Charlie Bullen on Preparing for First Game as Defensive Coordinator | New York Giants

Charlie Bullen on Preparing for First Game as Defensive Coordinator | New York Giants

What’s this uh week been like for you? Yeah, it’s been uh it’s been an adjustment, you know, for sure. Um but, you know, we um as a staff, you know, we’ve come together and and tried to figure out, you know, where we all have to uh you know, pull a little more weight, so to speak. But, you know, at the end of the day, it’s it’s football and our process, you know, has stayed the same as much as it can. you know, just trying to identify, you know, how we have to game plan like we typically do and if there’s any areas that people need to do a little bit more in, we will. But, um, just more volume for me, more more stuff to get through than, you know, before. The most noticeable change Wednesday was DB’s tackling drills with uh Dre and uh Brian Cox. How was that your idea? What’s the thought behind that? Yeah, we did that was a tackling circuit, you know, which we’ve done before and um sometimes we do it a little more often than others, but um that was a collective staff idea, just something that we felt like we needed to work on and emphasize. And there’s times when working on those types of fundamentals, tackling or whatever are it’s more beneficial to do it in an individual setting. And sometimes it’s more beneficial to do it in a group setting. And at that, you know, moment in time, we thought that we go, you know, go that route. And so that’s that’s why we did it that way. The run defense clearly has been problematic, right? What do you what do you you know, you’re a different eyes, different voice. Like what do you see as the problem there? Like what do you need to improve to fix that? Yeah, I I think there’s a you know, a couple areas. um you know if you look at um the big runs from the other day or any of the big runs this year I think it’s a combination of scheme you know are we getting aligned correctly and are we getting the adjustments communicated um it’s also technique and fundamentals um as well as you know making or missing tackles you know like one of the ones the other day you know got out technically we could have been sounder up front and had guys there to get Gibbs down and and didn’t make the tackle. You know, in other areas um you know, we didn’t get a front adjusted correctly and um so it’s it’s really a couple areas and and and that’s you know, as a staff, we’ve been focusing on how can we as best as possible improve all of those areas. I mean, anytime you give up that many yards, it’s a multiaceted thing. Going back to Monday, um were you surprised at all just because there’s guys on the staff who, you know, been DC’s before? And then what was Mike’s communication like when he, you know, obviously offered you this this role? Yeah, you know, um I wouldn’t say, you know, my my first thoughts were with Shane, you know, and as as as a man, I felt, you know, for him and and felt uh having been a part of his staff, you know, personal responsibility and disappointment that we didn’t do better for him. So, that’s where my initial thought was. And, you know, but Mike just communicated that, you know, he was going to go with me as the play caller moving forward. And you know, I wasn’t surprised, you know, having said that, we do have other guys on staff who have experience calling plays and that type of thing. And in my opinion, it it could have been any of us, you know, but um I just took it as a challenge and and an exciting opportunity for me and just um was excited to to get rolling and do the best I could knowing that, you know, our staff does have good coaches and and you know, they’re all there to lean on. It’ll be an all hands-on deck approach anyway. Um so that was kind of where my thoughts were at the moment. It’s sometimes hard to tell just on a guy’s job title on his Wikipedia page if he’s called plays before. Have you called plays anywhere at any time? Any games? I have not. Yeah, this will this will be the first time. How do you work through that, Charlie, though? How how do you I mean, is there a prep work for you this weekend? I mean, how how are you getting ready for this opportunity? Yeah, you know, we we’ve done some call up periods in practice and we’ll continue doing that, you know, and then just watching games and going through the calls, you know, that type of thing. But it’s just, you know, as a position coach along the way, you’re always preparing for this type of moment anyway, you know, and and in games have your own thoughts of what calls you might go with um or even in game just, you know, suggesting it to the play caller, you know, over the years. So, um, you know, that’s kind of naturally just how coaches think, you know, but, um, but yeah, I’d say this week just kind of getting reps at, you know, putting myself in those situations and and and what the moment would call for and what what the menu looks like in those moments and then being able to make a decision in real time. What should people expect from a Charlie Bullen defense? Like what what do you what do you believe in? What do you what should it look like? I mean, it’s a playerdriven league. There’s no doubt, you know, and coming, you know, from a from my perspective, coming from my position room where there’s three first rounders, you know, I understand fully that it’s a talent driven league and a playerdriven league. So to me as a coach, you know, my philosophy is always players over plays, you know, and how how can we as coaches, even as a position coach, maximize our players abilities, you know, put them in position to have success, you know, a for themselves maximizing