Sir Purr
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
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On the decision to move Scott Turner into the offensive coordinator role: "In the mode we’re in, we’re going to be looking at different talent. We want to try to figure out the talent that we have within, if there’s a possibility there. I have great respect for Norv and his knowledge, and that’s why he’s still here, because that would be the follow-up question so I’ll answer that first. Scott Turner has a young head. I’ve had many conversations with Scott. I think there’s a possibility that he could put some of those things into action. I won’t go looking for things in the games this first week so you can just cool your jets a little bit. But we’ve got three games after that so we’ve got a good look. We’ll see what happens."
On working within the Rooney rule on the coaching search: "The Rooney rule, that’s interesting. Who’s my interim head coach? That’s an interesting thing, because a different way that you could ask the question is if I took consideration of that. And the truth is, I did not. You know why? Because Perry Fewell was the best person for that job. Because he’s a person. I’m going to take consideration of that, and I’m going to look for the best person I can. Me putting Perry Fewell in that spot, straight out? Obviously I have no inclination not to do that. But rest assured, Perry Fewell is not that in that spot because he’s African-American. He’s in that spot because he’s the best man in this organization for the job. Period."
On if he’s spoken to Fewell, and what he expects to see from him over the next four games: "I have spoken to Perry. We had a conversation. What I said to him is just what I said to you guys. “Put people in the best position to win.” I also said to Perry, “Let’s not get too complicated.” KISS. You know, keep it simple. For right now. You can complicate it a little bit, but let’s make sure that we have the fundamentals down and we have that room in order. Perry is a general. He’s a commander. That’s why Perry is in that position."
On the conversation with Ron: "That was an emotional conversation for me. I like Ron Rivera. I consider him a friend. It was an honest conversation, pretty much what I told y’all in this room. I wanted to tell him, this is what is going on. I want to make this change. I would hope to wait until the end of the year. I don’t want to go and start doing searches beforehand, but I can’t be put at a competitive disadvantage. I have great regard for Ron Rivera. He’s one of the finest guys in this game. Period. Yes he is. That’s not bullshit, that’s the way it is. You guys know him a little bit.
On why Ron Rivera wasn’t an answer for sustained success: "I told you earlier that there is a history in the building. I think that we needed something fresh in the building on that side to just change that side. That’s what I really think. You have a long history, you guys were here. I know what we did on that side (business side) to change it. Sometimes you just have to bring in fresh blood to change it, the culture, because it can’t be done otherwise."
On Rivera’s receptiveness to some of the new processes in the last two years: "Ron understood that I would like some of these things done. He accepted it to a certain extent. He knows where it is, but he also has 35 years in the game of doing things a certain way. That would take a lot of time. But there was a certain receptiveness for sure. It’s more about trying to bring fresh blood to change a culture."
On what he’s learned from his hiring history: "Here’s what I do well. I know how stupid I am. I know when I make a mistake. I make a mistake, I correct the mistake. That’s what we have to do. You know what you have to do to be good at football? Not be afraid to make mistakes. When you make a mistake, fix the mistake. What are some coaches do? Maybe in New England or some place like that in that part of the country? They have people, maybe not necessarily the best evaluators of talent, that see a mistake and fix the mistake. Get the best people in. Put them in the best position to be successful. And when you don’t think they can be, fix it.
On how do you evaluate whether the characteristics he’s looking for are there in the next coach: "I told you the general attributes. There will be people on that search committee that are looking for those attributes. Some of those attributes I just told you, somebody who will try new things and if they don’t work. Fix it and make it better. That’s it. You want to be successful? I don’t care what you do. Admit when you do things wrong. Fix what you do and keep doing the things you do right. It’s not that hard. What’s hard is for people to admit that they’ve made a mistake."
On Cam’s health and how that impacts the search: “I don’t know, because I haven’t talked to that new coach yet. But listen, if I’m a coach, what will I look at? You may say that a coach is going to look for the best quarterback around, so that’s where you’re going with that question. Well, look, I mean, hopefully Cam’s healthy. I frankly don’t know, and neither does Cam right now. By the way, the last time I looked, there’s three quarterbacks on this team. Kyle Allen, who you’ve seen a lot of, still young. Wil Grier, who hasn’t been in yet, who we’re developing in a very traditional way, who may be very good at some point, and Cam Newton. So, there’s a lot of possibilities here for somebody to look at if they want to come here, and we’re not weighed down by $36 million a year mistakes right now.”
On fans' sadness over Rivera's exit: “I’m sad. And yeah, I would like to see those qualities in the next head coach if they can be there, along with the other things which I value. If you want to ask me a separate question, I don’t want a bad person in there, but I’m hiring the person to win football games. Long term sustained winning first. I want somebody who’s good in the community, obviously. You guys know how much I believe in that stuff. I’m out there a lot in the community with charity stuff. You know the things that we do with this team, so I would really like that. And I think any coach in the modern NFL knows there has to be a certain amount of that, quite frankly. But for the fans out there that love the Riveras, I’m there too.”
On looking outside/collegiately for next head coach: “I’m open to different possibilities. I do understand the difficulty of the transition though. That doesn’t mean I’m closing it off, but you’ve got to understand, anybody who’s been around football understands the difficulty of that transition from the college game to here and different demands here.”
Do you envision the new VP of football operations to be more on the pro scouting side? "Yeah, I think that person would have to have some pro scouting chops. But that's not the only thing that goes on over there. There's a lot of other things to running your football operation, and it's making sure all those things are done right. Listen, I touched on some of the use of modern statistics and the weight and training room - how to integrate that sort of stuff in there. As far as rest and those sort of things - we do some of that, but we can make that stuff better. It's just general operations in a lot of different ways. That person would also be the main interface with the business side because that's an important thing to have that person that has enough responsibility that if Marty's on the road, it becomes a hard thing that somebody might have to bother Coach here. Just think about that. That's not so good, is that? Cause you do have issues that you do have to make sure run smoothly."
Did you know when you first got here that you'd need to add these new positions on the football side? "My view, there's no mystery: good management practices are good management practices. You know what I'm saying? Good processes are good processes. We run a business over here. We have things that go on every day. ... Any kind of deficiency that's in that operation, I'm going to try to weed out. If I need another person, I'll put another person there. I just want to make sure that we have the best organization possible. ... It's not a one-time evaluation; it's a constant evaluation. Just because you think you have one thing, again, as I said to you, my great strength is I know how stupid I am. I'm going to try to do new things to make it the best organization possible, and if they're not right, we'll try something else. That's not going to be done in a second. If you think it's going to be done that fast, it's not. To get the right coaches - to get the right head coach, I want to make sure we have a really good process to do that because I don't want to go through a revolving door of coaches. That's not anything I'm familiar with and one of the reasons I waited here. I was patient, but there's a point you realize you have to try to elevate a whole organization, and without shaking the tree, you can't get any apples."