Hampton makes changes to get better
ROSCOE NANCE
Special to the BCSP
Most football coaches believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Joe Taylor of Hampton University isn't one of those coaches.
The Pirates were an offensive juggernaut last year, averaging 31.3 points and 388.8 yards total offense a game en route to an 11-0 regular season record. Those gaudy statistics propelled them to their second consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title and an automatic berth in the Division I-AA playoffs.
But a disappointing 38-10 first round loss to
unheralded Richmond University - the Pirates' fourth I-AA postseason loss without
a victory -- has Taylor looking for more offensive punch this season, and
he has brought in a new offensive coordinator, Chris
Beatty, a highly successful Virginia High School coach, to provide it.
"The idea is we've been very successful around here,'' Taylor says. "I think it's smart to go back and make assessments. You try to maintain where you're sharp and shore up your weaknesses.''
The Pirates' strength historically has been running the ball in Taylor's 14 seasons as coach. They ran it better than ever last season, averaging 238.4 yards a game, 11th best in Division I-AA as Alonzo Coleman and Ardell Daniels each rushed for more than 1,000 yards.
However, against Richmond, the Pirates mustered just 100 rushing yards as the Spiders crowded the line of scrimmage and shut down their offense. That has prompted Taylor to hire Beatty.
"We got tired of seeing people crowd the box, putting 8-9 folk in the box,'' Taylor says. "That makes it very difficult to run.''
A 1995 graduate of East Tennessee State, Beatty in
eight seasons established himself as one of the top high school coaches
in Virginia with a 78-18 record. He led Landstown High to three
consecutive appearances in the Virginia AAA championship game, and the Eagles
won the state title in 2004. His offensive teams produced the top four passers
in Virginia High School League history, and he also coached the only
two teams in state history to have a 3,000-yard passer, a
1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in the same season.
"The thing I like about Chris is his ability to recognize who the playmakers are and then being able to make sure the playmakers are touching the ball when they need to touch it,'' says Taylor, who compares bringing in Beatty to Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs hiring Al Saunders as his offensive coordinator. "If you're going to be successful, you can't be afraid of change.''
Beatty's credentials have created high expectations for Hampton's offense. But he says he's simply trying to get the job done and win games.
"I'm just trying to fit in,'' he says. "I'm trying to bring a new dimension to a program that has been successful. I'm the type of guy that no one has higher expectations than I do. I just want to be able to do what I do. I don't look at it as a pressure situation. We've got a great program. It's a lot bigger than me coming in trying to do my thing. I just want to make sure we do our thing, which is to score more points than we give up.''
Beatty says he will strive for balance between the running and passing games.
"We want to spread the field and make the opponent defend sideline to sideline,'' Beatty says. "We have some very good athletes here. We want to spread the ball around and take what the defense gives us. If they want to make us run and defend the pass, we want to be able to run the ball. If they want to stack the box and make us throw the ball, we want to be able to throw the ball. We have a variety of things we're going to try to do to keep the defense off balance.''
One thing not likely to change is Coleman's role in the offense. He
has rushed for 1,000 or more yards each of his three seasons. He needs 242
yards to break the Hampton career rushing record and 546 yards to break
the MEAC record. Beatty says he will find more ways to get Coleman the ball.
"Having a back like him makes my job easier,'' Beatty says. "Everybody knows who the bread winner is, who's going to be getting the ball.''
Senior quarterback Princeton Shepherd, 21-5 as a starter, will run the offense. Shepherd struggled at times last season, including in the Pirates' playoff loss.
"Shepherd gives us a lot of experience,'' Beatty says. "Everybody realizes Princeton is our starter. Everybody is looking to him for leadership''
However, West Virginia transfer T.J. Mitchell could ultimately be the man the Pirates look to lead their new-look offense. Mitchell played for Beatty in high school and knows his system cold. He led Landstown High to the 2003 state championship game. He ended his high school career in Virginia's top 10 for career, season and single-game passing yards and touchdown passes.
Antwan Smith, Shepherd's backup last season, has been moved to wide out, opening the door for more playing time for Mitchell.
"T.J. has familiarity with the system and coming from West Virginia, he has played against some big-time athletes,'' Beatty says. "I feel good about our depth."
Marquay McDaniel, Onrea Jones and Dereck Faulkner return to give Hampton its deepest corps of wide receivers in recent memory. With such an array of skill players at his disposal expectations are that Beatty will produce plenty of offensive fireworks.
"We've got to figure out a way to get out of that first round,'' Taylor says. "We've been building and building. They say you have to be consistently good before you can be great. We've been consistently good.''
Given Hampton's history of postseason futility, the Pirates are counting on Beatty's offensive acumen to propel them to greatness.
© 2006 Azeez Communications, Inc.