Michael Clay

Q. What does San Francisco do well on special teams? (John McMullen)

Michael Clay: Yeah. [San Francisco 49ers Special Teams Coordinator] Brant’s [Boyer] doing an amazing job, obviously coming from the Jets. He did a great job out there. Then coming into San Francisco, him and San Francisco 49ers Special Teams Assistant] Colt [Anderson], they do a great job of being physical. You see [San Francisco 49ers LB] Luke Gifford, the Pro Bowl nod from the NFC out there. They have two really good kickoff return guys in [San Francisco 49ers RB] Brian Robinson, obviously when he played for Washington. Now he’s got that role in San Francisco. Then [San Francisco 49ers WR] Skyy Moore, that end of the preseason trade. Skyy Moore has done a really good job, especially in the palm return phase of creating some big explosive plays. I think he had a 66-yard return against Cleveland. Got a lot of good wiggle, gets north and south, great speed. Then [San Francisco 49ers DB] Siran Neil, I’ve kind of just watched his game over probably the last six, seven years when he was in Buffalo. Been in Miami last year, does a really good job on the outside, so I think Brant does a heck of a job getting those guys playing hard. Even with those injuries, some depletion from the linebacker room, DB room, they still play extremely hard and they’re very physical.

Q. When it comes to a punt returner, how much does trustworthiness factor into what you think makes a good one? (Dave Zangaro)

Michael Clay: A lot of trust — not just in a punt return phase, the entirety of the roster. You have to have that trust value. For us personally, I think [WR Britain] Covey, you have that trust value. He has that rapport with both [CB] Kelee [Ringo] and [S] Sydney [Brown] over the last couple of years to make the right decision going forward and he’s done a really good job since being elevated from the practice squad to the active roster and getting those chunk yards that we’re so accustomed of him doing, and we’re going to try and keep adding at that and use it as a possible weapon for us going into this playoff.

Q. It seems like WR Britain Covey’s a real student of punters. How much does that help him? Just kind of understanding what punters do well? (Reuben Frank)

Michael Clay: Yeah, it gets you in the right spot, first when the ball comes off their foot, tendencies. [Special Teams Assistant] Tyler [Brown] does a great job with the write-ups and the hit charts to allow these guys to get just the extra feel for where they’re trying to go, tendencies throughout the year with what punters and also having the home games, you kind of understand where that wind’s coming from, [we’re] looking forward to that. So having a guy that’s so studious and does so much tape prep obviously is going to help out.

Q. How did your time with San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan affect you as a coach and what’s distinctive about him as a coach? (Zach Berman)

Michael Clay: Yeah, very fortunate that I was able to be under Kyle. He was able to hold me over, going through that change with [Former NFL Head Coach] Chip [Kelly] and I believe it was ’16-’17 going into that year. Then being able to work with him, [I have] just a lot of gratitude for him just to keep me on with [Chicago Bears Special Teams Coordinator Richard] Hightower. What Kyle does a great job [at] is he knows what’s going on, especially on offense, all-11. I think in his mind he thinks every play should score and he knows everything that’s going on with that, but you just kind of respect the way that he’s able to see the whole field and see what everyone’s doing and you try to implement that yourself from being a young coach to understand what the whole big picture is, not just have blinders on. So like I said, a lot of respect for Kyle, a lot of respect for [San Francisco 49ers Defensive Coordinator Robert] Saleh out there should be a good one come Sunday night.

Q. The 49ers have a good return game. What are the challenges of matching them? Do they do anything particular? (Jeff McLane)

Michael Clay: Yeah, they throw a couple wrinkles in there, try to get your eyes going the wrong way, or you think you’re the free runner, the trap block coming throughout the way. So we have to be real disciplined in just understanding formations. It’s always the old adage, if you’re running down the field by yourself, it’s probably not a reason you’re running down by yourself on block. Somebody’s going to come with the trap block. Then they have two good returners from the kickoff return standpoint, Brian Robinson [going] north and south, he’s going to fall forward, he is going to push the pile. Then [San Francisco 49ers WR] Skyy Moore, he has the speed, he has the quickness to make people miss. So we got our work cut out. I think our kickoff cover has done a really good job throughout the entirety of the year. So we got a work cut out then punt over the last probably since the bye week, we’ve done a good job. Kelee, Sidney, the interior of kind of corralling those punt returners. When they come in tomorrow, there’s an emphasis on our coverage phase to hold these guys from getting loose.

Q. K Jake Elliott has made his last three kicks. Do you feel like he’s corrected his issues from two weeks ago against Washington and it’s heading in the right direction as the playoffs come? (Cayden Steele)

Michael Clay: Yeah, I don’t know if correcting his issues is the right term. You saw [on] Sunday night, you saw [on] Sunday afternoon against us. It’s hard to kick in the NFL, especially here in the northeast. I mean you could see [Washington Commanders K] Jake Moody, doinked one off from, well the 8-yard line, something like that. But having Jake [Elliott], a nine-year veteran has plenty of huge kicks in this stadium, around the NFL. You’re always going to feel confident when he is on your team and he still exudes that confidence every day. He walks into this building, doesn’t change anything from himself. He’s going to go out there and put his best foot forward to help this team and it’s not just those field goals, those extra points. It’s also in his kickoffs this year have allowed us to be a pretty good kickoff coverage unit. So Jake’s going to keep doing what he does.

