New Giants coach Brian Daboll takes a timeout to huddle with Post columnist Steve Serby and talk about where he plans to take his team.

Q: What will your standards be?

A: To do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to do it on a consistent basis.

Q: What is your definition of toughness?

A: Well, mental toughness to me is doing the right thing for the team when everything’s not right for you. And physical toughness is the ability to push when you’re tired, when you’re sore … and it’s [the] ability to be aggressive when you gotta be aggressive.

Q: How do you motivate your players?

A: I try to get to know the person and then figure out what makes him tick. Some guys need a hug and other guys need to step on the gas a little bit. I think if you get to know people, and you figure out their personalities. There’s some give-and-take with that, but again, just like you and I are getting to meet each other, the more we talk, the better off we’ll be with each other and the more we’ll know what helps us in terms of motivation, getting us to get going in the right direction.

Q: How many rules will you have?

A: The more rules you have, the more you have to enforce. Be on time and pay attention, we’ll start with those. We’ll have a packet that we put together, but be on time, pay attention, do the right thing and you keep talking to those guys about that over and over.

Q: What won’t you tolerate?

A: Putting yourself ahead of the team. Being disrespectful to people in the organization. For us, we’re going to be detailed and organized. We’re going to treat people right, we’re going to put the team first.

Q: What is the best motivational ploy you’ve witnessed?

A: The one I heard about is from [Bill] Parcells leaving an empty gas tank down there in some of those old guys’ lockers.

Q: What do you want the on-field personality of your team to be?

A: Smart, tough, dependable.

Q: Dependable is spelled “dependaboll,” isn’t it?

A: (Laugh). You’re a witty sonuvabitch!

Q: Why doesn’t New York scare you?

A: I know what we signed up for. And I know the responsibility that I have, and I know the goals that I’m gonna set for myself and for the team and give you everything I got. Look, I understand. I’ve been doing this a long time. And there’s gonna be some ups and downs. You’re gonna take some lumps along the way. I can’t control those things. I don’t think of it in terms of that.

Q: What drove you as a boy and what drives you now?

A: To be the best I can be. My grandparents are two of the most influential people in my life — I’d say Mom, too, I don’t want to leave her out — but they really taught me not to settle … to strive for perfection … to not let anybody tell you that you’re not as good because you don’t have money or anything like that. … You put your head down, you go to work, and you do it because you try to be the best you can be. I’d bring home 97, 98s, my grandmother would get on my ass, “Why wasn’t it a 100?” You’d score a couple of goals in a hockey game, and it’s like, “Well, who scored the other goals?” So, there’s a level of never being satisfied.

Q: Describe your grandmother.

A: She’s everything to me. She’s a homemaker. They were married 64, somewhere around there, years. She had nine brothers and sisters, so she was one of 10. They didn’t have really much growing up, and she’s the matriarch of my family. She had two daughters, one of her daughters had three boys and my mother had me. I lived with her. She was under 40 years old when I was born … 39.

Q: Give me one story about her that you think sums her up.

A: (Laugh) I got a lot of ’em. I talked to her every night. No matter where I was, I’d call her, let her know I was getting home safely by car after our games. After the good games, it was, “You did fine.” But after a tough loss, you’d think that the woman that raised you would give you a hug and put your head on her shoulder — and it was the direct opposite. She’d say: “Sonuvabitch, that was terrible!” I’m like, “Hey Gram, I don’t need to hear that from you!” She would say, “Well, I’m shooting you straight. Sonuvabitch, that wasn’t any good. Your ass better get back to work. Do better next week.”

Q: And your grandfather?

A: He was still snow-plowing sidewalks at 95 years old. And he’d go halfway down our street just so the other people didn’t do it. … There wasn’t a time where he wasn’t there to play catch with me after he worked, take me to my sporting events. Conversely, there wasn’t a time where I had to sit there alone because I had my grandmother. They had dinner at a certain time every night, they were very routine-oriented people. Very, very, very routine-oriented. And I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today without them.

Q: What is the biggest obstacle or personal adversity you had to overcome?

A: Just like anybody else, when you grow up without a dad, that’s, I’d say, at times challenging. People were wondering, “Where’s your dad?” I just had a little bit of a different family dynamic, obviously, being raised by my grandparents. Other than that, I had a blessed childhood.

Q: How did that affect you emotionally when you learned that your father was never in your life?

