BRIAN DABOLL: Couple things here, like normal, made some changes relative to the roster. About 40% of the roster at this point is different. We've added free agents and other positions. Looking forward to getting those guys in the building in three weeks, April 21st.
Haven't even had meetings with any of them. Haven't had a team meeting, position meetings. So relative to the communication with the players, the ones we brought in have been short, so look forward to working with them on the 21st.
There are no depth charts or anything like that.
And then playcalling, we'll make that decision as we go into preseason, training camp. What else?
Pro days, usually I don't attend pro days. I do private workouts. Done a number of them. Won't get into details on that.
Anything else you got?
Q. You signed a veteran quarterback. Russell Wilson has been in the league 13 years.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. What have you thought about him during his career? Did you have any relationship with him before this, and what about him being your starting quarterback?
BRIAN DABOLL: Haven't had a relationship with him. Have seen him from afar obviously when he started. I think I was at Kansas City when he played one of his first preseason games back in '12.
He has been a very productive player throughout his career; obviously at Seattle very, very productive. Been on a few different teams the last few years. Had a good meeting when he came in. Watched a lot of tape on him.
Look forward working with him. He's been a good player. He's got good leadership traits to him. Smart. He's played a lot of football, and look forward to working with him.
And I would say Jameis as well. Talking about a guy who was picked first overall. So we added two guys to the quarterback room and look forward to working with both of them.
Q. What stood out on the tape of Russ that made you want to bring him in?
BRIAN DABOLL: He makes good decisions with the football. He's athletic. He's a little bit older, so maybe not as athletic as '13, '14, but certainly has ability to use his legs, extend plays, great explosive plays, phenomenal deep ball thrower. Has created a bunch of explosive plays and scoring points for his team and does a good job making good decisions with the football, you know, the games that he's played.
Q. In terms of Russ, how much did you delve back? I mean, we all know what he did in Seattle. How much did you look back at that tough year in Denver in '22? How much did you evaluate what happened in Denver?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I watched every play of his since the 2012; 7500 pass plays. Just wanted to see some of the things that he did well, see if -- as we get going here we got to start putting together what we're going to do. Everybody has a lot of plays, but want to look at these players, specifically the quarterbacks, and make good decisions with the things we install.
So watched the Denver tape, Steelers tape, all the Seahawks tape. Did a lot of work on it.
Q. How challenging is it for the entire unit when you flip over an entire position at quarterback? What kind of pressure or urgency does it put on not only the coaching staff, but every other position on the offense?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, look, they have to -- it goes through them, the quarterbacks. Even just little things like cadences, Russell been doing this for a long time. Jameis has. We got get into a room and start with the basics of how we do things in terms of our installation.
Then again, watched a fair amount of tape on both of these players and put together, whether it's pass concepts that they're familiar with or change a little bit of how we do things, could be route adjustments, could be technique of a route, you know, our mike Identification points, communication at the line of scrimmage.
There is a lot that goes into playing quarterback as you know, and looking forward getting started with them.
Q. Their deals aren't long-term, right? You're in year four now. How important is it for you to add a young quarterback to the mix as well?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think as many good players as we can add, we'll take. Right now, we have three guys in the quarterback room. See what happens here over the next call it month, if you will. You know, whoever is in that room, we'll do the best job we can of coaching them up.
Q. What do you think of the draft as a whole?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'll keep that in-house right now. We got three weeks to keep grinding on them. They're good players, good people. We've done extensive work on them, a bunch of them.
Q. Two young defensive guys in Adebo and Holland.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, Adebo, he's a lengthy corner. He does a good job getting his hands on than the ball and creating turnovers. He's played both systems, but I would say he's a good man corner, too.
And Holland I just think the world of him. When he was coming out, instinctive player, crafty, can play different spots in the back end for you. Good leader.
Both those guys have been -- getting to talk with them when they came into the building, good, young guys and look forward to working with them.
Q. You mentioned Russell's deep throwing. What can that do for the offense and what you can now expect Malik to do?
BRIAN DABOLL: I just want to get him in the building. Obviously he's been a productive player -- I'm talking about Russell -- in doing that part of the game.
I would say we have some fast guys on the perimeter and we have some big young tight ends that can get down the seam. Where that goes from here, we got get together and put together something that's good for everybody.
Look forward to seeing Malik in the second year. Glad we got Slay back. Keep working with the other guys.
Q. Brian, it was just the tip of the iceberg with Josh when you were there, but he's developed so much in Buffalo. What is it like for you watching someone you care about so deeply get that recognition?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, you know, just a tremendous person first and foremost, and an outstanding football player. I couldn't be happier for him and his family and the steps he's taken to grow as a quarterback. It's been very impressive. He's all-day tough. He's an exceptional player in terms of his arms, his leg, and he's done a great job for that organization and I'm very happy for him.
