Frank Smith – December 22, 2022
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Thursday, December 22, 2022
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(I asked you one process question last week. I just had one more for you. Head Coach Mike McDaniel was good on this topic this week about how helpful you’ve been. I was just curious just about the mechanics early in the week, as far as, obviously, you have a major role in game-planning. Do you and Mike normally have a set time where you all sit together and talk it through Monday or Tuesday? Or do you actually prepare something that you type up for him and share with him to look at first before you discuss it? I don’t know why I’m curious about this, but I am.) – “Well, sorry to let you down – it’s not that complex. It’s normally like Monday, you kind of start off just trying to figure out who the defense is, what makes them work schematically, the history of them, all just information of the defense – who they are and how they play as far as the front end, the back end, coverage principles through situational football, all that. Then on Tuesday, it’s normally in the morning, we’re starting to come together with ideas for concepts, overriding principles that we like. And then really, at some point in the morning, depending upon with Mike’s (McDaniel) schedule or when it is, just at some point in the morning, we get together and we start the process to build the gameplan through pretty much the morning into dinnertime, maybe sometimes a little later depending on which fun we’re having. But overall, I think it’s collective. I mean, I’ve been part of places where there were different elements to it. People start on Mondays, we just feel like for us that what we like to do is start on Monday, really getting to figure out who the defense is and how do they operate.”
(Is it all done face to face? Or does he like you to present to him something on a computer that’s typed up?) – “I just can’t look him in the eyes as I talk to him. (laughter) No, we’re normally together in his office.”
(I was curious, in the games where you guys have had success on the ground early, specifically the Browns game and last Saturday against the Bills, how have you seen that impact the way the defenses have played you guys? And how’s it opened up or just maybe impacted the overall execution of the offense?) – “I think that when you have positive execution early, one – it’s a collection of all things. When you have good execution, it’s all the players, coaching staff, everything, the whole week of work is really then just getting actualized on the field. When it’s not going well and you’re not having the execution, it just comes down to that all of us have to make sure that we’re communicating better, because I think ultimately, what we’re trying to do is all of us together. So when it starts off in the running game well, it allows us to have them focus on one part of their defensive front structure. It has maybe eyes looking at the line of scrimmage more. I mean, obviously with the way their defense played, when you can run the ball on them, that wasn’t something that I think necessarily they were really used to that season. I think there’s only a couple games for people that over 100 or 150 yards or something like that. So I think it allows for us to be able to set up some more things. I think it allows the linemen (with) their preparation for the week, how they want to set their blocks and how they’re going to play their combinations gets into that. Overall for us, when we can have one of those days, I think it just allows us to unlock other parts of our offense that we wanted to build upon in our marriage of trying to be complementary in what we do.”
(I should have made note of this a little more, but it seemed like they were playing a lot of nickel early. Did that play into your running game? Or do they always play nickel?) – “They always play nickel. They played nickel the whole game to us the first time. So they kind of do – sometimes they’ll play their base, which in their structure, it’s like one guy for No. 7 (Taron Johnson).”
(Does that play into you thinking, “OK, maybe we can run against them?”) – “Kind of. It’s the way their defense – it’s kind of like for us we look into, I think overriding like most offenses is that what are they trying to do on defense through their personnel groups? And then when they’re in one personnel group, is there an advantage over the other or is there somebody you can isolate? Is there a matchup that you could try and exploit? Different characteristics of that. I think for them, they play that defense so often, and that’s why they’re successful is that they know what their issues are. I think it’s a challenge then for us to make sure we are operating at a high level, that we’re executing together and making sure that our prep during the week allows us to be able to really play the way we want to on every Sunday or whenever we play.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel has pointed out that OL Liam Eichenberg had a good game or two, right before he got injured. What are a couple areas in which you were seeing improvement from Liam?) – “Pass protection, for one. I felt his sets – he was really improving on the way he wants to play fundamentally. I think overall, just the little parts of the execution to his operation and his run blocking, but really pass protection, we saw great growth for him. He was really seeing how some techniques would really help him. I think it was a shame because he was starting to really take that on. And that’s why we’re excited for whenever we can get him back to hopefully keep growing upon all that.”
(What have your conversations with TE Mike Gesicki been about since he’s a guy who’s used to contributing a lot and really hasn’t been involved in this offense?) – “Yeah, I think that’s the challenge. As (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) said, we’re trying to get him more involved and just trying to make sure that we communicate with him getting opportunities. I think, ultimately, as long as we have the communication we’re building between coaches and players, that’s ultimately where you don’t – frustration might show up on the field, but you can make sure during the week, if you’re communicating with the guys, same thing I’d like in all relationships, whether it’s your wife, girlfriend, kids – I mean, the minute communication lapses, it’s when all the freaking stuff starts going. But just ultimately, I think that’s the thing that we want to make sure that we’re always communicating with him and just understanding (we’re) trying to get opportunities and making sure we’re getting him on the field for those opportunities.”
