San Francisco 49ers assistant head coach and offensive line coach Chris Foerster, who is serving as the team's interim head coach, spoke with reporters on Sunday following the first training camp practice. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
You've been doing this a while. What do you want to see on the first day of training camp that you saw today?
"One of the benefits of breaking the guys down today, I said, 'I just love this football team. I love how hard they work, the energy, the effort.' By far, we have a reason to come out and practice tomorrow. We have a lot more work to do, but I really love the energy and the attitude of the guys when they come to work. From personnel all the way through, we just get a bunch of guys that love playing football, love practicing football and they love being back here ready to get ready for another season, so it's fun to be out there with them."
How has your job changed as you've assumed head coach responsibilities?
"It's really a group thing. The title puts me in this position, and I was very grateful that [president of football operations/general manager] John [Lynch] and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] felt that some of the things I could take the lead on, like this right here. But there's other things, for example, our team meetings. Instead of me running every team meeting, we'll split up on offense and defense and [defensive coordinator] Raheem [Morris] and [offensive coordinator] Klay [Kubiak] will do things. Maybe we'll have [special teams coordinator Brant] Boyer lead one and cover different things. Kyle, one of the greatest things he does is how he leads a team meeting and talks football. Teaches the team football, teaches the team everything, you know. That's going to be more of a group effort than ever. It's not going to all fall on me. As far as certain things, we'll all take a piece, and that's how this thing's going to be done. Truly, when John said what the release said, that listed my name but then said it's going to be done by all the assistants."
How involved will Kyle be at training camp and how is he progressing?
"Obviously, Kyle Shanahan's an outstanding head coach and has been a great leader here and very successful. Obviously, him being on the field is awesome. I really don't know the whole progression of what he's trying to get done. Obviously, he's trying to do a little bit more every single day. Whatever that involves between the doctors, the trainers and Kyle, I really am not too familiar with how that's going to go. Wherever he is in his progression, he'll be trying to do a little bit of everything until he's back to normal.
How do you guys communicate as far as what he wants to be done?
"Kyle came to my office and goes, 'Do what you want to do, and if you don't want to do it, delegate it." It worked pretty well. One of the benefits of being here as long as we have been is the thing has been set up very, very well. There's a good structure. When you do OTAs, you kind of set up the installation schedule. At least we have done this, I can't speak for everybody. We have a six or seven day install and we practice that in OTAs. Then we come back and do it again when we get to training camp. Literally, it's rinse and repeat when you get to camp what you did in OTAs, so the thing's been set up. Camp is, I don't want to say it's an autopilot. There's a ton that goes on. There's adjustments that have to be made and all sorts of different things that happen. I woke up this morning and thought, "What are we going to do when we jump offsides?" Kyle sometimes repeats the play. There's a ton of little things that the head ball coach does that, who's going to do it now? So, as it comes up, we address it."
What changed in your process, if anything, taking over this role?
"I just have to think about a few more things to do. I still have to get my guys ready to play. The offensive line, obviously, is a huge piece to this puzzle and us improving every single day and getting better up front. That's been my main focus all off season. When this comes up, it's something that you have to do this, this or this. Somebody picks up that role and I do that. For me personally, I've always paid attention, believe it or not. I have paid attention to what's been going on around me all these years. I have been close to some head coaches. I kind of always listened and paid attention, so whatever Kyle's done, whatever we've done, it's not like, 'Wait, what did we do here? What do we do here?' I've always kind of noticed. So now it's like, I'll take up this and Klay will do this. Raheem will do this. Boyer will do this. We have [assistant head coach defense Matt] Eberflus here as well. Everybody could pick up a role. So, that's all. And it's been recent. It's only been the last couple days. I didn't know this was going to happen as it has the last couple days."
What happened to OL Vederian Lowe at practice today?
"We'll see. It's his ankle. We'll see exactly what it is. With all the injuries, I know Kyle usually goes through the report. I'm not doing that. [Executive vice president of communications] Corry [Rush] will update you guys on that stuff. We'll see. Hopefully he's not that bad."
OL Connor Colby took the starting reps at left guard today. Who else is in the mix to get that job?
"[OL] Connor [Colby] had an awesome offseason. I would say through OTAs, he really established himself. I'll say [OL] Rob Jones has done an excellent job since being here as well. Those two guys have really set themselves apart from the other guys. And then [OL] Dom Puni's had an awesome off season as well. First day of camp, shorts still. It's like another OTA practice. We'll see how it goes, but Connor's still doing well."
What are you trying to see out of the offensive and defensive lines during training camp and do you look at the team from a strictly line coaching perspective or look at both sides of the ball?
"Oh, all of it. I've always been asked to look at both sides, and that will continue. To look at the defensive line and what's my opinion on [DL] C.J. [West] or this guy, that type of thing. I'm always involved in the process."
When Vederian Lowe went down, OL Enrique Cruz Jr. stepped into that tackle role. What have you seen from him?
"Yeah, Enrique's been a real plus. Everybody in the building's pleased with him. People come up out of nowhere from all over the building and say, 'Gosh, that Enrique's doing a really nice job.' He's really professional, really working on it. He has a learning curve, like all the young guys do. He's got a long way to go, but he's done all the right things to this point."
