Dave DeGuglielmo – September 3, 2019
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Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo
(Wanted to ask you about becoming the coach four days into training camp, that had to have been kind of a strange experience.) – “Well, you’re a writer. If you write here today, and write over there tomorrow, you’re still a writer. It’s just a locational thing. This is what I do for a living. It was different, but it wasn’t that…”
(What did you think when they said, “We need you to do this now?”) – “Again, that’s what I do for a living.”
(How did the job description change?) – “Well, I went from being an analyst – I wasn’t working with any of the players at the time. I was working more in a research role and kind of working with defense, then I went to working with offense. That’s about it. Working specifically the line – I wasn’t working with the line prior to that.”
(What did you see at the time that needed to improve and how has that gone?) – “Again, I was with the defense, so I really didn’t study what was going on, on that side of the ball. That’s something you have to ask the boss.”
(I imagine first day you took the job you saw, “These are things that need to get better?”) – “There’s always things that need to get better. There’s things to get better now. That’s an ongoing process. It’s just the way it is.”
(When you decided to rejoin the organization as an analyst, what went into that process?) – “(Head Coach) Brian (Flores) called me and he asked me if I could come down and help him out since I was sitting at home in Carmel, Indiana watching Big Valley every day at 2 o’clock. This is what I do for a living: I’m around football. He thought he could use my experience as a football coach. Again, more of it was on defense trying to analyze other team’s protections and how certain blitzes would affect blocking schemes. That’s kind of what I was doing up until this time. That’s what my field is: blocking people. In working with the defense, it allowed me to give them a different perspective.”
(This is your third stop here, right?) – “Yeah, I’ve been three times. I really like it here. I’m like a stray dog. They keep feeding me, I keep coming back. (laughter)”
(In terms of where the organization is, how does this compare to your previous stops, the state of the franchise?) – “Every time and every year is different. Obviously, each time I’ve been back here it’s been with different people, a different head coach each time. Every time is unique in itself. The fun part of the job is you get to watch teams evolve and grow and change. No two teams even within the same structure are the same year to year. The best part about coming back here is the support staff here and the people that run the organization day to day, the people that run the building. Those people are the same and they welcome me with open arms. That’s probably one of the best things about coming back here is that there are people here that take good care of you and you know you’re not going to some organization where you’re a stranger.”
(What is your reaction to losing your best player a week before the season starts?) – “Listen, (Laremy Tunsil is) a tremendous football player. There are changes all the time. If he had sprained an ankle, it would be the same situation. You just keep on working. We have a lot of good guys that are working hard right now to fit into wherever they need to fit in.”
(Is your assessment that T Laremy Tunsil is one of the best left tackles in the NFL?) – “He’s a really good football player. I’m not going to rank guys. I haven’t worked with all the guys. He’s a tremendous athlete, a special player. I’ve worked with him before and I’ll work with him again.”
(What’s your level of comfort with G/T Jesse Davis at left tackle?) – “I don’t know if he’s going to play left tackle. We’re playing around with different combinations and that’s one that’s been suggested, but I don’t know that anything specific is going to happen. It’s a work in progress, let’s just say that. We have some interesting parts that have come into the building and that’s part of the process.”
(G/T Jesse Davis equated to moving from right tackle to left tackle as, “You’re right handed. Have you tried looking at writing with your left hand and seeing how that looks?” Is it really that big of a difference? Could that be a difference for a guy like that moving to a new position?) – “I don’t know. Again, he still might be writing right-handed, so I don’t know. I didn’t play the game. I never played in the NFL. I’ve coached a lot of guys who have done a lot of different things. Again, it’s a matter of seeing how all the pieces play together. It’s not so much about finding one guy to play one spot. Even past groups I’ve worked with, it’s more about getting good players to play well together, not just getting good players to play good. If they play individually, then they’re not going to get anything accomplished. We just have to find the right mix and the right combination. I’ve been through that before.”
(We hear that a lot, that the big thing with the offensive line is the cohesion and guys playing together week to week and even season to season. You seem to be on the opposite end of that spectrum right now. What’s the challenge of dealing with that?) – “If you look back to New England in 2015, I rotated a whole bunch of guys – I didn’t, the head coach did – quite a bit. We had three rookies playing and we rotated a whole bunch of dudes. In one game, I believe we had 12 or 13 different combinations for every drive we had. Every drive was different for the entire game against Jacksonville. We were 10-0 that year. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? I don’t know. We just have to find – it takes time to find the right mix, the right combination. I equate it to the guy that invented the intermittent wipers. I say that movie with Greg Kinnear. He says, ‘It’s the exact same – they were trying to argue – that it was the exact same as it was before.’ But he found the right way to link up all that wiring so that we were able to get intermittent wipers. That’s the key. We’ve got to find the right wiring. It’s not about the pieces. The pieces are there and we just have to find it.”
