Tag: QB Coach Ken Zampese

Commanders QB coach Ken Zampese: Like father, like son

Washington Commanders QB coach Ken Zampese spoke to the media on Friday.

Commanders quarterback coach Ken Zampese has been going through some tough times the last few weeks.

No, not in coaching the Commanders quarterbacks. Much more importantly, Ken’s father, Ernie Zampese died on August 29.

“(I’m) deeply saddened of course selfishly, but very happy and thankful. Everybody hopefully gets a chance to hear well done, good and faithful servant; he did two weeks ago today. So, congratulations to him, very happy for him. He’s my first call. My first guy. He and I were tighter than tight, so there’s nothing left unsaid.  It went quick and it was good for him. He’s in a better place.”

Ken recalls attending training camps when dad Ernie was the Chargers offensive coordinator. “Well, I got a chance to go to training camp at an early age, so that was so much fun for me to watch and be around guys. The ball never hit the ground. I’m watching Don Coryell with Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow, John Jefferson, Wes Chandler, Lydell Mitchell. All these guys running around catching balls. I had no idea what I was looking at. I had no idea.”

“That was a lot of fun and just seeing dad being the orchestrator of it all. Putting the pieces together but more importantly, what I gained from him was developing relationships, deep lasting, meaningful relationships that just get you to another level of kumbaya with the group you’re in and friendship and camaraderie with the guys. As you noticed, anybody who finishes playing or coaching, they missed the camaraderie more than anything else, and he was a camaraderie builder.”

“From quarterback barbecues in the backyard on Friday nights to all sorts of different things. He built community at every turn. All one-off relationships, meaningful, unique to that person. He’s got little crews all over the place. You go to the Chevron; he’s got a crew at the Chevron 5:00 AM coffee; he’s helping the lady open up. Taking the old papers out, putting the new papers in, getting her set up. Then the guys that work the manual labor jobs are rolling in for coffee. He’s there. They’re going through whatever the deals of the day are. Then he goes over to the grocery store. He knows all the ladies at the pharmacies. He knows everything was building unity, relationships, and community and that’s what I took from him.”

One of the things he learned from dad Ernie that he still uses today is, “It’s just how you deliver a message. You can say anything to somebody, as hard as the message might be, and it’s all in the delivery. The more you have built up before you get to the delivery, the better it’s gonna get received.”

“The only thing gets you through the toughest times is the bonds that you have with the people immediately in your circle. So, we are strengthening and reinforcing those on a daily basis. It was the first thing that hit my brain when we got him (Wentz), after being so excited about it. Broke my leg, doing back flips down the hallway. Just how do we get him tied here, deeply emotionally for he and his family and so we can get the most out of him for all of us.”

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Commanders QB Carson Wentz: ‘It’s a wake-up call

Carson Wentz talked about everything but football on Monday in discussing Brian Robinson Jr. and the death of QBs coach Ken Zampese’s father, Ernie.

Carson Wentz stated Brian Robinson Jr. getting shot is a wake-up call to real-life problems in this world.

Speaking with the media, Wentz opened his reaction to his running back getting shot twice Sunday, “Obviously it’s heartbreaking, but obviously there’s positive news as of late and then how he’s doing, but yeah, caught, caught us all off guard yesterday.”

Wentz said he was involved with a group text of offensive lineman when he said one of the guys sent the news of Robinson being shot to the group. Wentz said he immediately called head  oach Ron Rivera, saying he thought Rivera would know best.

“I think it’s a wake-up call to everybody, he said. “There’s real-life problems out there in this world, but thankfully Brian’s doing well, I’m told, and I look forward to seeing him.”

Wentz then informed the press that quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese’s father, Ernie, had died. So there certainly are real life and death issues being experienced by the Zampese family.

“Some things obviously internally, we are just praying for our guys, you know, we’re a family and, and we want to keep it that way and pray for everybody when they’re going through stuff off the field.”

Wentz then mentioned despite the close call and Zampese losing his father; he thought practice went well. Then he suddenly went back to what was at the forefront of his mind, “…Definitely, again, it is a wake-up call that there’s a lot of things in our world that are sad and unfortunate and things wrong in our society. Yeah, we gotta all be smart.”

Wentz spoke to the humanity of each of us. “It’s sobering for sure. You know, you hear that news, and it’s like, okay, this isn’t even football anymore. Things could have obviously been a lot worse. Yes, it is very real life. It takes you away from football real quick. These are real-life issues that we all are going through, and we’re not immune to it.”

Wentz was actually asked how Robinson may be feeling, missing out on his first NFL game. Wentz may have been puzzled at first, perhaps thinking, “How would I know how he feels? I’ve never been shot twice.”

Carson then wisely countered, “Again, I don’t know kind of overall his state. Again, I haven’t spoken directly to him. Shot him a text, but I know there’s a lot going on in his world. Curious how much of that he’s even thinking about quite frankly. Because when this happens (like we just mentioned) a lot of football and all that, kind of goes to the back burner.”

Wentz chose to elaborate further, “I’m sure there’s frustration, disappointment, all that. That I’m sure he is feeling. (He’s) probably feeling a lot of different emotions, but it is unfortunate, and we’ll see what it means for him long-term and all that stuff. I have no idea. Again, I’m excited to see him back in this building hopefully soon and put this behind.”

On hearing Zampese’s dad had died and Robinson was shot, the 7th-year veteran expressed, “It is sobering. We’re so geared towards our job, everything revolves around football, and it is our life. And I try not to put my identity fully in football. But you do give a lot, you give a lot, and it’s mentally and physically taxing. I think it gives you a sense of reality and makes you realize there is a much bigger picture and there are much more important things in life. ”

Is this really the guy who was supposed to have been such a poor leader in Philadelphia and Indianapolis? Might it sound like it is Wentz who is maturely measuring things more important in life?

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