Brian Flores – December 11, 2019 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores Conference Call
(I wanted to ask you a big-picture question. As you guys started the season and the results weren’t matching what you were trying to build, how do you think you got the team to stay kind of involved and confident and believing to the point now where you’re rattling off wins down the stretch?) – “There’s a few different layers to that. I would say our coaching staff has done a really good job. Pat Graham – our defensive coordinator, Chad O’Shea – offensive coordinator, Danny Crossman – our special teams coordinator; those guys have really done a good job of keeping these guys invested and motivated. I think we’ve got some pretty good leadership on this team. We don’t have a veteran team. We’ve got a lot of young guys, but the guys who have played a significant amount in this league – (Ryan) Fitzpatrick, (Daniel) Kilgore – defensively our younger guys have taken on a little bit of a leadership role – Raekwon McMillan, Davon Godchaux – those guys took ownership of this team and they continue to practice hard. They continue to stay with the process. We preach consistency and competitiveness. These guys compete, so we compete every day in practice and meetings. It’s showing up a little bit on the field. We could always be a lot better, but as far as continuing to stay invested, I think that’s how – it’s been the leadership on the team and leadership from the coaches on this team.”
(Did you approach the job – do you approach the team differently in Year 1 knowing you’re building something that you want to sustain long-term rather than a season when maybe you’re coaching a team that you’re at a different point?) – “Yeah, I don’t know, that’s a tough question. This being my first year, I didn’t really know what to expect. Every year, you’re building. Every team is trying to build and got their eye on the future and the present at the same time. I didn’t really know exactly what to expect. Right when we started the season, there was a lot of turnover on the roster. I knew I was going to have to get new players up to speed quickly. Our coaching staff I thought did a good job of that. It’s been a fun year. I’ve said that before. We’ve got a good group. These guys compete. They work hard. We try to have fun. They play hard. They spend a lot of time with their preparation. We’ve had a couple instances where we’ve played well and had some success and won a couple games and lost some close ones. There’s some we feel like we could’ve had, but there’s been a lot of growth on the team over the course of the season.”
(You used the word “fun” just then. What makes this year fun?) – “It’s the people. It’s the coaching staff, it’s the players. There’s a lot of great people within this organization, and I love coaching. I’m passionate about coaching. It’s always going to be fun for me. It’s what I’m called to do. It’s a joy to be out there every day with these guys and helping them improve and get better; so yeah, it’s a lot of fun for me. Maybe – I don’t know. I can’t speak for anyone else.”
(I know so much of this is a lot of big-picture stuff, but coming from New England and obviously where you had a lot of success but also the organization had a lot of success, how did you get guys to buy into Brian Flores rather than “we’re the Patriots?” Like you’re the Dolphins and you know a way that works, but you’re trying to build trust in you at the same time.) – “I think you said it. There’s no ‘way.’ I think for me, it was about personally how have I gotten people to buy into the things that I believe in, and that’s just truth, transparency and honesty. I try to be upfront with our guys. I tell them how I feel about a myriad of situations, their individual play, our team play. I can’t tell you it works or it doesn’t work, but that’s how I’ve always approached things. I think if you’re honest and you’re upfront with people, then that’s how you build trust. When you’re dishonest, that’s how you don’t have trust, and I think you need trust in this game. I say it all the time: it’s hard to get two people to trust each other and in football you’re trying to get 11 guys to trust each other. That’s a hard thing to do. I think it starts with myself and leadership here, our coordinators. We just try to tell them, ‘hey look, you’re playing well, you’re not playing well, this could be better, that was good enough but could be better.’ I think when the players genuinely feel like you want to help them improve and get better then the trust is built. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have any secret sauce. That’s just kind of my personal take on it.”
(How do you prepare – you’re probably not sure which quarterback you’re going to face. What’s the difference between an Eli Manning Giants team and a Daniel Jones Giants offense?) – “I prepare for the entire group, and this is a very, very skilled group from whichever quarterback can play – they both are adept at throwing the deep ball, intermediate and short – but it’s the guys they’re throwing it to. Whether it’s (Saquon) Barkley, whether it’s (Darius) Slayton, whether it’s Golden Tate, whether it’s (Sterling) Shepard, whether it’s (Evan) Engram, there’s a lot of weapons out there on the field. Some good players on the offensive line as well. Defensively, the front is – the addition of Leonard Williams – it was a tough front before. Now it’s going to be a hard one to run against. They’ve got ball hawks in the secondary – obviously with (Janoris) Jenkins and (Sam) Beal. They’ve got some young players in there. To go back to your question, Eli to Jones, they’re both good players. We’ve got a lot of film on both guys. Eli likes to get the ball out quickly, really has great command of the offense, can get them in and out of plays – good to bad, run, pass. Jones is a good young talent. I think he’s really had some really bright moments. I know he’s learning and getting better on a day-to-day basis. Whichever one we see, it’ll be a challenge.”
(You’re coming right back to the stadium where a game was – I think some would say – taken from you. First of all, do you have to coach any differently with your players about those key moments that you can’t expect those calls to go a certain way? And then is there anything about trying to come back here and get one after it slipped through your fingers?) – “It was a tough one last week; but in this league you have to deal with adversity, move on and move onto the next challenge, which we’ve got a big one this week. I don’t necessarily think about going back to MetLife as – whatever stadium it is – to me, it’s the idea and the goal is always to try and get a win. We’ve got to play well against this team if we want to even have a chance to do that, and that’s really where my focus is. It’s not on last week or MetLife. We could play anywhere and the Giants would still pose a lot of challenges. We’d still have to play well. We’ll still have to play with great fundamentals and technique and communication. That’ll never change. I don’t put too much focus on where we’re playing or last week or anything like that.”
(LB Jake Carlock on the practice squad – how’s he doing? He was here for a bit. He’s a local guy.) – “Jake’s doing great. He’s really a hard-working kid, plays multiple positions. I think he’s doing a really good job. We were excited to get him, excited to have him and I think he’s got a future. I think he’s got the talent and the toughness and grit to work on any and everything to make himself the best player he can be. I think he’s done a really good job, and he’s got a lot of room for development.”
