would imagine identity depends on each year each team's a little different like as a coach how does that help you kind of figure out what leverage to pull and like what what the guys can handle what they can't handle

yeah and it's nice to see some leaders emerging too for that identity so where maybe in year one i had to be the one to do that to see now others step into that space and uh develop you know as leaders over i've seen the last few years and so But you do have to push some things this year.

It was specifically as many call it periods as we could.

So we wanted the players to feel as much stress as we could in practice.

That meant not knowing what was next.

And this was the scenario.

This was the situation.

Like, how did you guys help him along? Because I mean, it looks like he didn't skip a beat really, right? So how did we, how did you make sure that that was as seamless as possible?

What do you see in Stephon Diggs? How much of a difference maker? Oh,

he's going to be a difference maker.

Yeah, he's actually an incredible teammate to see.

I've coached against him for years, but he's good against man-to-man.

He knows where to sit down and zone.

He's got excellent football IQ, football acumen.

That's something that you don't know about somebody until they're in your building or on the practice field with you.

Eight, nine?

What do you see in Stephon Diggs? How much of a difference maker?

Oh, he's going to be a difference maker.

Yeah, he's actually an incredible teammate to see.

I've coached against him for years, but he's good against man-to-man.

He knows where to sit down and zone.

He's got excellent football IQ, football acumen.

That's something that you don't know about somebody until they're in your building or on the practice field with you.

season is a different

Diggs! What do you see in Stephon Diggs? How much of a difference maker?

Oh, he's going to be a difference maker.

Yeah, he's actually an incredible teammate to see.

I've coached against him for years, but he's good against man-to-man.

He knows where to sit down and zone.

He's got excellent football IQ, football acumen.

That's something that you don't know about somebody until they're in your building or on the practice field with you.

nine?

What do you see in Stephon Diggs? How much of a difference maker? Oh,

he's going to be a difference maker.

Yeah, he's actually an incredible teammate to see.

I've coached against him for years, but he's good against man-to-man.

He knows where to sit down and zone.

He's got excellent football IQ, football acumen.

That's something that you don't know about somebody until they're in your building or on the practice field with you.

a different

Are you accomplishing what you set out to accomplish?

Yeah, and I think you'll feel that today, um, in terms of what we were looking to do.

I thought going, you know, after the off-season, could they come back into, like, in training camp, like, in crazy shape, where we didn't have to play our way into shape.

Um, that was gonna be like...

And so seeing the guys come back, I felt that, which allowed these systems to get underway.

The practices have been the most competitive we've had in our, you know, three years here together.

Um, there's a lot of position battles, but just, you know, the elevated competition, they're in shape, some depth at a lot of positions makes, like, every rep, man, it's on.

Yeah.

Got it

... you know, to, okay, I want two high, I want one high, and so that's been effective.

Um, seeing Jayden on keepers and outside the pocket, um, play action passing, that's been new for him.

He's an accurate passer both, you know, in the pocket and on the run, so seeing some of that go, and then we're building some time now with Steph.

He's been here-

I learned this about Jayden Daniels"?

I would say during that time- We had said, they're, we're going through some shit right now, and some lessons, and we're not gonna be able to, like, fully express it until the season.

But knowing that what he went through, like, I feel that those lessons learned, when do I stay in the pocket, when do I run, how does that look, those are coming to life now.

What have you seen as far as Jaden in the new offense and what extra dimensions come with it?

Yep.

So I would say one good byproduct of um, he's got a high football IQ.

So David and he have some, you know, calls and things that at the line of scrimmage may change based on certain looks, you know, to, okay, I want too high.

I want one high.

And so that's been effective.

Um, seeing Jaden on keepers and outside the pocket, um, play action passing.

Is there anything you learned about Jaden that impressed you last year that you could take from it and say, hey, even though it wasn't the season, the second year season, the sophomore season that we all expected as a team, I learned this about Jaden Daniels.

Is there anything you

can think of? It was so unique in both of them because they were both so open about what it would look like and how they would go.

That's what's fun about our game.

Sometimes things change a lot, and there's other times not so much.

I'd ask, for Coach Gibbs, what were you looking for in a quarterback as you were going through it? He said, Dan, I wanted to see when we were evaluating somebody, what did it look like? their completion percentage on deep balls.

And I thought that was so specific for an explosive play when the man-to-man coverage showed or one high safety showed, and this was the shot that they would go, what was their accuracy on that? And I thought, man, what great insights to say, not just, you know, how arm strength somebody had, but like the specifics to it.

And then really it came, then he was talking about like toughness, you know, like that person has got to be in the huddle.

