· Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey
· Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown
· Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
· Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard
· Tight Ends Coach George Godsey
· Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall
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Tight Ends Coach George Godsey
(I wanted to ask you, you guys made a lot of changes on the coaching staff as a whole – I guess Head Coach Brian Flores did – and you’re one of the people who came back. How have you guys started to try to gel as a staff despite having to have all that separation because of COVID-19?) – “It’s something that every year we have to deal with, but it’s definitely a good observation. The players go through their chemistry. We as coaches go through our chemistry, too, so putting everybody on the same page as far as what day-to-day operations are but also the communication; for example at the tight end position, there’s communication with the line coach. Obviously with the coordinator, how he sees things through his lens. So we’ve had our share of meetings and it’s been good. We can’t high five each other, but we’ve gotten enough information. We’ve taken a lot of notes and we’ve had a lot of good feedback back and forth, so yeah, it’s an obstacle – not being there to maybe go to have a two-minute meeting in the hallway, but we’ve definitely put some time invested throughout the day to get on that same page.”
(I wanted to ask you about TE Adam Shaheen in terms of what was it that you saw from him when he was added to your unit and how do you view him as a potential help for this offense?) – “Adam, we try to evaluate all the tight ends – or at least I have just throughout my career. I was in Detroit for a little bit, so I was able to see him, but also he’s got great range from a length standpoint and size. He’s had his issues trying to stay on the field. I think that’s part of the NFL, so he’s a young prospect that is ascending. He’s very motivated in these meetings. We’ve had some extra time, too, to make sure that he’s getting caught up. Ideally with a new player, we’d go through the spring portion and then now we’re into the fall portion and it’s kind of just maybe the second or third time he’s heard things, so he’s got some work cut out for him mentally, but he’s up for the challenge. The guy’s been productive in the pass game and like I said, his length against NFL defensive ends or outside ‘backers that are on the line of scrimmage, that’s a valuable piece to have; so we can’t coach that part, but we can definitely catch him up to speed and then it’s up to him to get open in the passing game.”
(What has it been like having Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey coming out of retirement, being away from football? What kind of sense do you get from him about how he’s feeling about being back around football?) – “Football is for all of us – it’s pretty much in our blood. It is what we do. Chan has a lot of experience at all different type of levels – head coach, coordinating, college, pro – so he has an excellent perspective on what everybody’s going through from each position. He’s answered a lot of those questions that maybe come up in our meetings. He’s had a million of those discussions with a bunch of different staffs that he’s been a part of, so it’s a good perspective. I look at it as a huge opportunity for me to kind of get that knowledge to keep growing as a coach. He’s very open to providing his perspective and he wants to know about how we see the players, so that stuff’s been great and I really enjoy the day to day.”
(I wanted to follow up on the question about TE Adam Shaheen. How is he working on the line and do feel comfortable with what you have in the tight end unit in terms of guys who can work on the line in Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey’s offense?) – “I think there’s going to be a lot of versatility with these guys, not only as a – I call it a ‘point-of-attack tight end’ when you’re actually on the line – but as a move guy. You used to end up being the spot but off the line where now you have multiple things that you can do. (We are) looking for versatility in that and we have a lot of guys in this group, guys returning from Durham (Smythe) to Chris (Myarick) who was on the practice squad last year, and Adam (Shaheen) provides the same thing, so we’re looking to kind of diversify as much as we can and maybe not be one-dimensional with one particular guy; but we’re going to always put the guys that are – what they emphasize as far as positives in their skillset and put them on the field. Now’s the time to really see that. You’d like to have a little bit of a spring background like I said before, but it is what it is and those guys are going to have to perform in maybe one or two reps as opposed to five or six reps that if you kind of add it through the two different phases of the practice formats.”
