General Manager Nolan Teasley’s Full Introductory Press Conference — Minnesota Vikings

[0:00] good morning everyone great to be with you all and thank you all for being here when we set out [0:06] to find the next general manager of the minnesota vikings we were looking for someone with a strong [0:11] football acumen and a clear vision of team building someone who appreciates and understands [0:17] our culture and history is an effective communicator and consensus builder and is [0:23] respected across the nfl there is no question nolan teasley fits each of these criteria and we are [0:31] thrilled to add someone of his caliber to our organization nolan brings a tremendous football [0:37] background in the role and a proven track record of success over the past 13 seasons with the seahawks [0:44] under the tutelage of john schneider nolan was a part of nine playoff teams three super bowl appearances [0:50] and two championships he has a strong understanding of talent evaluation at both the collegiate and [0:56] professional levels is adept at building a consistently competitive roster and brings [1:02] a disciplined process driven approach to this job he understands schematics and player traits at a [1:09] high level and that knowledge quickly earns him credibility with each coaching staff what really [1:15] impressed us in our discussions with nolan and with people around the league was his wide range of [1:21] experiences we have a high level of respect for john schneider and john put nolan in a position to [1:27] increase responsibilities in every aspect of football operations and allowed him to be a key voice [1:33] in all areas of roster building that experience paired with nolan's confident but humble presence [1:41] stood out throughout this search ultimately this was an extensive process that brought us multiple [1:48] candidates we believe will be future general managers in the nfl as well as a strong internal [1:54] candidate in rob brzezinski rob is the consummate professional for more than 25 years he has [2:00] demonstrated his character and leadership and no one cares about the minnesota vikings more than rob [2:06] his institutional knowledge and experience remain invaluable and he will be critical to our future [2:12] success putting nolan together with rob and kevin gives us three strong leaders with complementary skill [2:20] sets and we're confident that this is the best outcome for the minnesota vikings i want to thank turnkey [2:27] zrg along with andrew miller and kevin o'connell for assisting our ownership group through this [2:33] process there is no question we improved as an organization nolan and morgan we are so proud to [2:42] welcome you and your children to the vikings family and to the state of minnesota we're confident you will [2:49] love becoming part of this community with that it is my pleasure to introduce the next general manager [2:56] of the minnesota vikings nolan teasley good morning um it's going to take a minute this is uh this is [3:20] amazing um let's start by thanking you know the staff for being here members of the media um i just want [3:29] you to know that i'm excited to to be working with you moving forward into the future and i look forward [3:34] to meeting uh and getting to know each each one of you on a personal level thank you to mark wilf to [3:42] ziggy wolf to the to the wolf family for providing me this opportunity thank you to kevin o'connell thank [3:48] you to andrew miller uh for providing me this opportunity i cannot wait to get to work and i'm [3:54] looking forward to to moving forward into the future with you guys i want to thank the seahawks [4:00] organization and john schneider um for preparing me for this opportunity and they did that by allowing me [4:08] to see high caliber leadership throughout the building on a day-to-day basis and i was raised in this [4:14] league by seeing it done the right way i want to thank my wife morgan who's here today my rock i [4:21] love you i'd like to take a moment to um tell my four boys how much i love them they are not here [4:29] today otherwise our youngest nash would have already made his presence known but i want them to know how [4:34] much i love them um it was always going to take it was always going to take a special opportunity [4:43] to leave a special place in seattle and as i progressed through this process it became very [4:52] clear it became very clear that the minnesota vikings were just that they were that opportunity [4:58] and it's because of a strong leadership who's uh in in ownership whose reputation is obvious [5:05] their commitment to to supporting their people providing the resources needed to compete and [5:11] ultimately win championships to have a head coach the caliber of kevin o'connell who is an elevator [5:19] he's a leader of men he believes in supporting people and building culture this is a premier [5:28] coaching staff under kevin that is uh that has been built in the national football league rob brzezinski [5:37] being here is an incredible asset um he is the ultimate team player and rob i want you to know i [5:44] cannot wait to work with you and learn from you as we move forward into the future uh the the roster [5:53] it's obvious it's a strong nucleus of talent on both sides of the ball they've won a lot of football [5:59] games here in the last four years including five in a row to end last season and i look forward to [6:04] being a part of that and and building toward you know more opportunity and more wins in the future [6:11] and and last but certainly not least it's a passionate fan base with a lot of history and i look forward [6:20] to to building upon um the fact that u.s bank stadium is already one of the toughest environments [6:26] to play in sport uh and it's because of those fans and so the work starts now i want everybody to know [6:35] that i i'm committed i'm committed