OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JEREMY BATES PRESS CONFERENCE
February 9, 2010

(On how his time in Seattle has been thus far…) “It’s been awesome. First of all, this organization is out of sight. It’s top-notch. Everybody in the building, from the first floor to the third floor, they’re going out of their way to help you. So it’s really a neat and special organization. I can’t say enough about it. We’ve had the chance—Coach Carroll and I—to hire an incredible staff. I’m really proud of it. We’ve got a lot of NFL experience, a lot of old, young—old is kind of a strong word, but a lot of experience, just from around. It’s been neat watching it come together, and finally we’re getting together doing meetings, and we’re excited about the future.”

(On how his workload has been…) “We’ve got to look at everything. We’ve got free agents coming up, we’ve got to see the players on our team, we’ve got to start getting involved with the terminology because we’ve got guys coming in from all over and just getting on the same page. We’re grinding. It feels like game week right now. But that’s what makes it fun. It’s challenging, and at the same time, we’re learning. There’s other coaches that have been with maybe a number of systems that have maybe done things a little bit different than the concept system, and it’s a chance to grow.”

(On whether it’s strange to be evaluating the offensive players without a single coach who was with the team last season…) “You know, at Tampa, it was like that when I first got there my first job. We were all new, so I’ve seen it done before. You know, everyone has an opinion, everyone’s speaking up. It’s a good way to get to know the staff, also, to see what they’re looking for and looking at. I think we have some talent. We just have to keep studying them. There are some players coming up every now and then. We’ve got to get to know them. We have the advantage in that situation, and we’re going to have a minicamp before the draft. It’s a process. We don’t want to just look at the film. We want to get to know these guys and give them every chance they can to be successful.”

(On how much of an impact Jon Gruden has had on him…) “Well, he gave me my start. I can’t say enough. I was, what, 23? 24? 25? Whatever I was, I forgot…I don’t even know how old I am now. But he let me get into the door. I got my foot in the door and he just taught me how to grind. I was up really early in the morning and working really late at night, and I learned every play known to man of football. It was special. One thing I take from Jon is his passion. You’ve got to have the passion. It’s too hard of a job…if you’re not in love with it. He loves it. It was a fun three years.”

(On whether his offense bears a resemblance to Gruden’s…) “I definitely have some foundation from Jon. At the same time, I worked with Mike Shanahan and Mike Heimerdinger at Denver. So I think you got to keep growing. Even Jon, he wasn’t just exactly Holmgren after he left Mike. You keep growing, you keep studying. Shoot, the first person I’ll study is Peyton Manning. I didn’t work with him, but you got to keep growing, studying, and that’s kind of what Jon did teach me. He studied all the top offenses every offseason and kept growing as a coach, as an offense. So there’s a lot of information out there, and it’s for us to steal and try to make it work for us.”

(On what he learned from Mike Shanahan…) “He is the CEO of the organization. It was very business-like. Again, his passion is just like Jon’s. These guys just love the game. They love dominating, competing, and being the best. He allowed me to come in there and work with the offensive line, which was an incredible experience, learning the zone game, and at the same time, where Jon let me in, gave me my first opportunity, Mike gave me my first opportunity to call plays. So I respect both those guys. It’s been a fun ride.”

(On whether the Seahawks’ offense will look like Denver’s offense under Shanahan between him and Alex Gibbs…) “I think that’s real accurate. I worked with Rick Dennison for three years, who was the first offensive line coach after Alex left, and Rick learned everything that he knows about their offensive line play from Alex. Alex is…I think this is really interesting—the Seahawks’ website called him ‘The Godfather of the Zone,’ and it’s true. I mean…he does clinics for colleges, he goes to the Falcons, he goes to the Houston Texans, and the next thing you know, they’ve got five zone coaches that are amazing. It’s an honor. It’s a privilege. I’m really excited to be working side by side with him. We’re keeping the same terminology as Denver. We’re going to run the zone. We’re going to run the keepers. And at the same time, we’re going to throw the ball. It’s going to be a fun season.”

(On why the zone scheme is so effective for Gibbs…) “Well, I think he’s fully committed in the zone. He’s not going to change. He believes in the zone 100%, and from day one, we’re going to be practicing outside and inside zone. When you believe in something like that and you’re committed to it, you’re going to making it work eventually. The players have to understand that this is what we are, this is who we’re going to be. We’re going to be a zone offensive running team. If you do something over and over and over and truly believe in it, and everyone buys in, then it’s going to work.”

