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Durham Smythe – October 7, 2021 Download PDF version

Thursday, October 7, 2021

TE Durham Smythe

(While not giving away any strategy, obviously, what has been the message from Co-Offensive Coordinator/TEs George Godsey and Co-Offensive Coordinator/RBs Eric Studesville this week about what needs to change primarily?) – “I think above everything else, it’s just being consistent. You can pick and choose things that you want to see improved as an offense overall, whether it’s more big plays, things like that or running the ball better. But you have to put yourself in a position to do that so if you’re not successful on first and second down, everyone knows you are going to throw the ball down the field on third-and-13 or something like that. I think it’s about putting yourself in better positions to be able to do these things. A lot of those things, whether it’s running the ball more efficiently or more chunk plays, they’ll come.”

(You were on this team last year that started 1-3. It’s a similar situation and you turned things around a little bit. Do you draw from that? I know you guys speak one week at a time but can you draw from that, that you’ve been here before and turned a season around?) – “Yeah, I think so, to a degree. Every year the team is new and it’s a different team. At the same time, I think last year, what happened was we were doing the same things but things started to click. Once they did, we went on a little bit of a run and being on a team that did something like that, we know it’s possible. It comes back to what I said originally, if we can be more on top of things and more consistent, things will start to click and hopefully we can go on a little bit of a run.”

(I think the Buccaneers are ranked first in the NFL, and I know it’s early, but they’re obviously good at run defense. What do you think makes them good at run defense?) – “It’s a combination of a lot of things. The personnel they have are pretty incredible. It’s one of the better front sevens in the NFL, if not the best, in terms of just actual players, and then (Todd) Bowles does a lot of things. He’s multiple with the fronts, with the pressures, with the coverages. When you combine those two things, it makes a lot of sense that they’re difficult to run the ball on and just an overall good defense.”

(You’ve known Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey for a couple years now. How has he taken on this new responsibility that he has with the team? How have you seen him react to it and take the challenge head-on?) – “He’s always tried to put himself in a position of, not leadership but being knowledgeable about the entire process on offense, dating back to three years ago when he was just the tight ends coach. In terms of that, nothing much has changed. It’s kind of like a guy that’s a backup for us right now, he prepares every week as the starter. He’s kind of done that same, or at least in a similar fashion as a coach. Not much has changed on that front. He’s going to continue to be the guy that he is and hopefully we can get things clicking here.”

(Is there any ability that the players have under this unique co-coordinators system – aside from quarterbacks, but players of your position, running backs and receivers – to suggest plays or things for the gameplan? Is that something that is an option for players this year that wasn’t? Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville is saying that all the coaches contribute to the gameplan with multiple coordinators. Can players do that?) – “Well, I guess the simple answer is no, other than the quarterbacks. But at the same time, if you see something and you relay that, it’s not like they’re going to immediately shoot it down. If you came with a whiteboard and drew up a play and you’re like, ‘We need to run this,’ you’re probably not going to get that immediately. But if you see a tendency or something like that and you see a matchup of whatever it maybe, they definitely will take that into consideration, especially if you relay it to a quarterback. Obviously they’re in the room when they’re making those calls.”

(Could there be a case to be made – and I know it’s not your decision – to play up-tempo more? Obviously you’ve had success late in games doing that, albeit against looser defenses when you’ve been trailing the last two weeks. Could a case be made to play up-tempo more early?) – “There’s a lot of moving parts with that and you hit it on the head. We’ve been efficient when we’ve done that in the last few weeks but at the same time, you’re right, it’s at the end of the game when they’re playing off-Cover 4 and things like that where it’s a looser zone. At the same time, we have been efficient. In years past, we have worked in going up-tempo then slowing it down. Obviously it’s not my call and we have been efficient when we’ve done it. I think that’s just something that we will use here and there, like we kind of have the last two years and we will see how that goes.”

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