(I wanted to ask you about TE Mike Gesicki real quick. When you look at his first half of last year on tape versus the way he dominated in the latter portion of the season, what was the change?) – “I know we spoke about this to a degree – a small degree – last year. He put an emphasis on his practice habits. We say practice execution is more game reality, so if you can get out there and practice at a high level and go against high-level competition so going against that first-team defense, maybe taking a show team rep – I would say ‘dropping the shield,’ so to say as a pro, like get out there and be a show team guy and go against good competition. And he put time into that, got some extra time with ‘Fitzy’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) as far as seeing, running routes so that he could see it the same way as a quarterback. That’s a hard thing to do, too, especially where he is in his career. Every quarterback sees things differently and so making sure you’re on the same page with them, it’s not necessarily the same thing as just running a route, ‘hey, I caught it.’ That may still not be the correct way that he’s looking at it or the actual detailed way. He became more of a communicator with the quarterbacks and I think that was part of his production increase – how to look at it that way from a passing game standpoint.”
(Just wanted to ask you about two of the young guys – with TE Chris Myarick what skills did you see last year that intrigued you and what about TE Bryce Sterk was it that made you want to make him your defensive end to tight end project?) – “First with Chris – Chris is a very good pro. He comes in to work and is prepared. He’s a physical player. He’s worked to maintain a higher weight to be more productive as a point-of-attack tight end, but he also has some of those off-the-line characteristics to be able to do some two-back stuff whether it’s slicing back on a defensive end or insert for a ‘backer or even pass protection. He runs through his mistakes, but he corrects them and moves on so we like how Chris practiced last year and he practiced with good effort and those are the things that we look for. Then on Bryce – from Bryce’s standpoint, this is a physical guy. He’s a strong, heavy-handed guy that obviously there’s some technique things that we’re working on and we’re trying to have the attitude of improve every day. We know that no spring for a rookie that’s transitioning is a very difficult position to be in, but he’s open to learning. Being an offensive player that played defense, there’s a good perspective there just like from a coaching standpoint if you coached defense, coaching on offense. Those things can help him with his blocks – knowing exactly ‘hey, this defensive end is not going to rip inside. He’s going to be a contain player.’ So those are subtle things that can help him and like I said, he’s a bigger tight end that we’re going to have the size technique especially starting with the blocking first.”
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Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown
(My first question is about the collaboration of the diverse backgrounds of the offensive staff and the experiences you guys have both at the college and pro level, as well as the different titles and different grouping on the offensive side. Is that kind of the same thinking with the coaching staff that Head Coach Brian Flores has for his players and guys that are versatile and multiple?) – “I think if you have a ton of different experiences, I think that helps you in anything that you do, no matter what line of work you’re in. As players, yes that helps if a guy can do two things. It always does. Some guys can and some guys can’t. But yes, it does help if you can do more than one thing to keep what you’re trying to do away from everybody.”
(I wanted to ask you your initial thoughts when the name QB Tua Tagovailoa was announced on draft night, and how much have you been impressed by him over the last few months?) – “Well, as you know, everything has been virtual and walk-throughs. He hadn’t gotten on the field yet. I hadn’t seen him live and in person throwing the football. It’s a deal where he’s just like every other rookie. He’s just got to come in and learn. What we’re trying to do first, the first thing you have to do is learn what you’re doing as an offense and then it expands to ‘okay, what’s the defense trying to do to us,’ and that kind of stuff. But he’s just like every other guy – a rookie trying to come in and learn that, and learn it as fast as possible. Of course, it’s a little bit accelerated during this training camp. It’s a different process than it would have been had you had OTAs and all of that stuff.”
(As a coaching staff, you guys have three guys between Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander, Outside Linebackers Coach Austin Clark and Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile who are now in the NFL with no prior NFL experience having gone straight from college. With you having gone through that transition before from college to the NFL, what do you think are some challenges those three might have to navigate as a coaching staff, and how you’ll be able to help them adapt?) – “I think it’s different for every guy, it’s different for every positon. Like me, I came in as a quality control in New York and then went back to West Virginia last year. It’s different for every single position. If I’d come in from college and jumped straight to the quarterbacks in terms of what offense I’d been in, that would’ve been different. So it was good for me to go through the quality control process. I don’t think it’s the same at every position. I think every guy is different, every position is different, and some people can make the jump better than others. It definitely is a transition – or it was for me, I can’t speak for them – but it was for me in 2015 when I made that transition.”