Q. Obviously Shedeur Sanders, obviously have a relationship there. What do you guys know about him so far as a person?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, again, I respect the question. Just relative to the guys in the draft and the draft picks and the evaluation process, I'll keep all that stuff in-house right now.
Q. Do you have a relationship with Deion?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I know a fair amount of people in this business. Got a tremendous amount of respect for him. Happy for him that he just got paid. That was a good deal for him.
Again, look, just like last year or the last time we did it, there is an extensive process we go through. We're talking with a variety of people and meeting with these people and doing a variety of things and we're still in the middle of that.
Q. Joe brought up this process of yours, the quarterback process and said it originated in Miami.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we did it in '11 with a variety of guys.
Q. What's the genesis?
BRIAN DABOLL: I don't think it's anything. A lot of guys evaluate -- it's not the right or wrong way. We do a variety of different things with these players. Put them in a lot of different situations, no different than I'm sure a lot of teams do. You just got to try to check of the boxes with the things you ask them to do and touch points and people that you talk to.
Most importantly, the person that you're talking with and the zooms and the 30 visits and the private meetings and all those things play into it. Most importantly, you have to evaluate the film.
But it's all got to -- for the quarterback, somebody asked about Josh, that was a long process for that year. So we're still in the midst of doing this. I love to do that. There is a lot of work, a lot of time spent on that.
A lot of coaches have been gone the last couple weeks, not just with the quarterbacks, but I would say with a lot of the players.
We're going to have a local pro day on Thursday coming up. So a lot of work to be done still.
Q. What did you learn from the Josh process that made you change your process going forward?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say it's pretty similar of the touch points that we try to hit and the evaluation we try to do. Not just on the field evaluation, but, again, pro days, 30 visits, dinners, Zoom, phone calls. It's just a time consuming process and you do the best job you can to try to find one that fits perfect for you.
Q. With the quarterback specifically after all this evaluation, at some point is there a vibe or sense that you get that I want to work with this guy or I'm not so sure at that position, something you can't really define what's there, but I got a vibe about this guy?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say you're doing work all the way up until the draft and you're trying to cross every T and dot every I. There is so much information you got to weed through. Some of the stuff you listen to or hear and you got to trust your meetings with the players and trust the time that you were on the board with them and how they were at the combine, the East-West game, or the time you got to meet them, what the athletic trainers had to say.
You know, the face of a franchise is the quarterback. It's not an easy position to evaluate and not an easy position to coach or to play, so you do the best job you can to try to find the right one for your team.
Q. ... finding the future but you don't feel necessity pressure to have to take that swing?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we're going to go through the evaluation of all the guys that have been on my list to look at and talk to. Again, everything has to fall in the line too relative to draft picks, where you're picking, if somebody gets picked ahead of time.
Oh, my gosh, Michael Penix got taken here. You don't know when they're going to get taken. If there is an affinity you have for a player, if you feel like that player is the right player and they're sitting there at whatever pick you have, is it a reach, not a reach, I'm not going to get into that.
It's how you feel about the player and does that player match where you want to take them.
Q. How long can you realistically keep pushing it off?
BRIAN DABOLL: I'm focused on this draft with the players in that draft. See if we take one.
Q. You talk about the quarterback being tough to coach; there are big personalities in that room now. If you draft one, maybe even a big one added as well.
BRIAN DABOLL: You talking about Russell and Jameis or DeVito?
Q. All of them. If you potentially draft one how do you think Shea approaches that?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think they have a relationship. The two guys we just signed have a relationship. Again, they've played a lot of football. I think it's important let the players be the players and show their personalities, and they certainly have unique, different personalities.
But the time I've got spend with them I've really enjoyed meeting both of these guys and starting the beginning stages of developing a relationship.
Q. Do you like that, having personalities in your quarterback room?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. I mean, I want them to be themselves. So Jameis has his personality. It's well documented on some of the things. And Russ has his and Tommy. I want them to help them play as good as they can to help us win is really what I'm focused on.
Q. Joe said yesterday Russ will take first team reps in the spring. How do you plan to structure that? Will it be an open competition?
BRIAN DABOLL: Like I said when I started, we're going to get here on April 21st when we start, whenever it is. Phase two, Russell will be with the ones and Jameis will be with the twos.
