Our hosts have broken down and discussed the names and credentials within the Commanders’ coaching staff over the last week since they were announced, but there’s one name in particular that BMitch & Finlay wanted to go deep into: linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr.
It’s not often that you get someone with both a family athletic pedigree and success in the game to be a positional coach, but the son of a former boxing World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time Super Bowl champion linebacker is indeed leading the men who play his position now.
“It’s kind of rare you get a dude like this to land on a coaching staff, and we don't talk about it a little more,” JP said.
“He’s been coaching a long time, but that’s not what people are concerned about here – we give some credence to what he's done right now, but I think his coaching prowess has been as good as his playing days, and I think that's what people are more concerned,” BMitch said. “I competed against Ken, we had some mix-ups, but I went hard at it and did not go in there to like you – but I knew that when I played against him, you had to come, because he was gonna bring everything he had. We loved playing them, because you knew you had to bring your best. That’s what it was all about back in those days, and I think he's gonna push his guys to be just like that.”
Norton won two titles with Dallas and then one more with San Francisco, playing on both sides of one of the fiercest NFL rivalries of the decade – and he was one of the key figures in it.
“Norton was a really, really excellent linebacker, and they didn't try to make him do anything he couldn’t,” JP said. “This wasn't a Micah Parsons, he was a linebacker, and you hope maybe he could just come here and coach linebackers.”
At which point, JP wondered: could Norton revive Jamin Davis’ career?
“I think there's a chance, because I've loved hearing Dan Quinn talk about, ‘we're gonna take a guy and we're gonna make him better, and if we find out he has a special talent, we’re gonna utilize that as well,’” BMitch said. “I’ve never heard him or any of his coaches say, ‘we're gonna take a guy and make him do something he’s never done before.’ I'm hearing these coaches saying they’re gonna make sure whatever the person does great, they’re gonna enhance that to the highest. They're not talking about position flex and what else they can do – I need you to be able to do the first thing very well before I think about making you do anything else, but if you show me you're capable of doing something else, I'm gonna damn sure utilize that as well.”