(I know you mentioned earlier that accelerated offseason with the quarterbacks. Obviously that position seems to have to know more than every other group. How much is realistic to ask for a guy like QB Tua Tagovailoa when you first get him on the field, and how quickly can you go through that process given how unusual this offseason is?) – “I think – again the same answer as before about the different coaches moving – every guy is different. It’s really hard to tell until you actually get on the field and go through the practices, see how much they have retained from the virtual OTAs to the meetings now, to the walkthroughs, and then you kind of adjust it as you go. It’s really hard to tell. Some guys pick up certain things quicker than others and some guys catch other things a little bit slower. It’s really hard to tell until you get out there and the bullets start flying, and you see how much a guy retained mentally. Guys learn differently. It’s really a different process for each individual until you get out there, no matter who it is – whether it’s a rookie quarterback or a rookie DB, it’s different for every guy.”
(As a young coach, what was your reaction to Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey coming out of retirement to take this thing on?) – “(laughter) I’ve known Coach (Gailey) for a long time. I’ve gone through the whole process with him. I was a walk-on quarterback for him at Georgia Tech and then I stayed there for a little while as a volunteer-type GA person, because there wasn’t a spot on the field. Then I got a GA job, then I worked for him as a quality control. So I’ve kind of lived the whole professional life with him. He’s been a mentor of mine in a lot of ways. He’s never changed as a person. I had no clue that, that was a possibility. I was – I wouldn’t say shocked, because he is a football guy, he’s always loved the first down. I wouldn’t say shocked, but I had no idea it was coming or that he was going to do that.”
(This is the second time in four years that you’ve been the coach of a top five quarterback coming into the league. QB Sam Darnold obviously back in 2018 I think. What did you learn from that experience that you can apply to this one?) – “When we had Sam, I had moved to defense as a defense quality control. I did watch that process and like I said, every guy is different. I don’t know how much you can compare Sam Darnold to Tua (Tagovailoa) or their experiences. That is something you’d have to ask Sam, who is in year three. But seeing him come in, there was a lot of hype around him and I think you have to manage each person differently. Like I said, the first step is learning what we do offensively and that’s what we’re trying to do with him now. That’s what we’re trying to do with Josh Rosen – learning our offense. That’s what we’re trying to do – learn what we do then learn what everybody else is doing. That’s the first thing you’ve got to do as a quarterback is know what we’re doing and what each individual on the offense is doing. I don’t know how much you can use those two comparisons. I wasn’t very close to the situation with Sam because I was on the defensive side of the ball.”
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Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(Can you talk about the challenge of trying to prepare for this season with the virus situation?) – “I think every season you have challenges that you have to overcome to be able to get ready and this is just a new and obviously unusual one for us. But we’re taking it day by day and literally with this new group of running backs, just a chance to get them in here, for me it’s sweet. We have a lot of things to do and I’m just trying to get these guys ready and get them ready for walk-throughs today and get out there and taking it as we go. I think the challenge with this COVID is unique to everybody and we’ll adapt and adjust whatever way we need to, to get our team ready.”
