re: Official Alabama assistant coaching search thread: staff complete Edition

quote:

---

Last week, I wrote overall reviews of each Big Ten team’s offensive and defensive styles. Within the offensive preview, I listed Maryland offensive coordinator Mike Locksley’s offense as “Multiple”. Obviously this is a very vague categorization, so I wanted to expand on exactly what makes his offense “multiple” and also look at some of the key characteristics of his offense. (Discuss this article on the BSL Message Board here.) What is “Multiple”? First things first, let’s get the categorization of “multiple” out of the way. The reason why I classified Mike Locksley’s offense as “multiple” is because there is no clear category into which his offense falls. It is not solely a pro-style offense, though his passing game has many elements of a pro-style scheme. Pro-style offenses always feature a downhill running game from under center, and C.J. Brown only went under center in short-yardage or goal-line situations last season. It is not solely a spread offense, though the running game has many elements of a spread-option scheme. Mike Locksley’s offense combines elements of pro-style and spread attacks, and he also steals elements from Chris Ault’s famous pistol offense. Locksley coached a spread offense at Illinois when he was the offensive coordinator there from 2005-2008. The quarterback was almost always in the shotgun formation, and often had 4-5 wide receivers split out. When he went to New Mexico, he ran more of a pro-style scheme. Personnel has always dictated what offense Locksley runs, and the Terps are more well-suited for a “multiple” scheme. When C.J. Brown tore his ACL before the 2012 season began, Maryland was forced to turn to true freshman Perry Hills at quarterback. Not only was Hills inexperienced, but he had a completely different skill-set from Brown. Hills was more of a pocket passer, while Brown was a dual-threat. Locksley’s offense went from a spread-option attack to a pro-style attack in a matter of days. Hills lined up under center a lot more, and the read-option was a much smaller part of the offense. When C.J. Brown returned in 2013, Maryland fans saw a completely different offense. It was more explosive because the entire playbook was opened up for Brown. He’d had the entire off-season to learn his offense, and was able to run it very well. While Mike Locksley doesn’t need a superstar at the quarterback position for his offense to succeed, he needs someone who can make the right reads quickly and efficiently. C.J. Brown did that very well for him last season.

---