A: I just was so lucky to have those two people as steady forces. So, I never really thought about him. … Kids would say, “Where’s your dad?” I would just say that I was fortunate to have who I had in my life. It would have gone probably downhill pretty quick if I didn’t.

Q: If you could go back in history and pick the brain of one NFL coach, who would it be?

A: Parcells when I can. … Maybe [Vince] Lombardi.

Q: What would you ask Lombardi?

A: I would ask him about his leadership style … how he motivated players.

Q: What is the best piece of advice Parcells has given you?

A: Be yourself.

Q: Aside from building relationships, how would you characterize your leadership style?

A: I think I’m truthful. … I think that I tell the people that work with me what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. I know the people that I’m working with — and again, each person is a little bit different —you treat everybody fairly, not the same.

Q: What are adjectives you would use to describe Brian Daboll?

A: That’s a tough question. You’re asking somebody a question like that, you come across as not humble. … I would say disciplined in my approach. … I would say demanding. … I’d say passionate.

Q: Is there anyone who embodies all the traits of your ideal football player?

A: For what position?

Q: How about quarterback?

A: I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of good ones, and the thing that I’ve learned is they’re all a little bit different. I’m not putting them in the same categories, I’m just saying the guys that I’ve been around — obviously, Tom [Brady] and Josh [Allen]. And I’d say [Brett] Favre.

Q: How about offensive line?

A: Joe Thomas … Nick Mangold … Alan Faneca … Logan Mankins.

Q: What are the traits that are common to those guys?

A: They’re smart and they’re tough. And they do a great job of communicating. You gotta see the game through the same set of eyes. A lot of people working in conjunction with one another. It’s a difficult position when you’re putting them all together.

Q: What are the best lessons you learned under Bill Belichick?

A: Man, I could write a book in that regard. … It’s your job as a coach to tell the players what to do, show ’em how to do it, and make sure we’re not making excuses. Give the players every advantage you can as a coach.

Q: Who are coaches in other sports you admire?

A: Phil Jackson — how he handled all the different personalities. Dean Smith, Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Geno Auriemma.

Q: Who are athletes in other sports you admire?

A: Let’s start with [Michael] Jordan. Growing up, there wasn’t a basketball team in Buffalo, but I was lucky enough to grow up in the time when Jordan was playing. Just an unbelievable competitor … winner … leader … just great to watch. Wayne Gretzky would be another one. Tiger Woods. … Let’s go with L.T. [Lawrence Taylor], too — a dominating force changed the game defensively.

Q: Tom Coughlin, whatever comes to mind.

A: Super Bowl winner.

Q: Tom Brady.

A: Super Bowl winner. A lot of ’em, a lot of ’em. … I just have so much respect for him. I have a great relationship with him. … He’s a champion. He’s a champion.

Q: Chad Pennington.

A: Intelligent … great friend … and great leader.

Q: Eric Mangini.

A: Great friend … extremely smart. … I’d say I owe him a lot.

Q: Matthew Stafford.

A: Good person … very happy for him.

Q: What do you remember about Super Bowl XLII?

A: I was watching it on TV. [David] Tyree’s catch. Eli [Manning] escaping the rush. … I remember players executing under extreme pressure.

Q: You’ve chatted with Eli?

A: I just reached out to him and just wanted to introduce myself. It wasn’t a long talk, and I told him to come over anytime to sit down and talk to him.

Q: Would you go on the “Manningcast”?

A: Absolutely, I would — unless it happened the way it happened this year when every sonovagun who went on there lost the next week.

Q: Boyhood idol?

A: My grandfather.

Q: How about in sports?

A: Probably Jordan.

Q: What’s it like having six kids?

A: (Laugh) How many you got?

Q: I’ve got one stepdaughter and that’s it.

A: OK. Well, it’s busy. Let’s just say there’s never a dull moment at our house.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Breakfast Club.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Denzel [Washington].

Q: Favorite actress?

A: Sandra Bullock.

Q: Favorite singer or entertainer?

A: Biggie.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: A nice ribeye.

Q: Favorite comedian?

A: Probably [Jerry] Seinfeld.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Both of my grandparents. The thing that you gotta know about me is I grew up a certain way. Look, I loved sports, I loved playing sports. … I loved the Giants, watching L.T. and [Phil] Simms and [Mark] Bavaro. … I loved the Bills with Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. But that never drove me. I’d give anything to get those two people I lost back to have one more dinner. The third one would be my wife’s mother. I never met her.