Reports are that Kyle McDonald, the running backs coach at Eastern Washington, is also coming to Utah. Hasn't been confirmed by the university yet. Riley says the report is credible, however.
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"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I guess what I am saying is RB has been a central part of our offense for a lot of years now, and if my understanding of Taylor's offense is correct it isn't big of developing RBs. I could be wrong about that, but the run game component seems to be key to success in the PAC12.
Official release from the university concerning McDonald.
http://www.utahutes.com/news/2017/1/...cks-coach.aspx
The 33-year-old McDonald has playing and coaching ties to recently retired Ute assistant head coach and running backs coach Dennis Erickson. McDonald played for Erickson at Idaho in 2006 and later served as a graduate assistant offensive quality control coach for Erickson at Arizona State in 2011.The Eagles averaged just 79.0 rushing yards per game the year prior to McDonald's hiring—a figure he increased to 183.7 yards per game in just his second season. Even with the leading passer in the FCS last season, the 2016 Eagles averaged 128.6 rushing yards per game.
Jake Murphy was interviewed yesterday on ESPN700. He shares lots of insights and memories about the Utah offense's multiple personality disorder during his time with the program. He admits that only now does he feel free to speak his mind:
https://espn700sports.com/interviews...tah-tight-end/
As students of my posts know, I used to hope that at some point, during a sleepless night, Kyle would sit up in bed at 3:00 AM, exclaiming, "I've got to make a big change in my approach to the offense, and make it stick!" With Troy Taylor, it looks like Kyle has now done a full 180. I hope that is not an overreaction, I hope it works, and if it does I hope he sticks with it.
I'll now sit by and wait for SU to attack my heretical attitude.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
It's exciting, but it also makes me nervous. We've been more successful than the recruiting rankings would predict over the past few seasons. Part of that is playing the style of offense that makes sense with our personnel.
One position that we haven't had to worry about is RB. We've had a great run of impressive backs. That's one thing we don't want to jeopardize. And, of course, we don't want to jeopardize the defense. Offense, defense, and special teams don't live in vacuums. We wouldn't trade places with Cal, for example, even though they score more points than we do.
That sounds too pessimistic for how I feel. I think Kyle is smart and experienced and will not allow Taylor to do anything harmful. This could end up being an amazing hire.
As we all know, the key to an uptempo offense is staying on the field and sustaining drives. If you do that, you tire out the opposing defense. If you don't, you tire out your defense, as we did against WSU under Dave Christensen. Do we have the scheme and personnel to sustain drives this time around? i sure hope so. There are many offenses in the Pac 12 capable of scoring 30-40 points consistently that we ought to be able to do it too, but my biggest concern is having the receivers to sustain it.
As far as WR's go, Singleton is a legit PAC-12 upper level WR. Wilson has looked just as good if not better this spring. Simpkin is solid at worst. Guy Holliday said that Young has been the second best WR this spring...which if true means that Singleton or Wilson is worse (p.s. I don't buy it, I think Holliday is trying to motivate Young).
We have talent, and as bad as our passing game has been, we've always had talent at the WR position. We've always had at least one NFL receiver on the team. I'd bet we still have at least one on the team right now. Maybe two or three.
So, they are unproven, but there is talent and potential there.
Does any one know of there's a chance that Johnnie Lang shows up on campus this summer? Any chance he's already there? He seemed like a great athlete who did well with his second chance. I'd like to see him succeed anywhere.
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What UTEopia said. Lang is a weird thing. Last fall, people were saying he was on the same level as Stovall. Now? It seems like Utah isn't very warm and he's taking visits elsewhere.
I have listened to and read a number of Taylor interviews this spring. I like his demeanor. He seems like a likable guy who knows what he wants to do and has a process for getting there. I am hopeful that Whit will allow him to run his system the way he wants to run it after the first game where the offense turns it over 3 or 4 times and puts the defense in bad situations. If he does, there may be a few growing pains (losses) along the way, but it will be the first step in establishing an offensive identity. I believe that the QB play will be better regardless of who the starter is and that the receiver group will also be better. If Moss and Shyne can get and stay healthy, RB play should be steady. The big question and one that will impact every other position group is how the OL progresses. Everyone else can be better but if the OL play is weak, everyone else will get exposed.
This past season, Utah averaged 216.7 passing yards per game, and it only scored 15 touchdowns all season long, whereas opponents had 23 touchdowns in pass-play. Those numbers are something that must change for the Utes, and Taylor brings something that may influence his athletes’ performance — positivity. He builds the players up, and he helps their confidence level grow. Yes, it’s college football, and these guys are expected to play like elite athletes, but at the end of the day, they still need that voice cheering them on.
http://dailyutahchronicle.com/2017/0...thanks-taylor/
"It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view." -- Oscar Levant
The Utes averaged 29.85 points per game and the opposition 23.92.Utah scored 26 touchdowns rushing and 15 passing. The opposition scored 23 passing and 13 passing. Including defensive touchdowns, the Utes totaled 46 touchdowns to opponents 39. Utah was 21 of 25 on FG and the opposition was 14 of 19.
See:http://www.utahutes.com/cumestats.as...ball&year=2016
Story I heard about Taylor awhile ago:
During a practice, he felt like a CB was crossing the line vs a WR. To the point where he was out there hollering at the CB constantly. It got bad enough that Whitt yelled at Taylor to "coach your own players".
I then heard that the rest of the practice, Taylor went after that CB. Play after play, he attacked that kid and tried to show that the offense was just better.
I am hopeful he is bringing a little something extra to this offense. Something we haven't seen yet.