Vance Joseph – January 28, 2016
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Thursday, January 28, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(On if he plans on keeping the 4-3 defense that the Dolphins ran last season) — “Yes. This defensive structure is 4-3. When you come into a new job you don’t want to so call change the structure of the defense, so 4-3 is what they’ve been. That’s what we’ll go forward with.”
(On what he sees as the building blocks for this defense and where the defense is right now and what are the immediate needs) — “My philosophy is it’s built with rushers and corners. If you can rush the passer and cover outside it helps the schematics during game weeks. Rushing and covering is the bottom line of playing great defense in the NFL. If you can rush and cover, that’s the key.”
(On how far he is in evaluating the players) — “It’s early. We’ve watched probably half the season from last year and most of the pieces are in house. Obviously acquiring more pieces, it’s always important for your schematics. But in-house right now, we’ve got some pieces to work with. Obviously DE Cameron Wake and (DT Ndamukong) Suh and S Reshad Jones, that’s front line NFL starters.”
(On what this job means to him personally) — “Well it’s been a long time coming, obviously. I had the chance to interview two years ago for coordinator jobs and it didn’t happen. And in my mind that was probably a good thing. I was ready two years ago but leaving Houston, going to (Cincinnati), being a part of a new system, that’s always a good thing for a coach – going from a 3-4 to a 4-3 in Cincy, that’s important in your coaching background.”
(On what this job means to him personally and how certain he is that this is the place and time for him) — “It’s obviously a great opportunity and I’m ready for it. Again, it’s my first time being the sole coordinator in the NFL but my mentors, Wade Phillips, Gary Kubiak, those guys years ago had kind of informed me I was ready for the job. So that gives you confidence when your mentors kind of give you that assurance.”
(On his thoughts about Denver being interested in hiring him and now they are in the Super Bowl) — “At first, disappointing. But you know (I’m) obviously happy for Wade (Phillips) and happy for Gary (Kubiak). I mean they’re friends. They’re friends of mine. So (I’m) happy for those guys but it was a tough year last year, being blocked from that job, knowing that Gary (Kubiak) was going to be the head coach and that team having great players on defense. As a first time coordinator you want an experienced head coach, obviously, and have good players on defense. So that was a hard one to swallow last year.”
(On the opportunity to work with DT Ndamukong Suh and what does a player like that mean to a defense and what should his role be) — “He’s obviously a dominate player in this league. He’s an inside player so that’s always tough because offensively they can kind of double team him every play. So it’s tough for him watching the film. He’s requiring two or three blockers every play so sometimes it’s hard for him to kind of have an impact on the game. But obviously he’s a dominant guy. We can use his reputation to kind of help us on defense. But you know watching a guy, he’s big, he’s fast, he’s explosive but he’s requiring double teams every play. So for him to get off, it’s tough.”
(On if he sees ways in which he can get more out of Ndamukong Suh than in 2015) — “Sure. We’ve got some ways but I can’t share those obviously. We can help him to get some more single blocks, more one-on-one opportunities because if not, he’s going to get doubled every play. So we have some ways to do those things but I won’t share those right now.”
(On what he’s seen so far on film and what things that need to improve) — “You watch the group and they play hard. They play really hard. Being in the bottom of the run defenses, that’s troubling because if a team runs the ball on you constantly, you’re constantly in third and shorts, third and mediums. So stopping the run is always going to be our first priority and it starts from there. If you can stop the run and make them one-dimensional, now you are winning on defense.”
(On if there are any numbers that he pride more than others) — “You know stats can be misleading but I think there are three or four stats that are obviously important. Obviously points allowed are very important. Third down defense, red zone defense, turnovers, (those are) definitely important. Overall yardage, that can be misleading but those four or five areas we have to be good at to play top 10 defense.”
(On why he kept Defensive Backs Coach Lou Anarumo on the staff after he was the interim defensive coordinator last season) – “Well, he’s a good football coach. I didn’t want to come in and just assume that everyone here was a bad football coach. So I interviewed Lou, I’ve known Lou for four or five years now through Kevin (Coyle) and those guys in Cincy. He’s a good football coach and it helps to have a guy who has been on staff to kind of be a bridge between the old and new. I’m excited to have Lou, the players really enjoyed playing for Lou and that’s important to me. It’s a players game. It wasn’t about me coming in with Lou, it was more about what’s best for our players and best for our team.”
(On if he has spoken with DT Ndamukong Suh and how important it is to establish a relationship with him) – “We’ve talked the last couple of weeks here and he’s a bright guy and he wants to be involved in our overall scheme. My opinion with that is this, every player is going to have a voice, from the top to the bottom, every player is going to have a voice. If the player puts the work in, if he’s studying daily to help us win, then I’ll listen. If it’s Suh or if it’s (S Reshad) Jones or if it’s (CB Brent) Grimes, whoever puts the work in and brings me ideas then I’ll listen. It’s the NFL and you want players to have ownership of it. If it’s a closed door all of the time as a coordinator, then that could be a problem for a defensive coordinator. It’s going to be an open door policy, but open to ideas that have been thought through.”
(On if he sees CB Brent Grimes coming back next season) – “I hope. That’s obviously in the future, but I hope because he’s been a really good player in the past. Again, having corners who can cover outside is vital to playing great defense. He’s still a corner in this league that can compete with the best receivers and that’s important for us to have.”
(On if he felt responsible for how Cincinnati Bengals CB Adam Jones reacted in their playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers or if it’s on the player) – “I think it’s both, but with that being said Adam Jones played a hell of a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. His guy didn’t catch the ball all night. Obviously towards the end of the game we had two penalties that cost us the football game and that’s both on coaches and on players, its grown men. Adam is an emotional player and he’s made some mistakes obviously, but I feel responsible and I feel bad for (Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach) Marvin (Lewis) and I feel bad for ownership that it happened because that was going to be a historical win for the Bengals. But obviously as a coach you feel responsible for that, that’s my guy and that shouldn’t have happened. That’s wrong.”
(On what he did as a defensive backs coach to help the Bengals secondary have an outstanding season) – “With Adam Jones, he’s always been a guy with great talent. We kind of just harnessed that a little bit and played more technique. (Cincinnati Bengals S) Reggie Nelson is also a first-round pick that we did some small things with him and he made the Pro Bowl for the first time. But that’s great players and that’s more of the player than the coach.”
(On if he is a more aggressive or more conservative as a play-caller) – “I think every game is going to be different. I grew up with (Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator) Wade Phillips and he is aggressive all of the time. That’s Wade’s deal. Every game is going to be different and I’m going to call the game to win the game that day. It can be conservative, it can be aggressive, but it’s more about team and how the team can win the game that day.”
(On how important the middle linebacker is in his 4-3 scheme) – “The middle linebacker has got to be a guy with great leadership. He’s the signal-caller; he’s the quarterback on defense. He’s got to be a physical, great tackler and a tone setter. In the 4-3 you’ve got three backers and the Mike backer is more of the tough, signal-caller leadership guy and the Sam and Will are more of the athletic guys who play in space.”
