Frank Smith – September 7, 2023
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Thursday, September 7, 2023
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(You didn’t lose a lot offensively player personnel wise. With TE Mike Gesicki, what’s the impact of his lose on the offense in terms of what you can do, and can TE Tyler Kroft and his size assume many of the things, or all of the things that Mike did?) – “I don’t know if you could quantify it specifically to like, this player is going to take over this production or this role. It’s more of when we look at a team or a defense, how are we going to attack the structure, how are we going to utilize our skill inside of it. It’s more week to week as we try to use our personnel to put pressure on the defense. I think that’s more of using guys in different ways. You don’t really look at it as like this one role or one production thing will be taken over by one guy or one aspect. You look at is as what’s our plan, how do we want it to attack, where do we want to use it, how do we deploy our personnel appropriately.”
(Does losing TE Mike Gesicki remove anything from the playbook, or is there really no impact while respecting the fact that he’s good player?) – “I think anytime you lose good players, every year is different. This year how we’re going to use our personnel will obviously dictate what we’re trying to do. Mike is a great player and this year we’ll make sure we use all of the guys that are disposable to attack the defense appropriately.”
(What’s the biggest challenge that the combination of Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack pose?) – “Both of them together are obviously very talented guys, very talented pass rushers, obviously playing the run as well. I just think it makes us be very aware of how we’re going to run the football, how we’re going to protect the passer, just making sure we have a plan for talented guys. I think each week when you’re dealing with the NFL, you always got one rusher, two rushers, and the good thing is through our training camp, having to go with Jaelan (Phillips) and Bradley (Chubb), you’re dealing with two talented rushers as well. I think ultimately just from our end is that when you’re dealing with some talented edge guys, it’s just making sure that you account for them and I think ultimately that will be a challenge each week as we deal with each team’s premier pass rushers.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us that one of the things he wanted in year two is for you to take on more strictly coordinator duties instead of dealing with more of the offensive line. How did that manifest itself in training camp and the preseason, and maybe on game day in the regular season, what are you doing this year?) – “Just here, there, and everywhere. (laughter) I wouldn’t say certain things changed. It’s more of an emphasis towards things. I think ultimately when you’re working as a coordinator with a head coach who’s the primary play caller, it’s where are your eyes, making sure that you’re seeing all positions, you’re communicating things, you’re taking about scheme. We’re talking about many things. I think more of it is instead of just being in one area, you’re more broad. I think that especially this week has been a great dialogue as we’re getting ready to attack these guys. I don’t know. I guess the season will determine how much fun we get to have.”
(How would you assess QB Tua Tagovailoa’s growth in terms of understanding defenses and how they’re trying to defend him?) – “It’s been great. His ability to understand the offense and what we’re trying to do, his communication of what he’s seeing, what his expectations are with the guys has been awesome. Ultimately, we’re really excited to start the season and see where (we are) going to go. The greatest challenge is last year was last year. This year now with all of the offseason, with all of our emphasis, let’s go put it to practice. There’s no greater challenge than having to go across the country and take on an opponent that’s going to be up to the challenge.”
(OL Liam Eichenberg or T Isaiah Wynn?) – “How long did it take? I was surprised. (laughter) It’s game one. What we’re dong with all of our guys, right now everyone is doing a great job with their preparation. What we’re planning to do with all personnel, I think that’s an advantage. It’s the same thing with the Chargers. They didn’t play any of their starters in the preseason so for us right now, we’re just worried about today and making sure we’re getting better at stuff. Who we’re going to deploy on Sunday will be a surprise to them but not to us as we’ve been working all offseason and working on getting better.”
(A lot has been made about the Chargers’ defensive game plan. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about press, man and crowding the middle. As it relates to Head Coach Mike McDaniel, what stands out to you about him as an offensive mind and game-planning specifically and being able to make adjustment whether it’s in game, week to week or over the course of an entire season?) – “His flexibility and his ability of what he’s able to see on Sunday. Being around many different guys, many different offensive play-callers from Sean Peyton to Adam Gase and Dowell (Loggains) in Chicago and then (Jon) Gruden, and then with Joe (Lombardi), you just see many different ways guys do things. The way Mike is familiar with this system, understanding it’s answers, how we do things, that’s the great part. As we looked at last season and our offseason emphasis, it’s just those things that we know we could work on were really emphasized, and that’s why this Sunday is going to be a fun opportunity to make sure our growth, and then adjusting as we need to adjust as the game goes.”
