Article re new LSU OC Crowton getting along well. Well, he does have talent to work with.
By RANDY ROSETTA
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Aug 9, 2007 - Page: 1C
Carefully, almost diplomatically, LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton digests one question after another.
Talking about his philosophy, but not in intricate detail.
Explaining his relationship with a head coach who comes from a very different offensive background.
Insisting that his time at LSU isn’t a stepping stone to another head-coaching opportunity because his task with the Tigers is the only thing in his view right now.
Careful, diplomatic, almost tentative.
But don’t mistake Crowton’s caution in answering questions for a lack of temerity as a football coach.
In fact, Crowton’s approach to his job as the architect of a talented LSU offense that will be in the hands of a first-time starting quarterback figures to be anything but timid.
“The thing about coach Crowton is that he always has something up his sleeve, some kind of different wrinkle that nobody’s seen before,” said former Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay, now a journeyman backup in the NFL. Rattay, who owns most Tech passing records, is Crowton’s most famous protégé.
“When you combine the kind of offensive mind he has with the kind of talent they have at LSU, it’s going to be an explosive offense that fans are going to love to watch.”
That depiction goes hand-in-hand with the reputation Crowton arrived with in January when he was hired to replace Jimbo Fisher.
Entering his 26th year as a coach, the 50-year-old Crowton is recognized as one of the brightest offensive minds in the game.
The credentials he established before arriving at LSU include head-coaching stints at Louisiana Tech (1995-98) and Brigham Young (2001-04) and a two-year stop in the NFL as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator (1999-2000).
Crowton spent the last two seasons as Oregon’s offensive coordinator, although he was on Tigers coach Les Miles’ radar as early as 2005 when Miles was hired at LSU had Fisher opted to leave at the time.
The Miles-Crowton connection didn’t happen then, but when the Tigers were back on the market for an offensive coordinator, Crowton was one of the first people Miles called.
‘The Wizard’
Crowton’s current players have dubbed him “The Wizard” for his offensive ingenuity.
“I’m just trying to learn every place I go, trying to be a better coach,” Crowton said. “I want to learn from the people I’m around. &hellip You make errors along the way, but you just try to get a little bit better.”
Over the course of his career, Crowton’s offensive schemes have added pieces here and there and evolved into a system Rattay said “any quarterback would love to be in.”
Crowton’s offense is based on the quarterback making quick decisions and getting the ball to the player with the best chance to make something happen.
Downfield passes are incorporated when needed, but are not a major part of the attack.
As much emphasis as there is on the QB, though, a big part of fifth-year senior Matt Flynn’s job will be to either get the ball to a running back or look for running room himself.
Last season at Oregon, Crowton’s offense led the Pac-10 in pass attempts (486) and completions (288) and accounted for 3,133 yards. But the Ducks also produced the league’s best rushing offense.
Oregon piled up a Pac-10 best 2,369 yards on the ground, 182.2 per game with 26 touchdowns — leading the league in all three categories.
That was without the same level of talent pool he has to operate with at LSU, where running backs Keiland Williams, Jacob Hester, Charles Scott and Richard Murphy make up one of the best backfield corps in the country.
“We want to make sure the veteran players — and we have some good veteran players — are comfortable with what they do and they can use that comfort and leadership on offense and then we can utilize the skills they have,” Crowton said,
choosing his words carefully.
Lines of communication
How well Crowton’s innovative offense meshes with Miles’ ground-oriented preference will be an ongoing process likely to be scrutinized by rabid LSU fans in chat rooms and near water coolers far and wide.
Urban legend hinted that Miles and Fisher knocked heads from time to time over offensive philosophy. Crowton provided no hint that he and the former Michigan offensive lineman and Bo Schembechler disciple have clashed about how best to move the ball.
To the contrary, Crowton points out that the common thread of being offensive coaches in the more specialized and compartmentalized NFL has solidified his relationship with Miles.
“He’s got enough confidence in me to listen to me and what I want to do and what I have to say, and at the same time I have a lot of confidence in him,” Crowton said.
“If there’s a situation where there are a couple of different ways to do it, we’re really in good communication back and forth so we can get it to be our way — the LSU way — and that’s a good way to work.”
Success interrupted
Crowton’s path to LSU and the highest level of college football hasn’t been without some obstacles, unwanted detours and plenty of stops.
Baton Rouge is the 11th city Crowton has worked in on the heels of a college career that included stops at Snow Junior College (Utah), Colorado State, Idaho State and BYU.
Success came quickly in both his head-coaching tenures, but fizzled — within certain seasons and toward the end of his time at both Louisiana Tech and BYU.
With Tech, Crowton led the Bulldogs to records of 6-5, 9-2 and 6-6. Tech got off to quick starts in all three seasons, but two of his three years ended with resounding losses: 55-38 to Arkansas State in 1996 and 63-30 against Tulane in ’98.
At BYU — a dream job for someone who grew up in Provo and in the Mormon Church and got his start under Cougars coaching legend LaVell Edwards — Crowton got off to a 12-0 start in his first season.
BYU was bandied about as a potential BCS at-large team before losing to Hawaii 72-45 and finishing the season with a 28-10 loss to Louisville in the Liberty Bowl.
The Cougars never had another winning season under Crowton, going 5-7, 4-8 and 5-6 despite early-season victories against major-conference opponents Syracuse in 2002, Georgia Tech and Southern California in 2003 and Notre Dame to start the ’04 campaign.
Crowton was forced out at BYU in 2004 when the Cougars fell to New Mexico and bitter rival Utah to close the season and missed a bowl for the third consecutive year.
In a Mormon-dominated football culture where winning is expected but an Honor Code of conduct is almost equally as important, Crowton fell out of favor with BYU fans and prominent supporters when a handful of Cougars players were accused but never convicted in a series of off-field incedents.
Oregon provided Crowton with a chance to bounce back, and now his career is back on an upward path.
Not that he is plotting a move any time soon. Crowton said he isn’t using Baton Rouge as a stopover to another proving ground.
“I’ve been a head coach twice and enjoyed it both times &hellip and I’ve had some success,” he said. “But right now my focus is on coming in here and doing well. &hellip I’ve reached a lot of my goals and right now I’m focused on winning the SEC, winning a national championship here.
“I had a couple of chances to be a head coach again, and I didn’t take those. I’m not aspiring to that. I’m not looking past helping this team develop
“This is not a stepping stone for me to go anywhere. This is where I’m at now and I want to do the best I can.”
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