How much influence will Addazio have on Fitch's play calling?

In addition to our QBs, Todd Fitch enters the season as a bit of a question mark. Will the new BC play caller shape the offense into his own view or will he adopt Addazio's run-first mentality? Fitch will be Addazio's third OC. Based on the play calling with Addazio's previous two OCs, I think we will remain decidedly run first.

BC 2014: 18.6 passes per game
BC 2013:  20.6 passes per game
Temple 2012:  20.1 passes per game
Temple 2011: 15.2 passes per game

For comparison, Fitch threw the ball at a fairly consistent rate in his previous FBS OC jobs.

South Florida 2012: 34.1 passes per game
South Florida 2011: 36.1 passes per game
South Florida 2010: 24.8 passes per game
East Carolina 2009: 32.2 passes per game
East Carolina 2008: 29.8 passes per game
East Carolina 2007: 30.3 passes per game

My guess is that BC will pass less than 20 times a game this year. It makes sense. We have a green QB, a talented backfield and a Head Coach who wants to run. If we do become pass-happy, you know it will be due to Fitch taking over the play calling.

No Crimmins, no big deal

Wednesday, ACC Sports reported that Dan Crimmins was no longer on the team. No reason nor confirmation came from BC, however, Crimmins is not listed on the roster. It is the offseason and I know that Crimmins accounted for 18% of our receptions last year, but I think this won't really impact the season.

Crimmins served as a nice hybrid WR/TE and was a decent blocker, but in the whole scheme of things, he was replaceable. We will remain a run first attack and the running game is where the majority of our playermakers are. Crimmins would have been a "nice to have" guy and we could have used his experience, but I think our current roster can backfill his productivity. The only real benefit of Crimmins over his potential replacements was his ability to play both positions. Now we are more likely to see pure blockers or pure WRs in what would have been his snaps.

Crimmins' absence does raise some questions. Will he return to BC next year to use his final year of eligibility? Will Addazio find a 5th year over the summer? I think both are unlikely. I don't know if Crimmins would want to come back and I don't know if BC has any recent grads in their pipeline.

Good luck to Crimmins wherever he finishes his career.

Maybe we should keep the current offense

Some of football's most revolutionary offenses were happy accidents. Bill Walsh's West Coast system came out necessity when his big armed QB went down and he needed to adapt for a weaker but more accurate Ken Anderson. Rich Rodriquez's read option spread came about after a QB and Running back screwed up an exchange in practice while he was coaching at Glenville State. I don't think Addazio planned to create a new offense when he came to BC, but maybe our circumstances and the early results are reason to keep doing what he's doing.

Addazio's ideal offense
Addazio has been pretty forthright that BC is not currently running the offense he would want. His ideal is something similar to what he had at Florida with some Chip Kelly influences. It would be a run-first, uptempo spread with a mobile QB.

What is running this season
When Addazio took over he realized forcing his desired scheme on a roster that wasn't recruited for it would cause some unnecessary pain. So instead he and Ryan Day took elements of their offense and molded it a bit with BC's current roster and added some power running, jumbo packages that Stanford put in under Jim Harbaugh. While BC is not lighting up the scoreboard, there is certainly more efficiency than we ever saw under Spaz. It is working well enough considering it was only designed as a transitional offense.

The future
Next season BC will have a more mobile QB, hopefully a few more playmakers and an improving offensive line. We should start looking like Florida did when Addazio ran their offense. It will be our own but many of the concepts will be like fellow ACC spread teams FSU, Clemson, UNC, Louisville, and Wake Forest. Those shared concepts with half the conference are my concern. BC won't be unique in the future making it easier to prepare and easier to gameplan against.

The case for keeping the hybrid
In any sport there is an advantage to being different. Think of the problems caused by Triple Option teams like Georgia Tech. Their opponents are not used to playing them and that can make up for talent differences or other weaknesses. I bet Georgia Tech's unique scheme gives them at least one extra win a seasons. This year BC's differences are creating some of the same problems. When we go into our big packages and/or unbalanced line, teams have to decide how to defend it. It creates mismatches. And even once teams have seen it, we've started adding wrinkles (play action, straight drop backs, late releasing players). If BC were to keep playing this style there are many more wrinkles to add that would keep our opponents guessing. Having a dual threat QB will also create new opportunities in this offense. Think of how effective naked bootlegs will be with a QB who can run if needed.