Q. (Regarding this draft and Travis Hunter.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. I'm not anticipating you spending ten minutes talking about what you like or dislike about him, but you have a player on your staff now in Troy Brown who did it at this level.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. Curious your relationship with him and is it possible to do that in today's NFL?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, well, one, it's good to have Troy on board with us. I would say when I started out coaching as a position coach, as a receiver coach, I was very young. In inexperienced and very young. Fortunately he was in the receiver room along with a guy by the name of David Patton, God rest his soul, two veteran receivers that helped me grow as a young coach. I learned more from them than a lot of people.
It's good to have him here, and he's been a very productive player for the 15 years he played. He's also played DB. One year I think he was second on the team in interceptions. Again, he was maybe at a different stage where he was more the veteran. He knew the offense inside and out. Put him over there, he was playing nickel, has a few interceptions the year that he played.
But he was smart, tough, loved the game of football. He was competitive. He had great traits to be able to do that. Again, when he was playing later in his career, we didn't need to meet with receivers as much because he knew the offense inside and out. Probably a little bit of a different dynamic.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. Same. Appreciate the question. I think he's a good player both ways.
Q. How do you evaluate them now?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, takes a long time to evaluate them because there is a lot of tape. It's really remarkable what he has done and the ability to perform at that level, not really getting a rest. So he's been a fun player to evaluate and to meet and talk with.
He's a heck of a player.
Q. Would you use him? What way is your preference to use him?
BRIAN DABOLL: Actually, we don't have him right now.
Q. If you got a player like that.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I'm not going to -- I understand the question, Charlotte. I understand the question. We'll evaluate them both at both spots.
Q. Is it important at that No. 3 pick to get a player who will be on the field for you? In other words you could get a quarterback but could be developing and not playing.
BRIAN DABOLL: Sure, sure. Yeah, that's a good question. I would say that the player that you want to take when you're selecting that high, is does he have to help you right away? I think you just have to have a great plan for that player and you think that player is really going to help your organization.
If that's being a backup for a little while then that's being a backup for a little while. If you think that's where you want to take that player. If it's to come in and start and play a bunch of plays, that's great, too.
I think you have to have good conversations about the topic that you just talked about, and as an organization of how you want to approach that deal.
I think that the GMs, everything is on the table. It's what it is.
Q. Where you guys are trying to start fast and bounce back.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. Is it increasingly important for that guy to be an immediate contributor or no?
BRIAN DABOLL: I wouldn't say necessarily.
Q. Joe yesterday talked about Evan Neal's...
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. What's kind of the plan on him?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, again, when these guys get back -- again, I appreciate the question. To sit here -- I'm going to talk to all the players when they get back on the 21st. Evan is open to do whatever he can do to help the team out.
We'll have individual meetings. We'll have the position coaches sit down with him, and I want to get in front of them first and have conversations with different guys on the roster about a number of things, things we can get better at, things I can get better at.
That will take place in two weeks here.
Q. Look at where you are, you made a point of shoring up swing tackling. Doesn't feel like there is a fit for Evan at tackle. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say there is probably a number of opportunities. Him and I will sit down and talk when he gets back, and Carm. There are a number of other players.
Q. We've seen a couple guys (indiscernible.) Go for tackles and have significant success. When you're looking at players that have the ability to make that transition, what skill traits are you looking for?
BRIAN DABOLL: Look, tackle there is a little bit more space, guards tighten down, things happen a lot quicker inside I would say almost mentally too with the center and guard position and different things. You're a little bit more condensed. You got a guy on either side of you.
We'll sit down and talk to Evan and them and have an opportunity to help in any way he can. Look forward to working with him.
Q. Will you challenge JMS with Greg Van Roten at center for the starting job?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, no, I've been pleased with John Michael, how he's approached being a professional. I think he made strides each year and look forward to him being our center.
Q. (Regarding staff changes.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, again, I got a lot of -- it's tough decisions to make when you're in this position. Brought in a few new guys, not just in the secondary, but a number of guys that I sat down and interviewed. Happy they're here. Wish all the guys we have the best of luck.
You know, I think Marquand has done a nice job. Jeff Burris is a former first-round pick and helped in certain areas with some of the players. Tae Banks was a first-round pick. Brought Chad Hall in, who has been with me for four years, exceptional football coach. Good to have him back.
Troy Brown as we mentioned. Ladell Betts from Iowa. Seems like I got a bunch of Iowa guys on the staff. Steven Ferentz, Grant Morgan. Looking forward to working with all those guys.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Great friend of mine. Exceptional coach. He's been down in New Orleans a long time before he got to New York. His family was accustomed to being in New Orleans and down there. Got a lot of respect for him. More outside the coaching. He's an exceptional coach. But outside the coaching, his family, give him that opportunity to do that.
