Daboll set to get to know his players
NEW YORK — The start of the Giants’ voluntary offseason program on Monday gives the coaches their initial opportunity to teach the new playbooks to the players. First, though, head coach Brian Daboll wants his staff to do more learning than instructing.
“One of the things I talked to the coaches about was let’s get to know these players,” Daboll said at the league meetings last week. “We haven’t really been around them. Let’s ask them about their families, what they like. It’s important to get to know one another.”
With only a handful of holdovers on a staff that beyond Daboll’s arrival also includes a new offensive coordinator (Mike Kafka) and defensive coordinator (Don “Wink” Martindale), X’s and O’s will take a back seat to the baby steps toward team bonding.
“You’re going to be in a competitive situation and you’re going to face a lot of tough times in this league,” Daboll said. “You can lean on people when you have relationships with them. You’re building trust because there’s going to be tough times. I’ve gone through them in my career quite a bit where I’ve lost or had some really good times and you’re sharing them with the guys that you’re in the building with each day. You’re working hard to achieve a goal and fighting through some things that don’t go your way. I think that’s what brings people closer together.”
Daboll has gotten a head start on that since he was hired in January. He’s spent most of that tenure at the team facility rather than on the road scouting so he could be around for face-to-face meetings when players trickled in and out and also so he could spend as much time as possible with the new coaching staff and new philosophies.
Those who haven’t yet been in the building to meet Daboll have most likely gotten a FaceTime call from him.
“I probably haven’t hit everybody, to be honest with you,” Daboll said. “I’ve talked to a few people just to introduce myself.”
Get to know them and let them get to know him, that’s what’s important to Daboll at this point in the offseason.
The rest of the stuff can wait. “There’s a long time to learn football and things like that,” he said. “We’ll get to that.”