Have you ever had five new offensive linemen in a room and does that make you go to OL Jake Brendel and T Trent Williams and OL Colton McKivitz and try to, get those guys to try to take more of a lead because they are the vets?
"They do a great job, but it is fun. It does take you back to ground zero a little bit. We have to go back for everybody. It's not bad for Colton or Jake or those guys, Trent, to go back and start at ground zero again. And also, I approached the offseason differently this year. I kind of let those guys take some time away and I met with them individually, the older guys, because I had to do more of the base stuff. But those guys do a great job of letting those players know exactly what I'm looking for. So if there's any question or hesitation to have three, four guys in a room that could tell the five new guys what we're looking for it really helps.
So what did you do with the offsides call?
"I say it's over. You don't get that play back. In other words, as coaches, you hate that because you hate losing the rep. But I want the importance of the rep is that we stay onsides. And the way to learn to stay onside is we don't get the rep back. So, you don't get a rep to show us what you do on film. What we've traditionally done which, I've been everywhere else, and that was a long time ago when that was like that. Now we usually bury the rep. Sometimes we get back up and run again. The problem is sometimes you show the play. So it's the whole dilemma of you show the play, you do it again, and [LB] Fred [Warner] knows what the play is. Or do you flip the play over and then run the risk of it's not run right? And then you say, we decided we just take it to the end of the little block of four or five players that the ones are going and then repeat it at the end."
I know you're not one for big speeches, so how do you handle addressing the team?
"Believe it or not, I don't like big speeches. I coach and talk a lot about football and I like talking about technique and fundamentals and players and what's important about playing the game of football. Speeches as far as, it's hard for me. John made fun of it yesterday. I'm not sure, he didn't think I was a breakdown guy. I challenge grumpy, but I think maybe I am a little grumpy. But I do know that he said it was, I don't love the big breakdowns after practice. The problem is after practice, I may have an impression of practice based on one or two plays, and I could be completely wrong if I talk to the team afterwards about practice. That's my opinion. So I'm very careful to say this was a good or bad practice. Let's go watch the tape and we'll decide if it was a good or bad practice. I can have an impression, but that's why I struggle with the big speeches."
What did you say when you broke down the team today?
"I got a little fired up today because I was challenged yesterday. So I got a little bit fired up and told him how fired up I was to be a part of this team and how much I love the way they practice and the energy they bring every day and got a lot to work on and we'll keep working."
Is it going to be like you're calling Kyle at night, he's telling you things that he wants to see or he's truly kind of removed outside of just being around the facility?
"Well, he's here. He's a part of things when he's here, he's listening to everything. When he's not, he knows what's going on. This is, like I said, I don't want to say autopilot, but when you get into the schedule, you barely have time – you go to lunch, you go to meetings, and the meetings are scheduled and planned and you're barely getting everything done. You go to practice and now you have this tape to watch, individual tape. So as far as a point of emphasis or something like that, over the course of time, there may be some things that start to come up and he may notice or some other coach may notice, 'Hey, let's talk about that.' But we don't it really doesn't need to be directed at this point at least right now."
Going back to left guard, is it an open competition or if Connor Colby just latches onto it and gives you no reason to take him off the field, is it going to be his job?
"We're going to play the best five players as we can. And at left guard, we brought guys in to compete at the left guard spot. Now, he's the incumbent and nobody else has done anything to beat him out to this point. So right now, what you're saying is true because he's held it, but we've yet to get to live bullets and see what's happening out there, so."
It's only been one practice, but how do you think some of the veteran players have responded to the situation with Kyle? Do you bring that leadership group together and talk to them specifically about maybe you have more vocal responsibility because we don't have our head coach right now? How's that dynamic work?
"I think it was addressed yesterday. John addressed the team to begin with. And I think we have a great core group of leaders. And like I said, we have a bunch of guys that love playing football. And they just want to go out and practice and get better and play and be coached. And Kyle's leadership is obviously going to be missed. Nobody knows the length of time, and so how much of that needs to occur at this point. Right now, we're just going to work and filling in for Kyle as we can as a group. And the players are doing the same thing. Obviously, they feel for Kyle and they want him back out there. We all do. But they're going to come to work. They're pros and they work their tails off every day and they're a great group to be around. There's none of that. There's no excuse making, 'Kyle's not here type of thing.' These guys are awesome that way."
When and how did you learn you were going to be taking on this role? Was that at a different time than when you learned of the accident initially?
"When did the statement come out? That's when I saw my name, okay? That's when I saw my name. I knew that we'd all have to pick up the slack. So, I knew that once Kyle wasn't, we didn't know. You just don't know. Every day the thing could flip and he can do more and more. So we just don't know how it's going to be. So when I saw my name on it, I said, 'Oh, okay. It's going to be that.' But it was going to be the group effort. We always knew that. We were talking for days before. What if he couldn't do it? Klay, Kyle, Raheem, Boyer and I, we were all talking about how we could fill in the blanks if needed. And then obviously yesterday they said, 'You're going to be doing the pressers.' I said, 'Well, I don't think I'm doing the pressers.' And then, well, here I am, so."
