Doomsday101
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Opening Statement: Despite our late arrival from Chicago due to the weather conditions, it was unbelievable to see the turnout at the airport and the number of people who waited. It was cold. The reception we received from the fans was representative of the reception we received all season from them. We are grateful for it. Their resolve and loyalty to this team is certainly felt in the locker room and throughout the organization. We appreciate that. I know the players, coaches and everybody on that flight that stepped off the plane and drove through the streets of people were impressed and grateful. I want to thank the fans for all of their support this season. I said last night as the season's finished now, this game will take a while to get over, but there is a still a lot of work and a long ways to go for this region. However in living here for a year, the resolve of the people in this area is unparalleled. It's important that they know it's not going to be easy, but over a period of time this city will be better than it ever was. I thank the fans on behalf of the team and the organization. We look forward to getting back in that game and getting into the biggest game of them all. It's not easy. We're starting our work in the off-season here. I just read where Bill Parcells retired. I think it's only appropriate in my case to thank a guy who's a Hall of Fame coach and one of the best coaches that's ever worked in our league. I know he'll be missed, not only by the Cowboys, but buy everyone who's associated with our league and who has worked with him. He's been an important part of my development. I was fortunate enough to have three good years with him. We wish him well. I had a chance to visit with him briefly a few minutes ago. He's had an amazing career.
Q: Did you call Parcells to wish him luck?
A: No, I called him about something else and he shared with me what he was planning on doing. Since then it's been announced. I was actually calling to discuss a couple of meeting ideas.
Q: Do you expect to see your name floated for that job?
A: No. We're like players. We're under contract. I'm happy to be here under contract with New Orleans. This is the spot for me.
Q: How did you see the Michael Lewis fumble based on the replays and challenge?
A: I think the explanation I received was a fair one. The video replay that he had seen was one in which he (official) wasn't able to capture the knee as it pertained to when the ball came out. They're doing their best. It was replayed. I know that we spent an inordinate amount of time on it. It didn't work out. Mondays after losses always talk about why it happened and who's to blame. Sometimes, Mondays after losses don't pay enough credit to the team that won. Credit Chicago. Lovie's (Smith) done a great job with that team. They played every well yesterday. They hustled to the ball and made the plays when they needed to. There were a number of things looking back that I'm wrestled with through the night and this morning. You get back up and get back to work. You don't lose sight of what happened and you hope that you can draw on that experience the next time we are in the NFC Championship game and then onto the Super Bowl. I told the players that after the game.
Q: Did you see the safety as a turning point in the game?
A: There was a sequence in the third quarter where I thought we had some momentum. We had just scored and (Reggie) Bush had just scored on the long touchdown. We forced the three and out and had a decent drive. On a run, Mike Karney put us down to about the 29 (yard line). That three and out really hurt. It was a field goal. We were a little bit further than we wanted to be for John (Carney) at that point, so Billy (Cundiff) kicked it. If there is one series I wrestle with myself as a play-caller, it would be that sequence of when we are at the 29 and maybe punching it a little bit closer. I think that there was an opportunity to go ahead. We weren't able to. Consequently, they ended up punting. Brad Maynard did a great job of pinning us back. I would say that within that seven or eight minute time block, there was a chance to take advantage of the momentum and we came up short. Right there I think was a critical point. I think Chicago had given up a couple of big plays, but had played pretty well defensively. I wouldn't argue with that.
Q: What will you remember the most about this season?
A: There's so much (to remember). You'll never forget the group of guys in the locker room that put this team together, starting in the off-season, going to Millsaps and then heading into the season with a lot of questions. There were a lot of new faces on the roster. I don't think it would be possible to forget the people and the fans in this city. With each home game, each away game, each visiting hotel, restaurants and wherever you came in touch with the people who have seen this team play for a long period of time, I began to appreciate the importance of this team to these people. Those are memories that you'll have forever. The Monday night game's one, but there are a number of games. I think in the end, it's not the games, but it's the people. It's the people on the playing field. It's the people that follow this team. It's the people that cover this team. It's the people in this building that you have. In 10 or 12 years from now, you'll remember the 2006 season. Those games will start running together. They already do for me. But the stories leading up to those games and the work that it took leading up into those games, such as the amount of time we spent in mini-camp and the draft and the time we spent in June and July are the things that you'll always remember.
