What Does Brad Glenn Bring To Georgia State’s Offense?

What Does Brad Glenn Bring To Georgia State's Offense?

Right as the madness of National Signing Day was coming to a close and the focus was about to shift to spring practice and improving on a disappointing 2-10 2018 season, Georgia State football was dealt a serious blow when the news came out that offensive coordinator Travis Trickett had left to take an assistant coach position at West Virginia.

Especially in the face of growing pressure to put out a winning product, this hire is ostensibly the biggest hire Coach Shawn Elliott has had to make at GSU. In hiring Brad Glenn – most recently the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Western Carolina University – Coach Elliott is signalling he trusts the plan he’s set in place and isn’t going to shift course too far. Here’s why:

Coach Glenn’s time at Western Carolina has a few hallmarks, especially in his later years – a balanced offense and active quarterbacks in the running game. QB Tyrie Adams led the Catamounts in rushing yards in 2018 with 1,006 yards – nearly doubling the next closest rusher – through a mix of traditional option plays, read options and just plain-old designed QB runs. We’ll have to see exactly how he uses incumbent starter Dan Ellington, but given that Dan did all of those things to the tune of 625 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in 2018, I imagine there will be a comfort level there for both quarterback and coordinator.

But Glenn’s offenses at WCU didn’t run the ball in place of a successful passing game. Indeed, he used plenty of play action and RPOs (run-pass options – they’re all the rage) to set up the run through the pass and keep opposing defenses guessing. There’s plenty of misdirection in his play designs and a propensity to throw to running backs out of the backfield, which should give twitchy fast backs like Seth Paige and Tra Barnett plenty of open field to run in.

Despite losing standout Penny Hart to the NFL Draft process, the wide receiver room remains promising – with some interesting additions this signing class. There is similar depth among the tight ends, who should get favorable one-on-one matchups in the middle of the field and rebound from a down year in 2018.

In short, Brad Glenn is not a revolutionary change from Travis Trickett. Yes, the schemes are going to be different – even if just subtly – and there’s still new offensive plays to be learned and new terminology to take on board. But if the install in spring and fall camps is swift and successful, there’s a lot to like about what Georgia State can do offensively in 2019 – because the players we have are well-suited to what Coach is going to ask them to do.

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