“Do we have issues?” Del Rio asked me above the din of the party.
“Not really,” I answered, “I was going to drop you a note to ask you the same question.” But I thought it was only fair to let him know of my concerns regarding his media persona
“I just think Jack, when somebody asks a thoughtful, serious question, they deserve a thoughtful, serious answer,” I added, “And I don’t think you always did that.".
“I need to work on that,” Del Rio admitted. “I’m somebody who identifies what I’m not good at and tries to improve it. We’ll be making some changes in how we deal with the media in the future, and it will be better.”

We went on to talk about how it could be better, in what I thought was a very positive discussion.

Dealing with the media is part of the job when you’re in the public eye, and as the head coach of an NFL team, it’s the only way the ticket buying public hears what you have to say everyday. The dealing with the media part of the job is something nobody seems to be prepared for, and they come to the table with a preconceived notion that it’s always going to be a negative experience. So it sets up an adversarial relationship from the start, and it goes downhill from there.

Most everybody agrees that if Tom Coughlin had figured out how to put a more human face on each day when he stood in front of the camera, he’d probably still be the head coach of the Jaguars. But he couldn’t, or wouldn’t adjust to that part of the job.

Del Rio learned under Brian Billick, who is famous for his disdain for the media in general. Billick was part of the PR department in the league early in his career, and formed his opinions of the media then. Del Rio’s experience dealing with the media came as a player, which is a whole different ball game than how the coach gets the team’s message out everyday. And it doesn’t have to be that hard. Sure, there will be stupid questions, and some reporters have axes to grind all the time, but disarming them is simple.

Del Rio identified a few places where they’re going to try and bolster the roster before next season. As expected, defensive back, rush end and outside linebacker were three positions where Del Rio said the teams needs help. Don’t be surprised if they look for a corner in free-agency, and try to work on the other two positions in the draft. As far as offense goes, right now it looks like Kyle Brady will be coming back. He’s due a roster bonus of more than $1 million on March 1st and the Jaguars are planning on paying it. They’d also like to do something at wide receiver, and there’s even talk they’ll use their first round pick, the 9th overall, to fill that position. The draft is the final weekend in ‘April.