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A New Start! (the Reboot) The Front Office, Ownership, & Coaching Staff Thread

JSSkinz

By JSSkinz
in The Stadium

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TK
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Pay Attention Knuckleheads

 

 

Has your team support wained due to ownership or can you see past it?  

229 members have voted

  1. 1. Will you attend a game and support the team while Dan Snyder is the owner of the team, regardless of success?

    • Yes
      47
    • No
      106
    • I would start attending games if Dan was no longer the owner of the team.
      77

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woodpecker

woodpecker

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, skinzplay said:

Dude, Bieniemy calls the plays. ALL the plays. Which is more than can be said for Andy's other offensive assistants who got HC gigs.

Well if this is true I’d be on board with hiring Bieniemy. Everything I’ve ever read or heard though is that Reid calls the plays.

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HigSkin

HigSkin

Posted
Posted (edited)
26 minutes ago, skinzplay said:

Something tells me they're interviewing for more than one offensive coaching position. Could be wrong. Usually am (ask my wife).

 

They were bantering back and forth about this on The Junkies this morning where like if they hire a coordinator with a heavy run and protection philosophy, they may also need a pass game coordinator to compliment it.

 

 

Edited by HigSkin
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Franklin60

Franklin60

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, HigSkin said:

 

They were bantering back and forth about this on The Junkies this morning where like if they hire a coordinator with a heavy run and protection philosophy, they may also need a pass game coordinator to compliment it.

 

 

I’m wondering what kind of compliment he would pay it. I’m thinking maybe something like “My, that’s a mighty sexy looking philosophy you’ve got there”.

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CobraCommander

CobraCommander

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, HigSkin said:

 

They were bantering back and forth about this on The Junkies this morning where like if they hire a coordinator with a heavy run and protection philosophy, they may also need a pass game coordinator to compliment it.

 

 

The OC should have say in who his assistants are imo. I don't like the idea of Ron hiring people the OC is not familiar with or will superceded his authority.  

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Fan since a Fetus

Fan since a Fetus

Posted
Posted

I feel like they are interviewing as many people as they can so they get an idea on how to move forward with the offense. Or, that’s my hope at least. If this is what they are doing, great!!! Fresh eyes and ideas should be welcome. If they hire both a run and pass coordinator, then that’s cool as long as they are consistent about calling plays and getting into a flow. 

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method man

method man

Posted
Posted

This is a fantastic article from the Athletic on how Daboll pulled his staff together. Big props to Daboll for hiring a number of guys he had not worked with before (he had no relationship with Martindale and had spent 6 months with Kafka in NE when Kafka was a player). Loved the part about group interviews for all the coaches - great way for position coaches to feel ownership

 

Wink Martindale was in the coaches’ meeting room at Giants headquarters interviewing for the defensive coordinator position in February when he was summoned to meet with general manager Joe Schoen.

Martindale left his cellphone on the meeting room table when he stepped out. It rang, and Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson couldn’t help but notice the caller ID featuring the name of a head coach from another team in the market for a defensive coordinator.

 

A few minutes passed and another call came from the head coach, who presumably had gotten wind Martindale was interviewing with the Giants and wanted to make his pitch before anything was finalized. When Giants head coach Brian Daboll returned to the room, Henderson made him aware of the competition to hire Martindale, who had already made a strong impression.

“I see his phone is blowing up. I told Daboll,” Henderson said. “And then it’s ringing again, and I was like, ‘You better do something quick.’”

The Giants didn’t waste any time. Daboll made an offer, Martindale accepted and neither has looked back.

Martindale is now the headliner of the all-star staff Daboll assembled in his first head-coaching job following 25 years as an assistant. Rather than rely on old friends and former colleagues, Daboll instead oversaw an innovative interview process that grew as each assistant was hired.

 

The result is a coaching staff that helped lead the Giants back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Daboll and his assistants described to The Athletic how the staff came together.

Thomas McGaughey had been the Giants’ special teams coordinator since 2018, serving on the staffs of previous head coaches Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge. When Judge was fired after last season, there was no guarantee his successor would retain any assistants, so McGaughey had to explore other options.

