air raid offense – Syndication Server

Mike Leach’s death has stunned and saddened the sports world

Mike Leach’s offensive prowess and eccentric personality made him one of the most compelling figures in college sports.

Football fans are stunned by the sudden loss of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach, whose offensive prowess and eccentric personality made him one of the most compelling figures in college sports.

Leach, 61, died Monday night after complications from a heart condition, according to a university statement.

Leach’s role in developing the air raid offense under Hal Mumme defined not only his 35-year career, but his legacy in college football. Leach joined Oklahoma’s staff as offensive coordinator in 1999, transforming the Sooners’ 11th-place offense from the year before to first in the Big 12 in one season. He became the winningest coach in school history during his 10 years at Texas Tech and continued to break records during his eight-season run at Washington State.

Just weeks before his death, Leach led Mississippi State to its best regular-season finish (8-4) since his arrival in 2020. Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will serve as interim coach as the Bulldogs prepare for the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 2.

Before Leach’s death, social media was flooded with hope, prayers and well wishes for Leach and his family from fans, athletes, coaches and media figures. Many of those same people are now sharing memories and tributes on Twitter:

3 offensive keys to victory for the Oklahoma Sooners versus Kansas State

As the offense looks to rebound from a disappointing outing last week, here are 3 keys for the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kansas State

The Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on a gritty and tough Kansas State in their first bit of action on the road. The much-maligned Sooners offense has heard every almost conceivable report about their struggles at this point. In many ways, the offense’s struggles have led the Sooners to drop in the various polls and rankings each week. The Sooner defense has held up their end of the bargain, and the offense has not.

After coming up with a huge drive to get in position to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired, the Sooners could only breathe a little as looking back on their performance was sure to reveal areas where they need to improve heading into this week’s matchup with the Wildcats.

Here are three keys to the game for the Sooners offense to get you ready for the Oklahoma Sooners matchup with Kansas State.

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How will Todd Monken’s air raid offense translate to Georgia football?

New Georgia football offensive coordinator Todd Monken takes over a talented UGA offense with air-raid scheme.

After a pedestrian year from the Georgia Bulldogs on offense in 2019, Kirby Smart wasted no time making scheme changes, bringing in Todd Monken from the Cleveland Browns to take over for James Coley as offensive coordinator and play caller.

Monken has coached all over the football landscape, including 23 years of college coaching experience and eight years coaching in the NFL.

Most recently, Monken spent a season as the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns and before that, three seasons as the offensive coordinator and receivers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2011-2012, Monken coached Brandon Weeden, Justin Blackmon and the air-raid Cowboys offense to record breaking seasons, averaging well over 500 yards a game.

So, how does Monken’s air-rade scheme fit with a Georgia team built for defense and a power run game?

In 2019, the Bulldogs struggled with the deep passing game and the blame can’t be all on Coley, as Jake Fromm had issues with his deep ball and other than George Pickens, receivers either struggled with injuries, getting separation from defenders or dropped passes.

In 2020, there will be no shortage of depth or talent on the Georgia offense and in the light of recent off-season moves, it seems Kirby is planning to be more aggressive offensively.

The Bulldogs bring in a great arm in Wake Forest transfer quarterback Jamie Newman, paired with returning receivers George Pickens and Dominick Blaylock and added five receivers in the 2020 recruiting class.

Georgia will have the ability to stretch the field on anyone and that is exactly what Monken’s offenses do. Still, the traditional Georgia run game can only benefit from the space the air-raid creates.

As Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator in 2019, Monken led an offense that saw former Georgia great Nick Chubb run for nearly 1,500 yards, so we can expect that running backs Zamir White and James Cook will get their fair share of touches in 2020.

Bulldog fans should be excited to see what 2020 will bring for this young team. In Monken’s system, expect to see much more complex route trees than in previous years, as well as a more aggressive approach to offensive strategy because of the security blanket that is the Georgia defense.