(Can you talk about the running backs you have, the new guys. We haven’t seen them play here. What can you tell us about them?) – “I haven’t seen them play yet either, so I’m excited about that. (Laughter) No, we’re excited about the addition of Jordan Howard, his experience, being in two different places and what he brings here. He’s a smart guy. He’s been able to pick things up so far, and what we’re talking about – teaching concepts. You love his size. He’s got good feet for a big back. He’s got good vision. I think he’ll have a chance to be a physical presence for us, as well as effective in the pass game with what we’re asking for. Matt Breida obviously with his experience, his speed. You see his burst and quickness early on as soon as he touches the field, so we’re excited about him. We don’t know what these guys will be able to do or contribute yet because we don’t have all of our installs in as far as what we’ve done with them on the field as a whole group, as a veteran group. We certainly haven’t done it in pads yet. Right now it’s kind of exciting because the potential is really out there for what we can see, what they can do and what we can build from.”
(I know since you’ve been here, you guys have run a multi-back system, or at least tried to while you’ve been healthy. How do you see – I know it’s early – RB Jordan Howard and RB Matt Breida’s skillset maybe balancing each other off and being able to maybe offset each other?) – “I don’t know that that’s what it is yet. We haven’t determined that yet. We’ve still got to see how this thing plays out. If it is those two guys, then we’ll figure out whatever the best situation is for the team and what gives us the best chance to be successful on Sunday. It may be a combination of something else that isn’t out there yet. We don’t know. Right now, we’re getting them ready to get ready for their opportunity to prove what they can do, and then once we see what they can do, we’ll establish whatever that role is for them and see how this thing is going to contribute to our production and our success going forward.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage, last season 1.9 yards per average is not very impressive; but what do you think went wrong last season and how can it be fixed?) – “Looking back on that, there are things we can look at and study in the offseason, but I’m going forward with Kalen. Kalen is a smart guy, he’s passionate about this, he wants to be good, and I know he wants to improve from that performance and that’s what we’re focusing on going forward. He’s buying into what we’re doing, he’s giving great effort in meetings and on the field. We’ve just got to see how it plays out. I think we’ll take it as what he demonstrates he can do going forward.”
(During the Combine process, I didn’t see any of the Dolphins’ coaches working as hard as you out on the field. Were you disappointed not to have a running back drafted early in the draft? What were your thoughts on immediately getting a player like RB Matt Breida on the second day, or third day?) – “First of all, I appreciate the compliment about working at the Combine. I appreciate that part of it. As far as disappointed about not getting a back in the draft, that process, there are a lot of things that go on in there. We do the evaluations the best we can; but I’ve always approached it as that’s not what I can control. What I can control is coaching the players that are put in my room and however they get in there and whoever gets in that room is going to get coached to be a productive member of our football team and what we need them to do. I don’t worry about what I do or don’t get out of the draft. I’m happy for every player I get, it’s an opportunity to coach, and it’s an opportunity for them to play. Certainly getting a player like Matt Breida – who has been experienced, who has seen some things in the NFL, knows what the game pace is like – getting a chance to get him in here, I’m excited to coach him; but I’m happy for every player that’s in my room. I love all five of those guys.”
(I wanted to ask you about your rotation and when you put that thing together. Do you like to have guys to fulfill specific roles or is it more beneficial to have guys who can do a little bit of everything? How does that approach shape the way this running backs room was put together this offseason?) – “I think the question as far as what we do for roles – we talk about this all the time in our room – I coach these guys to be complete backs. They all have to be able to have the entire skillset, whether that’s running, blocking, catching the ball, evading people, running routes, whatever those things are. They are all coached that way. Now they all do it differently and at a different level. However, the expectation is that you can do that because you never know when you’re going to need one of these guys to step in. Last year is a perfect example with Myles Gaskin and Patrick Laird being our primary backs at the end of the year. They are all coached that way. They determine what their role is in the offense and what’s going to happen. Certainly we have third-down back thoughts, first and second down thoughts; but at the end of the day, whatever combination of those players and what they’ve demonstrated to us during the week and preparation that gives us the best chance to win, those are the roles that we’re going with.”
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Wide Receivers Coach Josh Grizzard
(Obviously you had two guys opt out, in terms of the veterans that left that room. Where are you going to get some veteran leadership from that unit?) – “It’s a good room. These guys that I’ve been around – it’s always moving. We’ve just been having walkthroughs right now, so that’s going to be built through time together. It’s still early. We’ve still got a decent amount of time before the season starts, so those things pretty much progress organically as it goes on.”
