Transcript of new general manager John Idzik's news conference following owner Woody Johnson's introductory remarks Thursday morning in the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center auditorium:
WOODY JOHNSON: This is a very important day for the New York Jets. We've just finished an exhaustive process. Maybe exhaustive is not the right word, but we finished the process where we interviewed a number of very qualified people to assume the job of general manager of the New York Jets. That process we wanted to be very thorough and careful because of the importance of this decision, so we hired Korn/Ferry. They led it and I think Jed Hughes was very helpful in establishing a process that really gave everyone a fair look and set out the criteria that we were looking for.
We went through the process and after interviewing John Idzik, it became apparent to us that he was head and shoulders the best fit for the New York Jets. It's not only his demeanor and the way he speaks, it's also his experience. He's a second-generation football guy. His father was here as an offensive coordinator in the Seventies, a successful one. His 20 years in every facet of the football business, from personnel to the [salary] cap to the weightroom, he's done it all.
He's been around some great coaches and great people and general managers. I think if you go back to Tampa, the Arizona Cardinals or anyone at the Seahawks, they will confirm the kind of person John is and that fact that he is the right person to do this job for the New York Jets in 2013. I think he will add so much to what we're collectively trying to do, and that's put a championship football team on the field. I think he'll do a great job. I know I am very excited and I think the fans, as they get to know John, will be excited as well. With that I would like to introduce the new general manager for the New York Jets, John Idzik.
JOHN IDZIK: Thank you, welcome. I appreciate your attendance and I appreciate your patience. I've been across the country a little bit, took a little detour to Mobile, Ala., and finally landed here in my new home in Florham Park. I'm happy to be here. It's a very special day for me, my family and the New York Jets. I owe all of that to Woody Johnson. I'm very appreciative of the time we've spent together. We've had several talks over the last couple of weeks and you've made me feel right at home.
I'm also very appreciative of Neil Glat, Ira Akselrad and Rex Ryan. Again, we've had several in-depth conversations and every step of the way I gravitated more towards the New York Jets, I felt like a member of the New York Jets. I'm very appreciative of that.
The last three days I took a little hiatus down to Mobile and spent a little time with our personnel staff down there, Terry Bradway, Scott Cohen and company and our pro and college guys, and it was a great introduction. It's challenging enough to go through the Senior Bowl dual-day practices, so for them to make time in a very jam-packed schedule to let us get to know each other was very valuable to me, so we can hit the ground running when they come back.
Once you start looking at players and start talking about players in that environment, it's like riding a bike. We felt very comfortable together. It hasn't taken me long to feel like a New York Jet. I'm certainly happy to be here. I share this day with four new Jets that have a temporary layover out in Seattle.
My wife of 27 years, Carol. Living in a football family, I've grown up in a football family as Woody said, it's very rewarding and very unique and it has its challenges on family members. We spend a lot of time away from home. For me, to have the peace of mind that Carol has taken care of everything at home with our children and raised them to be fine individuals that we're very proud of means everything. She has responsibilities far greater than I will ever have and I'm very grateful for her. Our three kids, Bryant, your sense of adventure, your creativity, Bradley, your dedication, work ethic and desire on and off your fields, and Holly, you're compassion and quick wit, they all inspire me. We're very proud and I welcome you to the Jets.
As Woody mentioned, my dad was here. It took me a little time, but I made it back. I'm very happy to be back. Just like Carol, my mom was the bedrock for our football family growing up for my two sisters, Cindy and Joy. She has provided stability along the way. When my dad was away for long stretches of time, I was the lucky one out of the three because I got to spend a lot of time with my father going to camps and on the sidelines. I was in Hempstead and Shea as a skinny high school receiver. I treasure those times, not only for observing my dad in different environments and how he worked, but more importantly he taught me life lessons that extend well beyond football.
I think you get a sense from me that family, cohesion and teamwork are at my core. They're at the core of the New York Jets. That's been my experience in the league, too, whenever you can build a cohesive unit that's trustworthy and they're dedicated to a common cause, to each other, and you can fight through difficult times and support each other and more importantly you know how to handle success over an extended period.
The most recent example of that was in Seattle. We had a tremendous building led by Paul Allen, Peter McLoughlin, Pete Carroll and John Schneider. John is a special guy to me. We've known each other since I've been in the league for 20 years, first as divisional foes. We joke about that a little bit, but I really treasure our last three years getting to work alongside each other. There is a building there that is special and they are all in and I feel that here in New York. We're going to be all in and work together and that's how we're going to develop a sustainable winner. It's something that our fans and our community are going to be proud of.