Q. Following up on that, how much does playoff experience matter when it comes to your confidence level be at end with K Jake Elliott? (Johnny McGonigal)

Michael Clay: When [you have] a guy that’s won multiple Super Bowls, played in multiple playoff games, obviously you’re going to feel confident in that, but it’s not just him, it is the rest of the 53-man roster, plus the practice squad players that do get the elevation to have that confidence going into the playoff format. You could have the greatest regular season performance from a special teams you could have. [If] you have one blender in the playoffs you’re cleaning out your locker on Monday. Everyone’s got a clean slate. You have to have the right mindset that we have an opportunity to play in a home field advantage. We got to protect that and put our best foot forward to help out this team any way we can from a field position wise on special teams.

Q. What’s it do for a special teams player when like LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. gets to go in and play a game the way he did, does it help his confidence as well on special teams? (Cayden Steele)

Michael Clay: Yeah, that’s a great question. Having the opportunity for those guys to showcase on offense and defense is always great from my perspective to see. It adds a little bit to their plate in those situations from a special teams, where it’s not preseason where I could get him out right there, he still has to play, but it’s also very enlightening to see these guys play offense and defense and not want to come out on special teams. They still want to go out there and play to their best of ability. So for [LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.] Trot, I didn’t watch any of the offense-defense film, but it looks like he made a [few] huge tackles out there. I know down [by] the goal line he had that big tackle and hit his dad’s celebration. So to carry that confidence into the playoffs is great. Get their bodies right, get them rested, but ready to go against a very good team in San Francisco.

Q. What kind of season has P Braden Mann had? Not only has a punter but also in the field goal operation holding for K Jake Elliott and everything? I mean it seems like he’s done really well in all those categories. (Martin Frank)

Michael Clay: Yeah, I think you just answered that question yourself. But for myself being around Braden, I think this is our third year together, just seeing his growth, [the] different type of kicks he has helping out flipping the field in some tough conditions that we face this year, especially these windy conditions that we face this year. I could talk on and on about Braden, but I think he’s done an unbelievable job flipping the field and I still think he has one of the best hands in the NFL when it comes to a holding scenario. But again, having to deal with a couple different long snappers due to injury, nothing really changed. You always knew that that operation with Braden out there being the holder was going to be down packed. So he’s done a really, really nice job this year and we’re looking forward to this upcoming game going against a very good returner, see what he could do against him.

Q. On the first play of the playoffs last year. You guys forced the fumble. If you think back, how do you think that set the tone for the postseason? Is that something that comes up in the messaging this week? (Zach Berman)

Michael Clay: Yeah, I think just to see it from the outside looking in. You see a caused fumble on the first play of a home game. I think that’s going to set the tone for a lot of things. We’re not going to go out there and try to reach for those plays, make it organically come through our discipline and our technique, but obviously to have that kind of set the tone. I know we went on a little bit of a run of causing turnovers, both special teams and defensively. Obviously you’re never going to bat an eye at that. We’re always going to try and do that. So again, I think — You want to have that chip on your shoulder. You got to have some sort of that attitude where someone’s coming in. You have to be able to make sure you hold it down and play with a chip, play with an edge that we’re not going to back down from anyone. So again, it just starts with tomorrow in these meetings, painting the picture like this is a dangerous team. We got to be able to buckle up and be able to strike and play violent against a very good playoff team.

Q. This year we’ve seen the K-ball rule influence end of game scenarios this year. How much more mindful of that going into playoffs are you in terms of how that might affect, I don’t know, in-game scenarios and kicking off and all of that? (Brooks Kubena)

Michael Clay: Yeah, I mean you still have to make it right. Obviously the northeast is going to be different than Jacksonville, different than Florida, but these kickers are so good. We still have a line that we like to communicate where we think this guy has his possible longest kick at the end of the half, different scenarios than that. The kickoff obviously, what do they show on film? Can the guy hit those little, those squib balls, those dirty balls right there? That just goes into our game planning. But at the end of the day, it comes down to your technique and your fundamentals and who you’re going against. [San Francisco 49ers K] Eddie P’s [Piñero] had a heck of a year from a field goal standpoint, so we have our work cut out, but obviously we’ve had some success on field goal block and those guys are going to be ripping and roaring trying to affect the game any way they possibly can.

Q. When you see a guy, I don’t know if you were watching the Steelers-Ravens game, but when you see a guy miss that kick at the end of the game with so much on the line, what goes through your mind in that situation? (Reuben Frank)

Michael Clay: Yeah, from a human standpoint, you feel awful for the kid. He’s had a great year, I think he a 29-of-32 before that. They have that huge play to [Baltimore Ravens TE] Isaiah Likely and to go out there and as [Baltimore Ravens K] Tyler Loop said it, he just mishit it right there. So from a human standpoint, you feel bad from a fan standpoint, you’re like, ‘oh my gosh, did that just happen?’ But again, it just puts everything into perspective. Nothing is guaranteed. You obviously have to make sure that you have the operation down packed, go through your whole technique and everything of that nature. So from a human-fan standpoint, you feel awful for the kid. But at the end of the day, production-based business and that’s how it goes in the NFL, one team gets to go to the playoffs, one team doesn’t.

Q. You mentioned experience with K Jake Elliott kicking in big spots. What has the experience of coaching this many playoff games meant to you over the past five years? (John McMullen)

Michael Clay: Yeah, [I’m] fortunate, a lot of great coaches don’t have the opportunities to possibly play or coach in as many playoff games or coach in a possible Super Bowl. So you’re always going to be the humble, gratitude aspect that you have an opportunity to help make it to the next round from a coaching standpoint. But at the end of the day, you never want to make something bigger than it is. It’s still football. It’s still the simplistic form of fundamentals and detail of being true to your game plan and feeling confident in that from the day you input it all the way up to Sunday and just helping out these players put their best foot forward and be able to excel and when the lights are on you at 4:30 here in the Linc. So it’s one of those things where you never want to get too high or too low on a game. You want to keep it at 72-degree as possible.