Last year, when he was the head coach at Sacramento State, Brennan Marion built an offense that put up familiar numbers.
The Hornets averaged 33.8 points and 425.6 yards per game – prolific numbers he’s been used to piling up on offense.
How those numbers were achieved was a bit different, however.
“To not really use the passing game as much as I have in the past was, like, crazy to me,” Marion, now the offensive coordinator for the Colorado Buffaloes, said last month.
Sac State threw just 222 passes last year – by far the fewest number in Marion’s six seasons as a head coach or coordinator. Subtracting sacks from the rushing attempts, the Hornets still ran the ball on 68.8% of their plays.
The number of pass attempts is likely to be much higher this year at Colorado, but Marion and head coach Deion Sanders still have to figure out who will throw those passes.
Throughout the spring, sophomore transfer Isaac Wilson and redshirt freshman Julian Lewis competed with the first-team offense. There is no clear-cut starter going into summer, so the competition will go into preseason camp in August.
Marion said Lewis and Wilson both did “a good job” this spring in learning the Marion-created Go-Go offense, which is new to both quarterbacks.
“I think the first few months they were figuring out how to do the job, right?” Marion said. “This is a new offense for them, it’s completely different.”
The Go-Go, which relies on a strong run game and deep passes, includes concepts from several different offensive schemes.
“We run a Friday offense, a Saturday offense, and a Sunday offense,” Marion said. “So you’re asked to be an NFL quarterback at times; you’re asked to be an old-school triple option wing-T quarterback, Friday night (high school-type) quarterback; and then you’re asked to do all the same Saturday plays that everybody else does (in college). So you’re asked to really run three different offenses. The learning curve for them, the understanding for them, I think that’s what they were figuring out first.”
Lewis and Wilson both have a ways to go to be ready for the season, though, and summer will be critical for both.
“For them to really take that next step is about them getting with their guys (receivers) and understanding, ‘Where does he like the ball?’” Marion said. “Getting this lineman who’s struggling a little bit, talking to him and making sure he blocks a little bit better for you, or the running back, telling him where he’s supposed to go in protection and knowing where each guy’s supposed to be, their spots.”
Then, there’s the idea of what Marion calls, “opening your third eye” to read and understand the defense.
“Getting a completion before the play starts and knowing exactly what the defense is, where the holes are,” he said. “So for them now, it’s re-watching all this stuff, re-going through their notes, and then coaching their guys. Like, getting around the guys, building a relationship with them and a rapport where now they can play point guard out there and they know who everybody is, they know how to move the ball, they know what the defense is doing and they can attack.”
Going back to Marion’s first coaching job, as the offensive coordinator at James Logan (California) High School in 2010, his offenses have had the ability to attack. Marion has had numerous stops along his coaching journey since then, and the offense has evolved over time, but he’s typically won and put up impressive offensive numbers.
Throughout his career, Marion’s offense has always been run-heavy, which will be new for a Sanders-led team, which has typically been pass-heavy.
Last year, CU had rushing attempts on 54.6% of its offensive snaps, but that includes 38 times when a pass was called and the quarterback was sacked. When counting sacks as passing plays, a Sanders-coached team at the college level has always had more passes called than running plays.
Marion’s offenses usually run the ball at least 60 percent of the time.
Still, the Go-Go – and any other offense – is better when the quarterback play is strong, and Marion is confident the Buffs can succeed with Lewis or Wilson.
“We’re going to adapt the scheme to the quarterback who runs out there with the ball in his hands,” he said.
Whether it’s Lewis or Wilson leading the way, Marion is confident the Buffs – who averaged just 20.9 points and 328.4 yards per game last year – will be explosive this season.
“I’m excited here now that we have a little bit more (talent on the roster than previous stops),” he said. “Obviously there’s great coordinators in this (Big 12) conference, there’s great players. We’re in the Big 12, and I respect every opponent that we’ll play, but I’m very excited about what we can do with the guys that we have now here.”
