Frank Smith – September 27, 2022
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Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(I wanted to ask you about WR Jaylen Waddle’s competitiveness. We obviously all see the speed and dynamic playmaking ability, but I’m wondering if there was either a specific moment or maybe just in general, a time where you kind of realized like, this dude’s wired a little bit differently?) – “I think that he expressed his competitiveness in the spring, just trying to learn the offense, trying to learn the fundamentals with (Wide Receivers Coach) Wes (Welker) and learn the scheme through the presentation. So I think overall, you could really feel it. And then also, I think it helped in spring and training camp, just the competitiveness of that group. It was an extremely competitive group. Guys made it really hard for our final cuts. I think all of that competitiveness along with just the way Wes coaches, I think – Jaylen (Waddle) alone, but I think the entire group you can feel that competitive resolve to really play their best and just play big at the big moments.”
(With QB Tua Tagovailoa’s status potentially up in the air on this short week, are you preparing at this point for the possibility of starting QB Teddy Bridgewater? And how much does the offense change with either quarterback in?) – “I think with all players, in these short weeks, we’re working all contingencies. But ultimately, our goal is for the players that are going to be available on Thursday to put them in the best situation possible and maximize their skill sets. I think there were questions in the last couple weeks about lineman contingencies and different things we do, it’s something that we always practice as coaches is try to make sure that any contingencies that could potentially happen, we’ve rehearsed it and have a plan so we can execute and actualize them on Thursday.”
(There was a report before Sunday’s game about how as part of the new offensive scheme and the new system that you brought in, you’ve kind of streamlined the protection process. So as opposed to kind of QB Tua Tagovailoa maybe working with OL Connor Williams on that to set the protections and adjust the lines, QB Tua Tagovailoa just reads the defense. I was curious, can you kind of walk us through that process, why you decided to do that and just what it does for the overall functioning of the offense?) – “That’s a great question. I think it ultimately comes back to quarterbacks, and you’re letting them to – you want to have them grasp the fundamentals to play their position. It’s something similar last year that we’ve adopted with Justin (Herbert) in L.A. (Los Angeles Chargers), then I know (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) has done before. I wouldn’t say he (Tua Tagovailoa) necessarily is removed from the process. I just think that ultimately, you want the center to have an understanding of what’s going on in the front. The quarterback and him have a communication. We understand the plan, the stresses during the week that we need to be on the same page with. But I think ultimately, linemen block people. Quarterbacks have to work throughout the system. So our goal is to make sure that we maximize each player to focus on their fundamentals, to focus on the necessary things to be able to play the position at a high level. So I think ultimately, them working together is a lot easier than one person just telling the other ones what to do. So I think it’s more of a collaborative process, which is kind of like – overall, that’s kind of the mission of our program here is that as we all came together, we’re having a collaborative process to put the best system of football that we can on the field. I think it starts with Connor and Tua assuring sharing great communication to make sure we’re in pointing the right direction.”
(There’s a lot of different aspects and parts of offense, when you look at deep passing game or short yardage, red zone, whatever. What has pleased you most about this offense to this point from that standpoint?) – “There’s been many aspects, and I think that when you look at our situational football, or you look at our first and second down offense, there’s been some good aspects to it and there’s other things we need to work continually work on. I think, ultimately, this time of year, you want to see signs of improvement. You want to see signs of getting better in certain areas. I think that the one thing that you can really point to recently would be third downs, we’ve done pretty we’ve done well on. We’ve done well in the red zone. We’ve done well on ball security. I mean, there’s areas that we need to continue our focus on, but ultimately, this time of year is just about our improvement from week to week because from Week 1 to Week 3 to Week 6, it’s just a race to improve. I think, ultimately, as we look at some of the areas that we’ve done well in, I mean, there’s other areas that we would like to improve. So I think it’s conversely, that you want to keep continue staying positive in those areas you’ve been positive with and not take a step back. But ultimately, we’re trying to make sure we improve in some of the areas we’ve kind of focused on in the next couple of weeks.”
(As far as rushing average goes, you’re averaging 3.3 per carry, which I’m sure is not where anyone wants it to be. Has it been primarily a blocking issue? Have RB Chase Edmonds and RB Raheem Mostert not found holes that were there in certain instances? What’s been the main culprit for that?) – “I think it’s a – on each individual play, it’s not just one specific thing. I think that it’s a collection of things that obviously as we learn our system and how we move pieces to try and create advantageous situations for our guys, advantageous blocking angles, just learning the reactions and making sure that we understand the speed at which we need to play, understanding where the relative position to defenders will be on that scheme. So I think ultimately, how does the – when we get through Level One to Level Two, like how are we getting on linebackers? How is the receiving corps fitting up their blocks? How is the runner pressed in his track? I think ultimately, we can’t really – because that’s an assessment we did yesterday is when we’re looking at ultimately, like (you guys) said before, ‘Hey, there are certain things that we have done well, but where are areas we can improve?’ Obviously, the run game is something that we feel that we can improve in, because we ultimately feel like we’re close. So we feel like it’s now two weeks in a row where there’s just some runs that you just realized were extremely close to catching the lane or getting the block down. Ultimately, it’s not where we want to be, but it’s an area that we can definitely improve in and we feel that we’re getting very close to being what we want to see overall as far as our efficiency.”
(You started out as a grad assistant at Miami of Ohio. I wanted to know, for you heading back to Cincinnati in this aspect, are you looking forward to the full-circle moment of that?) – “Well, my college friends are, since every time I come within two hours of Ohio, my phone lights up like a Christmas tree. So they are. My family moved out of Cincinnati a couple of years ago. My parents relocated Charlotte, so it’s not really, I would say ‘home’ anymore. I’ve been a nomad for the last give or take 16 years. Yes, it’s cool being close to Miami of Ohio. I’m very fortunate for my time there and the people I’ve met. If we played the game in Oxford, it’d be a super – it’d be a real big deal. But down in Cincinnati, it’s going to be a great opportunity on Thursday. I know I have friends and family that will be there that will really enjoy it.”
(I wanted to ask you about T Greg Little and what specifically has he done in his time in the lineup that you’ve liked?) – “I think it dates back to just overall – like for him, when we got together and just kind of assessing his goals for what he wants to accomplish with his career in the short term and long term – I think so many times players, you have this long-term goal and you forget the daily process to how to get to their goal. Whether it’s being a high-level player, starting, making the team, what’s your process to actualize what you have set forth for yourself? So I think Greg (Little) was one of those guys that really with coming from Carolina, was just kind of trying to find his way. Through our communication as a staff, I know with (Offensive Line Coach) Matt (Applebaum), (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) ‘Lem’ (Lemuel Jeanpierre) and (Offensive Assistant) Mike (Person) in the room, Mike (McDaniel) and I as well, just talking to him, I think we were really able to help him understand, ‘OK here’s where we’re at, and you want to get to here. Here’s how we do it.’ And I think that is the basis of what we’ve been able to see so far is we’re seeing a guy that’s really understanding how he needs to play and understanding his skill set. I think that’s hard for a lineman sometimes. You watch a player, and you think, ‘Oh, I want to be like him,’ but is that comparable? Is it comparable for a big, tall possession wide receiver to watch Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle? You have to find comparison players that you can compare your game to that help you learn through tape study, and then you’re got to have coaches who set up drills for you to allow you to maximize your skill set. So I think ultimately with Greg, it’s been a process that really has been great in many ways that you can see him really working on the fundamentals necessary for him to be successful. Each week, he just continues to get better, which is really a credit to his work ethic and how he’s preparing himself.”