Q. Who do you view as the leaders of your team?
BRIAN DABOLL: Again, 40% of the guys are new here and every team takes on a new identity each year. I'll be interested to see how that develops in the offseason program and practices kind of who steps up in those roles.
Q. What did you come away thinking when you went back and evaluated last season?
BRIAN DABOLL: How much time we got?
Q. Is there anything that stood out to you maybe?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, look, we won three games so it wasn't...
Q. This is an area where we needed to significantly improve.
BRIAN DABOLL: I would say every area. You only win three games, there is a lot of reasons that you didn't get the job done. That's my job, to try to help figure that out and lead that and make some of the different changes we need to make.
Q. Anything glaring that we would notice?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, I would say there is a lot. When you win three games there is a lot that's glaring. We'll put a lot of work into getting the players back. Every year is different. I've said that before. You have, again, 40% of your team is different. It's not like it used to be a long time ago.
Got a lot of work to do, and that's what we plan on doing.
Q. There is a decent chance you could have 10 of 11 starters back starting on offense with that one glaring exception of a quarterback. Is that a plan, that you like that continuity?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. How much can that one change at quarterback do to an offense?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would just say, look, we haven't even had a practice yet, so to get down to starting and 10 and this, four months or five months, whatever it is, we got a lot of work to do in the weight room, quickness, speed, installation of plays, adjustments you make in schemes. That will all come and sort itself out.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN DABOLL: I think all the guys that have had surgeries or injuries are making improvements. All be participating in some form or fashion. Maybe not fully, but they're all making progress.
Q. Does it feel different, anything different coming into year four now? Like you mentioned you're coming off 3-14. Is it different for you, the vibe, the approach?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, I think what you do is you always try to make improvements on the things you need to make improvements on, whether yourself, offense, defense, kicking game. You put everything you got into it. You spend a lot of time on evaluations of players, schemes, of systems, of how you -- scheduling, all those things.
Each year you meet with the experts in each position, Ronnie Barnes, Aaron Wellman, you go through all that, and you do the best job you can and try to put together something to start preparing for the '25 season.
These guys have been on their own working out. Be good to get them in the building on the 21st. That's the week of the draft as well.
We'll have a couple weeks in phase one and get on the field in phase two and start doing that, kind of evaluate what we got. Certainly make adjustments that you think you need to make to be better.
Q. (Regarding personnel in run defense.)
BRIAN DABOLL: I think the run defense is a team stat. You know, we got to do a better job offensively, too, so people can't just turn around and hand the football over and score points offensively to try to make them more of a two dimensional team and have to pass the ball more.
You look at some of the games that were successful where we have a number of sacks, offensive points were up. Again, can we be better on run defense? Certainly. Tackling, run fits, all those things. To me, that's also a team stat, so collectively we got to do a better job of that.
Q. Do you notice a shift between athletes kind of pre NIL era, and do you feel like there needs to be more of a necessity for coaches to adapt to players who are more CEOs of their own businesses?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think there is -- I was talking about this the other day. When I first started coaching in 1997 to now, it's been a long time. You just go by five year increments, you think about things that changed each five years, and you got to do a good job as a coach of trying to adapt to that, whether you are a coordinator or in this case a head coach, of dealing with the athletes and the children of today, so to speak.
I've got some good experience. My daughter's boyfriend is getting ready for the Major League Baseball draft, so he's going through some things. I get a different perspective about some of the things he's going through.
Each year it seems like the kids are changing, and you need to do a good job trying to change with them, because it's not going to go the other way. So I feel these kids have earned the opportunity to have some of those opportunities that they're getting in the NIL, money they're getting, and some of the stuff and their brands. That's the world we live in today.
I'm not maybe good with all that stuff. I certainly appreciate where they are at this point in 2025. It's a lot different than it was in 2000.
Q. What have you learned talking about the draft process through the eyes of the player?
BRIAN DABOLL: I feel for these kids, particularly when they're playing. They make a mistake, am I going to fall here or am I going to do this. Staying in the moment and be confident and really ignoring the outside noise and believing in themselves and having great confidence and not focusing on where it might be, but doing the best job they can with a good attitude.
You know, again, back to 2000 to 2025, guy makes a mistake, maybe be in the newspaper. Now it's everywhere. I think there are lessons to be learned and education that needs to take place to help these young athletes deal with these type of things.
Q. (Indiscernible.) How much are you going to change things?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, well, I'm always a big believer in you try to run things at the quarterback and your guys do well. So I'm not like, hey, here is this playbook. Learn the playbook. I think the playbook has to be ever changing and have to do things -- whether it's Russ, Jameis, I've watched all their tape. It's been a long process. With the college guys as well.
