Frank Smith – November 16, 2023
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Thursday, November 16, 2023
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(I know there’s no real shock and awe for coaches. There’s more of that for fans watching incredible things. But was there any just, ‘I can’t believe we’re witnessing this from RB De’Von Achane at the pure standpoint of the 12.1 yards per carry average, which just is outlandish?) – “Yeah, I think it’s a good start to his rookie season. Ultimately, when you’re having that level of success doing your job, the challenge is to work to maintain that standard that you’ve started off doing, which he does. He’s an awesome guy, really works at it, diligent in his whole process. It’s been a great start to his rookie season.”
(When you’ve watched RB De’Von Achane the past couple of days, does he look like the same guy with the same burst, same speed, same change in direction, acceleration?) – “Yeah. Sunday always has a different variable of the adrenaline that goes. But yeah, so far, a lot of the guys that are coming back, it’s been good to have them on the field working again.”
(I’ve been talking to some of your offensive players about the un-scouted looks that you guys see, because of WR Tyreek Hill and your overall speed. Does that work to your advantage because the defense is not familiar with that style, or to your disadvantage because you have not seen that style of defense?) – “I think it poses a conversation, but at the same time, we have to talk about what they’re doing, if it’s going to force us out of what our intent was and what we’re trying to do. But ultimately, it’s a good challenge for us to really work through our process, work in our rules, and if we trust our rules to our concepts, we should be alright. Conversely, if they’re doing something they haven’t done before, they’re having to have the same issues of what are we doing? So I think there’s both sides of the coin to all that. But ultimately, that was the best part about here in camp with Vic (Fangio) and the multiplicity with what they do. It forced us to really have some of that communication early on.”
(I’ve heard that WR Tyreek Hill and QB Tua Tagovailoa do a really good job on the sideline of checking with each other and making adjustments. Is that your understanding? Is that what you see?) – “Yeah, I think overall, the offense does a good job together communicating what they’re seeing, how they’re trying to really get on the same page and connected, because that’s the challenge of the season. Each week, every defense is going to pose a different test or they’re going to either show what we’ve kind of seen before, or they could give us something that we haven’t seen before. So I think ultimately, our communication together is the most important thing we need to be on.”
(I was curious of your thought process when you’re drawing up plays. I thought about when Head Coach Mike McDaniel first got here, the core of what he wanted to do was kind of force defenses to cover like every blade of grass. So with you, do you think of personnel first, formations, maybe the blocking schemes? What goes through your mind when you draw up a play?) – “Each week, it kind of goes – it’s along those lines. Each week, it’s kind of, you assess your opponent, yourselves, where you’re at, your anticipated guys that are going be available for the game. What’s the defense trying to do? How can we use our matchup guys to attack the defense for the width of it and the length of the field? I think that each week, the checklist is, as we’re talking about what we’re trying to hit, maybe one morphs in front of the other. The other is there but ultimately, it’s kind of the same stuff we’ve been talking about as far as how a lot of times, if you don’t expand the field, it allows them to compress. The ability to not compress allows us to create space in the defense and I think ultimately, that’s what the offense is trying to do in attacking the space.”
(I was also thinking about how football is cyclical. Obviously there’s roots, with Kyle Shanahan and Gary Kubiak and whatnot. What is the oldest play – not exactly what the play is, but what is the oldest play in the playbook? Does it span the 80s, the 70s?) – “Oh, man. There’s certain elements that go all the way back to the West Coast of Bill Walsh. I mean, just as far as the original quick game. When they were in Cincinnati and they were struggling running the football, how do you create a quick passing game to supplement run yardage? That’s where a lot of those components, those concepts started. I’d say for my five years in New Orleans, Sean (Payton), the same thing, West Coast origins. When I worked in Chicago, we were more of a blend with Payton’s system when we got “Foxy” (John Fox). Jon Gruden obviously was a West Coast guy. Then Joe Lombardi, we ran the Saints offense. The majority of my career has been spent in some forms of it. It’s kind of like, not everyone’s aligned, but it’s like Thanksgiving dinner where all the cousins get together. When I got with Gruden, it kind of connected a couple of things to New Orleans, and you’re going like, ‘oh, this?’ ‘Oh, got it,’ because Jon kept a lot of it. When he left (Mike) Holmgren, he kept his version intact so it was the closest back to Green Bay. Or when Sean worked with Gruden and then he went from there to New York so there was – and then Dallas, there were some variants. It’s like, you start off and you get this one, you’re like, ‘got it.’ Then you go the next one, you’re like, ‘oh.’ Gruden would do a great job explaining the origins to stuff all the way back to San Francisco with Walsh. It was like football heaven. I’d sit there like, ‘so that’s why we do that.’ Then now here, there’s just that background. It was really helpful because there’s so much to the core of what we do. It all really originates back to the origins of Bill Walsh.”