(When you look at WR DeVante Parker and WR Preston Williams and obviously what they were able to do together in their eight games last year, how do you think they can build off that – as a duo, coming into this year?) – “It’s a new year. We start over at square one, especially in a new offense. We’re excited for those guys but whatever happened last year is last year. It’s about getting on the same page and meshing and again, going through these walkthroughs and getting accustomed to new verbiage and depths and things like that. We’re excited about it but whatever happened then is then and we’re looking forward to this season.”
(Being an assistant here in the room and having an established relationship and bond with some of the guys, how does that kind of help you understand how to coach each of them and communicate with each of them?) – “It’s good. Being around some of these guys for three or four years, there’s a level of knowledge of what they’re like and what they’re like on day-to-day basis. Then you’re able to just compare things on ‘this is a similar route’ or whatever it might be. It’s been nice. Like I said, I really enjoy being around these guys. They all work. From day to day, it’s a group that brings energy. It’s been fun to be around and I look forward to continuing that as we get more time with these guys.”
(Being around WR DeVante Parker for as long as you have, what do you think was the difference in his elevation of performance last year?) – “We were just happy that he had a good year. I’m happy for DeVante because he worked so hard. I think what happened in the years prior to that were irrelevant to an extent. We were just happy to see the success that he had. I know he was healthy. I’m just excited for him. He’s in a great spot right now. I’m just looking forward to getting out there and seeing these things once we get away from the walkthrough phase and start doing more Phase II and more competitive-type things.”
(I wanted to ask you about the skillsets of two young guys. What did you like about WR Kirk Merritt – you and the front office, what skills stood out? And WR Gary Jennings, do you have any sense of what you have there after only having him healthy for a bit over a week last year?) – “Like you said, Gary was only with us for a short amount of time, so I didn’t get a great look at him last year. Now we’re just back at square one with these guys. It’s a new offense. Again, it’s only been walkthroughs and things of that nature, so it’s ever-evolving in terms of how we see these guys, best fits. Then with Kirk, it’s just going through the process of watching college tape and getting a feel for what his skillset was and the things he had done at the college level that might be able to translate to what we do. To get into the scheme of it or what he does is still a little premature because we haven’t seen these guys do much outside of walk-around. Really for the first two or three months, it was only seeing them through a lens of a camera. It’s just nice to be in person a little bit here.”
(Obviously you lost WR Albert Wilson and WR Allen Hurns to an extent, but what do you ask for maybe that slot-receiver position from guys who may not traditionally be used to playing that position, given your losses?) – “These things change week to week. In terms of the scheme and what you ask from that guy, it could change Week 1 versus Week 3. As we all know, it’s a very year-to-year league. It’s a week-to-week league at the very minimum and right now, it’s hour-to-hour and day-to-day. To say what one week we’re looking for out of a guy, it could change the next. These guys have to be able to adapt, just like we do as coaches, to put them in the best position possible to make plays. That thing can look completely different Week 1 versus Week 3. The ability to adjust is big.”
(I wanted to ask you about – you have some size in that unit. How do you take advantage of that? It seems like Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey’s offense has typically benefitted from a receiver with some size to him.) – “Again with the scheme, it’s going to be very multiple. It’s going to be a balanced attack. It’s going to – from week to week, what do we need to do put these guys in position to make plays and take advantage of the opponent, as well as what we do? It can change. We’re excited about those guys but again, it will be a week-to-week. What do we need to do to win this one game? And then we’ll focus on the next opponent after that.”
