[Ed Note: Dave] Earlier today, I posted a brief recap of the Jason Garrett press conference today. For those who have been unable to watch it, OCC has provided us with a full transcript. [End Note]
In his inaugural press conference on Monday, Jason Garrett explained how he thought a football team reflects a coach's personality:
"I think whenever you’re in a leadership role, whether it’s of a football team, whether it’s of a government, some kind of a business, the character and the personality of that group tends to be reflected by that leader. I think the personality of this group going forward will have my stamp on it a little bit more than it has in the past."
Today, Garrett gave his second press conference. We have the transcript of large parts of what he said below, but the press conference is perhaps less remarkable for what he said specifically, and more for how he said what he said. Because if Garrett's initial assertion on the leadership role is correct, then the Cowboys organization is in for a big, big, change.
Garrett gives his pressers standing up. A minor detail, but it's the minor details that together add up to something bigger.
Here's the transcript, transcribed from the video at the mothership:
How much does this feel like completely starting over to you with this team?
I don’t think it feels like starting over. There are a lot of players and coaches in this building that we have a history with. We’ve had success with. We understand how we got started this season. We’re at the halfway point, we’ve got a lot of football to be played so we reminded everybody of that, where we’ve been, but more importantly, where we’re going. And what we need to do is focus on today. Be Good Today. Put good days together to give ourselves a chance on Sunday.
So they’ve heard that message. There’s a lot of guys we have a history with, they understand what I’m talking about.
Q: Have you set a tone?
Jason Garrett: "I think you have to set a tone in whatever you do – as a coach, as a player – you have to do that in meetings, in practice, in walk-throughs and certainly as we get closer to the game. That’s part of what we do every day."
Q: What kind of tone do you set?
JG: "The tone: It’s business. It’s Time To Get To Work. We’re in the middle of a transition, in the middle of the season, that’s different for a lot of people, but let’s get to work. The Giants are going to be at the Meadowlands at 4:15 on Sunday. They’re an awfully good football team in all areas – we’ve got to get ready for them."
Q: Do you think over the last two weeks you’ve had 45 guys playing as hard as they can for 60 minutes, and what did you talk to them about?
JG: "The biggest thing we talked about is Going Forward. Like I said, the Giants are going to be at the Meadowlands at 4:15 on Sunday afternoon. We’ve got to get ready for them. So what we need to do is learn from what happened in the past and Go Forward, starting this morning with our meetings, our walk-throughs and our practice."
Q: What makes for a good meeting?
JG: "I think the information you convey and the receptiveness of the people on the other end. How much do you feel like starting jobs and playing time are directly linked to accountability?
We talk very strongly about how we evaluate players. Doesn’t matter where players come from, whether they’re Pro Bowl players, drafted players or undrafted free agents – we’re going to play the best guys."
Q: What’s your philosophy as a head coach when it comes to public accountability to the media or the fans?
JG: "It’s important to be accountable. Be accountable to yourself, to your teammates, to your coaches, to your players, to your family, to the fans, to everybody. It’s part of the deal."
Q: What’s the difference in what you do as a head coach as opposed to an offensive coordinator.
JG: "There’ll be some decisions I have to make that I haven’t had to make before. Game management type decisions. So that will be different for me. But other than that, I’m going to be calling the plays and do what I’ve done in the past."
Q: Will you be involved with the defense?
JG: "Absolutely I’ll be involved with the defense – I’m the head coach of the football team. So we’ll talk about what we’re doing going into the game. We’ll talk about the adjustments we’ll make during the game."
Q: How difficult is it stepping in into this situation in the middle of the season?
JG: "The situation is what it is. We’re making a transition in the middle of the season, so we have to learn from the things that didn’t go well, we have to build on the things that did go well and Go Forward. The challenges are ahead, so we needed to have a great day in practice and meetings today, have a great one tomorrow and get ready for the Giants on Sunday."
Q: When will you know whether what you consider a great day of practice was actually a great day of practice?
JG: "We’re going to focus a lot on the process here. Do things the right way, and hopefully the results will take care of themselves. So the players have heard that a lot from me and they’ll continue to hear that from me."
Q: Why do you think it was important to be in full pads at practice today.
JG: "It’s just the routine that we’re going to be involved in. We’ll get into the specifics of what that routine is."
Q: Have you made up your mind on line-up changes?
JG: "We’re going to do everything we can to play the best people on offense and defense and in the kicking game. So that will be a thing that we constantly evaluate and we’ll make those changes available to you if and when they do happen."
Q: How different is you system from Wade’s system?
JG: "I don’t want to get into comparisons between how we’ve done things in the past and how we’ll do them in the future, but there’s a certain way we want to do things. We outlined it this morning and everybody responded well to it."
Q: Do you lean more on your offensive assistants now because of your other duties?
JG: "I’ve always leaned heavily on those guys. We have a great staff on the offensive side of the ball and on the defensive side of the ball. So that won’t change my reliance on them. There are some logistical things they’ll help me out with that I won’t be able to do quite as easily"