The Charleston Gazette Wrote:Calling plays so easy even a sportswriter can do it
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
July 13, 2008

MORGANTOWN - Let's be realistic about this, OK? Just how much is West Virginia's offense going to change this season with a new coaching staff in place?

After all, the players are pretty much the same, especially quarterback Pat White. So might there be less change than some might expect?

"I hope so. I don't want there to be a lot,'' said the most instrumental of those new offensive coaches, coordinator Jeff Mullen. "You've got a kid who's going into his fifth year at quarterback, you don't want him thinking. You don't. You want him playing. When he's playing, it doesn't matter what you call. Give him the ball and play.''

OK, so scratch that. The plays will be pretty much the same, with some tweaks and additions here and there.

How about the play calls? With five new offensive coaches, certainly philosophies will change, right? The type of play-calling Mullen did during his previous coaching stops certainly differs from what West Virginia's former staff might have done, doesn't it?

"I don't know,'' Mullen said. "I've never called plays.''

See, just what we ... Wait a minute. What did he say?

"I've never called plays,'' Mullen repeated.

So when West Virginia lines up against Villanova at the end of August, the guy in the press box calling the plays will be getting his feet wet for the first time? Ever?

Well, not exactly.

"I've never had the title and I've never gone into a game with the call sheet and [the responsibility] of calling them,'' Mullen said. "But there's been times when I've called series of plays in a game, a lot of times when I had every third down call in the game, those kinds of things.''

Well, we all have to start somewhere, right?

So for Mullen, is it exciting? Daunting? Cause for nervousness?

"None of the above, really,'' Mullen said. "I don't want it to sound strange, but once you have the call sheet - once you have 17 normal down-and-distance calls and six third-and-3-to-6 calls, all of that - you just read the call sheet. The key is the preparation within the week. Once you get to game day, it's just running the offense.''

Mullen makes it sound so easy that anyone could call West Virginia's offense once the ball is kicked in the air.

"The tough part, and the part where I've got to be really good, is making sure we're doing the right thing from Sunday through Friday,'' Mullen said. "I've got to make sure we're doing the right things every day so that Saturday we've got the right calls there. Once it comes to Saturday, any one of our guys can call the game and it would look the same.''

So what goes on that call sheet?

"You want 44 normal down-and-distance calls when you're on schedule - first-and-10 or second-and-6,'' Mullen said. "Off schedule, when you're first-and-more-than-10 because of a penalty or whatever or when you're second-and-7-or-more when you didn't get your 4 yards on first down, you need seven runs and five passes. Third-and-2-or-less you need four, third-and-3-to-6 you need six, third-and-7-or-more you need eight. Then down in the red zone you need four runs, four passes, you need a short, medium and long third-down call. Same way in the gold zone, which is the 11 to about the 3. If we fill that out correctly, you could call the game.''

Well, maybe not me.

In the press box, calling the game is a two-man deal. Doc Holliday, in charge of the tight ends and fullbacks, will be with Mullen providing down and distance, field position and anything else of significance.

"Clearly there are times when you get a feel and you think, 'OK, we've got to run a reverse or we have to play-action them.' And you go to that section of the game plan and you call it,'' Mullen said. "And that's really the biggest part that I had in the past was getting the [offensive coordinator] off the script and onto a gut feel. So I've got that.''

But going off script is the exception and not the rule. Or at least Mullen hopes it is that way.

"I don't think you have to [go off script],'' Mullen said. "I worked with a guy for seven years at Wake Forest and he would script the whole game sometimes. And I'll be danged if he wasn't almost on it the whole time. ... It was a matter of staying on the script regardless of what we saw because we were prepared. And I think we're going to be extremely prepared here. Not only do we have a good system, we've got really smart ball coaches.''

Those ball coaches will also be involved in the play calling, both during the week in readying the call sheet and occasionally on game days.

"I was raised in a system where the quarterback and wideout [coaches] were in charge of third downs and the throw game and the tight end and running back and O-line guys were in charge of short-yardage and run game,'' Mullen said. "And if we're in the middle of a game, I'll ask them. 'You've been studying it harder than anybody. What do you want to call here?' And I'll have no problem pulling the trigger on that.''

In the end, though, it's all about calling the right plays on Saturday, whether that's a result of terrific preparation or just a gut feeling.

"I know everybody wants to make a big deal about Saturday. And clearly it's going to be a big deal, needs to be a big deal,'' Mullen said. "But if we're doing what we're supposed to be doing Sunday through Friday, we're going to call good plays.''

Reach staff writer Dave Hickman at (304) 348-1734 or dphickman1@aol.com.