08-23-2023, 08:43 PM
Gregory:
* This is the terse, crusty ol' ball coach vibe I'm used to with Gregory, right from the first answer of saying camp is about teaching fundamentals and scheme and figuring out who can do what and who needs to get better at certain things, and then giving just a brief, almost grudging answer on how camp is going ("we're hanging in there, we're doing pretty good"). Still, as with prior interviews, the substance of how he says we're doing is positive.
* He says we have some of the best specialists in our league, which I hope is an understatement. We know Karty is reputed to be the best kicker in America. It's interesting he said we have "outstanding long snappers, Bailey Parsons being one of them" as it's kind of unusual to have mention of more than one long snapper (the others are Chavez and, interestingly, Northwestern transfer Warford) or to have as many as we have. Most newsmaking, though not surprising, is crowning Weselman the punter. I think we all penciled that in, but Flintoft was a good recruit too. Gregory says he feels really good about our specialists. Given all the scholarships we expend, the academic profiles of specialists generally, and other factors, this should be a major advantage.
* I would really like for Karty to have an awesome year. I was peeved the Niners drafted Moody because we've been fortunate enough to see what the cream of the crop actually looks like. I'd love for Karty to win the Groza Award this year. Some have speculated that Taylor may not be a kicker friendly coach, but I don't know that will be the case. It's interesting that Taylor's two years at Utah were the two sublime years of one of the best kickers in Pac-12 history, Matt Gay, though decisions on letting Gay kick were presumably Whittingham's. I hope we get in field goal range enough to let Karty eat. Watching him kick long ones and go for records/awards could be pretty high on our list of excitement for the year. Didn't love Gregory talking about feeling pretty good about getting three points if you don't score in the red zone and the ball being put where you want it on kickoff....coach, we're talking about much more than 37 yards range and much more of a weapon than neutralizing kick returns! I partly jest, but it was an odd comment for the best kicker in the country and part of me still does wonder if Karty may not be in a situation to be showcased. Gregory did say Karty is as good of a kicker as he's ever been around, so that's nice. I'm aware of Gregory coaching one NFL kicker, Tristan Vizcaino, who bounced around the NFL for a few years and made a handful of field goals but was nowhere near the college kicker or pro prospect Karty is.
* Gregory wasn't very verbose (never is) but reiterated that he thinks Weselman will be one of the top in the league. Sanborn was generally regarded as one of the best in the league too (PFF ranked Sanborn the #8 punter in the country last year after being #13 the year before) but in looking at our net punting and in tracking Sanborn situationally I thought he was competent but not dominant. Considering Weselman was a big recruit and has had a few years to develop his strength and technique, I'm pretty optimistic. With the offense expected to be as bad as it is, the punting game will be very important for us.
* Gregory is consistent when talking about points of emphasis for safeties, saying in both this interview and the spring one I watched that we have to be physical. He also have to be assignment and mistake free and that we're heading in that direction. It comes through that he's more of a defensive coach generally than a safeties coach specifically. I wonder if that could have both benefits and potential drawbacks for us. He was an awfully good coordinator at Cal and has a ton of experience that is a nice perspective to have on the staff, but he hasn't coached safeties in almost a quarter of a century. It's an interesting fit there.
* Very generic answer about technique and fundamentals being key on special teams. As I've said before, we'll see if the decision to have special teams coordinated by a position coach rather than a dedicated coordinator hurts special teams but I'm thrilled we're finally dividing DBs into two groups. As for special teams, in the five years he coordinated Washington's special teams, the Huskies were top 22 in Special Teams FEI three times (though oddly 120th or worse the other two times). Petersen's teams had great special teams before Gregory had that role, but that also indicates that somebody from this tree/pedigree understands the importance of special teams and has been deeply involved in a culture that nourishes it. It's an open question for me whether Stanford's special teams sustain/improve upon/regress from the level in recent years. Alamar had some great years but we seemed to be regressing in the later years aside from standout individuals when we had Bailey punting or Karty kicking.
