D'Marco Farr
D'Marco Farr has been around football his whole life. From his days as a standout player in the PAC-10 for the Washington Huskies to seven great years with the St. Louis Rams, Farr has always known that he wanted to stay involved with the game as long as possible.
As the defensive assistant for the Berlin Thunder, Farr's taking his first crack at the coaching ranks and he's taken hold of the responsibility for tutoring a defensive line that currently ranks as the best rush defense in NFL Europe.
"This has been fun and I've learned a lot more about the game that I love in these past few months," said Farr. "I feel like a newborn baby especially because of all the long hours that coaching requires. It's certainly an eye opener."
Making a successful transition from player to coach can be a tough task and it's not something that every former professional athlete can just walk into and perform at a superior level. So far this season the transition for Farr has run smoothly. His players are responding well to him and most importantly, he's enjoying every aspect of the job.
"The hardest part about being a coach now is that I can't go out on the field and do the job myself," Farr added. "I know that the only thing that really matters is making sure that the linemen are ready and do their job well. I'm always telling these guys that training for defensive linemen is like flying an airplane, it's all about making tiny adjustments."
"D'Marco's doing a great job for us," head coach Rick Lantz. "When I first spoke with him, we considered using him in a coaching role on offense and D'Marco told me that it didn't matter which position he coached that he just wanted to learn how to be a good coach."
Immediately following his retirement from professional football Farr joined Fox as a co-host of the "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." He worked on the television program for three years from 2001-2003 where he analyzed sports and had the opportunity to stay in touch with football.
"Working on that show was a blast and it even reminded of football with all the preparation that goes into a television," said Farr. "It was something I thought of doing when I was in college and if I could've mapped out a plan for my career, I would have played 12 years in the NFL, then gone into the sports television industry and finished as a coach. It's funny because someone jokingly once said to me that I was too critical of the football players when we were on television and that my skills would be great in coaching."
During his time in television, Farr also spent several hours each day rehabbing his knee and conditioning his body for a comeback into the NFL. He got his chance with San Francisco in the spring of 2003 and not long after, Farr recalls the exact day that he decided to officially retire from playing football. "It was April 17, 2003 during off season conditioning with the 49ers," Farr said. "I found out that day that after nine knee surgeries and two years of rehabbing my knee, that I was nowhere near the necessary shape to last through a gruelling season. I may have had a chance to be a backup but a backup was not what I wanted to be."
When Farr made the official decision to retire from football at a young 29 years of age his desire to play remained but his knees simply would not allow it. With NFL Europe instituting a coaches internship program last season, Farr realized that such an opportunity would allow for him to stay involved with football and give him a good view of what coaching was all about.
"Once I heard about the NFL Europe coaching program I wanted in right away so that I could get a head start on coaching and see if it was what I truly wanted to do with my career," Farr noted.
Considering that Farr built a very successful NFL career, posting 87 starts, 36.5 sacks and was a Pro Bowler in 1999 during the same season the Rams went on to win the Super Bowl, his potential for being a resourceful coach is undoubtedly high.
"With a Super Bowl it may give him some credibility but the reason why the players really listen to him is because he's good at helping them improve their game," Lantz said. "D'Marco pays attention to detail, watches players techniques and is very tough on the guys. He doesn't cut them much slack and I believe they respect that"