what they’re good at, but then also defensively, you know, it helps us if we’re putting Burns in advantageous situations or Dex in advantageous situations or Holland, you know, that helps us. So, you know, I’d say at this point, you know, it’s hard to wholesale change. Not that I do that anyway, but, you know, we’ve got years and months of time on task in this scheme. And so, you I don’t think it’s something you can change completely. You know, I think we can tweak and alter. But, you know, as best I can, I just want to put these guys in in position to succeed so that their skill sets are maximized and they can play as fast as possible. Sure. I think a lot of the assumption is you worked under Vance Joseph like it’s going to be aggressive a little more aggressive more guys at the line of scrimmage create confusion like is that sort of what you believe in at heart? It it it might be. It might be. No, Vance is a a great friend of mine and and a big mentor of mine and we talked quite a bit, you know, even before this type of thing. So, and he he’s influenced me for sure, you know, so um you know, we’ll see. We’ll see where it goes. It’s not like you’re going in Monday night and you get a a tuneup against, you know, the JV team from down the street. Um, what kind of challenge does that add to this whole thing with knowing that you’re going against an offense and a quarterback that’s kind of humming right now? Yeah, it’s it’s a it’s a big challenge, you know, and um I don’t know. I’d say Josh McDaniels is one of the top coordinators in the history of the NFL and he they’re they’re he’s challenging to face as a coach and their personnel is challenging and Drake May’s playing you know at a really high level right now. So, um, you know, Josh, he’s a he’s he’s a great play caller and a great offensive mind, and it is a big challenge, and, you know, had some years in Miami as a position coach, seven years in the division, you know, you know, have some experience going coaching against them in that uh in that regard. Um, but it’s it’s a big challenge, you know, and it’s it’s something that we’re we’re doing everything we can to be ready for, but at the end of the day as football and whether, you know, it’s this opponent or that opponent, it’s your job as a coach to, you know, put in the prep work and identify, you know, who it is you’re playing, what they do best, how you take away their best players and plays and and go from there. But, but they’re good and he’s good. So, it’s a big challenge. Charlie, the thing on everybody’s mind is like uh the Giants have a seven-point lead with 10 minutes left on Monday night. like how are they going to close it out? So, like what are your thoughts on they’re not all the same of course a one-point lead isn’t a 19-point lead, but on getting the fourth quarter sol. Yeah, no doubt. Um, you know, that’s something that we have to fix. If you want to win games, you have to finish, you know. Um, so I think again going back to the run defense, anything that’s not successful, you got to look at why. And you know there there’s there’s a there’s a couple reasons why. You know, again, where can we schematically make sure that these guys can execute the call so that their their plate is as clean as possible before the ball snaps? So, they’re in position correctly aligned and can execute, you know, and um if that’s an issue, then we got to help them as coaches, you know, and then, you know, guys got to do their job and then when they have a chance to make a play, they they’ve got to make it, you know. So whether that’s a little bit of all of those things or a combination of, you know, that’s what we’ve focused on looking at this week and that’s what we’ll try to address moving forward. With the way a couple more with the way Burns has played, I’m curious just what now that you’ve seen him kind of progress. You mentioned before just kind of how his offseason was so impressive with where he is now, just how impressed are you with that work paying off with how he’s played this season? Yeah, very impressed because to me, he’s a guy that, you know, is in year seven. he got paid. You know, naturally someone like that could possibly take their foot off the gas, but he hasn’t, you know, and it’s just a reflection of how good he wants to be and his desire to be great, you know, and he’s he’s committed to doing whatever he has to to be great, you know, and so it’s been it’s been awesome. He’s he’s a great player. His approach has been fantastic, and that’s been really fun for me as a coach to be a part of and and do my part in that. But at the end of the day, the players are the ones playing and they’re the ones applying their process, you know, to their quest to be great, and he’s done that. It’s it’s been awesome to see. What do you think about what do you think about your first game, you know, as a coordinator being prime time Monday night? I think it’s another game, you know, and it’s a it’s a great opportunity, you know, but it’s football at the end of the day and you got to make the calls and the players got to believe and you got to make plays and execute. So, just another game. How much has Mike been like hands-on with you? Because he’s got a lot going on his plate and just how much is even in your room or you know you guys meeting that type of thing. I’d say you know about normal, a little bit more maybe just kind of making sure that you know our workflow is is in a good spot. Um but but nothing over the top about the same.

Defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen speaks to the media Friday from the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

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