 You know, obviously, with the news, this morning, Ms. Amy informed Coach Vrabes that he would no longer be the head coach here. First and foremost, I want to thank Vrabes for what he's done here the last six years, particularly the time that we've spent together. I want to thank Jen and Carter and Tyler for their sacrifices for allowing him to put in the time that he put in here while here is our head coach. I also want to say, I know there's been a lot of speculation over the last two, three months or whatever it's been about the nature of Mike and I's relationship. I will say that Mike and I, we've never had any issue versus whether it's personal or professional. We worked well together and had a good relationship. We were in lockstep, so I want to finally come out and dispel that. And I wish Vrabes nothing but the best. Consider him a friend. And I feel that will be that way moving forward. And so with that said, I'll open up for questions. You said when at the draft or when you were introduced that your number one thing was to serve Mike, given today's developments, did you fail at that? I don't think we failed. I just think one of the things Mike always says is that the ball isn't round. So you don't know how it's going to bounce. And I don't think the ball bounced our way. We were in, we had seven one score losses this year. So we were in games, just the ball didn't bounce our way. I wouldn't consider it a failure. But by no means were we happy with the results. And that's just something we've talked about privately and as a group over the last couple months of how do we get this thing right? And how do we get this thing in the right direction? So I wouldn't call it a failure, but it's definitely not up to the standard. Mike, you mentioned vision. Rayne, did you mention vision? Yeah, like I said, where things were going. Philosophically, like I said, back in, I think it was my press conference, our football foundations are generally the same in where he cut his teeth and how I was raised to see the game of football. Realistically, it's only so many ways that you could play the game of football, only so many different schemes. Like I said, our visions were aligned. We saw it a lot the same and we worked well together. So where did this guy come from? I guess, Rayne, I'm sorry, Buck, sorry. I guess what I meant there was in terms of where the franchise was, Rebell versus still trying to win another year. Yeah, well, I think that part, it's a lot of moving parts to the game of football. And there's no secret. We've dealt with a lot of injuries here over the last three seasons or whatever it is. And we're having to mix and match pieces on a week to week basis. And it makes it hard. It makes it hard for any organization to do that. So we have a lot of work ahead of us of trying to figure this whole thing out and how we can keep our key guys out there on the field and keep them available. But it was just one of those things. It wasn't a we weren't aligned or it didn't work. It's really hard when you take the field. I think we took the field Sunday with nine starters out. And we were able to come away with a victory. But if you look over the last couple weeks, look how many starters that we've had out due to injuries. And it's just hard. It's hard when football games and national football league as is with a healthy roster. It becomes even harder when you don't have all your key guys. Along those lines, man, along those lines. Mike Brebel doesn't have a job today. What is the disconnect there? Well, I think Amy spoke to her decision of making of the decision she made and why. And that was about her long-term vision of the organization. And that's really, I think, what it was. Longer lines of all the, you talked about the season and being philosophically aligned and all. But in that regard, a couple of big moves were made in season. The switch from Tannehill to Levist at quarterback, the firing of Craig Ackerman. Was everybody, were those unanimous decisions by the organization at the time? Yes, every decision that we made was unanimous. Mike and I, we speak every morning. Whether I come to his office or he comes to my office and we talk about the task in hand for the day. When we got to the point of making the move from Ryan, at that time when we made the initial switch, Ryan was injured. And that was about, now we get to see what Levist can do. And Levist went out and he played well. I think had everybody in this room and our fan base excited about what was to come. And so we decided to make the decision to move forward and see what that's going to look like in the future in his development. Did Amy have a say in those decisions? We consulted with Ms. Amy. One thing about Ms. Amy is she hired us to do a job and she allows us to do our job. And in your introduction, you said that the number one item on your to-do list was collaborating with Mike. How do you feel like you did it, achieving that and not achieving that? Like I said, we worked well together and we got along. And I feel like our collaboration was fine. And so again, whether it's, in that given time when I spoke to the press conference and I said, I wanted to serve Mike, serve this coaching staff, that's going to be the philosophy moving forward. No matter who our next head coach is, who our coaching staff is, our job and personnel is to serve them and to provide them with players that they want to coach and that fit their