TEMPE, Ariz. -- Larry Foote never thought he'd have trouble transitioning to coaching, once he made up his mind that coaching was what he wanted to do.
"If it's something you love doing it comes naturally," Foote said Tuesday after a Cardinals OTA practice. "It ain't like you're in the Ford Motor Company, in a factory with all those hours. It ain't that bad."
The eye-opener for Foote has been the way everyone has treated him since he left the field after the 2014 season to hold a clipboard and a whistle.
"I'm getting it from both sides," the Cardinals inside linebackers coach said. "The players are hard on me, calling me a sellout. The coaches are being hard on me, calling me a rookie; I don't know nothin'. I'm taking some abuse in there!"
He's also feeling old because the younger players are addressing him with elderly respect.
"I done put the 'sir' fine up on the board. Don't call me that!" Foote said. "It's normally the guys from the south. It's just 'sir, sir, sir.' I'm trying to break them from those good habits."
Foote has always received positive feedback from previous coaches and teammates, telling him he'd be a good coach some day. He never considered it, however, at anything more than a high school level until coach Bruce Arians suggested this position at the final meeting of the 2014 season.
"My kids are older now, in school, so they don't get home until 3:30, 4, so it's a perfect fit," Foote said. "The M&Ms and the coffee and the sugar all in the office, that's the hard part that I've got to try to fight."
Arians likes what he's seeing from Foote early in his new role.
"Larry is very into it, and he's got great insight as far as where guys' eyes should be," Arians said. "Having just played the position in this defense, he's got a lot of insight the coaches don't have."
Foote believes some players respect his opinion more because he just left the field.
"I know how to cut the fat off," he said. "A lot of coaches, they ain't played in a long time. It's a little different game. Players understand and they respect that from a perspective behind the helmet."
Foote admits there are many defensive intricacies, particularly along the defensive line, that he did not fully grasp as a linebacker. Nor has he had had time to mold his own coaching style. What he does bring is a wealth of information to draw upon from the past.
"All I am is experience," he said. "All I am is what the great men before me passed on to me. I'm just passing it down.
"I've been very fortunate. I was around Dicky LeBeau for 12 years, and I had a lot of great coaches that taught me well. Doing that alone, I knew I would be successful because all I'm doing is passing what I learned from great guys."
At the NFL owners' meeting in March, Arians held out the possibility that Foote could still play this season, adding that the decision probably wouldn't be made until just before training camp. It might be a mere oversight, but Foote isn't listed among the Cardinals' coaches on the team's website.
With Daryl Washington's likely facing another suspension for domestic violence once he is reinstated by the league, the Cardinals could use another three-down linebacker alongside Sean Weatherspoon.
While Foote said Washington's situation would have no impact on his decision, he gave a politician's answer when asked if he had closed the door on his playing days.
"I feel good right now," he said. "All the old players that retired said 'you ain't going to miss it 'til September.' Right now, I'm not missing those guys out there running in this heat.
"Right now, I'm coaching. If something happens over the summer, I'm quite sure you'll hear about it, but right now, I'm not even thinking about playing. I'm thinking about coaching."
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