New Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry this week answered a variety of questions from Redskins fans about his philosophies and plans for the unit on *Redskins Nation *with host Larry Michael:

Eddie in Laurel, Md.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Barry. What would you say is the reasons for the defensive stats of the Lions, and how do you think you could improve upon the current Redskins defense?"

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Barry:**
"Good question. The past is the past, so I'm going to kind of leave that there, but the thing with the current roster – you know, yesterday was my first day on the job. So I'm still getting to know the roster. I'm excited about the current players that we have. I am really, really jacked and excited about Scot McCloughan (and) what he is going to bring to our team from a personnel standpoint with the guys we're going to add via free agency, via draft. I think it's going to be unbelievable. So I think that's a great question. I'd like to maybe revisit that question, you know, after I get a week on the job, maybe not a day and a half. But I tell you what: the guys that we have under contract right now I'm really excited about, and I think we've got a chance to do great things, no question."

Ronnie in Lake Lubganore, Md.
"What are the top three areas of improvement on the defense? … What differentiates you from your predecessor? How do you feel you are different?"

Barry:
"I think stats can be a little bit misleading at times. I think the No. 1 stat that you have to look at is do you win games? You know, that's the bottom line. I know, defensively, something that we're going to preach to our players (is) the three main stats are obviously points: we've got to limit our opponent to one less point than our offense scores. So that's the No. 1 stat, bottom line – points. The other two that are huge are red zone – you've got to play great red zone defense. Teams are going to get down there no matter if they drive the ball, no matter if you unfortunately have a turnover – teams are going to get down into the red zone. The key thing is to keep them to field goal attempts. If you get down in the red zone five times and you hold them to five field goals, that's a good thing. So red zone stats, huge, very important, and then finally third down. If you can get off the field on third down, that means you're getting their offense off the field, you're giving your offense the ball back. So points, red zone, third down – that's what you need to concentrate on. Those are going to be big situational football aspects."

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Travis (location not specified):*
*"Mr. Barry, first of all congratulations. However, why do you think you were the best man for the job?"

Barry:"Well, I think that's a great question for Coach Gruden. But my big thing, I know when I came and I interviewed, my big thing is I wanted to represent Joe Barry. You know, I think you can't get hung up with 'Did you beat this guy out; were you not better than…' I, personally, I don't worry about that. I came in here, and I wanted to represent myself, I wanted to blow their doors off when I came in on the interview, and it was a long process. It really was. But at the end of the day, I know when I got that phone call from Jay and from Bruce, I was excited out of my mind. I know one thing: I'm excited to be a Redskin."

Larry in Loudoun County, Va.:
"With all of the different other coordinators that were interviewed, did you have some trepidation, you're saying, 'Well, when are they going to call me? What's going on here?'"

Barry:"No, again, another thing, Larry, you're going to find out about me: I don't worry about that stuff. You know, I worry about things that I can control, and I obviously had no control – the only thing I had control over was to come in, represent myself, interview well, show that I can handle the job and do a great job with it, and I did that."

Rasual in Springfield, Va.
"Since you're going gap control 3-4, do you believe that you can bring a gap control defense with your résumé from Detroit?"

Barry:
"I think I used the phrase (that) I spent the last seven years kind of reinventing myself. The last four I was in San Diego, and I think that was the best thing for me because I got out of my comfort zone. I went to a 3-4 team, I learned the 3-4. I learned a completely different aspect of football than what I had been doing for the previous 15 years. So I think that we're going to bring an exciting, aggressive, attacking style defense, and that's, again, something that if you looked at Joe Barry 10 years ago, that's not what I was. So this is kind of the new and improved version. So that's what I'm excited about for our fans to be able to see as we build this thing."

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