I would like to digress for just one second and say that it's a special day for my mom and dad. I would like to wish them a happy 60th anniversary.
Beyond Seattle, I had the good fortune to work alongside many people that had a profound influence on me both professionally and personally. Just to mention a few, Tony Dungy, Tod Leiweke, Rod Graves, all of these folks I count as lifelong friends. We've been through a few battles together, we've built things together. It's been very rewarding. In Tampa, Rich McKay, Jerry Angelo, Tim Ruskell, Ruston Webster — we went on quite a journey in Tampa, we saw it from the bottom to the top. It was very special.
To me, all of those experiences have solidified the power of "we". The power of "we" over "me". That's something that is going to be very strong here in New York. As it goes there, it goes here in New York, too. It will be based on a collaborative effort, it will be inclusive, it will be well-thought-out and well-researched. It will be the power of "we".
Our immediate plans, I have crisscrossed the country and I don't know what time or day it is, so Rex [Ryan], you are going to have to help me out that way. We're going to continually develop, maintain and enhance a roster here that is grounded in competition. There will be a constant influx of competition. When you're in football, you relish competition. It gets everybody better. By that, I mean we'll explore every measure to bring in talent and continue to compete.
The draft will be very important to us. That will be a lifeline for us, year in and year out. We will use free agency. Again we will be very thoughtful, do our research and be judicious in free agency. We will use trades. We will use waiver claims. We'll work our practice roster. We'll have numerous tryouts throughout the year in search for guys that play like a Jet. That will be a constant hum in the background of what we do.
The most immediate business item that we have to address is a thorough and comprehensive review of our current roster. I come from the outside as an opponent. Rex, you've lived with these players. Our pro and college department, they've lived with these players. They know them not only as players on gameday but they know how they eat, sleep, practice, prepare, they know their families, so I want to get to know them in depth. We're going to do a thorough review of our roster.
From there, we will be able to develop short-term plans going into free agency. We'll be able to develop our plans as far as the salary cap is concerned going into the 2013 league year. Of course, there will be countless hours spent in preparation for the 2013 draft.
That's it in a nutshell and I'm happy to be here. I'm elated and it's a special day for me. I look forward to meeting and getting to know each one of you over the years. I'm proud to be a Jet.
On his confidence in making the final personnel decisions…
When making the final personnel decisions, when I say a collaborative effort, that's genuine. I think my role as a general manager is to provide some direction and develop a consensus in the building, so that when we make decisions, they're Jet decisions. I may be that person that hands in the card, but what's on that card is a Jet decision. That's going to be genuine here in New York. As far as my background, I've been around NFL players since I was "young," since I was 6 years old, in various capacities. As a I started my professional career, I've had a myriad of different perspectives. So I think that's something that I can lend to the New York Jets, various perspectives, and that's inclusive of personnel. It's inclusive of management, administration, operations. It's inclusive of, obviously, contract and cap, so I think that will be a help for the New York Jets.
On there will be any initial changes in the personnel staff…
No, I can say that in my initial days I've realized this, I've only been on the job for three days, this is my fourth, three of them have been out of state, I've been very impressed with my initial impressions. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Rex down in Mobile, I had a chance to talk with and meet with all of our personnel staff down there, Scott [Cohen], Terry [Bradway], JoJo [Wooden], Jeff [Bauer], Mike [Davis], Ari, all those people. My initial expressions are we have a really strong group here and I look forward to working with them in these days and nights to come.
On Coach Ryan…
I look at Rex Ryan as a very accomplished coach. He's very energetic. He's optimistic. He's engaging as we all know. He engages our players and he gets them to play hard. I can speak to that from the opponents' side. I look forward to our time together. I really do. I'm excited about it, so that, to me, was a plus.
On if being the son of a former NFL coach gives him more credibility around the league…
I think your credibility really comes from within. I think, a lot of people, there are perceptions, or should I say misperceptions out there, and you are who you are. The people in the building are going to feel who you are. It's more that than where your roots are from family-wise. That said, yes, I had a tremendous advantage. As I said, before grade school I was going to NFL training camps. I may be a little bit biased here, but my dad was a heck of a coach. To be able to sit in camps with him, sit alongside with him in the coaches' booth, grow up around that — a tremendous advantage for me. But I think ultimately it's how you handle yourself in your job, how you relate to your people in the building. That's your credibility.
