So I got on the phone,
I said I saw Bryce at the Super Bowl.
You see a bunch of these
guys at parties and such.
So I saw Bryce and I said,
you know, I said Bryce.
Remember when we were at the Super Bowl,
I told you were going to pick a
quarterback and I wasn't kidding.
And I said you want to trade in some
sweet home Alabama for sweet Carolina.
So he was, he was just excited.
He was like,
I don't know if you can see him on screen.
He was like a little tenseness in his face.
But then he was like,
you could feel him just like,
so happy sort of thing through the phone.
What? Why?
Why did you guys wait so long to tell him?
Why not tell him a day or two before?
Why keep it underwater?
Dave, you set the
the bar high out there for him.
I know that's been your goal
since you got here though.
But mentioning the Super
Bowl, could you elaborate on that?
Well, when we went through
the process of quarterbacks,
listen, just as you guys know,
we went through a very deep process
with the with the head coach.
Found what we believe is the best
head coach we could find and then
set the head coach free to get
the best staff he could find.
Okay. So that was what we did.
So and then when we're going through
the process of these quarterbacks,
you know, one of the questions we ask
ourselves is which one of these guys will be,
you know, a guy that can take us here.
What's the probability that this
guy can take?
Because there's no short thing.
So not to talk about all the different guys,
but we thought this guy had the highest
probability of winning Super Bowls.
But I think for myself and I,
I don't want to speak for Frank
and I think he feels the Scott,
we feel the same way.
Listen,
you want to win Super Bowls and you know,
there's no sure thing here,
but it's a probability sort.
And we thought this guy has the best
probability of of winning a Super Bowls.
You know, the way he throws the ball,
the way he's a point guard,
how you can use the different
players in the field,
how you might not have to have as many as
elite receivers because he's a point guard,
right?
So he distributes the ball to people with
routes so you can save some money there.
You know we believe we can save
money other place be places because
and and put that money into
the defensive side of the ball.
So it's like this is a guy that when
you talk about here for us for this
Carolina Panther team from you know
you know from the time you know I
guess you know Matt Rowland talk about
the process we went through defense
you know first get the defense set
with Scott get the offensive line.
Okay this year with Frank we wanted
and we got a free agency the different
pieces we needed for broad receivers,
you know we think we have some great
route runners and Thielen and and
Hayden and you know other people here.
And so that was that's somewhat
intentional you know thinking about
what we'll need if we have the point
guard okay and then you know with
Scott he has other other people in this
draft he's going to be thinking about.
So this process, Dave was this the most
you've been involved in the process.
Draft up to the pick.
Listen,
I just set the process these guys do to work.
So that's, you know, so it's,
look, I mean,
you guys have to understand and you know,
we were here a year and a half
trying to figure out, you know,
I didn't know what the heck I
was on the business side.
And so,
you know,
for the first year and a
half, I was trying to figure out what
was going on and then COVID hit.
And so we're out of the building for 2 1/2
more years and then we're in the building,
you know, have a better chance to last
you to see what was going on was right,
wrong and different.
And so, you know, we just,
you know, and with squad.
Now you know together and so we just
you know went through the process we
wanted to you know a certain head
coach or something type of head
coach and we wanted the guy that can
find the best head coaches and could
track the I'm sorry the best position
coaches I think we could possibly you
know get and Frank ran a fantastic
process for finding these guys and.
Look, I mean you know I give great credit.
I told I actually complimented Frank today.
I don't give a compliment.
Said like one compliment.
Usually it's a compliment.
I take it back a little bit somewhere else,
but was a straight out compliment.
You know, he went through the process,
found the bet really,
really tirelessly looking for the best part,
not the person he knew but the
best person out there.
And I think it's reflecting in the staff
we have. So it's a great testament.
Scott was talking about there were
discussions about trading up and you
were vocal about. Being aggressive
and trading up for number one,
can you talk about that and why that
was important to you? Do not just jump
to maybe two or three but but to #1.
While the way that the way the process works,
I'm talking a little bit about the process.
So it was basically if Scott's a better one
to tell the story because he's really warm.