He was offered the special teams coordinator jobs with the Chargers and Panthers and declined an interview request from the Bears, but said, “I wasn’t real fired up about (the other teams), to be honest with you because I wanted to stay here.”

McGaughey had no relationship with Daboll, who made an introductory phone call when he became a candidate for the Giants job. The night he was hired, Daboll called McGaughey. The interview lasted five minutes.

“He was like, ‘OK, you’re in front of the room, first time you meet the team: Go!,’” McGaughey said. “He stopped me halfway through and he was like, ‘Look, do you want to be here?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to be here.’ It’s been great ever since.”

Daboll’s other coordinator hires were more complicated. Daboll put himself in position to land the Giants job due to his proficiency calling plays as the Bills offensive coordinator from 2018-21. But knowing how much time and energy went into preparing to call a game, Daboll decided he wanted his offensive coordinator to handle that vital duty so he could better manage the entire team.

“You just spend so much time going through situations and meeting and talking with your staff and going back and watching tape,” Daboll said. “I didn’t want to just sit in the offensive room.”

An extensive list of candidates was whittled to Chiefs quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Mike Kafka, Texans quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton and Browns wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Chad O’Shea.

Daboll and Kafka had no history aside from six months together with the Patriots during the 2013 offseason. Kafka was a backup quarterback, and Daboll was returning as tight ends coach after a series of unsuccessful OC jobs away from New England. They worked together to learn and re-learn the Patriots’ offense.

Kafka’s coaching career blossomed in Kansas City, but he knew there was always a ceiling there since head coach Andy Reid called plays. So Kafka took his first offensive coordinator interview with the Giants — he was blocked from interviewing for the Eagles’ OC position in 2020 — and the opportunity to call plays was appealing.

“I loved my time in Kansas City,” Kafka said. “Was it easy to leave? No. But I know deep down in my heart this is an opportunity to grow and put your own stamp on it.”

Daboll didn’t make him any promises during the interview process, reserving the right to reclaim play-calling duties.

“I wanted him to do it in OTAs and then we’ll revisit it,” Daboll said. “Once you call plays for a long time, you’re kind of used to doing it, so it’s kind of like watching your kid go to college. You’ve got to let them go sometime.”

Kafka passed the test in the spring and has called plays all season.

“To turn play-calling over to Kafka, that’s unparalleled,” said Daboll’s agent Bob LaMonte, who has represented many of the NFL’s top coaches over a 40-year career. “Normally ego sets in and the coach who calls the plays, which he’s at brilliant at, never turn that over.”

Defensive coordinator was a more pivotal hire considering Daboll’s expertise on offense. Initially, it seemed like that would be a simple process, as Daboll had worked with Giants DC Patrick Graham for three years in New England.

They had a strong relationship and it was expected that Graham would stay with the Giants unless he got the Vikings head coaching job. But Graham, who also interviewed for the Giants’ head coaching vacancy, surprisingly departed to become the defensive coordinator for another former Patriots assistant, Josh McDaniels, in Las Vegas.

“I was hoping he was going to stay, and he decided to go in a different direction,” Daboll said.

Graham’s abrupt exit forced Daboll to scramble for alternatives. He again cast a wide net, with Martindale, Missouri defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai emerging as the finalists who came to New Jersey for in-person interviews.

Martindale unexpectedly became available in January after 10 years with the Ravens, including the last four as one of the top defensive coordinators in the NFL. Daboll and Martindale didn’t have a personal relationship, but there was mutual respect from their matchups as opposing play callers over the years.

Martindale was playing golf in Florida when Daboll first called about the Giants’ DC job.

“I was going to take a year off to play golf because I had a year left on my contract,” Martindale said.

The opportunity to join Daboll with the Giants, who interviewed Martindale for their head coaching job in 2020, was intriguing. A Zoom interview quickly led to an in-person meeting.

