|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 14, 2011Dan QuinnQ. Dan, can you talk about the decision to leave the NFL? DAN QUINN: Sure. You know, after Will had got the job and I kind of had a very good feeling about Will, worked together at Miami, and when he left and went to Auburn and on to Texas, it was always somebody that I kept up with and we kind of saw football in the same way so, when the opportunity came to come work with them, it really was an easy for me. I thought the guy had all the right stuff about him as a coach. So when it came to an opportunity to come to a place like this, it really was easy for me. I had a great experience at the NFL, loved, it made terrific connections, players and coaches and front office people and it was a great challenge for me and something I was looking forward to doing. Q. Will said you would be in charge of calling the defense; how do you envision that relationship working? DAN QUINN: He would say, hey, Dan, we need to think more about this, and then I would say, okay. Honestly, I mean, really to put it as ease, we see football a lot in the same way and that connection is what brought me here, even though we only worked together the one year, we really saw things the same way. And like I said I went to go visit with him in Auburn and went to work out with him and stayed with him for two days, and same thing at Texas so we do see things along the same line. Q. Will talked about maybe being a 4-3 team -- do you share that same philosophy defensively with him? DAN QUINN: There was one conversation that hit me back when I was at the Miami Dolphins and we had just hired Mike Mularkey as the offensive coordinator and I can distinctly remember Nick asking him, "What do you think is harder to prepare for, 4-3 or 3-4?" And out of Mike's mouth, he said, "Both." That was the system we had run during our time at Miami and it was that conversation that resonated; that if you have the opportunity to do both, I really thought it could create problems in matchups for an offense. We did that some in Seattle, and of course we did it in Miami and of course Will has done it in Texas. I do think the ability to have both is there. We will be a 4-3 team that has some 3-4 principles. Q. What are you looking to see in practice? DAN QUINN: One, I would like to see relentless effort and I think that's where good defense starts. After that we can start getting into the technique but I think when you put on the tape and came to practice and watch, you would see a team that played really hard and really went after the ball. I think those are two of the criterias, when you're talking about good defense or teams that give relentless effort and really go after the football and create take aways. Q. Your teams, traditionally everybody you coached gets after the quarterback and gets after it regularly. Is there a secret to it? I mean, what is it that your teams always do it? DAN QUINN: You'll hear us say, "affecting the quarterback." And sometimes it may not be just in the sack. There might be a day where you had two sacks but you really hit the guy. There were ten hits and three other batted balls and that was a good game because you got the guy off his spot and affected the quarterback. Other games you might have five or six sacks but didn't got the other ones like you thought. That is the biggest thing for me; part of it is scheme, having the ability to be 4-3 and 3-4; and the other thing is the players and relentless attitude and effort to keep finishing on the quarterback. Q. Are you more of a get-the-pressure-with-the-front-four and let the linebackers stay where you are, or a guy that likes to blitz like crazy? DAN QUINN: I would say I'm probably somewhere in the middle. There are certain games when you want to just rush with four and there are some advantages in term of playing split safety defenses, and other times you want to match up and play man-to-man outside and then have the ability to bring a fifth or sixth rusher whether it be man-to-man or zone. To answer that question, are we a blitz team or four-man rush team, I would say somewhere in the middle. I think when you saw the games that we really affected the quarterback, I would say there would be a balance of that. Q. Sometimes these 18-year-old super recruits out of high school, they become great players, other ones are okay, and some don't pan out at all. Ronald Powell was very much a celebrated recruit. He supposedly is a guy who can line up at a lot of different positions. What do you see, the kind of role you would like to try with him? DAN QUINN: We are going to put him at the buck position. It's really a unique position, a guy that can stand up and drop into coverage, rush, cover a tight end. In the past you'll note guys that I've coached, Jason Taylor in Miami, Calvin Pace at the Jets, Chris Clemons this past year at Seattle, and in Will's time, it was Brian Orakpo, Sergio Kendall. So that position is a really unique guy. It's a fun position to play, the buck is, you're kind of a hybrid defensive end where you can rush and also you're dropping the zone play on receivers and that kind of thing. It's really unique; you're looking for a guy who has got speed and length and has the ability to play into place with receivers, as well. Q. Where did that name come from? DAN QUINN: Good question. I'm not sure, that's one I think I adopted it and not sure where the buck position came from. It's called children -- inaudible. When I first started coaching at the 49ers it was the elephant and Charles Haley and he played that. I kind of asked that one to Coach Walsh one time and he looked at me, well, he's the elephant. I said, okay, that was kind of the end of the conversation. But it's unique and in Seattle we called it the Leo, so different spots. Q. Having worked with both guys, how much of Nick Saban do you see in Will Muschamp? DAN QUINN: I think both of them are really good defensive coaches. That's the one thing when you first saw Will coach, and I think it's true with both of them, I think you really measure a coach when he's out on the grass and that's I think when you see a guy who is at his best. In the classroom you see the teaching and different ways you go to affect different guys, and then you get out in the grass and there's a whole other set of circumstances and the game day and that kind of stuff. I would say they would align themselves a lot in terms of defensive philosophy being aggressive, playing man-to-man, affecting a quarterback, getting takeaways, so you can see how we got respect for both of the guys. Q. How similar or different are their personalities, their demeanors? DAN QUINN: I would say they are quite a bit different just in terms of off-the-field personalities. But from a defensive standpoint, I think if they had the same conversation, there would be a lot of the same terms thrown out. Q. Will said you will be a little thin on the lines; how will you address that on defense, or what other areas of concern do you have? DAN