On how he plans to handle the current salary cap…
Every year, as you enter into a new league year, you're always going to, much like you do in free agency with your own players, the draft, you're going to develop a plan for the salary cap. We're going to develop a plan in the days to come. I never saw the cap situation here as a hindrance or anything like that. It's something that you research, you work through, you evaluate, just like we evaluate our roster. We make the moves we think are best for the Jets. I'm fully confident we'll be able to do that and we'll have a fruitful offseason.
On the thoroughness of the interview process…
I think the interview process was very thorough. I commend Woody and his team. Really, there's a lot of pressure in the NFL to answer the questions who and when. The sense I got was we're going to take a step back, we're going to do this thing right and we're going to talk to as many people as we have to. The same held through with our conversations. We had very open, candid, informative conversations. Through that, the more we talked, the better I felt, the more I felt that if I was given this opportunity I would be happy to be a New York Jet.
On the challenge of getting back to the playoffs…
Every year is a challenge. Whether you're in the playoffs or not, and we've experienced it here in New York, you can go as far as the conference championship game, you can go to the Super Bowl. We did it in Tampa. We went to the Super Bowl one year and the next year we weren't as fortunate. So every year is a challenge and you really wipe the slate clean and see what you have as a base going in, and you build off that and try to improve daily. In that vein, it's not different than years will go by when we are a perennial playoff team. We'll look at it the same way. How can we improve? It's a challenge, yes, but it's a challenge that we're all up to.
On Mark Sanchez's role going forward…
Obviously with Pete Carroll, we have a little bit of background there on him coming out of school. I can't comment really. I'm literally hours into the building. Rex had to show me my office [laughter], so I don't want to drill down too deep. We're going to save for our evaluation process in the days and weeks to come, but in looking at Mark, even evaluating him as a draft prospect, he's athletic guy, he was accomplished at USC. He's done some nice things here. But I think we just need to take our time and evaluate Mark with everybody else on the roster and see how we can move forward and improve.
On if anything gave him pause about accepting the general manager job…
Really, nothing. I think as soon as I got to know the people better, you just get a sense. You get a sense they're talking the same language as you, they have the same makeup. Again, when we talked about teamwork, togetherness, cohesiveness, there's going to be integration within the building, we're going to make collective decisions. When we talked those through, they made me feel very comfortable. We're all in this together. I'm glad, I'm going to be grateful, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
On the perception of that no one wanted the Jets general manager job…
Everyone is going to have their opinions and I don't deal with much in perception, to be honest. I deal with reality. The reality here is I think this is one of the most fabulous football infrastructures anyone can ask for. For one, we have some of the most fervent, passionate fans in the National Football League. I've experienced what an advantage that can be in Seattle, Tampa and Arizona. I feel that here. We have a state-of-the-art stadium to play in, we have a state-of-the-art facility. The people in this building are tremendous. That's reality to me. The more I got to know about the people here, the fans here, the environment here, the facilities, I think the football infrastructure is second to none. My personal opinion: It's one of the best opportunities that you could have.
On if he sees the Jets as a "win now" opportunity…
I don't know that you can put a timetable. Like I said, every year is different. I don't know that you can put a timetable. I can assure you of this: Rex, myself, everyone in the building, every single day we're going to look to improve. We're going to see improvement and we'll work as hard as we can to do that. I don't know that you can put a discrete timetable on it. We're going to have a competitive team. That's going to be the center of everything we do, competition, and that's going to make us better. It's going to make us a force in the league.
On if he would be open to the possibility of trading Darrelle Revis…
I think it's way premature to say anything specific. Again, I haven't even had the chance to sit down and thoroughly vet through our roster with Rex, his staff, with our personnel staff. I think it would be presumptuous say anything like that.
On the importance of addressing Revis' contract situation…
Not that one specifically, but I'd say very important. One of our first steps is to go through our roster in detail. That includes him, that includes everybody on the roster. Then develop a comprehensive plan off of that. But it's still a little bit premature to say.
On reports that he asked the Seahawks to go on more scouting trips the last two years and how comfortable he is handling personnel…
Yes, I'm completely comfortable in that area. To address the first question, whatever I do in football, I do for our team. I don't do it for personal gain or anything like that. I have a very broad background and a very extensive background in personnel and evaluation, so if my team needs me to go out on the road, I'll go out on the road. If my team needs me to stay in house and do more pro, I'll do that. If my team needs me to do cap management, that's been kind of my general take over the years. Nothing is prefab or anything like that. Again, it's in the vein of chipping in in a collective effort and what you can lend. I think I can lend a lot in various aspects of football operations.