(You watch a lot of TV.) – “(laughter) No, this was a long time ago. I thought it was interesting, because he took a sentence and he gave a bunch of words and he said, ‘When you say each word individually, they’re just words. But when you put them all together, it’s something special.’ It’s really the same thing. You just have to find the right places for these guys. They’re all working hard.”
(Do you have the parts to work with?) – “Everybody is working hard to try to show their best effort right now and show what their best football is. I’m excited to go into the season with the guys we have and we just go. We have to play.”
(How would you describe the challenge of trying to get your unit ready for Sunday with all of the moving parts and comings and goings?) – “In most NFL teams, there’s going to be some change every week. Sometimes it’s a little bit more change; sometimes it’s a little less change. That’s week to week for every team. Gone are the days where five guys played the same five spots for the entire 16 games. I haven’t seen it in a long time. I saw it when I was with the Giants. They played three years in a row together; all 16 regular season (games). I don’t know if that exists anymore. That’s part of the process. We teach conceptually. We cross-train guys. To be honest with you, I’d like to have every guy on the line be able to snap a football. Why? Why do you need a tackle to? Because you never know. You never know what’s going to be needed for a game to finish a game or play a game and you never know who the best guy is going to be until you give it a try, give it a whirl.”
(If I was going to show up on a Sunday and play the next Sunday, having just one week, I would probably want to be like a receiver or running back or a corner. To me, it’s like that might be the easiest spots to do that. How hard is it for a tackle to get through a game one week of playbook studying?) – “Again, you’re a writer. If I take you and make you a writer over there, you’re still a writer. It’s just you’ve got a new desk and a new phone number and you got to figure out how to dial out. Is there a code or do I just dial 9? It’s the same – They’re professionals. This is what these men do for a living. This is a job. I’ve had guys come in on Wednesdays and play that Sunday. That’s just the way it goes.”
(What’s the biggest concern with that?) – “Concerned? You’d have to ask them. They’re the ones that have to do it. But this is what we do.”
(T Julien Davenport showed me his hands and his arms. He looks good. He looks the part.) – “If we were doing a measuring test, that’d be fabulous. But I don’t think they’re going to measure us on Sunday. (laughter)”
(Form your study of T Julien Davenport, what do you think he can do better? How will you help him?) – “Again, I haven’t seen enough of him to give a full assessment. You can ask our personnel department. They do a great of analyzing everything and everybody. That’s kind of outside my – Right now, I haven’t worked with the guy. I don’t know much about him. I know what I’ve seen, but I don’t want to pass judgement on a guy – good or bad.”
(What about G Shaw Calhoun? Obviously, he’s played a lot throughout the preseason.) – “He’s a fine, young man. He’s working hard.”
(What do you view as G Shaq Calhoun’s strengths and things he needs to develop?) – “That would take a lot more than a short answer. I would say he’s doing – He’s adjusting to the professional game from the college game and he’s doing a good job. I’d rather not get into the specifics of it. That’s something that – then I start talking about what he does well and does poorly and either he gets a big head or the opponent says, ‘He does that poorly. Let’s go after that.’ I’d like to leave it at he’s – as we all do – has plenty of deficiencies, plenty of things to work on and we just have to keep working on them. He’s one of those guys.”
(What do you see the philosophical value of a left tackle being?) – “Philosophical value? You’re asking a guy that’s the – I don’t know if philosophy is my line of work. I’m a line coach. (laughter)”
(I guess a lot of us out here say, “That’s the most important position. You need to have that position.” As an o-line coach, do you look at the left tackle as that?) – “I look at it like this: when we line up on Sunday, there’s going to be a left tackle. So, we have that position. Whether it’s – I don’t know how to answer that. We’re always going to have five guys out there. Unless you’re New England and you put four on the field for a couple plays. (laughter)”
(Tony Wise was the o-line coach when I first covered the team from 2002-04 with Dave Wannstedt. I was here. Where were you then, 2002-04?) – “I was at South Carolina with Lou Holtz.”