And you just have to figure out what you think they do really well so that you can have good conversations with them and say, hey, tell me about what you like, and then see if it correlates with what you saw on tape. If they tell you something, well, I like this. I watched this many plays and I haven't seen you run that play. Where we going with this?
So they develop in that regard. To sit and go through what you did the year before and this is the play and this is how we run it, I think much like dealing with the athlete, you have to deal with the system the same way.
I just don't believe in this is what you do, this is the playbook, this is in black and white, this is how we're going to do it. You have different players that have different skillset. Quarterback touches the ball on every play. Could be change of cadence or how we make an alert or something to get back.
There is so many things that go into it. I just have great respect to the players that have played this game. It's hard to coach this game and play this game. The players that have played it, the two guys we've added, they have over 10,000 snaps throwing the football in the National Football League. There has to be a good communication process listening and then giving my thoughts and then have them listen and give their thoughts, and put it together and do what I think is best for the football team.
And also best for those guys. They touch it on every play.
Q. The tush push is a big topic of conversation here.
BRIAN DABOLL: It is.
Q. You guys have run it before. Wondering what you think about the idea of that play?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say we have a meeting at 9:00. Interested to sit in there and talk about it again and listen to the medical experts. We have a meeting in a short time and I'm going to sit back and listen to what the medical experts have to say and the arguments to and for.
That's where I am with it.
Q. What are your thoughts going into it?
BRIAN DABOLL: I just want to sit and listen to all the people talk about it.
Q. (Regarding Russell Wilson's season with the Steelers.)
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, until you're with players and coaching them, I'm looking forward to working with Russ. I know started out hot. Started out, but it's team sport. It's the greatest team sport of all-time. I've watched him. Watched what I think he can do well. Watched on stuff I think we can help him with. I've watched stuff that maybe he can help us with.
I would say the same thing with Jameis.
Again, two guys that have played a lot of football that have seen a lot of things, and I'm looking forward to working with both of them.
Q. (Indiscernible.) He was kind of putting on weight to maybe play some tight end?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we'll see. Again, with all the guys, he's a big bodied guy, so we'll get him into the program and see where he is at.
Again, with all the additions, which there has been a number of them, always is this time of year, so few weeks be good to get him in the building.
Q. Do you feel like you're a better head coach when you call plays or when you don't? In other words, do you feel comfortable on the headset and controlling that or...
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say that I didn't do either well enough. Look, I have confidence in our staff. I have confidence in Mike. I have confidence in the offensive guys. Again, what changes will be made, I'm going to go through the offseason and OTAs.
You're going to see -- last year you saw me with the microphone, holding it, the walkie-talkie. See Mike at times this year with the microphone this year. We will go through that whole process leading to the preseason games and see where we are.
To answer your question, I got to do both jobs better.
Q. How do you balance John saying he maybe wants that to happen?
BRIAN DABOLL: He didn't say that though. I know what he talked about. That wasn't -- he didn't say that. We had a conversation about a lot of different things, as we have throughout my time here, which has been very productive.
Something I actually brought up in one of those meetings, just thinking about how we could get better and the possibility of maybe doing that.
It wasn't this is what we're going to do, this is how we're going to do it. It was more brainstorming, if you will, of things that I want to try to get better at myself.
Q. When there is pressure to win...
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, there is always pressure to win. It's the NFL. There is always pressure to win. There is pressure to win when you have a 14-2 season, pressure with a 3-14 season. I've been on both ends of them. There is always pressure. You can keep asking, go ahead.
Q. I can?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, go ahead.
Q. When there is pressure to win, do you want to lean into what you feel you do best?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, and I would say to answer that, whatever it is that -- once we get to that point that I feel is going to be the best for the football team, whether it is, whether it's not, whatever I feel like, hey, this has been good in the offseason, I like how this went, I feel comfortable here, whatever that ends up being, the end product, that's what I'm going to do.
Q. Will you Colorado on Friday?
BRIAN DABOLL: No. Pro day? No.
Q. You've gone to pro days in the past.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would say very few of them. I prefer private workouts. Get to spend a lot of time, particularly for the quarterbacks. There is more than that potentially, but I prefer private workouts where you can set a script when you're working out the quarterback. You can put them through the things you want to see. Maybe it's different than they did for the pro day they practiced a bunch.
You can spend a lot of time with the player in the meeting room in addition to what you've spend before. You can recap some of the things, add some new things, see how they interact with some of their guys in an intimate setting, if you will. You put them in charge of them things for the workouts.
We've done a number of these private workouts for the quarterback position. That's what I prefer.
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