New Browns Coordinators Bring Positivity to Their First Media Meeting Wednesday

It has been about five months since Eric Mangini started to bring in "his guys" to the Cleveland Browns as part of his rebuilding process.

After many changes, cut, trades and signings during the off season, many said that the Browns should be renamed the Cleveland Jets.

That's all fun and playful, but Magini has had a plan from the moment he was hired as the head coach, and that plan also included bringing in his choice of offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators.

Mangini choose Brian Daboll to head up the offense, Rob Ryan for defense and Brad Seely for the special teams.

Here is a look at what the these three guys said regarding some specific topics yesterday during their first meeting with the media and since the off season programs have now ended.

Brian Daboll, Offensive Coordinator

Daboll started his career in football under Nick Saban at Michigan State and is the least experienced of all of Mangini's coordinators, but is still a product of the beloved (or hated) Belichick coaching tree.

Getting his start in the NFL under Belichick, Daboll was groomed very slowly almost in the same way Belichick slowly groomed Mangini into the NFL.

Daboll was also Mangini's quarterbacks coaching last season with the New York Jets, and he has the task of putting together an offense that did not score a touchdown in the last six games of last season (starting third and fourth string quarterbacks didn't help either).

Daboll regarding his offensive plan:

"We're going to do whatever we need to do to try to win each particular week. One week it could be running a bunch, one week passing a bunch. But as for our approach, our aim is to be smart, tough, competitive and tenacious."

On where he ggot his offensive ideals from:

"That's a good question. I've learned offense from a couple different people. I've been in this league for about 10 years. Some of it is from Charlie (Weis), some of it is from Brian Schottenheimer, some from Bill Callahan, Dante Scarnecchia, Tater (Carl) Smith; there is a lot of guys. Our offense is kind of a conglomeration of a lot of different things. They are the things that we believe in as coaches on this staff to make up the Browns offense."

On being a first time coordinator:

"I started out as a defensive assistant under Bill (Belichick). I had the opportunity in college to work for Nick Saban. I moved on with Eric. I got to work with Romeo (Crennel). I've worked with a lot of good coaches. Each step that I took from defensive assistant to receiver coach to quarterback (coach) it has kind of been a natural progression and this is just the next step."

On Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson:

"Both of them have been in early and out late. They're working extremely hard. They're competitive with one another. They're learning the system the best they can. There's some mistakes out there and some other days they're doing really well. Right now it's an open competition. The best player is going to win."

On if Quinn has an advantage because of his past work with Charlie Weiss:

"No. Derek has been exposed to some of the stuff that they did last year with (Rob) Chudzinski. Brian Schottenheimer was with him in San Diego. Again, the offense isn't just Charlie's offense or Brian Schottenheimer's offense, it is our offense. It is the Cleveland Browns managed first under Eric and then myself. I don't think that gives one guy a particular advantage."

On what a starting quarterback has to have to succeed:

"What we're looking for is someone to get into the huddle, call the play, get the people lined up ... the whole mechanics of the huddle operation. The next thing is decision-making. Who can perform under pressure? We've been trying to put as much pressure on them as we can, but when the pads come on that will sort itself out."

On the running backs:

"Great group of guys in the classroom, I will start with that first; professionals. Gary Brown has been working hard with all of them whether it be Jamal (Lewis) or JC (Jerome Harrison), Noah Herron or the rookies. They are a true professional group. It has been a pleasure to be around those guys. They are smart. They have done a good job at these OTAs of picking up their responsibilities, whether it is in protection, running to the right hole, catching the football, it has been a good group to work around."

On Jerome Harrison:

"I've been very impressed. He has been great in the classroom. He has come out on the practice fields, he has been there everyday. He works extremely hard. He has good talent. He has been a hard worker."

On the wide receivers:

"Just like the group I talked about with the running backs, Braylon Edwards has been in here working. He has been doing a really nice job. He has been into the meetings. He has been doing everything he can do to help out the younger guys. In the same sense, we've got a couple guys off the street we signed that are older guys in Mike Furrey and David Patten who are exceptional leaders. I have been with David at New England. Mike has come in and really picked up the slack in that group in terms of helping the young guys understand the pro football game and playing your spot. Some young guys there, some mix of old guys, I am happy with the group to this point."

