I, I'm, I'm sorry to have, have given you that decision, but I'm very interested to see where you would go at this 101 slot.

Yeah, it's, it's not a difficult decision at all for me.

Um, I feel like the, the Bijan versus Gibbs conundrum that a lot of people have is just, it, it's not even remotely a conu- conundrum to me.

I am so, so much Gibbs over Bijan, and I love Bijan.

I mean, I've, I've been, you know, as ...

He's just been one of my favorite players of all time.

Um, but when you look at the body of work, uh, and what matters in fantasy, it's like, okay, Bijan's gonna get a ton of volume and is an awesome player.

Mm-hmm

Did you

think the offense took a step today? I think it'll be a fun film to watch.

I think there are certainly some things that you should feel good about.

There's going to be plenty of lessons to be learned through this.

That's what training camp's all about.

These aren't totally game planning against opponents.

We just go out there and we're getting really good work with these guys.

Can you manipulate situations? But the preseason game presents a different opportunity for certain guys.

Let's take cut one on Chris Alave's contract.

I think it's obviously awesome for our team, awesome for Chris.

Just awesome for what he's gone through in his career, the success he's had, also the things he's had to navigate.

And at the end of the day, when everyone's shooting for the same goal, it's a matter of time before it gets figured out.

And sometimes the business part takes a little precedent, which is fine.

And I think everyone's really, really excited with where this thing's going.

Let's go with cut four.

I think it's obviously awesome for our team, awesome for Chris.

First off, nice to be back out here, obviously, but how does it feel different for you second time around?

I think there's just a lot of continuity, which allows us to, you know, from an alignment standpoint, everyone kind of understands the rhythm and the timing of training camp and the expectations.

And so, you know, it's been a great offseason.

We've had a great OTA experience.

Our guys did an awesome job through the summer.

You can see that.

And now it's just about stacking these days.

How did you think the first day went today?

But now, now as a, a head coach, is that ever in conflict? Like, do you ha- do you see it from a different perspective now?

now?I think you see the whole perspective a little bit more just from a defense perspective, 'cause when you're an OC, you're on the sideline kind of getting ready for the next drive, and when you're the head coach, you're out there watching the whole thing.

I think my experience has been awesome.

I've been with a bunch of head coaches that were all offensive mindset coaches, and so it was a lot of fun.

I think our goal always was, ultimately my job was to create an offense in the identity of the, the head coach, and so, uh, us working together.

And so I got to experience that in a couple different spots, which was fun.

And so, uh, now you kind of get to see the whole perspective.

Late in the season

What does Bryce Lane, uh, bring to you at the wide receiver position, do you think?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Bryce, Bryce really became, um, you know, a pleasant surprise for, for him to still be available at that point.

Felt like, uh, you know, his, his juice and his speed obviously shows up on film and, uh, coming from a really good program in North Dakota State, he's got a great experience there.

And so, uh, you know, we'll bring him into this receiver room.

Again, we felt like, hey, this is a great opportunity to double down on receivers, build the strength for our, for our, uh, program.

We're giving him the opportunity." What was the first moment where you were like, "Okay, we got, we got this right here"?

But what was the low point for you? Was there a moment where you're like – What did I get myself into with this head coaching thing?

I think, you know, we just had to navigate some stuff.

It felt like we were playing some good football.

We just weren't winning games early.

You know, we were in a lot of games.

We were really competitive.

You know, probably, you know, we lost to the Rams, you know, Tyler's first start.

You need the right growth, right, behind that.

What does it mean as you're getting ready to play a team that has Micah Parsons on it?

Yeah.

I, I think Micah really ultimately...

He's an example of, you know, the game plan starts with him, you know.

And there's, there's a handful of guys in this league that are, that it's wired that way.

And when you start the game plan, when you start on Monday, uh, you begin the process by talking about him and, and how you're gonna handle him, how you're gonna navigate that.

Um, you know, when I was in LA it was an awesome example, I thought we did, did a lot of good things, we were hanging on.

Number one, will the Saints be using it? And number two, how many total texts and calls did you get from Nick Sirianni- (laughs)