* I've noticed that Gregory is very straightforward, more than any other coach, about the depth chart. No exception here: he outright named Gilman and Wyrick as starters. This was in the context of being asked about Gilman and Porter, so while Gregory said Porter is making strides, the thrust of the comment was unmistakably to say Porter is behind clear starters. He said we feel pretty good about our safeties. On paper it seems like a mediocre position, but let's see what Gilman and Wyrick are ready to do in this defense.
* Gregory says he likes all the things you get to do in this scheme - zone, man, pressure, make a lot of checks. I'm not sure how this differs from defenses generally. It kind of sounded like a generic "I like defense" answer. That being said, we've heard from others about pressure and it is certainly possible there are things about this defense that will be dynamic and fun to coach.
* He says Williams is as good of a coach as he's been around, which is very high praise considering the quality of Cal, Boise State, and Washington defenses over the years. I think in particular about Washington's DB play in the late 2010s and the work Jimmy Lake did there. Gregory talked about what a good secondary coach Williams is in general (i.e., safeties too) and how he's learning from Williams every day. This is something I've thought about, that it's possible Williams is a better corners and safeties coach than Gregory. But my view is that the specialization and attention you get by breaking up the DBs is well worth it. Both Williams and Gregory when asked about this hit on the same thing and I agree with them it's key - you can be so much more detailed when you split corners and safeties, and with today's offenses' complexity that is a benefit.
* Said the same thing about April, "as good of a coach as I've been around." The repetition of the compliment does somewhat lessen its credibility. Still, we've heard all the defensive coaches say glowing things about each other. At the very least, they think they have a great staff. Gregory's compliments for April were specific - really smart, very energetic, holds everybody accountable (coaches, staff, team) - and he called April a rising star. From one good former defensive coordinator's lips to God's ears in terms of this testimonial on what we hope April can be as a coordinator.
* Interesting to hear him talk about how it's about the journey and the process and that being the fun of coaching. I think Taylor seeks out and attracts coaches like this. They all seem to want to take it one step of the process at a time and eventually be proud of the progress but really the point is the journey. Fans will of course want tangible results but I like this mentality. Certainly it's a consistent mentality across our staff.
* This is the terse, crusty ol' ball coach vibe I'm used to with Gregory, right from the first answer of saying camp is about teaching fundamentals and scheme and figuring out who can do what and who needs to get better at certain things, and then giving just a brief, almost grudging answer on how camp is going ("we're hanging in there, we're doing pretty good"). Still, as with prior interviews, the substance of how he says we're doing is positive.
* He says we have some of the best specialists in our league, which I hope is an understatement. We know Karty is reputed to be the best kicker in America. It's interesting he said we have "outstanding long snappers, Bailey Parsons being one of them" as it's kind of unusual to have mention of more than one long snapper (the others are Chavez and, interestingly, Northwestern transfer Warford) or to have as many as we have. Most newsmaking, though not surprising, is crowning Weselman the punter. I think we all penciled that in, but Flintoft was a good recruit too. Gregory says he feels really good about our specialists. Given all the scholarships we expend, the academic profiles of specialists generally, and other factors, this should be a major advantage.
* I would really like for Karty to have an awesome year. I was peeved the Niners drafted Moody because we've been fortunate enough to see what the cream of the crop actually looks like. I'd love for Karty to win the Groza Award this year. Some have speculated that Taylor may not be a kicker friendly coach, but I don't know that will be the case. It's interesting that Taylor's two years at Utah were the two sublime years of one of the best kickers in Pac-12 history, Matt Gay, though decisions on letting Gay kick were presumably Whittingham's. I hope we get in field goal range enough to let Karty eat. Watching him kick long ones and go for records/awards could be pretty high on our list of excitement for the year. Didn't love Gregory talking about feeling pretty good about getting three points if you don't score in the red zone and the ball being put where you want it on kickoff....coach, we're talking about much more than 37 yards range and much more of a weapon than neutralizing kick returns! I partly jest, but it was an odd comment for the best kicker in the country and part of me still does wonder if Karty may not be in a situation to be showcased. Gregory did say Karty is as good of a kicker as he's ever been around, so that's nice. I'm aware of Gregory coaching one NFL kicker, Tristan Vizcaino, who bounced around the NFL for a few years and made a handful of field goals but was nowhere near the college kicker or pro prospect Karty is.
