On the Cowboys' final offensive drive: "Oh it was a good drive, it was a good drive. I think the most important thing for us to do in this ball game was just hang in there. I thought our defense did an outstanding job throughout the ball game. They defended the run, they defended the pass, they kept the score down. Offensively, we didn't do very much throughout the game. We were fighting and scratching and clawing and trying to put something together. It didn't really happen, but the biggest thing that we've talked to our football team, really about, since day one is you gotta keep playing. You gotta keep fighting, you gotta fight through the adversities that happen each and every day, each and every game just try to come out the other end of it. I thought that was a good example of it that last drive. Defense made a big stop, we got great field position coming back, converted some third downs, and then obviously made the big play for the touchdown. So I think it was a real testament to the guys on our football team to hang in there first defensively, from their execution standpoint, really keeping us in the ball game. And then offensively, just hang in there enough to do what we need to do to win the game."
On QB Stephen McGee: "I think the same thing applies to Stephen. I mean obviously, everything wasn't going smoothly for us offensively in the passing game in particular, but he hung in there. He's shown us the last couple weeks that he can handle different situations playing quarterback. He mentally was into it, I think emotionally he handled himself well. He made some good decisions. One of the biggest things that can happen to a young quarterback is you feel some frustration in the game and you go try to do something, and invariably that ends up in creating a turnover or some negative things happening. He just kinda hung in there, kept trying to execute, used his feet when he needed to, and then gave us a real good chance to win the game at the end of it."
On how the team responded to him as a head coach:"It's not really for me to decide that. I know what we tried to get accomplished, to come in and lay out some expectations about how we wanted to do things really on a daily basis, and what our approach was going to be. And I know they responded to that and they did that. I thought we practiced well and I thought we fought hard in the games and gave ourselves a chance to win each Sunday."
On what's next for him now that the season has concluded:"Well I'm gonna shower off, we're gonna fly back to Dallas and we're gonna clean up the season tomorrow morning. We have a team meeting at 9:00."
On the rumors that he has been hired as the head coach for next year:"Yeah, that's not for now. We'll talk about that later, but really what I want to do is just wrap up this ball game."
On how it feels to finish with a win:"Oh it's a good feeling, it's a good feeling. The guys have worked hard, guys have worked very hard and we put ourselves in a hole this season. It's hard, sometimes, in the NFL to dig yourself out of those holes. And as a coach, and our coaching staff, we showed appreciation to our players in terms of how they approached where we were and how we fought through that. We were a 1-7 football team and sometimes it's easy to throw your arms up and say 'Hey it wasn't our year.' But our guys came to work every day, came to play every Sunday, and they battled. It wasn't perfect by any means, and we'll try to continue to clean those things up to help us be a better football team, but their approach and how they fought and how they competed is something I will always have great respect for."
On how much he would like to coach the Cowboys in the future: "I would absolutely love to be this team's coach."
On LB DeMarcus Ware: "I'll tell you what, every time I looked up, 94 was making a play. He put tremendous pressure on their quarterback, he showed up in the run game, created turnovers, I think he ran a touchdown in. And not only was he making these plays, but sometimes when you do that, you cause them to do things that maybe they don't want to do. They're leaving a tight end in, they're leaving another back in, and he just showed up all day long. And again, it's really a credit to who he is. We've talked about his physical ability, that certainly is apparent, but his approach, how he competes, is what was on display today and it was really impressive."
On if this success will carry over into next year: "Oh I think you always look at the positive things and you try to build on those and look and the negative things and try to rectify those. And we do that every week when we play games and we'll certainly do that over the course of this season. They're certainly were some positive things that we can build on."
On if he feels good about how he handled the responsibilities of a head coach: "Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. They are different responsibilities being a head coach than there is as an offensive coordinator and some of those things I hadn't done before. But you learn what those things are and you try to do them to the best of your ability based on your experience and your instinct, and that's what I tried to do."
On if he learned anything about himself during his time as interim head coach:"Oh that's probably a little bit more of a philosophical question than I can probably handle right now. Certainly, again, there are some different responsibilities you have as a head coach and you try to do those things as well as you can do them. And again, you use your experience, you use your instinct. And again, I can only be myself, and do things based on the convictions that I have and that's what I did the last couple months."
On how quickly would he like to know about his future with the Cowboys: "Again, that's not for me to decide, not for right now."
On when it's okay to ask that question: "Oh we'll see. You can always ask the question."