to to building a a deep understanding of this roster in its entirety [6:44] that i'm going to build relationships strong relationships with the coaching staff with the players [6:49] uh and with the people within this organization we're going to develop a shared language that [6:55] drives how we evaluate and how we operate in in working toward building a champion on a day-to-day [7:02] basis and most importantly i'm going to provide the support system that kevin o'connell needs to bring [7:08] his vision for this team to life our goals our goals are simple and we're going to build the deepest [7:16] most competitive roster possible so that we can be at our best in december and january [7:21] in february and ultimately work toward winning the super bowl that this fan base deserves [7:28] thank you going to your right chris lone from kstp television on a scale of rebuild to right there [7:53] where do you see this roster right now yeah i believe we're ready to compete right now because [7:58] they've been competitive i think i spoke to nine wins last year five in a row and uh we look forward [8:04] to you know continuing that consistency hi dylan uh welcome to minnesota matthew collar from uh purple [8:15] insider i'm curious just with your role under john schneider um there was a lot of stuff that was [8:20] written on the website about what you did um in seattle's front office uh part of it though obviously [8:26] the scouting side also working with the analytics department i'm just curious about how you guys were [8:31] able to marry those things together in seattle and how that worked with your role overseeing those [8:38] different departments specifically analytics and and scouting yeah yeah yeah i look at it and i've said [8:44] this multiple times the way that we look at it is that we're going to be guided by evaluation um we're [8:49] going to be anchored by data and then the final piece kind of as we work through our three pillars [8:54] of acquisition and evaluation is that um what's really important is the the coach's vision for the [9:00] player and that's just that's the in simplest terms how we're going to operate nolan um dave campbell [9:11] with associated press a lot of talk about consensus building being um you know part of the search [9:18] process a priority for the vikings um what's a good example of how you did that in seattle maybe [9:24] when you had different people weren't agreeing on a certain topic and and what did you learn about [9:30] you know how the art of that in in football operations i just think that's why you're anchored [9:35] by process while you have a process so that everybody kind of understands the foundation of it all and [9:42] if we have disagreements we just go back to the beginning we start over and we work together [9:46] until we have that consensus and ultimately if if you don't build that at decision making time [9:51] then that's part of our process right is that we're not moving forward with that particular acquisition [9:56] yeah mark um over here alec uh lewis of the athletic um mark what what have you learned about past [10:07] structures of decision making that was important in in how you guys constructed this present structure [10:16] well i think the number one thing is you just have to have strong leaders and we're blessed with [10:21] many strong leaders in this building we have coach o'connell we have rob brazinski and that's what we [10:26] saw here in nolan and i think um you know structure is structure but you know the the gm obviously reports [10:32] ownership the coach reports ownership but in the end you want to have the top people and no one between [10:38] his his high football acumen uh being around and and again john and the seattle organization [10:44] allowing nolan to be participate participating in so many pieces of the organization has uh just [10:50] made him to be a really strong leader and he stood out that way and i think it's a great fit here yeah [11:00] hey mark uh kevin seaford from espn to your left over here hey there uh just just following up on that um [11:09] in terms of leadership and and that um just really bluntly like who's in charge of football operations [11:15] now moving forward nolan is as far as the gentleman he's the general manager of the [11:19] organization he has final say on the roster of the 53 but in the end he's going to lean heavily and [11:24] he'll say it himself on our head coach obviously and people like rob brazinski in the building that [11:29] have deep experience and skill sets that are complementary so i think we have a it all put [11:35] together in a great way and uh i'm confident that this is uh a great move for the organization [11:41] a great move for the minnesota vikings hey guys judd zolgat from score north off that point mark two [11:48] what did you um what did you or what do you feel in this situation separates this from potentially [11:55] some of the past collaboration attempts that didn't go as well as was planned when those hires were made [12:02] again it's a highly competitive environment and we're always thriving to be the best and that's [12:06] what we're trying to bring in here pieces that fit so again we appreciate kevin being part of the [12:12] process in selecting a general manager we haven't uh had that type of iteration here and i think that [12:18] was a big part of it their their dialogue and communication and again we have great pieces in [12:23] this building but no one like i said uh just has stood out so many ways through the interview process [12:30] through all the references uh you know through our process uh we spoke to the the john schneider and the [12:37] coach there and and the whole organization and around the league as well and the marks were high [12:43] and and nothing nothing uh through our process uh different from that so i think it all fits well [12:48] together you