Danny Crossman – December 19, 2024
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Thursday, December 19, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(With K Jason Sanders and PATs, is it a technique thing, do you think? Was there a common thing between the two?) – “No. The timing was a little bit off, got a little bit too tight and wrapped it. Something that you don’t want to see and you hope doesn’t happen but it did. As soon as he hit it, he knew exactly what happened so we’ll get that cleaned up.”
(The snap and hold were fine on that play?) – “Yeah. Not perfect, but had nothing to do with the result.”
(Nine weeks ago, I raised you the zany idea of going through an entire season alternating long snappers, and by George, by golly it’s turned out that way. This is long snapper number five, what has left you in this position and has it been a palatable scenario?) – “Just how this season has played out from a roster standpoint, it just turned out that continually things evolving and changing positionally on the club that that was what was best for the club and the organization and the team at this time. It’s not something I recommend; it’ll probably be a record that will sit for a while. Fortunately Jason (Sanders) and Jake (Bailey) have done a really good job of working with each guy we’ve brought in. The guys that we’ve brought in have been outstanding and dove into what we’ve asked them to do. It’s not easy; I don’t know if anybody thinks it is, but it’s not. They’ve done a great job and we’ll see where we’re at this week. We’re happy that Jake McQuaide was available and we’ll go from there.”
(One last thing on this topic. Obviously while not indulging anything at all personal about LS Blake Ferguson, fans are concerned. Is he going to be OK?) – “Again, not to put anybody’s business out there, No. 1 illegal, but yeah. Right now for where the club is, the best decision was to let him know and inform him that he is not going to be snapping in a game for the rest of the season. Hopefully that puts at rest his mind and where he is, where he’s working and what he’s working on. It also lets everybody else know where we’re going and what we’re doing so there is not the constant question of what, where, when, how and why.”
(What are those conversations like with those long snappers that keep coming in? Do you tell them, “Hey, you’re here for three weeks tops?”) – “You don’t know. Ideally, I think when this started there was maybe a desire or a hope that one of them would be able to. It had nothing to do with any of those individuals as we went through this. But as those weeks, as those guys were here, as we ate through those flexes that you’re allowed three of them, there were a lot of other things going on around the team at the same time that the best maneuver for the organization was keep using the flex and use the 53 on other things, whether it be injury, whether it was a player available that we didn’t feel like we could pass up. So there was a lot of things to go into it.”
(The fake punt, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said you guys were prepared for it. Were you prepared? What happened there?) – “It’s like anything, preparation is execution. It was something we were aware for; we were in a call based on their history in that situation we felt good about. The execution is where we fell off. You can talk to every coach and regardless of position, there’s good calls, there’s bad calls, but it doesn’t matter what the call is, it’s got to be executed. Whether it’s technique, or eyes, or communication, when something gets missed, you give up a play or you make a play conversely. We felt good about it before the ball was snapped, but it was a big play in the game.”
(I remember your words at the start of this long snapper rotation, you used the phrase “very risky.” Given that you haven’t had a disaster along the way, do you feel fortunate? Were you holding your breath?) – “It’s work. Yeah, it’s hard but again, I give the credit to the players. The guys that we brought in and obviously the rest of the group. It’s hard on other players, it’s hard on the guards, the guys on punt team when you get to a new guy – his sequence, his tendencies, his body style. The guys on field goal, the same thing – the tempo, the timing. There’s so many more moving parts in it than you should probably think about. I have to think about it. They’ve done a good job, but again, we’ve still got games to play. It’s going to be something I continually work on and monitor and spend time on. Hopefully we continue to be able to execute.”
(How deep is this list of potential…) – “As they say, we’re into the desert. (laughter)”
(How would you grade this season for the special teams unit as a whole and your job leading it?) – “We’re not even close to even thinking about that. I’ve got a practice today I got to get ready for and prepare for and work on. And then we’ve got another one tomorrow and a game, and then we’ve got two more weeks. That’s you guys, that’s not on my radar.”
(Who takes the lead in contacting long snappers? Is it General Manager Chris Grier, someone else in personnel, or you?) – “In the personnel department. Regardless of – there’s ready lists. The personnel department has ready lists. I have ready lists; you’re always tracking what’s going on. Now with some of these new spring leagues, that’s added more bodies. You’re able to get more tape, but there’s a constant readiness availability because you never know when stuff is going to happen. Sadly, you saw what happened in Houston last week and they weren’t able to do anything about it, but the night before the game, a player has to have emergency appendix surgery. There’s so many things that happen – car accidents, sickness, so you have to have that list ready to go and you better have them stacked and be able to execute and hopefully get one in and move forward.”
(When you get to this part of the season, when playoff hopes are very dim in mid-December, do you have to motivate players? Do you rely on their professionalism? What’s kind of the process of keeping them motivated?) – “It’s some of both of those things. Every individual is different. Everybody’s individual is motivated by different things; certain guys, how you approach them. It’s all different. I look at it strictly like we are all professionals. I am paid to coach and teach, and I’m going to coach and I’m going to teach every single day the same way I have my entire career when I was coaching at Division III colleges. Every single day I’m trying to get players better, more knowledgeable to extend their career and win games. So it doesn’t matter, I’m just trying to go 1-0 every week, it doesn’t matter what our record is, I’m just trying to win the current game.”
(Can I ask you a question just as a football guy? WR Tyreek Hill, he has this kind of cryptic tweet that says, “It’s time for me to go coach,” after the loss to Houston – he did it yesterday. Do you find that distracting, is that – there’s what’s called a troll, somebody who just likes to stir stuff up. Is he the perfect troll? Is this a distraction? What do you think about that?) – “I have no idea what you’re talking about. (laughter)”
(I just wanted to ask because you’re a veteran football coach.) – “I don’t look, I don’t read anything. I’m buried, I don’t pay any attention to anything. (laughter)”
(Is there a decent chance you use WR Isaiah McKenzie this week?) – “Again, we have a couple guys injured and hopefully we get some guys back. If not, he’s a guy that we signed that has a decent history in this league, so we’re looking – a possibility, but again, we’re still a couple days away. Obviously, we’re always hopeful about the guys on the 53 (-man roster). If we have to, just as we have all year, we’ll use those flexes on where we deem necessary. But he’s a good player, fortunately he was available at this point in the season.”
