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00:00Because not only is he joining us over audio, he will be joining us over video as well.
00:04Yeah, get over to YouTube right now so that you can take a look not only at your radio hosts, Willie and Dibby,
00:12but also at the general manager of Cal football and obviously someone who has a lengthy NFL career as a player and a coach.
00:20We're glad to have Ron Rivera join us right now on the River Islands guest line.
00:25I was going to say, hey, coach, but now you're now you're GM.
00:29Hey, GM. How you doing, Ron? What's going on?
00:32I'll tell you what, I'd stick with I'd go ahead and stick with coach.
00:36It's something I'm still trying to get used to, but, you know, it's doing well.
00:40You know, we're just trying to figure some things out and try to be a little bit more of a consistent football team.
00:45All right. So can we get the formalities out of the way?
00:49A lot of pressure. Yeah, I know.
00:51And do the quarterback pronunciation because we we've already had people telling us, you know, how to do it.
00:58And I don't know who to listen to.
01:00So we want to go straight to you for exactly how I'll do the last name.
01:05I'll give it a shot.
01:08Sanga Pola Tele.
01:09I think I've got that pretty good.
01:11But, like, can you just give us the whole name so we can move on with our lives?
01:15You know, I'll be honest with you on that.
01:17I love just calling him Jaron or JKS.
01:20That's the easy way out.
01:21But if you try to do it and it's crazy because I'm looking at the phonetics here, you know, the way they try to get you to say it.
01:28I mean, it's not a simple name.
01:29It's really not.
01:30And it's a very typical Hawaiian name.
01:33You've got to make sure you're pronouncing all the vowels.
01:36And, you know, it's just it's tough.
01:39It really is.
01:40But, you know, he's a great kid.
01:42And it's Sagapolutele.
01:45Yeah.
01:45Sagapolutele.
01:46You try to make sure you get all the.
01:48Yes.
01:48You try to get all the vowels in it.
01:50And it's Jaron.
01:51And then is it Kieva?
01:52What's happening there?
01:53I don't want to just leave the first name out either, Ron.
01:56It's it's Kieva.
02:00OK.
02:00Jaron Kieva.
02:03Sagapolutele.
02:04There you go.
02:06JKS.
02:06JKS.
02:07JKS.
02:08All right.
02:08Perfect.
02:09All right, coach.
02:11Great to have you on.
02:12And obviously, you know, the whole Bay Area right now, speaking of quarterbacks, is just knee deep in what to do about a highly paid starter who goes down and a backup who comes in and starts winning a bunch of football games.
02:26Our group here was looking at your history as a player and recalling the 1986 Bears where I don't know how many QBs came in and out throughout the year.
02:36Yeah, four different ones.
02:37So what was that like for the locker room?
02:39Yeah.
02:40What was it like for the locker room when you're dealing with what feels like a moving target in terms of who your quarterback is?
02:47Well, I think the biggest thing, you know, that we always try to fall back on was who is our starter?
02:52Who is the guy that when you got started, the guy that we could trust in and believe in?
02:56I mean, that's the hard part is that, you know, Brock is a guy that's had a lot of tremendous success for the 49ers.
03:02He's gotten them to the NFC Championship game.
03:05He's a guy that's got some history with them, who's done some great things.
03:09And I think everybody's got to remember that.
03:13I know it's been real interesting as far as they're concerned because I think when you look at what Mac Jones has done, I mean, he is 3-0.
03:22But again, he really hasn't had as much test under fire that Brock has, you know, had for the last few years.
03:30So I just think that the one thing everybody's got to be careful of is just remember who's the starter, who got them to where they are today.
03:39So as a coach, is that where you would default?
03:41There's the ride the hot hand camp, and then there's the you're the starter camp.
03:46As the head coach, which one do you default to?
03:48Well, you know, if you go with the starter, your clear-cut starter, and something happens, you can fall back to the backup.
03:59If the backup falters and everybody's going to sit there and say, well, why do you – he's the backup.
04:06There's a reason why he was the backup.
04:07You know what I'm saying?
04:08You really can't win unless they win.
04:11Whoever you start has to win.
04:14And whoever you have the most confidence in, that's who you go with.
04:17I mean, Coach Shanahan's the one who's got to make that decision.
04:19Thank goodness it's not me.
04:20I don't have any pressure, so I can talk about it all I want.
04:23Well, I wonder, in the way that you answered that, to what level do NFL coaches and executives worry about what people think
04:32and what people are going to say out in the world?
04:37Honestly, I really don't think they care.
04:39I really don't.
04:40I mean, they're going to do what they feel is best.
04:42That's what I would do in this situation.
