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DolFan619
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« on: January 25, 2006, 07:16:26 pm »

Nick Saban Press Conference Transcript From The Senior Bowl
January 25, 2006


Read a transcript from Miami Dolphins Head Coach Nick Saban as he met with the media during the Senior Bowl workouts in Mobile, Ala.

 
(Opening remarks) – “First of all, it's always good to come back to the Senior Bowl. I would love the opportunity for our staff to coach this game. I think it's a tremendous advantage in terms of getting to know players, developing relationships and making choices and decisions about the guys you are able to get to know here.

“Our process and procedure is that our scouts give us something to read before we get here about the players here so we have some indication of what we're looking at. We try to spend as much time as we can evaluating what they do on the field and try to learn as much as we can about them as people through interviews. There are at least 75 players here and we have interviewed just about every one of them in some fashion. I think that's really the start of trying to develop the resource of information about who fits for what we do with the Dolphins.

“I know you're probably interested in staff changes and those types of things. First of all, we're very pleased to be able to add two people with the kind of qualifications that we have been able to add with our staff, Mike Mularkey and Dom Capers. Both have had a lot of success in this league and both will make a very positive contribution to our staff. I think everybody needs to understand that we're not really changing our offense we're not changing our defense. We're going to keep things as consistent for our players as we can so we can grow and develop the things that we have already put in place in the first year. We're going to take the enthusiasm, the knowledge, the experience and the new ideas that – and anytime you bring in qualified people to your organization, you're going to have an impact and add positive things to the way you teach and do things. We're going to use all those things to get better, but we're not going to change the systems on offense, defense and special teams. We're not going to make significant staff changes. That's not what we're all about. This is an opportunity to add quality people to our organization and I think anytime that you can do that, whether its personnel, staff, players, coaches, that's only going to enhance your chances of people successful and that's what we base our decisions on - what's going to give us the best chance to be successful and what gives us the best chance to play winning football. Scott Linehan did a fantastic job for us, we're pleased and happy for his family and the opportunity that he has and I'm sure that he'll do an outstanding job in St. Louis.

“As for what we're going to do with our team, those decisions have not been made and I'm not going to comment on them. I have a tremendous amount of loyalty to the players who competed and played hard, worked hard and bought in to what we wanted to do. We ended up having a pretty good finishing part of the season and we're pleased and happy, but we want to build on that in any way that we can.

We're going to have to make some tough decisions down the road, in terms of the business side of the league and what we systematically have to do and also do a good job of determining who we would like to bring in to complement the people and the good players that we have. I'm not going to make any comment on that specifically.”

(On what Mularkey is going to do with the offense) – “It's not, this offense we have is really the Miami Dolphins offense and I don't think anybody should lose sight of that. I think that everybody that sits in the room on our staff has made a contribution to building that offense. We have built it from the ground up, in terms of the language that we use and that's not something we want to change for the players. Every offensive coach I've ever hired, I've always let them use their terminology and every defensive coach I've hired, I've adjusted to what they do. So, if we're not smart enough as coaches to learn the terminology we need to let the players have success, which is the key to the drill, then we're not the kind of teachers we need to be in terms of what we have to do. I'm totally comfortable with and confident that we will be able to do that. We have a lot of continuity on our staff, we're going to have a lot of continuity with our players and Mike is very capable. He has been in a lot of different systems. I think the advent of how I like to do things is from the old Pittsburgh Steelers tree with George Perles, who was certainly a mentor of mine in terms of my development.

“Certainly Mike, he played for Chuck Noll, coached for the Steelers for eight years, so I don't think we're talking about something that is dramatically different in terms of what we have done.”

(On the role of Dom Capers) – “He's just a good coach and he's going to help develop and implement what we do. He has a 3-4 background as a defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, running the same system that the Steelers run now on defense. They have kept that intact for years and I think that will complement what we have in already from last year and we'll use his knowledge and experience to systematically evaluate what we're doing, but he's a coach on the staff and however he fits in and how we make a good team, that's how he'll be used.”