On Cribbs' role:

"We've been using him as a receiver right now. Again, in terms of installing a system, there is a lot of information that we put in these guys each day. Right now, he's been playing receiver, that's where he has been slotted. As far as how we use him, that will depend each week on game plan."

Rob Ryan, Defensive Cooridnator

Ryan is the son of defensive coaching mastermind Buddy Ryan, and his twin brother is former Baltimore Ravens defensive guru and current new head coach of the Jets, Rex Ryan.

Upon being introduced to the media, which was very unreceptive, Ryan joking said "Thanks for the applause!"

Ryan has worked with Mangini in the past while with New England, and for the past five years has run the defense of the Oakland Raiders.

Ryan regarding his defensive scheme:

"We want to be multiple, want to have multiple players play different spots and cause confusion. That's where we want to get to. Right now, the first thing is to be able to line up and play with good technique. As soon as you get a grasp of your basic concepts the sooner you can be multiple and be more effective."

On how his defense compares to last years defense:

"To be honest with you, I'm not here to farm anyone else's land. I'm not sure how things were done here in the past. I know our vision, myself, Eric (Mangini) and the rest of the defensive staff. We want to be multiple and we want to have multiple players who can play different spots and cause confusion. That's where we want to get to. Right now, the first thing is to be able to line up and play with good technique. That's where we are starting. That's what we tried to emphasize in the OTAs and the minicamp. I was impressed with how hard the guys were working and picking things up. As soon as you get a grasp of your basic concepts, the sooner you can be multiple and be more effective."

On if there will be more man-to-man play:

"I like our corners here with Cleveland. In Oakland it was our style of play. It was how the team was drafted, to play with a middle-field safety. Our team is built a little different way, but I still have good confidence in those guys. I've been really impressed in Eric Wright and the way that he has worked and his talent."

On the safeties:

"I mean, right now they are working hard and studying. I know it sounds like the same standard answer, but that's all you can evaluate right now. Are guys in position to make plays, are they working hard. When you look out in the crowd do they have their eyes wide open and not shut like some people have in the past. These are guys who are going to get better and they are going to grow in the system. Abe Elam has been in this system before, but I don't know if he was a marquee guy so it's his time to step up and do some things and I think he will."

On the defensive line:

"I've been real excited with the guys out there practicing. Shaun Rogers is a tremendous specimen. He is so athletic for such a big man. That is a rare thing. I've been around the best in football. I've been around Warren Sapp, and in college I coached Jamal Williams and Kevin Williams, a couple of decent All-Pro defensive tackles. I think I'm pretty familiar of what a good one looks like and Shaun Rogers is tremendous. He is absolutely tremendous. Any system that he plays in, he is going to be dominant. It's fun to see him move around and do some things. We've got a couple good looking guys that weren't practicing, and it's hard to evaluate them because they are running up that hill and things; Corey Williams and Robaire Smith are a couple of good looking guys. The rest of them have been working real hard."

On sacking the quarterback:

"Obviously, growing up around the Chicago Bears that set all the records for sacks, that was a great style of play and it's fun for fans. The biggest thing is being able to get off the field. What pressure does ... it causes people to turn the ball over. To me, that's the most important thing -- getting turnovers and keeping points off the scoreboard."

On getting more out of Kamerion Wimbley:

"We're playing Kamerion all over -- right, left and also in the "buck" [scheme], which moves him around. So he's had a lot of roles and we look forward to increasing his role. I think the young man has great ability to rush the passer ... he's a hard worker and he does what the coaches ask him to do. We ask him to concentrate on pushing the pocket and using more bull rush than speed rushing. You see him working on it every day. I believe he's only going to get better with great coaching. I think he's going to have a tremendous year for us."

On Shaun Rogers:

"Shaun Rogers is a tremendous specimen, he's so athletic for a big man. That's a rare thing. I think I'm pretty familiar with what a good one looks like. Shaun Rogers is tremendous, absolutely tremendous. Any system that he plays in, he's going to be dominant. It's fun to see him move around and do some things."

On D'Qwell Jackson:

"I'm really impressed with him. I think the sky's the limit for that young man, his future. I've seen the film enough. I watched that young man run around, run to the football, lead the league in tackles. A blind man can see his talent."

