Opening statement:
"Hello. How are all of you today? I can't tell you how excited I am to get another start here. The reason I am here is to help the Browns do some things on defense. The number one reason I am here is my respect for Hue Jackson, the Head Coach. I have never had the opportunity to work with Hue personally on the same team, in the same program, in the same organization. But I have had the opportunity to coach against him and go against him in a lot of different places. This league is kind of a bounce around league a little bit once you get at this level. You have the opportunity to stay here if you have the opportunity to create production. It is a production business and also if you can affect change. Hue has always been able to do that at other places. I have tremendous respect for him as an offensive football coach. I can tell you which offensive football coaches write everything on a chart and call a game on a chart. I can tell you which offensive football coaches lay it down and say, 'Let's go, let's come get some.' Hue is one of them. Hue will coach with maybe a defensive mentality and that toughness aspect of it. I really have respected him because of that. Now because Hue has invited me and asked me to come around and get on board here, I am going to get a chance to learn and see and meet a lot of other different people, you all included. I have been real impressed with the building. I came here in 2001 with the old regime and interviewed for the head coaching job back then. I ended up going to the Buffalo Bills at that time and (former Browns Head Coach) Butch Davis and I did some things together in training camp. Came down here the first year and we had training camp out here on the back grass. Next year, he came to Rochester where our camp was and the next year we met half way in between. So I know some things about it. The building has changed a lot since 2001.
"One of the things I have noticed that I want you to understand and hopefully you all know this better than me, I have been so impressed with the people in the building. It takes more than just the quarterback. It takes more than just the Head Coach. It takes more than just the owner. I do not believe in one voice, but I do believe in one message from Mr. (Jimmy) Haslam's ownership group to Hue Jackson's philosophy of how we will play football. I do believe in having as many voices as possible, passing on that one message. I have been very impressed with the people that are leading other departments; just the style, the attitude, the confidence and some of the things that are up there on the communications, the line of communications that are open between departments. I have been to a lot of places, some where those communication lines you can't tread over. I am about staying in my lane, doing what I have to do to help Hue on the defensive side of the ball. But I also want to be able to mentor some of the other people in the building. When you have been doing this as long as I have been doing this, a lot of different aspects of this, I could be doing a lot of other different things in life other than coaching. But I love coaching. I love mentoring young men. I love coaching at this level. I am happiest during the season. I am happiest when I am in the office. I am happiest of all time when I am in between the white lines, competing. You will never see me with a beer or two. No tobacco. No prescriptions, hardly at all. But I do not mind saying this, I am a competition-aholic. It will be from practice to meetings to games. I love to compete. There are a lot of things here that we have to stir the emotions and stir the culture on being more competitive. Then, once we are more competitive, maybe if we are lucky enough, we are in the position to win. But we have to be able to compete first and compete at a certain level first to be lucky enough to be in the position to win. I think Hue has some great things that I have had to go against that have been frustrating to a defensive coach that he knows how to win with that offense. I think defensively, I have been in some situations and some places where we have been able to do that and be a compatible coaching style. We are working the special teams in too. I think (Special teams coordinator) Chris (Tabor) is one of the better special teams coaches in the league. It is going to be exciting to get a chance to work together.
"Now, we have to hit the ground running. I am a time manager, a pretty organized person. People said I have borderline OCD. I am not OCD. I am just organized, okay? I think it is great that we are going to get a chance to go to the Senior Bowl and coach next week. Had to put a staff together. Had to hit the ground running. Had to get organized, to all get on the same page to do that. This is going to be a good thing for Hue and I to get a feel for coaching with each other. I am telling you, I can't wait to get on the field with him and coach with him because we have stared at each other across the sidelines and done some signals across the sideline that you don't want to put on TV. We have had those words and signals and that body language going. So we get a chance to get a feel for each other and have some fun down there.