(On if Dom Capers will take over the defensive play-calling)— “We're not changing the system we have. We're not … he's going to implement and teach the things that we do and we're going to add to it so that we can improve and that's our focus. Whatever way he can contribute to that best, when we put the team together, that will be his role.”

(On if the goal this offseason was to become predominantly a 3-4 team) – “No, I think as I said before, we're not changing our defensive scheme. We were a 3-4 team last year and showed some 4-3 alignments to highlight the personnel we had and I don't see that changing significantly. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of new ideas that will complement that and help us improve in a lot of areas that we have identified that we need to improve in. During the offseason, that's what quality control is all about.”

(On if the focus is narrower this year in terms of the draft) – “I don't think the focus is narrower, in terms of what we're looking at. We're going to evaluate all the players and I think it's most important to put all the players in the right place relative to our draft board so we can make good decisions when the draft comes. I think you have to be ready to identify who the best players are and what your needs are in terms of who you pick because those people can impact the organization for a long, long time and you need to pick the players who are going to contribute to your team in a positive way. I think if you pick for need and that player is not necessarily there, you can end up reaching and that may not be the most beneficial thing long term.”

(On the quarterback situation) – “We've obviously started our research in terms of what the options are going to be for us. As I said before, one of the goals that we have relative to our quarterback situation is to develop the players we have so somebody can be a starter for our organization in the future or to bring somebody to the organization that has the potential to be a future starter relative to our situation. Gus did a nice job for us this year. Hopefully, he'll be able to continue to do that. But I think long term, we certainly need to get somebody that can be a potential starter for us down the road and add depth and quality at that position short term.”

(On the quality of quarterbacks) – “First of all, I don't ever compare anything. Remember? There are good players in the draft, as there usually are. We haven't totally assessed all the quarterback. This is our first look at the quarterbacks that are available. It gives us an opportunity to get a first glance at these guys. We'll have to do some additional studies. Those determinations won't get made for a while because we need to do a lot more gathering of information. Most players have positive qualities. Some have more than others. Some fit what we like to do better. But a lot of those things are things you determine as you gather information about guys and study them. As a coaching staff, we haven't been able to do that yet.”

(On the possibility of defensive coordinator Richard Smith leaving the team) – “You guys report all kinds of stuff that's not true. I'm not going to comment on speculation and innuendo. I mean, we've got guys leaving our staff and coaches going to decide about other coaches. You talk about throwing it out there and seeing what sticks. It's ridiculous. I don't think it's very professional to do things like that. I'm not going to respond to reports that basically have no foundation relative to what anybody said or what I said is going to happen. I have a respect for our coaches and the job they've done. Everyone is interested at this time of their career to be able to enhance their careers in some ways. If those opportunities are available to some of our coaches, we'll entertain those things when they come.”

(On if Coach Smith’s position is securely in place on the staff) – “I didn't say that. I didn't say anything. There's just nothing to talk about relative to Coach Smith. When there is, I'll be glad to talk about it.”

(On if having a large staff makes things easier) – “I don't think it makes my job easier. The only thing I look at is whether everyone is contributing in a positive way, is everybody challenged by the work load they have, and is everyone making a significant contribution to what we do. I've been pleased with the job our staff has done since we've been there. When we have opportunities to improve our staff, we're going to do that. You don't always have the choice to bring a person to your organization when you need to.

Sometimes, just like when players are available, you have to make decisions on whether we should bring someone like that into our organization. When coaches are available, you have to make decisions. Will they make a positive contribution to our organization based on their knowledge and experience. So it's not about whether you have an opening or not. It's about whether this is a positive addition to our organization. That's what we've done. That doesn't mean that it creates other issues for somebody else.”

(On Dr. Lon Rosen) – “He's here to manage me through the week. I don't think anybody would have a disagreement that that's not something that needed to be done.”

