Dat Nguyen talks College Football HOF induction, Fisher hire & more

Key notes from Dat Nguyen interview

• We brought the whole crew to New York. It’s been a humbling experience and the support has been unbelievable.
   
• It’s been pretty neat. We sit around and tell stories, and I think that’s so cool about what us former players miss. About 99 percent of players say they miss the locker room atmosphere the most when they leave football, and that’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of days with the other inductees. Matt Leinart iss telling stories about how he was at USC, Peyton Manning was telling us about what it was like playing at Tennessee. It’s been unbelievable. We just talked about football and how it has given us an opportunity in life.
   
• I think Hurricane Harvey is always going to be on my mind. I'll always remember. My old pastor in Dallas used to tell me, "God brought you up with a storm in mind." Never get too high, never get too low. Enjoy the moment and enjoy the ride and sometimes you get adversity and you push through.
   
• I’ve been back to Rockport a few times since the hurricane. Earl Campbell put together an event a few months back. Earl did a tailgate — he donated all the hot dogs and burgers from HEB. A couple Hall of Famers were down there to try to provide a spark down there. It was a really difficult time.
   
• I do miss the Xs and Os of coaching football, but things are what they are. The game of football has taught me a lot, and I do miss teaching kids about life through the game of football. RC Slocum said the other night that you don’t see the impact you had as a coach on these kids until four or six years down the road. That is so true. We live in a society of instant results, especially in football, but impacting people takes a little more time to come to fruition.
   
• Jerry Jones and I have a great relationship. He always tells me the story about how he reached for me earlier than my fifth-round grade. Then he signed me to an extension in 2002 even though my contract still had one year left. Jerry has done a lot of things for me that are unbelievable.
   
• I keep up with A&M. I spend as much time as I can on TexAgs. I think Jimbo Fisher is a great hire. I think Sumlin did a great job there, but that’s how football goes sometimes. I never would have imagined that we could get Fisher away from Florida State. I’m excited for this team and for the development of these players. I think he’s known for developing young men to be great football players, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.
   
• One thing people don’t realize about Slocum is how much of a mentor he was. In our first meeting, he told us to look to our left and to our right and three years from now one of those guys wasn’t going to be here. He taught me the golden rule and about doing the right thing at all times. There are a lot of coaches who helped me throughout my life, and not just my position coaches. You see how coaches respect other people and their families, and you see that that’s the way to act.