“They flew me up that night after I did the Zoom,” Martindale said. “I had nothing on but golf gear. I wore golf shoes into the interview. I had no suit and tie — nothing.”

Martindale’s credentials were unmatched by the other candidates — three finishes in the top three in scoring defense in four seasons as a DC. His swagger meshed well with Daboll’s staff. And there was no questioning he was going to be in demand if the Giants dragged their feet.

Daboll didn’t hesitate, and the Giants gave Martindale a three-year contract, a year longer than the typical coordinator deal.

“Going against his system, it’s a challenging system to prepare for. Always had a lot of respect for him and how he did things,” Daboll said. “I thought Wink did a fantastic job and hit it off with all the guys.”

That Henderson and other position coaches were in the room for Martindale’s interview was part of Daboll’s collaborative hiring process. Often, a prospective coordinator may only interview with the head coach and other higher-ups, while position coaches typically only meet with the coordinator and head coach.

But Daboll involved every coach on staff with every interview, regardless of rank. There were 18 coaches in the room by the time Daboll hired Bryan Cox as assistant defensive line coach in mid-February.

“If I ever got this chance, I wanted to make it a very inclusive hiring process with the people that I do hire, making them part of it so they can provide me checks and balances,” Daboll said. “Everyone would have ownership in it. I just thought that was really important.”

Henderson, a holdover from Judge’s staff who previously worked with Daboll in Cleveland, was involved in countless interviews because he was one of the first members of the staff. And it wasn’t a passive process for the assistants.

“I would start, and I had a list of a significant amount of questions. Once I got done, then Jerome would pop on the Zoom, and he would ask it through a defensive back lens,” Daboll said. “Everybody just had free rein to jump on and ask questions. It was a pretty extensive interview that covered a lot of different areas.”

Henderson, who has been NFL assistant for five teams over the past 15 years, had never experienced that type of interview process. The rest of the staff echoed the unprecedented nature of Daboll’s methods.

“It was one of the best experiences of my coaching career,” McGaughey said. “I thought it was just genius by Dabes, having the staff having input in the guys you’re going to work with every day. I was completely blown away by the process.”

Henderson was particularly excited to interview — and learn from — Martindale, who is known for his exotic pressure packages. Henderson pulled clips from three Ravens games against top quarterbacks so Martindale could explain his approach.

“My job was to challenge him a little bit from that standpoint to create some tough questions so Daboll could hear him answer them,” Henderson said. “We pulled up those games and went through them and he did a great job of laying out his thoughts and how he thinks about defensive football.”

After some initial caution, the interviews morphed into chalk-talk sessions as coaches from various positions quizzed candidates.

“There was some guardedness, like, ‘If I tell you and then I don’t get the job …’” offensive line coach Bobby Johnson said. “I asked Kafka some questions, ‘In your protection system, if this is presented by a defense, what’s your answer?’ And he didn’t just blurt out an answer. He tested the water a little bit and then as we went down the road, it showed some trust on his part. He’d ask, ‘How would you handle it?’ I was like, ‘Here’s the issue. Here’s how I think I would handle it, but I’m also looking for new ways to handle it.’ Once that happened, it was fun because there was just this free-flowing football dialogue.”

After every round of interviews for each position, Daboll would poll the entire staff.

“We literally went around the room and voted,” tight ends coach Andy Bischoff said. “Literally, ‘Who wants (wide receivers coach Mike) Groh? Who wants so and so?’ When they were 4-4, then it was like, ‘OK, let’s re-think this, and let’s talk again.’ Or, ‘Maybe let’s sleep on this one.’ (Daboll) never really voted. He just let the staff have the conversation, which was really cool. It was really unique, really visionary in terms of hiring.”

Daboll had his own list of candidates for every position on his staff, but he also was open to suggestions from all of his assistants. That led to him hiring a number of assistants with limited past connections, including all three coordinators, Bischoff, Groh, running backs coach DeAndre Smith and defensive line coach Andre Patterson.