know each each process stands on its own and obviously the difference is going to be where [12:53] you know we need to get where we need to get and that's winning championships so that's what our [12:57] goal always is so we'll just to be clear here too uh kevin nolan and rob all report directly to you [13:04] that or how's that going to trickle out no no the gent nolan the general manager reports to ownership [13:10] as well as the head coach rob is part of the football operations and football organization that's [13:15] under nolan so again in the end um that's the structure that's the way it is um if it comes to [13:22] structure we've got a problem okay the end result is making sure leaders collaborate work together and [13:29] um you know uh again kudos to rob and and the effort he led this past [13:34] a few months getting our draft process and collaboration working well in the building [13:38] uh right now we have nolan and i think that's that's that's an incredible uh piece to our puzzle [13:43] and like i said uh nolan's leading our football operations as gm reports to ownership and obviously [13:48] coach o'connell reports to ownership as well uh nolan this is mark craig from the star tribune [13:56] i'm curious when it comes to gaining respect of a room uh talk about how important your your [14:02] background in scouting starting from kind of the bottom up when scouting what what that does whenever [14:06] you're able to stand in front of a room and get respect and also what's the best piece of john [14:11] schneider that you're able to bring here i think those those two things go go together um you alluded [14:19] to it i started as an intern and so i was able to experience um a lot of roles between then and now [14:27] and so that's a lot of experience and i can relate to people in in the room i've been in their shoes [14:32] and in terms of of john it's everything that we're talking about here is building alignment and consensus and [14:37] um being collaborative uh that's what we did in seattle and that's what we're going to do here [14:43] nolan don mitchell from fox9 first of all welcome um you said earlier that it would take something [14:49] phenomenal for you to leave seattle and come here there's a slew of coaches in seattle that used to be [14:55] here um and many people in the organization did you reach out to any and maybe anything that they said to [15:02] you that really stuck out to you to say yes this just solidified my decision yeah i talked to people [15:08] throughout the throughout the process matt thomas who was here recently i speak to him a lot you [15:13] alluded to coaches coaches that have have worked with with kevin nothing but glowing things to say [15:19] about kevin about the organization and that helped make this decision really easy when i was provided [15:23] the opportunity all right back here ben gesling from the minnesota star tribune when you talked about [15:33] collaborating with coaches and getting a vision for what they see in a player what is that process like [15:37] for you in the front office side of learning from a coach of what he wants and then applying that to [15:42] how you select players well that's going to start immediately um we're going to get with the coaching [15:47] staff and we're going to talk about uh what their vision is for the systems the players that they need [15:51] to to you know effectively operate within the scheme and um and it's ongoing because uh there's levels of [15:59] football but um yeah we're going to get into the weeds and we're going to start working together [16:03] immediately and and when we're talking about acquisitions we're going to we're going to meet and [16:06] communicate and continue to move forward in that way nolan mike max from wccotv um the draft has been [16:20] scrutinized a lot here in the last several years in terms of guys that have been drafted and are making [16:24] it on the field what's your philosophy about the draft how you arrive at who you pick uh who makes [16:31] a decision in the room those kinds of things in terms of building through the draft yeah it's process [16:36] based and we make that decision together when you talk about getting players on onto the field that's [16:42] where you know the vision of the coaching staff comes into play um their vision for the player [16:47] often ultimately leads to the the player's path to being on the field and that's how they're going [16:52] to generate value for the organization nolan chris long again when you made the decision to change lanes [17:00] and take that job as an intern could you have imagined this day coming or is that the reason you [17:06] did it in the first place no i talked about um for a long time that i always had aspirations of [17:12] being a general manager it wasn't necessarily the goal you know the goal was to be where my feet [17:16] were and learn and and progress in that way and so that's why i needed a minute this is an amazing [17:21] day and i'm so very appreciative of being here i know and kevin seaford from espn um curious what [17:29] your assessment of the quarterbacks are here and how you'll manage them moving forward i'm sure you got [17:33] a decent look at kyler murray over the years and nfc west and maybe j.j mccarthy and the draft process but [17:39] just curious how you assess it and how you kind of will manage that position over time yeah i mean [17:45] in terms of managing that we're going to rely on the coaching staff but um you know i think the [17:50] goal from the uh outset of of the offseason was to build a deep and competitive quarterback room [17:55] and i think that was executed uh nolan charlie walter st paul pioneer press uh what was that [18:07] apparently you sent a lot of letters to teams and asking for an opportunity what was that like when [18:14] you all the rejections and your perseverance to continue well there