Frank Smith – November 21, 2022
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Monday, November 21, 2022
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(At the beginning of OTAs and training camp, you spoke a lot about the playbook and how it’s going to be tailored to the skillsets of the players. Without getting too much into scheme, can you kind of break down the major difference maybe from how Head Coach Mike McDaniel has left his imprint on this offense as opposed to the 49ers or various iterations of the West Coast scheme?) – “I think every stop you make, you learn something about just the schematics of your offense, and you grow and evolve through the players you have. And I think that every stop that they were able to go on through their journey, they evolved with the players they had. I think that’s no different here of the evolution we kind of did with all the guys we have. Everyone’s got different skillsets. When we first came together, we didn’t really know exactly what the roster was going to be. We had a blueprint for how we wanted to go about it. I think as each player gets assimilated to the program, we are constantly trying to evolve to what they do best. And I think right now – I kind of flash back to the beginning of like when we started, the press conference that we talked about, ‘Hey, quarter two, this time of year, you kind of really know what you got.’ And that’s the challenge of I think most football teams is you rush to make decisions or you can rush to eliminate players. The reality is it’s going to take time in your first year to grow and to know what guys do under pressure, how guys perform in big games, and I think that’s kind of like where we’re at right now is that you saw the end of really, the second quarter, third quarter, we really started to figure out who we were, as a football team are and how we needed to play. And then we continued to improve. I think that’s a total testament to the players we have here and how hard they work. And also just with Mike, just his constant evolution towards doing what is required. We don’t really believe in the saying here, ‘well, that’s just what we do. That’s the way it’s been done.’ It’s always what’s best each week and how do we put players in positions to maximize their skill set. I think that ultimately, as we got here, and from my perspective looking at it with Mike, it’s that we are constantly trying to evolve what we do and making sure that we are attacking the defense in a way that we’re putting our players in the best positions possible. And I think even if you go from a month ago to now, to what it’s going to be in a month, to what it’s going to be next year, it’s going to always constantly be evolving to, ‘Who do we have? Who’s available? What do they do well?’ Not putting our guys in situations where we’re asking them to do things that maybe is not what they do best. I think that’s the challenge of coaches. And I think that’s the challenge of this league is to be flexible and to evolve and to not be rigid, and to always have our growth and our process-based approach being the driving force to what we do. I think that’s why – I know for many people here, that’s why this stop is different, because it’s been kind of the basis of our program and it’s the vision that Mike’s had from the beginning.”
(What’s impressed you the most about OL Connor Williams?) – “His ability to I mean, really be flexible. And overall, his athletic skillset. It goes back down to when you get college tackles, sometimes it’s like, are they tackles in NFL? No. So you move them inside. And then sometimes they do well there but you don’t really know necessarily sometimes where their best spot is. And like with Connor, moving him in to center, just because when we were able to acquire all the pieces of the line, it’s just kind of like, ‘well, he’s got this skill set, he seems to be able to…’ So his ability to be flexible. And also the hardest part when you’re a pro player is be willing to be uncomfortable. Because when we ask you to do something new, it’s ‘well I’ve done this in the past and now…’ It’s part of the process. Just learn (and) grow. I think that’s the greatest thing that he’s been able to do is be flexible through the process because when you do something for so long, and then now we’re asking you to do something different is trusting the people you’re around, and I think that’s been the greatest thing to him because in the last – I’d say about a month or so – you can really see, because the hardest thing when you play center in the National Football League, practice is one thing. But then when you get into real games, that’s when you really learn. I think that’s what kind of is overriding that. That’s when you grow as a player and grow as a team. You grow as an offense overriding. That’s when you grow as a staff too. And I think that’s what Connor has able to (do is) be flexible, know that this happened and now this is the byproduct of this. I think he’s learned at such a tremendous rate because in pro football, I think a lot of times, guys are always rushing to make sure that I’m steadfast in the spot. And with him, it’s been really cool because he’s moved and done such a great job and asked – he has a call system working with the quarterback. The center has to know the game plan a little different than the other linemen, and I think to his mental flexibility and also his physical flexibility from moving from outside to in through his career, we couldn’t be happier with what he’s done. I know that he’s always striving to improve himself for what he’s doing. I know it’s a really long answer to a short question. But ultimately, it’s what I do (for) one. But then two, for him, it’s just been so awesome to watch a guy, a veteran, take on a challenge and really do it at a level that’s really exceeding our expectations because we always thought he was going to be good at it. But really in the last month, you’re seeing him be able to take the next step in his play.”
(Do you guys plan to give OL Austin Jackson any practice reps at left guard, obviously, knowing you have less depth there with OL Liam Eichenberg out?) – “We have contingency plans to all things. So we will make sure that we have all bases covered going forward. But our ultimate goal is to play the best five that we’re going to be able to help us win on Sunday.”