"More importantly, as we continue to evaluate people to improve the organization. Scouting is one thing that is a huge part of what we do. Until you put your hands on a guy, until you get the chance to be on the field, on the grass, inside the white lines, in the meetings and all that stuff, you can guess and speculate all you want on whether a guy can play at this level or not. Then you can guess and speculate if a guy is willing to leave the area he just did at the college football level and reprove himself here. If you are not willing to reprove yourself every single day - I always loved Jerry Glanville's line 'NFL: Not For Long.' Somebody else is waiting to sit in your seat. I tell the players and we tell the players every year that when we start training camp with 90 players on all 32 teams. Then we cut down to 53 to start the season. There are 1,184 players on the streets right now wanting your chair. I can't tell you how many coaches, you guys think you can coach, you guys are out there talking all the time waiting to sit in my chair. Come get some. Come on in there. Sit down in there. We'll see how long you can hold their attention and see how you can affect production and set body language and all the other things. But there is somebody wanting that opportunity to play and to be in our sport in the highest in the world. That's what keeps me going. People ask me all the time, 'How long will you keep on doing this?' I will keep on doing it when I walk into the room and I know they are listening to me. I can walk on the field and know they will listen to me. I think you guys will find out very quick, I do not have too much of a problem of getting people to listen to me. I can get people to listen to me. Now, can we get them to play and do right? I am looking forward to the opportunity. I am looking forward to the challenge and hopefully looking forward to helping and providing help for you guys too because we are all in this for the right things, the right ways. People read what you have to do because they love the sport. They love the National Football League. They love the Cleveland Browns.
"My last thing before I open it up is that back a long time ago in the late '80s early '90s, is when I got in the league, I have been hit from the Dawg Pound with transistor batteries, size D and C batteries, dog biscuits, dog bones, beer cans, beer bottles and I can't wait to be on their side now. I say that with respect. I love them. I love the fact that when I came into the stadium, about how loud they were, how much fun they had coming to the games and how much they loved the Cleveland Browns. When we have home field advantage it is because we can flat play some defense. Everybody came to watch that defense rock and roll. You have a home field advantage when your defense is dominant because when the offense is out there, Hue is going to tell all of you people to shut up. People, offensively, you want that communication going on, verbal, and everything to be on the same page. Smart crowds and home crowds get that and allow the offense to operate and cheer when they operate at a high level. But defensively, I don't care if they ever are quiet. I have been in stadiums and coached on teams that we have been so good on defense that the coach to the middle linebacker communication did not work and I have assistants that have to signal the plays in because you'll see this, when the mic linebacker touches his facemask, he can't here because the crowd is so loud. He can't here so we have to hand signal the play in. That's what we want here. I can't wait to hang out and be with the Dawg Pound and a lot of them reached out already. I promise I will reach out too when we trot out on the field to have a chance to play here."
On how he has changed since his suspension:
"We're not here to talk about that. What else do you want to talk about?"
On why he won't talk about it:
"Is there a quote out there of me ever talking about it? So you want to be the first guy that has a quote?"
On there already being quotes out there on it:
"Use that one then. What else.
On how he would describe his defense:
"What we are going to do defensively is what the Cleveland Browns have athletically, strength-wise. I would say this, I was a quarterback a long time ago, could not play at this level. I've been an offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, head coach, (Patriots Head Coach) Bill Belichick and I are the only ones that have done that all of these years. But we are going to play defense as much as we can in an attacking way of playing defense. As much as we can to have the offense react off of us. There is kind of a misnomer out there, of where the defense has to wait for the offense to move to decide how we're going to keep them surrounded, and do not let them go by us. I learned from some really good people, a long time ago when I moved from offense to defense, that I'd rather the offense have to try to defend themselves and have to take a look at what we're doing first. There will be a check system. You'll see that the players will have a lot of say on how we play once we teach them what they can and cannot check to, once we teach them their say. You all will see that empowerment is powerful. A long time ago, maybe when I was a lot younger, whoever talked the loudest was the smartest in the room. How can I get these guys to believe it's their idea when it was my idea anyway, and now let's go cut it loose. You all will see that, the players will have a say in some of the things we do. We'll teach the players, depending upon what the position, to have a toolbox. There will be tools in the toolbox that will accentuate their strengths and hide their weaknesses. That's easy to say, but I'm not going to box them in to a certain kind of defense, and