Chris Grier – February 4, 2019
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Monday, February 4, 2019
General Manager Chris Grier
(There was a report that Head Coach Brian Flores had presented you with like a six or nine month written plan of what he would do as head coach. Was that correct? What sort of details were in there that you would be able to share as far as what his vision was?) – “Yeah. That’s not unusual for any interview. All of the candidates we interviewed all presented their (plan) for how they’d attack the next three months leading up to the draft and then going into training camp and stuff. It was very – as you would expect – detailed and very organized. Again, where he learned and the organization he is coming from. He did a good job but all of the candidates we interviewed presented that.”
(As far as philosophies aligned that Flores mentioned, without getting into state secrets, can you say it’s building the team from the trenches? What general thing can you say that would explain how your philosophies are aligned in team-building?) – “I would say if you think about how I’ve always talked about my upbringing and what I’ve done, he’s started the same way. A lot of that would probably be able to paint the picture for kind of how we both think and think in terms of team-building and what wins in the league.”
(You talked about running multiple defenses and being multiple. How difficult is that to create in terms of a roster that has both concepts of a 3-4 and a 4-3?) – “It’ll be different. It is. It’s a little bit of a challenge because you are always looking for different pieces and parts there. I think the way the NFL is now, a lot of teams bounce back and forth between a 3-4, whether it’s Under or Over (formations). It’ll be a little bit of a project, I guess like you said, in terms of finding those pieces. There are some pieces here. (Flores) said he liked some of our pieces obviously going against us a couple of years, especially some of the offensive pieces he liked a lot. But it will be a process, as he’s talked about.”
(How enjoyable was the Super Bowl from the standpoint of Brian Flores was the guy and the performance they put on?) – “It was. What they did defensively was great. For me, coming from there, they’re our rivals. Let someone else win. (laughter) But I’m very happy for him. He did an outstanding job and their team played – as he talked about – as a team. You can see it with that team in New England this year. They were a team, and that’s why they won.”
(Take us through the actual interview with Brian Flores. At what point were you thinking this is our guy? Was there an exchange that you two had that really stood out to you?) – “Not really. We’ve known each other. Just hearing him talk, we kind of think the same way. I think it was more for everyone else in the room that didn’t know him. When everyone left, they were like ‘Wow, what presence he has,’ in terms of vision and leadership. You kind of go through everything. When we do the background checks on everyone, when you call people around the league and the people he’s worked with and you talk to the players that know him – former players – it was always ‘Wow, this guy’s leadership. He’s a leader of men.’ The presence he has, how he carries himself and how players connect with him and want to play for him, all of that stuff all came through in the interview.”
(Between the announced moves and the moves that have been reported, there does seem to a big Patriots influence here. Is that by design and if so, what is the thinking there?) – “I don’t know if it’s by design. I think (Flores) is just hiring good coaches that he can get, that are available, and that he knows has the same vision and philosophy that he has. Yeah, there’s probably going to be some New England influence but he has people from other organizations as well that are good coaches and can add something to that. You don’t just want all New England. It’s the same thing with scouting. I brought in (Assistant General Manager) Marvin Allen, who was hired, and Marvin started in New England like I did but he’s been with John Dorsey in Kansas City where he was his college director. He’s been in Atlanta. He’s been in Buffalo. Again, adding someone else that can add something to us and maybe, ‘Hey, let’s look at things. Hey, I like how you guys did that.’ I think that’s always helpful.”
(Can characteristics translate from what one franchise to another you think?) – “I think it can. But again, everybody has got to be on the same page, because it’s too hard if I think one way and he thinks another. You’ve got to get everybody to buy in so that we’re all talking the same language. You’re not talking like a DB coach … You’re not talking to someone telling them something different and then you expect that to translate to the field. It’s not going to happen. It was very important for him to find guys that believed in the same things that he believed and teach those core values.”