scheme. And I think that's the nature of the position. The general manager position isn't like what it used to be. I think back in the day, the GM ran the business side. He did everything. And this is more the philosophies of, you see these teams that are still playing, they're more in the collaborative sphere of both the head coach and GMs working together. A video, Amy said that some consideration at least was given to a trade of Mike Brable. Can you elaborate on that and what's he ever directly asked if he would be part of a trade? I don't know the nature of his conversations with Ms. Amy about him being traded. I do understand the question about a trade. It's just not as simple and cut and dry. And you look over the history of coaches being traded. It's just not a lot in recent times. And when you say recent times, I know Sean Payton was just traded for, but he was out. And New Orleans had a coach in place. But there's also league mandates and rules that you have to follow before you can execute a trade. And you have the partner, if you will, have to go through an exhaustive process and meet the Rooney rules and all those qualifications. And before we could even start interviewing, we have to have an opening. And so it just prolongs our ability to get the next and best head coach in here. What's the process could be like in hiring a new coach and who will be involved in that? So we're going to hit the ground running. Obviously, I'll give you a little just to go back a little bit. Just finished meeting with our operations staff, support staff. I met with each assistant coach individually. Didn't want to do one big fail swoop of talking to those guys. I wanted to give those guys individualized attention. And so that way they can ask questions that they might want to ask about themselves specifically. So make sure I made the time to go around and talk with each one of those guys. But we're going to run an exhaustive process to find our next head coach. And it's going to involve a lot of people. Obviously, I'll be a part of that. Miss Amy will be a part of that and others. But we want to make sure that we're getting the right people in here. I think it's going to be well documented. And I know you guys will do your due diligence and let us know what you think of every candidate that comes out. But we also have to make sure that we're getting the right people in here and people that everyone in this building wants to come in and work for. How did your collaboration determine that the group of offensive linemen that were on this team this year was sufficient to protect the quarterback and to create a run game? No, I was obviously one of the voices of it. And I know that's an area where we didn't play as well. And we need to continue to look for ways to improve that. And we will. And that'll be a part of the process as well. But one thing I will say about that offensive line position, offensive line position isn't always about the individual. It's about the sum of the parts. And we had a lot of injuries there. That was one of the positions that we had a lot of injuries. And so bringing guys, moving guys around, guys like Dylan Radins playing guard, playing tackle, moving guys around, we weren't able to create that cohesion amongst the group. If you look at some of those great offensive lines back in the day, the Denver Broncos line, back in the late 90s, and the hogs in Washington, those guys had cohesion. Those guys worked well together. And we just weren't able to keep the same five guys on the field consistently. Do you think the group was good enough if it was healthy? I think the group could have played better if it was healthy and played together. Again, we're going to always look to add competition. And trust me, we didn't go into it feeling settled at any position. We were always looking to add. And throughout the summer, we were able to add other pieces and work out players. Some guys we weren't able to agree to terms with that probably could have helped us. But through that, we were able to find a Chris Hubbard and guys like that. So the name of the game in this business is keeping the quarterback upright. And we didn't do one second. And we didn't do a good enough job of doing that. And I definitely had a part in that. And so that would be one of our top tasks. Sorry. What are the two or three characteristics that you're going to look for in the next head coach? In all fairness, I don't want to go into that right now specifically. I promise you at a given time when we're up here introducing the next head coach, I'll go into that. But I think right now is best for us to keep that tight amongst ourselves as we go through our process. What is it though to make sure that you are getting a coach that is going to be able to work with what seems to be the future of your franchising quarterback, Will Leavis, to make sure that that is right more than anything if this is the guy you're moving forward with as your quarterback. So I mean, I think all positions are important. And I get the nature of the quarterback position and what it means to not only our franchise but to the league as well. I share with you guys before Leavis' first start and I became like a mantra for me to tell him. You don't have to be number one. You just have to be number one of 11. And so we're not going to make our whole search about Will Leavis. We have other guys on this team that are going to require coaching. They're