00:00John Harbaugh just wrapped up his introductory press conference, his next head football coach
00:10to the New York football Giants, as he put it. Giants legend Howard Cross here, B. London.
00:16You've been through a couple of these, sadly too many over the course of the last, what,
00:21decade or so. I guess give us your thoughts on John Harbaugh, your first impression of him
00:27as the Giants new head coach. Well, he said a lot of the things, more old school football
00:30kind of things. He's talking about ball all the time, and I really enjoyed it. I thought
00:35that he said that, hey, if you don't like ball, you won't be here. I like that. I think
00:40that that seems to be the right attitude to have, that attitude that we had when we played.
00:44So you hear a guy saying stuff like that and being excited about it and everybody being
00:48excited about the same thing. I like the unity of it. And you can tell the players love the
00:52old school aspect of it. And I think that people get a little, not confused, a little
00:57misconstrued thinking that the new age players don't want to be coached. They want to win.
01:02And if discipline and hard work comes with it, tough but fair is what I've heard has been
01:07his message. But do you feel as though that that old school message can maybe not land or
01:13not be received the way that it should be, especially with the 63-year-old coach?
01:18I think it's going to be received well. I think he said it right out loud. I think when
01:22people hear that, hey, it's about ball. If you're not about ball, you won't be here.
01:26You're going to play somewhere else. And he's always talking about living every day to the
01:29fullest. That is pretty exciting as well. I think that sometimes when you play, you kind
01:33of get lost in whatever's happening, what's going on. But if you're living every day to
01:38the fullest, you can't get lost. And I like that.
01:40You talk about a guy who loves ball. He was asked about Jackson Dart. And that's something
01:44that stood out to him. He was like, the kid wants to talk football all the time. Do
01:49you feel like this could be a championship match and a John Harbaugh and a Jackson Dart?
01:53I think it could be a championship match. I think the attitude is right. I think that
01:56the way, what his words are, or if everybody falls through on his words, I think it's going
02:00to be right. I haven't heard a coach come in the last few coaches that had that same kind
02:05of message. That right there made me feel a lot better. He's going to do a good job.
02:09I'm impressed.
02:09And he was asked about the coordinators or whether he's going to retain some of the coaches
02:14from this coaching staff. He mentioned those conversations or meetings are going to start
02:18on Wednesday, which is tomorrow. He mentioned kind of getting some of the coaches, talking
02:23to some of the coaches that have already been here, maybe some of the guys at Baltimore.
02:26But looking around, who in your eyes, what type of coordinators, both offensively and defensively,
02:35you feel as though could step in and get the most out of this roster and this team right
02:40away?
02:40Well, somebody who knows and understands how to get the best out of Jackson is going to
02:43be the guy that, I don't know who that's going to be exactly, but I know that's going
02:46to be the best thing for him. I think he's got to be able to keep the continuity of the
02:50run game going. I thought that the offensive line played a lot better this year than they
02:54played in a long time. And I think that right there is like the backbone of the entire
02:58team. If they can get those guys to play well, that's going to be great. From a defensive
03:01standpoint, he's got to find a guy or understand a guy that can stop the run.
03:05We've got a lot of great pass rushers on the team. We've got a lot of guys can get
03:08to the quarterback, but you've got to earn that right. If he can find a way to get
03:11those guys in some configuration and understanding and have them stop the run, then
03:17everything's going to go exactly the way he wants it to go.
03:19On the offensive line part of it, he had mentioned that his dad had called him three
03:23days into the coaching search and told him to make sure to look at the Giants film on
03:27how the offensive line was firing off the ball. On the defensive side of things, he was
03:31talking about challenging his defense to run to the football and not,
03:35kind of wait to see if someone else is going to make the tackle, get there, make
03:39violent decisions when he gets there. Again, you've been to a lot of these press
03:43conferences, I believe this is five, head coach number five. What did you think,
03:49first impression-wise, how did he handle the media? How did he conduct himself on
03:54the podium?
03:55I thought he was very easy to talk to. I thought he did a great job with the media.
03:59I love the fact he kept references to his dad as an old coach. That's kind of fun and
04:03cool. I like that he referenced the players that were here and acknowledged
04:06them, acknowledged their ownership, told him how they're all going to work
04:10together, especially Joe, and how Joe is going to be involved with it. I think
04:13that's, you know, we've heard a lot of stuff about, well, he didn't want to be
04:17involved with a situation where he had to report to the GM, but now he's talking
04:21about how they're going to work together and how they're going to collaborate.
04:22So I like that, that, you know, it's a happy home, you know, so happy ball to be
04:26played.
04:27Were you surprised he didn't duck the questions about what his
04:29relationship, working relationship is going to be like with Joe Shannon?
04:33He's been in the business a long time. He's not going to duck any questions.
04:36You know, it's pretty funny because everybody says how the New York media is
04:39and if you can handle it, I think he'll be okay with it.
04:42All in all, it's a new day.
04:43It's a new day.
04:44Positive day for the Giants nation.
04:46Let's go.
04:46Let's go.
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