Mark Dominik Talks About The Hiring Process
January 27th, 2012
As Bucs fans wait until this afternoon to hear from new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik and, likely, Team Glazer, Joe has for you Dominik’s words to the Movin’ The Chains crew on Sirius NFL Radio yesterday after the Schiano hiring was announced.
Mark Dominik: We feel really good with where we are, our final result with a football coach that we really feel is an excellent for our football team. Having spent a lot of time now with Coach Schiano over the last couple of days, it’s been a good match, and looking forward to getting him down here and starting to see the facilities, meet the team, and get this thing going in the right direction.
Tim Ryan: Talk about the process. And then what finally led you to the conclusion that Schiano was the guy for you.
Dominik: Well, we talked about it right once we started the search. And alot of time was spent with ownership just kind of designing exactly the way approach ‘how do you find the right head coach for your football team?’ And our mentality, you know, we did it in phases, we first talked to a bunch of really quality coaches that have coached in the National Football League before and had success. You know, when you talk about Mike Shermans and certainly Marty Schottenheimer, and it was really great to spend time with Coach Schottenheimer. And Brad Childress and his success with Minnesota, getting them on the brink of the Super Bowl. We spent time there. Then we went to quality coordinators, maybe guys that hadn’t had that opportunity, Mike Zimmers and Jerry Grays, and Chudzinskis, a lot of other guys. And then we also, of course, you know we talked to Joe Philbin and Tom Clements. So we really tried to circle it all the way around in terms of finding different characteristics, different levels of guys, each at a different time. Then we went and really researched college guys, too. Because the reality is there are great football coaches in college. Having been at the Bucs for so long, I can remember when Monte Kiffin came in here and hired his first staff and it was Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli. We got Herm Edwards in here, and then he ended up hiring Mike Tomlin and then Raheem Morris. Monte did a great job finding great college football coaches. We got to here more about Greg Schiano, learn more about Greg Schiano, then finally meet Greg Schiano. And the more we spent time with him the more we realized this is the right man.
Pat Kirwan: On getting coordinators, tell me about that discussion. How deep do you go into that discussion, Mark, when you’re trying to hire [Schiano] and recognizing that he needs some time to learn this NFL thing?
Dominik: The important thing with Coach Schiano is No. 1 he’s been in the league before as you guys know with the Bears. And then running a program, being the head coach and running a program at Rutgers. And the guys that come out of Rutgers I think everybody admits in the pro game, that those are Rutgers men as he calls it, but guys that are ready to go play in the National Football League. You know, when you think of a lot of the players that have come out, certainly a Ray Rice jumps to mind that he jumps to the league and plays good, or the McCourty brothers. They just jump in the league and play good because they’re ready-made guys. It’s an NFL program at the college level, which I think was something that was very intriguing for us. In terms of coordinators with coach, we didn’t go too deep into it because obviously he hadn’t made a commitment yet to us and we hadn’t made a commitment yet to him. You know, as a college coach, that’s very tricky right now with National Signing Day around the corner. We kept it very quiet. We shared a little bit of time [Wednesday night]. We have some similar names and we’ll get to work on that right away. But I feel very confident in some of the names that we’ve already discussed.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:12 am
Terrible in-game coach. This was his biggest flaw I always thought. Bad in-game decisions with clock management and other things that would drive you nuts. I can see him struggling with challenging calls and other things of that nature in tight NFL ball games.
Not the best hiring a staff. He’s always had questionable O’s even when they’ve had talent. His D’s have struggled in the seasons when he was not the DC. He better get a quality OC or he might have issues at the next level.
Now this will contradict what I said before a bit about him being a great motivator but his teams tend to lay eggs and play terribly after winning big. When they beat Louisville in 06 the following week they lost to a very average Cincinnati team which eventually cost them the big East. They never beat West Virginia in all of the years he was at RU and this year they had a chance to win the Big East after pummeling Cincy but then got blown off the field the following week by last place UConn.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:29 am
Great Dominik is involved in the coordinators selection again. This is not a good thing. Our GM is not learning from his mistakes.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:38 am
Does anyone find it ironic during our massive losing streak we don’t hear a peep out our GM. Now as soon as something that appears positive he immediately jumps to the national media to claim glory. I’m super excited about the coach but not in Dominik still being the GM.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:48 am
So he can’t even pick his own staff? We’ve got another HC that is here because he can be walked on by Dom and the Glazers. I am not optimistic this will end well.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:01 am
@bulldog If schiano is as bad as you say he is, how did he manage to turn such a horrible program around to win 5 bowl games? Explain that please as seeing some of you fans know nothing about football and think the only good coaches are named Cowher or Schotty.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:18 am
Since his latest photo is back to him doing the Rooster Strut on the sidelines, if Dominick back into ‘Rockstar” status?
