Eric Studesville – September 7, 2021
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Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs Eric Studesville
(I know everything this week you’re focused solely on this opponent. But if you can just for a minute, from a human side, having an opportunity as co-offensive coordinator after a very distinguished career as an NFL assistant, is it meaningful to you personally?) – “Every game is. Every game is. I think it’s an honor to coach in this league. I’ve enjoyed it, I’m humbled by every opportunity I get to do it. Every game that I get to be a part of, regardless of what role that is, is am awesome thing.”
(Since it’s a good story this week, when Head Coach Brian Flores first told you about this opportunity, was there any joy at all? What sort of emotion was there to be a offensive coordinator?) – “I think the first emotion was you realize the increase in responsibility and the opportunity that you’re given, and you appreciate the fact that ‘Flo’ entrusted that in you. That was my first thoughts in there. It wasn’t anything other than, ‘man, there is a lot of work to get done. We got to get on this, George (Godsey) and I got to get on this pretty quick.’”
(What do you want this offense to be? What would be your hope of what this offense is known for? One that keeps defenses on their toes, one that is consistently productive? What in your words?) – “I would say yes to those things for sure. I think we want to be known as a tough, physical group that’s smart, that we’re going to execute at a high level whether that’s run or pass, protection and everything we do; and that we play with great effort in what we do. Everything is centered around what gives this team the best chance to win. It is an unselfish concept; but yet there is a high level of accountability and responsibility for each and every one of us involved in the offense. That’s what I hope people see when they look at us.”
(The offensive personnel that you and Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey have been given, what do you like especially about this group of offensive players? You obviously have the speed element among others.) – “I think the biggest thing I like about this group is how they work. These guys come to work, they are unselfish, they are willing to take on other roles – smaller roles, larger roles, different roles, moving from positions, whatever that we feel is best. This entire group of offensive players is trying to come together and create something that gives us the best chance to win. I think that comes with an open mindset, it comes with a tremendous work ethic and then it comes with a commitment to each other saying, ‘if we all get in and do this, we’ve got a shot.”
(Who taught you to coach?) – “I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve been around a lot of great coaches. I’ve taken something from each and every one of them. I had an opportunity this summer to sit down and have breakfast with my very first coach, my little league coach Will Smith in Madison, but Bob Berezowitz and Bruce Bukowski at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Everywhere that I’ve gone, there have been coaches in my life at all different levels that have impacted me. I take something from each and every one of them.”
(What did you take from your little league coach?) – “A love of the game. I learned some things about him this summer that I didn’t know. His passion for building a little league program in Madison, Wisconsin is now over 50 years old and still running, he started when he was in high school and basically gave up his high school career to start the Southside Raider football program. To have been a part of that and knowing that in hindsight now is a really cool thing. I have a lot of respect for him for doing that.”
(Was this level always the goal for you or was there a point in life where you would’ve been content with being a high school coach, a college coach?) – “I had no idea I was going to get into coaching. I had no idea. I don’t want to say I stumbled into it, but I was looking for something, and this found me at the same time I needed to find it. It was a great fit for me.”
(What’s that story? What had you been doing at the time?) – “I was in graduate school at the University of Arizona, way over my head academically (laughter) and trying to figure out what I was going to do next. I just missed the game of football and Dick Tomey, who was the head coach at the time at the University of Arizona, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for, he gave me an opportunity to see if this is what I wanted to do. He opened up that door and it became more and more and I decided that this is what I wanted to do. Since 1991, that’s all I’ve wanted to do.”
(What non-football career had you been mulling in college?) – “In college, I wanted to be a college professor. My master’s degree is in exercise physiology. I wanted to do research on the body and how it affects sports and performance. I just went a different direction.”
(Your first regular season game as an offensive coordinator with George Godsey is against one of the best coaches of all time with a defensive … is that a challenge you relish this weekend?) – “Absolutely. I relish every opportunity we get to go out and play games. We spend a lot of time and effort getting our team ready to go and how we plan as a coaching staff and our preparation, any chance we get to go up against somebody else, that’s the competition. That’s why we all do this. You love the competition of going against somebody else, and particularly the best at doing something. If you don’t want to go against the best, than why are we doing this?”
(I know you’ve talked about obviously how your running backs all work very hard. Do you think this group of backs has been under-appreciated? I know they have to show it on the field this year, but in terms of their body of work and what they’ve shown? I say by the public, not by you as coaches.) – “There are opinions on lots of different things. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this group of running backs that I’m working with. I think they are going to determine how people view them based on how we perform going forward. That’s the opportunity we have to play games. That’s why we do it. They’re going to determine how people view who they are, what they are and how productive the are.”
(What does RB Myles Gaskin do best?) – “He works. I think it’s an under-appreciated skill. He comes and he works and he tries to improve and learn and take care of his body. Everything that he is doing as a professional, he does to the utmost, and I think it’s very impressive to be around him.”
(How smoothly has the process worked in the exhibition season – plays being called … the offense. Has it gone a lot better than you expected? About as well?) – “I think it’s gone well. I think it’s gone well. There are always things we can do better. We’re always evaluating that after a game and what we could do better and how we should streamline things or make something cleaner. We are always trying to improve that process. I think it’s gone well so far. We’re going to continue to find ways to make sure it goes well because that gives us a chance when it does.”
(I know all of the offensive assistants are involved in game planning as both you guys have said. How many times do you and George Godsey meet a week?) – “Every day. We get together every morning. It starts out every morning and then there are times throughout the day where he comes in my office, I come in his. We talk about things. We talk multiple times a day about many, many, different topics.”
(If you have a play that you think is going to work for this particular week, will you write it on your desk on a Post-it note, just to remember to talk to George Godsey about it later?) – “Sometimes you get up right from your desk and go in there and draw it on his board. Sometimes he comes in and draws it on my board. There are drawings everywhere on the boards, in the staff room and things like that. We’re constantly sharing ideas and talking through everything, bouncing ideas off of each other.”
(What is the process of figuring out this offense between you and George Godsey? If you see things differently, how are you able to work through that and come to an understanding?) – “It’s not just me and George, it’s the whole staff that does this. We’ve got good football coaches on the whole staff. We get input from everybody. It’s a collaborative effort in how we build it, how we talk about it and how we throw ideas out. We work through all of those ideas all the time. It’s not just George and I sitting there and kind of throwing things at the staff saying ‘this is how we’re going to do it.’ We talk about, ‘this is what we like in this area, what do you guys like, lets throw ideas out, and let’s talk about what’s best for us as an offense going forward.’”
(What has RB Myles Gaskin worked on, or what have you worked on with him over the last couple of years that’s really paid dividends? I know you’ve talked about his work ethic.) – “I think the biggest area that Myles has improved in is pass protection and route running. Those two areas from when he first got here – he could always run the ball and doing things well. I think he’s really put time and effort into becoming a better pass protector and a better receiver.”
(What does that entail?) – “Work, study, film time, understanding dogs and blitzes and things that are happening to us. Then seeing different routes and going in and actually working on catching balls from quarterbacks and doing things.”
