BYU football: Cougars have moved on from Ty Detmer as OC
BYU football isn’t wasting time making moves this offseason. Just 36 hours or so after defeating Hawaii in the season finale, the Cougars have relieved Ty Detmer of his offensive coordinator duties.
BYU football is making a statement.
Patience is necessary, but horrendous results won’t be tolerated.
That was the message that came through Monday morning, as BYU football announced that Detmer was relieved of his OC role.
Detmer – and the rest of the offensive coaches – currently remain under contract, but the press release issued by BYU notes that the new offensive coordinator will make the final call on who stays and who leaves. So there may be a chance that Detmer remains on the staff as the QB coach.
Under Detmer, BYU football was horribly stagnant offensively. In his first season – with a roster that featured Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams – the Cougars averaged nearly 29 points per game. However, that includes outlier performances against Toledo and UMass.
So even with two of the best players in BYU football history, the Cougars struggled to get four scores per game.
This season, things got way worse. BYU averaged just 16.8 points per game. A number so poor the Cougars ranked 123rd in the nation in points per game.
They were held to 13 points or fewer a whopping seven times. Even the lowly UMass Minutemen stymied the Cougars inside LaVell Edwards Stadium.
A change simply had to be made. But BYU football is a different beast, and there was no guarantee.
Overall, it’s hard to fire a legend. It’s hard to be humble enough to admit you screwed up in hiring him. So Kalani Sitake deserves praise for making a difficult move. After all, that’s what head coaches are required to do – make the tough decisions.
To be frank, I expect plenty of turnover on the offensive side. In my opinion, Steve Clark (tight ends coach) and Mike Empey (offensive line coach) are the only two that have done well enough to stay safe. Ben Cahoon and Reno Mahe might be on their way out.
Now the search begins for a new offensive coordinator.