Special teams assistant coach Bret Munsey joined "Redskins Nation" to talk about his role on the coaching staff and his long journey to the NFL.

Special projects and assistant special teams coach: that is Bret Munsey's official job description with the Redskins, but not many might not know exactly what his role entails.

Munsey sat down with "Redskins Nation" host Larry Michael this week to discuss the nuances of his job and the unconventional path that brought him to Washington.

Coming from a football family, Munsey followed in his father's footsteps, playing collegiately at Concord University in West Virginia.

After college, he spent a four years as a player in the Arena Football League, where he would eventually make a connection with Redskins head coach Jay Gruden.

In the early 1990s, Munsey was both a receiver and defensive back for the Orlando Predators and Gruden was the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Storm, frequently squaring off in one of the AFL's legendary rivalries.  

After his playing career was over, Munsey stayed with football and transitioned from player to coach. He bounced from team to team before returning to Orlando to work as personel director and secondary coach under Gruden, marking the first of their three stints together.

"[Gruden] was in Tampa and I'm in Orlando and then got a chance to coach with Jay in Orlando with the Predators for three years and then I took over the Philadelphia Soul as the head coach and then he re-hired me after the Arena League shut down for a little while in the UFL," Munsey said. "So I've actually worked for Jay three times now and it's been fun."

Fast forward to today, and these two have been together through the ups and downs of many football seasons, though today Munsey's role is a little different than it was when they worked together in the AFL.

Being an assistant special teams coach is fairly straight forward -- you watch film and develop a game plan with Ben Kotwica and Bradford Banta, special teams coordinator and assistant coach, respectively, for the upcoming week. But the "special projects" role is more unique.

One of his more interesting responsibilities working in special projects is sending in complaints and suggestions to league officials.

If the team perceives a call to be incorrect or believes that the officials missed a penalty, Munsey is able to submit the plays in question to the league. The NFL then reviews the calls and gives feedback and explanations to coaches, Munsey said that the process "keeps the referees honest."

"Some of them are critical; I mean that's the difference between wins and losses," Munsey said. "And we understand the referee doesn't always get it right at times, but we want to make them aware that the Redskins are watching it on tape and that they need to do a better job, because I mean we're being graded as well as they are on the field."

Looking back on his career, Munsey admitted that he never imagined that he would coach in the NFL, but calls the opportunity a dream come true.

"It's been a long road, and I've been on Greyhound buses and working my way up through the Arena League, the UFL, got to be a scout with the Eagles and now here with the Redskins," he said. "Yes, it is a dream come true, something you look forward to. I'm the son of a coach, a high school coach and kind of have a sports background but never thought I'd be in the NFL."

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