Trey Sermon and Wayne Gallman are each entering their first season with the San Francisco 49ers. Sermon, of course, is a rookie. The team made him a third-round draft pick out of Ohio State. Gallman has been in the league since 2017 but spent his first four seasons with the New York Giants.
This year is both players' first exposure to veteran running backs coach Bobby Turner, a legend at his profession.
Sermon spoke with reporters on Friday and was asked what it's been like working with Turner, who has a great rapport with his running backs but also demands a lot from them.
"It's great. Coach Bobby T., he's a great dude," Sermon said. "He coaches us hard, and he expects a lot out of us. That's all you can ask for in a coach, just to continue to push you. That's just the coach of the running back room. He expects greatness out of every single person in that room. Just being on the field with him, being coached hard, I just love it."
San Francisco's running backs aren't just asked to carry the football. Like many other positions on the team, there is a demand for them to do much more. They are a crucial part of pass protection and could even find themselves on the receiving end of a few throws from the quarterback too.
Is that different from what Gallman has experienced in his first four NFL seasons?
"Yes, because there's some times where we're just focused on what we have as backs," Gallman said of his time with the Giants. "But here, you have to know the whole concept of pretty much every position. So, it leads us to have more opportunities to do more things in the offense."
That means 49ers running backs must know every detail of every play in the playbook. It doesn't matter if it's a run play or a pass play. Sermon was asked about some of the things he has taken away from Turner in the process of learning the complex NFL offense.
"Just continue to focus on the little details," Sermon responded. "He has a saying: Just hear what I say, hear what I don't say. Again, it just goes to focusing on the little things with each and every play. That way, you're able to be in sync with the entire offense."
Gallman agrees and appreciates Turner's attention to detail.
"He is a great coach in a sense that he just wants you to know the full concept of football," Gallman said. "We're just football players (and not just running backs). It's not about talent. It's not about how tall or how fast you are. It's really, how well do you know the offense? How well can you perform in situations where you've got to react quick and fast.
"He's really more focused on those points and just having us as football players and getting us better each day."