Garrett Gilbert played one season for Chad Morris in high school (photo by John Kleineberg).

On a recent visit to Dallas, former SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert — make that Garrett Gilbert of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots — visited with PonyFans.com to discuss a number of topics, including getting drafted and released by the St. Louis Rams, what New England head coach Bill Belichick is like when he’s not in front of television cameras, Tom Brady as a mentor, and the hiring of his former high school coach, Chad Morris, by his alma mater.

PonyFans.com: You have been through an emotional year. You got drafted and then waived by St. Louis, then picked up by the New England Patriots, and now you’re a Super Bowl champion. How have you managed your emotions through your roller coaster of a year?

Garrett Gilbert: You’re exactly right — it has been a pretty crazy year. I had a lot of fun with it. I mean, I experienced about all you can in the first year in the NFL, but I really enjoyed it, and what a great experience it turned out to be. I learned a lot, and I’m really excited about where I am going forward.

(Getting waived by the Rams was) unbelievably tough, but it wasn’t the first time I had been cut by the Rams this year. It’s part of our business, it’s part of our job, it happens. I’m certainly not the first guy that’s been cut, and I won’t be the last. As an example, I grew up a Broncos fan, and Champ Bailey got cut at the end of last year, and that guy’s going to the Hall of Fame in five years. So it happens to everyone. It’s just part of our business.

PonyFans.com: After getting let go by the Rams, you were waiting for your next opportunity, and the Patriots called. In Ne England, you walked into a building with a bunch of Super Bowl trophies, to join a team that’s in the running every year. Did you allow yourself a minute to step back and say “not only am I still in the NFL, but I’m on this team”?

PonyFans.com: After getting let go by the Rams, you were waiting for your next opportunity, and the Patriots called. In Ne England, you walked into a building with a bunch of Super Bowl trophies, to join a team that’s in the running every year. Did you allow yourself a minute to step back and say “not only am I still in the NFL, but I’m on this team”?

Gilbert: My agent did a great job of getting me that opportunity, and you’re right — you really can’t step not a better opportunity, with a guy like Tom (Brady) to learn from and a guy like Coach (Bill) Belichick to learn from. I mean, those are two of the most decorated people in the NFL, and their legacies will last forever, so it was a pretty incredible experience, and something I was really thrilled and fortunate and blessed to be a part of.

PonyFans.com: Those of us outside the team — whether it’s fans or the media — we see Coach Belichick and we see the ratty, old sweatshirts and the scowl he has on his face during press conferences. But how much does he interact with the guys like you on the practice squad? What’s he like to play for?

Gilbert: He’s very interactive with the entire team. He’s an extreme micromanager, and he’s involved in every single aspect of our team, of our game-planning. He’s like that every week. So there’s a reason he has been so successful. He puts tireless work and effort into each aspect of the game, and he’s obviously incredibly smart, which obviously helps, as well.

PonyFans.com: You mentioned Tom Brady. There are stories out there that he is so hyper-competitive that he never wants to share what he knows or work with the other quarterbacks. Any truth to those stories?

Gilbert: Absolutely not — he was great. When I first got there, we were about to be in playoff mode, so my job was to be Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck and Joe Flacco in the weeks that I was there. But to sit in meetings and listen him interact with Jimmy (Garoppolo), our backup quarterback, and teach Jimmy … he’s very helpful and interactive. He was teaching all the time, handing out little tips. He has been in this offense for 15 years, so he obviously knows it very well, but he’s a great resource for us, not only about playing quarterback but just about playing the game.

Former SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert won a Super Bowl ring in his rookie season with the New England Patriots (photo by PonyFans.com).

PonyFans.com: When you played for SMU, we talked a lot about how many offenses you had to learn year after year after year, going from high school to Texas to SMU. How much did that help when you got to New England and you had to be, like you said, Andrew Luck one week, Russell Wilson another week … ?

Gilbert: It absolutely helped. The Super Bowl became a little bit of zone read, which fortunately I have done a little of before. Before that, it was Andrew Luck, who is one of the best, if not the best, young quarterbacks in the NFL, and before that it was Joe Flacco, who is a big, pocket-style passer. So yeah, it absolutely helped to have that versatility and knowledge that I gained over the years in all of those different offenses.

PonyFans.com: What was your reaction when you heard that SMU had hired your old coach, Chad Morris?

Gilbert: I was incredibly excited. I think he’s going to do some great things here, and I’m just excited to be able to be a part of it. I’m excited to come back and visit with him, to talk football with him. I’m really excited about it. I think it’s going to be great, and I couldn’t be happier. I have said many times that Coach Morris is one of the most influential, if not the most influential person in my football career. I only spent one year with him in high school, but he’s an unbelievable coach, and I’m really excited about what he’s going to do at SMU.

PonyFans.com: What are his biggest strengths as a coach? How did he help you the most in your development?

Gilbert: He does an awful lot of things well. I really don’t know if I can point to one thing. He does a lot of things extremely well, he’s incredibly passionate about his job and he really wants to succeed in everything he does. I know he’s definitely going to bring that passion and excitement to the program at SMU.

PonyFans.com: When he got hired, he talked about changing the culture at SMU. Can you describe the culture that surrounds a Chad Morris-coached team, what it’s going to be like at SMU?

Gilbert: Well, you see the “PonyUpTempo” shirts all around, the new hashtag. Coach Morris, when I was in high school … I’ll never forget, almost every week he would tell us, “guys, it doesn’t matter where we’re playing. We’ll go play ‘em out in the parking lot. They’d just better bring it.” I think that’s the same attitude he’s going to bring to SMU. He’ll have a team that’s ready to take on anyone, and the other team had better bring it if they’re going to beat SMU.