(On whether he thinks they have the personnel to run the zone…) “We’re still looking, you know? We’ve got some great players here. I think it’s an ongoing process. I think the draft and free agency, you can always improve. But with what we have right now, I think it’s a start.”

(On how he got involved with Pete Carroll…) “The first time I met Coach Carroll was down in Tampa, because he’s best friends with Monte Kiffin, and Coach Carroll and Lane Kiffin used to come down there my first couple years. I would just run into him in the hall and say hello. When all this happened in Denver, I had a couple opportunities to go some other places, but Coach Carroll called me and I was like, ‘Wow. This is the winningest football coach in college,’ and I wanted to go win. I went to the Super Bowl my first year in the NFL and hadn’t been back to the playoffs. So just the opportunity to go see that formula to win, that formula for winning was important to me. And USC was the best opportunity for me to go and see another great head coach. You talk about Coach Gruden, you talk about Coach Shanahan, you talk about even Coach Edwards—Herm Edwards from the Jets—now you’re going with Coach Carroll. I thought it was a natural process for growing, for developing as a young coach. And what an opportunity, to watch him work. Again, you talk about a third person with passion and love for the game…it’s pretty easy, if you have any common sense, why these guys are all successful. They love what they do. They’re fired up every day with coaching the game and with making these players as good as they can be.”

(On whether there was a point last season where he thought to himself that he would follow Coach Carroll should he leave…) “Never thought about that. I grew up in the business and you can’t think beyond a day. My dad was a coach and you don’t know what’s going to happen from year to year, so all you can do is the best job every day, and try to win football games on Saturday or Sunday. That’s all you can do. You can’t read into the paper, you can’t read into all the blogs, because you just don’t know. All you can do it work your tail off and try to win on Sunday.”

(On whether he was yearning to come back to the NFL while he was at USC…) “Again, you got to be committed to be a football coach. You’re working from morning till night, so you stay away from the distractions. You take care of what’s in hand, who your opponent is, making your players as good as they can be, and then at the end of the season there’s always things that happen.”

(On how much Carroll’s defense dictated his offense at USC…) “I went to USC with the understanding that I was learning their system. It was easier for one guy to learn a system or a philosophy than for a whole team to learn our Denver system. That was a great experience for me, once again, to go back to flash cards and start with formations again. So it was a challenge. At the same time, you realize what these rookies that you’re drafting, or free agents, have to go through. You kind of put yourself in their shoes and understand that you got to be committed but it can be done at the same time. So it was USC’s offense, but it’s a proven offense and it was fun to get to know.”

(On whether he has more freedom to implement his own scheme now…) “Yeah, we’re going back to Denver’s offense as far as terminology. Alex knows it. I know it. Pat MacPherson, Jedd Fisch…we have a lot of guys who understand that system, that terminology. So now, we’re going to be able to teach that system a lot easier than everyone learning one system.”

(On whether he prefers to throw the ball…) “I don’t think so. I think we’re going to do whatever we can to win the game. When we were at Denver, we had talented wide receivers, a couple tight ends, and a quarterback who was a Pro Bowler. I thought, going into the games, our best chances of winning were to throw the ball at that time. I believe in the zone running game. I want to be balanced. I want to be 50-50, because being able to run the ball opens up the passing game. I saw firsthand we were on our fifth running—not to make excuses—but we got to do what’s best for our team and try to win on Sundays. If we have to win 3-0, or if we win 51-49, we’re just going for the victory.”

(On how Matt Hasselbeck fits into this scheme…) “Man, he’s been incredible. First of all, he’s up here every day learning the system already. He’s fired up. He’s excited. I’ve watched him on tape. He’s a heck of a player. We’re very fortunate to walk into an organization with Matt Hasselbeck being the leader. He’s been to the Super Bowl. He’s been in every situation. Part of playing quarterback is about experience, about taking those reps. It’s kind of like the 10,000-hour rule. He’s definitely been a part of that. He’s excited. He feels the energy. There’s going to be some learning, but he’s been a part of the west coast offense terminology-wise, formations, so it’s all going to come back to him. It’s going to be fun to see how good he can be in this offense, because I think he’s going to be special.”