(Regarding OL Austin Jackson, he was going up against LB Jaelan Phillips and I know you guys believe iron sharpens iron. Did Austin have enough success to gain confidence in his game? Or is it still kind of at a building, learning process stage?) – “I don’t think confidence was an issue. It’s more of opportunities. When you lose the majority of the season to injuries, it’s like you’re kind of reestablishing fundamentals, what you’re trying to do, and I think that was his primary emphasis is just getting back to where he wants to play. I don’t think really from being around Austin after these two years that confidence was ever an issue. I think it was more of just getting the consistency of things because when you go to the right tackle and then it plays out and the season doesn’t go, it’s more of now ‘I’m getting the reps, I’m getting everything I need to go,’ because he lost the whole season except for what, about a half a game? I wouldn’t ever say really AJ has ever struggled with confidence.”
(With RB Jeff Wilson Jr. out, what can you say about the running backs behind him? And also, do you anticipate giving RB Raheem Mostert maybe a larger workload then maybe we’ve seen from him last season?) – “I’ll say just coming through camp, we’ve been very pleased with the backs in general. It’s a very competitive group. Guys really performed well, ran the ball well. Like everything when you’re dealing with tight ends, running backs, wide receivers, guys who contribute on special teams, so just full-phase contribution. As far as what we’re looking to do for the season, I don’t think there’s really – it goes back to using our personnel appropriately when we need to use them. Every guy’s got things that they bring to the table. But ultimately, we’ve been very pleased with the back group, and it was really competitive all the way down to the wire with who we’re going to take.”
(When you take into account all the spring and summer practices – I know you chart every single snap as well as the preseason games – has there been a reduction in pre-snap penalties on offense in your opinion? And has there been a speeding up of the play readiness process?) – “I mean coming into the offseason, obviously that was an area where we knew we could grow and like everything when we started out, when you emphasize it and you’re working on it, yes, we did feel that we improved in that area. We felt that, more importantly, it comes with year two of the system and guys being around each other more, like just knowing ‘Hey, this is how the cadence is going to work, right?’ We’re on the road, silent cadence and there are different aspects to it. So yes, we felt we had improvement. But now with all the offseason and everything we’ve done, the big thing will be taking what we feel is our improvement in the offseason into actually the season.”
(Are there one or two things you’ve taken from Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Darrell Bevell the year you’ve worked with him here?) – “Yes, he is extremely meticulous in his process. There’s not one thing. You deal with guys who are just very, they go through it, and it’s not like it’s Week 9, Week 15, Week 1 – alright, the first day you got here. He’s just a very detailed guy who understands and has been a part of a lot of good football and coached a lot of great players. I mean, hell, what was it, two weeks ago, we were joking about something and then we pulled up the Saints-Vikings playoff game from the 2009 NFC Championship game, because we’re talking about Brett Favre and his ability and courage in the pocket. And it was like it flashes back because then I got to New Orleans right after that season and then we opened with the Vikings to start that season in 2010. His wealth of experience is great. Everything like I think we talked about before, it’s perspective and who you work with. If we all came from the same place, thought the same thing, had the same viewpoint, it’d be a pretty boring day. We’d all just kind of be like ‘Good?’ When you deal with guys with perspective and an expertise like he has, it’s been awesome. And I think that’s the great part of our staff is that there isye perspective from everyone.”
(When you have WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, you have a big matchup advantage in a lot of cases. Is it tough to go away from that advantage and run the ball or throw to a tight end or throw to WR Braxton Berrios for instance?) – “No. Throw to the open guy. But at the same time, it’s also good that when you have a talented skill group, you have talented wide receivers like we have, yes, it’s awesome. It’s one thing to be talented on Sunday. It’s another thing to be talented every day of the week in the way you practice. There was a quote I heard a long time ago when I worked at Butler and I lived in Indianapolis. Marvin Harrison was like, ‘They don’t pay me to play games. They pay me to practice.’ And when you deal with the guys who take that approach, like both of them do, that’s why Sundays look the way they do because of the way they prepare and handle things. So we’re very fortunate to have both of them and at the same time, we’re excited to for Sunday to get started with it.”
(We saw the explosiveness of WR Erik Ezukanma with his two preseason game runs. If you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel and Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker decide to use him this year on offense, what skills does he have that intrigue you guys?) – “Yeah, I think his ability to get the ball in his hands and make plays in space. He’s had a good offseason and we used him in kind of a variety of roles. So I think ultimately, as we keep preparing for the season and keep really trying to use him to his best abilities, I think that we’re hopeful that this season is going to really showcase all the things he can do, which we feel pretty confident about.”
(It turns out Miami of Florida is the real Miami.) – “So you say. (laughter) That was a tough day at the office for the old alma mater. We’ll always have the next game. That one was tough. My buddies from college were all here and were asking me about things and I’m going, ‘Listen man, training camp just ended. You want me to go to work right around the corner? I’ll catch that one on TV.’”
