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Texas WR/TE Passing Offense Talk


LTtxfan

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  On 5/11/2022 at 12:35 AM, LTtxfan said:

Found this post on another site...

Gabe Sulser - transfer WR from Montana and will be at Texas as a PWO.

• Montana Gatorade Player of the Year coming out of high school.

• He finishes his Griz career with 35 catches for 414 yards and five scores. He added 11 rushing attempts for 165 yards and one more touchdown.

Comparison: Drake Stoops - OU Football.

Check out his highlights:

According to video, Gabe has 2yrs of eligibility left...

 

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Yeah but is he Kai Money good?

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Really hoping JWhitt can stay healthy because he’s pretty damn good when he plays.  Will never forget his brother calling out aggy for trying to buy him during his recruitment.  Dude switched to RB when the coaches asked him to.  He always reps the longhorns well.  Would really like to see him have a great year and go to the NFL.

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Old post just adding to this thread... From March 16th...

(Post from @BurntOrange&White )

 

  Quote

Spring Football Preview: Receivers

By: Joe Cook and @EricNahlin

Ahead of Steve Sarkisian's first spring as Texas head coach in 2021, there was good reason to think the Longhorn wide receiver room had competitive top-line talent but lacked quality depth. With players like Jordan Whittington, Troy Omeire, Joshua Moore, and Jake Smith, Texas could rely on those four in a potent offensive system and then hope someone else would render themselves serviceable.
 

2022 Texas Longhorns Spring Football Preview: Wide Receivers

Inside Texas looks at the wide receiver position in an installment of the Texas Longhorns Spring Football preview series.

 www.on3.com

Insider notes

There’s a good chance this will be the most improved group year over year. Xavier Worthy isn’t just a fantastic player, he’s also emerged as a team leader. Before Isaiah Neyor arrived he was likely slated to play boundary receiver but he’ll move all over. He’s the fastest player on the team as measured by MPH top speed.

The second fastest is a bit of a surprise, but it’s Jordan Whittington. Or is it a surprise? Whittington is a powerhouse and is in the best condition in his time at Texas. If he stays healthy…that’s always the question for him. He has the slot locked down.

Isaiah Neyor has impressed with his agility, route running, and work ethic. All that’s left to hear about is him winning one on one versus the quality corners. Sources view him as a future draft pick.

Things have been quiet regarding Marcus Washington but rest assured he’s working. His improvement has been gradual, yet noticeable.

Two players we’ll be monitoring closely throughout the spring are Troy Omeire and Jaden Alexis. Those two rehabbed together and Alexis’ work ethic helped push Omeire through his second setback. Both have worked with the team through winter offseason, but neither is at full speed yet. A fully healthy Alexis is one of the fastest players on the team but he has not returned to that form.

Recruiting the position

Between last year’s struggles and the staff’s portal activity, you can tell wide receiver is a major priority. That’s been the case in previous cycles but Texas has not been able to capitalize for one reason or another. There’s a good chance that changes in this class as there’s reciprocal interest with more quality candidates than there’s room for. Look for the staff to try and add four or five from this list: Johntay Cook, Jaquaize Pettaway, Jalen Hale, Braylon James, Jonah Wilson, Kyle Parker, Jaden Greathouse, Jalen Brown, Rico Flores, and DeAndre Moore Jr.

Cook has seemingly been at the top of the staff’s wish list and it’s no coincidence he’s become close with Arch Manning, the nation’s No. 1 overall player as measured by the On3 Consensus. He has a spot until he signs. Texas should be considered the favorite but A&M is working to keep pace.

Some of the others are in direct competition for the same scholarship.

Most of the above players will visit Texas over the following weeks. Expect UT’s positioning with each to become even more clear in that time.

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  On 5/25/2022 at 3:40 AM, pacman said:

Worthy

Whittington

Neyor

Milton

Hall

Thompson

The emergence of Sanders and Helm at TE.

We may only need the OL to pass block for 3 seconds.

