Charlie Frye – May 24, 2021
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Monday, May 24, 2021
Quarterbacks Coach Charlie Frye
(What were your observations of QB Tua Tagovailoa back when you coached him in the Elite 11 camp? Did you see special qualities at that time? And then the second part, what skills does he have now that make him a quality NFL quarterback?) – “I worked at Elite 11 while I was coaching high school and you get to be around a lot of the quarterbacks, especially in that Elite 11 setting, of the premier guys in high school. I thought he had a quick release and he was accurate with the ball. I loved his demeanor. I loved how he interacted with the guys on this team and just how thirsty he was to learn. Then today, I see a lot of the same things – a more mature quarterback that’s been through and had experiences but he still has the same quick release and accuracy and the way he interacts with his teammates. Those things I think all add value to playing this position.”
(Obviously you’ve had some time in the league. I’m curious how your experience may provide context for you in this role and helping QB Tua Tagovailoa as a young quarterback trying to reach that next level.) – “Yeah, I’ve had a journey of playing in Cleveland, where I was a starter, and then being traded to Seattle, where you’re a backup behind Matt Hasselbeck and Mike Holmgren and Jim Zorn. Then I finished my career in Oakland with Tom Cable and Hue Jackson and Jason Campbell, Bruce Gradkowski. I just think you accumulate things you learn along your journey, whether it be playing or learning from guys that play at a high level, that you’re able to take from the grease board or the paper and apply it more to the perspective of playing the position, whether it be a pressure or an indicator of a safety or a way a route is going to come out at the top of the route – stuff in the protection game where you can slide to pressure looks and those things. It’s just perspective that you take along your journey, whether it be playing or coaching. You always have a learning mindset, where you’re able to help guys out that you’re going to run into later on coaching them.”
(I wanted to ask you about your time recently in the college game, most notably with Central Michigan. How do you think that prepared you for the position today with the modern integration of the college game into the pro game?) – “I think everything that you go through on your journey (helps) prepare yourself in the future. Just being in a position where ‘Mac’ (Jim McElwain) let me kind of run the offense and try different things, whether it be in the run/pass game or whatever it is. Just being in that setting, being in the cockpit as I like to say, just gives you perspective on how things are supposed to be run. Now you’re taken out of the cockpit and you’re back in a position role of just helping trying to streamline things so you can be more efficient.”
(With all of the attention on your starting quarterback for obvious reasons, it’s easy to forget that you have a backup who has starting experience in this league. What is QB Jacoby Brissett showing you so far at this early stage and what gives you confidence that he could step in if need be? How is he working with QB Tua Tagovailoa in terms of possibly mentoring him as a veteran?) – “I think the quarterback room is special. There are a lot of things that are talked about and sorted through and ideas bouncing off each other. Those two guys are working really, really, really well together. Jacoby has experience. He has in-game success. He’s been successful as a starter. He’s competitive. He’s willing to learn. He can give Tua those same things we were talking about earlier – the things that happen in the game. ‘Where do I put my eyes versus this blitz?’ Those things that are hard to draw up on the chalkboard, and how fast things are going to happen. All of those things are great to hear and it’s great perspective that he has on the game.”
(Multiple shifts, multiple motions and varied tempos – those are things that I have learned you have a familiarity with based on your previous stops. Can you tell me about how those things in today’s modern offense can keep a defense off-balanced?) – “Yeah, I think any time that you can change the picture for the defense and still run a lot of your core plays offensively, guys already know the plays and you’re just making it harder for the defense. What’s been cool here is there’s been a collaboration of a lot of ideas in our staff meetings. Guys have been around a long time. (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends) George (Godsey) and (Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs) Eric (Studesville) have a lot of experience and are really smart guys. They’re just taking some of the things that we’re able to do and let those guys process it, then come to the drawing board as ‘this is what we’re going to do.’ It’s been fun. It’s been a learning experience for me, just how to apply different things and putting them together.”
(You’ve seen a lot of things with offenses in your career as a player, and now as a coach. So what are your thoughts on the offense that your team is going to run this year?) – “I think there’s core principles in every offense. I think it starts with communication – learning a system, putting a system together. It’s about putting everybody on the same page. So the communication between the center and the quarterback, and the quarterback with his communication to his skill guys, the quarterback’s communication in calling the plays and making sure the formation’s right – do you have a shift, do you have a motion? I think the communication is one of the building blocks of every system, and that’s got to be right before you can move onto the next piece. That’s something that we’ve got to witness over the first two walkthroughs is how well they’re doing with the communication. So that’s exciting to see. Then the rest of it is just building on top of that; but just getting everybody on the same page. Everybody is seeing it through the same lens on just streamlining the communication.”
(Were you able to add or suggest some stuff that maybe wasn’t there before?) – “Like I said, it’s been a really awesome process ever since we got in here after the Senior Bowl, of really a collaboration of everybody that’s been in the room. ‘This is how we’ve done it here. Does it apply to how we can use it moving forward?’ There’s been a lot of discussions and a lot of great ideas coming from everybody involved.”
(What influenced you to get into coaching? As a player, did you always know this is what you wanted to do? Did you just feel like this was the next thing for a former quarterback because it so often is? What made you get into coaching?) – “I think my biggest influence was the things I were able to learn during my time in Seattle. Just learning from Mike (Holmgren) and Jim Zorn and Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace. Then processing how you would have done things differently like when I was in Cleveland. It was like you accumulate all of this information and now you want to apply it, so I’m like when I get done, I want to get this information to whoever is next in line. I thought it was going to be doing the Elite 11 and coaching high school ball but it’s just the fire. The fire, I couldn’t put it out. To compete at the ultimate level is how I afforded the great opportunity to come back with ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) and the Dolphins. That’s kind of initially how or why was that you accumulate the knowledge and you want to pass it on to the next generation of guys.”