Q: Will you wrestle with the number of running attempts your team made in the game?
A: The challenge with that each time is that obviously you want to establish your running game, but when the turnovers come the time of possession switches. The snaps become fewer. It becomes magnified. With more snap and with a longer time of possession come more plays and more opportunities to run and pass. With less (snaps and shorter time of possession) comes less (plays and opportunities). I definitely would have liked to establish our running game more last night. I did feel that we had some looks that were going to make it difficult. There were still some times that you look at it and see where this would have been a great opportunity to hand it to Deuce (McAllister) one more time. But, when you reflect back and look at some of the losses we had this year, the same can be said about a couple of games. It gets away from you and you kind of go back and forth. When we closed the gap to a two point lead and had a chance there at their end. Right after that is when it began to get away from us. It's disappointing and frustrating and you hope to learn from it.
Q: Was that the point where you might have adjusted your play calling?
A: The drive that I'm wrestling with is the drive where we stopped at the 29-yard line. I was proud of the effort last night by all our guys. It's tough to finish like this in such an important game, but to have had the opportunity to play in that game was pretty amazing for this team. Credit this team. It's tough.
Q: What do you think this team will take away from this experience next time they are in a similar situation?
A: I think that you have to establish a foundation and I think we've been able to do that. I think we have some good young players that have played significant roles for us. We have a good group of veteran players. There's a mix in that locker room that's fit well. They've put the team first, every one of them. Chemistry and all of those things that you look to build in a team changes a little bit each year, because the rosters change a little. You're always looking for that type of environment. It's hard to put a handle on it sometimes, but I do think that there's a good foundation for us to build on. I think that the experience on that game, we'll be able to build on. I don't think that you can pick up where you left off either. I think that beginning in a couple of weeks the free agency period evaluation begins. Our people are already working on it now in pro personnel. That is followed by the combine. You turn the page and turn the calendar to the next month leading up until the draft, the mini-camps, and the spring mini-camp. Those are the things that are ahead. I will be important for us, the players and the coaches to get away as well. We'll be coaching in the Pro Bowl in a couple weeks. It will be a good break for a lot of people.
Q: When will you start evaluating the current roster?
A: It will start this week. We'll begin to evaluate the position groups. We'll evaluate each player. It's pretty common in our league in the week after the season to almost put closure on the year and try to clean up any of the work from the games you just played. Some weeks we were on short weeks, so we might not have turned in a full grade, but you try to spend time on your own team, your own free agents and the free agent pool and then the draft. Those will all be things we'll do here in the next two months.
Q: Can you discuss what Charles Grant and Joe Horn mean to the team?
A: Both of those guys have been awfully important to our success this season in different ways. Charles had an outstanding year at defensive end. I know for Joe, it was disappointing, because he's been injured for the latter half of the season. Those are guys that provide good leadership, are well respected in this locker room and there are a number of guys that we feel that way about. This team's won so many games together that in the case of a game like yesterday, where we lost, I think every guy in that room would say that we lost together. In regards to commenting about any free agents, now's not the time.
Q: Are you entering a better situation than usual for a team based on the low number of starters that are impending free agents?
A: I think that might be a little bit smaller than normal. I think if you went around the league and looked at the other rosters, you might say that the number of unrestricted free agents that we have who are starters might be a little bit smaller than it has been in the past. Those players have all played an important part of what we've been able to accomplish. When you've been able to get going like this and you're having a season like we're having, as a coach and as a player, you become blind as to who the rookie is, who the veteran is, who is the player in the last year of his contract, who the player is that was brought back after he was waived. None of that really matters. You just know that you're counting on that guy next to you and you're counting on your coaches and your players to play their best in the next game. The fact of the matter is that the time is on us and free agency is coming up. The process of evaluating and making those decisions, we'll address in the future. Those guys have been a big part of our success.
Q: Will your family make the trip to the Pro Bowl with you?
A: I think so.
Q: Is it a tough transition to make in terms of your in-season coaching mode to coaching the Pro Bowl?
A: I don't think the hard thing about it is going to Hawaii for a week. The hard thing about it is that it generally means you just lost the AFC or NFC Championship game.
Q: Are you going to have two mini-camps?