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Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall
(I don’t know how much you differentiate between maybe zone scheme and gap scheme but it looked like you guys added a lot of power guys this offseason. Where do you see the direction of your offensive line and what you guys want?) – “We’re going to be multiple. We’ve got good football players up there so that’s where I see it. Right now, we haven’t really even answered that question yet with just walkthroughs and meetings; but we’ll see what direction we go when we start getting the pads on and things like that as far as schematically as far as things like that. We will be multiple in the things that we do. It’s just right now, we’re kind of in the mental phase of it and then we’ll go from there.”
(T Robert Hunt was a guy that basically played tackle in college but there are a lot of people in the NFL that expect or think that he would project well at guard. I know you’re going to probably cross-train him to do both on the right side, but what is your vision for him as a player?) – “Well, Rob Hunt is a great young kid. He’s learning the NFL game, coming from (Louisiana) Lafayette. He’s been a productive player in college. Every day it’s a new adventure for him mentally and what we’re asking him to do. I love the heck out of him and he’s competing his tail off for what we’re asking him to do right now. Again, it’s kind of a question of we’ll see where it all goes. I really like Rob. Rob has a lot of character and is a smart guy. We’ll see where it all plays out.”
(I want to ask you about the whole right-handed versus left-handed quarterback situation that you’re facing now with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and QB Tua Tagovailoa. Beyond the differences and playing style, with the offensive line, how does that change your approach towards coaching the linemen? How does it change the linemen’s approach whether they have a righty or a lefty out there throwing passes?) – “Not really. That’s a great question. Not a whole, whole lot … There’s been a theory saying that if you have a left-hander, the right tackle is the back-side guy and obviously that’s the truth. But at the end of the day, we’re looking for the best five guys. ‘Fitz’ and Tua, one’s right-handed and one’s left-handed. How our scheme all fits, we’ll kind of answer that question as we go schematically. That would be the only difference. The theory is that the right tackle is now the proverbial left tackle when you have a left-handed quarterback; but at the end of the day, you’ve got to have two good tackles at both spots. It’s workable and we’re happy to have both of them.”
(You obviously have two very talented early-round draft picks with T Austin Jackson and T Robert Hunt. Would you feel at all uneasy to start either opening day without being able to see either in a preseason game. Would that cause you any degree of uneasiness?) – “Well, if they were in three preseason games, four preseason games or zero preseason games, it’s the nature of the business when you have rookies playing for the first time in the NFL, that we are going to feel a sense of trepidation and have we done enough to prepare them (to be) ready. No preseason game is like a regular season game. So to answer your question, absolutely. But it wouldn’t change if we were getting ready to play our first preseason game – that’s about this time of year. We’re going to have everybody in the same boat that way. The answer is yes, yes and yes. But I’ll be worried for veteran guys in their first game. There’s definitely – again, like I said, when the first ball game is the New England Patriots on the road, we certainly have a challenge there. Whether you’re a rookie or a four-year guy, my job is to get them prepared to play the best they can play.”
(I wanted to talk to you about the offensive line and gelling those guys up front. What is your approach to getting the best five out there and getting them to gel quickly in this truncated offseason?) – “That’s a nice word – truncated. (laughter) I would assume you’re saying from Zoom and things like that. It’s certainly a challenge and it’s completely different. I’ve coached football for 40 years. There’s a lot of ways to do it and again, that is a challenge. That will be a challenge as we start these walkthroughs and things like that. That’s one of the things that we’re doing is making sure that we’re communicating with each other, not only on the field but off the field; and guys getting to know each other where instead of meeting them through Zoom, they finally get to kind of meet them in person. Yeah, gelling is a big, big term and really, the term gelling is communicating. It’s communicating together as a group and that’s what these Zoom meetings are and these walkthroughs that we’re having. We’re making strides in that regard.”
