Adam Gase – November 9, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with San Diego Media
(What are your thoughts about San Diego’s offense and defense so far you’ve seen this season?) – “I see an offense that, for me, it looks really familiar. With Philip (Rivers), it just seems like it’s the same every year where he has had quite a few injuries around him, and he figures out a way to get his young players to accelerate in their growth and be impactful. He still has a few of the same old guys that we’ve seen in the past that are still effective. Defensively, I see a group that’s playing very fast, and the front is being very disruptive and causing a lot of problems for teams’ passing game and then they’re doing a good job of stopping the run.”
(When you look at the defense and you see a player specifically like Chargers CB Casey Heyward – I know you played against him last year when he was with the Packers – what kind of impact has he made on the San Diego defense?) – “It’s always hard to just look at one guy and say he makes all of the difference in the world. But I think any time you add anybody in the secondary that is able to be competitive on the ball and then turn it over – and you have a front like they do right now where that ball has to come out very quickly, when the defensive backs understand that and can play very tight and they can sit on routes and take advantage of that – it makes it so hard for the offense to combat that, because you’re talking about turning the ball over and then giving a quarterback like Philip Rivers a shorter field.”
(Obviously, RB Jay Ajayi has been playing well the last three, four weeks. What has been the difference now and why couldn’t he do this early in the year?) – “He did well in the spring. Training camp was going alright. I think we were trying to go with a two-back rotation there with him and Arian (Foster), and he was trying to get used to what we were doing as far as in the running game. He had been more of a gap-scheme, inside-zone runner most of his career, and we were leaning a little more on the outside zone. I don’t know if he was comfortable with the scheme early on. As we’ve gone on and he’s gotten a better feel for what we do and has (been) more comfortable with what we’re doing, he’s really gotten in a groove. He has a good feel for our offensive line. That group is finally back together. That was nice to have about three weeks ago when you get that first line that we thought we were going to have early on in the season back together. I think with those five (guys playing together) and our tight ends have done a good job and our receivers have been doing a good job of getting guys covered up, and he has taken advantage of that.”
(How much did having RB Arian Foster there help him, if any?) – “It’s hard for me to say. That would be a better question for him. As far as my opinion – as far as the impact he had on our offense – we have so many young guys. Him being a veteran guy that had been through it before, he was kind of able to teach some of these guys the inner workings of how to run outside zone. I think he did help our guys. He was very open to helping our young backs out, and he did a good job as far as trying to educate them (about) how to run the ball in that scheme.”
(How did you end up in Denver with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy and what was that relationship like during the week and on game day?) – “I got there in 2009. I was hired by Josh McDaniels. Mike was hired as the coordinator. We kind of gravitated to each other fairly quick. I was the wide outs coach, and we spent a lot of time together just trying to figure things out, because with Josh being the head coach, he was trying to turn a lot of things around. We had to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what Josh wanted to do. We were trying to do exactly what they did in New England, so we were in a learning phase. We had to spend a lot of time together just trying to figure out how we were going to coach certain things. (With) our weekly involvement, we were always together as far as with Josh, game planning. And then on game day, when it started, there was a lot of communication between himself, Josh and myself. Then when we got into the (John) Fox era – when Mike took over the offense – then it became more of Mike having control of the offense. I was the quarterbacks coach at that time, and he was very open in giving me assignments and counting on me to put certain things in the game plan and ideas together for him, and then he would basically take what he liked and implement what he liked as well. He put a lot of responsibility on me in a situation where he probably really didn’t need or have to do that. I always felt like he was trying to get me ready for something. That’s something that I’ve always appreciated, the fact that he had that much confidence in me.”
(What makes Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy such a good offensive coach?) – “I think the attention to detail that he has. He’s a stickler for a lot of little, tiny things that a lot of people would be like, ‘Why is that important?’ They don’t understand that even though you may have success on a play, you may win a game, there are all of these little, tiny things that pop their head up that a lot of people won’t address because you won or you completed a ball. He looks at it as, ‘That worked, but we have to make sure that we do this correctly, because when it doesn’t work, there’s a reason behind it.’ He is very detailed as far as – in the passing game specifically – where everybody is supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there, the quarterback timing. He has a different vantage point because of playing the quarterback position, he knows how important it is for 11 guys to be on the same page.”
(In putting together your first 15 scripted plays, what’s the key to having success with those plays?) – “Sometimes you’ve got to get a little lucky. That sounds terrible, but really, at the end of the day, you don’t really know what the defense is going to do. You do the best you can to at least put things together that are good against multiple things and that your players don’t have to think a whole bunch about. But you do need to have some things go your way to where maybe you hit on a couple of plays early in the game. There have been times where, at least myself, where we started to go and things didn’t quite go right and you just scrap it and start shooting from the hip. And there have been some games where things are just falling right and you get rolling and then there are some games where it just doesn’t work very well.”
