Steve Marshall – August 8, 2020
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Saturday, August 8, 2020
Offensive Line Coach Steve Marshall
(I don’t know how much you differentiate between maybe zone scheme and gap scheme but it looked like you guys added a lot of power guys this offseason. Where do you see the direction of your offensive line and what you guys want?) – “We’re going to be multiple. We’ve got good football players up there so that’s where I see it. Right now, we haven’t really even answered that question yet with just walkthroughs and meetings; but we’ll see what direction we go when we start getting the pads on and things like that as far as schematically as far as things like that. We will be multiple in the things that we do. It’s just right now, we’re kind of in the mental phase of it and then we’ll go from there.”
(T Robert Hunt was a guy that basically played tackle in college but there are a lot of people in the NFL that expect or think that he would project well at guard. I know you’re going to probably cross-train him to do both on the right side, but what is your vision for him as a player?) – “Well, Rob Hunt is a great young kid. He’s learning the NFL game, coming from (Louisiana) Lafayette. He’s been a productive player in college. Every day it’s a new adventure for him mentally and what we’re asking him to do. I love the heck out of him and he’s competing his tail off for what we’re asking him to do right now. Again, it’s kind of a question of we’ll see where it all goes. I really like Rob. Rob has a lot of character and is a smart guy. We’ll see where it all plays out.”
(I want to ask you about the whole right-handed versus left-handed quarterback situation that you’re facing now with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and QB Tua Tagovailoa. Beyond the differences and playing style, with the offensive line, how does that change your approach towards coaching the linemen? How does it change the linemen’s approach whether they have a righty or a lefty out there throwing passes?) – “Not really. That’s a great question. Not a whole, whole lot … There’s been a theory saying that if you have a left-hander, the right tackle is the back-side guy and obviously that’s the truth. But at the end of the day, we’re looking for the best five guys. ‘Fitz’ and Tua, one’s right-handed and one’s left-handed. How our scheme all fits, we’ll kind of answer that question as we go schematically. That would be the only difference. The theory is that the right tackle is now the proverbial left tackle when you have a left-handed quarterback; but at the end of the day, you’ve got to have two good tackles at both spots. It’s workable and we’re happy to have both of them.”
(You obviously have two very talented early-round draft picks with T Austin Jackson and T Robert Hunt. Would you feel at all uneasy to start either opening day without being able to see either in a preseason game. Would that cause you any degree of uneasiness?) – “Well, if they were in three preseason games, four preseason games or zero preseason games, it’s the nature of the business when you have rookies playing for the first time in the NFL, that we are going to feel a sense of trepidation and have we done enough to prepare them (to be) ready. No preseason game is like a regular season game. So to answer your question, absolutely. But it wouldn’t change if we were getting ready to play our first preseason game – that’s about this time of year. We’re going to have everybody in the same boat that way. The answer is yes, yes and yes. But I’ll be worried for veteran guys in their first game. There’s definitely – again, like I said, when the first ball game is the New England Patriots on the road, we certainly have a challenge there. Whether you’re a rookie or a four-year guy, my job is to get them prepared to play the best they can play.”
(I wanted to talk to you about the offensive line and gelling those guys up front. What is your approach to getting the best five out there and getting them to gel quickly in this truncated offseason?) – “That’s a nice word – truncated. (laughter) I would assume you’re saying from Zoom and things like that. It’s certainly a challenge and it’s completely different. I’ve coached football for 40 years. There’s a lot of ways to do it and again, that is a challenge. That will be a challenge as we start these walkthroughs and things like that. That’s one of the things that we’re doing is making sure that we’re communicating with each other, not only on the field but off the field; and guys getting to know each other where instead of meeting them through Zoom, they finally get to kind of meet them in person. Yeah, gelling is a big, big term and really, the term gelling is communicating. It’s communicating together as a group and that’s what these Zoom meetings are and these walkthroughs that we’re having. We’re making strides in that regard.”
(I wanted to ask you about G/T Jesse Davis. What are your recollections of him from your brief time together with the Jets? And what is your vision for him on this line, perhaps in terms of the leadership role considering he’s…) – “My recollection of Jesse was a lot. We had Jesse for an extended period of time. You guys know Jesse’s story. He came in as a d-lineman from Idaho, had a brief stop in Seattle and came to New York. We felt very, very good (about him). He was a prospect then. We couldn’t keep him based on numbers at that point, and yes, Jesse has come to Miami and he’s put himself together a heck of a career. He’s one of the greybeards now of the offensive line. Yes, we will lean on Jesse from a leadership standpoint off the field and from a leadership standpoint in these meetings. We’ll see where he goes. Like I’ve said, I’ve known Jesse for a while and have a lot of respect for him and what he’s accomplished as an NFL player.”