I'm not going to box them in to a certain way that they have to play. What I am going to box them into is their effort and their toughness. I'm going to box them into that. If it doesn't fit into the formula that Hue and I, and Hue and I have talked about this for quite a while. If it doesn't fit into the AFC North mentality of how you have to play with effort and toughness, and there's a lot of different sizes and weights of athletes and a lot of different positions and a lot of different schemes, but I'm not going to compromise on that. I have Mr. Haslam's backing on that and I have our head coach's backing on that. When you guys are able to come out, I don't know the policies yet on our OTA's and spring practices and everything, I'd hope that you would be able to visible see that stuff taking place. As you talk around some of the players that have been other places and are retired now, it is same as-same as when we go place to place, but I will formulate towards the strength here. One of the things I was talking to (Browns VP of Communications) Peter (John-Baptiste) a little bit about, and I didn't know this until one of the clubs put this out there, but I've been able to be fortunate to be the only defensive coordinator in the history of the National Football League to go to five or more places with five or more coaching staffs, with five or more groups of players, with five or more styles, completely and schematically different kinds of defenses, but be top-five in defense down to number one. Why is that? Semi-smart, but also, why would I ask you to play what she plays? And why would I ask you to play what he plays? And you to play what he plays? I'll keep it all straight, but how can I make it simple for you and also accentuate your strengths and hide your weaknesses. I have weaknesses too, we all have warts, you just don't see it right now. That's what we have to do in a ball game. You'll see that in a ball game, I think Coach Belichick, he and I are good friends, I think that he does a great job of that in a game, too. When we have a corner go down, we have a backer go down, we have a d-end go down, the next guy up. We have a 'next man up' philosophy. We have a philosophy that we go by. Why would I go about coaching that guy that has different measurables and that has different strengths, why wouldn't I change the coverage when this corner doesn't run as well or long or lean. Why wouldn't I change to fit the corner's scheme? So the flexibility of what we do, and the ability of me to keep it all straight, helps the player. I want the player not to have to over think. We as coaches and you guys too, sometimes we want to stay in charge by talking too much. Maybe acting like we know a terminology, that football is football is football. When the ball is snapped, it is find ball, see ball, get ball on defense. What? It's find ball, see ball, get ball. How do I help them understand that? Here's the other thing and you can throw this back as me as much as you want, if the ball goes over our head in a hurry, I don't care who's coaching or playing, they don't get to do it. We've go to, in this wild, throwing league, limit the balls that go over our head in a hurry. Then, if it does, can we get them down and go play goal line defense? Can we get them down, and play red zone defense? Can we get them down and play one more snap because one more snap may turn it our way. Those are some things you'll see us getting with. I've been with some pretty good guys before and have kind of pieced together what would be called the 'Gregg Williams Coaching Tree' and the 'Gregg Williams Style of Defense.' If you're not in the family of really going through all of this different stuff with me then there is a learning curve for you as a coach, too. We want to really hit the ground running here. One of the questions you guys may come up with is the staff and the changes. Hue and I did this together. Hue had thoughts on what he wanted with the staff. So the new staff members that I have brought in here, Hue interviewed and Hue made the decision. I've coached with a lot of different coaches, I just told you a lot of different staffs, and I've gone places by myself before. But he believed, and I believe too, is that the familiarity with some of these people that have come in here too, with me, some of them have played for me and some of them have coached for me in other places and been with me or things, the learning curve for them is brief. For some of them, it is just a reminder. They say, 'Uh oh, I forgot Gregg acted that way.' Yeah, I still act that way and we're still going to do this. That helps to hopefully, hit the ground running when the players get back in here."
On if he will run a 4-3 based defense:"Thank you for asking that. No, Cleveland-based. The reason being is this, I have 42 words that add up to the 11 that trot out to the field. You guys that have studied me before, we'll play 4-3 and 3-4 in the same game. 3-3, 3-2, 4-1, 4-2, bear, big on five down, big on six down, big on more linebackers, little on more DB's. I have 42 packages of defense. Now everywhere I go, I don't do them all. What it is, coaches sit in a room and we waste so much time wondering what the word is. I have the words already. I've been doing it for so long. So boom, this 11 guys, boom this 11 guys trot out there. Then, what you all will see is, how much we play those types of schemes or packages is based on the AFC North. It's based on what the offenses are pulling out there and we have to play defense on. I'm also not afraid to make sure all of the other people are going to have to work on things that I'm never going to call. They've got to practice all week long on 4-3, 3-4, 2-2, all of that kind of stuff, and I'm not even going to do it next week. So that's ok too."