(I wanted to ask you about G/T Jesse Davis. What are your recollections of him from your brief time together with the Jets? And what is your vision for him on this line, perhaps in terms of the leadership role considering he’s…) – “My recollection of Jesse was a lot. We had Jesse for an extended period of time. You guys know Jesse’s story. He came in as a d-lineman from Idaho, had a brief stop in Seattle and came to New York. We felt very, very good (about him). He was a prospect then. We couldn’t keep him based on numbers at that point, and yes, Jesse has come to Miami and he’s put himself together a heck of a career. He’s one of the greybeards now of the offensive line. Yes, we will lean on Jesse from a leadership standpoint off the field and from a leadership standpoint in these meetings. We’ll see where he goes. Like I’ve said, I’ve known Jesse for a while and have a lot of respect for him and what he’s accomplished as an NFL player.”
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Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey
(If you could share with us what were you doing when the opportunity came for returning to the Dolphins and why did you do it?) – “I have five grandsons and I was watching them play all the sports that they play and going to school events and playing a decent amount of golf for the last three years. So that’s what I’ve been doing. Why I came back? For those of you that know me a little bit, you know that my faith is very strong and after talking with my wife and my kids, we felt like this is something that we ought to do. This is where we ought to be at this time in our life.”
(Kind of following up on that, can you take us through the process of when you got the call and what the thinking was like, and was there a large part of you that thought “I’m done with the NFL, I’m retired for good?”) – “Right at the end of the season, (Head Coach Brian Flores) called and I was kind of taken aback a little bit; but then we talked about it as a family and we just – I had no idea. I didn’t think so, but we just felt like we were being led to do this and so it was something we felt very strong and very excited and very comfortable with.”
(How much was the fact that QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is here and you’ve invested in him more than any other coach in the league do you think was part of the factor why you decided to come out of retirement?) – “I can’t say it was not a factor. It was. Knowing that I would be comfortable with a player that was here – actually more than comfortable, I’m very excited about working with ‘Fitz’ again – that was something that did a play a part. If it had not been a part of it, it might have been a different story. I don’t know.”
(I wanted to ask you just how have you seen maybe your thought process on offense evolve as the game’s evolved over the years and where is your offensive scheme at this point in your career?) – “There’s two things. One thing, we try to stay balanced. I want to be a balanced offense. I want us to be able to run the football and throw the football effectively. That’s really big in the way I see offensive football; and then the next thing is, to me, you adapt to the players that you have. You have to adjust your schemes and see who you have and that sometimes is even on a week-by-week basis and this year, that may be more important than ever, is to have a system in place that you can adjust to make the players that you have be successful. That’s what I’ve always tried to be about, is putting them in position to be successful.”
(How would you describe the role you expect to have in QB Tua Tagovailoa’s development?) – “I don’t know how to answer that exactly. He’s going to develop quickly or slowly depending upon how much he grasps the offense and how quickly he comes and how he develops as a football player; and a lot of that’s based on health. So there’s a lot of factors in there. I hope I have a big impact on it, but you don’t ever know about that. You have to see how fast and how well a player comes on and then you see what he does. We’ll treat him just like we treat everybody else. We’ll try to put him in a position to be successful when the time comes.”
(Every time we ask QB Ryan Fitzpatrick about you and your relationship, there’s a huge smile that comes over his face and he talks about your relationship football-wise but also personally, so I’m curious if you could describe that personal relationship for us and how have you observed Ryan as a mentor in the way that he leads QB Tua Tagovailoa and QB Josh Rosen?) – “Well that’s the one thing about ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) through the years that I’ve had him, and I had him three years in one place and two years in another (place) – totally different situations. He is a team player. He is a team player and he is trying to be the best he can be and be a great player, but at the same time, he shares his knowledge and he shares his experience. That’s what makes him a unique guy. Our relationship is just like most other relationships. There’s times that it’s very, very good and then there’s other times; but through the years, we communicate well. He understands what we’re trying to get done. We try to put him in position to be successful and allow him to use what he does to help us win football games, and I respect him as a competitor, as a person and certainly as a player.”
