THE MODERATOR: We have Dennard Wilson available. Questions.
DENNARD WILSON: How you all doing?
Q. I know you want to focus on players who are there. One of the biggest players on the team who is not there is Dexter. What do you think he means to your defense? How anxious are you to get him in the building?
DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, obviously Dexter is a great player in the National Football League. I love the way he plays. I love the style that he plays. He's a big man, anchors the defense.
It's part of the business right now. Everything right now is voluntary. The CBA says he doesn't need to be here right now. We'll see how things play itself out.
Hopefully everything works out in our favor. Hey, I love Dexter. We have a good relationship. Communicated with him weeks ago. We'll see how things play itself out.
Q. You said you talked to him weeks ago?
DENNARD WILSON: Talked to Dex weeks ago, especially when I first got the job. Opened a line of communication. He was in a good place. For me personally, from an organization standpoint, we understand the value of Dex. We love him. We understand the business side, as well.
Q. Would you be able to share your vision for this defense? John has talked a lot about he knows what you guys want to do on that side of the ball. As someone who is now in charge of putting the plan together, what do you see the New York Giants defense in 2026 as?
DENNARD WILSON: I'll put it like this: in terms of the structure and where we play, we're going to be unpredictable. We're going to be unpredictable on how we line up and what we do, all right? We're going to be dynamic. We have dynamic players. It's our job to put those dynamic players in the greatest positions to have success.
We're going to be decisive on what we do and how we do it. We're going to game plan. We're going to have detailed and educated pressures. Then we are going to be unapologetic in our approach.
We're going to be playing nasty. We're going to play physical. We're going to play violent. We're going to live on the edge, play on the edge, but we're not going to hurt the team.
We're going to be suffocating to the point we impose our wills on people. The players are going to buy into that mindset. It all starts from a mindset. We're going to play New York football, brand of football, and that's violent defense.
Q. You mentioned the dynamic players you have on this defense. Obviously those guys include Brian Burns, Abdul Carter. What do you see from those two guys, what you see from them on tape so far?
DENNARD WILSON: First of all, both those young men, they love football, okay? They are problems in terms of the pass-rush. It's hard for people to block 'em. Why? They're explosive off the ball. They can win on the edge. They have length. They can play underneath guys. They have numerous tools in their tool bag. Once you overplay them, they can counter.
I love the energy and effort. Today they were so attentive in the room, talking about the style of ball, how we're going to play up front, the violence in which we're going to play in, the way we're going to build a wall, set violent edges to make teams run in a phone booth, how we're going to play vertical knock-back, how we're going to crush and close, these guys can do it all. Plus versatility, you can move 'em around.
Lastly, even in Penn State, especially with Abdul, the way he was used, you can move him off the ball, he can be the spinner on third downs. You can add a fifth rusher. Numerous things you can do with both of the guys. Both of them are smart football players. They have a good grasp of conceptual defense.
I can't wait to see what they do extremely well up close in person. Then we'll build a defense ultimately around the players that we have. We have a scheme, but these two guys are premier players within a scheme that we want to have a lot of success. We want to put them in positions to have success.
Q. You mentioned the New York style of football. Is that something that attracted you, the history, because you know what the Giants' defense typically stands for?
DENNARD WILSON: Yes. Who wouldn't want to coach for the New York Giants? Who doesn't want to coach this team with this rich history? Who doesn't want to be in New York City and New Jersey, all right?
We made a decision as a family, I made a decision to come here and embrace that. Who doesn't want to work for John Harbaugh? I had one of my greatest years working under John Harbaugh. I know what he brings to the table.
These defensive coaches and the coaches he has assembled are on the same page, going into the same direction for the long obedience, trying to stay well-connected and a well-oiled machine, trying to put together defenses and offenses that are simple for the players to play at a fast pace and a fast level, to ultimately go out there and be the best versions of themselves.
Who wouldn't want to be in New York? It's kind of the New York state of mind.
Q. You have a diverse background of coaches you came up under. Who would you say your scheme most resembles?
DENNARD WILSON: It's a mix of everybody. Obviously, man, one of my friends, a colleague, Mike Macdonald, who I worked with closely in Baltimore for a year. There's a lot of things I took from that. Being around Todd Bowles, who has been a defensive coordinator and a head coach in this league for numerous years. My background is very similar to his.
Playing and then coaching for Gregg Williams and being under Jeff Fisher. These are people that have put together defenses that are violent, they were physical, but they were multiple, they competed at a high level. They played a certain brand of football with toughness and tenacity, you could see through the film that you watch. That been my upbringing and that's what I know.
