Brian Daboll has wasted little time getting to work.
The former Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator drove through a snowstorm over the weekend to get to his new job as the 20th head coach of the New York Giants. On Monday, Daboll held his introductory news conference.
Dressed in a navy suit, white tie and sporting a Giants-colored, blue-and-red tie, Daboll spoke of why he feels as though the time is right after 20-plus years in the NFL to finally take over a team of his own.
“I don’t know if there’s ever a perfect time. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, 21 years in the National Football League. I’ve been around the block,” he said. “I’ve experienced a lot of different things. I’ve witnessed different head coaches and how they do things. To sit up here and say that we’re going to do this or we’re going to do that, like, look, all I know how to do is work. Work with people, try to build a culture, unite a building, inspire players, coaches, support staff, listen, learn and then ultimately develop the people in our building.
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“That’s not just the players. That’s the (quality control coaches), that’s the people underneath the head trainer. That’s what we’re going to try to do. Do I feel prepared? Yes. Do I know there will be some obstacles and challenges? Of course. That’s this league. You’ve got to be resilient in this league and certainly here you’ve got to be resilient, right?”
Daboll knows that a proud franchise has fallen on hard times. The Giants have five straight losing seasons and haven’t won a playoff game since winning the Super Bowl following the 2011 regular season. To turn their fortunes around, they looked to Buffalo, first hiring Bills assistant general manager Joe Schoen as their new general manager and then Daboll, the 46-year-old who grew up in West Seneca during the Bills’ glory years.
“This was a dream come true,” Daboll said. “You’re talking about the New York Giants. I understand the challenges with that. It’s just a great opportunity that was afforded to me and my family and we look forward to it. We’ve been working here for two days. We’ve got a long way to go here. Just a historic franchise and I look forward to being a part of it.”
Daboll didn’t get into a lot of specifics in his first meeting with the New York media. In particular, he didn’t have a lot of updates on who will make up his coaching staff. Bills fans are anxiously waiting to see how many offensive coaches who worked under Daboll in Buffalo will go with him. On Monday night, long-time NFL reporter Mike Silver reported that Bills offensive line coach Bobby Johnson will join Daboll in New York in the same role, leaving another big hole for Bills head coach Sean McDermott to fill on his staff.
Bills quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey has generated a lot of attention on both sides of the state. It’s believed Dorsey is a strong candidate to become an offensive coordinator, either with the Bills or under Daboll with the Giants.
Daboll also didn’t directly answer whether he’ll call plays in New York – an important detail when considering who his offensive coordinator will be.
“It’s going to be dependent on the players, that’s first and foremost,” he said. “Each place I’ve been, and particularly, I’d say, these last four years with Josh (Allen), we tried to develop a system that was conducive to his skillset, along with the other pieces that we added. That’ll be a work in progress. In terms of the play calling, I think that’s a work in progress, too. We’ll see who the offensive coordinator is, who the rest of the staff is and then we’ll talk about that as we get going through OTAs and minicamps, but it’ll be important. That position, that offensive coordinator position, will be an important position for us.”
In meeting with a smaller group of reporters later in the day, Schoen said his preference would be for Daboll to manage the game and not have to call plays.
“I’m not going to rule that out if he is or isn’t. We don’t have an offensive coordinator. If for some reason he had to – ideally, he doesn’t,” Schoen said. “I would prefer he manages the game. But, again, as we’re still interviewing offensive coordinator candidates, we’re going to wait and see how that plays out. Ideally, the offensive coordinator calls the plays, but, again, I’m not going to say that’s set in stone because we’re going to let Brian make that decision.”
By all accounts, Daboll made a positive first impression on the notoriously tough New York media. Of course, he’d be the first to tell you that means very little. He knows his success or failure will be directly tied to the Giants’ win/loss record.
Being aligned with Schoen, however, is a good start.
“The leadership group between ownership, management, general manager, head coach, I think, is a really important piece,” Daboll said. “Those guys have to be aligned. When you’re not aligned, that’s when things start going astray. Again, I’m not guaranteeing that we’re going to do anything. I just think that alignment is so critical, because when you’re aligned, you can communicate well with one another and you can develop a plan, and that plan’s going to be important.
“We’re starting from scratch, and there’s a lot of things that we’ve got to get done, and after that plan, now we’re looking to bring in the right kind of people. … I think it’s absolutely important that we have shared alignment, shared vision, shared core principles and values of the type of people we want to bring in. Let’s not forget, this is a people business, too. There’s Xs and Os, but this is a people business. It’s about leading, it’s about cultivating and it’s about inspiring. I’m fortunate that I was offered this job.”
Schoen said Daboll’s ability to connect with players extends beyond the offensive side of the ball.
“He’s not just walking around on the offensive side of the ball, talking to Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen and Devin Singletary. He’s working the whole team, and there’s mutual respect,” he said. “You saw his personality, that’s who he is. He can joke around, he can communicate with anybody on the team, whether it’s the 90th man or the best player on the team, and he truly cares about the players and how they are as human beings and wants the best for them. I think that’s not only going to make the team better, I think it’s going to make the entire building and the organization better.”