(On what he’s seen out of the receivers…) “You know, as a group, these guys are…you talk about, again, the experience…they’ve seen every coverage. They’re all vets. They’re all true pros. We’re going to move some guys around a little bit, change some positions as far as who’s going to be playing X, and we’ll get into that as we get going, but I’m excited. We’ve made a lot of tapes over our history on all of these guys. Now it’s looking forward to getting them back I think March 15th, and getting onto the routes and start talking ball a little bit.”

(On what he’s seen from John Carlson…) “I want to see him on the field. I don’t want to get too much involved talking about these guys as individuals until we see what they can be. Watching them on tape is great, but let’s get to know them. Let’s get to see them in the meeting room. Let’s see how much they can handle. As we get going and we start having some minicamps, we’ll be able to form a better idea—is he going to be playing wide? Is he going to be playing tiger? We’re going to give everybody the chance to be as successful as they can possibly be, but we’ve got to get them in here. John’s been studying like mad. He’s a guy that…they love football. So that’s a start.”

(On how he approaches the Walter Jones situation, especially in terms of needing a strong left tackle…) “Well, first of all, in my short career in the NFL, he’s the best left tackle I’ve ever seen play the game. The guy is so smooth and patient, and to have him play left is something special, because you don’t even have to think about who that stud defensive end is, you just say, ‘Walter’s got him.’ I haven’t met him, of course, but I’ve watched him on film. I remember setting in with the offensive line the one year I worked in Denver with them, and when Walter Jones would show up, they’d all go, ‘Ohhhh, look at that!’ They wouldn’t even watch the defense, and we were supposed to be watching defense. They were watching him. He’s just so special. He’s one of a kind. But left tackle is extremely important. We’re not going to get involved with what route we’re going. All I know is that he’s been a special Seahawk for a long time.”

(On how he’s planning for the left tackle position right now…) “We need someone that we feel great about, to protect Matt’s blind side. I think left tackle is an important position, just like a lot of the other ones.”

(On his three dogs…) “I have a golden, a black lab and a weimaraner. Being a coach’s son, I figured having dogs instead of kids would be [good]. Every time I come home, they think I won.”

(On whether he’s surprised at where he is career-wise at his age…) “No. I mean, again, every year, something’s going to happen and you’ve just got to do the best job you can. I’ve had a great life just seeing this country. We have an amazing country. And now I’m in Seattle, Washington. I’ve never spent any time up here, but I’ve been here a month and just love it. You get to see the country. You get to meet some great people. We’ll go to the combine, and even though I’m going on my eighth year in the NFL, you know half the people that are there, just from moving around. All the coaches, the whole coaches’ fraternity, is special. These guys have all worked extremely hard. They love the game. It’s been a fun life.”

(On what it was like having his dad be a defensive coach and growing up to be an offensive coach himself…) “Yeah, I knew I wanted to be a football coach at a young age, so it was good to just watch him and study him and just see what they were looking for. He’d give me projects: ‘Hey Jeremy, go see which way the center’s looking in the back,’ little things like that for protections. You start understanding what the defense is looking at to scheme for you. All that, and understanding coverages, and…the more you know about the game, or anything in life, the more you know makes it easier in the experience part. It was really fun. Here’s another guy that has incredible passion for the game and it just rubbed off on me.”

(On when he knew he wanted to coach…) “I first started going to two-a-days when I was five years old and my dad was at Texas Tech. I had one rule: I wasn’t allowed to talk, just hand me the ball. And training camp’s always been special. I’d always go spend training camp with my dad. I’ve never missed a training camp with him—the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, all through the years. But the first time I knew I was going to be a coach, I was a sophomore in high school. I tore my ACL and I asked the doctor if I was going to grow anymore, and he said no. So I was like, ‘Okay, there’s not many 5’8” quarterbacks.’”

(On what position he played in baseball…) “I played second base at Rice. It was an incredible experience. Coach Wayne Graham, I don’t know if you guys know him at all, but he’s a college baseball coach who’s like a football coach coaching baseball… Just watching Wayne Graham, he was a guy that’s played in the minor leagues for 15, 16 years way back when, and how much he respected the game. He taught me how to respect the game, and he was all about respecting what everybody has done before our time to make it so pure. That’s the same with football. Respect the fact that everyone before us has made the game into what it is, and it’s special.”