A: We're going to have what the league allows us. In your first year (with a new coaching staff), the league allows you a bonus one. We'll have the rookie camp, the main mini-camp which I always put back to the end of May or early June followed by the OTA's. I might push the off-season workout program, which usually starts in the second week of March, back a couple of weeks because of where we're at now. You're looking at the off-season program, the rookie camp two weeks after the draft and then you're looking at the mini-camp followed by your organized team activities and I have to lay all of that out right now in the next week.
Q: Is there any specific positions you will be looking at in free agency or the draft?
A: Nothing specific right now. We will certainly have a plan in place. We'll make decisions in regards to the players. It would be too early to speculate now.
http://www.neworleanssaints.com/newsroomarticle.cfm?articleid=3307
Q: Did you call Parcells to wish him luck?
A: No, I called him about something else and he shared with me what he was planning on doing. Since then it's been announced. I was actually calling to discuss a couple of meeting ideas.
Q: Do you expect to see your name floated for that job?
A: No. We're like players. We're under contract. I'm happy to be here under contract with New Orleans. This is the spot for me.
Q: How did you see the Michael Lewis fumble based on the replays and challenge?
A: I think the explanation I received was a fair one. The video replay that he had seen was one in which he (official) wasn't able to capture the knee as it pertained to when the ball came out. They're doing their best. It was replayed. I know that we spent an inordinate amount of time on it. It didn't work out. Mondays after losses always talk about why it happened and who's to blame. Sometimes, Mondays after losses don't pay enough credit to the team that won. Credit Chicago. Lovie's (Smith) done a great job with that team. They played every well yesterday. They hustled to the ball and made the plays when they needed to. There were a number of things looking back that I'm wrestled with through the night and this morning. You get back up and get back to work. You don't lose sight of what happened and you hope that you can draw on that experience the next time we are in the NFC Championship game and then onto the Super Bowl. I told the players that after the game.
Q: Did you see the safety as a turning point in the game?
A: There was a sequence in the third quarter where I thought we had some momentum. We had just scored and (Reggie) Bush had just scored on the long touchdown. We forced the three and out and had a decent drive. On a run, Mike Karney put us down to about the 29 (yard line). That three and out really hurt. It was a field goal. We were a little bit further than we wanted to be for John (Carney) at that point, so Billy (Cundiff) kicked it. If there is one series I wrestle with myself as a play-caller, it would be that sequence of when we are at the 29 and maybe punching it a little bit closer. I think that there was an opportunity to go ahead. We weren't able to. Consequently, they ended up punting. Brad Maynard did a great job of pinning us back. I would say that within that seven or eight minute time block, there was a chance to take advantage of the momentum and we came up short. Right there I think was a critical point. I think Chicago had given up a couple of big plays, but had played pretty well defensively. I wouldn't argue with that.
Q: What will you remember the most about this season?
A: There's so much (to remember). You'll never forget the group of guys in the locker room that put this team together, starting in the off-season, going to Millsaps and then heading into the season with a lot of questions. There were a lot of new faces on the roster. I don't think it would be possible to forget the people and the fans in this city. With each home game, each away game, each visiting hotel, restaurants and wherever you came in touch with the people who have seen this team play for a long period of time, I began to appreciate the importance of this team to these people. Those are memories that you'll have forever. The Monday night game's one, but there are a number of games. I think in the end, it's not the games, but it's the people. It's the people on the playing field. It's the people that follow this team. It's the people that cover this team. It's the people in this building that you have. In 10 or 12 years from now, you'll remember the 2006 season. Those games will start running together. They already do for me. But the stories leading up to those games and the work that it took leading up into those games, such as the amount of time we spent in mini-camp and the draft and the time we spent in June and July are the things that you'll always remember.
Q: Will you wrestle with the number of running attempts your team made in the game?
A: The challenge with that each time is that obviously you want to establish your running game, but when the turnovers come the time of possession switches. The snaps become fewer. It becomes magnified. With more snap and with a longer time of possession come more plays and more opportunities to run and pass. With less (snaps and shorter time of possession) comes less (plays and opportunities). I definitely would have liked to establish our running game more last night. I did feel that we had some looks that were going to make it difficult. There were still some times that you look at it and see where this would have been a great opportunity to hand it to Deuce (McAllister) one more time. But, when you reflect back and look at some of the losses we had this year, the same can be said about a couple of games. It gets away from you and you kind of go back and forth. When we closed the gap to a two point lead and had a chance there at their end. Right after that is when it began to get away from us. It's disappointing and frustrating and you hope to learn from it.
