The Ducks made a splash this off-season when they landed the top coordinator on the market
Photo by Jeffrey Price
1. Joe Moorhead - Oregon
Joe Moorhead comes to Eugene in 2020 as one of the most respected and innovative play callers in the nation. Moorhead began making a name for himself as the Head Coach at Fordham from 2012-2015. During his final 3 years at Fordham, he won 32 games before making the jump to become the Offensive Coordinator at Penn State under James Franklin. The Penn State offense was coming off of a 2015 season where they had averaged just 23.2 points and Moorhead instantly elevated the offense to an elite level as the Nittany Lions scored 37.6 ppg and won 11 games. In 2017, Moorhead's offense dominated the Big 10 again on their way to scoring over 41 points per game. The Ducks will return 95% of their rushing yards and 71% of their receiving yards in 2020, giving Moorhead plenty of weapons to work with this season.
2. Graham Harrell - USC
At just 34 years old, Harrell is a rising star in the coaching business. Concepts from the Air Raid offense have become trendy in both College Football and the NFL and few know the offense better than Harrell who played under Mike Leach at Texas Tech and then coached with Leach at WSU. After coordinating North Texas for 3 years and having a top 30 offense in 2017 and 2018, Harrell moved to Los Angeles to take over the play calling duties for USC. In his first season, Harrell increased the Trojans offensive output from 26.1 ppg to 32.5 ppg. USC will feature an explosive offense in 2020 and Harrell should be on the radar for Power 5 Head Coaching opportunities after the season.
3. Andy Ludwig - Utah
Andy Ludwig returned to Utah in 2019 after a stint at Vanderbilt and found instant success as he elevated the Utah offense from 76th nationally in points per game to 38th. The offensive explosion helped lead the Utes to a Pac-12 South Title and an 11 win season. Ludwig and Kyle Whittingham have been a winning combination together. The last time they had coached together before 2019 was when Utah went 13-0 in 2008 and averaged 36.9 points.
4. Zak Hill - Arizona State
Hill comes to Arizona State after posting back to back Top 20 offenses at Boise State over the past 2 seasons. Arizona State struggled offensively in 2019 while averaging just 24.8 points but will return one of the best quarterbacks in the conference in 2020. Jayden Daniels and Zak Hill will team up to form what should be one of the better Pac-12 offenses the next few years.
5. Brian Smith - WSU
Brian Smith and Nick Rolovich come to WSU after spending 3 years together at Hawaii where their Run N' Shoot offense dominated the Mountain West. Their success together culminated in a 10 win season and an offense that ranked 24th nationally in 2019. Prior to coaching at Hawaii, Smith's offense at Occidental averaged 34 points and 481 yards of offense.
T6. Bill Musgrave - California
Musgrave arrives in Berkeley after spending nearly 30 seasons in the NFL as both a player and coach. Musgrave is a former Oregon quarterback who was drafted in the 4th round of the NFL Draft in 1991 and then spent time as the Offensive Coordinator for 6 different NFL teams. Musgrave will bring plenty of knowledge and experience with him to Cal but will need to adjust to being a coordinator at the college level where innovation and creativity are necessary to compete with more talented programs.
T6. Brian Lindgren - Oregon State
The Beavers' offense was one of the pleasant surprises in 2019 as Oregon State scored 45 points or more on 4 different occasions. The Beavers return plenty of speed on offense in 2020 with 7 players running sub 4.50 40 times at the Beaver Combine this past Spring.