But being unconventional isn't the only reason to keep an offense. I think we can recruit to it. BC has always been able to find, recruit and develop big offensive lineman. Our trackrecord with Tight Ends is underrated, but I think we've done better with Tight Ends/H-backs/Fullbacks than we've done with elite WR recruits. I would also argue that our history of recruiting and finding running backs is good. The one area on offense where we haven't brought in a lot of elite talent nor sent any to the NFL is Wide Receiver. These playmakers  -- who may be a bit undersized but have plenty of speed -- are the key to Addazio's ideal offense. Speed is also a big deal at Oregon. I am not trying to say we can never do something or perpetuate regional or racial biases but where do you think BC can recruit elite players: Tight Ends or WRs?

I also like mixing the Stanford Offense with the Spread because it doesn't make BC one dimensional. If recruited well and practiced well, we should be able to grind it out or get into pass-happy shootouts.

The Future
The offense hasn't been revolutionary enough for any to take notice or probably even get people in the Yawkey Football Offices thinking differently. Maybe next year if we struggle, Day or Addazio might say, "let's break out some of that power stuff we used last year" or "I think our unbalanced line would work against this team." I hope our finish to this year is strong enough that they realize what they have. Who cares if it is new or a mix as long as we can make it work?

Where are our other WR options?

Addazio is thinking of using David Dudeck at Wide Receiver in an effort to establish a viable No. 2 at the position. I don't love the idea of moving our only healthy running back, but Dudeck has proven very adaptable throughout his short career. The bigger question is why aren't any of the other guys ready to step up?

The void is caused in part by Bobby Swigert's medical redshirt. We also lost Johnethan Coleman to graduation. But there are still other guys on the roster who should be ready now. Addazio also referenced Crimmins when talking about the need. He dropped a catchable ball Saturday but other wise looked ok. Rettig needs to target him a bit more. Spiffy Evans has good open field skills (as he's shown on returns) but needs to work on his hands. Harrison Jackson supposedly has great hands but wasn't on the field as much last week. Barksdale is a probable redshirt. Zougrana? Grant? Who knows why they are not getting on the field.

A Tight End could also be a viable second option. There were plenty on the field on Saturday. Yet none were targeted.

Part of this is on Rettig. He needs to give other guys a chance. Part of it is on the coaching too. They've had months to develop a reliable No. 2. Design plays for other guys. Use the Tight End by design. The plays to Wolford worked well. He was a nice surprise, but you cannot tell me that there aren't other players who could also excel if given the chance.

We are lacking depth. That's clear. But Addazio and his staff need to do their best to make something out of nothing. Dudeck might be the answer. I just hope someone else steps up. 

Can Martin make Chase Rettig better?

I don't blame Chase Rettig for our offensive problems. Behind a better offensive line or with consistency from his offensive coordinator, the results could be very different for him. I predict that Rettig will make significant progress this year under Doug Martin. But how much progress should we expect? To get a better understanding I tried to measure that last two times Martin took over an offense as an offensive coordinator/play caller. The most recent example was last season at New Mexico State. Prior to that, Martin's last Year 1 rebuilding job was as offensive coordinator under Dean Pees at Kent State in 2003. I didn't get into Martin's years at ECU because Steve Logan was calling the plays and I didn't consider Martin's time as Head Coach at Kent State as he was recruiting to his own system, not trying to make an inherited player better.

New Mexico State 2011 After seven seasons as Head Coach in Kent State, Martin did not waste any time getting back into football. He took the OC job at New Mexico State last year with the hope of sparking their offense. He inherited Matt Christian as quarterback. A Senior, Christian started as a JR after transferring from Junior College. As a JUCO Christian completed 58% of his passes. In his Junior year at NMSU, he completed just 49.6% of his passes and threw 7 TDs and 6 INTs. Under Martin, Christian showed solid improvement. His accuracy improved to 52.3% and he also improved his TD/INT ratio to 15/8. That seems pretty mundane, but when you consider a 5.44% improvement in accuracy and a 114% improvement in TDs, that sort of spike could help Rettig.