(On how Dr. Rosen is helping in the interviewing process) – “Every team does some kind of character analysis on players. Most teams use some kind of testing mechanism to try to determine. We all would like a test that we could give that would say this guy is going to be successful - whether you give it to the secretary or the left tackle. Everybody would like to have those kinds of tests. Most businesses try to use those things. Sometimes it's difficult to create validity and reliability in all those things. We feel like the personal relationship part of it might be a better way to make those determinations. That's why we spend a significant amount of time getting to know people. Dr. Rosen is just a part of helping us be able to do a good job of that and adding his expertise relative to analyzing some of the information that we do gather about people.”

(On if Dr. Rosen asks questions or if he just observes) – “I don't think he would…he's been very helpful to us, very helpful to me. I would rather not get into specifics about how we do what we do – other than to say that he makes a positive contribution to helping us make and build the kind of relationships and gather the information we need to make good choices and decisions about players.”

(On if he looks at last season as a success or what needed to be changed) – “I think we always try to asses and do some kind of quality control evaluation on how we did last year, where did we miss. Not only in the players we got, but the players that played well for other people. Did we have that kind of grade on those guys ourselves? To me, that gives us an idea that we had a good evaluation or we didn't have a very good assessment of what their chances of being successful in the NFL would be at whatever their position is. That's how you learn. You don't gather the information to be critical. You don't gather the information to evaluate people's opinion. You gather the information to try to learn from it so that maybe we can do a better job of evaluating the next time around. That's how you improve. That would be the only reason we would make any kind of assessment relative to last year or this year. To see how guys did as rookies and the evaluations we made on them.”

(On saying that Coach Mularkey will use the Dolphins system) – “Doesn't that make perfect sense? Isn't it the Dolphins offense? We have the Miami Dolphins team. Everybody that works does what we want to do as Miami Dolphins. Everybody makes personal contributions to that relative to their personal knowledge and experience. But we don't change systems just because we've got one new guy walking in the building. Why would we change it for all the players on offense? We want to build on what we have. And the people we bring into the organization will help us do that.”

(On if he has had a chance to tell that to the team) – “I haven't. I've been here, basically. This is something that just got done over the weekend. I haven't had the opportunity to do that. But I will.”

(On Huizenga giving him leeway to have a large, well-paid staff) – "I think

it's important to have a great owner, in our case, who is very supportive of what we would like to try and do to be successful. I think he understands the resources that we have are only going to help us develop and make good choices and decisions about the things we do, [from a situation perspective,] as well as in personnel decisions, systematic approach, game-plan situations that come up in the game. Obviously, he wants to be successful and has been very supportive of allowing us to do some of these things that I do think does create an advantage because we can add quality people when we have the opportunity to do it, not just when we need to. I think that's a real advantage for us."

(On anecdote about Dom Capers) – "We were GA’s (Graduate Assistants) together at Kent State when you had to roll the film up by hand, break it down, tape it together and all that. We both came up the hard way. Dom and I have always had a very close relationship. We both ended up being secondary coaches that became defensive coordinators. He's had opportunities to be a head coach in some tough situations. He may be the only guy to have two expansion teams from scratch and try to build. What he did as a defensive coordinator, philosophically, we're very aware of. We've visited about it not only recently but through the years. As I tell a lot of guys as players and coaches that what people do on the field is kind of your calling card, in terms of the quality of your work. Especially when he was a defensive coordinator at Jacksonville and Pittsburgh, they've done some pretty quality work. I think on those occasions they had top-line defensive teams, and he did it in different situations with different types of players and featured different types of players. I think that will be helpful to us."

(On whether people's expectations will be higher for the Dolphins in 2006 after a 9-7 record this season) – "I don't care what people expect. You can put this on ESPN or kill me over it again and all that. We're going to focus on the process of what we need to do to improve our team and make good choices and decisions about doing that. I have expectations. That's what I worry about is what are our expectations, goals and how can we get all of our people working together as a team - players, coaches, people in the organization - so we have the best chance to be successful. That's all I focus on and worry about. What happens externally does not affect what we do internally."