(I wanted to ask you as you evaluated QB Tua Tagovailoa prior to the draft – the college film and whatnot – what are some of the things in his player toolbox?) – “You look at the success he’s had; obviously he’s a very good leader and you take all those great players that they had at Alabama, it’s got to come together on the field. You can do all the coaching you want, but when they walk out there on the field, the players play. Obviously his leadership and his ability to throw the football, his touch, game management – all of that type of stuff. There were a bunch of good quarterbacks. We could’ve gotten one of several and we were very glad to get Tua.”
(I wanted to ask you about Quarterbacks Coach Robby Brown – it’s the second time now you’ve worked with him. What was it about when you saw him the first time around that convinced you he’d be the right guy to help develop the quarterback room?) – “I was fortunate enough to be Robby’s (Brown) college coach and I knew then how intelligent he was and that he wanted to coach. He’s been a coordinator in small college. He’s called plays. He’s been successful. I have a great deal of respect for Robby and his understanding of football and more importantly, his understanding of people. He really understands the inner workings of a person and how to get the best out of them and how to relate to them. He’s excellent at that.”
(The past three years, have you been doing any football? What have you been doing? And second – completely out of left field – have you ever coached a left-handed quarterback before and does that matter?) – “It’s a challenge to ask two questions at the same time to a coach. You know that. (laughter) The first question, I was doing really no football. My son coaches high school football. I hung out around there a little bit, and I watched football on TV some – college and pro. I watched some games; but working in football or doing anything, no, I wasn’t really doing that. And the second question about the left-handed quarterback: no, I haven’t, and it takes some mental gymnastics on my part.”
(If I could dig in a little bit more deeply – you kind of touched on this – just asked straight out, has your offense changed since 2016, 2015 with the Jets; 2011, 2012, 2013 with the Bills; 2000 with the Dolphins?) – “Has it changed? The terminology is the same and some of the plays are the same; but I think it changed from Buffalo to New York (Jets) because of personnel we had, and it’s going to make another change because of the personnel we have here. So if you ask ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick), ‘is the terminology the same?’ He’d say yes. Are some of the thought processes the same? Yes. But we will be adjusting and adapting to the type of personnel we have, so it may not look the same to John Q. Public. There are some similarities, but there will be things that are different because of the personnel that we have and how we’re going to go about using them.”
(You’ve recently had two guys in your receiving corps opt out in terms of WR Albert Wilson and WR Allen Hurns. Those were both two veterans in that room. Do you feel like you need a veteran to help that young room or do you have enough and what do you think about the skillsets you have in that unit?) – “I can’t tell anything from walkthroughs. Watching film from last year, there’s obviously some talent on the field. They made a lot of big plays the last half of the season and it wasn’t just one or two. We all know about DeVante (Parker), but there were several people that made big plays during the course of the end of the season, so I think that we have a good group and I know that (Head) Coach (Brian) Flores and the front office are always looking to upgrade because every position is going to be challenged this preseason. Nobody’s locked into anything, so we’re open to anything and everything and my job is to coach who shows up on the practice field and that’s what we’re going to do.”
(I wanted to go back to a comment both QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and WR Jakeem Grant made recently about the freedoms that receivers have in your offense. Could you expand on that, maybe talk about how that benefits guys here like WR DeVante Parker, WR Preston Williams, WR Jakeem Grant and WR Isaiah Ford?) – “The great receivers I’ve been fortunate to be around through my years – and I’ve been doing this for 40-something years now – they’re artists. They run a route and they never paint the same picture twice because of the way the defender is, because of the route they’re running, because of whatever it might – the coverage – they paint a different picture every time and if you take an artist who knows how to get open and who knows what he’s doing versus a defender and you try to fit him into a box, that’s where you make the guy less of a player than he really is. I want guys to be able to go out and be creative. I tell them, ‘you’ve got to be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there, but how you get there – that’s up to you.’ So we give them the freedom to go get open and then we think we have talented enough quarterbacks that can see that and get them the football.”
