TCU’s offense ‘more aggressive, more versatile’ with play-caller change
TCU junior wide receiver Taye Barber has noticed a difference in the offensive approach throughout training camp.
“We’ve been more aggressive,” said Barber, the team’s leading returning receiver from last season. “A lot more play calls. A lot more routes we can run. More versatile. Another mind in the offensive staff room, so I can’t wait to see what they got together.”
The offensive mind Barber is referring to is Doug Meacham, who returned to TCU as inside receivers/ tight ends coach this offseason. He’s also since been named the team’s primary play-caller.
Coach Gary Patterson made the decision to give Meacham play-calling duties, stripping them away from offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, in one of TCU’s significant offensive tweaks. Along with Meacham, another significant coaching addition for Patterson was bringing in longtime confidant and former head coach Jerry Kill as a special assistant. Kill has been described as the “offensive head coach” by Patterson.
Kill talked about bringing “swagger” back to the offense shortly after he was hired.
“We’ve got to have the same mentality as they’ve got on defense. Swagger, whatever you want to call it,” Kill said at the time. “Everybody has got to swallow their pride now. There can’t be any egos in the room. We need confidence in the room.”
Meacham brings that confidence in calling plays. He’s not afraid to open it up.
The Horned Frogs would love to become more explosive. The offense had 53 plays (pass or rush) of 20-plus yards last season, including 12 that resulted in touchdowns.
Patterson would like to see those big plays happen more often this season.
“Let’s hope so. We need to score more points,” Patterson said. “We need to be more uptempo and do the things we need to do. We have some guys that can really run. Not throwing anybody under the bus and not giving away any secrets, the one advantage we have is that nobody knows what we’re going to do on offense. I’d just as soon keep it that way.”
The unknown is difficult for an opposing team to plan for, but what is known is this same Meacham-Cumbie combination worked wonders the first time around.
TCU had a stellar run in 2014-15 when Cumbie and Meacham were co-offensive coordinators with Meacham serving as the primary play-caller. The Frogs had one of the nation’s top offenses those seasons as they went a combined 23-3, highlighted by a co-Big 12 championship and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory in 2014.
TCU was the nation’s most improved offense that 2014 season. The Horned Frogs increased total yards per game by 188.2 and points per game by 21.4. The points per game improvement was the most since Northwestern went up 24.0 points between 1999-2000.
The Horned Frogs continued that trend in 2015, setting multiple single-season school records. They ranked third nationally in total offense (562.8 yards per game) and seventh in scoring (42.1 points per game).
TCU would like to see a similar turnaround in 2020.
The offense has regressed of late, ranking in the bottom half of the 10-team Big 12 in points and passing offense the past two seasons. The Frogs averaged 23.5 points (ninth in Big 12) and 211.5 yards passing (eighth in Big 12) during an injury-plagued 2018 season, and then averaged 30.3 points (seventh in Big 12) and 203.7 yards passing (ninth in the Big 12) last season.
But, as Patterson said, the results of the tweaks he’s made won’t be known until the season is underway. It starts Saturday against Iowa State.
“The key is to do it,” Patterson said. “Iowa State, the way they play defense is to try and not allow you to make big plays. In the front they really play the run really well. They are a good defensive team. They lost last week, but allowed just 272 yards of offense. What you’ve got to understand is that they’re a good defense. I think this will be a good challenge for us.”
