Why Garrett Riley is an upgrade (with examples, little long)

Jan 13, 2023, 8:43 PM

So instead of my offseason project being why Streeter should be fired (no longer needed for obvious reasons!), I want to start looking at why Garrett Riley is an upgrade. Yes, his name has been thrown around the "up and coming" ranks, but why? How is he an upgrade for us? I'll focus on a couple of plays from the first 4 games of last year for TCU. The goal is to watch their entire season and analyze it from the offensive playcalling perspective. There will be a LOT more to go into, but this hopefully gives everyone a couple of snapshots of why.

1) 3rd and 9, pass down the field and over the middle

Notice how even with the defense showing blitz and dropping back into coverage (meaning 8 guys in coverage), the play call was still attacking down the field. The snap was taken above 3 yards to the left of the right hash, and the pass was thrown down the right hash.

Why is this an improvement? Because with Streeter, this play call would never have happened unless the defense played with a single high safety (think the Miami game). You'd have seen a bubble screen, a throw towards the sideline about 15 yards down the field (completely avoiding the middle of the field), or a QB draw.

2) 1st and 10, shot to the endzone

Situation football. The defensed forced a turnover on OU's first drive of the game and then TCU immediately went up tempo for 3 plays to get a first down. What did they call after that first down? This against a 2 safety look (it's nice to see an OC who isn't afraid of scheming up deep shots against a 2 safety look, something Streeter rarely if ever did). This call reminds me a lot of 2015, 2016, and 2018 for us.

3) 4th and 3, Motion with Crossing routes for a first down

Yes I know the opponent was hardly a challenge, but again, situation football here. Used motion to identify the defense, then ran crossing routes to get the WR open and allow an easy throw for the QB (easy throws for the QB should have been something Streeter focused on a LOT more with DJ earlier in the year).

4) 2nd and 5, WR reverse for a TD

Again, situational football here. Typical first game issues plagued them in the first half (at one point the Time of Possession margin was 20 mins Colorado and 3 mins TCU), and with the running game struggling up the middle, he calls this on 2nd and medium. Perfect change up call at the right time.

5) 1st and 10, Bubble Screen (WAIT! Keep reading!)

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW, WHY are you showing this? Because in THIS situation, it made sense. Look at the 3WRs lined up to the left and LOOK at the SPACE between them and the coverage. The coverage was so far off that the RPO indicator was for Duggan to throw it (truth be told, if there is THAT much space outside like that, I'd rather not even fake the handoff and just let the QB throw it upon reading it). The point here is that the bubble screen is not dead; HOWEVER, when called, it makes sense, and there is NOT a reliance on it to make up for poor coaching.

I'll be putting more together with more of the games I watch, but wanted to show a couple of examples of why I'm really happy Garrett Riley is our new OC. GO TIGERS!