(Tony Wise told me, ‘I can find a guard at the grocery store. I can go to Publix and find a guard, that’s no problem. Forget about guards. We’re not worried about guards. Tackles are a different thing.’ Do you agree with that or not so much?) – “I think all of these guys, at every positon, they’re unique creatures. They’re unique. They do a unique job. I don’t think – I know I sure as hell couldn’t do it. I tell them all the time, ‘I can’t do what you do.’ Whether they’re guards or centers or tackles – I think centers have been undervalued in this business for a long, long time – but I think they all have their unique value based on what you’re trying to do, what you’re trying to achieve. They’re all hard to find, believe me. That’s just how it goes. Take a look around. Everybody is fighting for the same guys. There aren’t enough of them in the world. Again, it’s a unique positon. It’s a hard job. I wouldn’t want to do it.”
(The guy C/G Evan Boehm comes from the Colts. You had him last year, right?) – “I did.”
(Looking at the highlights, C/G Evan Boehm looks a little nasty, which I like. In my opinion, we need more nasty around here. What are your thoughts on that?) – “We are in South Florida. We get after it down here. We go. I like the way Evan plays. I think he’s an excellent addition. I thought he was an excellent addition when I had him last year. I think he’ll add a little flavor to the group. They all add their own special flavor. I think that he has a unique style and I think that suits him. That may not suit every guy, but it suits him and how he plays. He’s a son of a coach, so he’s got a different perspective than a lot of guys do, because he grew up in the game. I’m happy to have him.”
(I wanted to ask you about QB Andrew Luck.) – “Does he play for us? He doesn’t play for anybody anymore, does he? (laughter)”
(He doesn’t. We haven’t talked to you since QB Andrew Luck retired. Obviously, you spent a year with him last year. What was your thoughts on when you heard he retired.) – “To be honest with you, that happened about the same time I got thrown into coaching the offensive line. I’ve got a lot more to think about than Andrew Luck. I did text him and he texted me back. It is what it is. It doesn’t affect me. I’m going to get ready for Baltimore and he’s not going to help me one way or another playing or not playing. It may affect us in November when we play them; but right now, that’s one of those things where – I enjoyed working with the guy for a year, but that’s all I got with him was a year. It was a good year.”
(In my opinion, you have a really hard job and we all have hard jobs. Yours to me, you’ve got your work cut out for you based on what you’ve been provided – the groceries?) – “Is it hard because I have to deal with you guys, too? (laughter) You could say that’s hard.”
(We’re actually nice people.) – “I know you are. I’m just saying. (laughter)
(Bill Parcells used to say the groceries and all that. I’m not sure we got the premium groceries just yet. How hard do you think what you’ve been tasked to do this year is?) – “Again, I don’t think it’s any different than any other year. Every year is unique and every year serves you up its own set of problems. Think about when I got here in 2017. That was a unique situation as well. My situation last year (in Indianapolis), that was a unique situation there. Every situation has problems and they’re exclusive to that particular – It also has benefits, great things that are happening. It’s hard to really say exactly how things will work out in the end. That’s the pleasure of the game is you work it. You work these guys, they work hard every day, they get into meetings. If they’re good pros, we’re going to get some good results. If they’re not good pros and they don’t concentrate on their work, then we won’t get a good result.”
(How would you describe what you want your offensive lineman to do?) – “I want them to be smart, I want them to be tough and I want them to protect inside, out. I want to make sure that the pocket is clean, so the quarterback can do his job. That’s what we need to do. Smart, tough and really make a concerted effort to protect the people that are going to feed you – the running backs and the quarterback. That’s how you’re assessed as an offensive linemen, as an offensive line coach. They have to understand that. Every day we talk about it. We have to build the perfect pocket and the only way to do that is through fundamentals – keep our hands right, keep our feet right. Do the basic things. Let’s not go outside of our – Don’t drive outside your lane. This is what we do. We’re Clydesdales, we pull the sled. We’re not dancing in the circus and putting on a show. We do a grunt’s work. That’s what they are. They’re doing the jackhammer. They’re picking up the jackhammer and they’re breaking concrete all day long. It’s not sexy, but it’s necessary for the building to go up. That’s what it is with these guys. They have to go to work, understand that they have a responsibility to keep the quarterback clean, protect inside, out, be smart, that means studying, and be nasty if you want to put it that way. (laughter)”