On describing the draft as a "lifeline" and if he'd trade a prominent player for multiple picks…
First off all, when I say lifeline, no matter if we have all of our picks as we do this year, if we don't have our full complement of picks, or we attain additional picks via trades, we're going to place an emphasis on the draft from Rounds 1 through 7 and the college free agents. We will be well-versed in who we think is going to help our squad through the draft.
Then on an individual basis, once we evaluate our roster, the baseline will always be our current roster. Everything we do will be compared to what we have in the building. That will always be the baseline. We will charter our course based on all these evaluations. Some of it will be draft-oriented. Some of it will be free agent-oriented. Some of it will be trade-oriented. It's a little bit premature to get specific about it, but I just think that to us, every draft choice that we turn in is going to be precious to us.
On his general philosophy for building a winning team…
Hopefully you got a sense of it from my comments before. It has to start from the people in the building, the players, coaches, scouts, football operations, business operations. We will develop a Jet profile and you develop that profile that they play like a Jet. That's first and foremost. And of course you start to evaluate their football acumen and everything else pieces together. In terms of a more specific football philosophy, that's for Rex and I to sit down, and we've already begun that, but we will continue to do that in the days to come, to be very discrete in what we want to do to win games and mesh that up to the types of players that we want to bring in.
On this being a new beginning…
Of course it's a new beginning for me because this is my first day in Florham Park, but beyond that you can always look at it like every day is a new beginning, every month is a new beginning, every season that we go through, be it offseason, draft, post-draft, minicamp, training camp, we have new beginnings throughout the entire year. Yes, I look at this year as a burst of energy. It certainly is for me. I'm excited about it and from what I've heard, Rex is to. I'm very enthused about it.
On if there is a playoff mandate for the coaches…
No, I think what you do is you push the envelope, as far as competition, and you make sure you're doing the best you can to improve every day. The byproduct of that is sustainable success. A byproduct of that is winning football games, going into the post season and eventually bringing championships back to New York.
On if he was aware of the negative perception of the organization…
No, I don't think I ever got the perception. Again, there seems to be a lot of misperceptions. I had a brief breakfast with the entire building. The entire building showed up to shake my hand. That's pretty impressive that people go out of their way to introduce themselves to me and make me feel at home. When I sense that, I don't look at it as repair. I look at it as fostering what we have here. We have a good group of people here. They're good at what they do and it's up to me and everybody here to join together. That's the sense I get. I don't sense dysfunction or anything like that.
On his strength in player evaluations…
I know this is probably one of the most resourceful groups of journalists in the world, so if you want to answer perceptions, I would ask you just to go back to the numerous people that I've worked alongside in my NFL career. They can own up to that. As far as evaluations, football is at the root of who I am. I've been a football guy, so to speak. I don't know exactly what that means, but since I was a 6-year-old. Once I got into the league, I got into the league purely as a scout. That's always been in the background of what I do. Again, if there are any perceptions or any questions, there are plenty of resources out there to ask the people that I've worked with.
Transcript of owner Woody Johnson's remarks with reporters Thursday afternoon following John Idzik's introductory news conference:
On trading Darrelle Revis…
I'm going to go right back to John [Idzik], I think he had the answer, the same answer that I would have. First of all, we don't discuss contracts, but second of all, you have to give John a chance to really do what he talked about. He has to go through, evaluate what he has and how that plays into what he and Rex [Ryan] talked about in terms of the strategy for the future.
On the report that he would be open to trading Revis…
I don't know where that came from. But I have never, for the 10 years that I've been talking to you guys, I've never said anything about comments about contracts or anything like that.
On if he would like to sign Revis long term…
I think that's something that once again, I think we're going to have to wait. Darrelle's a great player, he's very well known in the league and rightfully so. But I think we're going to go through, just as John said in his press conference, we're going to carefully go through the roster and evaluate it and look at it strategically as we move forward.
On if it's fair to say they will explore all avenues pertaining to Revis' future…
I think I'd just go back to what I just said. John, this is his first day in the building, he's going to be in charge of making those decisions. Until he has a chance to go through and really evaluate, we're not going to make any statements or comments.
