I just got off of a small media video conference with new Northwestern offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian. I'm going to be writing a story soon. Here are some quick notes:
- Fitz reached out to him the night after BC's season ended. He was NU's campus by Wed night and had a meeting on Thursday.
- Why Northwestern? "It's a phenomenal place." He cited the leadership (Fitz, Dr. Jim and Morty) and the culture that leadership has created. "That's special, I knew I would like to be a part of that."
- He talked about the higher caliber of student-athlete at Northwestern, and that it was one of things that attracted him to Boston College, as well. "They're guys I want to be around and I want my family to be around."
- His offensive philosophy is a simple one: "Build it around your personnel...Find out who your players are and find ways to get the ball in their hands." It's really that simple. He knows the offense will be uptempo, but beyond that he really doesn't know yet. It may or may not be a spread -- a term he hates, by the way, because it has come to mean finesse. "Our goal is to be a physical, tough team."
- He is building the offense from scratch for the first time since 2007 at CMU -- when he had QB Dan LeFevour (sixth-round draft pick) and a WR named Antonio Brown. "It will be easy to learn, it will be flexible, and it will fit the personnel here"...as well as the personnel that will come through the door, as he put it.
- The QBs will all start with a clean slate. It's less about what they did in the past that what they do moving forward. His No. 1 criteria for a QB is to be a winner. He'd like guys who are more athletic, who can improvise and scramble, but he's been successful with pocket guys, dual-threats and athletes. Again, find what they do well, and then do it. He wants his QBs to "go above and beyond expectations in everything we do."
- He says "sometimes we make football harder than it has to be." He says success often comes down to who plays with greater effort, conditioning and guys playing for each other. "It's all about that."
- He had great praise for Lovie Smith and enjoyed his time with the Bears. He says Lovie deserves a lot of credit for his getting this job, and all the job he's had, because he took a chance on him. He also referenced former Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter quite a bit.
- He has relationships with a lot of the coaching staff. He remembers Fitz from his days at CMU and preparing for them. He has known Heffner and Springer for years. He remembers Ayeni as a player and considered hiring him as a RB coach once in his career. He was a GA when Anderson played at Michigan. (By the way, he has vivid recollections of the 2000 54-51 game and still uses YouTube clips to teach the four-minute offense.)
- He wants to have more explosion plays and has already done research to back it up. When NU didn't have an offensive explosion play (a run of 12+ or a pass of 16+), NU scored 8% of the time. When they had one, the touchdown percentage (not just scoring) went up to 38-39% (he didn't have the numbers in front of him). When they had two, it was close to 60%. So whether it's longer passes or coaching breaking tackles, explosion plays will be emphasized.
Shoot me questions and I'll let you know if we covered that topic.
- Fitz reached out to him the night after BC's season ended. He was NU's campus by Wed night and had a meeting on Thursday.
- Why Northwestern? "It's a phenomenal place." He cited the leadership (Fitz, Dr. Jim and Morty) and the culture that leadership has created. "That's special, I knew I would like to be a part of that."
- He talked about the higher caliber of student-athlete at Northwestern, and that it was one of things that attracted him to Boston College, as well. "They're guys I want to be around and I want my family to be around."
- His offensive philosophy is a simple one: "Build it around your personnel...Find out who your players are and find ways to get the ball in their hands." It's really that simple. He knows the offense will be uptempo, but beyond that he really doesn't know yet. It may or may not be a spread -- a term he hates, by the way, because it has come to mean finesse. "Our goal is to be a physical, tough team."
- He is building the offense from scratch for the first time since 2007 at CMU -- when he had QB Dan LeFevour (sixth-round draft pick) and a WR named Antonio Brown. "It will be easy to learn, it will be flexible, and it will fit the personnel here"...as well as the personnel that will come through the door, as he put it.
- The QBs will all start with a clean slate. It's less about what they did in the past that what they do moving forward. His No. 1 criteria for a QB is to be a winner. He'd like guys who are more athletic, who can improvise and scramble, but he's been successful with pocket guys, dual-threats and athletes. Again, find what they do well, and then do it. He wants his QBs to "go above and beyond expectations in everything we do."
- He says "sometimes we make football harder than it has to be." He says success often comes down to who plays with greater effort, conditioning and guys playing for each other. "It's all about that."
- He had great praise for Lovie Smith and enjoyed his time with the Bears. He says Lovie deserves a lot of credit for his getting this job, and all the job he's had, because he took a chance on him. He also referenced former Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter quite a bit.
- He has relationships with a lot of the coaching staff. He remembers Fitz from his days at CMU and preparing for them. He has known Heffner and Springer for years. He remembers Ayeni as a player and considered hiring him as a RB coach once in his career. He was a GA when Anderson played at Michigan. (By the way, he has vivid recollections of the 2000 54-51 game and still uses YouTube clips to teach the four-minute offense.)
- He wants to have more explosion plays and has already done research to back it up. When NU didn't have an offensive explosion play (a run of 12+ or a pass of 16+), NU scored 8% of the time. When they had one, the touchdown percentage (not just scoring) went up to 38-39% (he didn't have the numbers in front of him). When they had two, it was close to 60%. So whether it's longer passes or coaching breaking tackles, explosion plays will be emphasized.
Shoot me questions and I'll let you know if we covered that topic.
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