QUINN: I think that we will be doing that. We are going to have guys play more than one position. I really think it adds value to your team when a guy can play a little bit of linebacker and some defensive end or defensive tackle and nose tackle. And really that's something that I'll be bringing with me that we have done in the last ten years in the NFL where a guy can play more than one position. I really think it adds value to the team and it certainly adds value to the player, as well. Q. Are there other positions you have concern about linebacker? DAN QUINN: I think we are going to cross-train the guys at a lot of spots. Some of the linebackers are also going to play defensive end and we'll find the best way to use the guys. That's what is really important for us going through spring practice is evaluating the players. We have seen them on tape and been through spring workouts and that kind of stuff, but now that you get to cross-train guys at different spots, what is the best place to play this player in nickel; what role can he play for us in short yardage. So I think in this spring practice, that's going to be an important part is evaluating the guys and see what they do best and let's find a role for them to do. Q. It depends on downs and distance and all, but in the secondary, man, zone, what do you like to do in coverage? DAN QUINN: I think we would be more man-to-man oriented first. There's certainly going to be some times where we will play some two-deep and split safety defenses just to match up for receivers and that kind of stuff. We want to certainly take away what they do best, but when you see our guys run outside, it certainly lends itself to playing some man-to-man. Q. Would you talk about maybe the two or three coaches who have most influenced the shaping of your own defensive philosophy? DAN QUINN: Sure. I think the first coach I'll mention is a fellow by the name of Bill McPherson. It was my first year at the 49ers and Bill had been a five-time world champion coach there at the 49ers. He was a defensive line coach under Walsh and defensive coordinator under Seifert. So at the time he had retired and was still a consultant and pro director. So each day was an important time for me to go and spend some time watching film and going through the evaluation process is. That process started how you look at players and the evaluation of them. He was one guy that left a huge mark on me. And then into Miami with Nick I thought that was, for me, one of the best defensive coaches I had been around up to that point in my career. And I thought he and Don Capers and Will, all three of those guys at Miami I thought were all terrific coaches. And then my last stop in Seattle with Pete Carroll. I think Pete really gets football and he gets people. He has a formula for how to win and it certainly rubbed off on me. So to kind of bring you up to speed it would be those guys kind of in that order which had a huge I am pocket on me. Q. When you run a 3-4, is your plan to eventually make it a large 3-4, in other words, extra defensive tackle on the field? DAN QUINN: Most of the time it's to keep the same personnel on the field and have different looks and it also happens some in nickel, like 11 personnel and that kind of stuff some of it comes in our nickel package where we are covering both the tackle and the nose. Most of the time it's with the same personnel that we have. If we got into a short yardage or goal line or big heavy run emphasis, we have some packages where we would add some big guys to the field. Q. Recruiting-wise, do you need to sign more guys for that nose position? DAN QUINN: I think inside there have been certain guys that we have coached over the years that are strong and heavy-handed and Young was a guy that played a nose and a three. Good players can play in any system. We are looking for outside rushers who have speed and length and some of those guys when they grow into a five technique or big defensive tackle, the guy coming out might be 6-4 or 6-4 and 245, 250 pounds and grow into 275, 280 pounds as far as the nose tackles. Some of those guys, to me, it's more about getting your hands on guys and playing technique, and being it's part of our package not the mainstay, we'll be able to do it with the group we have. Q. What was your relationship with Brian? What's it like coaching alongside each other? DAN QUINN: He left a real impression on me of what a professional is, and when he stepped on to the grass as a player there was a real pride about the way he went about his business. Through the years that's always rubbed off on me and I remain close with him when we left and when he decided to get back into coaching, he said, "if I have the chance, I am going to try to hire you one day." So when Will said, "Do you know somebody?" I said, "As a matter of fact I do." When he said, do you think he would be interested; yeah you ought to call him. When I worked with him before it was a different relationship because I was the one coaching him to now we are working together more in terms of putting the scheme in and that kind of thing. But certainly somebody that I really hold in high regard. Q. Is this your first press conference? DAN QUINN: No. Q. How prepared are you for the scrutiny that comes with this position and the spotlight? DAN QUINN: I guess through the last ten years in the NFL in terms of dealing with the media in the big cities and that type of thing, I don't know if anything can prepare you for being the coordinator in the SEC without having done it. But my experience the last ten years certainly prepared me to play in big games and be involved in that way. Q. And Josh at safety was, that discussed with you at all? DAN QUINN: I think it's one of those guys, too, that has position flexibility where he's got speed and he's got length and certainly we are going to swing some and try him some at corner. But we thought that would be the best spot for him moving in going through practice and we had some really talented corners there and we thought it would be a way for him to get involved the fastest. Q. Because of his size? DAN QUINN: Yeah, that, too, and we like his size at corner. We are looking for guys who have length and can get their hands on guys. That's where we would like to try him first at safety and we felt like he would fit in there, and some guys playing safety, we thought it would be an easy fit for him. Q. Finley came out of high school a very highly-regarded safety and he got to a size that maybe as a linebacker, there was always that thought that maybe at some point, he would go back to safety. Has there been any thought of that or is he permanently at linebacker? DAN QUINN: Right now he's at linebacker and we think there could be a real role for him there in base package or nickel package. He has enough speed to match up with tight ends and backs, but we are going to put him in there now. We feel like that will be the best spot for him now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|