(As far as what type of job he’s taking, it has been reported the last couple weeks you weren’t going to take a quarterback this year. Is that accurate?) – “No, nothing is out … You can’t say that, because we haven’t even gone through our process of getting to learn the guys yet. There’s a lot of good prospects we spent some time with down at the Senior Bowl and there’s other quarterbacks that weren’t there that people are talking about as well. We’ve just got to go through it and get to know them. We might get through the process and fall in love with a couple guys. Last year, we liked two guys a lot and they both had good success this year. It could be at that point we may say, ‘We feel this is the guy.’”
(Flores is a first time head coach. Based on what has been reported out there, he’s probably going to have first-time coordinator on offense, first-time coordinator on defense. The team is rebuilding. Is this going to require patience?) – “I would say the hard part, and I’ve been here for a while as you guys know … We’ve had twice where we’ve had first-year success where we’ve gone to the playoffs with new head coaches and then the next couple of years it hadn’t worked and we ended up making changes. We want to build this to win long-term. I think we’ve been very calculated in some of the hirings as well. There are some you guys probably know; but once they get finalized, he’ll have veterans guys that have done it as well that will be great people for him to lean on, on the staff, too. I think you should have patience. We want to build this right. We don’t want to go to the playoffs one year and then step back and everyone thinks, ‘Oh, they’re back,’ and then you just keep trying to survive. We want to build this to where this is long-term and you can win for many years instead of trying to go year to year to fill spots to save jobs.”
(Do you think that the early success you had with two coaches that led to playoffs sort of derailed you as an organization?) – “I don’t think derailed. I think it just becomes pressure and expectations. We all knew when we won that there were a lot of holes. You guys all knew that being here. When you win, all the fans are like, ‘Oh, we’re going to win,’ and then the coaches put pressure on themselves and the front office, you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to win and keep this going, this good feeling we have here.’ I’m not saying we did, but maybe you take a chance on somebody instead of building it the right way and things happen. We just want this to be built to win for long term instead of looking short term.”
(It has been reported that the organization will move on from QB Ryan Tannehill. I feel the responsibility to at least ask you is that fair and accurate that the organization will be making a change at the quarterback position?) – “No, I don’t think that’s fair, because Brian (Flores) just got here. You really need whoever is going to be his offensive coordinator and the rest of the offensive staff to get here, which is not finished. Let them sit down and evaluate the roster and look at him, because maybe they say, ‘Hey, he’s got something here that we can work and fix,’ if people think there is something wrong with him. I would say that’s not fair. There have been no decisions made. I’m not making anything … I’m not giving my opinion on the players. I’m letting them watch them so we can get together and talk about what we think.”
(You mentioned building it the right way multiple times in the past couple of press conferences. If you could explain what building it the right way is in your mind?) – “It’s a little bit, like I talked about, of having long-term vision. Again, I’ve never been … The way I grew up there in New England, I’ve never been (wanting to) spend money – huge money – on a guy to come it, because to me, I’d rather have three really good players than one maybe great player who may or may not impact what you’re doing. I’d rather have three good players at positions that are going to help the team win. That’s a little bit of it. But to me … Yeah, you build up your offensive line and defensive line. You start there and then you work. Obviously, you need playmakers that are going to be impact players and stuff. It’s just the way I grew up, how I started and I just really believe those ways are how those teams win.”
(Younger?) – “Yeah. It’s a brutal game. I’m not going to lie. We’ve seen it, and younger bodies bounce back faster. But that being said, there’s a lot of older players that are really good players still in this league. Obviously with the quarterback in New England.”
(On QB Jake Rudock.) – “Jake, we got to know him through Miami day here being he’s a local kid, and we spent some time with him. The thing that we had liked, and the previous staff did as well, is that he was smart. He’s a big kid, can throw the ball and he’s smart. He’s been in a similar offense. Before he signed, I asked him ‘What can you do?’ and I said, ‘I can’t tell you what we’re going to do, because I don’t know what we’re doing (yet).’ Just the fact that he was big, had a good arm and was smart, it was someone we took a chance on. He’s a great kid though.”
