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The University of Mississippi Athletics
49ers Head Coach Mike Nolan NFL Draft Press Conference
4/30/2007 | Football
2007 NFL Draft
4-28-07
Head Coach Mike Nolan
On First-Round Draft Pick (No. 11 Overall) LB Patrick Willis
RE: Opening Statement
“I want to thank you all for being here. It was a great thing to walk in this year. There was about half as many of you last year. I appreciate you all being here, so thank you. We drafted Patrick Willis, linebacker out of Ole Miss. He’s an outstanding player and outstanding person. I would say the one player on our current roster that he might have similarities to is (LB) Manny Lawson, from a speed standpoint, but he’s an outstanding player. I believe that he’s also surrounded by some great players and it’s important to note that we got a strong linebacking core here, but we still always need to take the best player in order to continue to get better in each and every way. With our transition into the 3-4 defense, he will be instrumental in that transformation so I’m really excited about him being on our football team. One of the things that I think is also key in having Patrick Willis is that we’ve coached him already, so we know a lot about him, from the Senior Bowl, which we coached this past season and last year as well. Coincidentally, that’s where Manny Lawson was (last year) in that game, so we also knew a lot about him, so it was really important. You can watch all the film you want, but when you get to know somebody, you really get to find out what you really want in your football team and what it’s going to look like, so I think he’s outstanding from that standpoint. When you’re building the right team, you need to pick the right people as well as the right players. Patrick will be it and he’s an outstanding guy.”
RE: Do you expect Patrick Willis to be a starter?
“I expect him to make an impact right away. In the third down area I would expect him to be a starter right away. But as far as overall, in terms of second down, he will compete with the other guys. But he will certainly have an impact on our team right away.”
RE: Will he be playing more in (LB) Derek Smith’s spot or (LB) Brandon Moore’s?
“He will be in the insider linebacker position on first and second down on the weakside, which is where Derek Smith more than likely will be this year along with (LB) Jeff Ulbrich, so he will compete with those guys on the regular downs. On the third downs, he’ll step right in front of the guys that were there. (LB) Hannibal Navies was there last year, so he’ll step right in front of him on that down.”
RE: What specific things did you see in him at the Senior Bowl?
“He was the defensive player of the year in the SEC conference this past season, so he makes a lot of plays all over the field. He’s got outstanding speed and covers a lot of ground. We saw all of that. But as was the case, the reason we coached that game is that we want to know more a lot more about the individual. What kind of person is he? Is he a character person? Is he the kind of person that’s going to make our football team stronger? As a player, it’s one thing to be a selfish individual and a good player. But if you also make the guys around you better, that’s a whole different thing and that’s what he’s been able to do in four years of college and he’ll do the same here for us.”
RE: Willis’ reaction to becoming a 49er
“Well, he had no choice (laughs). I was not on the phone at the time we made the choice. There was some dead time in between and the other coaches were on the phone. But he did tell our coaches that he really enjoyed playing for us at the Senior Bowl and the fact that he knows the guys. He was really excited about it. As a matter of fact, he hoped that because of his familiarity with the 49ers and the direction we were going in that he was chosen by the 49ers.”
RE: Taking Willis over
“We took the best player on our board. In the process of putting our board together, we considered a lot of players. Certainly Carriker was one of the players we considered, but at the time of our choice, we took the best player available.”
RE: Will Patrick Willis be the “quarterback of the future” for your defense?
“He could be. But we’ll let him learn that part. He’ll learn that right away on third downs and that is the role of that player. As far as the regular downs, his progress will determine that. But I would expect him to take it. He’s been that in college and lot of times you expect it. The one thing about the Senior Bowl is that the guy we coached will come in the same person, so that’s really key. You watch a guy on tape and in the combine, you really don’t know him like you like to. We feel we know him well enough that he’ll be a leader on this football team. Whether he’s a vocal one or not remains to be seen. But he’ll certainly be a leader by the way he plays and by the example in which he works because he is a hard worker.”
RE: Derek Smith’s progress from his eye surgery and if you have talked to him about drafting Willis
“I have not spoken to Derek since. But as far as his eyes go, he’s progressing really well. He’s been in there working out. I’ve seen him two, three or four times since the season ended. We hope he makes 100% full recovery. This is not effecting Derek’s value to us or our defense. Like I said, we got a great nucleus of linebackers on our football team. This will only make that group stronger.”
