Art Briles Talks About RG3 in D.C.

Baylor Head Coach, Art Briles, joined The Sports Fix on ESPN 980 to talk about what Redskins fans can expect from RG3, on the fine line between cockiness and confidence, when he knew RG3 was going to be something special, how easy RG3 was to coach, and how much conversation he has had with the Redskins brass.

I recommend reading the entire interview (Kool-aid alert), but here are some choice bits:

What Redskins fans can expect from Robert Griffin III:

Briles: "Oh shoot just big time ball. He's a guy that can do it all. You mentioned the word franchise and that's what he is. I was trying to think back in the day and Washington's franchise quarterbacks and he's the type of guy that everybody is going to fall in love with because of his passion, his eagerness, his desire to excel. He's a tremendous competitor with a tremendous amount of ability."

On the fine line between cockiness and confidence:

"It is a fine line and the thing that I have learned having the opportunity to coach some premiere athletes over the last few years is for a guy, you say ego, I think you have to have an ego if you're going to be a tremendous person or be tremendously great. I think that just fuels it. A guy that is normal like myself I can have a big ego but you have to have something to back it up with and you have to have talent and you have to have unbelievable athletic ability and that's what fuels your ego and that's what gives you a chance to be a great leader so a lot of guys can want, feel and act like it's going to happen but unless you have the whole package together it's not going to happen. That's the great thing about Robert. He's a guy who understands what he's been given and knows how to use it."

When he knew RG3 was going to be something special:

"I actually knew it when he was a junior in high school.....the first time he threw the ball I told our coaches ‘hey we have to hide this guy. If it gets out that he can throw this way and be able to run like he can we'll never get him.' He came from a real run-based offense in high school where he really didn't throw the ball that much, he was under the center all the time, and never had a chance to showcase his talents. The first time I saw him throw the football I said ‘hey this guy is different now."

What it was like to coach him:

"Tremendously easy to coach. Like I mentioned before he's a fierce competitor with a tremendous amount of belief. The only way you have that is to be extremely gifted and talented which he is. And intelligent which he is. It was a deal where we're feeding him as much as we can feed him and then letting him go eat."