On if the report is untrue…
I don't know where it came from. I would never say anything about a contract or a trade or anything like that. That's not what I normally do.
On his frustration level regarding sources from within the confines of the building…
First of all, I'm not frustrated. I'm a very optimistic person, so I'm not really frustrated. I just want what's the best for the team and helping build the team going forward. And things that contribute to, like John was talking about, contribute to the "we" in the building, are what we're looking for. And if we don't have a lot of "I's" in this building or "me's" that's simple and straightforward. But that's really the heart of it. How you do that and how you get that culture going was really important to me and it was an important factor in who I selected general manager, somebody that understood that.
On what led him from interviewing general manager candidates with a strong personnel background to candidates with more of a contract and cap management background…
I know that question's been asked a lot, but that's actually not the case. I think that if you go back and you look at what John said, I think he does have the requisite, executive experience and football experience to make the important decisions on personnel or on any of the other myriads of questions and decisions he's going to have to make. The interview process, you have to get permission, so a lot of it, the order and so on was determined by when we got the permissions rather than our ranking, we never did that. We had candidates that we thought could do the job, that's why we brought them in and we just did it that way.
On if he expects the team to contend in 2013 or if he will allow Idzik time to rebuild the roster…
I think you build, as John said, the team is different every year. You can come off of a Super Bowl year and not make the playoffs the next year and vice versa. So I think you have to be, if everybody in the building is pulling toward putting a quality team on the field, a competitive team on the field, I think John was right on when he was talking about that, that's the best way to do better. And you can't, there's no timeline saying that because I do these three things I'm going to be a championship team. I think you have to look, you have to have a really good vision of where you want to go and how you're going to get there. Then, you use those resources, like the draft, free agency, college free agents, etc. And you have to be smart and lucky because you're evaluating talent, but you don't know, they haven't played in the NFL yet so everything is a projection somewhat.
On if Idzik will have sole decision-making power over the coaching staff after 2013…
Well, that's a collaborate decision between John and I. John will certainly have something to say. We're going to be a collaborative, we are a collaborative, but we will be even more collaborative as we go forward.
On why he believes Idzik will direct the Jets toward the "we" culture…
Based on interviews, we did an extensive [interview process], we talked to all those guys that he worked for. The organizations that have been successful that he's worked for, and each one of them had been successful, they talked about that. So that's just a part of who he is, his DNA.
On if he's seen the "me" and "I" culture in the organization…
It's not that we saw it a lot but I think part of the challenge of building a great organization is having a great culture. I think the culture comes from talking about what you believe in each and every day. You really have to talk about it and I think we have to do more of that and we are going to do more of it.
On if he feels the Tim Tebow trade was forced on him…
No. No, that was, when we make decisions and decisions are made, we're all in. It's a Jets decision. We don't go back and say, 'Well, this guy or this guy had more influence or less influence.' We go by what we did and then it's our decision.
On if there was something in the previous administration that didn't sit well with him…
No, not really. I just think you always have to work for collaboration and make it part of your culture. You have to know what you believe in, the process you believe in, you have to reinforce that. That's really all I meant by that.
On if Coach Ryan will have more say in decisions…
No. I think just collaboration means, when you're making a player choice, I think you make sure you have a wide array of opinions that you're looking at.
On if he would like to see more emphasis on the draft…
I think he emphasized the draft. That's the way you build your team long term. The draft is a very important part of it.
On if it does not appear that there will be many front office changes…
I think John sounded like he's been here how many hours? He's talked to a lot of the guys that work in scouting pro, college. Terry [Bradway], who's going to do our draft, so from what he said, from what he told me, he was confident, comfortable with him.
On if the front-office staff could change after the draft…
You evaluate every year. Of course things can change, but he sounded like he was pretty comfortable so far.
On if Revis' injury complicates any financial commitment he's willing to make to him…
I saw Darrelle the other day and if you looked at Darrelle, I think he's going to come back and be 100 percent. I don't think there's any question.
On if he needs to see Revis on the field in a regular-season game to know if he will be 100 percent…
That's really up to our evaluators. But yeah, I'm confident he'll be good. This is an injury you can come back from today that maybe 20 years ago you couldn't, but now you can.
On if he will definitively say Revis will be a Jet in 2013…
You can't say anything definitive about anybody, really, until we make sure we go through our roster and do what John talked about. We have to evaluate it and look at it both now, medium and long return.
