Photographs by: Michael Johnson
Pat Shurmur – Giants
Giants head coach Pat Schrumur took the podium at the 2018 NFL combine interview session on Wednesday, February 28th. With the Giants finishing 4th last season in the NFC east beating the Washington Redskins 19 to 10, Schrumur stated he was happy with the last game of the season. He also went on to say that the New York Giants are still in its evaluation process. Coach Schrumur said that they had their readings in February and they are now gathering information as they are approaching the draft, once the draft is over they will add new information, have a discussion and then Coach Schrumur will make his final decision regarding the team. He did add in his interview that he expects Eli Manning to show up April 9th to practice.
Steve Wilks – Cardinals
Steve Wilks is now the Arizona Cardinals head coach and will be taking over the team in the best way possible. His new position comes after former head coach Bruce Arians finished his fifth and final season winning against the Los Angeles Rams, 44 to 6. Wilks is ready for the Cardinal action and wants to be aggressive and not sit back. He also talked about being consistent when it comes to the approach of the game, meaning if you say something on day 1 make sure it’s not wavered from what you say and do on week 6, week 13, and leading into the playoffs. Wilks stated “I think that’s what the players are looking for, the consistency, the attention to detail and I think that’s exactly what they did this past year.” This season Wilks is going to do whatever it takes for him and his team to win football games. Right now the biggest thing the Arizona Cardinals have been trying to do as a staff is getting to know their roster as a whole, talent wise.
Rick Spielman – Vikings
During the interviews at the 2018 NFL Combine Rick Spielman, Vickings general manager went straight into say that they have had very positive and productive meetings since the season ended. They have gotten through their Vikings personnel meetings, draft meetings, initial draft meetings, and also the free agency meetings. Spielman says “this week is a critical part of the process, it’s the first opportunity to sit with our own UFA’s to see where their at with them.” And Spielman also mentioned the NFL Combine is a critical time for their draft process. Not only is it a critical time in the draft process but it’s also a critical time for the Vikings Quarterback decision. Spielman addressed the quarterback situation and he said “We feel very strongly about moving forward because of all the in depth knowledge we have on occurred three quarterbacks (Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford) and the practical game knowledge we have on those guys, we are always going to be looking at options in all areas to make sure we are finding the best fit for the Minnesota Vikings.” He also said no decisions have been made regarding the next star quarterback.
Doug Pederson – Eagles
“I get home at night, and my wife and I will flip to the NFL network or HBO and catch the game, and I’ve done that about four times now. Not that I’m searching for it but its just on, so I go back through the game and its just like did we win?” Head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles Doug Pederson is still checking to see if his team really won the 2018 Super Bowl title over the New England Patriots. Pederson says he watches the Super Bowl game over and over again to analyze it from a far and to make sure he was doing everything possible to make his team win. Pederson also wished one of his former Eagles coach’s Frank Reich the best of luck with his new team the Indianapolis Colts. Pederson stated that he is going to lose the relationship with Frank that they had for two years along with him taking over the offensive aspect of the Eagles. When it comes with this coming season the Eagles want to get good character guys that fit them, they want to get better with their special teams. Pederson said they had a lot of young guys play last season, which is going to help them this season. They also have to continue to do the little things such as having success in the red zone and overall managing the roster.
Frank Reich – Colts As the new head coach Frank Reich, of the Indianapolis Colts took the podium he started off with two major updates. The Colts staff is finally finished and their quarterback Andrew Luck is checking off every box of progression and should be returning to the team April 2nd for the off-season program. Reich did say Luck has yet to throw a football but he has made progress with the weighted balls, his throwing motion, and everything is going according to plan. Reich took his time with putting his coaching staff together and he feels like the colts have an advantage, he did say it was a long process, basically 10 days straight of long interviews of bringing guys in and making a lot of phone calls. Reich did mention his coaching experience with the Eagles and Doug Pederson he said the relationship with him and Pederson really connected both personally and professionally and watching how he was aggressive on fourth down. Right now Reich is more focused on what he already has on the team along with his needs and slowly plugging those needs in to get the offense that they are looking for. Reich says the strengths that he sees in his players are defense, a strong secondary, the quarterback, and proven playmakers.
Duke Tobin – Bengals
Duke Tobin who is the Director of Player Personnel for the Bengals took the podium for interviews. Before he got started he took a remembrance for one of the Bengals co-founders Pete Brown who recently passed away at the age of 74. Brown co-founded the Bengals in the mid-1960s. In his younger days he was a successful football player at Denison University. According to Tobin, the NFL Combine was one of Brown’s favorite things. Tobin also talked about how the Bengals did not have the best season, and they fell short losing their last four games. Tobin said they have to run the ball better, make more explosive plays, get the ball back to the offense, and play better at the end of the game.
