Matt, Lance and Jake will be in Austin this weekend for Texas football. I'll put their parts of the interview in their respective threads. Will put the link in all. Thanks to Danyelle at WFT for finding this.
09/08/2006
Celebrity trio: Armstrong, Gyllenhaal and McConaughey
Thomas Stepp, Texas Media Relations
Matthew McConaughey
What are your feelings when you come to practice? I tell you what. I was here for the first time nine or ten years ago, and practice today is a whole lot different from then. That was right after the UCLA game when we got whooped pretty bad. The difference between then and now and at that time -- the kids, the speed, the confidence, some of the overall ability -- is a big difference. I like what I'm seeing today, just the way you watch them interacting, you watch how they pass each other, you watch how the kid runs a route on the opposite side of the field when he knows the play's not even coming to him. You see unity, you see also kids that want to play for their own personal best. I like this motto they've got going this year which is, 'Just do what you do.' You've got 11 kids on the field at a time doing what you do, then you've got a great team. I like it. I like watching sometime, I like not saying a word and just looking in their eyes. Other times, I like joking with them. Sometimes I like asking them if they're ready, 'Are you ready to get it on?' It's always kind of different. It's also different for different people.
It's just nice to watch for me. I just got finished doing a film, 'We are Marshall,' where I got to coach. I think the experience of being out here at these practices and watching this, obviously made me more comfortable on the field as a coach. I just like it; I'm just right there. I'm 36, so I'm right at that cusp where I go, 'I think I could still run that route,' but I like it over here. I like coaching.
I like it, I went to school here, it's a good group of kids, and I like seeing how the coaches interact here. There's a respect level, but also the coaches have some fun here too. I like the mix of the discipline and the looseness. That's where the great mix is.
How valuable is your interaction with the guys to you? To me, I'm 36, and whether they're here or wherever they're going to go off to, this is the youth of today. I come back here, and I've done good things with my life and gone on and succeeded. I love to take the time to come by and look them in the eye, shake their hand and ask them how they're feeling and let them know I'm here for them. They're just reminded that they're supported. Me, being somebody they know, there's other things I could be doing, but if I were them, it would be nice to know that I'm supported, and that's what I like to do.
What is your relationship like with Coach Brown? It's good, and I'm really so happy for him after last year. We were just talking, and there are a lot of times where you do the same things, but you don't win the grand prize, but when you do, they think you did something different. Maybe you didn't do something different, you're just doing the same thing, and the cards fell where they were, and you did it well. You've been doing it well before that, even though you maybe didn't win the grand prize. Again, we were talking about that looseness and focus, I like that about him. He's got a keen eye. Even when he and I are talking, we could be in the middle of a joke and he's got his eye on something, and he's making a mental note of it.
We talk and philosophize a little bit here and there, and I like to check in with him and ask him where the team is or what are the strengths and what's the one thing that's the biggest concern. I know they're going to play really hard, and that's what you want, because you're going to get effort. You're going to get a huge effort Saturday. I learn so much about sports just through "the game," and how to coach "the game." You work physically all day, but Friday, let's go to the mental side, let's focus, let's go over everything we did. You have a loose group too. This is the Ohio State game, these kids don't need to be pumped up. They don't need to be told to get pumped up. They're full. They need to focus on the game plan, keep it loose and take that focus to the field.
How was your Rose Bowl experience? I was exhausted after that game, man. Whooo, that was as amazing of a sporting event as I've ever seen, or most anyone has ever seen. The rhythms that team went through; you make a great move and the drama swings. It was a great testament to just sticking to it. They just stuck to it and stuck to it and stuck to it, and then when it was over, I had tears of joy, tears of exhaustion, and then seeing these kids and these coaches afterwards and hearing what they said in the locker room. I've talked about this before, but five minutes after the victory, Coach Brown had already said, 'Don't let this be the greatest thing that ever happens in your life.' That's another great thing we've got going here -- be the best at what you're doing here, but also, a high percentage of these kids will not end up playing professional football, and if you do, the average time is 3.2 years, so if you do that, what are you doing after age 25? Again, sports and life lessons. That was some of my favorite stuff, after the game. Just seeing everybody the day before, walking around looking in their eyes was great.
They were singing the song you taught them during that day before, and you just sang it again. How does that make you feel? It's cool, man. It was just a little ditty that I woke up in the middle of the night about a year ago, and I was in Spain. I was like, 'You know what, man? They don't think so, they know it -- Somebody don't think so, somebody knows so.' I feel good man, it's fun.
http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/ind...hange_well_id=2