weren't as many rejections it was [18:23] just nobody replied um i i it's what i wanted to do it's what i've always been passionate about [18:32] and um and with the support of my wife and support of my friends um and family it was it was easy to [18:39] continue to to pursue it and it's worth it yeah they did now i guess over no um alec lewis athletic um [18:56] what is the genesis of your football passion like from your the earliest time you can remember yes [19:05] just a football family i mean uh football is what brought my you know my dad and brother and i [19:12] closer so uh the genesis genesis of that is um playing competing in the yard watching football [19:18] growing up and it's just it's just been instilled in me from a young age nolan you talked a little bit [19:29] about um kevin o'connell obviously in 2024 you faced this team you saw his offense and how it operated [19:36] i'm just curious if you could go into more detail about what you see from him and how you plan on [19:42] kind of making uh you know the synergy between you and kevin right away yeah i mean the there's an [19:49] element of there is only so much football but when i talked about kevin being an elevator an elevator i [19:55] meant just that you know as a play caller i've admired his career from afar i think a really good [20:00] example of that is when he was in washington and there was a coaching change he remained in washington so [20:06] people have been seeing what he's capable of for a very long time then he goes to la had the [20:11] opportunity to compete against him and um i think he's a premier head coach in this in this league [20:18] what's your plan as well when it comes to and i know this might take some time but as far as [20:23] evaluation of like who's in the building as far as your scouting staffs pro personnel [20:27] college things like like that um how do you see that playing out just as far as evaluating [20:34] those folks and and potentially bringing in some people that share your philosophy how do you see [20:40] that going i don't know if i would get into depth in terms of of staffing or anything in that regard [20:46] because i haven't been here um to to assess the people that are here but i know there's a lot of [20:51] strong um evaluators and and a really strong football operation in place so um i would leave it at that [20:58] hi nolan emily leiker with the star tribune i'm curious how you would describe your leadership [21:08] style and maybe how it evolved during your time in seattle yeah there's an element of of by example [21:16] but really at its foundation at its core is i want to put people in position to do what they do best and [21:21] then allow them to do it and we want to put them in those positions as often as possible nolan going [21:28] back to the quarterback for just a second you dealt with uh russell wilson obviously sam donald probably [21:33] two different personalities what is the quarterback's role and based on what you've seen uh two different [21:39] super bowl champions uh in terms of the culture that they create inside it how important is it [21:44] and what do they have to be yeah as i was raised in this league uh the the quarterback and the head [21:52] coach are the two most important people in the building and so we're going to build our operation [21:56] and our foundation around supporting them so that they can be the best versions of themselves at all [22:00] times you know and what what did you feel um over on your right what did you feel was most important [22:09] as you guys transition um from core to core without bottoming out in seattle from a roster [22:16] perspective i think understanding what you have in the building and built and you know building around [22:23] that right so just understanding uh having a really good understanding of what your strengths are [22:28] and then continuing to uh to build around that um while being responsible in free agency and and [22:35] concentrating on um building to the draft and supplementing the roster through free agency is [22:39] probably a better way to say that and mark uh kind of similar question for you along those lines [22:47] how much did that resonate with you guys during this process that he was part of a regime that won [22:52] a super bowl was able to pivot from that team without really ever bottoming out and then was able to do [22:57] it again with a totally different core but i like i said earlier i think uh a lot of respect for the seattle [23:04] seahawks organization john schneider the whole team over there the coach um so yes that did have a factor [23:10] to play in it but again uh that's got to be along with the person and i think the way nolan carries [23:15] himself like i said his football acumen his devotion to process and and and working with others i think [23:22] all of that combines so yes it was a factor well a couple more questions here hi nolan kevin c for [23:30] dspn um just curious more typically the general manager starts in january and jumps right into free agency [23:36] and draft and it's kind of hectic and i'm sure it will be hectic now but i'm curious like to the extent [23:42] that you can like how do you foresee these next few months going in terms of your ramping up and [23:48] does it allow you to do that at a different level and speed than if you had jumped in here [23:54] in january and gone straight into free agency and all that yeah i think you could say the timing is [23:59] unique but um you know this job is going to present challenges regardless of the time of year [24:05] um so we're gonna you know operate within the the time frame that we're given um again i'm going to [24:11] assess the roster in its entirety and then we're really getting prepared for the fall cycle on the [24:15] college side and then the roster reduction on the pro side as opposed to the draft and immediate free [24:20] agency