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Andrews 'Fiery But Fair'

Tribune photo by COLIN HACKLEY

Florida State Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews instructs his players during practice Wednesday in Tallahassee.

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By STEVE ELLIS

The Tallahassee Democrat

Published: August 27, 2008

Of all the words — most printable, but some not — that have been used to describe Mickey Andrews by his players, there is one he would appreciate hearing most.

"Encourager," he said. "But that's not always the case."

Somewhere in that moment when his face turns red before delivering an Alabama homespun barb — "My wife hugs harder than you tackle," or one even sharper — Florida State's defensive coordinator has evolved into something else.

"I've probably been more of a pusher than an encourager," Andrews said. "There have been a lot of times where I needed to do more encouraging and less pushing."

Former FSU linebacker Ken Alexander considers them one and the same. It's an approach deep-rooted in Andrews' playing days under legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," said Alexander, a member of FSU's 1993 national championship team. "When I was there, I'd see him chase Corey Fuller or Clifton Abraham all the way down the field because they blew coverage.

"His pushing was the motivation. The players would go all-out. They knew his purpose was to make you better. You saw what other players had achieved."

In the eyes of former pupils who still call Tallahassee home — players such as Alexander, Leon football coach Bill Ragans and FSU staff member Terrell Buckley — it worked.

The proof could be found in the more than 70 Seminoles that Andrews sent to the NFL, including 14 consensus All-Americans. Or maybe it was FSU's two national titles, won with dominating and aggressive defenses.

But the real measure of Andrews' impact as he begins his 25th season at FSU, all as the defensive coordinator, might be the tap on the office door or phone call seeking advice. On the other side is a former player.

That person would sometimes be Buckley, before he returned to FSU last spring to complete a degree that he started working on in 1989. It was the fulfillment of a promise he made to his mother and to Andrews before he left FSU a year early for a long NFL career.

"I always called him," said Buckley, now an assistant strength coach. "I could talk about anything and everything, personal issues to football."

Hard, But Fair

Head coach Bobby Bowden, who hired Andrews in February 1984 and then turned the defense over to him, considers the respect former players have for him as a true testimony to Andrews' coaching and mentoring abilities.

"Ten years later is when they really appreciate Mickey," he said. "Ten years later they look back and say, Gosh, that's the hardest thing I've ever been through. I sure am glad he did that."

Make no mistake, Ragans said, Andrews was tough during Ragans' his playing days from 1987-1990.

"He was hard on everybody, and that's a good thing in my opinion," said Ragans, who figures he would rank among Andrews' list of top-five hard-headed players. "He was definitely tough love, but he wants the best out of you and the best for you. He pushes you to the point where he is able to get everything out of you."

While Ragans fought Andrews, it didn't take Buckley that long to figure out that if he Andrews — how to do the things he Andrews demanded, played like a "wild man" and that Andrews would stop yelling. Buckley also quickly learned what Andrews was all about when it came to a coach-player relationship. Encourager, Buckley said, would fit. So would some other words.

"Fiery, yes. But he's actually fair," Buckley said. "We got to see both sides. When we step across the chalk line, one word would be tough. No, one word won't do. Very tough.

"But off the field we get to see the other side. Supporting would be a word I would use. Listener would be another word."

Perhaps no FSU players are associated with Andrews more than his two Jim Thorpe Award winners, Buckley and Deion Sanders. They were flashy.

And Andrews? Not so much. In Andrews, Buckley found a coach who was constantly evolving — a sign for the cornerback that he was in the hands of a good teacher.

Andrews also had their trust.

"When young people know you want for them what they want, they'll fight hard," Andrews said. "With Deion and Buck, both of those guys were outstanding players.

"Both of them were criticized at times for the excitement that they created. But to me that's exactly what it was — they enjoyed playing the game and enjoyed making big plays.

"Somebody would criticize them because they were jumping up and down on the field. Well, I was jumping up and down, too, but I couldn't jump up high enough for them to tell I was jumping. I don't know if anything as a coach excites you more than seeing a player make a great play."

Building On The Past

The message that Andrews wants his players to get is simple. It has remained the same throughout his FSU days.

"That they didn't come here just to become a better player or to get in the NFL," he said. "They didn't come here just to beat a Florida, a Miami or Clemson, but to grow as a person.

"It's all about habits. In our thought process and what we do and what we say, we build habits. From that, that's what you become, really. Hopefully in that maturation process they learn life is more than football. That's what they are judged by primarily, because millions of people get to see that.

"A lot of people don't get to know how they do academically until they mess up. Not many people know how they grow as a person until they mess up. If we can avoid mess-ups, we can work on the positive things."

Andrews said he tries to build on what his players had received at home, and through their high-school teachers, coaches and mentors. But sometimes he did not.

For every Buckley or Ragans, there was the one he couldn't reach. That, he allows, hurt more than any loss.

"There are some who left here that don't feel that way, and that's the ones that I failed to reach," Andrews said. "Maybe I wasn't enough of a daddy for them at the time. We coach these kids hard. Not everybody can be coached hard."

There have been other disappointments in 24 seasons at FSU. That would be true being at any place so long.

As Bowden coached into his 70s it became more obvious that Andrews, the man Bowden had publicly considered to be his successor, would not become FSU's head coach.

"Through the years, that was the plan," Andrews said. "That was the primary reason we stayed here, but it didn't work out.

"But the opportunity to work here for 25 years, where else would you rather be?"

No place, say so many of his former players.

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