What was your initial reaction when you heard the news?
"Oh, shoot, I'm fired up. I'm excited. Not from the standpoint of I'm fired up from the standpoint of 'Oh, Kyle's down, this is my big chance.' No, it's I love the opportunity to help. What I learned a long, long time ago, I believe leadership is you serve in leadership. You help people by serving. And servant leadership is any way I can help. Any way I can help Kyle, any way I can help the 49ers, any way I can help John Lynch, any way I can help my players. Any way I can help you guys. Anything I can do to help. That's where I get a charge out of life. I learned that through a lot of difficult times in my life, being that way. So this is another opportunity to stand up here. And you guys that were here before, I like getting up here and talking about football. It's not about me. I like talking ball. I like sharing football. I think it's a great game, it's a great sport and a lot of people don't understand it. And if you have a chance to learn a little more, I like to talk about it because I love the game."
I noticed a lot more people, a lot of staff and maybe even some coaches shaking your hand at the beginning of practice. Was one practice enough for you to start feeling comfortable in your new role? Is it going to take time as this evolves?
"It's going to evolve. I'm the line coach out there. I have to break the team down, have a couple other responsibilities right now. We're doing it as a group and who knows tomorrow, we'll be shaking Raheem's hand. I mean it's kind of tongue in cheek. 'Hey, head coach, how you doing?' That type of thing. No, I'm the line coach and I'm helping along as we go."
What have been your early impressions of WR Mike Evans?
"Man, I love having him out there. The guy's obviously he's a real pro. His skillset and the things he does well are going to add so much to our football team. We saw a play today in the redzone in OTAs. There's just so many places where Mike's going to help our football team and I'm very excited to have him."
What conversations have you had with Kyle and how has he talked to you about approaching this position?
"Yeah, I did. I had the one conversation and I think what he said to me was, 'Hey, you do whatever you want. I have a lot of confidence in you. You know how we do things. You do whatever you want to do and if you don't want to do it, delegate it to somebody else, man.' He said, 'You just do what you feel is right and lead that way.' He said, 'I trust that you'll do anything you want to do and anything you want to delegate, delegate.'"
Have you delegated anything?
"Yeah. I delegated this morning's team meeting out to offense and defense. We decided to do it that way today instead of doing a team meeting. And we'll see as we go each week, each day what it is. That's about it right now."
How important is continuity on a coaching staff in a situation like this? You guys have been around each other for a lot of years.
"Phenomenal. It's awesome. That's the great thing. And even with Raheem being new he knows how we do things. We had the spring together and these guys have known each other for a long time. Man, continuity's everything. And with the players, with the coaches, like I say, I don't want to say autopilot because it's never autopilot. We got to work our tail off to get good and compete every single day. It's a tough division and a tough league. But having these guys that have been here, knowing how we do things, man, it's day after day after day. We know the routine, we know the tempo, we know what it should look like. Boy, there shouldn't be any loss of any. We didn't lose one step in this process."
If Kyle's absence lingers into the season, do you feel like this staff would be uniquely equipped to survive the absence of a head coach?
"I think we're going too far. I know it's hard to say at this point, but I think the one thing I will say that of all the guys that have worked with Kyle in that offensive coordinator slash passing coordinator role, Klay Kubiak has been the most prepared – really good. Klay does a hell of a job with what he does and that's where this is really kind of seamless when you get to the scripting and the game and calling it into practice and stuff like that. Those two have been lockstep. They've really co-done things a lot. It's been a really cool thing to see."
You and Kyle go way back. How scary, just on a personal level, was it to get that initial phone call?
"Yeah, I'm not going to cry up here in this first one, okay? So, tough question. I'm not afraid to cry, but the thing is the guy – he's family to me, this whole organization. Kyle, I've known Kyle for a long time. He's one of my best friends in the world by far. There's not many people that I call a friend for a lot of reasons, and Kyle's one of them. He and his wife, Mandy, are like family to me. This organization did some things for me and pulled me in at a time in my life when nobody would really want to be with me. And Kyle, along with John and the whole York family have stood by me and that loyalty's never going to be forgotten. He's a close, close friend, and it scares the crap out of you when something like this happens to somebody so close. And I can only imagine – I was thinking the day after, Mandy, I'm thinking, his wife, I felt like, gosh, what's she going through to pull up and whatever the situation? I'm not sure of all the details, but I just think the whole thing is just very, very tough and it was difficult for me, obviously."
This offense can be tough for a young wide receiver. What have you seen from WR De'Zhaun Stribling?
"He's awesome, man. He's phenomenal. He's everything that I think we thought he would be and more when he came out. Just mature, strong, fast, physical, understands the game, lines up the formations, very professional about things. He's been so good and everything we thought he could be. It's really nice to see."
Same question for RB Kaelon Black.
"Same thing. Very mature, older. I think his age is older. I think they're just mature and he's got a great understanding of the game. A very professional attitude about everything he does."
What have you seen from DL Osa Odighizuwa?
"He's done very well so far. His presence has been felt since the minute he's got here."
Comments