Opening Statement:
"Hello, first of all I'm very excited to have our guys here. Minicamp had great energy today, continuing to learn how to practice against one another, defense and offense without the pads on. It was a good thing, the energy was great, we just have to continue to work on the defense and get better. On another note I'm very excited for Jed York and the entire 49ers organization for being able to get the term sheet passed the other day with the city council. Now it's just up to our fans next spring to vote it in, but that is very exciting. I'm also very excited about the extension for Joe Staley. He's going to be our left tackle for a long time. I'm very excited about that. Joe Staley is the kind of guy that you want on your football team. He's versatile, he's a team guy. He's at just about every function that has anything to do with charity, but he's a complete team guy and I'm just very happy for him to be in that position. It's great to see Mark Roman out here. Mark is a guy that obviously brings a lot of experience, versatility. He's played at both positions, he's started both positions and so I'm very happy about Mark being here. Other than that, Nate Clements I think is the only guy that's not here. Nate got a mild touch of pneumonia and on Monday we'll have to look at it and diagnose it further at that time, we've just got to get healthy. So when all of our DBs are healthy on the back end, we are going to be a pretty solid group. Dre Bly, getting him, signing him adds a lot of swagger and experience. He's a former Pro Bowl guy. He played in championship games, so I'm very excited about him. So I think all-around, guys are just continuing to progress a little bit better and as long as we do that, we've got a chance to do the things that we need to do."
On Dre Bly coming in with no promises and how he's in here to compete:
"Absolutely, everybody's competing. That's the thing that I'm excited about in this camp. Those guys know that we aren't going to give you anything. You've got to earn it. You've got to compete for it and he knew that coming in and he's definitely a competitor."
On how closely he followed the Santa Clara stadium deal:
"Well, in all honesty, my main focus is always out here. My main focus is on winning, but Jed [York] and I continue to talk, Scot [McCloughan], we need to communicate across the board and make sure we are on the same page. The stadium news is very exciting, but Jed knows as well as I do, as far as I'm concerned, the team will play in the street as long as the other team is willing to show up, we'll show up, but it would be great to have a new stadium to play in. The fans deserve it. The city deserves it. The players deserve it. Well, we will deserve it and we'll go forward with that."
On how having a good season on the field will help the organization off the field with the stadium deal:
"Obviously, any time you are playing well, it makes everything a little easier. So I would have to assume that would have to be the case as well, but I don't look at that. When I look at our season, the only thing that I'm looking at is getting better, playing the way we are capable of playing, bringing our players together and forming a cohesive unit and continuing to develop our quarterback position and have that solid whenever we find the guy to lead our team and other than that, that's my main focus, all the other stuff I really don't think about. I just communicate with everybody else in the organization, different department heads, just to make sure that I have an idea, that I have a clue as to what's going on. Other than that, my main focus is this football team and our coaching staff and getting better and winning."
On whether the quarterback situation is going to rotate from this point forward:
"No, I think the coaches are going to try to make it as fair as possible, making sure that Shaun [Hill] and Alex [Smith] get their reps with the first group and just continue to go forward there. Right now, it really doesn't mean anything. That guy has to step up at some point in time and he will. They are making strides, so we are excited about that."
On this is the beginning of his first full season with most of the team at camp:
"No, not really. We've been working awhile and we've been talking about our vision, the coaching staff. It doesn't feel like Day 1. It feels like a lot of things, but not Day 1. It's just great to see everybody here. It's like as a father, when my kids come home from college, I'm just excited to see them because they are part of the family and when all these guys get together, they are a part of this family and it's always great to see them come home."
On a specific date when Michael Crabtree will take part in practice:"As far as we understand, it is training camp. The first day of training camp, he is ready to go, but until then, I don't want to look at him, I don't want to see him out there, trying to do something other than what the strength coach and the trainers are trying to get accomplished, given the confidence and everything he needs, but other than that, I don't want to see him out there until then. I don't even want to try and get him out there. I want him to do everything he's supposed to do, so when it's time to go, he's ready to go. I want him to stay with Jerry Sullivan as much as he can. When Jerry Sullivan goes to sleep, I want him to have to tell Crabtree to get out because he needs to know what he's doing and we don't have time to go back over all this that we are getting right now. So that's the thing that I keep challenging him with. I want to make sure that he knows the offense and he knows his responsibilities and he's ready to go."
On Kentwan Balmer's progress:
"Kentwan is one of those guys that I am very, very excited about, as well as the other coaches. He has made such great strides in maturity, development. For him to come out here, just to give you an example, this speaks volumes. I don't need to say anything else about him. For him to come out here, with the veterans, our first mini-camp and go through that whole camp, knowing that it was going to be painful and then to come right back out here with the rookies, when the rookies have to do it, and I told all the veterans, you don't have to do it. He was the only veteran that I couldn't run off. He wanted to do it and he was fine and that was a very tough thing, but said a lot for him."
On if he thinks Balmer will be able to make an impact this season:
"Absolutely. All you have to do is talk to him a little bit, watch him work. He worked with Justin Smith the whole offseason and that's just been great for him and he's got a tremendous work ethic. I remember when we drafted him, I talked to his coach in college, John Blake at North Carolina. He said, 'Mike, all of Kentwan's ability and his ability to make plays is in front of him. He's very raw.' That was an understatement. He was raw coming in. You kind of look at him and you think, 'Man, okay, I'm waiting.' And toward the end of last season, I'm telling you, I can understand what Scot [McCloughan] saw in him because he has a heck of a package and a lot of ability. I'm very excited about him."
On if the starting lineup is set for the offensive line and how important continuity is:
"We are still working on our right tackle. You have to step up at some point in time and he will, but I feel very confident about our offensive line. I think those guys, as they continue to jell, will find a continuity that they need to continue to get better and we'll have what we need when it's time to go, we'll have what we need."
On [Cody] Wallace seeing action at guard:"A little bit. Not a whole lot, but a little bit."
On if it's so Wallace can show some versatility:"Exactly."
On his policy on coaches not talking to the media:
"Well, I think early on, the No. 1 thing I wanted to do, just to have all of you understand. The No. 1 thing that I wanted to do and you'll see going forward, I am not the kind of guy, I don't want anybody talking but me. Trust me, I don't like talking, but the thing we are trying to do with Jimmy Raye and Greg [Manusky] is just have everybody focus on one page. Let's get everybody on one page together, and then as we go forward and everybody understands what the expectations are. Our offense was behind and I didn't want Jimmy Raye to have to explain everyday why it took so long for us to choose him as coordinator. I didn't want all these mixed messages. There were too many messages at that time anyways. So right now, I think things have calmed down a bit and we are pretty much on the same page and so you will be talking to Jimmy Raye. You will be talking to Greg Manusky and I think, going forward, that you will see that there's more flexibility going forward, but I just think it was very important at that particular time to just make sure that it was one voice, while we were trying to get ourselves together and get on one page, so we can move forward."
On whether the policy would continue through the season:
"No, I've always said that. I never said the coaches aren't talking to anybody. I've never said that."
On if he likes talking to the media:
"If there's something to talk about, I'm willing to talk and I know you guys have a job and I want to help you do your job, but the most important thing that I focus on every day, and to me as the head coach, is to make sure that when we come out here, we are ready to go. That's the most important thing. I can come out here and be the nicest guy in the world and I can talk to you, drink coffee with you. I can do all those things, but it does not matter if I am not doing my job. I just want to make sure…right now I don't have a whole lot to say because there is so much work to do and for me it's a matter of staying true to my calling. Staying true to the job, staying focused on what I came here to do and that's winning and guiding this football team and that's what I'm going to do."
