Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC) will play at Kentucky (6-2, 4-2 SEC) Saturday in Week 10.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and will be televised by ESPN2.
Liam Coen is in his first season as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Coen was hired at Kentucky following a three-year stint as the Los Angeles Rams’ assistant wide receivers (2018-19) and assistant quarterbacks (2020) coach in the NFL.
Coen served as Maine’s offensive coordinator from 2016-17 before his time in the NFL.
At Maine, the Black Bears ran an offensive system that comes from the coaching tree of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. Those principles and concepts are still used in Coen’s offense in the Southeastern Conference.
Nick Charlton is in his third season as Maine’s head coach. He coached alongside Coen from 2016-17, serving as the Black Bears’ wide receivers and special teams coach.
Charlton coached alongside Day from 2013-14 as a graduate assistant at Boston College. The current Ohio State head coach was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach alongside Charlton.
Day’s program operation, offensive scheme and concepts are seen in Maine’s program, as well as at Kentucky in 2021.
Ryan Day’s operation, offensive concepts
Day stresses organization throughout his offensive scheme, while building a team identity through player-personnel each year.
Going into spring practices, Day starts from scratch with his offense based on adapting to his roster.
At this time, he identifies who the best players are and utilizes them. This process is also referred to as his Bucket organization. During the offseason, he wants his player-personnel to go through base plays at minimum 100 times in preparation for the season.
His offense features a tight zone where the running back is ready to follow the center going downhill. In a tight zone, there can be up to six different variations. Raider is reading the backside defensive end. Cowboy is blocking the C-gap with a tight end. Buccaneer takes place by reading a defensive end when the tight end blocks a B-gap overhang.
Midzone is where the running back aims for the inside of the guard, providing a wide play. Day’s offense features up to six variations of midzone blocking. This is typically executed based on matchups with the opponent each week.
Outside zone is also schemed to get the ball on the field-side.
All three zones have different landmarks, but with the same identifications.
In gap zone, Day stresses a power scheme in which a guard pulls and blocks downhill. A counter scheme is also present in a gap zone.
Day’s base offense also showcases a perimeter running game with plays such as a speed sweep.
Short plays are a base concept in Day’s offense, allowing for the quarterback to get the ball out his hands in the quick game. Day stresses for an 80 percent completion percentage in the short game. Slants and hitches are executed a lot. Short plays are also consistent of the quarterback being able to get out of the pocket with naked or bootleg ability. RPO and screen plays fall under short plays, as well.
Mediums are routes that showcase five-step, high-low execution, such as outside triangles attacking the flat and a cornerback. Mirror routes provide one-on-one matchups on the outside with out-routes, comebacks and go-routes.
Crossers are used a lot when Ohio State plays a man coverage defense. Mesh plays are also seen occasionally throughout Day’s offense.
Isolation plays are when the X-receiver and the H-back are trying to become open or are in one-on-one matchups to have the ball in their hands. Floods and four verticals are used a lot, too.
Down-the-field passing attempts are also featured, and a priority in Day’s offense. Day’s importance of having a strong, physical running game can allow for the opposition to have a run fit close within the box and he will then attack downfield in the passing game.
“My time with him – I have certainly learned a lot. We try to model a lot of things from what they do. We watch their film every week no matter what, just to see what they are doing.” –Maine head coach Nick Charlton on “Football Two-A-Days” on Ryan Day and Ohio State
Maine’s offense
As Charlton took over for Coen as offensive coordinator in 2018 and as head coach from 2019-21, the offensive scheme and concepts have remained the same.
Pat Denecke is in his sixth season on Maine’s coaching staff. He served as Maine’s tight ends coach when Coen was coordinating the Black Bears’ offense, while Charlton oversaw wide receivers. Charlton has since elevated Denecke to assistant head coach, run game coordinator and offensive line coach.
“I don’t think any of us were surprised to see him take a big step when he left Maine,” Denecke said of Coen on the show “Football Two-A-Days.” “Very intelligent coach, very enthusiastic coach, really enjoyed being around him for the two seasons we were together.
“The base of the offense is still the same. It is still within the same system, obviously it evolves year to year based on your personnel, but a lot of the terminology has stayed the same. A lot of the scheme has stayed the same. Formationally and personnel-wise we have grown a little, but more motion and things of that nature, but I would say the nuts and bolts of our offense are pretty much still intact from when Liam was here.”
Denecke further discussed Charlton and Maine studying Day and Ohio State to continue to evolve offensively.
“We spend a lot of time studying what they are doing on offense, as well as the Rams when Coach Coen was there,” Denecke said. “Because there are some familiarity, you can usually figure out what they are trying to do knowing the system and you can definitely see where Nick cut his teeth as a coach learning under Coach Day. Very similar in terms of trying to be creative, but still finding different ways to execute the same things by week and finding different ways to attack the weaknesses of the defense based on the strengths of the offense.
“We had a few mesh concepts, but I wouldn’t say anything derived from the Air Raid system. The majority of our offense derives from a West Coast or prostyle and has kind of evolved into 11 and 12-personnel, we’re under center a good bit, but I wouldn’t call us a true prostyle. We’re not using a fullback or anything like that. We call ourselves a hybrid. We’re not quite spread, we’re not quite pro, but we have some prostyle systems within a spread offense.”
Max Staver played quarterback at Maine under Coen and for Charlton and Denecke.
Staver also discussed his time with Coen at Maine before leaving for the NFL.
“He really knew what he was doing,” Staver said of Coen on “Football Two-A-Days.” “His offense was really diverse and what we were trying to accomplish, the threat of the run, the vertical pass game, mixed with some spread concepts, the usage of tempo. He definitely knew what he was doing. I think everybody had the understanding that Coach Coen would eventually move on from Maine.”
The entire shows with Denecke and Staver can be listened to below. Charlton also joined the show “Football Two-A-Days” in 2020 and discussed Maine football and his time with Day and Coen.