04:44I would more than likely go back to Mack until I really, truly felt, though, that Brock was 100%.
04:53You know what I'm saying?
04:54If Kyle had any inkling that Mack was going to continue to play the way he would have,
04:59I don't think he would have put Brock out there a couple weeks ago.
05:03I really don't.
05:03I know part of the reason they played him, you know, was they had him at home.
05:09It was grass, you know, and as soon as, you know, I saw that they were playing on Thursday night
05:15and that they were playing indoors, I knew there was no way they were going to play him.
05:20You just can't because you don't want to risk losing him for the rest of the year.
05:24So taking that approach, I would say I wouldn't play him until I knew he was 100% or at least it was a true emergency.
05:31And that might actually be when they go to New Jersey to play on that horrific surface in New York.
05:37So how much of that plays into your head as a coach when you're making these choices about, you know, road spot or weather or field surface?
05:45Field surface is a big thing, especially with everything that's happened in New Jersey on that turf.
05:51I know that this notorious, you know, we used to play there every year, a couple times every year.
05:55It's just, you just don't want to have to bring back somebody with a leg injury, you know, especially a foot injury, ankle injury,
06:03and put him on that kind of turf.
06:04You just don't.
06:06Ron Rivera is with us here on Willard and Dibs 95.7, the game.
06:10And coach, these are not perfect comps.
06:12That's not what I mean by it.
06:13But I do want to ask you this question.
06:15You see what's happening in Baltimore and Cincinnati when they lose their quarterback, seemingly like they can't even function as a team.
06:22What does this say about someone you went up against many times?
06:25What does this say about Kyle Shanahan that this boat keeps floating, even though they've had all of these injuries, quarterback and beyond?
06:34You know, and I said this, I did the Thursday wrap-up for Channel 2, and I said,
06:40that really just showed you the depth and the ability of Kyle Shanahan as a play caller, as a coordinator.
06:46To be able to do the things that he's done and continue to do those things really shows just how well he prepares his team, how well his backups are prepared.
06:56It speaks very highly of the coaching staff, as far as I'm concerned.
07:00And I'll say the same thing for Robert Sala.
07:01I mean, those guys are doing what they've done the last few weeks and have been pretty solid with their performances,
07:07but they've really had to do it with a smaller roster.
07:14And by that, I mean, not a full roster of their top guys.
07:19Ron, what was your experience in preparing for a game when you were going to go against Kyle Shanahan?
07:24It was, I'll tell you what, it was longer nights.
07:29It really was.
07:30I think he's one of the really, truly good game planners in the league.
07:34You know, you've got to try and figure out how he wants to attack you, what he wants to do,
07:39how does he want to use certain players.
07:41I mean, if you came out, were going into a game and said,
07:44man, you know, I really feel our weakness is off tackle, you know.
07:47I wouldn't be surprised to see him run a lot of outside zone, trying to attack our edges, trying to get outside of us.
07:52You know, if they felt really strongly about, you know, we struggled against deep crossing routes,
07:58you know, that we'd just get a plethora of them.
08:00I mean, you have to anticipate what he's going to do.
08:02And then half the time, he may not even do it, figuring that you might be, you know,
08:06trying to fix that part of your defense.
08:09Mac Jones has come in and looked great in Kyle Shanahan's game, and Sam Darnold was there,
08:14didn't play a lot, but he went on to do bigger and better and greater things.
08:18How much of, not only Mac Jones' success, but also Brock Purdy,
08:22how much of that should we assign to just being around Kyle Shanahan?
08:27Well, yeah, I think a lot of it.
08:29I think because it's the style of offense, it seems to suit both those guys.
08:34You have a quarterback that's not being forced to run an RPO style of offense,
08:38where he's got to not only decide whether he wants to hand the ball off,
08:41or he wants to keep it, and then he wants to throw it, or does he want to run it?
08:44And what Kyle basically has done is, look, he's going to call the plays,
08:47and he's going to tell the guys, these are what your options are.
08:50He's going to limit the thinking the quarterback has to do.
08:53One of the things that he does, and I love that he does, is he runs,
08:56the style of running plays that he runs has complementary play action.
09:00That makes it even tougher.
09:02If you really think about the things that they do,
09:05and then the play action that comes off it, it is truly hard on a defense.
09:09Why?
09:09Because you're trying to stop the run, especially if they're having success, you know,
09:12and now all of a sudden you've got the same action, but it's play action.
09:17Your linebackers are getting sucked up.
09:18They turn to get their depth, and if they get too much depth,
09:21they dump it underneath it.
09:22They don't get enough depth.
09:23They throw it right over the top of their heads.
09:25This is a very good offense.