What did you learn from Coach Saban?

Did they?

Yes, they did.

And the reason of Crazy Shape, we had like sometimes we'll have some, you know, guests come and visit.

And so we had an NBA coach and a player come in and I asked this player, he had gone from, you know, first year he'd averaged, you know, like six or eight points to 12.

And he got into like over 20 points a game.

And so I asked him, what was the big difference? difference from two to three.

And I'm thinking, I put up 1,000 shots a night or something.

When you think just when the word outside of injury, five and 12 in your head, what's the first thing you think of?

So now it's kind of just being more intentional with not only myself, but, you know, getting the guys around me, you know, ready and rallying the troops.

You see him one like inside the building putting in the work with the guys.

You see how much stronger he's gotten his command of the offense.

So now just not his command, but also the information to the other guys.

It was interesting.

One of the byproducts of you've seen the quarterbacks having some of the helmet.

I thought it was only going to be just for the vision.

I mean, I know what I can do when I got it in my hand, so just catching it and then just doing what I do, it'll just make everything better than just running the ball.

Talk about, uh, what that tour is all about and how you got involved with that.

Um, sure, yes.

Uh, so about, uh, I don't know, uh, 24, um, October, November, I got a text from Jeremy Roenick and Bernie Nicholls in a frantic, "Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?" I'm like, "What are you ...

Is this a prank, or what's going on?" Um, and there was a team event put together by this group that wanted to resurrect, um, more golf tournaments.

So going back into the late '90s, to, to answer your question thoroughly, um, we, we had Tahoe start in 1990, I believe.

My first was in '91, and my first win was in '92.

And we had so much fun doing it that guys said, "Let's do this more." And John Elway, Mary Lou Mutz, Dan Marino, you know, guys would, would host tournaments even.

It looks like his game is coming back a little bit.

What is he showing you guys so far? I know you guys have big plans for him on the defense.

We do.

And, um-The more time that you spent with him during the process growing up, you just thought, man, this is, uh, like what an ideal fit for how we wanna play, you know, the style we wanna be about, like what he stands for as a ball player and as a dude.

And so he came in on our visit here.

Adam and I had gone up to Ohio State.

He also came to a visit here.

Um, and while he was here, man, we just kind of tried to put it, put it in the atmosphere, right? You're gonna be back here.

Right

What is he showing you guys so far? I know you guys have big plans for him on the defense.

We do, and, um, the more time that you spent with him during the process growing up, you just thought, "Man, this is, uh, like what an ideal fit for how we wanna play, you know, the style we wanna be about," like what he stands for as a ballplayer and as a dude.

And so he came in on our visit here.

Adam and I had gone up to Ohio State.

He also came to a visit here, um, and while he was here, man, we just kinda tried to put it, put it in the atmosphere.

"You're gonna be back here," and, uh, we were, uh, thrilled, man, when, when he was there at that spot.

And, uh, you know, it was super easy, uh, decision for Adam and that one.

Right

... starting with your, your third round selection out of Clemson, the wide receiver, Antonio Williams.

Yeah, so it's another guy that we had, um, here up to Virginia and DC to visit with, and a wide receiver with elite quickness inside and out of break.

You know, he's an excellent route runner, and we thought he could play both outside and inside in the slot.

So man, we're pumped to add him to the crew.

Uh, Josh Joseph's an edge rusher.

Uh, man, does he have width, get off.

I think he's got real pass rush to him.

Any, any chance we still see them in, in burgundy and gold or, or what?

What-- Is there a difference there?

I think there is because best player on your board's the most important because that's what's the best for your team.

And so if we went around to the thirty-two teams and everybody shared their board, they would all be different.

And so I think it's super important to say, this is what your team and all the work that the scouts have put in to organize that.

So that's one for Adam, but I'm pretty sure he'd say you trust your board, um, because he does.

And I think that's what allows you in that space not to be emotional and going.

It's, like I say, similar to a coach in a big part of the play.

Because that's just, guys need to have that to reach their ultimate ceiling it seems like.

Yeah.

And I think that and, like, what you know you need to work on, and that was one of the things I was so impressed by with Jayden.

When you are developing, what are the areas you wanna grow? How do you go about it and have an intentional plan to go do that? We didn't name him as a starter when we drafted him.

He went through that process to earn the starting job.

And with that comes the respect of proving it.

And so that is one of his traits, um, that I think is just elite, and he's gonna put the work in, early riser, to make sure he knows it inside out because I... before when it comes time to practice, like, he's ready to get down in the, in the biggest ways.

Like, do you subscribe to that in terms of sports hate in the NFC East and being a part of that?

Mm-hmm.

