I'll post a full transcript from Pat Narduzzi's Thursday press briefing shortly, but I figured this section would draw some interest. There are a lot of nuggets in here that will probably stand out to you.
Offensively speaking, how has that unit fared in the first year under Shawn Watson relative to what you thought they would do?
Narduzzi: Okay. You know, every year is different. You look at a Jim Chaney the first year; we did okay, learning who your kids are. Then all of a sudden, Canada comes in and he’s got some weapons. I don’t think we’ve talked since Nathan Peterman - how about that? Starting quarterback, great for him and his family, his wife. But he had some tools to work with, so was it Matt or was it all the good players? Now Shawn comes in after a really explosive offense and then he’s taking and trying to build it. I think he’s done a really good job, in my opinion. We’ve been able to maintain the rushing game; it’s taken a while to get on the same page with everybody.
And Shawn’s not going anywhere, so I don’t have to worry about losing him. Even in the offseason, in December, that’s something - I know I don’t have to go find an offensive coordinator, because he’s a loyal guy and we’ve talked. So I think it’s going to make it better for the future. That continuity is so important. I think it hurts you at times; it hurts you in development. I think maybe we’d be a little further ahead, but I think Canada would be pulling his hair out sitting there trying to find a quarterback, too, and trying to find - maybe that’s one of the reasons he left, knowing that, hey, this is pretty good with these guys.
So I think that’s all part of it.
What kind of challenges does that bring to the players, knowing that it’s the same system but it’s with Shawn instead of Matt?
Narduzzi: There’s no adjustment for the players. It’s easier - we tried to make it easy on the players. We talked about this a year ago, where one of the first text messages I got was from Jester Weah saying, ‘Coach, tell me we’re not going to change the offense.’ I still probably have it on my phone; I don’t ever delete. My kids all delete their messages; I keep everything. You’ve got to always go back and refer.
But his first text was like, ‘Coach, tell me we’re not gonna’ - and that told me right there that the kids had belief in what we were going to do and what we were doing and didn’t want to change. That was why I took my time to find the right guy that I thought could come in, that was smart enough and didn’t have an ego enough that he could run what we wanted to do.
The offseason will be a little different this year with an offensive coordinator for two years in a row for the first time.
Narduzzi: Hey. How about that?
That will be important that the younger guys won’t have to learn anything new.
Narduzzi: That’s right. That will help you. It helps in two years - I mean, what’s it going to be like in three and four? That’s when it really gets good. I was with Dantonio for 11 years; it helps when you’re together for a long period of time.
Offensively speaking, how has that unit fared in the first year under Shawn Watson relative to what you thought they would do?
Narduzzi: Okay. You know, every year is different. You look at a Jim Chaney the first year; we did okay, learning who your kids are. Then all of a sudden, Canada comes in and he’s got some weapons. I don’t think we’ve talked since Nathan Peterman - how about that? Starting quarterback, great for him and his family, his wife. But he had some tools to work with, so was it Matt or was it all the good players? Now Shawn comes in after a really explosive offense and then he’s taking and trying to build it. I think he’s done a really good job, in my opinion. We’ve been able to maintain the rushing game; it’s taken a while to get on the same page with everybody.
And Shawn’s not going anywhere, so I don’t have to worry about losing him. Even in the offseason, in December, that’s something - I know I don’t have to go find an offensive coordinator, because he’s a loyal guy and we’ve talked. So I think it’s going to make it better for the future. That continuity is so important. I think it hurts you at times; it hurts you in development. I think maybe we’d be a little further ahead, but I think Canada would be pulling his hair out sitting there trying to find a quarterback, too, and trying to find - maybe that’s one of the reasons he left, knowing that, hey, this is pretty good with these guys.
So I think that’s all part of it.
What kind of challenges does that bring to the players, knowing that it’s the same system but it’s with Shawn instead of Matt?
Narduzzi: There’s no adjustment for the players. It’s easier - we tried to make it easy on the players. We talked about this a year ago, where one of the first text messages I got was from Jester Weah saying, ‘Coach, tell me we’re not going to change the offense.’ I still probably have it on my phone; I don’t ever delete. My kids all delete their messages; I keep everything. You’ve got to always go back and refer.
But his first text was like, ‘Coach, tell me we’re not gonna’ - and that told me right there that the kids had belief in what we were going to do and what we were doing and didn’t want to change. That was why I took my time to find the right guy that I thought could come in, that was smart enough and didn’t have an ego enough that he could run what we wanted to do.
The offseason will be a little different this year with an offensive coordinator for two years in a row for the first time.
Narduzzi: Hey. How about that?
That will be important that the younger guys won’t have to learn anything new.
Narduzzi: That’s right. That will help you. It helps in two years - I mean, what’s it going to be like in three and four? That’s when it really gets good. I was with Dantonio for 11 years; it helps when you’re together for a long period of time.
