Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501230046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, maybe not.
He will be on the San Francisco sideline at Super Bowl XXIX.
``It's the worst place to be,'' said Board, the 49ers' defensive line coach, by phone from the club's Santa Clara, Calif., complex Friday. ``It's too close to the head coach. Nobody stands by George [Seifert]. We're always trying to find ways to hide.''
Board is the only Southwest Virginia native who will see the Super Bowl up close. Growing up in Rocky Mount, little did the kid nicknamed ``Pee Wee'' figure he'd ever be 6 feet 5 and 250 pounds, much less coaching football, much less going for his fourth Super Bowl ring with a team that's a 191/2-point favorite.
He spent nine years in the NFL as a defensive lineman, all but the final few games with the 49ers. He has Super Bowl rings from XVI, XIX and XXIII as a player, the last at the end of his career. Although he had finished the 1988 season with New Orleans and watched his former team beat Cincinnati for the NFL title, he had been around long enough to get a ring.
``It seems like forever since then,'' Board said of the 49ers' last NFL championship. ``What's so good about this and what makes this game tough is that we've been right there three times [in the past four years], to the NFC championship game, and not gotten in.
``When you get that close, you know you're good enough. You just have to do it. You put pressure on the players to perform to the best of their ability. As a player, all I ever thought about was winning. You put together whatever you can to do that. It's no different as a coach. To me, the only difference between playing and coaching is the physical part.''
Board had 69 sacks, including eight in postseason, in his NFL career and is one of the Niners' career leaders in that department. He was a fifth-round draft pick by Pittsburgh from North Carolina A&T in 1979, but the Steelers cut him the last week of his first training camp. A day later, San Francisco claimed him.
Board chased Miami's Dan Marino well enough to be the defensive player of the game in Super Bowl XIX nine years ago. The Franklin County High graduate was a seven-year starter and has been with the 49ers for seven NFC championship games.
His first year after retirement as a player, Board worked in home construction in the San Francisco area. Then Seifert called and wanted Board to return to teach former teammate Charles Haley a new position the 49ers were developing.
It's the ``elephant'' position, a stand-up, hybrid defensive end/linebacker. Rickey Jackson mans that spot now.
``I had no idea I'd go into coaching or even if I'd like it,'' Board said. ``I worked mostly with our nickel defense and the elephant spot for three years, and then this season I was promoted. What you learn right away as a coach is that you have to be tough, especially with young players.
``We have two inside guys, [tackles] Bryant Young and Dana Stubblefield, who are very good. Outside, we're not as good. The inside guys are young. We feel like our way is the best way, but they've done it a completely different way for years. So, they come here and have no concept of what we're doing.
``It's like going to the Super Bowl. We have enough older guys who have been there before that they understand how you have to block out everything else going on. You can tell the younger guys about it, and you hope that helps them get them through it.''
Board's Super Bowl experiences are valuable in that regard. When he speaks, his listeners know he's been where they are for nine years.
``To me, as a coach, the No.1 thing is being honest with players,'' Board said. ``They want to know what's going on. A lot of players think they're better than what they really are. The coach has to be the guy that tells them if they don't make plays, they don't have it. I've been here. I know what it takes.''
by CNB