Jon Gruden Gives Compelling Football Advice to Ryan Williams, Isaiah Horton

Longtime NFL head coach Jon Gruden sat down with Alabama wide receivers Ryan Williams and Isaiah Horton on Friday and discussed how embodying excellence and perfection translates on and off the gridiron.

"When I was calling plays in the NFL, you can't tap out, man," Gruden said. "I mean [13-time Pro Bowler] Jerry Rice, [nine-time Pro Bowler] Tim Brown, [five-time Pro Bowler] Irving Fryar, the great receivers I've coached, it's a long game, man. "When you're running a clear out-route for a deep cross, you've got to run back to the huddle. Then you've got to come back again and block. Then you got to dig out a safety and then you have to come back and I call your number on third-and-5 for you to run a choice route with sudden quickness.

"So it's the physical conditioning and the mental toughness that you've got to have, man. And it ain't good enough. It's never good enough. So when you get back to [Alabama], make the strength coach your best friend. They're going to put GPS' on you guys, they're not going to overwork you but you've got to make sure that you're pushing yourselves differently than everybody else. The conditions aren't going to stay the same."

Former Alabama wide receivers like Julio Jones, Amari Cooper and DeVonta Smith have torn up the league for the past decade upholding these methods. And if we go back much further, Pro Football Hall of Fame Crimson Tide pass-catchers Don Hutson and Ozzie Newsome did the same.

However, the state of college football, the gateway to the NFL, has changed rapidly over the last couple of years due to the emergence of NIL and the transfer portal. While these two core assets of today's game have their benefits, arguments have been made that athletes aren't fully utilizing this stage as a developmental one.

And while Gruden didn't bring up NIL and the transfer portal, he explained that all-out football-related effort, whether it's on or off the field, is the first step to greatness––using Jerry Rice as the ultimate example once again.

"The demands on you, especially [Williams], are going to be higher and higher," Gruden said. "'Hey let me do an interview with Ryan Williams: Hey Ryan, can you come endorse this product? Hey Ryan, come over here.'

"Well that's all great, but I'll tell you what, Jerry Rice never missed a workout. Every year he reported to training camp he was one pound lighter. 37-years-old, 38, 39, his conditioning was insane. Guys would go train with him and they'd never go back again because he would run them into the freaking ground.

"But my point is to make sure you guys get yourselves ready to really roll because that's what makes the great pass offenses. Late in the fourth quarter, two-minute drills, guys aren't tapped out on the sidelines."

Williams and Horton were both writing down quotes from Gruden throughout the interview. The 2002 Super Bowl champion head coach also quizzed the two Alabama receivers multiple times over the course of 33 minutes and they seemed to really soak in the message.

Of course, while Gruden often spoke about football routes, this message can be applied to all sports at every level. The question is, how soon will athletes embrace it?

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