New head coach Julie Plank promises to bring a different attitude to the Mystics bench in 2009. NBAE/Getty Images

With Thursday's naming of longtime WNBA assistant Julie Plank as the Washington Mystics' new head coach, the franchise had its fourth leader in the last year and a half, following Richie Adubato, Tree Rollins and former assistant Jessie Kenlaw.

But combined with the hiring just two weeks earlier of new general manager Angela Taylor, it's clear that Washington's new boss is not the same as the old boss. This new duo is part of a sea change within the organization designed to return the team to the perennial playoff contender it had been over the last several seasons.

WNBA.com's Adam Hirshfield spoke Thursday with Plank, a former assistant with Minnesota and Indiana, to get her take on the Mystics' new leadership, potential offseason roster changes and her hopes for the 2009 season.

Dot-com: Between this week's Presidential election and your hiring by the Mystics, there is plenty of change coming to Washington these days. How do you feel about being a part of this new regime in the nation's capital?

Plank: I think it's exciting. It's an exciting time in D.C. It's amazing how Obama got so many people around the country to rally behind him. It's very significant and it was very impressive.

Hiring me to coach the Mystics isn't a change on quite the same level, but I'm hoping to do something similar with this franchise: bring in quality people and bring a lot of excitement and success to this Mystics organization.

Dot-com: This is your first head coaching job in WNBA after many years as an assistant in Indiana and Minnesota. How will this be different from the assistant jobs you've held?

Plank: I've had a lot of responsibility as an assistant coach. Fortunately, the head coaches I've worked for have allowed me to do a lot of things and take on a lot of tasks and that's benefited me tremendously. The opportunity here in D.C. to work with (new general manager) Angela Taylor -- who I am very familiar with and have a lot of confidence in -- was very much a deciding factor for me. Talking to Sheila (Johnson, the Mystics president and managing partner) and Ted (Leonsis, the Mystics chairman) and (COO) Greg Bibb… it was just a great fit for me in terms of what they're looking to do here in Washington. I'm very excited.

Dot-com: What does it mean for you to be tasked with the retooling of a team like this? Like Obama, it must be very exciting to get this new position, but many say you have lots of issues to deal with right off the bat?

Plank: I do think there are a lot of issues to be dealt with, but I don't feel like we're starting from scratch. Despite all of the recent changes with the Mystics, they've always been competitive. I think they have a lot to offer. I like a lot of the players. I think the D.C. area is a terrific draw for prospective players. And I really don't feel like the cupboard's bare. It's ripe for a winner… from the franchise to the fans to the entire community. There's a lot of support here, and I'm looking forward to being a part of that.

Dot-com: How do you jump right into the Mystics fray this offseason? What are your plans? Is there a lot of scouting on your agenda? Are you heading overseas to check out your current players and to scout some others?

Plank: We're sitting down soon to really evaluate our players and figure out what we think of them and the role they can play with our team moving forward. Obviously, we have to hire a staff and bring in some people who complement me and my style as a coach and who can work well with our players. I'll definitely head overseas to meet with our players and watch them play and to scout the other talent over there. Then, of course, we'll also watch college players and practices to see what the draft might have to offer. I'll be on the road a lot.

Dot-com: You mentioned bringing in coaches to fill out your staff. Does this mean Crystal Robinson and former interim coach Jessie Kenlaw won't be staying on as assistants? Are you planning on going after some new faces to usher in this new regime with you?

Plank: I haven't yet made any decisions about a staff. I've always liked Crystal Robinson as a player and I'd definitely be interested in talking with her and Jessie. But I don't have any definite plans yet. I'm going to talk to some people and take my time and figure out who will work best with me and who is going to help this franchise win.

Dot-com: Let's take a look at the current Mystics roster. With the late-season trade of Taj McWilliams-Franklin to Detroit for Tasha Humphrey, Shay Murphy and a draft pick, is it fair to say that there's a youth movement going on in Washington?

Plank: I think we have some quality young players on the team. I'm really excited about Tasha Humphrey. She had a great rookie season in Detroit and then for the last 10 games here in Washington. Crystal Langhorne, too, had a very solid rookie year.

But I don't feel like our team is going to be totally young. We'll have some veteran players back and we'll also be looking at free agency and trades to add experience in a few areas. We just need to figure out exactly what we need and how we're going to go about putting it together.

Dot-com: Are there players on the roster now who you want to build around? Alana Beard has been an All-Star caliber player for a couple of years. Tasha Humphrey, like you said, showed a lot of promise last season. Is Crystal Langhorne one of those players as well? Who do you see as being the cornerstones of this team right now?

Plank: I think it's a little early for me to answer that. I still need to meet with Alana and all of our players to get to know them and discuss with them what their goals are and what they're looking to do. Alana Beard is a great player. She has tremendous ability and is a legitimate All-Star in this league. She will be throughout her career. I'm really excited to meet and talk with her and see how her goals fit in with mine.

I don't think any decisions have been made, but I like some of the pieces that are here. I think the key, though, is not just focusing on the five starting players. We have to look at the whole team and figure out how to put it all together so that we can win games.

Dot-com: What kind of scheme or style do you hope to bring to this team? Is there a Julie Plank trademark that you're looking to instill?

Plank: I think I'll bring a blue-collar mentality to this team… an intensity… a sense of playing together. I love being around players and I want to build a great chemistry here. It's about winning and putting the pieces together, but I also want to build something special. I want players to enjoy their experience here, but I want players who really want to be here, who want to work together and play together. I'm very intense and demanding and I expect a lot, not just from our players from our staff and myself as well.

Dot-com: I understand that it's still early and that there's still plenty of assessing to be done, but how important are the draft and free agency to getting you going in the right direction for 2009? Are there specific pieces you feel you'll be looking to add this offseason?

Plank: I definitely feel like we'll look to the draft and to free agency to improve. We have a lottery pick and there are some great players coming out of college this year, so I feel that we'll get a very solid player who can contribute right away. And with free agency, sure, any time you can make your roster better, you're going to do that. So we'll look at the players available and, like I said, we have a lot to sell (potential free agents on) here in D.C.

Sheila and Ted want to do it right. Obviously, I've worked with Angela quite a bit, but the more I've been here, the more excited I get about getting started.

Dot-com: How do you feel the team can improve on the court in 2009? What specifically do the Mystics need to do better?

Plank: I just look at the entire product and say, yeah, we need to improve both offensively and defensively. I really want to build a nucleus… a core group of players that can stay together for the next three, four, five years. That's really important to the success of any team. The teams that have won in this league have had that kind of consistency. The Mystics haven't really established that to this point, so I want to establish who those core players are and start building around them.

Dot-com: What are your goals for the next season? Are the playoffs a realistic possibility?

Plank: My ultimate goal is to win a championship. I don't know how fast that will come here, but next season, the playoffs would be exciting. That's an achievable goal for next year. When I was at Minnesota this past year, we played Washington twice late in the season. They were playing like a playoff team and, in fact, were close to grabbing that fourth spot in the East. So this team is very close and I feel that reaching the playoffs is a goal that's very attainable.