going to require development. But we will bring someone in here that sees it the same way and is more than willing to work with him. It sounds like you were not in the present in the room when Amy talked to Coach Rabel this morning of his firing. How much is that true? And how much say did you have in the final decision to put ways with Coach Rabel? No, I was not in the room when the news was delivered. And these things are ultimately Miss Amy's decisions. I think organizationally structured, we both report to her. And I know they've always had their one-on-one conversations as I have with her throughout the year and just throughout my time being here. So no, I wasn't present. But that's just the way it is. What's your understanding of why Mike was fired? Well, like Miss Amy said in her statement, it's about her long-term vision of what she wants the organization to be and how she wants to move this organization forward. How did it work for nobody to have final say? It worked fine. Because again, I think we've talked about this before with this group. I see that as an ego-driven part. That can create dissension. And that's his guy, my guy type of conversation. But again, there was never going to be a player brought in here that we weren't in agreement with. Was it part of your agreement in the collaboration that Mike would face the music on everything difficult through the season and that you would be as invisible as you were? No, I think to your point, because I know where we want to go with this, I was out front from the moment I got hired through the spring throughout that whole process. And I just felt like, we're the right or wrong. And it's something for me to learn from as we move forward. I just felt like the fall should have been about the players and the coaches. Now, in terms of when it came to the KB trade and why I was not out front on that, Mike's had the relationship with Kevin over the last six years or whatever it's been. And we felt like it was best for him to go out front and handle that. To my out front, I mean, you had a few press conferences. What's out front? When you say I had a few press conferences, are we talking in the spring or in the fall? Spring and the fall. No, well, I was out front in the spring because that's roster acquisition time. I don't particularly remember doing a press conference in the fall. But maybe I did one or two. Yeah, I mean, again, Paul, this is my first year on the job. And I've had thoughts and processes that I thought would work best moving forward. And I'm not here to say, again, like I said, that may not be right or wrong. And it's something that I need to evaluate moving forward and do a better job of connecting with the fan base. Right. And you said in the video that she will name who has final say once the process is over. So is your understanding that this is changing? Yeah, I mean, again, it's a thing where it's an ego thing, you know what I mean, from my standpoint of saying I have to have it. It's whatever's best for this organization. And we're going to do that. And no matter if she says that I have final say, it'll be in a collaborative effort with the head coach. Like, I firmly believe and I'll never deviate from it. We're not going to bring players in here that the coaches don't want to coach. You know? I'm sorry. No, go ahead, you got it. A moment ago, you said the reason primarily he was fired was because of the vision that Miss Amy sees for this team. What was it about Mike that wasn't compatible with that vision? It's her vision for the organization, not the team. The vision for her organization and how she wants things structured for that. Like I said, Miss Amy, she's made her statement and she's clarified her reasons and we're here to support her. What is it like? Nobody is happy with the outcome of this season. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll start with one more time. You mentioned how nobody's happy with the outcome of this season. How much blame do you put on yourself for a six-in-one in season? I mean, obviously, I'm one of the pieces in the talent acquisition part, so I wholeheartedly take a lot of the blame. And I have no problems with that. Again, I've been a part of losing seasons throughout my career, but I've been a part of some really big winning seasons, specifically these last couple of years. And so that's not a part of my nature. I don't accept losing. You have the piece out there. Well, hey, if you continue to lose, you get a higher draft position. I don't give a damn about a draft position. I'm here to win football games, and that's what I'll ultimately be judged on. Do you want to get a new coach in place? Well, again, we have to go through league protocols and mandates that we have to meet as the people who will be new to the hiring process from a DEI perspective that we have to go through. So once we handle that part of the business, we'll get started immediately in terms of who we want to sit down with and, again, start immediately. What's your expectation that they might make a change? I mean, you can speculate, you know what I mean? And again, Mike and I, we had private conversations yesterday as we met with players, as we met with the players in one-on-one. But I mean, you guys do a good job keeping everybody informed, you know what I mean? And so it's something that you have to, when you see it, you have to give it a thought about what it is. And again, it's