09:27It's very conducive to quarterbacks making good decisions.
09:31It's not overly complicated as far as certain things,
09:34but at the same time, if it's functioning and running the way it needs to be,
09:37it's very difficult to stop.
09:39We're talking with Ron Rivera, long-time NFL head coach,
09:42and now obviously the GM of Cal football with us here on 95.7 The Game.
09:47Ron, you coached Christian McCaffrey in Carolina,
09:51so I'm really interested to know why you think the 49ers haven't run the ball better.
09:57Shanahan call and plays, McCaffrey in the backfield.
10:00What's going on?
10:02You know, I think part of it right now is just the cohesiveness of their offense.
10:07They've had a lot of transition, a lot of changeover.
10:10One of the things that I don't disagree with, some people say not having the tight end healthy,
10:15not having Kittle in there blocking is a big detriment to who they are as a football team.
10:20You know, he's a tight end that goes downfield, that does help block,
10:24and the best friend a running back has is a tight end that's willing to block,
10:29and receivers have blocked downfield.
10:31You know, because, you know, five-yard runs turn into ten-yard runs
10:35when guys are blocking safeties, they're picking them off.
10:38It creates more running lines for the running backs.
10:41I think that so just not having the cohesiveness of having all your guys healthy,
10:46that makes it tough.
10:47It really does.
10:48And I think, again, because certain situations and thinking that, oh,
10:53they can't throw the ball the way that they used to with Mack Brown,
10:56you saw them loading the box up on Thursday night.
10:59So now, all of a sudden, Mack, if he continues to have the success while he's playing,
11:04you're going to see people having to start playing a few more lighter boxes,
11:07and you might be able to start seeing the run game start to grow.
11:09You talked about the continuity of having a quarterback,
11:12and I'm thinking about your years in Washington where you were going between Alex Smith
11:16and Kyle Allen and other quarterbacks.
11:18How tough is that, not only on you as a head coach,
11:21but on the entire team to have that lack of continuity at quarterback?
11:26Well, one of the things that has to happen is you have to have rapport with your receivers.
11:29You've got to, as a quarterback, you've got to understand where they like the ball to be put.
11:35You've got to understand that, hey, this guy's going to have a good feel for whether or not
11:38to throw a back shoulder fade.
11:41I understand how this guy runs his post route.
11:44He likes to run a little bit thinner, not as much towards the post,
11:47but trying to keep it a little bit more higher.
11:50So I throw the ball a certain way as a quarterback knowing who these receivers are.
11:54And that's one of the things that, you know, you want.
11:57Like when I saw Brock play initially when he came back off the foot,
12:01he was a little bit high early in the game.
12:03And then as the game settled in, he started to bring it back down.
12:06And then you saw him start to complete the passes.
12:08So I think, again, you know, whether the guy's healthier, not 100%,
12:11but also working with your guys and working with them continuously
12:15creates that type of rapport you need as a quarterback-wide receiver combination.
12:19Ron, Christian has 130 touches through five weeks of this season.
12:25How did you go about managing that when you were coaching him?
12:29And what kind of discussions did you have directly with him about it?
12:33Well, we had him when he was young.
12:35So we were more than happy to give him the ball.
12:38You know, his rookie year, I'm the one who kept him from being 1,000-1,000
12:42because, you know, once we got to a certain point in the game,
12:44we were already in the playoffs.
12:45We didn't want to risk it, so we pulled him.
12:47And he could have easily been 1,000.
12:49Next year, he goes 1,000-1,000.
12:51So we wanted to feed him because we knew how dynamic he was.
12:55You know, we watched him at Stanford.
12:56We watched all of his tape.
12:58You know, his senior year, his last year at Stanford,
13:01he ran between the tackles more than anybody else.
13:04I mean, this young man has some durability early on in his career,
13:07and we abused it a little bit.
13:10But he was a tremendous football player.
13:12He really is.
13:13And he's a guy that wants the ball.
13:15He wants to do everything he can to help the football team win.
13:18So you mentioned you had him when he was young,
13:20and now in football terms, he's not.
13:22He turns 30 next year.
13:24So when you look at that number, is that a concern to you?
13:30The only concern to me is, again, is, and, you know,
13:34this is something Kyle has to decide, is when do I want him in the game?
13:37When do I want him touching the ball?
13:39When is he most dynamic for us?
13:41Those are some things that he has to look at now because as a player does age,
13:46you know, you want to be able to give him an opportunity to catch his breath,
13:48take a little bit of a break.
13:49You don't want to, you know, you want him fresh later in the year as well.
13:53So, you know, that's something that the coach has to figure out.