And that's what you see people do going from year ones into twos, and threes, and four, where early on, they play good at their position, be a great teammate, and now they're able to, to expand and, uh, raise the standards of others around them.

And, like, think of all the great quarterbacks, Rich, that have done that, and Jayden's gonna be right into that conversation this year as well, just by what he brings, not only to him, but to, to the guys around him.

Why did you make the moves at coordinator that you did?

Yeah, those are tough, man, and, uh-... what happened at the start, where things went well, um, sometimes you have to adjust, and you have to change even when it's hard, and, uh, that's what we had to do on, uh, both sides of the ball.

And, um, going into it, having a vision for how we wanna play in, in 25 and beyond, uh, that's what drove the decisions.

And, uh, both Cliff and Joe are excellent coaches, and so we've added David Blough, who was on the staff here, and we added DeRonte Jones, um, you know, who has been in Minnesota the last few years, and both these guys, Rich, are excellent coaches, man.

I can't wait to get started with them.

[laughs]

... of the call to tell you.

But when I sense somebody teaching and their acumen and the vision for it and it becomes so clear, then some of the guidelines that you may have had say, "Okay, this is the best option." Um, I've been on, you know, my first call with him was maybe two and a half or three hours, and it felt like we'd been on an hour.

And so even yesterday as a presser went on for him, I'd heard from some other people, "I get it now." You know? And meaning- The language, the alignment, um, of how to coach, of what it would look like and feel like, uh, it just connected easily.

And so this one, although that may have been the best plan at that time to get started, um, once I went through a full process of meeting with a lot of people, then it became clear that Durante would have been the one here.

And, uh, you know, like sometimes those plans have to shift and adjust, and that's what coaching is, man.

Like what you thought maybe at the start of it before visiting with anybody, then you meet somebody, say, "You know what, man? This dude right here is the one.

But if I said that you get one wish granted from a personnel standpoint for a new player, not asking you to name the player, but what type of player, what position would that player play?

Listen.

You definitely understand this, Jim, like you've been doing this a long time, and knowing that, like, there's a responsibility that comes with owning your own show.

All right? So, you know what this is like.

And so, for a ballplayer, for a coach, there are no C+ days.

When we come in, it is about our mindset to go and get better.

And sometimes you're not feeling that way, and that's the coolest part about being on a team.

There's always somebody there, "Hey, man, come on, I need some extra from you today.

What was it about him that made you say, like, "I want, I want to make that guy better?"

There was, um, such an energy about him, being around him.

Um, he was running routes at the pro day with McCarthy and the other receivers as a receiver.

And 'cause he had played receiver there, so like, seeing the skill and the hands, like...

It wasn't like a DB, "Hey, um, just running go ball." Like, he was running crossers and, like, real routes.

And I can imagine...

I, also, asked one of the leaders on the team, "If you could only bring one player from Michigan with you, who would it be?" And the guy was an offensive player and he was like, "Mikey.

Mm.

He's obviously something very, very special, but given how long you've been in this league, Dan, did you ever expect any first-year quarterback, Jayden or otherwise, to have the type of season and impact that he had on not only the entire franchise, but the community as well?

Yeah, he- he's remarkable, Jim.

Um, I probably didn't know...

I mean, all along, like, OTA e working at it hard and then the training camp, and we'd... we got worked our first game.

We were down in Tampa Bay and lost, and then going into our next game, um, need a field goal to go win it.

It was a tied game and, like, you could see, man, the smile right before our two-minute drill began.

Like, "I have been waiting for this chance, Q, and so, okay, let's see how he does." And, like, from that moment on, you really felt him step into those spaces.

but there are a lot of days when you don't feel so good, but if the standard is the standard, and you gotta bring it every single day, how would you define juice? Where does it come from? How do you get it, and then how do you maintain it?

Wh- wha- walk- walk me and the fans of your team through it, Dan.

I think, number one, we wanted to, uh... as you're starting a, you know, a new team together, Rich, it was really about the competition at the start of it.

And Marcus Mariota is here, who is just an absolute fantastic teammate, so going to battle to make sure, um, hitting all the markers along the way.

Uh, we were wanting to make sure that we weren't gonna miss, uh, one step along his development.

And then, early on, you saw, like, he was really ready for these competitive moments, and, uh, the amount of work that he put in to prepare himself for those, uh, that was important.

Our team grew closer and we grew stronger, Rich, as the season went on.

And, as you know very well, you know, that end of the season team should beat the hell outta your early season team.

Was that the plan going into this off season? "Hey, we got the unicorn at QB here and we need to make sure this is supported." Was that the intention, Dan?