(On coaching under Gruden…) “It was fun. It was intense. The guy’s 100 miles per hour every day. He taught me a lot of football, he taught me how to watch a lot of other teams and steal a lot of tape and ideas. We didn’t stop for three years. You’re waking up and you’re grinding. That’s his personality, and that’s what’s made him successful.”

(On whether he would say that that’s his personality and approach as well…) “I’m going to do the best job I can and let’s see how far we can go.”

(On whether he played quarterback at Rice as well…) “I did. I was there for four years. I tore my ACL my second game starting as a junior, so my career was kind of short. We were running the option. Other [ACL]. I still ski. [Laughs.]”

(On whether he finished college and went straight to the NFL…) “I took some time off for myself, because of playing two sports and taking a lot of classes. So I spent a little time by myself and then got into Tampa.”

(On whether he traveled in that interim…) “I did travel. I just kind of slowed down because I knew what I was about to get into.”

(On whether his offense closer resembles Gruden’s or Shanahan’s…) “I mean…the base is going to be Coach Shanahan’s. We’re going to be a zone running offense. We’re going to run keepers. But the throwing part of it is a mixture between Coach Shanahan and Coach Gruden and some other teams that I respect from afar and really study.”

(On whether they’ll work off of the zone scheme that started to be implemented last season, or if they’ll just wipe the slate clean…) “I definitely think they started it. We’re going to change some things and some techniques. Again, we’ve got Alex Gibbs, who everyone tries to steal from, and now we’ve got his voice. Just listening to Coach Gibbs upstairs, it excites you. I’m up there taking notes on some of the pointers, not necessarily just football, but common sense. What he says, he’s been through it. He’s been through a lot of football games, a lot of practices, so I’m still learning.”

(On whether his system needs specific running backs, or whether he can make the Seahawks’ existing running backs fit the scheme…) “You know, I think Denver’s proven that they’ve gotten a lot of great running backs late in the rounds. A lot of people say you’ve got to go to the first round and pick up that running back. I think if the offensive line, the tight ends, and the running backs all work together, and all believe in the system, and all know who they’re reading, and believing four yards, four yards, four yards, then they can be successful.”

(On the running backs they have here…) “I’m excited. I think both of them can play right away, and they have been for years. But I think they both fit into the zone system.”

(On how important it is to have strong running backs…) “It all starts with the running game. I think a great example is, you look at the New Orleans Saints. They just won the Super Bowl because—not because, but—they got the running game going throughout the year. It just helps to be balanced. It puts a lot of pressure on the defensive coordinator. You don’t know how often my dad…if you can be one-dimensional, then they’ll feel a lot better. So we got to be balanced.”

(On how big of a challenge his job is this year…) “I think it’s a challenge. I think anybody that competes—not necessarily just in football, in life—it’s a challenge. You look that challenge in the face and you see how far you can take it.”

(On whether the offense is starting from the ground up…) “Well, the one thing about the NFL game is that everyone runs somewhat of the same offense. So the foundation throughout the league is pretty close. Guys just have to come in and maybe our progressions are different or how we’re going to get to something a little bit different, and that’s going to be meeting time…I think there’s plenty of time. Going into Tampa, we had an incredible defense of course, but our first year at Tampa we won the Super Bowl. Now, I’m not making predictions, but it can be done. I’ve seen it. It requires, number one, hard work, and everyone believing in it, and going 100 miles per hour.”

(On whether Hasselbeck has some familiarity with the formations of this offense…) “I think so, yeah. A lot of the formations…I think that’s the biggest thing, just when you start off, the formations. As a quarterback, when I call a formation in his helmet, to just be able to see where everybody is in your head and have that…and he has that from Coach Holmgren. So the formations are a lot alike from those years. So that’s a start. That’s a good start, because now I can say a formation and you can see, here’s the Z, here’s the X, tiger. We’ll just go from there. He’s run every play in America, he just kind of has to…some people call it ‘yellow,’ I might call it ‘red.’ He just has to throw away the yellow part and I’ll start calling it red, but he’s executed every play known in the game.”