Q: Was that the point where you might have adjusted your play calling?
A: The drive that I'm wrestling with is the drive where we stopped at the 29-yard line. I was proud of the effort last night by all our guys. It's tough to finish like this in such an important game, but to have had the opportunity to play in that game was pretty amazing for this team. Credit this team. It's tough.
Q: What do you think this team will take away from this experience next time they are in a similar situation?
A: I think that you have to establish a foundation and I think we've been able to do that. I think we have some good young players that have played significant roles for us. We have a good group of veteran players. There's a mix in that locker room that's fit well. They've put the team first, every one of them. Chemistry and all of those things that you look to build in a team changes a little bit each year, because the rosters change a little. You're always looking for that type of environment. It's hard to put a handle on it sometimes, but I do think that there's a good foundation for us to build on. I think that the experience on that game, we'll be able to build on. I don't think that you can pick up where you left off either. I think that beginning in a couple of weeks the free agency period evaluation begins. Our people are already working on it now in pro personnel. That is followed by the combine. You turn the page and turn the calendar to the next month leading up until the draft, the mini-camps, and the spring mini-camp. Those are the things that are ahead. I will be important for us, the players and the coaches to get away as well. We'll be coaching in the Pro Bowl in a couple weeks. It will be a good break for a lot of people.
Q: When will you start evaluating the current roster?
A: It will start this week. We'll begin to evaluate the position groups. We'll evaluate each player. It's pretty common in our league in the week after the season to almost put closure on the year and try to clean up any of the work from the games you just played. Some weeks we were on short weeks, so we might not have turned in a full grade, but you try to spend time on your own team, your own free agents and the free agent pool and then the draft. Those will all be things we'll do here in the next two months.
Q: Can you discuss what Charles Grant and Joe Horn mean to the team?
A: Both of those guys have been awfully important to our success this season in different ways. Charles had an outstanding year at defensive end. I know for Joe, it was disappointing, because he's been injured for the latter half of the season. Those are guys that provide good leadership, are well respected in this locker room and there are a number of guys that we feel that way about. This team's won so many games together that in the case of a game like yesterday, where we lost, I think every guy in that room would say that we lost together. In regards to commenting about any free agents, now's not the time.
Q: Are you entering a better situation than usual for a team based on the low number of starters that are impending free agents?
A: I think that might be a little bit smaller than normal. I think if you went around the league and looked at the other rosters, you might say that the number of unrestricted free agents that we have who are starters might be a little bit smaller than it has been in the past. Those players have all played an important part of what we've been able to accomplish. When you've been able to get going like this and you're having a season like we're having, as a coach and as a player, you become blind as to who the rookie is, who the veteran is, who is the player in the last year of his contract, who the player is that was brought back after he was waived. None of that really matters. You just know that you're counting on that guy next to you and you're counting on your coaches and your players to play their best in the next game. The fact of the matter is that the time is on us and free agency is coming up. The process of evaluating and making those decisions, we'll address in the future. Those guys have been a big part of our success.
Q: Will your family make the trip to the Pro Bowl with you?
A: I think so.
Q: Is it a tough transition to make in terms of your in-season coaching mode to coaching the Pro Bowl?
A: I don't think the hard thing about it is going to Hawaii for a week. The hard thing about it is that it generally means you just lost the AFC or NFC Championship game.
Q: Are you going to have two mini-camps?
A: We're going to have what the league allows us. In your first year (with a new coaching staff), the league allows you a bonus one. We'll have the rookie camp, the main mini-camp which I always put back to the end of May or early June followed by the OTA's. I might push the off-season workout program, which usually starts in the second week of March, back a couple of weeks because of where we're at now. You're looking at the off-season program, the rookie camp two weeks after the draft and then you're looking at the mini-camp followed by your organized team activities and I have to lay all of that out right now in the next week.
Q: Is there any specific positions you will be looking at in free agency or the draft?
A: Nothing specific right now. We will certainly have a plan in place. We'll make decisions in regards to the players. It would be too early to speculate now.
http://www.neworleanssaints.com/newsroomarticle.cfm?articleid=3307