unfortunate that we're sitting here today having that conversation. I'll be honest with you, man, it's going down and meeting with the coaches one-on-one individually. Some of these guys that, you know, they're damn good ball coaches and we're having this conversation under these circumstances. It's not easy. Again, like I said, after I face you guys' questions, I have to go home and answer questions, you know? Some of you guys have seen my kids around. You know, my daughter had a close relationship with Mike, you know, so I got to go home and answer these questions as well. So these days are never easy. Mike, do you have any more control in the process or at least a different structure set up? We never had those conversations because Mike was a part of every meeting that we ever had in terms of talent acquisition. The way we did things last year from the moment I came in, we had a free agency meeting with the Scouts and we were all in there. We had a meeting with the coaches and we were all in there, same thing for the draft process. So again, no player came through here that our coaches did not see. How much of a talent acquisition? That, it's football, you know? It's football and it's, you know, it's 74 car crashes, you know, a day. Right, and Paul, that's a part that we have to figure out. We really do and we have to spend the time to figure it out. Todd Torselli and his staff, you know, they do an excellent job of getting these guys back as soon as possible. And that is something, because it's something that's persisted over the last three years and so we have to, you know, pay attention to that. And we will do that as we go through this process, you know, with the next head coach. Any staff members or coaches, Bebertain, how do you go through that process of, you know, maybe bringing anybody back? So like I spoke with the coaches today, my plan is to present our coaching staff, you know, to the next head coach and give him the, you know, the ability to interview any of the guys on our current staff if he, you know, if he sees so and go from there. If he needs, you know, advice or input from myself or from anyone here, we will do that. But I have, you know, a ton of respect for those guys. And, you know, I kind of let you guys in on, you know, the nature of my conversation with them. You know, I let every coach know, I appreciate it, the work that they put in, the work that they put in developing our guys. And that I wouldn't stand in the way between now and the time we hire the next head coach if an opportunity came for them, you know, to continue to feed their family. You know, again, would love for the next head coach to consider some of the guys cause we have some talented guys on this staff, but that'll be, you know, at the discretion of the next head coach. How much of the talent acquisition process that you and Mike did together last off season was rooted in a multi-year vision? And with Mike no longer being a part of that process, how much does it pivot, how your roster internally looks moving forward? Yeah, I mean, you always, when you're acquiring specifically younger guys, you know, draft guys and some young free agents, it's a long-term vision. You know, we talk a lot about it in the draft room of, hey, this guy may not be ready year one, you know, so that's a part of it. And depending on the scheme of the next head coach, things could pivot, you know, drastically and we could have a retool of the roster which is, you know, gonna take some work. And so, you know, we'll address that, you know, when we get there. What's the expectation coming into the season, knowing what you had on the roster to contend for a division or was there an expectation that it may take some time to do the full turnover that you guys have? The expectation, no matter when you put guys out there in the field is to win the ball game, you know, no matter what. And that was our vision. And so, you know, obviously it did not go that way for a variety of reasons, but the goal is to always win. You know, I think, you know, I know Mike's been a part of some championship teams and we know what that looks like and I have as well. But, you know, we're gonna, moving forward, you know, we're gonna work diligently to make sure that, you know, we're gonna put the best product out there on the field. You are a collaboration brand. Isn't it important ultimately to have somebody have the final say on things like the 53-nil? Again, I don't think, you know, I understand that and I can see where it works. But again, we all have to be aligned, you know, on that. It's my job, it's Chad's job, it's A-Rob's job. It's all of our directors and scoutings job to identify the players that fit whatever it is we do schematically and then present that to the coaches and the coaches have to, you know, want to coach this guy. And so, no matter who has the final say, you know, it's gonna have to be, you know, a collection of talent that makes that work. You know, when it comes down to there's a difference, you know, there's a difference of having 53 man control versus 48 man control on game day, you know, and those are two totally different things. And so, you know, the coaches know what they need, you know, to execute their game plan on game day. Why were we drafted all America left tackle? Did the organization never look at him at left tackle as you struggled at left tackle? Well, I think the goal for Peter was to be the left