On when it became apparent that Idzik was his choice…
I'm not going to tell you exactly when, but he really did stand head and shoulders above. Not saying we didn't have great candidates, we did. But in terms of this organization and what we were looking for, John was exceptional.
Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's remarks with reporters Thursday afternoon following John Idzik's introductory news conference:
On his initial impressions of John Idzik…
It was outstanding. I think having three days in Mobile with John was great. You realize how similar our backgrounds are, even with his dad being a former Jet, my dad being a former Jet. As John mentioned, being six years old and going to the practices and all those types of things and being around football his whole life, very similar to mine.
But really, it was great. The fact, in Mobile, the way it was set up — I thought Phil Savage, by the way, did an outstanding job leading the Senior Bowl. We actually had interviews with players, we sat side by side — and the way he would talk to the players, all those type of things, it was great for me to sit in there. After you listen to John and being around him, it's exciting for me because you see the direction he wants this team to go to. Everything, as a coach, what you want to hear is this man's goals are the exact same as my goals and Mr. Johnson's. We want to build a championship-caliber team.
John mentioned it several times about having a team that can be a perennial contender, basically, a perennial playoff team. That's what you want. You want sustainable success and that's really what John's always talked about, the days that I was with him. That's really what he's looking to do and obviously, as a coach, that's what certainly I'm looking to do.
On how working with Idzik will be different…
I'm not sure how different.
On if it will be different working with Idzik and evaluating talent…
Well, I know it's going to be a, as John mentioned, a collaborative effort I think. But he's trying to involve really everybody, lean on everybody and I think that's going to be great. Not just for me, but for a lot of people in this building. Obviously, he has the last say in this is who we take and all that and personnel decisions and probably many decisions. But I like the fact that he's going to involve several people including myself and our coaches as well, as scouts working together and building this team with those goals in mind.
On if it was a collaborative effort previously…
I guess to say well, how different it's going to be? It's probably a little too early to say that exactly but I just sense that he's really going to take in the information, collect information, and then make the decision what's best for this organization. Is it different? I'm sure it's going to be a little different, I don't think there's any doubt it'll be a little different.
On if he foresees any possibility that Darrelle Revis may not be on the team in 2013…
Well, I'll tell you what, on the way in today, I heard about all this and things and I just kind of laughed about it because I'm like, 'It's John's first day.' It's his first day in the building and this is what comes up and things. But I will say this, I think he hit it right on the head, to say anything, he's here, he's not here, all that type of stuff, it is way to premature for that. Let's give the man an opportunity to get with everybody and to go over our personnel. So again, you guys know how I feel about Darrelle and things. But again, as John mentioned, all decisions will be made in the best interest of our football team and trying to attain the goals that he talked about. The man hasn't even been here a day, he hasn't opened up a tape yet, he hasn't looked at any tape yet.
On if Idzik needs to watch tape on Revis…
Well, I think you have to look at your entire roster and things and certainly, we're all looking forward to getting that process started.
On his opinion on trading Revis…
Again, I'm not going to get in to any of those specifics right now. I think let's let the process run its course and I'm confident that any decision made, that this organization will be without question in the best interest of this football team with the goals that John had mentioned.
On if he was taken aback by hearing the report on Revis possibly being traded…
No, I just thought it was interesting that on the man's press conference, he waited all his life to get this opportunity and obviously deserved this opportunity. John's really well thought of throughout this league and this is his day that he looked forward to and to put something out there like this when the man hasn't even had a chance to evaluate a roster I thought was pretty interesting.
On if he's worried about his long-term future with the Jets due to having a new general manager…
I'm not. And the reason I say that, and I've said it before, I'm confident in myself but I'm confident in the direction that this football team's taken. I think we have a lot of great people in this building, in this organization, and I'm confident we can get things done. But as far as the long -term deal, what I can affect is doing the best job I possibly can do and I've had success. Maybe not to the extent that everybody looks at, like winning Super Bowls every single year, I haven't had that success yet as a head coach. But I have had some success throughout my career and the best thing I can do is focus on doing a tremendous job here and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I'll never forget when Mike Nolan took the defensive coordinator job over with the Ravens and I was passed over. And Mike was the receivers coach at that time, even though he had an extensive background on defense, and I thought I was the right man for the job. And I sat there and I told him, I said, "You know, it's going to take me a day or two to get over this decision, that Brian [Billick] made and Ozzie [Newsome] made, but I'm going to be the best coach you ever had." That's how I approached it. And right now, I'm going to be the best coach that he's seen and that's the way I'm going to look at it and I'm excited about that because it energizes me.