On bringing in former Jets players:

"I don't care if we get them from Amsterdam as long as they can play and these guys can. The great thing about them is that they are familiar with our system. That's a huge plus because we'll test these guys, not only physically, but mentally. It gives a huge jump on things when you get guys who are familiar with the system. Also, they are high character tough guys, guys that everybody in Strongsville and Columbia Station, where I live, are going to be proud of. Guys that are going to give them an honest days work and hopefully knock the teeth out of somebody. I think that is what everyone of them has. They have that toughness, that genuine toughness, and they are smart. It's great to have guys like that on your team, especially on defense."

On how different Mangini is now compared to when they were both in New England:

"I'm not going to say he is bigger because I might be, too. Here is the type of guy Eric is. When we were in New England together, we always said we were masterminds trying to come up with stuff to help us win, and we did. We did a lot. His leadership is phenomenal and people don't realize. He could make me work out every single day and somebody already ripped me in the papers, I appreciate it. I'm not exactly a box of chocolates, but he had me looking like a box of chocolates. We worked out 162 straight days, and he made me do it because I fought every single day to try and get out of it. He can motivate you into doing things you don't want to do. He can motivate you like, 'Put that 46 on, teach it to me.' He's a grinder that way. He brings the best out of me and he'll bring the best out of every player on that team. That is what is so exciting to be around him. He hasn't changed a bit. In my opinion, I think he is the same guy. He is so relentless that he makes you win. I think he had probably more to do with us having success in New England than probably anybody except Tom Brady. I mean I'll give him his due. But really, he is that good of a coach."

On his fathers' influence:

"Obviously it was tremendous. He likes to say that me and my brother saw was Super Bowls. He's probably right. Apparently he has been to six of them. Maybe it's contagious. Bottom line is it is a great life, especially for boys growing up. You idolize your father and we wanted to be like him. The difference is that we were interested in the strategy of the game more than playing. We played football but we weren't Tarzan by any stretch. We always enjoyed the strategy of it, the X's and O's. We wanted to know more and it's just something, for whatever reason, we got into. My older brother is a lawyer; he used to be a journalist. I don't know how he got into that profession."

Brad Seely, Special Teams Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach

Seely is a 20 year NFL veteran that Mangini grabbed from the Patriots. He is also Mangini's assistant coach.

Seely regarding the Browns past special teams play:

"This team on special teams has been very solid. I've played against them and they gave us some real difficulties because of the players. I think you improve on it by maybe a change of the scheme, maybe a change on how to get them motivated ... you come across with a different message of how we'll be successful. Then it comes down to players."

On rules changes reagrding the wedge blocking:

 "I think it obviously will change. I think it's a good rule that they put in because it's for players' safety and we are always worried about guys getting injured. That was one of the big reasons why they changed the rule on the wedge.

I don't think you will see a completely different turnaround in the return game. You will see some smaller wedges because you can only have two men in the wedges. I think it will just be tweaking some of the systems that people have. It will be interesting to see.

Guys will come up with some new schemes that we'll have to deal with that we haven't seen before, obviously because of the rule change."

On the decision to leave the Patroits for the Browns:

"I think it was really twofold. Number one, I felt it was a job advancement for me, a promotion in the sense that I am the assistant head coach, maybe my duties have expanded a little bit.

I feel like that's something that I would like to do and get more involved in, maybe more aspects then just special teams. The second part is Eric is a friend of mine and has been a friend of mine for a long time. I'm excited about working for him because I know him. I know what kind of person he is. I think it's going to be a fun challenge for us. "

On Phil Dawson:

"I've been fortunate to play in four Super Bowls and every one of them was decided by three points or less. So field goal kicking is of utmost necessity on a good football team. So Phil brings that to the table. Here's a guy that's done it for a long time in a real tough place to kick. I think he's one of the unsung kickers in this league. He's been really good a long period of time in a tough environment."

On Joshua Cribbs:

"It's been a pleasure to coach him. He's a real veteran professional, goes about his business, wants to be a great player and does the right things to prepare himself. Here's a guy you want to have the ball in his hands as much as you possibly can, and he makes a lot of plays on coverage teams, too."

Lots of optimism for the Browns now that all the off season workouts and camps are finished. Now fans will see what kind of real progress will take place once training camp begins in August.