If not Rockstar, yet, does he at least have concert dates set or announced his tour?
January 27th, 2012 at 9:18 am
Or is he simply singing in front of the bathroom mirror?
January 27th, 2012 at 9:25 am
So now it’s run Dominik out of town time? Gees give it some time and we will see if it was Rah or Dominik that was mostly to blame, my guess is it was Rah Rah.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:29 am
MD meant to say…”I was looking to hire my next tool, and finally found it, it’s hard to get your hands on coaches that will do anything and back me up 100%, specially when the team it’s not doing well, cause I will hang you out to dry like my old tool… happy I didnt have to hire someone that knows more than me you know…”
January 27th, 2012 at 9:30 am
Joe, have you been told off the record any of the coordinator names that have been discussed?
January 27th, 2012 at 9:32 am
Lol amazing to me that people hear only what they choose to hear. Such anger and hatred in some people.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:34 am
I almost get the vibe that Dominik was on board with playing Marty Ball.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:34 am
Look, I’m convinced half of the posters on here are in a mental health facility, suffering from eternal pessimism, borrowing the computer to exercise their disease. Nothing can be positive….that would be grounds for a re-evaluation and possible re-entry into society. As Joe would say…they could be jettisoned.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:49 am
It sounds to me that Mark Dominik and the Glazers DID did due diligence and came up with the right man.
Just because some people won’t recognize some staff names does not mean they are the wrong men for the job.
I want guys who are behind coach Schiano, understand what he expects and wants and can coach young players.
A player with obvious talent, like a Josh Freeman or a LaGarrett Blount could use some coaching. Sure, they’re in the NFL but that does NOT mean they don’t need to be coached, to learn more……….like how to hold on to the ball first and foremost!
Can’t wait to see this team get to work! Great to get that extra mini camp too. And a real off-season.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:58 am
Why is so many people negative. We love our Bucs and need to support them. Give the man a chance, I hope he turns out to be Great and stays a very long time. Be positive!!!
January 27th, 2012 at 10:14 am
No where does he say he is picking the staff. He simply said he likes some of the names that they both like. It is amazing how the guy has been the coach for 1 day and the sky is already falling.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:31 am
Hats off to the Glazers and Dom. I think they did a good job, and all of us fans out in cyber space playing GM had no clue, and we actually wantedt the bucs to hire Chockenheimer at age 70ish….Shows how clueless most fans are.. and the media.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:36 am
“We have some similar names” That’s scary! This is all Lip Service, Mark sound like a bad politician, whoever they hired it would’ve been the exact same answers but with a different name. Why does he feel he must be involved in the process of hiring coahces? EVERYBODY wants to be the genius!
January 27th, 2012 at 11:22 am
@chargedcbh
I suspect your response to this is slanted by your misguided feelings toward Dominick.
Here’s what I see in that statement:
The fact that they “have similar names” can be a positive thing. First…the Glazers would have foreseen the possibility of Butch Davis joining Schiano as DC. Second, it could mean some people the Glazers interviewed might be candidates for other positions with the Bucs.
While this COULD mean Sherman being OC, it could also mean Marty could be OC. Marty makes a lot of sense. Because of his age, other teams will be reluctant to approach him to be a head coach, so he could be an OC until he retires. No one else has interviewed Marty…remember that. If he wants work, this is it.
Sherman, on the other hand…he’s got eyes on finding another head coaching gig. He’s willing to settle for an OC position this year. That could mean he’s determined to do well in order to get offers next year or the following year…so even though he could do well at first, the team would lose him if he’s successful.
I think Marty would be the best move if they can manage it.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:42 am
Not at all!!! I want this team to win 100 Super Bowls, I don’t care who the coach is, the QB, the GM, anybody… I just really think Mark has an ego and wants to be in the spotlight. Now we ALL want to be appreciated and do a good job, sometimes you have to pull back & let your coach do things. Like having children, teaching them to ride a bike, you want to be able to run beside them forever but you can’t. You have to let go and sit back and watch. They will fall but let them fall & let them figure out how to stay up on their own. Once again, I have NO problem with Marky D!