Adam Gase – May 7, 2016
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Saturday, May 7, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On his three coordinators and which attributes impress him the most) – “Well, we’ve been through three practices so you are kind of putting limitations on … Being around the coaches, players, from what I’ve seen so far, (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren) Rizzi obviously brings an energy level. (Rizzi brings) the experience, his background in game management (and) being an assistant head coach in the past. (Offensive Coordinator) Clyde (Christensen and) the experience (he brings). We were really coming from very similar backgrounds in offense. Like I always say, we kind of hijacked what they were doing in Indianapolis and he was a big part of putting that thing together. His experience in the past of calling games and being a part of great offenses, just that experience and our guys being around him, that’s been very valuable for our players. And then (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph), I always told him we were together in 2008 in San Francisco and I felt like he was the one guy I was always battling with. We would walk out of the building and he was always there. He was always working on something. He was a grinder. We both kind of did it a little different, being on offense and defense, but our work ethics were very close. Going against him over the last few years, he was probably the one guy that would drive me nuts. I know he gave us tons of fits when we played him when we were in Houston. And then two years ago when he was in Cincinnati and we were in Denver, it was a tough matchup. I think his DBs picked us off four times. His knowledge of defense and what he brings to the table and his ability to really go after an offense, as far as really teaching his guys what’s going on, it’s very impressive.”
(On his interactions with G/T Laremy Tunsil) – “I think he’s just happy to be back to football. When you go through that whole process … I’m sure if any of us went through that on draft day, it’d be interesting to see how everybody else reacted. I thought he handled it great. He did a good job last week in the press conference. I think he’s just happy to be back in the building, getting back to football (and) doing what he loves. You can just tell – when you see him in a meeting, when a guy is engaged in as many meetings as we’ve done over the last day and a half – he’s really engaged and you can tell he’s really excited to get going with football stuff.”
(On G/T Laremy Tunsil lobbying to play tight end) – “That started about 10 minutes after we drafted him. (laughter)”
(On what he thinks about G/T Laremy Tunsil’s desire to play tight end) – “We’ll worry about the o-line part first and then we’ll move out.”
(On what has stood out to him so far about this rookie minicamp) – “I think the fact that these guys are taking to it and listening to what we’re talking about. The presenters have done a great job – the people in our building. We had Zach Thomas come in yesterday and then Jason Taylor will come in today. Getting those two guys in front of our players, it’s a different perspective when they talk to them. It’s not like when you talk to the full … when Zach has talked to the full group before, he’s talking about something different. Last night he was able to talk to those guys about being a rookie, what it takes to really survive and become a guy that’s on the team and then contributing during the season. It was a different speech than what he has normally done (with) the veteran players. I can’t wait to hear Jason tonight and see what he has to say. But I think our players have been engaged. I know it has been a grind because it’s not easy to sit in meeting rooms. But coaches have been able to pull their guys and do some kind of a walkthrough. The thing is, they’re in street clothes. So I know they can’t be running anywhere. The coaches know that if anybody gets hurt in this thing, I won’t be in a good place. (laughter)”
(On if he has had a chance to talk with former Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula and how he is doing) – “I have talked to (President and Chief Executive Officer) Tom Garfinkel and I’m going to just leave it at that.”
(On if he has met former Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula before) – “Yes, I have. I think it was maybe two or three weeks after I got here. I went over there and had lunch with him. It was a great visit. He had some good lines for me. He had some advice too. It’s still … A lot of the things that he stood for and what he did with the team here in the past, it still applies today.”
(On if he has been in a situation with a running back group as young as the one he has now and if a veteran will be needed at some point) – “I’ll say it again, we are young everywhere. I think we have one room where I could really say we have veteran presence and I’m pretty sure I just heard somebody ask a question complaining about the ages of our defensive ends. (laughter) What do you want? You’re either young or old. It’s great. The fact that we do have a bunch of young guys, guess what? They’ve got nothing to lose. They’re going to come out here and give us everything that they have. I like that group. I like what (RB) Jay (Ajayi) and the rest of that group bring. We’ll see who steps up and contributes this year.”