Some of the decisions that we've made on the coaching staff, I guess it wasn't official that we hired Marty Mornhinweg, I think that's just out now, I'm going to break that story to you guys that Marty Mornhinweg is our offensive coordinator. Dennis Thurman, which I held it and held it, but yes, we've decided to go with Dennis Thurman as the defensive coordinator. Tim McDonald will be our secondary coach. Brian Smith is being elevated to the assistant secondary position. We've hired David Lee as our quarterbacks coach. Obviously, and we're still in the process of hiring a linebackers coach, that's still going on. We have a couple guys, one guy scheduled Friday another one scheduled on Monday but that's been something that obviously each decision you make is important and that's something that we're looking at.
But really, when you look at it, when I said that it's kind of like hit the reset button, that I'm starting over, that's how I look at it. The same kind of enthusiasm and energy and all that and I think a lot of that stems from, and not saying Mike [Tannenbaum] didn't have it, but when John came in, it's hard not to get excited when you listen to John talk about what he looks at as the future of the organization and the direction how he's going to build it, how he's going to lean on the people here. I can't wait to start really getting into the personnel part of it and everything else and working side by side with him.
On if having a family member in the NFL gives you an advantage…
That's an interesting question. I think honestly at the end of the day, it's going to be about you and what you've done. You're going to have to stand on your own in what you've done and your own merits and things. I think it gives us a huge advantage. Part of that is that it's different. The National Football League is a lot different than college football and anywhere else.
I think the fact is that I know myself, I'm not intimidated by anything. I think part of that was that I grew up in NFL locker rooms from when I was this big. The same thing with John, I think it's the same thing. For me, I hadn't had experience as a head coach before and you think you're ready. I'm a better head coach now, in my opinion, than when I first came in from those experiences. I think going into it, I was more prepared for it than others because I had been around this game all of my life, I'd been around Joe Namath when I was a young guy, some of the greats, Walter Payton. I do think it's a huge advantage.
On hiring Mornhinweg…
It's true and I think the ground-and-pound, as I've stated before, stuck with me forever. My goal was that I wanted that all-weather offense, where you can win in any conditions and be successful, but the ground-and-pound really fit our football team that first year. We might have been second in the history of the league in rushing attempts. We thought that was the best way to get it done.
Now, when I look at it, and I've mentioned before, I didn't want to be the guy that held us back but I thought it was important to get a guy with a proven track record as a quarterback developer, a proven track record statistically, a guy who has been there and done it, a proven track record of a playcaller, and we got all of those with Marty. I brought in several candidates, a lot of great coaches, but for us, I thought Marty was the guy that I thought was the best fit for us.
I'm excited to see the quarterbacks and what happens here. You have Marty and David Lee, a guy who has an outstanding reputation. I recall Bill Parcells hired him in Miami before he hired the head coach. That's what he thought of him. He has a background in Buffalo. He's been around. He was a guy that is a frontrunner in the new style of offense as well as things you are seeing in the league with the Pistol and those types of things, so I think that was a great hire. He's a great fundamental coach. I can't wait to get out there and see how our offense looks. Will it look different? Yes, it will.
On Mark Sanchez…
I just saw him in the hallway, actually, I said hello. I will see him. I know he is in town and I will talk to him. He has to be popping out of his skin. I think as any quarterback would. You have the combination of Marty Mornhinweg and David Lee as coaches, that's a heck of a start. I believe Mark needs to erase his hard drive. I think it's new. He has to be excited about it. The fact that he's reaching out to Jeff Garcia to get an idea about all of it tells you how much he wants to. Will there be competition? There's going to be as John mentioned, competition at every spot. He obviously is excited about this. He's probably just trying to get a head start.
On evaluating Revis…
I'll stand by anything that I've ever said about Darrelle when I said that you guys know how I feel about Darrelle Revis.
On if Revis will be a Jet this season…
I think you have to understand that our situation is that it's John's first day on the job. He's the general manager. There's going to be a process where we're going through Darrelle Revis, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold or whoever, we're going through no matter the great players, maybe not-as-great players, everybody is going to be going through the same process. Anytime you're a new manager coming in, you obviously get everybody's opinions and at the end of the day he will formulate his own opinions. That's with everybody.
