ChiefsPlanet - KU **** OFFICIAL 2010 Kansas Football Repository Thread ****

August 1, 2010
<script language="Javascript" src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/js/swf.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script language="Javascript"></script><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://active.macromedia.com/flash2/cabs/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" id="rvflash" height="60" width="620">

<embed src="http://vmedia.rivals.com/flash/contentheadlines.swf?h1=Long+likes+mix+of+Kansas+coaches+&h2=&lwidth=620&lheight=60&lshadow=1&sFontC olor=000000&sLink=" salign="lt" quality="best" scale="noborder" wmode="transparent" id="rvflash" name="rvflash" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="60" width="620"></object> <noscript>Long likes mix of Kansas coaches

</noscript> Jon Kirby
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During the summer months it is easy to picture an offensive coordinator sitting around in the meeting room and drawing up elaborate, new plays to put into the playbook.

Sometimes that is the opposite of what really goes on and that's the case of what Kansas offensive coordinator Chuck Long has gone through.

<script language="Javascript">document.write(insertImage('http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/897/965179.jpg', '965179.jpg', 0, 300, 245, 1, 'Long is no stranger to quarterback battles', 'Jayhawk Slant', 1280713870000, 'Long camp 300', 897, 'Align=Left'));</script><table align="Left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="253"><tbody><tr><td width="247">http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/897/965179.jpg</td><td rowspan="4" width="6">http://vmedia.rivals.com/images/spacer1.gif</td></tr><tr><td align="right">Jayhawk Slant</td></tr><tr><td height="3">http://vmedia.rivals.com/images/spacer1.gif</td></tr><tr><td align="center">Long is no stranger to quarterback battles</td></tr></tbody></table>This spring Long and the offensive coaches got an idea what might work best and what wouldn't.

"You go into spring with your playbook but you have an unknown of what the players can do within that playbook," Long said. "So our first spring was to find out what we have on our football team and how expansive can we get with the playbook."

Once the coaches developed a plan after seeing what schemes might fit them better this season they went and studied what happened during the spring.

"At the end of spring we obviously found out a lot about our team and what they do," Long said. "Then we spent a great deal of time going back over spring ball and seeing what we could tweak, what we might throw out, and what we might want to emphasize."

Instead of adding new schemes Long said the summer months can be used for determining what not to use. In the case of a coordinator in his first year taking things away may be the smartest thing to do. In a day where there are complex spread formations and new offenses being installed coordinators like to show new things they can come up with.

Long has already proved he is a successful offensive coordinator and his time was spent taking things away.

"I honestly think the key to coaching especially on the offensive side is not what you can add but what you can throw out," he said. "It's hard to do that as an offensive coach because you want to put everything in. You want to show everyone you have this expansive knowledge of offense but you have to do what's best for your guys and team. You have to put them in a successful position. A lot of times that means cutting back."

In a way this spring was an exam and Long wanted to see what plays and schemes would fit their personnel. There are some areas of the playbook that might not suit them now but they go back to it down the road.

"There are times we came out of spring and said 'you know what, that's not us right now'", Long said. "Maybe in the future, but it isn't right now. That's my job as a coordinator to be able to do that."

Good blend of coaches

The coaches used the spring to measure their personnel and at the same time what it was like to work with each other. Long was impressed with the coaches he got a chance to work with and thinks the staff will work well together.

"It's an excellent staff," he said. "As far as a blend it is a great mix of experience and youth. You have guys that have been there and done that and you can feel that. They don't push things that don't fit."

Aaron Stamn was one of the first hires announced by Turner Gill. Stamn worked with Gill at Nebraska and Buffalo. Wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator Darrell Wyatt worked alongside Long when the two were at Oklahoma. Wyatt has a long line of success at BCS schools and is familiar with the Big 12.

Offensive line coach J.B. Grimes and running backs coach Reggie Mitchell have spent countless years at successful BCS programs. Both Wyatt and Mitchell coached on previous staffs at Kansas.

"Coach Stamn is very creative and knowledgeable about the game," Long said. "He will throw some ideas out there and they are good ones. You like to be able to have that blend on your staff. Coach Wyatt and I have worked together for a long time. We know each very well. He's as creative as there is in the country and an excellent mind.

"Coach Grimes is one of the best technicians on the line I have been around. Coach Mitchell knows the running backs position as good as there is. He doesn't know just how to teach the fundamentals but where they need to be and what to do."

With a new staff and playbook the coaches have to be on the same page. Long said that has been the case. When they are all sitting in the offensive meeting room they have been able to work efficiently. They can bounce ideas off each other and move along.

"When you have that you can get things done quicker," Long said. "You can move on to the next subject faster. If you have a lot of young guys for example it could be a lengthy process. When you mix that with experience you feel you are moving forward quicker. They don't take things personally. That's the one thing you have to be able to do in that room as an assistant. You have to able to throw out ideas, be creative, and if it doesn't stick be able to move on. It is one of the best staffs I've been on in terms of that."

It starts at quarterback

The Jayhawks will head into camp this week with a battle at quarterback. It is widely believed the battle is between Kale Pick and Jordan Webb. When spring ended the two were listed at the top depth chart.

Long believes the summer is a pivotal time for the quarterbacks. They have to move forward with the team in June and July working on what they picked up during the spring season.

"The summer time we (coaches) can't be around so that's more of a leadership deal," Long said. "Your quarterbacks are basically the leaders and have to be the leaders because they organize almost everything in the summer. They're in charge of carrying what we did in the spring and go forward on their own. That's a great way to develop into leaders."

By not naming a starter it pushes the whole team and not just the quarterbacks. There are other position battles going but the one that gets headlines is quarterback.

A few years ago Kansas fans remember Todd Reesing and Kerry Meier pushing each other into the final weeks of August before Reesing won the job. Several people mentioned that competition made other players better watching how hard both of them fought.

"You want competition at every position," Long said. "I'm not sure we have it at every position but we do have it at quarterback and that's a good start. You can learn about your team seeing a competitive situation at quarterback. You want them to keep competing and make themselves better and they will get better based on my past experience. All three of them will get better including Quinm (Mecham)."

Long will coach the quarterbacks and he knows how to handle the group as well as anyone. He was the Heisman runner-up as a quarterback at Iowa and spent nine years in the NFL. When he was at Oklahoma he coached Heisman award winner Jason White. A few years before that he coached Josh Heupel who was the runner-up.

This isn't the first time Long has been part of a tight quarterback race. At Oklahoma White had to beat out Nate Hybl in a highly publicized contest. That same type of race could be forming between Pick and Webb.

"It's really nice for me as a coach to have capable guys that can play," Long said. "I always tell them if you stay strong and competitive I will take you the rest of the way. It's important they keep that edge and compete because at the end of the day it will benefit not only them but the team as well."