Entering their second season as a coaching staff, Tom O’Brien’s two top men-offensive coordinator Dana Bible and defensive coordinator Mike Archer-are one step closer to molding the Wolfpack to their view of how the game should be played. The Technician looks at the coaching styles, philosophy, and vision for the future of the leaders of the offensive and defensive units.
Offense – Dana BibleSince the departure of Philip Rivers after the 2003 season, there has been no greater frustration for Wolfpack fans than the seeming inability of the offense to score points. From 2004-2007, State averaged just 20.91 points per game. In 2006, State scored just 17.5 points per game-its lowest output since it averaged 16.9 in 1985.
Dana Bible, who is entering his tenth season as Tom O’Brien’s offensive coordinator, is the man responsible for making the Pack a scoring threat again. And in just one year, he has made some progress. Last season, State averaged over 4,000 total yards per game for the first time since the Rivers era. It was turnovers, mostly, that hampered the Wolfpack.
Quarterbacks Daniel Evans and Harrison Beck threw 23 interceptions in 2007-the most in Wolfpack history. In fact, in the 54 years that the interception statistic has been kept, the closest an N.C. State team has come to throwing 20 interceptions was when it threw 19 in 1984.
According to Bible, the continuity in the coaching staff is crucial to turning around a struggling offensive program.
“I know what its like to work with him,” Bible said of O’Brien. “I know what to expect. He knows what to expect out of us on the offensive side. We can work that into an advantage. It isn’t naturally an advantage. It doesn’t just magically happen. You have to make it become an advantage and we try hard to do that.”
At Boston College, Bible and O’Brien built a reputation for a balanced offense. Last season, the Pack had 355 rush attempts compared with 502 pass attempts. Personnel and game situations, such as coming from behind, forced State to pass the ball more than Bible would have liked.
“What’s best for us is when we’re balanced,” Bible said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean 50 percent [running and passing], but 40 [percent passing] 60 [percent running] or 60 [percent passing] 40 [percent running]. You don’t want to be one-dimensional. A lot of times, situations may dictate something other than that, but in general, you want to maintain that balance.”
In addition to his duties as offensive coordinator, O’Brien has always placed Bible as the quarterbacks/wide receivers coach. According to Bible, N.C. State’s greatest strength is its running backs, so he is content devoting extra time to the passing game.
“You’re only as good as your weakest link,” Bible said. “If it’s not getting done in one aspect of the offense, then that’s all that your offense is. If the weakest part of your offense is doing well, then you’re going to be successful. I need to find the part that has the least experience, and work with them.”
Mike Archer
While Dana Bible may have inherited an offensive unit that was looking for an identity, the N.C. State defense was coming off some strong years and was beginning to be viewed as a major source of potential NFL talent when Mike Archer took over in 2007.
After allowing 5,473 total yards in 2003-the only time State has ever allowed over 5,000 yards in a season-the defense experienced a renaissance as a result of strong defensive line play. With future pros Mario Williams, Manny Lawson, John McCargo, Tank Tyler and DeMario Pressley on the roster, the Pack allowed only 2,435 yards per game in 2004.
When Archer arrived, he knew he had to build on the tradition of a strong defensive line to be successful. But in his first year, the Pack were unable to stop the run, allowing 186.4 yards per game which was the worst mark in the ACC.
“In this defense, the front four guys are very important, in particular the two tackles,” Archer said. “We’ve got to do a better job of stopping the run. We were not very good last year, and that’s the first priority this year. If we can stop the run with our front four and our three linebackers, we’re going to be that much better. We’ll get people in predictable situations.”
Archer believes this year could be a step toward reviving the Wolfpack tradition of dominating in the trenches. With sophomore Markus Kuhn and redshirt junior Willie Young returning at defensive end and Alan-Michael Cash at defensive tackle, he hopes State will be able to stop the run this season.
“The depth will help us,” Archer said. “We’ll be able to keep fresh people in there, and I think we’ll be able to help our overall defense. The other thing is I think we have more team speed than we did last year.”
Unlike many of O’Brien’s assistants, Archer came to N.C. State from Kentucky rather than Boston College. At Kentucky, he utilized a defensive scheme that featured 3 defensive linemen and four linebackers known as the “three-four.”
Many speculated that he would bring the same system to the Wolfpack defense, but there is no sign of that happening yet. According to Archer, State simply does not have the linebackers to run a three-four this year.
“Time will tell if we get enough linebackers to do it,” Archer said. “Right now we don’t have enough, so we have to run the four-three.”