Kent State 2003 Josh Cribbs was a phenom before Doug Martin got to Kent State. But entering his JR year (2003) Cribbs needed to bounce back from a sophomore slump (48.9% completion percentage, 4 TD/14 INT). Under Martin's tutelage Cribbs improved his efficiency and productivity even though his completion percentage remained flat. He completed 48.9% in 2003 but improved his yardage by 1410 yards and his TD/INT ration to 14/9. But even though it wasn't in Martin's first year, Cribbs also showed that an inaccurate passer can improve dramatically as he completed 64.5% of his passes as a senior.

Regardless of the coaching Rettig should get better next year. Most of our playmakers returns and the offensive line can't get much worse. Martin might not be a miracle worker, but there's nothing to suggest he's going to screw Rettig up. At this point all we are asking for his some excitement and a little hope.

Doug Martin talking offense

This may be the era of constant video and wonke football talk, but there isn't much out there on Doug Martin. I did come across this video which will give you some insight into what he wants to install. Martin is talking about New Mexico State but the applications to BC are numerous. He was only at NM State one year and was just installing his offense when he gave this interview. What stood out to me was that he described the scheme as West Coast and has an emphasis on short passes to set up the long passes and runs.

Season in Review Part I: Biggest Dissappointments

This has always been one of the tougher pieces to write because you hate picking on the players. So in this case, I will factor in some other facets of the program. Here are the Biggest Disappointments of the 2010 season.

1. Game Management. I know I am considered a Spaz hater and major critic, but I think even his biggest supporters would admit the Spaz's in game management and use of timeouts is troubling. We had multiple games where we had timeouts and clock before the half and elected to burn time. We wasted way too much time on some possessions only to settle for a field goal (Clemson). We failed to use time outs in close game (Duke) to preserve time in case the opponent scored and we needed to answer. It was just mind numbing. Don't get me started on ever going for it or using a surprise play on special teams. That sort of thinking doesn't fall into the "we know what we are" mindset. I am sure Spaz can rationalize his management. If you think your team is limited, you want to do whatever you can to protect them. I would argue that a limited team that has trouble scoring needs to maximize their chances. Settling for a field goal or taking a knee wastes valuable scoring opportunities. No one really presses Spaz to explain his game management so I don't expect things to change in 2011. I hope that with a maturing team and a maturing QB he can use every opportunity we have.

2. Offensive Line U. We never looked like a unit that had four returning starters. We never looked like a unit that had two NFL draft picks. Part of the problem arose from training camp when we shuffled players around. Part of the problem was inconsistency from certain players. When the scheduled softened up and we moved Richman back to guard and Spinney to Center, things finally clicked. I even think we looked better with Cleary at RT. But then many of the same old problems arose against Nevada. BC had problems with speed and assignments. I will acknowledge that our one dimensional offense didn't help the OLine. Since the opposing Defenses didn't respect our ability to pass, our Line was often left to block seven or eight unrushing guys. But that doesn't excuse the general inconsistency. We have talent. We have a tradition. Was it the scheme? Was it the coaching? We'll find out in 2011.

3. The passing offense. I was going to complain about our failure to use the Tight Ends in the passing game, but what's the point? How can you gripe about one position, when you only had 180 completions on the entire season? We were only good for 13 completions a game. This is in 2010 when all the rules enable passing. This is in an era when teams play uptempo and the very pace of play enables extra snaps that should naturally feature a pass attempt or two. We were so flawed at one of the basic offensive concepts that we only completed 180 passes in a 13 game season. If you want to look on the bright side, it was a three completion improvement over 2009! Some will say our passing numbers with Crane/Davis were also bad. But 2008's offense was better and Crane and Davis also produced positive rushing yards. At the end of the day, we were terrible at throwing the ball in two years under Tranq. We used five different starters at QB and never developed even a few fundamental plays. Thankfully it should get better next year.