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The playcalling has been significantly altered, that we're not dropping 7 or 8 back into a loose zone almost every time.

If my guess is correct, Chris Ash is now in a similar situation as what Tommy Rees was in back when Brian Kelly was the HC. He can still call the play, but it has to go through Marcus Freeman.


Rees had a certain degree of freedom to make a play call, but it would have to stick to Brian Kelly's script, and at any time, Kelly would overrule.

Just as a comparison, the playcalling in 2021 was good, that we modeled the entire offense around Jack Coan's ability to make the quick read and throw, and especially since the offensive line was a mess until Joe Alt seized the LT position. Coan was a very smart QB, and a polished veteran who could make almost all of the throws.

You would think that after having had two+ years as a full time OC, Rees would know the in's and out's.

Instead, he playcalling wasn't very good at all in 2022. Rees didn't have his safety net there to help him.

Yes, the QB situation wasn't good at all (Steve Angeli as a true freshman could very well have been the best choice by default), but looking at the boneheaded calls Rees made throughout the years made everyone's hair turn a few more shades of grey.

After all, when your offensive line is blasting back the opposing front seven by several feet, and opening up gaping holes for what was one of the best 1-2 running back punch combos in the land (Estime and Diggs), it would only make sense to either run the ball straight ahead, or even use a quarterback sneak to get a 4th and inches. Even the diminutive Drew Pyne would easily have picked up those inches.

Instead, he calls a delayed handoff run to the unblocked side of the field, and as good as Diggs was, he got stuffed as he ran right into 3 defenders.

Like it or not, Brian Kelly's decades of experience covered up a lot of flaws.