Chan Gailey – December 8, 2020
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Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey
(The third quarter when QB Tua Tagovailoa and the offense comes out, obviously we saw a lot of up-tempo. How much of the feedback and the conversation you have with Tagovailoa do you apply to the next week and moving forward, knowing that type of play style and scheme obviously benefited him and the offense?) – “I think we will continue to use it. How much? I think it will depend on the game; it will depend on the situation. We felt like that would help us in the second half of that game and obviously it did. I think as time goes on, we’ll just have to see how much of it we’ll use or what direction it goes. It was obviously good for him and for us. It will be a part of what we do, I’m pretty sure, from here on out.”
(What are the challenges and benefits of going up-tempo no-huddle with a young quarterback, specifically in this case, QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “The challenges are he doesn’t get as much time to see what is happening. The benefits are the defense doesn’t get as much time to see what’s happening. (laughter) You have to decide the trade off and that’s where it is. Are you gaining more by being in the up-tempo or are you hampering the quarterback’s ability to see everything that’s going on? As we design it – what we might use each week – we try to take that into consideration and use it to however it might be the most beneficial to us, so we can get the most out of it. Those are the two things that I would say.”
(I saw an interesting break down of QB Tua Tagovailoa on the internet, where they talked about how he can move defenders with his eyes, head, shoulders, hips and feet. I’m curious where he is on that in terms of being able to mislead or trick defenders?) – “I think he’s learning everyday about how to do that. In college, you look one way and you turn back and you throw, and you can be kind of definitive about it. You look hard one way and then come back and throw the other way. You have to be a lot more subtle here. Those defenders have seen a lot of things, if they are not rookies. You have to be more subtle about it and I think he’s learning the subtleties of looking with his eyes or moving his shoulders instead of moving his eyes and doing things like that. I think he’s coming along in that.”
(I wanted to ask a specific question about WR Lynn Bowden Jr. We got teased based on what he did last week with the ball in his hands and his ability to make defenders miss. We’ve seen that in his film at Kentucky. What’s been the hindrance in why he hasn’t gotten to the point where he can contribute on a regular basis and what’s next for him?) – “There are a lot of things that go into a season. It could be injury, it could be anything. This year it could be COVID. There are a lot of things that go into that. Then if somebody else is playing good and a guy gets hurt – like Malcolm (Perry) got hurt, Lynn got a chance and Lynn did some good things. That’s what you have to do in this league is you have to take advantage of your opportunities, and he did that last week. I think we will continue to try to use him and let him get some touches, along with some of these other guys that we think can make plays for us.”
(On the broadcast of the game last week, the guys that were the broadcasters had done a previous game for you guys, and they said that when they talked to you, you had told them that you don’t like the up-tempo, no-huddle stuff. You prefer execution as opposed to going fast. I just want to hear it from you – is that true and why do you feel that way and how do you feel about the no-huddle and all of that stuff?) – “I probably said something along those lines because you don’t get to take advantage of some things sometimes when you’re going into the up-tempo because it is – You don’t have your whole offense up-tempo. You have limited packages in that. You want to try to take advantage of what you can take advantage of. Sometimes the tempo does take advantage of some things. You’ve got to be flexible. You’ve got to be able to go do different things in order to move the football. If up-tempo is one of those things, we’re going to use that to help us.”
(Outside of tempo, you guys did a lot of empty in this game, and had some success with that. What sort of things does empty packages unlock for QB Tua Tagovailoa as far as what you guys can do in the passing game?) – “First, it defines rushers. People got to go out and cover those guys, so it defines who is rushing. That means if they bring one more than you have blockers, then you’ve got to get rid of it. We got caught on that one time and it almost cost us. We feel like it gives him an opportunity to see where the rushers are coming from, and then see where the matchups are that we like. Who’s on who, you can see that more distinctly, rather than being in closed formations where they can disguise better. Those are a couple of things that help him somewhat.
(You’ve lived through the evolution of NFL offenses and I’m curious, what Kansas City is doing right now, could you have envisioned 35 years ago the diversity of their packages and the speed and the quarterback play? When you look at what Head Coach Andy Reid is doing, what do you see?) – “I couldn’t have. Thirty years ago, I’m not saying we were three yards and a cloud of dust, but it was close to that. (laughter) Everybody was in closed formations. You seldom got into wide formations. The game has changed and they’ve done a great job of taking the talent that they have, and using it and spreading people out. I don’t study them, but I get to see them a lot because we have common opponents. I do get to see them play some, and they do spread people out and have people going everywhere. They do a good job.”