On people saying he will bring an attitude here:
"What I would say is this, in order to be in this business at this level, if you cannot affect change then you do not belong at this level. Change can be lots of different ways of change. It can be good. It can be tough. It can be nice. It can be smiling. But you have got to affect change. Mental toughness precedes physical toughness. So when we talk about attitude, it's mental before physical. How we go about exuding body language, you know I'm studying every one of you all, and some of you are slumped. You won't slump in my meeting room. You're going to have your feet flat on the first day and we're going to talk about how you sit in your chair when I walk in the room, and how you focus and pay attention. You know, ADHD has been there for a long time and I've been coaching guys like that long before they medicated them. I'm going to medicate them, and get them to understand to pay attention. So, from an attitude standpoint, how do we all believe the same way, do the same things and then in this game that's a contact game, from an attitude standpoint, they're never going to play for anybody that is going to let them play more attacking, more physical or more aggressive than me. I'll back them up. I've only coached two or three guys in the league that I've ever had to put my hand on and back up. My whole life I've been trying to speed up your decisions and speed up your toughness and get you to play harder, get you to play tougher, get you to play meaner. That will be the way. We're talking about defending every blade of grass, not every yard on the field. How do we get that? It starts in the room. We'll talk a lot in the room and we'll do a lot on the field. We'll see them have a chance to exude and have fun playing. You'll get a chance to capture and see their enjoyment of playing this game that they've been playing since little league, some of them. Some of them since only high school and a few of them get flipped over later in life. But I want them to have fun doing that. That fun will only happen when they understand that this is team and that we're all in this together. There are no individuals. I'm not going to put up very much with guys that don't get the fact that we have got to play as a team."
On how he can get the Browns defense to improve at tackling:
"Two or threefold answer – when you go back and take a look at our game that starts now from little leagues down to high school to college, the spread open type things and the space play, and tackling is not very good from the time mom and dad all of the sudden thought they were coaching. It has not been, and what we will do is that I think what you will see – and I do not want to overstate some things right now –everywhere I have been we have been a very, if not the best, then the top two or three tackling teams in the league because we measure 'YAC,' and it is not yards after catch. We measure yards after contact and we measure blades of grass after contact, and what we try to do is– I am not going to hide behind the 'T word' – what we do is we tackle every day. Just because the rules have changed in our league on how many padded practices we have, the way we practice in training camp – people want to complain that you can't be tough anymore because we can't have three-a-days full contact. Are you kidding me? When I played it was three-a-day full contact. Fatigue is directly related to injuries, especially ACL ruptures and Achilles tendon ruptures. When I was at Buffalo I was one of the first guys in the National Football League who was only going to one contact padded practice a day, and then doing the walk-thrus – I was doing that a long time ago. If our offseason program is any good, why aren't we in shape when we come to training camp? For what reason? Why aren't we? So, what we will do is is that when Coach Jackson has us in helmets, whether it is just jerseys, we are tackling, and then we are going to populate the ball. Missed tackles come from coaches allowing other guys to loaf, coaches allowing other guys to play a gap, play fictitious stupid plays that do not exist. We are find ball, see ball, get ball, and if you aren't around the ball when it is over with and we are in our end zone shot, you are probably moving into the broadcast booth, moving into the beer vendor's booth, moving into helping the guy hold the down markers on the sideline. I have already talked with Hue and Mr. Haslam – I can't cut them, but as long as I am here I am going to decide who plays on defense, and when I am not doing that, Tony [Grossi] is coaching them (laughter)."