13:56When you watch him out there, especially in the pass game,
13:59are you seeing any loss of a step,
14:02or does he still have the same burst that you are used to seeing?
14:05He has the same burst.
14:08He's still a great route runner as far as a running back coming out of the
14:11backfield or lining up as a slot.
14:13He's a tough cover.
14:15If you've got a linebacker on him, you know,
14:17I believe nine times out of ten the ball is going to him.
14:20Anytime I sit there and watch him motion, I see a linebacker widen with him.
14:23I'm thinking, oh, that's where they're going.
14:25And he still has it.
14:27He does.
14:27As I said, he's got great hands.
14:29He's a good route runner.
14:30He sees things.
14:32He understands where he needs to be in order to present a good target for the
14:35quarterback.
14:36All right, Ron.
14:37I know you guys have a bye at Cal this week,
14:39but looking ahead to next Friday, October 17th,
14:43how do you take advantage of a young, brand-new, inexperienced coach like Bill
14:47Belichick as you go against North Carolina?
14:52I'll tell you what.
14:53You've got to be prepared for anything.
14:55I mean, he's a very savvy game planner.
15:00He does have input throughout the entire game plan as far as our offense,
15:04defense is concerned, in my opinion.
15:05So, you know, we've just got to be on our game.
15:08We really do.
15:08We've got to play to our ability.
15:11You know, the last two losses we have, we just had played up,
15:15and that's one of the things that I'm a little disappointed in right now.
15:19Back in your day of preparing for an NFL game,
15:22you said Kyle would keep you up at night a little bit.
15:26Where would you put Bill?
15:27What about Belichick?
15:28Who keeps you up longer?
15:30Kyle or Bill?
15:32Oh, Kyle does, you know, because Bill, for the most part,
15:34is a defensive mastermind.
15:36But the guy that you always worried about when you were playing Belichick,
15:39really, was Tom Brady.
15:42I mean, you know, even when I was at other teams,
15:44even when I was the coordinator in Chicago, the coordinator in San Diego,
15:48you had to really figure out Tom and try to figure out what he was trying to do
15:52and how he wanted to attack you.
15:54And granted, I know that he had an offensive coordinator calling plays.
15:57But, again, Tom was the decision maker.
15:59He's the guy that pulled the trigger.
16:01And you had to really figure out where he was trying to go with the ball.
16:05And he was so savvy with it that, I mean, it was tough.
16:08It really was.
16:09Is there any other coach you ever coached against in terms of an offensive play
16:14caller that kind of rivals what you're saying about Shanahan?
16:19Was there anyone else that's on that plane, or was he the toughest?
16:23No, Sean Payton is another one.
16:25He really is.
16:25He's another guy that really gives you fits.
16:29I mean, you had to try and do as much as you can to offset the things that he does.
16:34And, you know, he had a really good play caller in Drew Brees as well.
16:38So, you have guys like that.
16:39I mean, those are tough tandem.
16:41A great offensive-minded head coach with a good quarterback is a dangerous,
16:46dangerous combination.
16:47You mentioned Sean Payton and a gutsy call this past weekend.
16:51He goes for two to take the lead.
16:53And, you know, your Riverboat Ron is your nickname.
16:56Do you feel like you're kind of the godfather for all this new-age NFL
17:00where these guys are just constantly going for it?
17:04You know, again, I got that from John Madden.
17:08You know, he mentored me.
17:09He's the one that got me to realize and recognize the value of being selective
17:14in your fourth-down situations.
17:16So, I started to do that, and it really kind of paid off.
17:20No, but I'll tell you what.
17:21Sean Payton's got a mind of his own, and he does the things that he does for a reason.
17:25He went for two because I know that he really felt good about the play call he had,
17:30but he also knew it was going to be a hell of a message for his team that he believes in them.
17:33And I think that's one of the things that when you do fourth downs
17:36and you do it at the right time and they're successful, you can really build off of it.
17:41And I think what he did was instill the confidence in his team.
17:44And you watch the way they finished that game out.
17:46It was pretty impressive.
17:47It really was.
17:47Ron, it sounds like a whole lot of fun 10 days from now.
17:51Friday night, a 7.30 kickoff in Berkeley with Bill Belichick in North Carolina in town.
17:57So, best of luck with that, and best of luck with what's already been a pretty interesting season for you guys.
18:04It has, and it's been exciting, and I appreciate it.
18:06It's great to be back in the Bay Area.
18:08Hey, and don't ever forget this.
18:10Go Bears.
18:11We won't.
18:11Yep.
18:12Ron, thanks so much.
18:15All right, guys.
18:16Appreciate it.
18:17Yeah, thank you.
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