Feature: offensive coaches

After the OUA regular season schedule had come to a close, the Guelph Gryphons had amassed an impressive 6-2 record and climbed to No. 3 in the national rankings. It was obvious the defence was tough and tested. But one of the stories to emerge from the 2019 Gryphons was the evolution of an offence that showed there was more than one way to win a football game.

The output has been good, like the stretch from week 2 through week 4 where Guelph put up 129 points, with some welcome help from a few defensive scores. Maybe the most incredible part of this year’s success is that the offensive coaches likely needed name tags to get to know each other.

“We all come from different programs so it was one of the rare situations where none of us had worked together before,” new Offensive Coordinator Mark Surya says of the rebuilt staff. “Our focus is to make sure there is communication.”

The mainstay has been veteran O-line coach Mike MacDonald, who has played a huge part in the success for the new-look program. Head coach Ryan Sheahan and first-year running backs coach Bryce Harper came from the University of Calgary, quarterbacks coach Stevenson Bone arrived from Western, Devan Sheahan, the brother of the head coach, took charge of the wide receivers after being on the Queen’s staff for eight years, and assistant offensive line coach Tom Sterling was at McMaster before he came to Guelph.

Surya, who played for Coach Sheahan’s father Pat at Queen’s, is also adjusting to the new environment after his most recent job as the OC at the University of Toronto.

“Everything from beginning to end is brand new,” says Surya, the architect of a 2016 Laurier Golden Hawks offence that led U SPORTS with 281.4 rushing yards per game and ranked second in points with 42.9 per game. “Lucky enough, this is one of the few staffs I have been a part of where all of us get along even outside of football.

“It doesn’t just end when we leave the field.”

That cohesion has been critical. The OC says that one of the keys to this season was the need to think big picture. Each unit was tasked with understanding the scheme of their position group, as well as learning the new terminology in Coach Sheahan’s pro-style system.

“Usually on a football team, everyone has their little piece of the puzzle,” says Surya. “What we’re trying to teach these guys is to look at the whole puzzle and put it together so they can understand the full picture. They can be much more adaptive to the defences they’re seeing and have an answer regardless of what we see in games.”

According to Surya, the players were hungry for a change in offensive philosophy. They got it, as well as a lot more information than they are used to ingesting. He adds that it takes time to see “the fruits of the labour,” but the progression has been obvious.

“The group as a whole have come together and we’re having more success than we did earlier on in the season,” Surya says, noting there is a change philosophy for each opponent. “What we’ve used the week before, it’s no secret we won’t use it the next week, unless the same principles hold true.

“We want to make sure we’re flexible enough to attack the other team’s weaknesses.”

The communication amongst the offensive coaches and the players begins almost immediately following that week’s game. There are film sessions and planning, with prep for the next opponent happening on Sunday. Surya says the first few days are a “mad dash” to understand what the opponent’s strength and weaknesses are.

The staff determines what they can install that week for the Gryphon offence to exploit.

“Every week is a mini new offence they’re trying to learn,” Surya says. “It’s a seven-day a week job.”

It’s this fresh, versatile approach that has made the offence, under the capable command of fifth-year quarterback Theo Landers, be successful. The looks are different in each game, like when Guelph went with a two-tailback set against the Ottawa Gee-Gees featuring Juwan Jeffrey and Kaine Stevenson. The run game was also critical in the Gryphons’ dramatic 27-24 OT win over Queen’s in Kingston, with rushers combining for 198 yards.

The ground attack the bread and butter of the offence but the coaches are trying to complement that strength with some more aggression in the passing game. Landers has embraced the new offence and has done an amazing job of developing as a downfield passer to utilize the weapons at wide receiver like Kian Schaffer-Baker, Jordan Terrio, and Kade Belyk.

Of course any success has been contingent on the men up front and Surya has nothing but praise for the work Coach MacDonald has done with an offensive line that has been decimated by injuries.

“Mike’s done a great job this year,” says Surya. “We have started a couple freshman in Noah Wright and Matthew Famurewa, who had never played at this level before.

“We’re seeing the strength of Mike as a coach.”

The OC says that one of the hard parts of coaching is the need to have micro goals but also to understand that the season is long and development is continual. There’s a tendency for coaches to be too reactive in the moment about a single play or a single game, be it positive or negative.

“It’s about having that long-term focus,” Surya explains. “Our main goal as coaches is for us to play our best football at the right time.”

The offensive coaching staff has come together this season despite the many new faces. And that culture change is only adding to Guelph’s reputation as one of Canada’s most desirable destinations.

“This place has all the things you need to be a successful program,” says Surya. “It’s a premier place to play football in the country – and one of the few that can be a national championship contender year after year.”

written by: david dicenzo