Op-Ed: My dad coached football for 30 years. His death gives the season a new meaning
LA TimesFootball coach Joe Madden used to tell his children, “The one thing you big turkeys can count on is change.” Now the change they can count on is his absence. Dad, a college and NFL football coach for 30 years — he was defensive coordinator, assistant head coach and special teams coach Joe Madden, not head coach John Madden — used to tell us, “The one thing you big turkeys can count on is change.” His comment usually followed the announcement of a move to a new football team, ignoring any dissent from his noisy children in the peanut gallery. There have been no players since 1990.” But Steve had a different strategy: “Hey, Coach, practice isn’t until Thursday.” When Dad said, “I need to get in touch with Jon Gruden. Duffy made him lunch and read to him — Vince Lombardi’s “When Pride Still Mattered” and Bear Bryant’s “The Last Coach.” My other brother in Chicago talked football with Dad on Zoom.
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