NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brian Daboll is getting the chance to work with Cam Ward — even if it took a year longer than he might have wanted.
Daboll was officially introduced as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator on Wednesday and developing last year's No. 1 overall pick will be a big part of that role.
Daboll was head coach of the Giants last season, when New York was reportedly willing to trade multiple picks to the Titans to move up to draft
Ward. But Tennessee stood pat and picked the quarterback it hopes will lead the franchise for years to come.
And with Daboll coming in as part of new head coach Robert Saleh’s staff, he can help Ward try to reach those lofty expectations.
“Cam was a big factor," said Daboll of what enticed him to join the Titans. "I have a lot of confidence in this young man. I had a lot of touch points with him (in the pre-draft process last year), meetings, 30 visits, going down to Miami, dinner with him and his family. So there was a good relationship built up with him leading up to the draft, so I look forward to working with him.”
As for his plans for developing Ward, Daboll didn’t reveal much since he's still in the process of evaluating everything about his new role.
“That’s something we are going through right now," Daboll said. "We’re not there yet, schematic-wise. I’ve evaluated all his Washington State tape, all his Miami tape and all the games he played last year. That’s going to be a work in progress. We have some time here. I think he can do a lot of things. He’s going to have to put the work in, which I know he will, and we’ll do stuff that he feels comfortable with.
I think that’s important for any quarterback, but especially a young quarterback.”
Daboll, who had been with the Giants since 2022 and worked with rookie QB Jaxson Dart last year before being fired after 10 games, was previously best known for helping turn Buffalo's Josh Allen into a star.
“I think every situation is unique," Daboll said. "We’ve had some young quarterbacks previously with Josh and Jaxson in New York. Everybody is different and I don’t want to put him into a particular box. The important thing is to first develop the relationship with the young man and get a feel for how he’s seeing the game. That’s hard to do right now when you’re not able to sit down and talk a lot of football. I always like to see the game through the quarterback’s eyes.
“There’s going to be mistakes that I think he’s made that he might have a completely different answer. Communication is very important. I learned that dealing with Josh, dealing with Jaxson.”
The Titans also introduced defensive coordinator Gus Bradley on Wednesday. Bradley, a former head coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars for four seasons, followed Saleh to Nashville from San Francisco.
“We’ve known each other for many years," said Bradley, who had Saleh on his staff as the Jaguars' linebackers coach from 2014-16. "I had a chance to work with him last year and it was a great experience. I think we have a lot of the same philosophies, even though we’re different. And I think that mixture has that proper tension.
“We had a chance to kind of tear apart the defense, look at what we didn’t want to do and what we did want to do, based on our experiences at different places, and then were able to incorporate it there.”
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