“Dre Patterson, who’s a really good line coach — I had no idea who Dre Patterson was,” Daboll said. “I wasn’t worried about knowing them. I wanted other perspectives. I really went as outside the box as I could to get candidates. I’m comfortable in my own skin with sitting down and talking to people and trying to make the best decision for our team.”

The egalitarian approach fostered chemistry on the staff.

“If I get a head-coaching job, I’ll do it the same way,” Martindale said. “Because what happens is, if you like a guy, and you say, ‘This is my guy,’ and then Dabes goes with him, now you have a vested interest in this guy.”

Not every assistant was foreign to Daboll. He spent two years in Cleveland with Henderson on Eric Mangini’s staff. Inside linebackers coach John Egorugwu was in Buffalo with Daboll from 2018-20. Johnson and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, who was also with Daboll at Alabama in 2017, came from Buffalo.

Martindale came as a package deal with outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins, who grew into his mentor’s most trusted lieutenant during 10 years together in Baltimore.

“Wink loved Drew and thought Drew was really good at Baltimore with him,” Daboll said. “I think that’s important when you are a coordinator to at least have one person you’re familiar with because you can draw on experiences.”

Putting together a staff from such a wide range of backgrounds made for an intensive offseason. After the extensive interview process, offensive systems needed to be melded, and defensive coaches needed to learn Martindale’s schemes.

“We didn’t really have an offseason last year, which I’m not complaining about at all,” Daboll said. “From the start of it all the way through, we were (in the office) later sometimes than we are during the week during the season.”

With most wives and children not moving immediately to New Jersey, those first few months were pure football. That helped strengthen the bonds that were created during the interview process.

“We’d come in, everybody works out in the morning; we grind and get taught the offense; we go to dinner, go back to the hotel and maybe have a ****tail and do it all over again,” Smith said. “It was paradise.”

That’s exactly the feeling Daboll aimed to cultivate with his staff, knowing a strong chemistry among coaches would eventually cascade down to the players.

“When you’re bringing people in, as a leader, you’re also looking at how everybody meshes,” Daboll said. “Because just as important as players are to team chemistry, I’d say the coaches are as important and they have to set the culture and the chemistry.”

The results are impossible to dispute. Daboll took over a team that was tied for the worst record in the NFL over the previous five seasons. A salary cap mess and a depleted roster didn’t portend instant success. But the leadership of Daboll and his staff has guided the Giants out of the abyss and back to the playoffs.

“The culture here is so strong and the vibe is so different,” McGaughey said. “The players feel it. They know when the coaches are tight together and they know when the coaches aren’t tight together. I truly think the reason we’ve had the success that we’ve had is because we’re so tight-knit. Guys don’t blink because they like each other. They genuinely like each other and fight for each other. It’s just different. It really is.”

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TK

TK

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, spjunkies said:

Come on TK 😤

 

brutus-beef-cake-brutus.gif

 

Brutus used hedge clippers, they're not the same. Plus Brutus sucked. :silly: 

 

Also, Castor's dad played TE for Gibbs here in 81/82. 

 

And The Acclaimed had the First Annual National Scissoring Day in DC.

 

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Skinsinparadise

Skinsinparadise

Posted
Posted (edited)
55 minutes ago, Conn said:

We’d be so lucky to have a process like Daboll’s play out next offseason, if that’s the way things go under a new owner. Great article. 

 

Reminds me some of when Gibbs came back and one of the first things he did was to travel to meet Gregg Williams to lock him up.

 

Really all the coaches here since have had to some extent a record of going for personal comfort at times with coaches IMO over competence. 

 

Jay though referenced the point some in a recent podcast by implying you want coaches that have your back in the environment that existed at Redskins Park.  He talked about how there was a lot of back biting behind the scenes, some of which came from coaches on the staff.  

 

I get that to an extent.  When you got an owner who by reputation likes to rule by fear and pit one faction versus another its a bit more of a doggie dog environment in a bad way than the typical team.

 

Plenty of coaches by nature  i am sure prefer to coach with familair faces who have their back -- but I think in this environment it lends to doubling down on that approach. 

Edited by Skinsinparadise
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