Adam Gase – November 23, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call
(What did you guys get out of, other than the two victories, what did you guys get out of your stay in California?) – “I think it was good for us to kind of get away, especially at this point in the season. We had four home games in a row. It was kind of a different scenery; it changes things up a little bit for us spending 11 days out there. It was a little bit of a training camp feel. It was nice to see a lot of our guys hanging out. We saw a lot of guys spending time with each other that normally you don’t see. After our first game, seeing guys on Monday and Tuesday, we had a lot of guys hanging around the main office we had there watching film and spending time together doing football things and building that team camaraderie.”
(This late in the season, there’s still benefits to be had by getting away like that?) – “I think so. It’s just … any time that you can change it up. I know people hate to hear how monotonous it can be in the NFL, but when you do the same thing every day for as long as we have to do it throughout the season, any time you can change things up and it’s a different feel for the week, it’s a good thing because the guys are engaged. It’s a different feel for them and I think it was beneficial for our guys.”
(We remember you from 2008 working under Mike Martz here and I know that you worked under Mike for a while. I was just wondering, what kind of imprint Mike Martz had in what you guys do in Miami now?) – “It’s still a lot of the way that I was brought up under him. I think I use a lot of the tools that he showed me as far as how to teach players, as far as our meetings go, our installs are done exactly the way that I learned under him. A lot of the way that we practice as an offense is done exactly the way I learned under him. Schematically, there are still a few things that are there that I learned working under him but, we’re not as much what he did schematically just because it changed a lot when I was in Denver, when I started there – just because we had a different style of quarterback. We were running a different style of offense at the time. That was really what I ended up doing was what we did in Denver kind of carried to Chicago and has developed here.”
(How are you guys preparing your defense for the tempo of Chip Kelly’s offense?) – “Well, we have ways that we deal with that. The good thing is our defense … We were a no-huddle offense all through spring and training camp so our guys are kind of used to a similar tempo to what they run. We always would practice faster than really what we ended up doing in games. So our defense was kind of used to the way that we ended up practicing all throughout the year. Obviously, the last five weeks we’ve kind of changed the way we’ve done things. So they’re used to that style of defense. They had to implement their fast-paced defense early on in the process. It was a good thing for our defense that we were like that to start the year out because they’re used to that.”
(Back to Mike Martz real quick, he’s known for having a lot of confidence and daring, does any of his attitude rub off on you a bit?) – “Absolutely. I wouldn’t use the word daring. I would just say aggressive. Mike was … what I learned from him right from the get go was being an attacking offense, dictating the pace of game, dictating kind of how you are going to play as far as going to win or lose the game. Mike always talked about it. It was the offense’s job to go win the game and not to prevent from losing it. So when we get in situations when we have opportunities to go win the game, I have a lot of confidence in our players. We’ve done a few things. At the end of the Buffalo game, we had third-and-6 with 2:14 left and we’re throwing go routes. I have a lot of confidence that our guys are going to go make plays and we did and we scored a 66-yard touchdown. That’s kind of how we play. That’s our attitude. We know when we get into 4-minute situations, our job is to go win the game. Our job is to make sure the defense never touches the field again. I think I learned that from an early age with him. It’s obviously in my DNA because that was the way I was raised by him.”
(From your one year in San Francisco in 2008, you had three guys who you were on that staff with on your staff now. Obviously, there are a lot of new faces here at the 49ers. But do you have any relationships with people inside the building still?) – “Obviously, (San Francisco 49ers Director of Human Performance) Mark Uyeyama is a close friend of mine. It feels like we were both … I was an offensive assistant, he was (former 49ers Strength and Conditioning Coach Duane) Carlisle’s assistant at the time. I think we lived like four doors down from each other in our apartment complex. We’ve always kind of kept in touch. We’ve always been close friends. There are a lot of good people in that building. Obviously, (San Francisco 49ers Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Football Operations) Praraag Marathe has always been a good friend of mine. I have a ton of respect for (San Francisco 49ers CEO) Jed York. I’ve always enjoyed seeing him, especially now I’m able to see those guys at owners meetings and at any function. It’s great to see those guys because that was … For me to leave Detroit and go to San Francisco and being involved in that organization was a great experience for me because of the history there. It was really exciting to do something different that I had never done before – moving to the West Coast and the history of that organization and trying to help those guys to right the ship at the time. We didn’t get it done but it was really something that was a very prideful thing because knowing that history and the fan base there and how badly those people wanted a winner.”
(It seemed like for a few hours at least in January of 2015 that you were poised to become the 49ers next head coach. Did you feel like it was imminent? Did you feel like that was in the offing for you?) – “It just seems like a long time ago. It’s hard for me to even really look back on any of that. I know it was a great experience for me as far as going through that process and getting to spend the time with all those guys. It was a really beneficial learning experience for me as far as going through not just the initial interview but that follow-up interview and spending all that time with (San Francisco 49ers General Manager) Trent (Baalke) was a really, really valuable experience for me and extremely helpful for me when I went through that next round of interviews, just kind of the do’s and don’ts of what to do and the expectations. I owe those guys a lot just for the fact that they did give me that second interview and I was able to spend the amount of time I spent with Trent. It was very valuable for me because nobody else gave me that second interview that interviewed me the first time. It made it so much easier for myself when I went through that next round the year afterwards to know what to expect and to understand the process of that second interview.”
