Will Utah's change of coordinators really make a difference?

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SALT LAKE CITY — One year ago this month, Brandon Doman saddled up next to Kyle Whittingham at the annual college football coaches convention, petitioning the Utah coach for employment.

Recognizing that his tenure as the BYU offensive coordinator was doomed to end, Doman inquired about the possibility of joining Utah’s staff. Unfortunately for Doman, Whittingham had no appropriate job openings at the time.

Over the last year, Doman has been content to stay out of football, preferring instead to go into business with his older brothers. Last month he rejected an opportunity to interview for the head coach position at Weber State.

“Right now I feel confident in what I’m doing,” Doman said.

Jay Hill got the Weber State job, leaving his longtime position on Utah’s staff. Hill’s opportunity in Ogden allowed Whittingham to carry out what has become an annual tradition: Hire another offensive coordinator.

Dave Christensen is Utah’s newest coordinator, the sixth in as many seasons and the seventh in Whittingham’s nine-year tenure. Reading like a lineage found in the scriptures, Christensen replaces co-coordinators Dennis Erickson and Brian Johnson, the tandem that replaced Johnson, who replaced Norm Chow, who replaced Aaron Roderick, who replaced Dave Schramm, who replaced Andy Ludwig.

Got it?

Don’t worry if you can’t follow. If the pattern holds, it will probably change again.

Few could argue that Christensen doesn’t have the credentials for the job. Considered an expert at the spread offense, Christensen was tabbed as the nation’s top assistant coach at Missouri in 2007, when the Tigers played in the Big Ten championship game.

With Christensen as the architect, Missouri finished the 2007 season ranked No. 4 with an offense that was fifth in the nation in total offense, eighth in scoring (39.9 points per game) and ninth in passing offense at 314.1 yards per game.

For all of his impressive work, Christensen still has a hard time matching up with Erickson. All Erickson did was win two national championships as the head coach at Miami.

But Erickson was demoted shortly after Christensen was fired as Wyoming’s head coach after five years. Whittingham and Christensen have been close friends going back 25 years to when both were assistants at Idaho State.

“As one of the pioneers of the spread offense, Dave Christensen is an innovative coach and was the architect of one of the top offenses in the country during his time at Missouri,” Whittingham said. “We feel fortunate he was available and interested in joining our program, and he will be a great fit with our staff.

As one of the pioneers of the spread offense, Dave Christensen is an innovative coach and was the architect of one of the top offenses in the country during his time at Missouri. We feel fortunate he was available and interested in joining our program, and he will be a great fit with our staff.

–Kyle Whittingham

“We want an explosive offense, and that’s been a trademark of Dave’s throughout his career as an offensive coordinator.”

Sounds good, coach.

The problem is, in so many words, Whittingham said the same things when Erickson and Chow were hired. And every head coach all over the country has said essentially the same things each time an offensive coordinator is hired.

Interestingly, the new guy isn’t expected to be much different than the old guy, who has been reassigned to coach the running backs, the first time Erickson will be strictly a position coach in more than 30 years. Look for similar stuff with a few wrinkles.

“We can’t go three and out and put the defense on the field, go three and out and three and out,” Christensen said. “We’ll stress tempo in spring ball, but the higher level of execution we have, the faster we are going to play.”

Sound familiar? It ought to, considering darned near every offensive coordinator in college football preaches it these days.

To some, changing coordinators again may seem like a desperation move. And so what if it is?

Coming off two consecutive losing seasons, Whittingham probably needs to post a winning record next year. If he thinks Christensen can make a difference, then so be it.

But coaches can only do so much. The problem lies with the players, specifically the quarterbacks.

Over the course of the last two seasons, the Utes have started five quarterbacks. One quarterback (Jordan Wynn) suffered a career-ending injury, and another (Travis Wilson) may follow suit.

Until the Utes can get stability and productivity at the game’s most important position, the head coach can mix and match coordinators every season and it won’t make much difference.