guard and, you know, and moving him around and moving him from a new position to a position that he hadn't practiced, I don't think it was advantageous in his development and his growth because he was learning a new position. You know, and from him, he, yes, he came in, he was an All-American, you know, left tackle in college, you know, but I think, and we talked about this with Peter the other day, you know, you know, at this league, they're bigger, longer players and, you know, the length presents a problem. Now, moving forward and, you know, who knows, we may give Peter a look. Peter is a player that I would never bet against and say that he couldn't do something or he couldn't play, but we thought at the, you know, at the time when we drafted him that Peter, we could put Peter at guard and he'll be a mainstay. Time along the way while Tanya Hill and Lattice were getting hope that it made sense to take a look at him there, giving the alternative? We discussed it, we discussed it, but moving Peter to left guard will have to put somebody at left tackle. I mean, moving Peter to left tackle will have to put somebody at left guard and then now we're going back to that part about the cohesion. It was easier to replace one guy versus two. You know, it's not a long-term vision. Do you feel like that's your vision? It's ours. You know, I don't own this organization. You know, and we all have someone that we have to answer to. And you know, we present our plan, you know, to Ms. Amy and let her know, you know, how we want to move forward. And that's the way it's going to be. I think at the right moment we'll define that vision and that's going to come when we hire our next head coach and we'll be able to give you guys more of a detailed description at that time. Well, again, this was about Ms. Amy's long-term vision and she stated in her statement how she felt. When you mentioned the teams playing now, they have a certain way of going about things. How does that way, as you understand it, compare to how you guys did things this year and what it will look like? I'm not following the question. The teams that are playing, they're still playing have that sort of collaborative way of going about things on teams, right? Right, yeah. So how does that, you're understanding what they do. I know you know one very well, compared to what you guys did this year and what you want to do from here. No, I think, you know, again, we're talking, you know, different circumstances, just in terms of, you know, a lot of those teams that are still playing these, they remain relatively healthy at key positions. And we just weren't able to do that. But again, moving forward, you know, we got to diagnose whatever that reason is and why, you know, we haven't been able to keep, you know, the same 11 guys out there consistently. Are you continuing with that? Are you going to be leading the head coaching search and if not, how is it going to work? I know we, you know, talked about this earlier. You know, I will be one of the parts of it. And there will be, you know, areas in which, you know, I'll take more of an out front approach. But again, this isn't, this is about the head coach. This is about the locker room, but this is about the organization. So it'll be, you know, a few of us in there. I know there are a couple of candidates that, you know, I have, you know, out there that'll be available. I have relationships with and I want to be able to run an unbiased, you know, process. And so that's going to require more people to be, you know, in the room and a part of the process. In terms of teams that are still playing, in terms of teams that are still playing, a lot of them have more wide open, more dynamic offenses built around the quarterback. Is that a direction that you would potentially like to go? You know, I mean, we'll see what the candidate pool list, you know, presents, you know, obviously the, that's what everyone tunes in to see is, you know, points being scored and big plays. And so we want to be a well-balanced football team, you know, as we move forward. So however we get there is how we get there. If there's a candidate you recommend to accept the recommendation. Yeah, I mean, again, it's a vote, right? So we're going to, how many other people we decide to interview, we're going to interview. And I'm sure, you know, when it comes down to it, everyone will speak their piece about, you know, who they like. And I'm, you know, we're all going to listen to each other and figure out who's best for us. You'll be taking part in the coaching search and you could have final roster say, what makes you feel prepared to take on that larger role? You know, I was thinking about this, you know, as we, you know, move forward. Of course, I've never had to run a run or be a part of an interview search or interview a head coach. I've never done it, you know. But then I lean on my experiences and growing up, you know, in a household raised by a coach, you know. And a lot of the coaches that I've been around, I've, you know, reached out to, you know, some of my, you know, friends around the league, some are head coaches, some are GMs, you know, for advice, you know, already. And so I'll lean on those, you know, those guys to help me in areas where I'm not experienced. What did you think about the degree of player development you saw over the season you were here? I'm encouraged, you know, from, you know, you look at guys, you