I'm, I'm on the outside, you know,
I I'm like a I don't know if you know.
This at all but I know it's something about
numbers and stats and stuff like that in
my head so I can figure out this stuff.
You know that stuff some a lot of stuff.
I have no idea.
Like one of my great strengths is I and
I'm getting stronger at this weather
is knowing how stupid I am sometimes.
OK so so when we were in there we
had a trade to go up to two and was
a three-way trade with Chicago and we
were going to go up to two and the
Texans were going to trade up to one.
Chicago is going to be down to 2 and
we're going to trade with Chicago And
so we were you know we're waiting
we had that trade cutter race on
Wednesday at these guys at the time
when I think Wednesday.
And so you know we waited.
You know you have to appreciate it
like I I come from where when you
do trades and I don't love when
trades don't happen right away.
So I'm driving Scott crazy.
I I have to apologize for Scott for
this by the way I'm saying what's going
on with these guys this doesn't feel
right what's going on And so Wednesday goes,
Thursday goes we get into Friday.
And the the Texans changed their mind
about the trade, about doing the trade,
the three-way trade we got in the afternoon,
this Friday afternoon and you know Scott
talked to polls and basically he he got,
he got a value that he would accept for
us to move up to one and that was late
Friday afternoon and basically we knew
that we had to make a decision then
because he wanted to get a trade done.
We thought that there were other people
including the Raiders that had better.
The potential trades on the line and if we
waited you know they may come and jump us.
If we waited till that beyond
that day because you know,
you know we knew that we were the bird
in hand. They know what they knew.
They had to trade with us,
the trade that they they could like.
And we don't want to go with what
we thought might be a better trade
from because we're not right.
Yeah 730 wants to do it and
other people want to do it.
So we we all decided that this
was the right thing to do for the
incremental amount we could trade up.
And and you know, it was a joint decision.
Everybody was on board for it
with it I think at the time.
And and we knew that if we didn't do it
then we may lose it.
And so we just made that decision,
you know, altogether just talking it
out 1520 minutes Scott called up,
you know, he can tell you the rest.
I wasn't on the phone. So.
And I think that does that pretty much.
Yeah. Yeah, we just
called Ryan at that point and you know we
we've been working through it and you know.
The important part is just that that
constant communication that we had so
it wouldn't die in Friday was just like,
hey, what's it going to take? You know,
if this isn't going to happen this way,
we want to make sure it happens.
We want to get someone in order to
control this decision and you know,
Ryan was great with it and we made the trade.
We'll
do this last one and get you back to
the draft form probably wisely so.
Scott has been very complimentary
of you throughout the process
of hiring Frank and Frank,
so as well with the coaching staff.
And they say you have a different
viewpoint than they do.
And in particular,
the questions you ask in those interviews,
what is your viewpoint?
What's your perspective that's different.
What do you look for?
Look, I I mean,
I don't know if it's that different.
I mean, I I mean,
I come from a world of analysis, OK.
And trying to figure out what companies
are worth and you know, you know,
asking my analysts like deep questions.
So that's the world I come from.
So I just, you know, in this process,
I mean I put the best that I know.
Actually not bad at this other thing I do.
I'm better at that than I am at this,
tell you the truth.
But so like I took some of that world
that they hear that analytical sort
of world and try to think of the
different factors that we want to find
out beyond what these guys did and listen,
to tell you the truth,
it's just one addition in every
this is a process and Scott and
his and the scouts and we listen,
that's 90% of the work, OK,
90%,
you know then you know Frank's
another 7% to 8% or 9% of the
work and I add that last 1%.
Okay.
So just to give the credit,
we're due the credits over here and
you know this is truly a process.
I can't emphasize enough this problem
true to this process this time, Okay,
not all the time I've been past years,
but this is process processing the
coach processing, getting this,
this quarterback and not leaving
a stone unturned. Okay.
So this is a truly and everything
we're doing and everything that
we did with the with the coaches.
And when Frank was sorry,
the process of the list do we have
the best person do we have the
best person and and true to the
process not true to the process.
We're not we're not messing around okay.
Let's say it that way and so but
the the work is here Okay truly
thank you all very much.