RE: Trade for
“Right now, it’s fifty-fifty. We’ve had conversations with
RE: Is
“He’s in town. His wife came with him. He’s here for the physical, so will just wait to see what the results are.”
RE: Were you guys on the phone with other teams to see if they might take Willis before you?
“Before our pick, we were in conversations with everybody. Obviously, there was Houston (Texans),
RE: Do you expect to be moving up into the first round?
“You never know what we’re going to do. I got (VP of Player Personnel) Scot McCloughan back there working hard on what we need to do, so you never know.”
RE: Picking Patrick Willis
“His work ethic, his discipline and what he’s been through, I won’t talk about the specifics of his life, you can all dig into that later, but he’s had a very tough upbringing. Certainly, that kind of shapes the person you are and that’s kind of made him stronger and made him better in a lot of respects, so that’s really what we were looking for.”
RE: Describe his work ethic
“You can do what you’re asked or you can do a little bit more. You can stay out after and kind of perfect what you do. That’s the type of guy he is. If you just do what you’re asked to do, that’s just working, that’s not working hard. Guys that work hard are guys that go above and beyond.”
RE: His role as a weakside linebacker
“Sometimes he won’t be covered up, sometimes he will. In the sub-package, which I look for him to contribute to right away in, he would be covered up most of the time. We’ll be able to utilize his speed; he’ll probably be in there right next to (LB) Manny Lawson, or even (S) Michael Lewis. He’s going to be surrounded by some good players. He’s got an ability to cover a lot of ground like Manny does. We just didn’t draft an athlete that’s fast. We drafted a football player that’s fast and that’s key to know.”
RE: Questions about Willis’ past injuries
“We asked questions, but it’s no longer a concern from our medical staff’s standpoint. There are bumps and bruises when it comes to playing the game and he’s had those.”
RE: The importance of having a good linebacker
“You don’t have to, but I’ll say this, if they’re on our board, they have character and that’s the first thing. The next thing we look at is a playmaker and as a football player. Does he make plays? The next thing we look at is the physical things. I mean he’s a playmaker, but does he do them at a speed better than the others. How does he rate from that standpoint? If he goes the wrong way three steps before he goes the right way, but he’s the fastest guy, I don’t want him because he might as well be the slowest guy because he’s going the wrong way. So the speed thing is really the third element as I look at it. He’s got the first two and third he’s got too.”
RE: Comparisons to
“Just the amount of plays he makes. The way he makes them, no. They’re just built different. Ray has been criticized for not being that big of a guy. Certainly in three to four years they’re comparing him to Ray that would be a good thing.”
RE: Describe Willis’ talent level
“I would describe it as good right now. About as good as any college player coming in right now. What he doesn’t get instinctively early, he’ll make up for it with speed. As he gets better and better, he’ll put it altogether. He’s a good football player and you don’t see him going the wrong way that often.”
RE: Projecting Willis’ future star status in the league
“I would hope so. As we’ve drafted the last three years, we would hope (QB) Alex Smith is that, (TE) Vernon Davis is that, (LB) Manny Lawson is that and hopefully he’ll be that with time.”
RE: Willis making it to Pro Bowls
“I think from an expectation standpoint, I think for the first half of the first round there’s a legitimate expectation. We all know that’s not going to happen. It’s not realistic, but it’s the expectation we put on those guys.”
RE: Was Willis a need for the team
“Yeah. As I’ve said before, we have some needs still and we haven’t filled all our holes yet. As I said last year coming out of the 2006 season, if we don’t do all things to become the 2007 team, we’ll still be the 2006 team. As you all know we were 7-9, so throughout the rest of the day we are going to do what we need to do to get better.”
RE: If Darrell Jackson passes the physical, are you still looking at wide receiver in this draft?
“It will not change at all what we are looking for in this draft and wide receiver is something we’re looking at. Whether or not we sign Darrell Jackson will not change that.”
RE: Have you agreed on compensation for
“No. We haven’t agreed on anything yet because if the physical isn’t as good as we like, things might change.”