On what talent he believes the Browns have on defense, what he has learned as he has gone through film on the Browns defense, how important it is to sign a talented player like LB Jamie Collins Sr. and evaluation of top draft prospects:
"Great questions. I have hit the ground running. I got here – what day is this? This is Thursday? I hit the ground last Wednesday night, late, and so my first day in the office was last Thursday and we have been doing the staff and hiring the staff and then really pouring everything into the Senior Bowl. The book is done, the practice schedules – again, I am not OCD – but everything is done on that and now I get the chance to start going back and doing the evaluation on the players. Before I went down and spoke with Mr. Haslam and Hue about coming here – because I wanted to talk to them both at the same time so there was, the lines of communication there was not any misfits in the communication right there, that we all were on the same page – is I watched five or six games before I got on the plane and went and talked to them, so I have a little bit of a background with those guys but not enough to really know yet until I spend more time with them. Then, in all honesty I may not watch another clip and I do not care. Until I get a chance to be in the meeting room with them, talk, move around, get on the field with them, that is when the true evaluation is made. One of the things is that I have never complained to one head coach, to one owner, to one GM about a guy I get to coach. Never. Now, do not get offended on how I have to coach him. Do not, all of the sudden I have to find a way to get him to work, and if he got in the door at this level he has a skillset. What we as coaches – and I am serious about this, I do not want it to appear real bad yet, yet – is I can only affect what mom and dad gave him in the gene pool about that much, and how I do that is not accept what mom and dad says has been alright their whole life. I have to butt their head up against the cap of what the genes say that they can do and can't do. And how do I simplify their world and how do we go about doing things and how do we go about doing things here? I look forward to those guys. There are several guys on this defensive roster that I wanted to draft. Several and I do not know whether I am going to like them, I do not know whether they are going to like me – I think they will, and I really do, and I care about every one of those guys. I get 200 or 300 calls on Father's Day every year from former players that did not, maybe they struggled in life with parental advice and stuff, and then once we have a relationship we have a relationship for life. I really do care a lot about them, and I do care a lot about how they build their resume and how they go about getting a chance to play at this level because it is so hard to play at this level. I have had so many people ask me before is, 'How come that Heisman Trophy winner did not make it at this level? How come that guy, All-SEC, all-this, did not make it at this level? How come they did not?' and you know what, even in your own room, even in your own field, when you guys stop trying to reprove yourself every day they are going to find somebody else to sit in your chair too at that company you work for. Sometimes, especially in this entitlement phased millennium, some of the millennials, they have been enabled their whole life so far and all of the sudden they really do not understand what it is to pay the price, to do the things the way it has to be done at the highest level to do it. When it becomes their idea to do it this certain way, it is amazing how successful they can be and how good they can be, and I just want to help them. I really do. I am addicted every day to coming in to seeing if there is a way that we can get better today. I think, I am hoping that you see when Hue and I practice against each other, [not] me and him but our teams, we are going to have fun competing in practice. You are going to watch practice and – unless he backs us off, because I am not backing our guys off – unless he backs us off, it is going to be, 'Holy cow.' But we have to protect each other too – it is not slamming guys to the ground and cutting guys and flipping guys and doing all that kind of stuff, but we have to practice fast and we have to practice tough and we have to compete – and then when you get on gameday, it slows down, or maybe it does not slow down but it is not as shocking. That is what some of these guys do, they will all of the sudden, and they can't keep up, and if you can't keep up then they become a fat ass coach."
On if he has ever been a part of a coaching staff that coached in the Senior Bowl:
"Never. This is my first time, and one of the years a long time ago my goal was never to have to do this. I am serious about this, and I talked to Mr. Haslam and Hue about this when I came down and talked to them, was that I am excited because I have researched how many picks we have, cap space, all that kind of stuff so it is important to get a feel for them. If they are going to ask me my opinion of a guy, then I have to put my hands on him, so this is really cool. You know what, once I put my hands on those guys, I am not going to watch any of their college film. I do not need to. (Alabama Head Coach) Nick Saban and I are really good friends, several guys on the Clemson defensive staff and I are really good friends. All of those guys, when you have been in [the coaching business] as long as I have been, I have a lot of guys coaching college football that played for me too. I do not need to watch them once I get a chance to coach them, so this is fun. I am really looking forward to getting some evaluation on these guys. Every day is an interview, we will see how well they interview."
On what Browns defensive players he is most excited to 'get his hands on' and coach:
"There is really none of them that I can't wait [to coach] – all of them. There have been several guys that have stopped by already, and I told them I would not tell you who they are, but several guys have. There have been several guys that have called, but one of the things that I have done with all of them is [ask them] 'Who do you know on a team that I have recently coached?' Call, talk, get a scouting report on me. Find out. The more you know, the less that we have to get clear when we get here, and some of them have done it already and they have already started talking to me or texting me about some of the funny things that have happened, some of the real fun, but they have all said, 'We understand coach about when we start OTAs about coming there with a mindset and coming there with being in shape and do not think we are going to get in shape at the end of offseason, we better come to offseason in shape,' and so it has been fun to see that. The best form of advertisement is the people that you are around all the time. I love those players I just left at the Rams. I really do, and I feel for their hearts. We were pretty good on defense. What people do not realize – everybody says that roster was so great - we dressed on defense eight undrafted free agents, four more that were in the sixth and seventh round. We had a few guys up front out of the first round, but we had one first rounder that (Patriots Head) Coach (Bill) Belichick said he did not want him anymore. It is funny to see the, when we did all the background on that and as you guys the background told us totally different on what kind of a person he was, and he is one of my favorite guys I have ever had a chance to coach. Why? Because he can defend himself in a verbal argument. He has fun teasing but he can flat play too, so I miss those guys already, and they are all over me right now because I am not back, but that is just part of this business, but they will be in my family for life."