(I do want to get into the specifics of OL Liam Eichenberg. You guys have locked in with him at center. Now kind out of necessity he may be back there at guard. What’s that transition been like for him, and overall what’s his season been like?) – “I think it goes back to the offseason when we stated that process of creating versatility for the linemen. Multiple guys playing guard, multiple guys playing center, guard, tackle. Over the course of the season, there are many unknowns to it, as far as how it’s going to play out. So us having the versatility to move guys in multiple spots has been very helpful. With what he’s been able to do for that, the first time playing center, and then you got to go on the road and do it twice and handle all of the communication and all of that, for what we’re asking him to do, he’s been doing a very steady job with it. Ultimately the greatest thing about Liam is that he really works at any issue that occurs. He wants to get better, and he works as hard as anybody to get it right. Now in the middle of the season, this is where now hopefully you start seeing the growth from all of that work that started in April. All the transitions, the in-season reps, and then now the back half of the season, I’m really excited to see him and the rest of the guys play up front.”
(How do you think the work at center, being able to identify things and leading that unit, will benefit him at guard?) – “Normally, it does. It’s all about perspective. When you’re used to playing at one spot, it’s like switching your hands. All of a sudden you’re trying to learn your right versus your left, and it seems awkward at first unless you’re forced to do it. Once you’ve played guard for a long time, then tackle, he’s now played across the line. It gives you a perspective because once you’re in the middle, you have a different vantage point from when you’re at tackle or you’re at guard. Ultimately, all of that adds into the perspective that you can take that really builds the chest of knowledge you get to have. He loves learning the game so it’s just invaluable when you go from here to there, to there, to there. And then you go, ‘oh. Now I know why you’re so forceful in making that call.’ It’s because you want to get it out as fast as you can. I think it’s been very helpful for him.”
(You’ve seen OL Lester Cotton at both left and right guard now in games. Is he better at one than the other? Is his skillset better at one or the other?) – “I don’t necessarily know if I could base it either way. I just know that the hardest thing – I think we talked about it last year as well – the hardest thing for linemen is you’re on one side and then the other side. You’re switching your whole stance and switching a lot of different things. So when you’re coming off a backup role to a starting role or a playing role, it’s just getting used to the one side. There is that acclimation that comes with it. Our guys do a great job of each week knowing that I’m getting the training to do both as well. Lester was with us at the Raiders, so just the makeup of the person is really who – man, he’s a guy that just loves working and loves getting better. His versatility is a benefit to us.”
(If WR Braxton Berrios and WR Chase Claypool healthy enough to play on Sunday, you’re going to have seven NFL quality wide receivers on the 53 to choose. How tough of a call is that going to be for you, Head Coach Mike McDaniel, and Wide Receivers Coach Wes Welker of who to keep active? Can you realistically keep six receivers active and get six receivers offensive snaps in a game or is that overdoing it?) – “You got to look at the whole roster and what we can take to the game. Wach week posses different challenges, so ultimately if you’re going with ‘X’ amount of wideouts, this amount of running backs, this amount of tight ends. Then it ultimately comes to what’s the best personnel we need to take into the game. So yeah, having very good players is always a good thing.”
(What changes if TE Durham Smythe can’t be out there, blocking and receiving?) – “It’s like anything, knowing what he provides inside of the gameplan and his presence in blocking and where he fits into the passing game. We just have to be able to have variables to know, if he’s not there then here. We move our pieces around. That’s why we try to cross-train the tight ends at different spots and having guys – a lot of them are similar skillsets. ‘Embo’ (Tight Ends Coach Jon Embree) does a great job making sure they are all connected and the same thing. We have to plan for all things, so we make sure we have contingences for an issue like that.”