look at, I mean, Peter, like we talked about before, he's never played guard before, he stepped in and he was playing good ball. And even myself, you know, I forget that he missed a significant portion, you know, due to an appendectomy. You know, where he lost significant weight and he, you know, worked his tail off to get back, you know, to do that. So he was still kind of developing and growing. You look at Will Leavis, you look at, you know, Josh Wiley, I have to call him by his real name and not the nickname we gave him. But, you know, all these guys, you know, showed improvement. Look at Colton Dow, you know, for him to come in, you know, as a seventh round picker at receiving and earn a spot, you know, on special teams and Jalen Duncan, you know, and where he was, like the development was very encouraging. We just have to keep that going. One thing that Mike Vrable established here that really has been here since, you know, through ups and downs is the culture of that locker room. How big is it for you to focus on, you know, it's hard just to predict a coach, maybe, that for the first time it's coming in, but how big is that on your mind in terms of who you bring in to be able to establish a solid culture through ups and downs? Because it's gonna happen. Oh, it's gonna be key. You know, it's gonna be key. And we need that, you know, at that voice, you know, out of that position. But it also takes the guys in the locker room. So we're gonna have to continue to bring the right guys in the locker room. I think we have the right guys, you know, in the locker room and how they respond to things. And, you know, when everybody counted us out, you know, those guys go out there and fight. You know, I think we were without, what, seven starters on defense, you know, the other day and, you know, was able to, you know, hold one of the better and more talented offenses, you know, to 20 points. So, you know, along with the head coach, we gotta continue to keep those type of guys in the locker room. Derrick kind of approached Sunday as if it was his last game here. Is there a scenario where you maybe try to pursue him or is that the pin on maybe the new head coach? Yeah, that'll be a new head coach, the new head coach and I, you know, having a conversation. I had a really good conversation with Derrick yesterday, you know, on the way out. And, you know, we had our conversation, which I'll keep between here and I, but, you know, the door's never closed. Mr. Clarify, you said that you guys are gonna define the vision once you get the new head coach in place. Do you think it's important to have between you and Amy that vision defined going into the coaching search or are you trying to define that vision based on who you hire? No, we have the vision defined. We have it defined and we've had, you know, you know, I've been on the phone ever since, you know, the decision was made and it's obviously been a lot going on and it's been hectic, but the vision is defined. It's just, it'll be a time for us to roll that out. Can you share that vision? No, it's not the time, it's not the time just to share that vision today. Because I think as we go through this process, we need to make sure that we have the right person to line with that and why we hired that person will fit that vision. That's good. How do you balance, sir? How do you balance knowing the free agency stuff you guys do with the players and how does coaches, how do you make all that work at the same time? Sleepless nights, I have to, you know, go by the target and get a pillow in a blanket and sleep in my office and do whatever I need to do to do my part to help usher this organization forward, you know? Why is the scouting staff that was below John Robinson and led, helped in part, lead to the roster problems that you have now, the right scouting staff to help you rebuild the roster? Well, you know, again, with everything, with this change, we've got to continue to look at, you know, at our scouting staff and what changes may or may not need to be made there. One thing when I was hired, I didn't know any of these guys when I came in and I wanted to give them a chance to prove themselves because I have never worked with them and I didn't want to just come in and just gut the place and have to start over and do all of that. And so we'll continue to, you know, evaluate all phases of the organization. Like we have to get it right and I'm confident that we will. Are there any things with relationship building with the new head coach that you're going to want to do differently than you did with Mike or the regrets, I guess, that you want to address? No, I don't have any regrets. I think relationship building is all about you as an individual and how you do those. And you know, I feel like with who I am as a person, like my life has been built on relationships and my ability to create and establish relationships with people. I will continue with the same approach, you know, that I've always had and I'm the type of person that, you know, we're going to have conversations. Sometimes they're going to be uncomfortable, but you know, but the best way to get on the other side is maybe having the 20 or 30 minute uncomfortable conversation. So I'm never going to put myself above anybody. I'm always make myself available, you know, to whoever that next person is. But in terms of how I communicate and how I go about my life, I'm not changing that. Thank you.