While the media’s job is to report on the world of sports and the stories in that world, some sports reporters just have an innate ability to ask coaches questions that make their blood boil. And this leads to some amazing and hilarious sound bites from coaches, such as these five.
1. Jim Mora
While the interview itself is great, you can tell his outrage isn’t exaggerated because of one simple fact. This was actually the last interview he did with the Saints as he resigned the next day. The Saints were 2-6 after this game and Mora was obviously unhappy with the second half of the game. He went on to list everything the team couldn’t do and famously said that they couldn’t do “diddly-poo” offensively.
2. Mike Singletary
While Mike Singletary was an outstanding player on the field during his hay day, but on the sidelines, he wasn’t that good of a coach. If you don’t believe me, just ask the San Francisco 49ers players and fans. One of his first big moves that fans didn’t like was when he benched star tight end Vernon Davis because he was not a team player. That benching is what led to this tirade by Singletary on how he wants team players.
3. Herm Edwards
When he was a coach, Herm Edwards was always good for a great sound bite as he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind to anyone. In this historic interview, Edwards goes on a tirade towards reporters that focused on the all-encompassing phrase of “you play to win the game”, as he goes on to say if players don’t believe that, they might as well retire and that winning is why they all play and coach this game.
4. Jim Mora Again
As you can see, this guy is just not afraid to give an honest and candid interview for reporters. After becoming an analyst for a few years after leaving the Saints, Mora came back to coach the Colts. After a few good seasons, the team began to slow down and many thought this would be the perfect time for another gem from Mora, and boy, were they right. Mora went on to again talk down the performance of his team and uttered the now famous “Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game” line.
5. Dennis Green
There was no internal struggle for me putting the late and great Dennis Green at the top of this list. The normally soft-spoken and reserved Dennis Green blew up for reporters after his Arizona Cardinals blew a 20 point lead with under 20 minutes left against the Chicago Bears. He began the interview with his composure in check and then, he blew up with his world famous “they are who we thought they were” rant, complete with swearing, yelling and even smacking the microphone. While he was later fired (many pundits believe this big loss and outburst had something to do with it) it remains one of the greatest interviews ever and is constantly replayed.
