Clyde Christensen – January 28, 2016
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Thursday, January 28, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(On what he sees from QB Ryan Tannehill) – “I really enjoyed watching him. I haven’t seen him a bunch. I visited with him and his wife when I came in for the interview and I had a great breakfast with them and as much you can do in an hour there, but I’ve been extremely impressed with him. He’s been extremely productive and he’s played some awfully long stretches of good football. He seems like a guy that has all of the things that you’re looking for. A guy who wants to be good, who has it in perspective and (I’m) really looking forward to seeing him on the field a little bit.”
(On if his role as an offensive coordinator is to be an ally to the quarterback) – “I think so. I’ve always thought that. From every level of coaching that I’ve ever been at and especially this level, I think that’s a lonely position. That’s a lonely position in this league. It’s lonely in the locker room, it’s lonely on the street, it’s hard to find friends and it’s just a unique position. I’ve always felt like the number one job that I have is to be an ally, to be a safe place where a guy can talk and communicate and have a relationship where you can bounce things off and generate ideas. I’ve always thought the quarterback position is unique that way and I’ve always approached it that way.”
(On Head Coach Adam Gase being a former offensive coordinator and how he expects that to affect their relationship) – “He was one of the main reasons I took this job and was interested in this job because I thought it was really kind of a support position to him. It’s an offense we ran for a long time in Indianapolis and then he took to Denver and I’m sure they tweaked and improved it a little bit. So it was interesting to me because of his youth and how sharp he is. He’s young and energetic and it gives me a chance to just kind of come in in a support position and kind of help in any way that I can, as he’s got a lot of new responsibilities. He will call the games. It was probably a position that I was interested in because of that and the things that maybe; I probably wasn’t interested in just coming in and ‘Hey, it’s all yours and just go take it and run with it.’ It was much more attractive to me to come in in a support position and I’ve really been impressed with him. I’ve dealt with Coach Gase pretty extensively when (Denver Broncos QB) Peyton (Manning) made his move to Denver and just talking about the offense, talking about handling Peyton and talking about all of the different things like that. That’s kind of where the relationship started and we’ve had a lot fun talking football and sharing Manning stories, etc., Manning experiences. So when this thing happened and when he invited me to come down and visit with him about it, I kind of felt like it was a role that I enjoyed, that I liked, and that I felt like I could help and be a contributor in. I had an awfully good job where I was and I wasn’t interested in just coordinating somewhere for the title. It was more of ‘What is the role? What are the responsibilities? What am I going to contribute?’ And this one was attractive that way.”
(On his thoughts about Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning getting back to the Super Bowl) – “I’m thrilled. I really couldn’t be more excited, at the risk of being corny. Like I told him, the last playoff game against New England and one thing I do share with this city is a lack of affection for New England through the years, but (I) just had a knot in my stomach. It wasn’t like the offseason, I just wanted him to win that game, so just was thrilled. And, just to have been upfront on his journey, to have seen the journey and to know what he’s fought through physically and to know what he’s fought through mentally, know what he’s fought through with the moves and then even this year just going through some of the adversity and battling. So I think it makes it even more special, you see him run out of that tunnel at the Super Bowl just knowing what he did to get there and for a decade-and-a-half, watching how the guy approaches the game is pretty darn special to see him. Now we just have to see him finish this thing.”
(On what he thinks about how it may be Manning’s ‘last rodeo’) – “Knowing him pretty darn well, I wouldn’t count on that. I wouldn’t count on that. I don’t know many people who enjoy their job as much as him. There have probably been several chances and who knows? But I sure wouldn’t count on that. The guy has kind of amazing that way so I’m not buying it quite yet. I’m not buying it. I know how much he loves doing what he does. He sometimes forgets and still gives me projects and forgets that he has a coach there. I still get a glimpse of how much this guy enjoys football like he does, enjoys the quarterback position like he does and I wouldn’t count on him bowing out too early.”
(On what he thinks of the offensive line) – “The number one thing I see us doing approaching this thing is evaluating our own. That’s the number one thing; we can’t miss on our own. We spent a good day today just talking about our own guys, and we’re learning more and more. It’s hard to have a complete evaluation because you haven’t met them; you haven’t looked in their eyes yet and seen them work. You haven’t seen them rehab. You haven’t seen them do all of those things, but as best we can to get a preliminary evaluation of those guys is the number one thing before we move on to other people’s players and college players and stuff. Just trying to get a good feel for what our players are, the offensive line certainly is the beginning of the evaluation process and we have to find some way to find some consistency and some continuity. I think that is a position that the more they play together and the more games together, the better they are going to be. That’s always a fine line with injuries and all those different things. So we’ll go and evaluate it. We do have some good players up there. It’s not an empty cupboard. And then we’ll just kind of look and see how it fits into what we’re trying to do and with what Coach Gase wants to do with this offense. That will be an ongoing evaluation, but we’ve got the process started and again, there are a couple of good young guys.”
(On his thoughts about head coaches calling plays in the NFL) – “I think it’s how (Gase) got the head coaching job. I think a lot of those guys rise to the top because they have a knack for it. (Arizona Cardinals Head Coach) Bruce Arians, who I’ve worked for a couple of times, just has a knack for calling games. I think some of the head coaches make a mistake not doing it. The reason that they kind of go up the ladder if you will, is because they have a knack for doing it and then all of a sudden they become an administrator, or a guy from the sideline. So I’m for it. Some guys just have a knack for it and I think Coach Gase is that, the (Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach) Andy Reid’s. Some guys just have a great knack for calling games and I’ve always thought Coach Gase does. So I’m kind of for it.”
(On how he would feel about calling plays in the future) – “I hadn’t thought about it. That’s down the road. Again, I think that he has a great knack for doing it. So I see him doing it and I see our staff kind of supporting it. He’ll have to have some help, just because of the other responsibilities. But I also think just the process of getting it onto the call sheet; those are the things that we can help with. And then how it comes off the call sheet through the game, through the play-caller, probably gets overrated a little bit, but there is this knack that a play-caller has. When to take a shot? When not take a shot? When to get the ball into (WR Jarvis) Landry’s hands? When to run the clock? All of those things. I don’t see that coming and I’m not worried about that quite yet, we’ve got a thousand things to worry about before I start worrying about that.”
(On his preference of the style of offense that he wants to bring to the Miami Dolphins) – “I would probably say, again the attraction to this job was that I really enjoyed those years in Indy when we were aggressive. We were no huddle and the players had fun. That’s a big thing, that the players enjoy the system. It’s hard to keep players interested and it keeps getting harder and harder to keep players interested. I think the no-huddle and this style of play where you’re mixing it up and you have the ability to – I think Chicago last year led the league in time of possession – but you’re also taking shots and there’s kind of new stuff and you’re keeping them stimulated. I would say this is the way I like to play. We did it for an awful lot of years in Indy and it’s kind of fun. There is always something new. There are always new codes, there are always new concepts and it’s a wide open, you spread them out, and you still can pop some runs in there, etc. But I do, I like this style of play.”
