1
00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:04,960
Speaker 1: Meggan O'Brien, joined by Patriots Director of player Personnel Nick Kissaria.

2
00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:07,600
Speaker 1: Think we talked to you last week before the draft,

3
00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,520
Speaker 1: and so far there have been no reports of any

4
00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:15,320
Speaker 1: catastrophic disasters that happened during the draft. From your perspective,

5
00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:20,520
Speaker 1: were there any hiccups? No, Megan, overall, the process probably

6
00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,880
Speaker 1: went on as smoothly as you probably could have hoped.

7
00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,520
Speaker 1: Like we talked about before, there's a lot of people

8
00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,000
Speaker 1: that were involved, a lot of people shifted in process wise,

9
00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,960
Speaker 1: we were able to kind of assimilate and replicate the

10
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,280
Speaker 1: things that we normally do. So from that perspective, it

11
00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 1: probably went as smoothly as we all could have hoped

12
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,520
Speaker 1: during this whole process preparing for the draft, working from home,

13
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,239
Speaker 1: draft from home, What was the biggest adjustment for you?

14
00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:52,360
Speaker 1: A great question, I'd say, just the one on one

15
00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,600
Speaker 1: access to the entire group or staff. So instead of

16
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,600
Speaker 1: walking down a hall and having a conversation with Monny,

17
00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,600
Speaker 1: just popping into Dave's office, or just going around the

18
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,800
Speaker 1: corner and talk to Bill, you know, that was done

19
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,440
Speaker 1: remotely and done. I had web Ax or whatever connection

20
00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,640
Speaker 1: you had to utilize. So, but the access to film

21
00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:13,560
Speaker 1: we had access to film, we had access to the

22
00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,400
Speaker 1: information or a database. I mean, honestly, the biggest difference

23
00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,679
Speaker 1: was not having Nancy directly across the hall, So, I

24
00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,320
Speaker 1: mean that was probably the biggest thing because she and

25
00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:22,960
Speaker 1: I are so accustomed to seeing each other on a

26
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 1: daily basis. That was probably the biggest adjustment more than

27
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:32,399
Speaker 1: anything else. A lot was made of what coaches, general

28
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,280
Speaker 1: managers staff couldn't do in preparation for the draft. Well,

29
00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,959
Speaker 1: let's focus on something that your staff could do to

30
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,880
Speaker 1: prepare for the draft, the Senior Bowl. How much did

31
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,640
Speaker 1: that help you guys in your evaluation. Yeah, that's always

32
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,880
Speaker 1: a big part of the process. You get to see

33
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,600
Speaker 1: some of the better players coincidence or not. But we

34
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,880
Speaker 1: drafted I was free for whatever it was. However, many

35
00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,080
Speaker 1: players that were in attendance of the Senior Bowl, so

36
00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,680
Speaker 1: our coaching staff was a little bit more involved this

37
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,240
Speaker 1: year and relative to years past. So we tried to

38
00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,000
Speaker 1: maximize our time and make the most of the opportunities

39
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,720
Speaker 1: that we had in front of us, and hopefully we

40
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,200
Speaker 1: were able to do that and quite the transition for

41
00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,640
Speaker 1: Kyle Dugger to go to the Senior Bowl, because he

42
00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,760
Speaker 1: was competing against Division two talent for his college career.

43
00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,600
Speaker 1: What stood out about him when you evaluated him at

44
00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,160
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl. Yeah, he held his own relatives to

45
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,519
Speaker 1: the competition, which I think is something that you want

46
00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,480
Speaker 1: to see, especially when a player coming from a lower

47
00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,760
Speaker 1: level of competition. There's not that many Division two players

48
00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,640
Speaker 1: that are playing in the fl When you see a

49
00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,400
Speaker 1: player go from division to his level of performance to

50
00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,560
Speaker 1: get in an environment like that where the competition is

51
00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,560
Speaker 1: certainly better than what he faced, you'd like to see

52
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,720
Speaker 1: that they're actually able to hold their own to be competitive.

53
00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,640
Speaker 1: So that was certainly something that worked in his favor

54
00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: through all of this. What's been the biggest silver lining

55
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,520
Speaker 1: for you? I would say at a personal level, you know,

56
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,360
Speaker 1: when you're there's there's less impediments in terms of being

57
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,639
Speaker 1: around your family and being around on your loved one. So, um,

58
00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,880
Speaker 1: you know, from that perspective, I mean, it's almost like

59
00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,400
Speaker 1: a blessing that that you know, something like as bad

60
00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,320
Speaker 1: as what's taking place, he was trying to find a

61
00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,880
Speaker 1: silver lining, So there's always something positive to come out

62
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,680
Speaker 1: of it. I know Nike stole the show on the

63
00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,040
Speaker 1: Draft night broadcast, but your girls made a little cameo.

64
00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,960
Speaker 1: What did they think about being on TV? Yeah, they

65
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:22,680
Speaker 1: didn't really know what was going on in the draft.

66
00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:24,520
Speaker 1: I think they just wanted to get on camera to

67
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,280
Speaker 1: see themselves on fellows, So they were great. They had

68
00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,160
Speaker 1: fun with it. Like I said, it was more about

69
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,880
Speaker 1: probably being around their dad. The draft they don't really know.

70
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,560
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, you asked them about any of the players,

71
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,640
Speaker 1: they probably would have an idea who were talking about

72
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 1: And Nick, just to close, what made you most proud

73
00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,280
Speaker 1: about the way the organization and the league for that

74
00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:50,360
Speaker 1: matter handled this virtual draft? Yeah, definitely the tip of

75
00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,000
Speaker 1: the calf to the league, and a lot of credit

76
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,480
Speaker 1: goes to the Commissioner Goodell and his staff and a

77
00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,680
Speaker 1: lot of the people that were involved. So I think

78
00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,000
Speaker 1: everybody essentially kind of working together and helping one another.

79
00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:03,920
Speaker 1: These are the times you really learn about people in

80
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,119
Speaker 1: terms of their willingness to help others, and ultimately we're

81
00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,080
Speaker 1: trying to serve one another and just try to help

82
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,240
Speaker 1: each other as best we can. So I think everybody

83
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,680
Speaker 1: made that commitment. There's a lot of people that should

84
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:15,680
Speaker 1: be proud of the effort that they put forth, and

85
00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,000
Speaker 1: a lot of people that are credit for the performance

86
00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,359
Speaker 1: of the organization. In the end, Nick, thank you so

87
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,240
Speaker 1: much for your time. Best of luck to you and

88
00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,679
Speaker 1: your staff as you transition to the next phase. Thanks Megan,

89
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:27,360
Speaker 1: appreciate it.