* Gregory wasn't very verbose (never is) but reiterated that he thinks Weselman will be one of the top in the league. Sanborn was generally regarded as one of the best in the league too (PFF ranked Sanborn the #8 punter in the country last year after being #13 the year before) but in looking at our net punting and in tracking Sanborn situationally I thought he was competent but not dominant. Considering Weselman was a big recruit and has had a few years to develop his strength and technique, I'm pretty optimistic. With the offense expected to be as bad as it is, the punting game will be very important for us.
* Gregory is consistent when talking about points of emphasis for safeties, saying in both this interview and the spring one I watched that we have to be physical. He also have to be assignment and mistake free and that we're heading in that direction. It comes through that he's more of a defensive coach generally than a safeties coach specifically. I wonder if that could have both benefits and potential drawbacks for us. He was an awfully good coordinator at Cal and has a ton of experience that is a nice perspective to have on the staff, but he hasn't coached safeties in almost a quarter of a century. It's an interesting fit there.
* Very generic answer about technique and fundamentals being key on special teams. As I've said before, we'll see if the decision to have special teams coordinated by a position coach rather than a dedicated coordinator hurts special teams but I'm thrilled we're finally dividing DBs into two groups. As for special teams, in the five years he coordinated Washington's special teams, the Huskies were top 22 in Special Teams FEI three times (though oddly 120th or worse the other two times). Petersen's teams had great special teams before Gregory had that role, but that also indicates that somebody from this tree/pedigree understands the importance of special teams and has been deeply involved in a culture that nourishes it. It's an open question for me whether Stanford's special teams sustain/improve upon/regress from the level in recent years. Alamar had some great years but we seemed to be regressing in the later years aside from standout individuals when we had Bailey punting or Karty kicking.
* I've noticed that Gregory is very straightforward, more than any other coach, about the depth chart. No exception here: he outright named Gilman and Wyrick as starters. This was in the context of being asked about Gilman and Porter, so while Gregory said Porter is making strides, the thrust of the comment was unmistakably to say Porter is behind clear starters. He said we feel pretty good about our safeties. On paper it seems like a mediocre position, but let's see what Gilman and Wyrick are ready to do in this defense.
* Gregory says he likes all the things you get to do in this scheme - zone, man, pressure, make a lot of checks. I'm not sure how this differs from defenses generally. It kind of sounded like a generic "I like defense" answer. That being said, we've heard from others about pressure and it is certainly possible there are things about this defense that will be dynamic and fun to coach.
* He says Williams is as good of a coach as he's been around, which is very high praise considering the quality of Cal, Boise State, and Washington defenses over the years. I think in particular about Washington's DB play in the late 2010s and the work Jimmy Lake did there. Gregory talked about what a good secondary coach Williams is in general (i.e., safeties too) and how he's learning from Williams every day. This is something I've thought about, that it's possible Williams is a better corners and safeties coach than Gregory. But my view is that the specialization and attention you get by breaking up the DBs is well worth it. Both Williams and Gregory when asked about this hit on the same thing and I agree with them it's key - you can be so much more detailed when you split corners and safeties, and with today's offenses' complexity that is a benefit.
* Said the same thing about April, "as good of a coach as I've been around." The repetition of the compliment does somewhat lessen its credibility. Still, we've heard all the defensive coaches say glowing things about each other. At the very least, they think they have a great staff. Gregory's compliments for April were specific - really smart, very energetic, holds everybody accountable (coaches, staff, team) - and he called April a rising star. From one good former defensive coordinator's lips to God's ears in terms of this testimonial on what we hope April can be as a coordinator.
* Interesting to hear him talk about how it's about the journey and the process and that being the fun of coaching. I think Taylor seeks out and attracts coaches like this. They all seem to want to take it one step of the process at a time and eventually be proud of the progress but really the point is the journey. Fans will of course want tangible results but I like this mentality. Certainly it's a consistent mentality across our staff.