Mike LaFleur knows that the next six months will be filled with daunting tasks, one after another.
The Arizona Cardinals are coming off a 3-14 season, with an increasingly murky quarterback situation and the most difficult schedule in the NFL. But if the Cardinals have hit on the next great product of the Sean McVay tree — LaFleur spent the past three seasons as McVay’s offensive coordinator — then this season will be a success, even if the record isn’t pretty.
So who is the Cardinals’ new head coach? That’s what The Arizona Republic sought to learn in a sit-down interview on Monday, July 20, a few days before the start of training camp.
Upon learning that this would delve into his personality, LaFleur offered a disclaimer. “Some context for me:
This is the stuff I hate the most,” he said, widening his smile.
Oh well. Here we go.
(This interview has been edited lightly for clarity.)
Question: What would you be doing if you weren't a football coach?
Answer: I love cooking, so I'd love to be a chef or something within the restaurant business. Something that I was able to do a lot over this summer was get back to cooking for my family. That'd be the No. 1 thing.
You've picked the only job in the world more intense and hectic than being a head football coach.
I think there are so many crossovers to what those chefs are doing at some of the best restaurants and what we're doing as coaches. We watch a ton of "Chef's Table" and those shows on TV, my wife and I. And the way that a lot of these guys prepare and think, I can take so much of that. I was actually just talking to the offensive staff about something that I heard from a chef this summer.
What’s the No. 1 dish on the Mike LaFleur menu?
Well, what I make at home the most would be steak. So very simple. But you've had bad steaks, you've had good steaks. You've gotta know how to cook a steak. So that's one. But I also — very sparingly, but when you have a Saturday in the offseason where it's just your family and friends coming over, I love to smoke ribs.
Speaking of family, your brother is Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. What's your sport or activity with your best all-time record against Matt?
Well, we're seven and a half years apart, so like, I couldn't hoop against him when I was younger. I think I could now, but he might tear an Achilles like he did hooping in 2019. So we're getting into golf a little bit. And he is better than me right now, but the last match that we played before I left Wisconsin, I got him, which was nice. But we've played each other most in football. And I’m 5-4 right now.
Does the preseason game next month count toward that?
The preseason game does not count.
So now I have to ask, what's your sport or activity with your worst all-time record against your brother?
Because we're so far apart in age, I'm sure he could list a bunch of them. We did hoop when he was in college, and I was just getting into high school. So we'll go basketball.
A quick football one. What's your favorite play that you've designed or been a part of at any level, from Pee-Wee to being an offensive coordinator in the NFL?
Super Bowl, 2016. Obviously, we know that result was. But in terms of the play, the touchdown to Tevin Coleman, to go up 28-3 there in the third quarter, where he slipped out of the backfield. That was starting to become a trending play back in 2015 and 2016, but a lot of people were doing it with a little bit more width. And the way New England was playing, how they were peeling on their edges, we tightened up the bunches to get natural picks off their edge guys so no one could go. And Matt Ryan just retreated a little bit and hit Tevin. I remember we had two weeks leading up to that, having those discussions with Kyle and him stamping it and calling it was really cool.
I love that insight into how your brain thinks about these things. Back off of football, what's one of your guilty pleasures? What do you cheat with?
Well, I did get a little bit into golf in the last year. Obviously, you don't get to play too much, but Saturdays before our kids would wake up, I'd take my wife out — she's getting into golf — so being able to get nine holes in and then getting home before they really wake up and we take them to their sporting events on Saturday mornings. So that's a good offseason cheat, but starting basically today, those clubs are gonna get a little bit dusty.
What's the most satisfying shot to hit on a golf course?
Well, I can't putt and I'm still working on the chipping game. I like a good drive, man. A good drive is pretty fun. At least it sets you up to not lose your ball.
Flip side, what's your pet peeve in day-to-day life?
Disorganization. Whether it be at the house — not that our house is disorganized at all; my wife keeps it spick and span, she's extremely organized. But when stuff's just cluttered and all over the place, whether it be professional or personal, it just drives me nuts.
I know you have no time for this, but what sport do you watch most outside of football?
You do in the offseason. You get your work in, but you have some time in April and May at night to catch a playoff game. And a lot of our team meetings talk about the night before. And the competitiveness of, like, the New York Knicks. I got to meet Jalen Brunson this summer, and I told him, “You were part of half of our team meetings.” Because of how awesome he was to watch and the competitiveness and the never-give-up attitude. So the NBA playoffs, I absolutely love. And then how about the British Open the past four days? And what we saw there with grit and competitiveness throughout the weekend. Every time there's one of those golf majors on, you love to catch at least that Sunday if you can.
I think I know your answer to this, but who did you want to be like when you were 5 years old?
I think you're probably expecting me to answer my brother.
I was thinking your dad (Denny LaFleur was a long-time assistant football coach at Central Michigan).
I'll go one step further than that. My grandpa. He passed in 2010, but what a life he lived. He was really the rock of our family. He was my mom's dad. We had a very small family on that side. But he lived in Kalamazoo; we lived in Mount Pleasant because of Central Michigan. They were up every Saturday for the Central Michigan games. He was the first person at my freshman high school games. We used to joke that he was lining the fields. Because we'd get off the bus and it's a freshman game, there's gonna be 100 people there. They're all parents. And he'd be sitting there waiting. And he was an awesome high school head coach. I knew how sweet he was — again, he was the rock of our family — but being at his funeral and all the former players that showed up, it just stamped everything that we already knew.
Now some quick favorites. Favorite food, you've kind of already answered, is it steak?
I love all sorts of food. But I'm gonna go with salmon.
Favorite band.
The Revivalists.
Favorite place you've ever been.
Newport Beach. Simple.
Favorite part of being the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Being around these guys daily.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur talks rivalries, food in exclusive Q&A
