Jaren Hall Explains What Makes Aaron Roderick Such A Good Offensive Coordinator
Nov 18, 2021, 1:45 PM
(BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
PROVO, Utah – Last year, BYU’s offense took off with a huge jump. A lot of the credit, rightfully so, was given to offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. However, it was more than Grimes as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Aaron Roderick had a big hand in the offense.
Last year, the BYU offensive coaching staff felt they had the potential for a top-10 offense. A lot of people scoffed at that since Zach Wilson wasn’t even named the starting quarterback during the summer, and not to mention he was still banged up. Well, the Cougars’ offense ended up finishing top 10 in points per game, yards per game and were No. 1 in the country in yards per play at 7.84 – besting national champion Alabama.
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Now as the offensive coordinator, Rodderick has done a lot to make sure this offense kept humming with whoever was under center. It has mostly been Jaren Hall when he has been healthy but in a few games, it was Baylor Romney who kept the offense functioning at a high level.
The running game has been a huge with Tyler Allgeier and Roderick knows when the offense is running well it is tough to stop.
“When things are clicking and things are working, it’s a really fun game. We have some good weapons. I think in the last couple of games we found good rhythm by spreading the ball around,” Roderick said. “You’ve seen a lot of different guys touch the ball in different ways. You’re seeing us throw the ball down the field, seeing us run the football and you’re seeing us use all of our different position groups. It’s a lot more fun when it’s working.”
Hall joined Unrivaled giving high praise to Roderick. The one big takeaway is that the offense adapts to the players and everyone knows what others need to do, so they all can help each other out.
“A Rod does a great job of taking all the concepts he knows super well and teaching them in a simple way that anyone can grasp it,” Hall said. “A big thing for us as in the offense that has developed since Zach [Wilson] took over the starting role [last year], is that we kind of changed the role to him and for mobile quarterbacks so they can do both. He has done a great job that is is simple enough that over the years that not only quarterbacks know the offense but everyone does.
“… Everyone knows what is going on so it helps every position understand where what they gotta be what they gotta do and why they have to do it. He just brought the offense together so everyone understands what we are doing and helps us function at a higher level.”
Roderick in this role at BYU is just getting started and his offense is one that is getting noticed for having a Doak Walker semifinalist in Allgeier and the offense is nearly as efficient as last year by being 11th in the nation yards per play at 6.78.
All of this has been achieved by returning only 47 percent of its offensive production heading into the season and that was 117th in all of the FBS. So, for Roderick to have one of the most efficient offenses in the country is an indicator that his future is bright by doing all the right things down in Provo in leading this offense.
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