On his enthusiasm on the field:
“That’s kind of my personality. I’m very hands-on,
I’m very enthusiastic. But I think that’s obviously my style and the way
I coach. That’s also… I’m kind of that way in the hallways during the
day at work. That’s just who I am. I’m very
hands-on.”
On players commenting that they believe his system is more aggressive than last year’s system:
”We’re aggressive. I would absolutely say that.
It’s hard to do a lot in OTAs right now, just because of the rules, we
can’t really do a lot. We’re really stressing effort. We’re really
stressing playing fast, playing with good fundamentals,
having our knees bent, sprinting to the ball, things like that. In
OTAs, when you can’t do a lot of the physical stuff, we’re going to be
physical with our effort and playing really fast and playing really
hard. So, yes, it is something we’ll stress and will
continue to stress.”
On linebacker Preston Smith:
“I think Scot McCloughan and Bruce Allen and Coach
Gruden [and] our whole scouting staff, I think we had a very successful
free agency. We brought some new pieces in here, obviously, and the
draft is no different. I think they did a great
job, and to get Preston where we got him, we were very excited. But he
is a good, young, talented kid, and I’m sure his head is spinning a
little bit right now, like most rookies. But he comes to work every day
and he’s doing a great job, and after – what’s
today? – five OTAs, I’m really excited with where he’s at.”
On if he is looking to move players between safety and cornerback:
“Well, no. Corners are corners. Safeties are
safeties. We ask, respectively, both sets – both our corners and our
safeties – we ask them to do a lot. We ask them to blitz, we ask them to
cover, we ask them to play zone coverage, we ask
them to defend the run. So, yes, they’re interchangeable in that sense,
but no – our corners are going to play corner and our safeties are
going to play safety.”
On how the players are picking up his system:
“It’s a process, but the way we have the offseason
set up, it’s in phases. So we have Phase 1, which is a series of
meetings. We have Phase 2, which is meetings and then we actually get to
get out on the field a little bit with the guys.
And then obviously Phase 3 is the OTAs. So we tried to install
everything with them in Phase 1, then go back and re-install with them
in Phase 2. So this is really the third time that it’s been installed
with them. But it’s brand new. It’s a different language.
From system to system, that’s the biggest difference is the
terminology. What guys have maybe been considering apples, now we’re
calling it oranges and they’ve got to change it over in their head a
little bit. So it’s just the terminology, but, like I said,
I love where we are at right now.”
On the development of cornerback David Amerson:
“One thing that you’re going to get with me, guys,
is that I’m a ‘look through the windshield’ guy. I’m never going to look
in the rearview mirror. So, David and every other player, I’ve been
around them for two months and that’s what I’m
judging everything on. He’s been outstanding in everything that he’s
done so far. He’s been here the entire offseason, he’s been great in the
meeting room, taking notes and learning it. Again, after five
practices, I’m very happy with where he is at. Now,
I want him to continue to develop, no question about it, because he’s a
young, talented kid. There is no doubt about it. Where he is at right
now, I am pleased with his progress, no doubt.”
On getting players lined up correctly in multiple fronts:
“It’s definitely a process, and we’re in the fifth
OTA of the offseason. We have good plays during the day and we have bad
plays during the day, but that’s what we’re here for – we’re teachers.
That’s the No. 1 thing that as a coach you
have got to do, you have got to teach. It’s definitely a process, but
like I said, there is a lot more good out there right now than bad and
I’m very happy with where we are at as a unit.”
On if there was any consideration to changing the front to a 4-3:
“Not with me. I think we’re going to have the
ability to be multiple and jump in and out of 4-3 fronts, 3-4 fronts.
We’re structurally based out of a 3-4, there’s no doubt about it. I
wouldn’t go as far as saying -- it’s kind of the trendy
word to say ‘hybrid’ these days – but I wouldn’t go that far. But we
are very multiple. We’re going to give you a bunch of different looks
when we are in our base group and when we are in our sub groups.”
On the defensive staff:
“It’s really been good. I couldn’t be more pleased
with the staff that Jay has put together. To get a guy like Perry
Fewell, who has unbelievable experience and I’ve got all the respect in
the world for, we’ve gotten to be very close over
the last 15 years. Robb Akey, who has been a head coach before and was a
defensive coordinator at Washington State, so what he brings to the
table also is very impressive. You guys all know Kirk Olivadotti. We got
to be very good friends over the years being
linebacker coaches, so I have a chance to work with him. And we have
two young coaches that I think are outstanding in Chad Grimm and Aubrey
Pleasant. I love our staff. I love where we’re at. Just like players,
they have got to learn the new system also, and
it hasn’t been much of an offseason this year for us because we’ve been
having in-season-like hours, but they’ve done a great job and I
couldn’t be more pleased with the staff.”
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