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Things Discussed

• Rashan Gary is setting an example
• A few long tangents ... we got a Zach Gentry question that turned into Jake Butt and Sherrone Moore
• Special teams talk
• Injury update on Tarik Black, non-injury updates on Kwity Paye and Chris Evans
• Aidan Hutchinson is doing things

[After THE JUMP: Words that Jim Harbaugh said]

 

Coach, just talk about Jake McCurry’s play on special teams Saturday

 

“Yeah, been good. He was in there, been in there for a lot of big plays. That unit, he got his battle for promotion in the Notre Dame game and has not given it up.”

 

Just to follow that up, special teams play in general ... how would you assess all your special teams?

 

“Really good. Consistently good, plus they’ve made the big play in every phase. Return for a touchdown, tackles inside the 20, turnovers on the punt, scoring on kickoff returns, and a punt return. Really good at making the big plays.”

 

Jim, can you talk about what you see from Rashan Gary and how he prepares during the week, and also the intensity that he gives you in practice

 

“Well, it’s at the highest level Steve. His preparation during the week, his intensity in practice, every day. Such a great example to the rest of the players on the team. If you want to be, ‘I wanna play like Rashan Gary, how do I go about that,’ study Rashan. See how he approaches workouts, practice, meetings, and you’re gonna see it at the highest level. It’s a great position to be in as a coach to say, ‘Ok, look at your best player. See how he prepares.’ Thought if he may, do like Rashan did. That’s pretty pretty good, using him as an example.”

 

Coach, can you talk about the contributions you get from Devin Bush Jr. on the field, and how neat it is that his father’s part of the staff

 

“It’s great, the contributions have been great. His play, his work ethic, his leadership, his enthusiasm, all at the highest level. And just as my dad was a coach, and Devin’s dad is a coach. I get sentimental about that, I think that’s really cool, when dads and their sons can be together and share something as big as this. He was his high school coach, they won a state championship and now they’re together in college. And they’re both great, in equal rights. Devin Bush Sr.’s an excellent football coach, and Devin Bush Jr. is an excellent football player. It’s awesome. I get the opportunity to work with my son. And other — Jim McElwain’s son is here working, too, all kinds of cool connections like that. That’s neat. Hewletts — Rich Hewlett — John Wangler, see their sons being here. Lot of examples. We’ve got a lot of examples of that around the building, but not more — has more impact on our team than Devin Bush Sr. and Jr.”

 

Jim, I think yesterday you played eight reserve offensive linemen. Was this a case of just kind of opportunity for them, or are that many guys ready for gametime play?

 

“Yeah, it was a good opportunity to play the offensive linemen. Really the only — cause you have Jalen Mayfield who’s a true freshman, he’s playing all year, so that’s good. And then a lot of the sophomore linemen, getting them, who redshirted last year, now getting them their opportunity. It’s nice to see their progress. But take the opportunity to get guys in the game, get them playing time.”

 

Where would you gauge the progress right now, through four games — I know we’ve talked a lot about the offensive line this year — where would you gauge not only the progress of the starters, but the depth as well?

 

“Very good. I mean, I would give — doing very well. And then also, we want to improve everywhere. Every phase of our football, we want — we’re still striving for improvement, and wanna see games, in all phases — including special teams. They’re doing a — hey, we’re, you could even say they’re doing great. Now if we could just block a field goal, or if we could continue to improve. So, at every phase of the football, including the offensive line, special teams, defense, we want to get better. We want to be better today than we were yesterday, be better tomorrow than we were today.”

 

Jim, kinda elaborating on that one, just talk about Quinn Nordin and how he has done these last few games

 

“Well, he’s done good. He’s made the field goals, and a couple — nice to see that they were big field goals. The one in the SMU game made it a three-score game, 45, 46-yard field goal, come back this week, hit a 50-yarder. Raises everybody’s confidence, and good to see him go out there and bang it. Didn’t hesitate in making the call for him to kick it, and he comes through, that’s good.”

 

Did you consider maybe letting him try the 59-yarder before the half? Any thought on that at all? And then what is his range, would you say, where you would feel comfortable letting him kick?

 

“Yeah, with the 4th down, decided to take — had the two options. Take the shot for the end zone, and we try the 58, 59-yard field goal. I like them both, and decided to go with throw the deep ball, max protection and throw that. Of course I came in at halftime, ‘Man, we should’ve let him rip a long field goal.’ That would’ve also been the time to do that.”

