When new Giants general manager Joe Schoen introduced new Giants head coach Brian Daboll on Monday, he said the following:
“Brian has an impressive coaching resume that includes five Super Bowls and a National Championship as a play caller. He’s worked under several well respected leaders, including Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, and Sean McDermott, and his ability to develop young players, his leadership qualities, football acumen, communication skills, and ability to being an organization together all stood out.”
Daboll has spent all but two of his 25 years in football working under one of the above three or one of their disciples – and even one of his other years, 2011, was spent under Tony Sparano, a disciple of Belichick’s mentor Bill Parcells – so he’s learned quite a bit from everyone.
And, he says, he plans to take bits and pieces of every one into his mentality as a head coach.
“Bill (Belichick) hired me in 2000 and gave me $15,000 to work pretty much every hour in a week, but it was an invaluable experience. You take a lot of stuff from everyone, and you’d be unwise if you didn’t,” Daboll said. “You watch and learn and ask questions about everything, and the older you get, the wider scope you have.”
So what’s the biggest thing he learned from those major mentors overall?
“Be true to yourself and the players. They’ll see right through you if you’re not,” Daboll said. “I’m grateful and humble I’ve had the opportunities I’ve had, but I’m going to be me. I’ll take bits and pieces, but what you see is what you get.”
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How is he able to take parts of everyone, and yet be comfortable being himself? He grew up under the hardest mentor of all: grandma.
“I’m comfortable in my own skin. I don’t have all the answers and I’ll have to lean on some people when certain things come up, but my personality, how I treat people, and my expectations and values are things I hold dear,” he said. “I was raised by two old school grandparents, and I lost both this year – but my grandmother was harder than Nick or Bill could ever be.
She got me ready for this the best.”
Ready to do what he needs to do to be a success as Giants head coach: lead by example and be himself.
“You have to build relationships and work together. The type of people we’re going to bring in, it’s a collaboration, and you have to have honest, truthful conversations,” Daboll said. “I won’t gain trust by saying, ‘hey, you have to trust me.’ If you have integrity and loyalty, that leads to trust, which leads to respect, which leads to accountability. Those are fundamental pillars.”
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