(Are there coaches that are known for being good at [scripted plays], and do you think it is overrated?) – “I think there are some guys that just seem to put the right set of plays together, and they have success early in the game. It might be a little overrated, because everybody wants to say, ‘You knew what they were going to do.’ But at the end of the day, you never really know what the defense is going to do.”
(When you look at a player like RB Melvin Gordon, where have you seen his biggest growth from Year 1 to Year 2?) – “I think the thing is it looks more like he did in college now to where there’s no indecisiveness and its attack the line of scrimmage, stick his foot into the ground and use that speed and his physical-ness. You’re seeing it’s hard for defenses to tackle him as well. That’s kind of where this league is right now where there are few really good tackling teams. If you can have a running back that really hits an open seam and is able to accelerate, it’s tough for defenses to get guys down, because they’re glancing blows. You’re not seeing a lot of guys being able to square up on running backs, because everyone is moving laterally and all of a sudden you hit a guy that’s moving at a good clip, that’s a good size and he’s not going to go down. I see that decisiveness of he knows exactly what he’s trying to get done on every play.”
(What’s it going to be like on a personal level? You’ve got a game to win and for four quarters that will be your focus, but pregame and then again postgame, just even during the game a look across the sideline and you see Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy there, being that you guys started as assistants together in this league and now as head coaches on the opposite sidelines, what will that be like?) – “This is the eighth time that we’ve gone against each other. I know I was a coordinator at the time, but it’s always a little strange. Any time we’re not playing each other, obviously I always want Mike to win, and I want his guys to play well, and I want him to have success. You really have to focus on what your job is and your players. You try not to focus so much on the opponent and just focus on the job that you have to do.”
(Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy said he called you prior to the Chargers signing C/G Matt Slauson. How did that phone call go?) – “He called me, and it was interesting, because I was probably like five hours away from calling him and recommending Matt to him. Matt was somebody that … Obviously, we are very fortunate to have the center that we have on our team. Matt is one of those guys that you just want in your building no matter what position he is playing, because he is so flexible as far as what he can do. Matt is one of the best people I’ve ever been around, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around, and he’s such a great communicator with coaches, as far as what works (and) what you should avoid during a game. He sees things like a pro does. He’s an advantage, not only as a player that’s physical, smart and just a team guy all the way, but when he comes off the field, the information that he gives you as a coordinator is rare, because he sees so much. I think that I really grew to appreciate that last year, because if we don’t have that, we’re not even in half of the games we’re in because he held that whole thing together. He played hurt. He stepped in at the center position, and I don’t even remember how many reps he ever had at center when he had to jump in there. The guy was just such a valuable piece of what we were doing last year. When he was out there and available and Mike and I had that conversation, I don’t remember exactly what every little question was, but I just remember telling him, ‘This guy is absolutely your kind of guy.’”
(Now you’re going to be going against C/G Matt Slauson and no doubt he makes the Chargers offense better. How do you balance that? I’m sure you’re not picking up the phone to Rex Ryan or Bill Belichick and saying, ‘Boy, you’ve got to pick up this guy.’ There’s a competitive advantage in this league that you want to retain, but now you’ve strengthen an opponent. How do you balance that out? You’re not going to make that call with every head coach in the league. How do you balance that?) – “I think it’s a little bit of a relationship thing, it’s a trust thing. In the division I’m in, I don’t have a personal level really with any of the coaches in our division. The guys that I do have relationships with – whether they be coordinators or head coaches – I always looked at it as, if it’s a guy that I had a great relationship with as a player, I want to do whatever I can to help him. If whatever place fits him, if that team actually calls me and asks me a question, I’m always going to give them an honest answer, because I care about the player and I want him to have what’s best for him. I’m not going to look at it in a selfish way. I’m going to look at it as, ‘What I can do to help that guy?’ because the way I look at it is once I’m with a guy, he’s one of my guys forever, so I’ll always do whatever I can to help that guy out.”
(Have you talked to Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy this week?) – “I have not talked to him this week. I think the last time … I called him and just congratulated him on the last game, and I just said I’ll see you on Sunday.”
(You mentioned your relationship with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy already, but off the field, I know your guys’ families know each other, and I believe you guys have vacationed together. What does that look like in terms of the offseason communication when it becomes a little easier to be in touch with friends in the league?) – “It has been very helpful for me. Even if I have a plan for certain things, it’s always good to either bounce something off another coach, and I feel like I’m very lucky to have Mike as a close friend of mine. It makes life a lot easier when you do have that kind of mentor and friend that will be honest with you and you can be very open with and you’re willing to share ideas with. It is nice the fact that our wives are very, very close. For us to be able to spend time in the offseason and the summer and hang out – for me and him – it’s good conversations, and it’s a relaxed atmosphere to where you’re occasionally asking questions about certain things and you know you’re going to get an honest answer that’s going to try to help you out.”
(Does Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy give you any advice on how to handle media? Does he say nice things about us?) – “I’ve never asked about media stuff.” (laughter)
