Frank Smith – October 19, 2023
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Thursday, October 19, 2023
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(I am a WR Tyreek Hill could win MVP guy. Do you think nowadays, a wide receiver could win the MVP in the NFL?) – “Sure, I’d hope so. That would be awesome for the achievements at the end of the year. However, right now we still got a couple of months to go before we’re worried about all of that. Our sole focus this week, and I know Tyreek’s as well, is getting ready for the Eagles and making sure that we embrace the challenge of this week.”
(I want to ask you about the offensive line. I don’t have to tell you in the past year, we’ve written a certain story about them, and this year that story has totally flipped. The single biggest reason for the improvement is what?) – “The magical powder we throw over the practice field. (laughter) No, there is no one single thing you could really say. It’s a collective group buy-in to what they are trying to do and trying to accomplish, and then going out and upholding to that standard every day. It’s easy to say I want this and then therefore your goal is this lofty idea as opposed to ok, daily improvement requires a deliberate daily focus and intensity to the process. I think that’s just the greatest thing that this offseason and the way we structured it, was allowing the group to really focus on their individual techniques and individual collective purpose to concepts. I think all of that has really played into the factor of them really understanding what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to do it and then constantly working to improve and growing every day through their knowledge of the fundamentals they are trying to accomplish and then what the intent of the concept is.”
(When you look at the Eagles defensive front, you see what?) – “A very good group that knows who they are. They play together very well. They’ve had a lot of success there. They have their style of play and the way they want to attack an offense. Like we’ve talked about earlier in the year, as you have success in the season, every game gets more important. They are going to be a great challenge for us for what our long-term goals are, but our short-term focus has to be right now on how do we make sure that we’re at our best when our best is required Sunday night.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa is often lauded for his footwork and what he can do getting to different spots, and different launch points in the offense. With the quarterback drops and footwork and timing of the routes in the offense, how do you think his skillset with his footwork help you guys expand offensively?) – “When you have a good understanding of the fundamentals necessary to play your position, it allows you to really play within the timing of the concept in the offense. It allows you to really have a great starting point that you can always build upon. When you look at all sports just in general, whether you’re an offensive lineman blocking, a wide receiver getting a release, a defensive back in coverage or taking a jump shot, footwork and fundamentals translate through all sports. It’s easy to bypass that and go into schematic things or loftier things. But ultimately, all sports break down to core fundamentals and execution within your fundamentals. When you play that way, it allows you to operate at a high level.”
(From the time you guys got QB Tua Tagovailoa to now, how have you guys seen him train and improve that aspect of his game?) – “Every day he approaches everything the way that you would want a quarterback to approach it, with a mindful deliberate nature towards how I want to play through my fundamentals is how I want to play through an entire season. Every day he has a sole focus on that.”
(Was TE Julian Hill’s blocking ability something you saw all along even before he got here or has it just continued to develop since the time you got your hands on him?) – “I think it’s something that we saw as potential on his tape coming out of college of what he could be and how he could really be a value to us at this level. I think between him and Jon (Embree), they’ve done a great job of really working on those things. The hardest thing about playing tight end is all the different spots you’re going to be asked to move, do things. You execute one fundamental and one plan, a completely opposite one another play, and his ability to have that mental stamina to balance all the different things you’re going to be asked to do and execute at that time. He and his approach from the day he got here has been – you would’ve thought he’d been in the NFL before because the way he approached all the little things to try and get better and the extra work he puts in. When you watch how a man goes about his business, you’re not surprised by what follows and for him, it’s no surprise because he’s putting in the work and then he has the ability. He’s another guy that each week you just see him keep growing and growing and improving in what he’s trying to do.”
(It says here 46 degrees, this weather man says northwest winds of 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. In your years of experience when it is a little chilly and especially windy, how, in all honesty, how aware does the offensive group need to be about that?) – “The greatest gift is we are here South Florida so at practice some days, we deal with wind just going out on a Wednesdays. I think our natural conditions help us with certain elements. When it comes to a cool day, it’s the same thing as like, when you’re a cold-weather team going to a warm-weather game. There’s going to be elements that you have to either allow yourself to be an issue or you just know that, all right, what’s my true focus and that is on my execution of what I’m doing. But the good thing is with a lot of the elements and stuff like that, windy days we’ve had here and we know how to work through conditions. So ultimately that place, the wind could blow that way, that way, any way; it’s going to be us and how do we execute collectively together.”
(What are the top two or three factors in deciding whether to activate RB Jeff Wilson Jr. this week?) – “Again, it comes down to the end of the week, where we’re at with guys and what we need for the active roster for Sunday. But ultimately, when guys are ready to go and they’ve exhibited what is necessary for Sunday, then it just comes down to what are our needs as far as depth throughout the complete roster. It’s never just as easy as cut-and-dry as, ‘okay, he’s ready to go, so here.’ You have to balance and weigh the entire group and what’s necessary for the game.”
(You mentioned last week RB Jeff Wilson Jr. already looked ready to go. Is he just even more so this week?) – “Ultimately the greatest thing you have when you have a position group where you have multiple – you have healthy inactives – like so at the beginning of the season, that’s the case a lot and it’s just as you get into the middle of the season, all right, if you ever have any guys ready to go and he’s down, that’s a good thing. For us right now, it’s all – it’s never as easy as just one group so this is that. You have to weigh the decisions for the entire roster that Mike (McDaniel) and Chris (Grier) have to do every week.”
(How did OL Liam Eichenberg do?) – “It’s like again, the first opportunity you go out and you have to play in that environment up there, it’s a great learning lesson. Next opportunity, you get to come home and really sink into things. Again, the growth of the position has been great for him and we’re very pleased with what he’s been doing so far. I know that he’ll never be satisfied with the work he’s done because like all guys, you’re always working to be at your best all the time. You’re always going to remember the play or two that you wish you could’ve improved on. But yeah, there’s a whole other body of work of things that we’re really pleased on what he’s been able to do for us.”
(Last week, Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Jon Embree talked about the redzone game plan that he’s a part of and how excited he is to try to get his stuff in every week. Just wanted to get your perspective of kind of the collaboration of the game plan, how much fun it is for you guys to put those together?) – “My favorite day of the week – I think we talked about it last year – my favorite day of the week is Tuesday. Your opponent prep starts on Monday, where you start really, okay, who’s the defense and who are they, how do they play, trying to see how they use their players and what’s the overall philosophical principles of coverage and front and just everything. And then as we get together on Tuesday with Mike (McDaniel) and I, we go through the base plan and it builds and then as we get into third down with the elements of that and then you get into short yardage, all right, inside the 5-yard line offense, and then red zone is the last element of the puzzle along with two-minute. You’re using the resources of your whole staff and everyone has different perspectives towards the experiences they had, so that’s where it’s like how do we all see the same thing. We’re seeing the defense the way we want to attack it. If everyone’s from the same one family, everyone will see it one (way); but since everyone here, we have such a wealth of experience, we see things different ways and how we’ve attacked that defense in a different realm. That’s the fun part and now that we’re going into Year 2, you see us collectively coming together as a staff. You see so much carryover of all of us seeing things. Now we’re seeing things more similarly. We have these concepts in this part of the plan that are now, ‘hey, third-down guy saw it the same way, red zone guy saw it the same way;’ we all are starting to really see the same things of how we want to attack things, which has been a really cool thing that ironically Mike (McDaniel) and I were talking about last week.”
