EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was Jan. 28, a Friday afternoon, when the New York Giants hired Brian Daboll as their head coach. By that evening, he had already spoken to his new starting quarterback, Daniel Jones. He told Jones to start brainstorming some plays that he liked best, dating as far back as high school or college. They would meet soon to discuss.
It was imperative that Daboll get this information. This is how he goes about building a playbook.
It didn’t matter that there was a storm on the horizon that would drop a foot or more of snow on part of the area the following day. Daboll made the drive in his blue Ford F-150 pickup truck from Buffalo to New Jersey. Jones was there in the building that Saturday morning for their first face-to-face meeting to present his favorite plays less than 24 hours after Daboll was hired.
“Him asking for my ideas and some of the things that I’ve liked to run … was cool,” Jones said. “It will be an ongoing process to get a feel for what those things are — what I like, what he likes. And we’ll do it.
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“It was a good way for me to get to know him and him to get to know me. I certainly appreciated it.”
This wasn’t just for show or to make Jones feel included. This is the way Daboll — a coach who exclusively uses FaceTime instead of phone calls for that personal feel — worked during his time as offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills. It was important to him that his players felt included and invested, on and off the field.
That included allowing them to have a significant influence on the playbook.
“I think the best thing [Daboll] does, it doesn’t matter who is playing — he’s going to give them the best chance to win on Sunday,” said quarterback Davis Webb, who signed with the Giants on Feb. 7 after spending the previous three…
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