(How have you seen QB Tua Tagovailoa develop over the course of the season when maybe his first read isn’t there and he has to go off-script and make something happen himself?) – “I think ultimately, we’re very pleased with how he’s played. The season is always full of just learning opportunities for him and for all people involved in the game. We’ve been very pleased with how he’s played. He’s always responded. He’s learned. He’s grown, which is – I mean, a 17-game season is a very long time, plus the preseason plus training camp. So really, there’s ebbs and flows, especially when you’re a younger player. Obviously, this is a new system for him. So I think ultimately overall, the way he’s played, the way he’s carried himself, the way he works with his teammates, we couldn’t be more happy to have him here and keep having him as our quarterback.”
(I asked Head Coach Mike McDaniel about this yesterday, and I was curious to get your perspective. In terms of third-and-short execution of conversion rate, the offense is last. You’ve thrown or dropped back about twice as many times as run. I was just curious, what has stuck out in terms of the situation that third-and-short represents or the execution where you guys just haven’t been as successful as third-and-medium or third-and-long, which you’re top half in the league?) – “I think that’s an area that we’ve really tried to emphasize and trying to get better at, because last week, we were able to convert running the ball. We felt that the opportunities presented with throwing the ball were obviously advantageous looks to throw it. We didn’t absolutely get exactly what we thought would play out on the play. But I think ultimately when it comes to execution areas you’re not doing as well as you want on, it starts with us as coaches. Are we making sure that we’re all on the same page with it? Are we making sure that we’re getting the right looks for the guys and making sure it all comes together? Because for us to grow in an area, we’ve all got to be connected (and) we’ve all got to be communicating. I think that for us to go where we want to go, it’s an area that we know we can improve, and we’re really trying to make sure we focus on it for the rest of the regular season.”
(Was Head Coach Mike McDaniel hard on himself at all with you? Obviously you explained the thinking as did he in throwing a lot in third-and-short. When he’s with you, is he hard on himself, second-guessing those types of calls?) – “(Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) doesn’t really ever normally second guess himself; it’s more of he’s very confident in the decisions he makes. It’s more of when we – if you ultimately are always driven by result, you’re going to just be miserable every day and you’re going to be constantly going like, ‘Ugh. Ugh,’ and you ride the roller coaster of what happens. But when you’re a process-driven organization as we try to be, you realize how do we get that result and how can we correct our process? That’s constantly the way that Mike and all of us feel is that when we have something not go the way we want it to go, we look at how we went through the process to get there and then we fix the process, because that’s how you get the results that you’re looking for. So I don’t think ultimately he ever is second-guessing what he’s doing. Him, like all great competitors, whether it’s coaches or players, you’re going to be reflecting on yourself, wishing you could have done more to help yourself, but ultimately, I don’t think it’s that; it’s that we’re always reflecting on how can we improve through our process through the week to make sure that we get the results we need. That’s how we fix the process as our continual thing, and that’s the challenge of an NFL season.”
(Sticking with Head Coach Mike McDaniel, I think QB Tua Tagovailoa a couple of months ago, or last month, said that he could tell who Mike really was when his demeanor didn’t change, like when his personality and character didn’t change despite a losing streak. But that’s from the player’s perspective. I’m curious from your perspective as somebody who works kind of alongside of him, what have you seen about his character, his demeanor, even when things are not going right, versus when you guys are on a five-game win streak?) – “Great leaders – again, it goes back to results and process. I mean, great leaders know that it’s a long season, and if you’re going to let a slump in the middle or success, because the other one is ultimately, too, is that you have the highs and lows and realizing that for one minute, you can be on top of the world. Another minute, everyone’s (saying), ‘What’s going on?’ I think that’s a credit to (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) and just his personality of he understands it’s a long road to go and that we have a lot of work to do. The good (and) the bad is going to come along the way. Our job is to make sure that we keep improving ourselves, whether it’s coaches and players or just really anyone in this organization. We’re trying to be our best, and if it wasn’t ‘OK, how can we improve?’ I think that’s just the way – he deliberately approaches his days that way, and I think that’s a credit to when he talks to the team, he talks to the offense, talks to any individual player, talks to us as a staff, is that he’s not looking necessarily at this happened now. It’s like, ‘Why did it happen now?’ Then that’s how we make the improvement. That’s why it’s ultimately awesome to work here for him, because the players can recognize it and we recognize it as a staff because there’s not a roller coaster of one moment, the next. It’s very much we’re on a process as we’re going through the season, and that’s the best part about working with him.”