On how realistic it is to expect a quick and significant turnaround from the Browns defense in 2017:
"Again, I do not want to predict something that I can't come up with, but until I get a chance on the field I would hope that we can improve. I have gone places where they were No. 32 on defense and gone [up] to No. 2 in a year, but there may not be that here. The other thing, too, is you have to, hopefully the teams we play cooperate too and lay down a little bit (laughter). I do not know. We are going to play against some of these offenses that are way out there in advancement of the ball.
"Here is another thing, Hue and I have to play a complementary style. (Saints Head Coach) Sean Payton and I – I really, really, really loved coaching with him, and my style of defense had to change drastically there because the worst thing I could do is have (Saints QB) Drew Brees standing over there on the sideline getting his arm cold. Let's go, let's go, let's go, get that son of a gun back out there as fast as possible. Then there is times when – when we won the Super Bowl, we had to make sure (former Colts and Broncos QB) Peyton (Manning) was standing there on the other sideline for as long as possible, and reduce it down to a 10 possession game or a nine possession game, so we have to complement that. If we are not a flamboyant offense scoring tons of points, then we have to play great against the run and we have to minimize possessions and we have to run the clock. I learned how to run the clock on defense a long time ago, and still not give up points, and how you do those types of things. So Hue and I have to be on the same page, with Chris (Tabor) also because when that offense and defense is playing complementary the special teams is not a commercial. Every single defensive possession starts and ends with a special teams play. The majority of the guys on defense are involved in the special teams. I loved coaching special teams when I was coaching special teams in the National Football League, and then for 17 years I was a special teams assistant. Even when I was a Head Coach and when I was a coordinator on defense, I still coached in the special teams. Chris may not want me around here, I do not know, we will see, but we all have to be on the same page. The impact that way will reflect what you all think is important on ranking, which I really do not care about, but it is what it is."
On why he has not gotten more consideration to be a head coach and if that is his aspiration:
"Great question, and I will share this with you and I really do not want to talk a whole lot about this from now on. I have had 11 head coaching slips put in for me since I left the Buffalo Bills. I have had four jobs where I did not even have to go interview – I am not going to tell you which ones they were – the contract was done, just show up and take it, but I am not going to do that unless it is programmed correct. I love what I do and I know what I can help an organization at, but there has to be structure built in to be a successful head coach in this league. The average career of a NFL player is 3.2 years. The average career of a NFL head coach in the last 19 years is 2.3, let's flip the numbers. Wait a minute, you have had nine head coaches at one of these clubs right now in the last 14 years. At what point in time are you going to say, 'It is not coaching anymore.' Maybe it is everybody else involved in the organization, but it is not coaching, so in that situation I have walked away from head coaching jobs. Now, do I want to do it again? If it is right, but it is not something I push myself to, and I am saying that realistic. I want you all to feel that when you come to practices and games, I am here because I respect Hue Jackson. I really do, and I think it is going to be fun in that respect, and also on checklist, I have loved the Dawg Pound for so many years I have come in and coached against it, I think it is going to be good to be a part of it. I think it is going to be kind of fun.
"And another thing to you all, I do not know social media, Facebook. You will not find me on – really you hardly will not even find me out there – with my kids and wife and everything too, I do not, I like the privacy of who I am because I am in front of so many people all the time, but this will be fun in that respect. The other thing, I know a couple of people out here are baseball wise, and I told Peter (John-Baptiste) this that my father-in-law is Mike Shannon from the St. Louis Cardinals. I think he is starting his 60th or 61st year. I do not know how many years, but I enjoy baseball, basketball, football. Last year, LeBron (James) signed a jersey for my foundation for kids that brought $25,000. I can't wait to high-five him for that, because I have the Gregg Williams Foundation that supports anything to do with a child back in that little bitty country hometown that I grew up in in Missouri. Every year I go back for a week's worth of events to raise money for those kids from academics to athletics to facilities to whatever, whatever I need to do to help a child in that town. So it was fun, how about Cleveland winning it and I timed it right with LeBron signing a jersey, and somebody was stupid enough to pay $25,000 to help those kids back in that town. So outside of coaching, outside of my nine children, I do not do anything else. I am looking forward to getting started here."