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That is funny. According to Next Gen stats only Zach Wilson and Jameis Winston averaged 3 seconds or more to get the ball out among QBs that threw 135 attempts in the NFL last year. .   I think people generally believe the OL should be able to block for 5-10 seconds. 

Edited by Codaxx
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  On 5/25/2022 at 4:30 PM, Codaxx said:
That is funny. According to Next Gen stats only Zach Wilson and Jameis Winston averaged 3 seconds or more to get the ball out among QBs that threw 135 attempts in the NFL last year. .   I think people generally believe the OL should be able to block for 5-10 seconds. 

Pro Football Reference shows the most pocket time last year was 2.7 seconds. I believe that’s a totally different metric than you’re using. Yet a 2nd reference point to say 3 seconds is a helluva long time. We get that we are in business.
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  On 5/30/2022 at 10:32 PM, Had Enough said:


Pro Football Reference shows the most pocket time last year was 2.7 seconds. I believe that’s a totally different metric than you’re using. Yet a 2nd reference point to say 3 seconds is a helluva long time. We get that we are in business.

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It also goes to show how bad Casey Thompson was at QB last year. He can't read a defense and likely didn't know the playbook well enough to make quicker progressions.

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FCB

 

The Insider: Brennan Marion an against-all-odds success story

By  FUCK CHIP BROWN       May 26, 2022

  Quote

After talking to those who believed in Brennan Marion at some of the most critical times in Marion’s life — Florida State coach Mike Norvell, Central Florida coach Gus Malzahn and William and Mary head coach Mike London, to name a few — you get the sense Marion can overcome anything.

The 34-year-old Marion is a real-life, against-all-odds, success story when you consider he changed schools every year from sixth to 12th grade — sometimes trying to get away from abusive relationships his mother, Richelle, found herself in. (Richelle is doing just fine now, by the way.)

A talented receiver who set (and still holds) the NCAA FBS yards-per-catch record in a single season (31.9 ypc) and in a career (28.7 ypc) at Tulsa, Marion first had to dig his way out of transcript hell by going the junior college route.

After playing his senior high school season at Greensburg Salem outside of Pittsburgh, Marion followed a friend to Foothill College in the Bay Area of Northern California. But after being used as a blocking back and getting into a heated disagreement with the head coach about Marion’s decision to go back to Pittsburgh for an uncle’s funeral, Marion picked up and moved on to De Anza College — just 7.2 miles down Interstate 280 from Foothill.

While Marion finally got to play receiver at De Anza in 2006 and led all California JUCO receivers with 1,196 yards on 60 catches with 16 touchdowns, De Anza didn’t provide Marion with a room and board scholarship.

So he slept in the De Anza locker room, the press box, hallways, the team bus before eventually moving on to friends’ couches.

To rebuild his transcript in order to be eligible to transfer to a Division I school, Marion had to take 24 credit hours in the spring and 21 credit hours in the summer.

Fortunately for Marion, his season at De Anza had caught the attention of a Tulsa graduate assistant coach named Mike Norvell, who had been instructed by then Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn to find him a receiver they could add right before fall camp.

“I first saw Brennan when I was a graduate assistant at Central Arkansas,” Norvell told Horns247. “But then I went to Tulsa, and Coach Malzahn said we needed receivers badly, so I brought him (Marion) up. The rest is history.”

***

Marion has given Norvell credit for teaching him how to become a technician in his route running - something Marion now takes pride in teaching to his own players.

Malzahn said what first struck him about Marion when he arrived at Tulsa for his official visit was that Marion was in a coat and tie.

Malzahn would later find out the coat and tie were borrowed from Marion’s head coach at De Anza, who wanted to help Marion live his dream of playing Division I football.

“As a player, Brennan was hungry and coachable and was a hard worker,” Malzahn told Horns247. “He practiced his butt off. And he was talented. Some talented kids, especially out of junior college, aren’t used to working hard. But he was a worker, practiced his butt off and has a great heart.”

Malzahn and Norvell said Marion brought a toughness to the receiver position and took pride in making sure no defender could press cover him.

