for display only
Big Blue Interactive The Corner Forum  
Back to the Corner

Archived Thread

Thursday Media Transcript: Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo

Eric from BBI : Admin : 12/14/2017 3:12 pm
Interim Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo

December 14, 2017

Opening Statement: Alright, I appreciate everybody coming out with a little snow. It’s an early winter. Isn’t it? Would that be right? I mean, I’m a New England guy, but just seems like there’s snow earlier than usual. Now, when I was growing up, we would get snow now. Just seemed to shift a little bit.

Q: It feels pretty mild to me right now.

A: Yeah. It’s not bad at all. The only reason I bring that up is we were inside twice this week. Prefer not to do that. I’d like to try to get out sometime in these next two days because we need to be outside in the elements, but we just didn’t. We just started to get the work done against Philly. Being inside was a good thing these past two days. Having said that, I thought we had a pretty good practice. Throttled it down a little bit at the end just to make sure we’re fresh. I think the guys are reacting pretty well and looking forward to playing the Eagles. So, with that I’ll open it up.

Q: You got some bad news on Justin Pugh it sounds like.

A: Yeah. It’s probably going to end up being shutting him down for the year. But, we did it the right way. Ronnie (Barnes) and his staff went out, checked it, made sure. So, now at least we know.

Q: How big of a blow is that for him personally? He’s going to be a free agent after this year.

A: Yeah. I would think any guy that’s in that situation would be a little bit bummed out. You’d have to ask him specifically, but he’s a football player, likes playing the game and I’m sure he’s disappointed he’s not going to play the rest of the season.

Q: Talk about Landon Collins.

A: Landon did limited work today. Got out there and did individuals and I think we gave him some cardio to keep him up to speed. Hopefully, we can get him out there tomorrow and do something.

Q: Roger Lewis was on the bike at practice. Is he OK?

A: We’ll know a little bit more tomorrow. He didn’t go today and Pat (Hanlon) is going to get you all that right when we finish here. Hopeful for tomorrow. We’ll see.

Q: Landon Collins echoed what you said about having to yank him off the field.

A: That’s surprising. In what way?

Q: ‘Take my helmet, take my shoulder pads. I’m still going to try to play.’

A: OK, I got it. I got it now.

Q: This time of year you have a lot of guys banged up, but still getting out there.

A: Yeah. A lot. A lot.

Q: What does that say for some of these guys that they keep going out there regardless of being banged up?

A: I’ll tell you. I’m glad you brought that up because this morning when I had the team meeting, I put up that a lot of guys had fought through yesterday’s practice with injuries and are banged up and they did it again today. I wanted them to know I appreciated that. I think it says a lot about the character of the guy. I mean, they were still in there fighting. I think that’s a great reflection of the player’s we’ve got in that locker room. Everybody is banged up this time of year in the NFL. It’s easy to keep coming out here when you’re winning. It’s a little bit tougher when you’re in the situation we’re in, but I think for the most part this group we have loves playing the game of football. I think they like being a part of the New York Giants organization and that means something to all of us and if we keep functioning that way, I know we’ll be OK.

Q: What is your take on head coaches and motivation and is that something that you put a lot of thought and effort into?

A: There’s a tremendous amount of time that goes into preparing for meetings because I do think that meetings are important. You want to set direction. You want to set theme. You got to get the ball rolling sometimes. Sometimes when it’s slowing down, you got to turn it the other way. There is a lot to that. But, I’m not a ‘rah-rah.’ I kind of usually hit them straight. I think most guys, out of my experience in the NFL, is guys appreciate it that way. Be honest with them. Hit them straight. Let them know that you care about them. Let them know you care about the team, the organization. It’s all about the example you set and hopefully we’re all doing that. We all got in this business of coaching to mentor, to lead, to teach, to educate and I even had that conversation with our staff was just keep doing that. Forget about the circumstances and focus on that.

Q: Do you guys have to come out and be a little bit more aggressive?

A: You want me to tell Philadelphia exactly what we’re doing?

Q: No. You guys kind of came out against the Chiefs a couple weeks ago and obviously won that game, so will you take that approach?

A: I did say, I mean, we talked about being bold. Opportunity favors the bold. So, there will be some boldness. Now, what that means in terms of play calls and what we do, we’ll find out. But, you got to be bold in this league. You can’t sit back on your heels.

Q: We talked to Kevin Abrams and he said you’ve done an exceptional job over the first 10 days.

A: I appreciate Kevin saying that.

Q: What have your conversations been like with him so far?

A: Great. I’ve known Kevin a long time and Kevin and I stayed in touch even when I left here. He’s a tremendously intelligent – I value intelligence and have a great deal of respect for it and Kevin is one of those guys that’s really smart and the other thing – I was talking to him the other day – is he has a really good knack of seeing the big picture. Sometimes as coaches you can get those blinders on, but he does a good job of seeing the whole thing. There are times when I can’t see the – what’s the saying? – seeing the forest through the trees. Then you need somebody to open it up for you. Kevin can, so I’m glad he’s here. He’s been a great help.
Spags's conferences  
LG in NYC : 12/14/2017 3:27 pm : link
(and seeing some other coaches conferences recently) only serves to remind how AWFUL McAdoo was at this part of the job.
This reinforces what we have in Collins  
BLUATHRT : 12/14/2017 3:31 pm : link
Guy seems to be a real gamer and leader. Hopefully that continues to grow and the rest of the team takes on some of that next year.
RE: Spags's conferences  
LC_21 : 12/14/2017 3:33 pm : link
Quote:

Spags's conferences
LG in NYC : 3:27 pm : link : reply
(and seeing some other coaches conferences recently) only serves to remind how AWFUL McAdoo was at this part of the job.


I was going to say the same thing - its refreshing to have a real human speaking. Could he use some polish - yes. Am I advocating for him as coach - No. But some people skills are appreciated ... It's been a while
mcadoo  
japanhead : 12/14/2017 4:12 pm : link
had a good fake tough guy voice though. and that hair.. mafioso
Bold huh?  
GiantsRage2007 : 12/14/2017 4:14 pm : link
Like punting on 4th and 3 from inside the opponents 40? Bold playcalling Spags!
Like my grandfather use to say  
NikkiMac : 12/14/2017 4:51 pm : link
Everybody is full of shit.
Spag's is a breath of fresh air from McAdoo  
Rjanyg : 12/14/2017 8:23 pm : link
That guy was like stale bread.
Compared to McAdoo  
SFGFNCGiantsFan : 12/14/2017 8:28 pm : link
He is FDR, JFK, and Reagan combined. Not a high bar.
Back to the Corner