(And the five obviously played very well against Cleveland. Do you envision rolling with that group for another week, off how they played against the Browns?) – “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you. (laughter)”
(It seems logical, but it’s worth asking.) – “We will make sure that we do our due diligence in putting our best five out there.”
(How do you compare where this offensive line is today to when you’re – say going back to the spring and summer, and you had probably a lot of questions going in.) – “I think offensive line play is always – it’s an interesting process because the days you feel like you have it mastered, the next day you can easily be humbled because you’re requiring five guys to work together, which is different than in almost all of the positions outside of the defensive backs. With the nickel defense, they need five working together for coverage. Offensive line play, you need five working together, especially in pass protection. We always had good belief that when the five would be able to play together or just our system is able to help guys do their job over and over again, that we hoped that we would be able to have the kind of versatility through – because that’s kind of in the past what Mike (McDaniel) and Kyle (Shanahan) were able to do through their other stops is that versatility through linemen playing through our system, through our scheme. And ultimately, the different variations we’ve had on the line this year, I mean, I don’t think we would have saw a lot of this stuff coming. But the only thing constant in the NFL is change. We’ve made sure that in the spring, we’re just trying to make sure we’re teaching core fundamentals and constantly repeat, reiterate that over and over and over again, because at this time of year, I mean, players can still get better. That’s been the one positive thing is with the group, through the ebbs and flows of the season, we feel that at the critical time where we needed to get better, we did. And right now, we’re hoping to be able to build upon the Cleveland game and when we have a productive game in pass protection and running the football, now the challenge is you’re only as good as what you do today. So trying to replicate what you did last week is always a challenge. It’s more of trying to improve upon it and raise the standard to what the group and what the offense and what the team is requiring. So yeah, we had a vision for a positive outlook and obviously last week, it felt pretty good for the line and how they were able to perform.”
(Through 10 games, what’s been the story for the offense?) – “I think it’s really kind of a story of an NFL season. I mean, you have success, then you have your adversity and then how do you respond to that? And then you really manage things game-by-game and then you try and make it not too big, not make it too small. You try and really just understand that the most precious thing we have in professional sports is the present and you maximize that. That’s when you bank days to allow you to be able to play important games like hopefully right now we’re building towards. And I think the story of the season for the offense is responding to the challenge, responding to the standard that was set in spring, by the players, by everyone together. And it’s just been awesome to watch them respond to an NFL season together. The characters are ever changing and the stories, there are some constants. But ultimately, if you have a great script, you need great actors to fulfill to make the lines come to life. And that’s kind of really been the season. You’re seeing the story of our actors taking the script to life. Hopefully we can take these last couple games, really the month of November, and really kind of finish off the month the way we want it to end. And then now, get into the month of December where everything matters.”
(RB Jeff Wilson, has anything surprised you with getting him incorporated so quickly?) – “Not really from what the guys who are with him in San Francisco were able to really describe. I mean, kind of the hardest thing is sometimes when you get acquired guys, you don’t have familiarity with him. And obviously having multiple guys on the staff and players that were with him in San Francisco, I think we knew what we were going to get. We’re just fortunate enough that the situation presented itself to get him, especially at this time of year, when you have hope for your future, and then you can bring guys in that really can help cement where you want to go through their style of play and who they are as teammates. I think that we were fortunate enough that the situation presented itself and then – his energy he adds to each day is awesome. I mean, just a guy whose story is, like so many on this football team, it’s earning it. And I think that we always remember that through, especially each week, we got to earn it every day. I don’t think you lose track of the success you have. And you’re always humbled to prove it again and again and again.”
(WR Trent Sherfield caught his first touchdown against the Browns. He didn’t start out high on the depth chart but has really taken hold of that third receiver spot.) – “Yes, he’s another guy. I mean these guys are coming through different roles. And obviously roles evolve and change as you perform. Just what a team-first guy. A physical player. Being able to come here with the experience, obviously, with Wes (Welker), Mike (McDaniel) and Jon (Embree) from San Francisco. I mean, knowing the player and just knowing his growth, I’m not surprised at all, especially with a lot of the things we ask the wide receivers to do and how physically he is in his game. And then now being able to see the production come in the passing game is just awesome. You can’t say enough about the guy. We are fortunate enough to have him here. He’s one of those guys that maybe his stat line doesn’t really show sometimes how valuable they are to us, but he’s one of those guys that is really an integral part to our offense. I think he’s an excellent teammate. He’s one of those guys that you’re going to remember, years after this team gets reshuffled or you move on and you look back, he’s one of the guys that you’ll always remember for his love of the game because you can tell guys who love the game do the little things that don’t show up on the stat line. Like wide receivers blocking, running backs in pass protection, offensive linemen finish down the field. There’s just little things you can see in their play that really show their love of football, and he’s one of them.”