***

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(Photo: Wesley Hitt, Getty)

In 2007, Marion was a breakout star receiver at Tulsa, catching 39 passes for 1,244 yards — for an FBS record 31.9 yards per catch — and 11 touchdowns.

In 2008, Marion caught 43 passes for 1,112 yards — 25.9 yards per catch — and eight TDs before tearing his right ACL on the last drive of the season.

That injury kept Marion, who became a father of a baby girl right as he was leaving Tulsa, from being able to attend the NFL combine.

Marion ended up signing with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. But right as Marion was making a move for the two-deep in Miami, he tore his right ACL again. He ended up drawing paychecks from the Dolphins for two seasons without ever playing before finally getting released.

Marion would make an important connection in Miami with fellow undrafted free agent receiver Brandon London, the son of Mike London, who would win the 2008 FCS national championship at Richmond before going on to become the first African-American head coach at Virginia. Mike London would eventually play a big role in Marion’s transition to coaching. More on that in a minute.

***

With no NFL film to fall back on, Marion struggled to get workouts with other NFL teams and ended up signing with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League before tearing his right ACL again. (Marion ended up tearing his right ACL four times.)

While rehabbing his injury, he took a job as a volunteer coach at James Logan High School in the Bay Area, because the head coach wanted some help installing Malzahn’s passing concepts to his pistol-based offense.

Because Marion doesn’t do anything half-speed, he took his new role as a coach seriously by wearing out his then-wife’s subscription to YouTube TV researching footage of offensive football throughout the history of the game.

In particular, Marion became obsessed with the triple option, researching everything from Navy’s option attack with Roger Staubach at quarterback to the Wishbone, created by then-Texas offensive coordinator Emory Ballard, and the veer.

Marion became convinced you could employ triple-option running principles while still running a pro-style, West Coast passing attack - all at turbo tempo.

***

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(Photo: Ethan Miller, Getty)

Marion’s first chance to unveil what would eventually become known as his Go Go Offense was as a high school head coach — first at St. Patrick-St. Vincent in Vallejo, Calif., and then at Waynesboro in Pennsylvania, when he moved back home to be closer to his mother.

The Waynesboro job was available because the Catholic school had just had a hazing incident that all but depleted the football team’s roster, which was down to seven players.

Marion didn’t care. He told school officials, “I’ll figure it out.” He was 25. He had an infectious, high-energy personality and started recruiting the best athletes from the school’s other sports teams to play football. Before long, Marion had buzz as the cool, new, high-energy coach and student-athletes from other schools started heading to Waynesboro.

With almost no expectations because the program had basically been left for dead, Marion unleashed his up-tempo, triple-option run concepts mixed with a West Coast passing game.

Only it was operating behind a line that included a 225-pound offensive tackle. It would get its first major test at a 7-on-7 camp at Virginia that would also include D.C.-area powers such as DeMatha and Gonzaga high schools.

Marion called on his former Dolphins’ teammate Brandon London to help get then-UVA coach Mike London to approve Waynesboro coming to the Cavaliers’ 7-on-7 camp.

And then Mike London ended up being surprised by what he saw.

“Brennan had his team going up-tempo and running their full offense,” London told Horns247. “That bothered some of the other coaches, who were used to 7-on-7 tournaments where coaches would hold up play cards between plays, and guys could catch their breath.”

London was so impressed with Marion and his offense during that one-day, 7-on-7 tournament, he jokingly told Marion he might hire him one day.

***

Marion’s offense helped turn Waynesboro from an 0-10 team in 2013 (the year before Marion took over) that scored only 114 points (11.4 per game) - into a 6-4 team that finished first (6-1) in the Mid-Penn Colonial Conference while scoring 366 points (36.6 per game).

Convinced he was on to something big, he accepted an offensive quality control position in 2015 at Arizona State under his head coach at Tulsa - Todd Graham - and Graham’s offensive coordinator Mike Norvell.

Marion credits Norvell with helping him polish the terminology and communication of his up-tempo offense. But Marion’s time in Tempe would be short-lived as Norvell left after the 2015 season to become the head coach at Memphis.

