BYU football: Should the Cougars keep the pro-style offense?

BYU football’s experiment under Ty Detmer is over. But with Detmer gone, should the Cougars retain the pro-style offense?

BYU football plays with a unique athlete.

Students adhere to a strict regiment of behavior that attracts and repels certain individuals. This has and always will drive the offensive strategy of the program.

When Ty Detmer became the offensive coordinator of BYU football, he planned to implement a pro-style attack. It would contain and mirror characteristics of the offenses of Wisconsin, Stanford and Michigan.

This calls for an elite quarterback that can read defenses. It utilizes big, strong linemen that can pass and run block well. It needs a solid blocking back, a good feature back, and elite tight end(s).

Detmer and BYU football felt they could recruit and commit these player-types to the program with the most success.

Receivers don’t necessarily need speed in this offense, but must run precise routes and consistently make catches. Another benefit is it would make the game shorter and keep the ball out of the hands of faster, more athletic teams.

Former offensive coordinator, Robert Anae used similar reasoning when selecting his “go-fast, go-hard” Spread approach. His offense had elements of schemes by Rich Rodrigues (Arizona) and Mike Leach (Washington State).

The logic behind his decision was that BYU has athletes with a superior work ethic. That advantage would be used to create stamina that would wear down opposing teams. The better conditioned team would beat the superiorly talented one, especially at altitude.

Anae lacked the speed that spread offenses usually possess. Instead, he used tall receivers like Mitch Mathews and Nick Kurtz and small, quick ones like Mitch Juergens and Devon Blackmon to get the job done.

Looking at the last four seasons, we can see how these offenses faired. They show the results of two seasons with a Pro-Style offense, and two with the Spread. The leading numbers are bolded.

Season averages:       2014 (Spread)    2015 (Spread)    2016 (Pro-Style)     2017 (Pro-Style)
Run yards/game –       181.8                      128.2                    201.2                           130.5
Pass yards/game-       278.8                      296.5                   197.9                            194.6
Total yards/game-       460.5                      424.8                   399.1                            325.2
Points/game-                37.1                         33.7                     29.5                               17.1
Time of poss.-               27:54                      28:47                   32:40                            27:53

When it comes to overall offensive production, there is no comparison. The spread yields more points and yards. Does that mean that the spread is obviously superior and the easy choice when selecting the next offensive scheme?

Maybe, but not necessarily.

In comparing 2014 to 2016, we take into account that Taysom Hill was the starter in both cases. Jamaal Williams was the feature back as well. But, despite more production, 2014 finished with a record of 8-5, while the 2016 team was 9-4 at the end of the season.

When examining 2015 to 2017, Tanner Mangum took the majority of the snaps. The issue here is that he missed a lot of 2017.

Even when recognizing these factors, it’s hard to argue that the spread has been successful at BYU. It’s also hard to convince fans that going away from it is the right direction for Cougar Nation.

What will Grimes do?

So, what is Jeff Grimes planning on doing with the offense?

Though the pro-style offense of LSU appears a forgone conclusion, he did coach under Gene Chizik for four seasons at Auburn. That includes the 2010 National Championship team which featured Cam Newton.

Next: New Hires Prove BYU Looking For Experience

He may lean more towards that philosophy, although it seems unlikely. We may be able to get some clues from the newly selected members of the coaching staff.

Fesi Sitake seems to be a most likely candidate for taking over the receivers group. Sitake was the offensive coordinator at Weber State the last two seasons. He ran a Pro-Style offense that featured a lot of two tight-end sets.

Aaron Roderick was named the passing game coordinator. When he ran the Utah offense, it was a little hard to put your finger on what style of offense he utilized. It held attributes of both the spread and pro-style.

Though confusing and seemingly unsuccessful, the methodology of changing scheme to fit personnel is not a bad one. Roderick’s priority is to mold an offense to his player’s strengths. His outlook and insight may be exactly what Jeff Grimes needs.

Ryan Pugh is a little inexperienced to really influence any decisions here. Although I believe he will be an incredible o-line coach, most of what he does this season will be listening to and implementing exactly what Grimes says.

Maybe the best indicator of what offense BYU football puts in next season comes from the retention of tight ends coach Steve Clark. Clark used a pro-style offense as the offensive coordinator at Weber State before joining Kalani Sitake’s staff.

It’s hard to tell what the Cougars will be running this spring and, more importantly, this coming fall. In my opinion, one thing is certain.

I wholeheartedly believe that nothing will have a bigger impact on the success of the 2018 season, than this choice. It cannot be taken lightly, and the staff cannot afford a blunder at this point.

Cougar Nation will eagerly be watching as the new offense takes shape.