On if his coaching strategies and philosophies will be a shock to the Browns defensive players:
"First off, it will not be working for, it will be working with. It will be working with, and I do not know. Some of them have been around some really good coaches. There were some really good coaches here last year. I am telling you that. There were really good coaches here, and again, we want to blame coaches because mom and dad's gene pool? What is the deal? What is the deal on that? Some of them have been involved in some great college programs. The thing with me is that I want them to feel like we are working together to get the maximum out of him and me, and I do not want any of them to feel like I will not adapt to help them be good. But I am telling you right now, and them, I will not compromise on their effort and their toughness. People will talk, everywhere I go and coach they say, 'Look how fast those guys play.' Some of it is not raw speed, it is effort. It is just effort. It is what it is on their speed, but they do not loaf, they do not take plays off. That is the hard part about them adjusting to me, that is the hard part."
On if there is anything further he wants to share about his past suspension from the NFL:
"No. (NFL Commissioner) Roger (Goodell) and I are very close on the whole thing, in all honesty. He and I go back to the 80's together, and there was enough written on it back then and it is no part of the Dawg Pound. No part."
On if the popularity of spread offenses in college football also changes the process of scouting defensive players for the NFL Draft:
"It does change, oh yeah. It is hard. You would love to get against, take a look at those – when they are on offense – take a look at those Wisconsin offensive linemen and Stanford and some of those teams that will play the NFL offenses of downhill running and stuff, but defensively some of these guys have not had the opportunity to have some of the gang blocking schemes they have on them, some of the physical downhill type movements on them up on the front on the line of scrimmage. One of the things that you will see me do, and you guys can do it too, is every practice once we start competing you will see me stand at the line of scrimmage. I can look out there at Tony (Grossi) but I can see everybody else in the room, and I can see your body language and I do not know why, I can just do that. But how do you change the line of scrimmage? And if you can't change the line of scrimmage, you are going to have a tough time playing offense or defense if you can't do that. It is that simple. Take a look at all the sideways teams in college football now. All the sideways team in high school football now. We have to get them going that direction, Hue wants them going the other direction. I can't walk down the hallway right now that Hue is not trying to stir me up, he will say something and I will say something. We have been leaving notes on each other's chairs about, 'Can't wait for this, can't wait for that,' and talk is cheap Hue. Let's go, so we are – and it is fun, and why I am telling you this, this is who I am now. This is a fun thing. This job is hard (laughter), and if you can't laugh, if you can't have some fun in all this other preparation. There are going to be some long faces after a loss.
"I told Hue and I told Mr. Haslam when I came to talk to them that just one more reason about why I would come and talk to them was I watched every one of Hue's postgame interviews, all 16 weeks this year. I went back and watched it before I got on the plane. I have even more respect, I have even more – I hope you do. It ain't easy. It ain't easy standing up there talking to you so you can spread the word. When you pour every single ounce that you have into a week and now you get out there in those three hours it does not come out the way you want it to come out, and now you are getting ready to lead those young men again next week. It is not easy, and how he stood up and what he did meant a lot to me. Again, I want you all – I want to evaluate people under stress, not underneath good times. We can all fake, we are all con artists in that. Every one of you, me too, we can fake that, but under bad times, under tough times? 2012, who was I? What did I do? And then, who am I now? You judge that, that is fine. You judge that.
"And again, seriously, hope everything goes well. A lot of those people out there in L.A. that I was with, I said unfortunately I have to leave. Maybe our paths will cross again. I am looking forward to working with you as much as I can, however I can. One of the things I have talked to Peter already, and he is irritated at me, is I do not do individual stuff. What I do is I try to do everything together. I am never going to be a source, you do not have to worry about calling me, and I am never going to be that kind of stuff. We are just going to do things together and be upfront and honest. When you ask me something that I do not like, I will tell you, and if I say something that you do not like, you tell me. That is okay. You are not going to hurt my feelings. I also told Peter that I have enough friends in life. If I want another friend I will go buy a Labrador (laughter). Alright, thanks."