In 2016, Marion took a job as running backs coach at Division II Oklahoma Baptist, where Isaiah Mallory rushed for a school-record 1,083 yards en route to first-team All-National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) honors.

And, then, after Mike London was let go at Virginia following the 2015 season, London took the job at Howard, a historically black college in Washington, D.C., in 2017 and called Marion.

“You ready to run that high school offense of yours?” London asked Marion.

***

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(Photo: @BrennanMarion4)

Marion’s debut as a Division I offensive play caller would become the biggest point-spread upset in college football history as FCS-member Howard, a 45-point underdog at UNLV, pulled off a 43-40 upset.

Howard’s quarterback was Caylin Newton, the younger brother of Cam Newton, who ran Marion’s Go Go Offense to perfection, running 21 times for 190 yards and two scores while passing for 140 yards and a score.

“Running that up-tempo offense can cut both ways,” said London, a defensive-minded coach who served on staffs with former NFL coaches Al Groh and Dom Capers.

“But there’s no doubt that up-tempo offense, if it’s well-designed and can get in a rhythm, is hell on defenses, because they can’t substitute and are on their heels.”

Malzahn took a ton of pride in watching Marion's offense at Howard.

"It’s very unique," Malzahn said. "He (Marion) got a chance to coach Cam Newton’s brother (at Howard). I’m really close to Cam from our time together at Auburn and know his brother Caylin really well. So when Brennan got to coach him (Caylin), that was a cool deal for me.

"The Go-Go Offense has its own flavor to it, and I see different offenses across the country - even at different levels, from college to the NFL - taking bits and pieces from it."

London said he didn’t hesitate to hire Marion, because of all the research Marion had put into building his Go Go Offense, which implemented unique, offset formations (such as two backs to one side of the quarterback in the shotgun) to help disguise his triple option runs while still maintaining West Coast passing principles.

“Oh, you should’ve seen all the cut-ups the guy had of different offenses, volumes of notes,” London said of Marion. “He had copies of 16-millimeter tape, super VHS tapes - an inventory, a library - of historic offenses.”

***

London compared Marion to a wild mustang at times as a young coach with him at Howard and William & Mary.

“I met Brennan when he was young and rambunctious,” London said. “I’d tell him to slow down at times and remind him that ‘Not everyone matches your intensity.’ He was a young father, and I was a young father, too. So I’d remind him to spend as much time with his daughter as possible. But he’s grown and matured and transitioned and hopefully makes the most of his opportunities.”

After two seasons at Howard in 2017 and 2018 and one season at William & Mary, where London took over as head coach in 2019, Marion was on the move again when COVID-19 hit in 2020 and William & Mary postponed football until the spring of 2021.

Marion took a job as receivers coach at Hawaii for the 2020 season under his former Tulsa coach Todd Graham and helped oversee the development of All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) receiver Calvin Turner.

In 2021, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was looking for a receivers coach for an offense returning fifth-year senior quarterback Kenny Pickett and sophomore All-American receiver Jordan Addison.

It was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and Marion delivered, helping Addison to a record-setting season of 100 catches for 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns capped by winning the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s top receiver.

Pitt players said Marion also helped bring a player-friendly vibe to the Pitt locker room under the old-school, hard-nosed Narduzzi.

***

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(Photo: © Taylor Estes, Horns247, 247Sports)

Now, Marion is at Texas, where he’ll have his biggest challenge yet in terms of having an entire room full of talented receivers with varying personalities.

According to team sources, Marion has relied heavily on Jordan Whittington to lead the receiver room and to be more of a vocal leader for the entire team.

“No one will mess with Jordan Whittington,” the source said. “He’s a tough SOB. (Marion) picked up on that early on, and started encouraging Whittington to use that respect to help push teammates in a positive way. I think he (Marion) sees some of himself in J-Whitt.”

