Eric Studesville – August 20, 2020
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Thursday, August 20, 2020
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(Obviously you’ve got a lot to figure out from the running back unit talent-wise, but what have you seen early from RB Matt Breida and RB Jordan Howard in terms of what skillsets they bring, when you’ve got them to the field?) – “I think the thing you see is that they’re both competitive people, which is one of the things we really want, is we’re looking for guys that want to come in and compete and work. Those guys fill those roles for us for sure. You see Matt’s bursting speed. We’ve seen it a couple times in the open. You see Jordan’s got really good feet in-line, vision in-line – all of the things that you expect. I think they both will be able to contribute as pass protectors. We’ve started to do some more drills with that in practice as far as rush drills, so we’re seeing that. We’ve got to continue to develop that. We’re just continuing to get them doing everything. I just don’t have enough of a feel for them on a big volume to know what exactly their whole packages are right now, but you love everything about both of those guys on the field and in the classroom. They’re smart, they understand football, they’re passionate about it, they want to be good, they want to work, and so we’ve just got to keep developing and building.”
(I know the o-line and the running game work so closely together in concert and it looked like – obviously there was a big turnover on the offensive line this offseason. You guys added a lot more beef. How does that help you guys in the running game, maybe getting bigger, more powerful up front?) – “Hopefully it’s going to help us overall as an offense. Those big guys, too – they’ve got to pass protect and those kind of things; so I think it’s going to factor into the run game as well as the pass game, and then hopefully we add some play actions in there, too. So the better we run the ball, the more we’ll be able to play-action pass off of it, and we’ll still be able to drop-back pass and do some things. We’ve gotten better I think in that; but again, we don’t know really how much better yet until we start doing some more things in pads. We’ve only had a few days in pads, so we’ve got to keep building this; but I like the direction that it goes. I think there’s a good mix with what the offensive line and the backs are figuring out from each other right now. We’ve just still got to keep working on it.”
(I noticed RB Myles Gaskin a little bit so how about Myles? What have you seen so far from him?) – “Myles has done a great job I think, so far in what we’ve done. I think he’s head and shoulders above where he was at this time last year. I think the work and the effort that he puts into the game and the passion that he has to want to work and to want to be good at this and to get everything, I think has started to really show; and he invested in himself last year, and it’s paying off for him now. He’s playing more confident, he’s playing faster, and I think we’re seeing some of the skillset that he’s had in the past. We’re starting to see now what really some of his potential is.”
(I want to ask you about Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey. At age 68, does he act like a young coach out there, because he has a lot of enthusiasm?) – “Hopefully we all act like young coaches even if we’re not. (laughter) It’s a game and we love coaching and this is what we do; and I think that’s one of the things that Chan does bring to this. He loves this game. He’s passionate about it. He certainly has a lot of experience and when you have that, it’s contagious. It’s enthusiastic – his demeanor is – and I think that’s translating to all of us – coaches and players. If you don’t love doing this – if you don’t have a passion for wanting to come and do this every day – this is not the right thing for you, and that’s why all of us are in this. I think Chan exemplifies that.”
(I know it’s just the early stages of you seeing these guys but when I look at I guess what RB Jordan Howard has done over his career, the numbers kind of speak for themselves. He’s been third in rushing and seventh in TDs. Is he a guy that you think may be overlooked in how maybe people perceive him, and you guys can get a lot more out of him than maybe people think?) – “’Overlooked’ – that’s going to be someone else’s evaluation of this. I think what we want to do with Jordan and what we want to do with our team and particularly my room, is that we just want to come out and work and do whatever it takes to give the team the best chance to win. If we’ve got to run the ball a lot, we’re going to do that. If we’ve got to pass protect a lot, we’re going to do that; and I think Jordan’s on board with that. All of the guys are on board with that. That’s part of what we’re selling and talking about in our room, and his production is going to be the opportunities that he takes advantage of and that’s every one of them. Whatever he gets, he’s got to do something with it and if he’s the guy that’s moving and doing things, great, and if it’s somebody else that day or we’re throwing the ball that day or whatever it is; but I think they’re all committed. Everybody in my room – the five guys that I have – the one thing you love about them is they’re all committed to whatever their role is, they’re going to embrace that.”
(I want to go back to RB Jordan Howard here again. You touched on his vision a little bit there in the first question. Is that something that’s just inherent in a back or can he kind of help impart some of that wisdom on the rest of the room and the way he reads blocks and sets things up?) – “A lot of it is reactions and what they do, but certainly we have things that we’re looking at as to how a play is designed. We talk about that a lot of times in meetings. ‘Hey, what are our eyes doing? What are we thinking here?’ There’s a lot of people that can know what the play should do and then there’s a difference in the guys that can make the play do what it’s supposed to do, and Jordan has that ability to find holes to create for himself. He’s got feet in-line. He has what we call vision and to be able to find things.”