 

What did you see on the play to Nico? Looked like he was —

 

(Harbaugh makes a falling forward motion)

 

Jim, we knew Donovan (Peoples-Jones) was making progress last year, progress again this year. Is this an example of how a guy is truly confident in what he’s doing, in his athleticism?

 

“Yeah, he’s a great example of, just talked about after the game, how much work the guys are putting in and how much it’s paying off. He’s a prime example of that. Just every single day, he’s paying attention in meetings and you can’t ask for a better guy to coach. True gentleman and along those lines of Rashan, takes that same approach. His blocking has really been physical. Setting a great example and doing a fabulous job. So is Nico Collins. Both those guys. It’s a great example for guys like Oliver Martin, and Ronnie Bell, Grant Perry does as well. Those guys are real workers, so just, not a lot of receivers right now, but not very many of — that’s also a testament to how hard those guys are working. That’s the same thing in practice. They’re getting a lot of reps and they’re getting a lot of playing time, and really got themselves in great shape, and contributing. … So, it’s a small group in terms of numbers, but they’re doing a large job.”

 

We see Tarik’s off the crutches and has been for a little bit. Is he going to see the doctor anytime soon, any more on that?

 

“Yeah, he’s rehabbing good. His doctor will be coming into town when the Packers play the Lions, I think he’s got a scheduled appointment then to take a look at it. Could have some good news at that point. Things look really good.”

 

Do you have a health update on Chris Evans? And then Kwity Paye came out of the game in the fourth quarter, is he ok?

 

“No, I don’t have an update on Kwity, and not really one on Chris, cause it’s — he hasn’t practiced or anything on the field yet, so don’t exactly know.”

 

Jim, what do you think are the pluses and minuses of the new redshirt rule, that allows you to keep your redshirt after playing three or four games?

 

“I think it’s all plus. I don’t see any minuses.”

 

Some people are transferring, a lot of people are transferring with or without that rule, but kind of an unintended consequence of, you play some games and then transfer that year and then go play somewhere else. You don’t see a downside in that?

 

“No, I don’t see any minuses to anything about the new transfer rule. It’s good for the players.”

 

You talk a lot about Zach Gentry’s path to this point, but when was he a guy you wanted to pursue in the first place when he was originally committed to Texas?

 

“Cause, really was looking for another quarterback. We didn’t have a real — wasn’t a lot of depth at quarterback when we first got here. So, Alex Malzone was already signed from the previous staff, and tried to get in on a lot of quarterbacks at that time, and Zach was really the only one that wasn’t committed somewhere else. There was some interest from other quarterbacks, but his was the most, and he was the best one that we were able to get. And then — not foreseeing that he would be a tight end — but the way he’s playing at tight end has just been dramatically good. The blocking this week was — all the tight ends. Gentry, (Sean) McKeon and (Nick) Eubanks both played extremely well. That’s a formidable group now. So it’s great to see. Great to see Jake Butt … catching balls every week. But yeah, they’re really playing well. That group of tight ends, blocking really well. Still want to see improvement. But it’s just really good, good — tight ends, Sherrone Moore’s doing a heck of a job coaching this (group). … So proud of that.”

 

Jim, do you see any parallels in the way that you’re using the freshman class this year and, looking back at 2016, we saw it happen with guys in ‘15 who came out and were immediate contributors, it looks like that might be the case this year. Do you see any parallels with the ‘16 class and this year’s class, in terms of how you’re using them, talent, quality?

 

“Yeah, I think there’s some comparisons. Aidan Hutchinson’s — he’s been playing at a really upper-class level right now. True freshman, doing extremely well. There’s others, you gotta love Christian Turner. … He’s really gonna be doing well. So I mean those, the freshmen that are able to play are playing, but I’d say the difference between 2016 and this year is we knew that in 2016 we had to get young guys playing, cause there was gonna be so much graduation in the senior class that year. So, recovering, we really made it a point of emphasis to get as many freshmen as we could playing. Really made that point the following year. I remember counting — now we’re up to 15, now we’re up to 17, now we’re up to 20, 22 — but haven’t kept track of it, this year. … Like to get some guys some experience playing, but also redshirt them if we can. With the new rule, having four games, really very conscious about that. So, I don’t know if I answered your question at all.”

 

(Everyone laughs)

 

You did

 

Jim, when Sione was here, in ‘15, Houma, you ended up using him more as everything … do you see that future for Ben (Mason)? I know you’ve got Chris and Karan and Tru (Wilson), but do you see that transition for him, more dynamic in what he’s doing?

 

“It is definitely possible, we’ve already seen it, so seen it work pretty good. So yeah, that’s definitely on the — it’s an option, every week.”