According to a source close to the situation, when Marion interviewed for the receivers coaching position at Oregon in 2021 (when he ultimately went to Pitt), then-Oregon coach Mario Cristobal asked Marion who the best California high school receiver was in 2021? Marion said Xavier Worthy, whom Marion had tried to recruit at Hawaii. Cristobal apparently disagreed, but Marion had the last laugh on that.

A source close to the situation said, “When Jordan Addison came on his visit to Texas, he asked X (Xavier Worthy), ‘Are you catching 200 passes a day on the JUGS machine and doing finger-tip push-ups like Coach Marion tells you to do? That stuff matters.’ And X definitely perked up when Addison told him that.”

Wyoming transfer receiver Isaiah Neyor is the exact opposite of Marion from a personality standpoint. Neyor is a quiet grinder who wants to be great.

“He (Marion) has sort of taken Isaiah under his wing to make sure he (Neyor) knows how good he can be and to play with big-time confidence,” the source said.

Alabama transfer receiver Agiye Hall, a top national recruit in 2021, has a reputation for having extreme confidence and the willingness to say just about anything - for better or worse.

“Here’s the thing about Marion,” the source said. “He’s had to overcome so much - from growing up in abusive households, to taking crazy amounts of course credits to get eligible out of junior college, where he was sleeping in the press box, to battling four torn ACLs - that he has absolutely no patience for excuses.

And the fact he still holds the Division I college football record for yards-per-catch in a season gets the attention of his players. They know he’s lived it.”

The source said Marion and new running backs coach Tashard Choice have brought a different energy to the team.

“Those guys will talk noise to the defensive players if they get beat on a pass or run play, just to kick the competition and juice up a notch in practice,” the source said. “They’ve brought some really good energy to the team.”

***

Sources say Marion takes pride in the fact that coaches such as Lincoln Riley and Kliff Kingsbury have incorporated some elements of Marion’s Go Go Offense. Those sources also say Marion understands that the higher up the Division I ladder you climb, the harder it is to find head coaches willing to take a chance on hiring an offensive coordinator who uses an unconventional (yet highly effective) scheme.

So Marion is content right now to work with the best offensive minds, such as Steve Sarkisian, to continue to sharpen his own ideas when he finally gets a chance to call the shots.

“He’s really smart - brilliant really,” Malzahn said of Marion. “He had to overcome some stuff to get eligible coming out of junior college, but that was because of his life circumstances, not because he’s not intelligent. He totally sees and understands football concepts, which is why he’s a great coach. And then he can really relate to kids - because no matter what they’ve been through in life - Brennan has probably been through it, too.

“He’s a winner. He finds ways to get things done. He’s a get-‘er-doner. That’s probably the best way to put it. It doesn’t matter about the obstacles. He couldn’t care less. He’s overcome all kinds of obstacles. He’s fought to get where he’s at, and he’s earned everything he’s gotten. That’s really what I’m most proud about. And he’s making a difference in young people’s lives. He’s got great influence and can help young kids and give them belief that they can reach their dreams, because he’s done it.”

Norvell, who recruited and coached Marion as a player (at Tulsa) and then coached with Marion at Arizona State in 2015, said the sky’s the limit for Marion as a coach.

“Brennan has an incredible story and has really grown with each step up his journey,” Norvell said. “He was a very talented player who had a true passion for the game. And through adversity and injuries, his playing days ended. But it was a natural transition into his coaching career.

“Through his own experiences of having to overcome challenges, he builds and instills confidence through his players and can provide a unique perspective to whatever they might face. He brings knowledge and production as a player and coach, which his players have a respect for.”

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(Maybe FCB gets paid by how many words he writes??    geez 😋

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  On 5/30/2022 at 10:32 PM, Had Enough said:


Pro Football Reference shows the most pocket time last year was 2.7 seconds. I believe that’s a totally different metric than you’re using. Yet a 2nd reference point to say 3 seconds is a helluva long time. We get that we are in business.

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https://nextgenstats.nfl.com/stats/passing#yards

Time To Throw (TT)
Time to Throw measures the average amount of time elapsed from the time of snap to throw on every pass attempt for a passer (sacks excluded).
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