(On the Dolphins' staff making progress in its second year) – "I can't make any predictions. I obviously think there are a lot of things you try and get in place in your first year. Hopefully, you'll have the opportunity to build on that in your second year in terms of the character and attitude you compete with, team chemistry and the way people work together. Obviously, this is not something you can hold totally together in terms of continuity. As you see already, we have a coach who gets a head coaching job, so that creates some change for us. Everybody has to adapt to that and make it a positive for themselves so we can improve, relative to the new enthusiasm that we gained – not to minimize the expertise that we lost. I'm not trying to do that. We just want to continue to grow and improve. We have expectations to do it better. Does that mean we're going to get better results? It depends on a lot of things. But that's what our focus is on, in terms of what we're trying to accomplish."

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DolFan619
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« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2006, 07:17:26 pm »

Press Conference continued.


(On seeing his former LSU players at the Senior Bowl and the scouting of the game itself) – "Personally, I'm very pleased and happy to see three of our former players from LSU be here and have an opportunity to show their ability. I personally think, as I told Steve Hale - and I'm not being critical of Steve because I think he does a great job - that there are a couple of other guys I tried to help get into the game who we would have liked to see and are loyal to and played a lot of good football for us. But

it's also fun for me when we interview and talk to these guys that four or five years ago we recruited these guys and we were in their homes and talked to their parents. 'How's your mom doing' ... It's kind of almost like you develop a little relationship with a guy when you recruit him. It's not just the guys you get but the guys you have respect for in terms of the career they had somewhere else. It's kind of good to renew that relationship and a little bit of an advantage to have that because I think those guys are a little more comfortable talking to you because they feel like they know you a little bit. They're not as on-guard. I really enjoy that. [The Senior Bowl] is the best time to do it. The combine is also an opportunity to do it. We'll do a lot of studying of what we see here. I think the biggest problem here is you try to watch all the guys on the field at once. I keep reaching for my replay button and there isn't one when you're watching practice. We'll have the film of most of this so we'll get an opportunity to look at this a little more closely then."

(On his initial experience with the 3-4 defense) – "The first time we played it was when I was in Houston (Oilers) with Jerry (Glanville). We also played a 4-3 kind of combination. In Cleveland (Browns), we really were 3-4 base, but always played 4-3 defense. You can slide it either way and we had four down linemen and didn't really have four linebackers. So it was kind of a quasi-3-4 approach but played like the 4-3. Basically, that's pretty much what we've always done, systematically, in college as well."

(On whether the new bubble will be ready for the 2006 season) – "As far as I know, we're making progress. I can't give you exact progress. I know they're starting to do some site work over there. Everything that I've been told to this point is that we will have it for the fall. I'm probably not the correct person to be asking about that, but that's as much as I know about it. I think it's a real positive for a couple of things. When we get weather that's disruptive, which we've had now two years in a row, I think that's benefit number one. But I also think at times, especially early in the season when we're still fighting workload versus heat versus having a fresh team that on occasion to have an opportunity, whether it's for a Saturday walk-through or Friday practice, to be able to cool the place down and maybe continue to get the same amount of work but not expose the players to the same climate in terms of the heat could be beneficial in their recovery. There's a two-fold purpose, not just (for) bad weather but sometimes helping players recover."
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« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2006, 07:28:18 pm »

Good stuff! Thanks for posting.
I have read that they already interviewed all of the Qb's at the game- Cutler, Croyle, Shockley, Hackney, Whitehurst, and Robinson.
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Stop your bloodclot cryin'!


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« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2006, 07:51:20 pm »

(On Huizenga giving him leeway to have a large, well-paid staff)

"Large" there really doesn't do this staff justice. Miami's hiring of Dom Capers puts the 'Phins staff at 24 coaches...the biggest coaching staff in the NFL.


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« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2006, 06:43:42 am »

Saban and his homey at the Senior Bowl! Obviously taken from some poor spy cam.
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Crank it up!!


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« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2006, 08:28:22 am »

^^^^

god damn! does that man ever take off the hoodie??  3 rings and he can't afford clothes.....
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