(From all you’ve studied up on the 49ers back then and to where they are now, what do you see that’s gone wrong with that franchise from afar?) – “This is what makes the NFL interesting is when you watch the film, I see a defense that … it doesn’t really correlate to me and that’s why as coaches you don’t really focus on rankings and things like that and record, because every week is such a new week and everybody goes into the week and you’re trying to win that one game. So whatever your record is, it’s really irrelevant. In pro football, guys refocus fast and every guy does want to feel that winning feeling. So I know those guys are going to come in, they’re going to be prepared. They’re going to have a great scheme. They have a very good coaching staff. Players are playing extremely hard. You see it on tape. Their scheme is very tough to go against. Obviously, this is … between offense, defense and special teams, we haven’t seen an up-tempo offense like this except in practice. We haven’t seen some of the looks that we’ve seen from this defense as far as what they do as far as the variety and the looks and the exotic pressures. There’s some tough, tough looks that you have to go against. And the way that this defense is playing as far as how physical they are and how fast … They gave New England everything they had and Tom (Brady) obviously made some very, very good plays in that game to help those guys win that game. This is a very different challenge for us because these are some things that we haven’t seen. It’s an unfamiliar opponent for our guys being from the NFC West. Even though I was able to play against these guys and do have some familiarity with some of these players, the schemes are different so it’s almost like a full reboot for myself and (Defensive Coordinator) Vance Joseph the same thing, to where we have to make sure that we do every little thing right for us because when we hit Sunday, the records and rankings, all of that stuff is irrelevant because it’s all about trying to figure out how to win one game.”
(A month ago, I was reading you’re the youngest NFL head coach and maybe you’re a little in over your head. And now obviously, you’re a rising star who knows everything. Is it interesting to you how quickly perceptions can change?) – “This is my 15th year in the NFL. I’ve seen ups and downs. I’ve been involved in multiple organization. I was in Detroit five years, I was in San Francisco for a year. I was in Denver for six years. I went from where we were almost making the playoffs in Denver then the next year we get fired and go 4-12 and it’s the end of the world. The next year, (John) Fox comes in, (Tim) Tebow ends up taking us to the playoffs. Then we get Peyton Manning and we signed Peyton Manning and everyone’s talking about how it’s the biggest mistake he made because we had no talent on our team. We had no receivers. Then we end up having three guys that go to the Pro Bowl at receiver. Demaryius Thomas is one of the most dominant receivers in the NFL now. Eric Decker goes to the Jets and he’s a really good player. Julius Thomas was one of the most dominant tight ends. So everybody looks at things on a weekly basis to where sometimes in the NFL, as coaches and players, we kind of can see the whole thing to where sometimes the outside perception isn’t really what reality is.”
(So what is the difference between the slow start and what happened during the five-game winning streak?) – “Well sometimes it takes a minute to kind of get your whole group together as far as health-wise, scheme-wise, everybody kind of getting fit in and figuring each other out. It’s not as easy to put things together nowadays because of the limited practice time (and) the way that you’ve got to go through training camp. You’re trying to get things done in the preseason but at the same time, you’re trying to get to the regular season. We started out at Seattle, at New England and at Cincinnati in the first four games. So, for a group that’s getting together for the first time, we couldn’t have loved it any more than how it started as far as we had some big-time challenges in front of us. Things didn’t go exactly as planned; but it was a great learning experience for us because it really showed us who is really the kind of guys that we want here? Who are the guys that are tough enough to go through the fact that we had a 1-4 start? Are we going to stick together or are we going to fall apart? It was a great example of there’s a little more character in this building, in this organization, than what people gave credit for. Our guys really did a great job as far as sticking to what the plan was as far as what we talked about in training camp and when we started the season. They stuck with what we were saying. They kept working. They kept practicing hard. Things eventually turned around for us because we stuck with our process. We kept going back to…”
(How much has it been for you kind of a feeling out process of how to best use QB Ryan Tannehill and RB Jay Ajayi to kind of feed off each other and make that offense whole?) – “Well, that’s what every year is. Every year you have a different team. You never go into the season and say, ‘Hey, this is exactly what we’re going to be.’ You have an idea. You have an outline, but it’s firmly etched in pencil. You’re getting ready to make changes as the season goes on. When you have injuries, you have guys moving in and out of the building, you have to make changes. Jay started playing well in that Tennessee game and busted out in the Pittsburgh game, so we started leaning on him. Ryan does a lot of really good things early in the game, in some of those games that nobody really realizes. And then, we’ve had to have a couple games where he’s really had to step up and kind of carry us. He’s done a great job these last two games, especially when things weren’t quite going exactly as planned, he stepped up and made some plays. DeVante Parker has finally gotten healthy. He’s been a big reason for kind of some of our turnaround. The healthier we can get, the longer we go, the better chance we can have as far as each week trying to line up and have a chance in the fourth quarter.”
(One more 2015 question. After the 49ers decided on Jim Tomsula as their head coach, did he approach you, talk to you about being their offensive coordinator that season?) – “Possibly.” (laughter)
(Did it possibly happen at the Denver airport?) – “Maybe. (laughter) Possibly that happened. (laughter) For me, it was … I’ll say this, I have a lot of respect for Jim. He always treated me so great. When I was an offensive assistant, he went out of his way to always approach me. We had a great relationship. That was very tough for me as far as deciding to go to Chicago because I thought that was the best move for me at the time. I have a lot of friends in that building and I have a lot of people that I respect. Obviously, my respect for the York family is very, very high. I want the best for those guys all the time. So that was a tough decision for me because anytime that I can do anything to help Jed York win games, that’s why that was a very hard decision as far as even not getting the head coaching job, just saying I think I’m going to do something else as far as a coordinator job. That was a tougher decision than what probably most people realize because of the respect factor I have for the people I have in that organization.”
