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Coach Ty and the West Coast offense By Malamute, 18 December 2004 Lionel Tyrone Willingham is faced with a Herculean task at Washington. Not only must he rebuild its image with the media and raise funds by cultivating donors on Sunday through Friday, he must find a way to turn a losing team (1 and 10 in 2004) into a winner on Saturday. Saturday’s task most likely we will be addressed by rebuilding the West Coast offense, or a proximity thereof, at Washington. However, Willingham has been criticized for his X’s and O’s and the quality of the assistant coaches who surround him. Personally, I think the latter is a bunch of hooey. However, what about the West Coast offense at Washington? Because it has become tougher to run the ball in the Pac-10, the WCO, with its concept of stretching the field horizontally as well as vertically, has become de rigueur among offensive coordinators. It’s easy to see why, for it’s a worrisome task they have. There are those eight defensive men in the box, all of whom feed on running backs and quarterbacks. The defensive linemen are huge, and speed is the hallmark of REBS, SAMS, MIKES and WILLS. To make matters worse for an offensive coordinator, there are those cornerback and zone blitzes to zap his sleep at night. Because of the 85-scholarship limitation, most teams in the Pac-10 don’t have the dominating offensive line, outstanding running back, and dominating defense to make an offense designed around the running game excel. Furthermore, the traditional passing game, which stretches the field vertically, can cause turnovers, lose the time of possession battle (because of three and outs), and lose the field position battle (because of sacks and holding penalties). The less risky way to face this defensive nightmare embraces the concepts of the West Coast Offense or a variation, thereof, as practiced at Boise State, say. The WCO, which has been thoroughly homogenized over the years, is a generic term for a quick, short-passing game. Achieving Walsh’s “numbers” is one way to measure its strict implementation, along with other of its tenets. [Reference: Washington and the WCO]. Cody Pickett ran the WCO at the UW in 2002 about as well as could be expected for a college QB. That’s why he went to the pros and the San Francisco 49ers, where, incidentally, Bill Walsh refined the WCO. Former coach UW Keith Gilbertson eschewed the WCO last season because he didn’t have the necessary receivers and quarterback. Because Willingham doesn't have the personnel to establish a power running game at Washington, he has little choice but to run a variation of the WCO this next season; whereas, at Notre Dame, in hind sight, he should have stayed with the option in light of the unreasonable expectations of its fans and administrators. Fortunately for Ty Willingham, expectations are more realistic at Washington than they are at Notre Dame, and they should be considering the new direction in college football. In this vein, Willingham should hope that AD Todd Turner bears the realism of UCLA's AD Dan Guerrero. Guerrero has added a two-year extension to Karl Dorrell's contract, which now runs through 2010. Dorrell, who reportedly makes $600 thousand per annum, is 12-12 in his first two years at UCLA. Although 39 of 44 front-line players return, Willingham is faced with fielding an offensive line that struggled at times last season, especially after senior OT Khalif Barnes was lost to injury. He’s inheriting an offense that ranked last in the Division I-A in both scoring and turnovers. Its pass efficiency -- a horrifying 78.7 -- ranked last in the Pac-10. RB Shelton Sampson, two quarterbacks (Carl Bonnell and Isaiah Stanback), and WR Craig Chambers are the potential playmakers on offense. Since Bonnell is a natural for the WCO, Willingham might want to move Stanback to wide receiver or slot back if he is beaten out in the west-coast derby. Stanback, an obvious playmaker, needs to be on the field on almost every down. Throwing a bit more to RB Kenny James is a must. James isn’t a burner but he’s a solid running back with good hands. It is important this next summer for the three UW quarterbacks to be practicing a three-step drop and throwing on timing and rhythm to their best receivers; they need to tie their feet to their receivers' routes in tune to the cadence of the West Coast offense. During his tenure, Rick Neuheisel brought in a number of skilled players who are scattered about in his 2001-2003 classes -- and it's time for them to step to the fore. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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