Adam Gase – November 30, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Baltimore Media
(When you look back on the six-game winning streak, is there anything you can put your finger on as to why you guys have been so successful?) – “It starts really with we’ve eliminated all of the type of nonsense that most of the teams around the NFL doesn’t have during the week – guys being late, guys getting fined, having practices that really are not energetic and you’re not getting things done the way you need to. We’ve really turned around as far as a maturity standpoint of our younger guys doing things right (and) our veterans doing a good job of showing these guys the right way to do things day in and day out. I think that’s been our biggest turnaround as far as just doing all of the things leading up to the game and then on Sunday, that’s at least giving us our best chance to know what to do and to execute our game plan.”
(Was that an issue prior to this six-game winning streak? How did it change? Was it a landmark moment or just a gradual shift?) – “I think it’s been mostly a gradual (shift) through the progression of the season. We would have one or two things a week. It wouldn’t be always these huge (things), like this guy isn’t playing because of this. It wasn’t things like that all the time, just little tiny irritant things for a coach where, ‘Why can’t we just be on time?’ Some of those things happen every once in a while and it happens in every organization and it’s frustrating when it does because this is your job. It would be like any of us not being where we’re supposed to be and just kind of shrugging your shoulders, not really caring. That was something we felt like we needed to get changed fast and we needed to make sure we were doing the right things because it does matter on Sunday. It all adds up at the end of the day.”
(Was that a result maybe of guys trying to take advantage of a rookie coach?) – “No. I think that’s how it has been here for the last how many whatever years. That’s just what it was.”
(You’ve directed some good offenses. What goes into a decision whether to go no huddle, and when you use it, and what are some of the drawbacks maybe? There has been a lot of talk around here about the Ravens using it, and how much they should.) – “You have to be built for it, for one. If your terminology is not really built for it, it’s hard. Our system’s built for it, because that’s what it was when we created it in 2013. It was hard for us to do in 2012, because really we had a huddle terminology, but then we started going no huddle. So we kind of were changing things mid-season. In 2013, we switched everything, and we created it for no huddle. That’s the starting point, because if the quarterback’s back there and he has to tell everybody what to do by guy, it makes it tough. You have to have signals, and buzzwords. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. It’s not as easy as you think. I know, especially the way TV is now, where they pick everything up, it makes it really tough, because now all of a sudden, you say one word twice, then you use it the next game, and every player on the defense starts saying ‘it’s going left, it’s going left.’ That can be somewhat frustrating for your players, because they feel like they know what all your code words are.”
(Are you guys using it much less since the start of the season, and if so, why?) – “I think a little bit of it had to deal with the fact that we were never really together as a full group through spring and training camp. We’ve had guys in and out. It makes it tough when the quarterback’s trying to get everyone lined up and some guys didn’t know what to do. There was a lot put on his plate, to where it is things that he shouldn’t have to worry about. We kind of had to reel it in a little bit, as far as we got DeVante (Parker) back. We wanted to make sure that everyone was good with what we were doing. So we started huddling. We had our linemen back. We just didn’t have enough experience practicing it because we were never together as a group. We lost so much practice time, because (Mike) Pouncey goes down in the second preseason game, a couple of other guys go down (and) we didn’t get to work on it as much as you need to in order to be really, really good at that.”
(What do you remember from your time when you interviewed here [in Baltimore] for the offensive coordinator position?) – “It was a great experience for me. I really enjoyed being able to talk football with Coach (John) Harbaugh. It was a late night, I know that. I really appreciate the fact that he didn’t have to squeeze me in when he did. We were up there from … I think I got into his office at 10 o’clock at night, we talked until one in the morning and he drove me back to the hotel I was staying at. He really did me a favor by just not making me wait. I was kind of getting pressured as far as making decisions on some other places. The fact that he did that to at least give me an opportunity to come interview there, that was something I’ll always be appreciative of.”
(The game this weekend, the Ravens, very good against the run as you know. Does that present an extra challenge for you and will it put a little more pressure on QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “I think any time you play a defense that has the players that they have and then the coaching staff that they have – it’s a very good coaching staff to where those guys will be in great position. They’ll obviously be dialed in to our scheme. And it’s really going to be about who executes their scheme better at the end of the day. Our guys have to do a great job of getting on their blocks, just staying on their blocks, finishing every play. They’re going to be trying to do the opposite. They’re going to be trying to get off blocks, and making sure they’re in the right gap and making solid tackles. It’s going to be really, at the end of the day, it’s going to be about which side of the ball executes their scheme and finishes plays better.”
(Not a whole lot of people naturally talk about DT Brandon Williams of the Ravens. What kind of force is he against the run and how do you have to account for him?) – “I hate to single out one guy because there are so many guys that are impactful on that defense. It’s consistently … These guys do such a good job at executing their scheme. When you have a group that does it the way that they do it, that’s why they have success. You never feel like there’s any lanes. Like if you see a clip of film where you felt like a guy had a lane and he rips off a 9-yard run, those are very rare to see. They do such a good job as far as doing their assignments in the front, but then the linebackers are doing a great job of making sure any time a guy gets loose, they get him down. They’re tackling well. The whole front seven just causes so much … so many problems for what you want to do on offense.”
(Is it a case where you look and see what the Cowboys did against the Ravens being that they had the most rushing success because in large part they kind of stuck with it … Is that something that you look at and say, ‘Even if we don’t have success early on the ground, it’s something that we need to stick with?’)- “Yes, you try to talk yourself into it. It’s really kind of the flow of the game. You’re trying to do what’s best for your team for that game, and sometimes it changes mid-game. I was a little surprised last week as far as how consistent San Francisco was as far as sticking with the coverage that they stuck with and they did a great job as far as executing their scheme. Their guys played well and made it really tough for us in the run game. We made a couple of plays in the passing game to kind of open a couple things up that allowed us to move the ball. It’s a tough thing to kind of keep your mind wrapped around as far as, ‘Stay with the run. Stay with the run.’ But, having the running back that we have makes me feel good as far as consistently staying with Jay (Ajayi), knowing he’s a big man that plays for four quarters and does a great job as far as wearing a defense down and trying to consistently get positive yards. It doesn’t always work out that way, but there is some comfort with me being able to stay with the run because you do feel like your guys get better as the game goes on.”
(I knew you were missing three offensive lineman last week. What’s the status of those guys?) – “I’ll find out more today as far as we’re going to be able to take a look at them in practice today and get them in individual and possible get them into some of our practice reps. We’re so early in the evaluation stage as far as actually seeing these guys take reps in practice. It’s still kind of up in the air for me.”
(This is a hypothetical, but if you had become the offensive coordinator here, do you think it would’ve been probably a short stay, because you would’ve been a head coach very soon after?) – “It’s hard to predict anything ever, because you never know what’s going to happen. You never know how the health of your team is going to be. You never know the results of anything. It’s one of those things … There’s no point in thinking about it.”
(Do you feel like you have the culture of the locker room where you want it right now?) – “I think there’s always room for improvement. There’s always room to get better in certain things. I know there are a couple things where some of our veteran players would like to straighten out a few things occasionally with some of our younger guys, because we are very young, and guys still make mistakes. That’s what happens when you got a bunch of 22-, 23-, 24-year olds. They’re going to mess up here every once in a while. Thankfully, we got enough veteran guys that have really stepped forward – especially as the year has gone on – to take control of that locker room. I rarely have to deal with anything, because those guys handle it.”
