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We have been having a lot of discussions about "offensive scheme" and Mario's "offensive philosophy" during this period of what can only be described as among the worst UM offenses since the Civil Rights Act. How Mario is stubborn about the offensive philosophy and scheme. How it's archaic and needs to change. How Mario's philosophy is to basically play caveman football. And it got me thinking, what is Mario's actual offensive philosophy or preferred scheme, and is there a difference between Mario's vision for a team identity and his offensive philosophy/scheme?
He's never been a play-calling OC, and I don't think he's ever called the plays as the HC. So I wanted to get a better sense of what his teams ran. At FIU, his teams mostly ran spread offenses that were multiple and occasionally utilized tempo (and sometimes used a lot of no huddle to really pick up the tempo). He started off in 2007 with James Coley (traditionally a more pro-style w/ tempo and no huddle OC), but they basically ran a power spread offense that relied heavily on running the football. After Coley bolted, Bill Legg took over and they maintained a spread offense, but it was opened up with a bunch of different formations and motion with the emergence of TY Hilton. Scott Satterfield (a power spread guy) took it over a couple years later. And Tim Cramsey (currently the OC at Memphis after a few years at Marshall) took over in Mario's last year.
He ran the ball 35.8 times per game versus 28.9 passing attempts per game in that dreadful 2007 season. The next year was a bit more balanced with 34.8 rushes per game and 29.4 passes per play. But then in 2009 with TY Hilton, they flipped the script averaging 35.3 runs per game and 36.1 passes per game. Paul McCall graduates and Wes Carroll takes over at QB w/ Satterfield at OC and its run-heavy again at 40.2 rush attempts per game and 29.5 pass attempts. In 2011, it's a bit more balanced at 36.7 rushing attempts and 30.0 passing attempts per game. And in that disappointing 2012 season FIU averaged 40.8 rushes per game and 30.8 pass attempts per game.
He took over officially as HC at UO in 2018. He kept his former co-offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo around for a couple of season and they initially ran a spread out of the pistol, which they opened up with more RPO concepts by 2019. Arroyo bolts to take a HC job at UNLV (and Herbert turns pro), and Joe Moorhead gets the OC role for the next two years. Moorhead's offense at UO didn't use much tempo at all and was by most accounts a conservative, grind it out offense. In his first season, Oregon averaged 40.5 rushing attempts and 32.1 passes per game. In 2019, they ran 36.1 times per game to 31.8 pass attempts. In 2020, Oregon averaged 33.9 rushing attempts and 27.3 passes per game. And finally in 2021, Oregon averaged 38.6 rushing attempts and 28.5 passes per game in 2021.
What's this tell us? IMO, it seems like Mario's teams have mostly run some variation of the spread offense, usually with power concepts, but it has varied in how multiple it is and to what degree it uses tempo. Interestingly, he's never had the same OC for more than 2 seasons in his career. Overall, there seems to be some flexibility there, though it's a lot of variations on a similar theme (would be interested in thoughts from some of the more hardcore Xs and Os guys on this point).
His offensive/team identity appears much clearer to me: he wants to be a tough, physical football team that is dominant in the trenches and can push the other team around. Over his time as a HC, Mario definitely relied on the run more than the pass, and he's made it clear time and again that physicality is critical to him. I don't think that's going to suddenly change at UM and anyone who thought otherwise was probably fooling themselves. Though, in a broader sense, I don't think Mario is married to any specific offensive scheme so long as it provides the team ample opportunity to be physical up front, run the football effectively, and beat up the opposing side of the ball. Maybe Mario's offensive requirements are ultimately too restrictive in this modern era of college football. But I am hopeful there is enough room between the team identity Mario wants and the offensive schemes he's willing to utilize that the next OC will be able to implement some different offensive concepts (i.e., better route concepts, more spacing, and RPO) to put our players in a better position to succeed, while still building and maintaining the level of physicality Mario demands. Time will ultimately tell.
He's never been a play-calling OC, and I don't think he's ever called the plays as the HC. So I wanted to get a better sense of what his teams ran. At FIU, his teams mostly ran spread offenses that were multiple and occasionally utilized tempo (and sometimes used a lot of no huddle to really pick up the tempo). He started off in 2007 with James Coley (traditionally a more pro-style w/ tempo and no huddle OC), but they basically ran a power spread offense that relied heavily on running the football. After Coley bolted, Bill Legg took over and they maintained a spread offense, but it was opened up with a bunch of different formations and motion with the emergence of TY Hilton. Scott Satterfield (a power spread guy) took it over a couple years later. And Tim Cramsey (currently the OC at Memphis after a few years at Marshall) took over in Mario's last year.
He ran the ball 35.8 times per game versus 28.9 passing attempts per game in that dreadful 2007 season. The next year was a bit more balanced with 34.8 rushes per game and 29.4 passes per play. But then in 2009 with TY Hilton, they flipped the script averaging 35.3 runs per game and 36.1 passes per game. Paul McCall graduates and Wes Carroll takes over at QB w/ Satterfield at OC and its run-heavy again at 40.2 rush attempts per game and 29.5 pass attempts. In 2011, it's a bit more balanced at 36.7 rushing attempts and 30.0 passing attempts per game. And in that disappointing 2012 season FIU averaged 40.8 rushes per game and 30.8 pass attempts per game.
He took over officially as HC at UO in 2018. He kept his former co-offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo around for a couple of season and they initially ran a spread out of the pistol, which they opened up with more RPO concepts by 2019. Arroyo bolts to take a HC job at UNLV (and Herbert turns pro), and Joe Moorhead gets the OC role for the next two years. Moorhead's offense at UO didn't use much tempo at all and was by most accounts a conservative, grind it out offense. In his first season, Oregon averaged 40.5 rushing attempts and 32.1 passes per game. In 2019, they ran 36.1 times per game to 31.8 pass attempts. In 2020, Oregon averaged 33.9 rushing attempts and 27.3 passes per game. And finally in 2021, Oregon averaged 38.6 rushing attempts and 28.5 passes per game in 2021.
What's this tell us? IMO, it seems like Mario's teams have mostly run some variation of the spread offense, usually with power concepts, but it has varied in how multiple it is and to what degree it uses tempo. Interestingly, he's never had the same OC for more than 2 seasons in his career. Overall, there seems to be some flexibility there, though it's a lot of variations on a similar theme (would be interested in thoughts from some of the more hardcore Xs and Os guys on this point).
His offensive/team identity appears much clearer to me: he wants to be a tough, physical football team that is dominant in the trenches and can push the other team around. Over his time as a HC, Mario definitely relied on the run more than the pass, and he's made it clear time and again that physicality is critical to him. I don't think that's going to suddenly change at UM and anyone who thought otherwise was probably fooling themselves. Though, in a broader sense, I don't think Mario is married to any specific offensive scheme so long as it provides the team ample opportunity to be physical up front, run the football effectively, and beat up the opposing side of the ball. Maybe Mario's offensive requirements are ultimately too restrictive in this modern era of college football. But I am hopeful there is enough room between the team identity Mario wants and the offensive schemes he's willing to utilize that the next OC will be able to implement some different offensive concepts (i.e., better route concepts, more spacing, and RPO) to put our players in a better position to succeed, while still building and maintaining the level of physicality Mario demands. Time will ultimately tell.