Q. You mentioned Mike. He's the top dog right now. What did you take from him from that year that you can apply here?
DENNARD WILSON: Mike had a collaborative approach. I was fortunate enough to go to Baltimore for a year. Mike's superpower is listening. He listens to his coaches but he has a direction in which he wants to go.
If you watch Seattle play, they win up front. They have a very good secondary. Their secondary played in sync, in unison up front. They were able to dominate. They were able to play the run with less guys in the box. When you can do that, play some split safety defense, have seven guys in a box, you minimize the explosive perimeter runs and explosive plays down the field in the pass game, you have the guys that can avalanche the pocket when teams get in drop-back situations and you're one on one, you're pressing and playing physical outside, there's no longer a fraction of time for the quarterback to sit back there and pat the ball.
We're going to be multiple in what we do. We'll get guys in situations, we're going to pressure, just like he does. I think he's done a very good job of just playing good situational football and having the right pieces to execute what he's trying to do.
Q. Obviously your background is defensive backs. What do you see from your cornerbacks, from film work, the depth chart, what you see of your cornerback position, particularly I'm interested in Deonte Banks, if you met him before the draft at all, if you've chatted with him? Obviously a first-round pick who has been up and down here, at a pivotal point in his career.
DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, it's a mixture of older and younger guys in the room. It's a room that's going to be competitive. We have guys that have played at a high level, then we have some young guys that haven't had the opportunity to play.
It's our job as coaches to get them to play as one. I don't think it's an individual thing. When you play good defense in the back end, it's all four or five guys that's on the field. You got to know and put them in the best positions and call the right things to allow them to play as fast as they need to play.
It's going to be competition at the position, just like everywhere else. I think competitiveness and competition makes your team better.
The question in terms of Banks, I know Banks. I remember evaluating him coming out. He's a Maryland Terp. I'm a Maryland Terp. I had just a little bit of background with him. He's a talented player. He's big. He can run. He brings an element of physicality. He's had an up-and-down career thus far.
For us, he's coming in with a clean slate. That's everybody on this defense. No matter what has been done in the past, where they were drafted, how they were acquired, we're coming in here as a clean slate, trying to evaluate the players, see what they do well, and we're trying to teach them our way of football.
In terms of Banks, I think we have two great DB coaches in Donald and Addison that does an excellent job in teaching DB playing, footwork technique, eyes. I think it's going to be beneficial to all of 'em.
Till you have the opportunity to go out there and get better, we're going to put things on his plate, try to make things as simple as they can be in terms of conceptual teaching. That's for everybody.
I was raised, my dad always told me, Keep it simple. We have ways to kind of simplify things to make it all fit no matter what the call or the structure is.
We're going to give them all opportunity and see what they all can pick up, how they grasp it. The best guys are going to play ultimately.
Q. Your big off-season signing from the defensive side was in the middle of your defense, Tremaine Edmunds. What did you see from him and why did you feel that was necessary?
DENNARD WILSON: Well, first of all, I think you got to have a very good middle linebacker, very good linebackers in order to play this game, whether it's in the pass game or stopping the run. One of our big objectives this year is to stop the run.
But when you watch Tremaine play, first of all he's a 6'4" guy with length. When he comes downhill, he presses. He makes a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage. He's an athletic guy that can run the ball down sideline to sideline. He plays with a high motor. He can defend in the middle of the defense, especially in the pass game, especially with what we do the Mike linebacker plays between the hashes a lot. Then he can get in windows. He has the right temperament. He's in a position and he's in a mindset of proving himself and reproving himself again. He's hungry. He's ready to go out there and fight for his teammates.
So I'm excited for the opportunity. He's a smart, intelligent young man. He's still young. He's been in the league for an extended period of time, but he's still young. He still has room to grow, man. I can't wait to see the product. I can't wait to see the way as this thing grows, how we morph this defense, it becomes their defense, they take control of it, how he mans the middle of the defense. I'm excited for him and I'm excited for the organization because we got a very good player.
Q. Another linebacker that everyone naturally connects to you guys, Sonny Styles. What would you think as a defensive coordinator if you added a player like that to the mix?
DENNARD WILSON: I'll just say this about the draft. I like good players, period. I don't care where they at. I'm not going to say no to any good player.
Q. When you were studying film upon getting this job, how would you describe what you saw from Dexter's film? When you look at his stats last year, what do you make of that?
DENNARD WILSON: I'm not going to get into all the numbers.
What I see is this. I see a big, physical man that owns the middle of the defense, that demand double-teams, takes pressures off the linebackers. We talked about getting Tremaine. When you have a guy that's stout in the middle of the field, allows linebackers to get over the top or come down hill, fit one back, one gap, whatever it may be.
Dexter is still a productive player in the National Football League. You have to deal with him. We'll see how it goes. But he's a great football player.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
DENNARD WILSON: Thank you guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports