extremely important and we embrace all that.
Have you had the chance to speak to Anthony Calvillo yet?
I did talk to AC, I talked to him on the phone as this process was coming along. I told him what my plan and my vision are and what my expectations are. Most of all I wanted him to know he’s going to be a huge part of this. We need his knowledge, his expertise and his opinions on what we’re doing and how we’re doing it because it all revolves around him.
What makes a Dan Hawkins football team, a Dan Hawkins football team?
We’ve always been a little outside of the box, very creative. My teams like to have some fun, we’ll be very good on defence and special teams. We like to play with a lot of excitement, a lot of creativity with the ability to pull a few tricks out of the bag. I want our players to have fun. I want our fans to feed off that. We obviously have to do a great job on the field and win football games. But the excitement, the creativity and the passion – those have been synonymous with all the teams I’ve coached.
Given your last name includes the word “hawk” was joining the Alouettes a no-brainer?
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A “Hawk” among the Alouettes? It’s all about being part of the bird family, according to Coach Hawkins. |
(laughs) Exactly! I’m in the bird family. You’ve got to be in the bird family.
You’ve put together quite the staff of football minds, how pleased are you with the team you’ve assembled?
Really great, and not just as football minds. One of the things that I really researched on these guys and talked to them about specifically was that I want good people. I want guys that love the players, that have the respect of the players, and that have their best interests at heart. I need coaches that are great in the community and know the science of football. It’s not just balling, it can’t be, and I think the people that we have are good husbands and good fathers. They’re great with the players and understand the teaching, coaching and mentoring aspects of the job, as well as the science of football.
You grew up in California, are you sure you’re ready for this kind of climate change?
(laughs) Well here’s the shocker for you, everyone thinks California is beaches, but where I’m from it’s almost next to Oregon so it gets pretty cold up there. There were plenty of times we had sub-zero weather up there and snow piled up for a long time. Now, it’s rainy in Oregon, but it gets pretty cold in Boise and it snows and it gets pretty cold in Colorado and it snows, so I would say yeah, three of the four places I’ve lived we’ve got a lot of weather like this.
Biggest coaching influences?
Wow. I’d have to say my dad, number one. He was a great leader, he was a man’s man, and he was a great person to learn from. The other person would probably be a guy named Bob Foster who was at UC Davis. I coached for him — and with him, at several spots along the way — and those two guys are probably the foundation. The other person probably in my more modern history is Dirk Cutter who’s now the OC with the Atlanta Falcons. He really taught me a lot about the science of football and taking it to the next level. Those three people were probably pretty influential for me.
What about Dan Hawkins the football player? What position did you play and were you any good?
(laughs) Well, that’s up for debate. I always say I played fullguard and people ask, what’s that? Well, I played fullback but you could’ve put number 60 on me because all I did really was block most of the time, which was fine. Of course in high school you played everything, but I was pretty much a blocking-back-type fullback. Was I any good? I don’t know, that’s debatable. I’ve seen some of my old film and now that I’m a coach I don’t think I was very good at all, but I sure loved to play and i had a lot of passion. I worked hard, I was a tough guy and I just loved football.
When your Boise State team won 31 conference games in a row did you have any pre-game rituals? How superstitious a guy are you?
My biggest pre-game ritual is preparation, and to me, that’s it. Once you get to game day you just cut it loose. We had a great staff, we had great players — one of which I’ve got on my staff now, Ryan Dinwiddie — we had an administration that was very supportive of our football program, fans that were very supportive, it was the perfect storm, it really was. So in that situation that’s why we had all that success.
How often have you been to Canada?
Off and on in different parts. I’ve been to British Columbia probably most. I’ve been to Calgary, I’ve driven across the plains, and I’ve also spent around ten days here in Montreal last year. Then we took the train down to Toronto to watch that game as well. So I’ve probably been to every province, but British Columbia, because I’m from the West, that’s probably where I’ve been the most.
Will your work over the last few years at ESPN as an analyst give you an edge with the media, given the fact you’re kind of one of them?
(laughs) I don’t know if they would say that. I’ll tell you what’s been great is having learned a lot from a lot of folks that really watch this game and care about this game. I think sometimes in coaching you get so close to the forest that you can’t see the trees. It’s been really beneficial. The other side of it is getting to really study football, professionally. I’m talking professional football, Canadian League, college football from a lot of different angles. Sometimes when you coach for 30 years, you don’t have time to step back and research. I’ve spent 30 years coaching but the last two years researching. A lot coaches have been really generous. I’ve probably been to 20-25 college teams and four or five professional teams as well spending time with Marc Trestman and his staff last year. It’s truly been like getting a Ph.D in football.
Do you have anything to say to your new fans in Montreal?
I hope they support us. We’re all about supporting the community. We’re going to do our best to put a great product on the field, to be exciting to be dynamic. We all want to win. This is a great franchise. All of the community and the team have to pull together and row together. I hope it’s a great partnership and that we bring a few more Grey Cups to Montreal.
