Canada bringing change to Maryland offense
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Since former Maryland offensive coordinator Walt Bell left the program this offseason to assume the same position at Florida State, there have been many questions surrounding the future of the Terps’ offense.
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But those inquiries started to get answered during the opening spring practice March 5, as the new offensive play caller in College Park, Matt Canada, addressed the media for the first time.
“We have a lot of really good players,” Canada said. “I think the job Coach [D.J.] Durkin and his staff have done recruiting has been amazing. So we have a lot of talent and I’m really excited. Today was day one and we’re going to figure out who we are, what our skill set is.”
With previous stops as offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, NC State, Pittsburgh, and LSU, Canada has called plays against competition from numerous conferences, including the Big Ten. And while each team he has coached has been unique in its own right, Canada has entered each coaching job with a common goal in mind, which he is also carrying with him to College Park.
“Score points,” Canada said when asked what his offense is built around. “I mean that’s a silly answer, but that’s the answer. I think everywhere we’ve been we’ve done it a little bit different. We had multiple backs at one place; we had two different quarterbacks at one place; we threw it a bunch at one place. We take pride in finding what our players do well and maximizing the talents of the players we have at that time. So we certainly have a system--the way we call formations, the way we call plays--but the offense we run each year has been different based on what guys do well. And I think that’s our job as coaches.”
But Canada knows figuring out what each of his offensive players’ strengths are is only part of his job. He will also have to decipher the offensive depth chart at some point before next season.
Starting the players who earned it is one common thread Canada likes to bring with him from school to school, but keeping game plans variable from week to week and attacking the opposing team’s weakest link are also common traits of Canada-coached offenses.
“The best player plays,” Canada said. “I told them it’s about winning. Sometimes the [backup] is hot. Sometimes it’s the situation or the team we’re playing, what they give you. I think that’s a lost art a little bit. It’s not like every week you run the same play. You find Waldo--whoever the weakest player on their team is. Every team has one. I don’t care if you have to go play the world champion [Philadelphia] Eagles tomorrow. We would have to look and say, ‘Who do we think gives us the best chance to move the ball even though they’re in the NFL?’ And I think that’s what we do. So every week it’s a little bit different.”
The ability to adapt and keep defenses on their toes are certainly reasons why D.J. Durkin decided to make Canada Bell’s replacement. And while it’s just the first days of spring ball, the Maryland head coach likes what he has seen so far from the former Broyles Award (award for the nation's top assistant coach) finalist and believes he’ll be able to get the most out of the talent the Terps have on the offensive side of the ball.
“I think he’s very talented and has been able to adapt to what he does to the personnel and what the strengths are of our team,” Durkin said. “I think it’s exactly what we need. We have, I believe, a lot of strengths and some unique personnel packages. We have a deep running back group. We have a talented, young receiving corps. I think what he does allows our tight ends to get a little more involved. Then you look at our quarterback situation and I think that when we’re healthy at quarterback, we’re as good as there is. He’s got some great ideas on that and a proven track record of doing things a lot of different ways and being successful.”
One area that Durkin didn’t mention but has stood out early to Canada as a major strength for the Terps is Maryland’s stout and experienced offensive line.
“We have a lot of guys coming back up front,” Canada said. “We have a couple of guys out right now but we think about the strength of our offensive line, and to me, that’s it. If you can block them and your skill set says throw it, you can throw it when you block. If your skill set says run it, you can run it. If you can’t block, it really doesn’t matter what your skill set is. I think that’s where it always starts is up front.”
With a strong stable of running backs returning and questions at the quarterback position, Maryland will certainly need its blockers up front to have a stellar season in 2018.
Quarterback, in particular, is an area where the Terps need to find some traction. An entire depth chart of signal callers was used in College Park after a long offseason battle for the starting job last season. And with Tyrrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill both working their way back from knee injuries this offseason, it appears another quarterback competition is developing at Maryland.
Canada is pleased with what he has seen from the Terps quarterbacks that have been able to practice so far, but his starter will ultimately be determined later this offseason by who best meets the criteria he has laid out.
“We have a couple of guys who are very young, very talented,” Canada said. “Max [Bortenschlager] did a great job today. Tyler [DeSue] did a great job today. And Legend [Brumbaugh] played well. So we’re working through it all right now but I think we’ve got some guys at quarterback.
“The skill set of the quarterback is unique with the guys we have. You guys know these guys better than I do at this point because you’ve seen them all. The beauty of that is we’re going to put it all in right now, put our system in and whoever becomes the guy who’s a winner, the guy who’s a student of the game, the guy who’s the most accurate will be the quarterback. And then we’ll run the plays based off of who gives us the best chance to win. But I’m aware of what those guys do well and I’ll pay attention to that.”
As for the gunslingers who are unable to practice as they rehab injuries, Canada has also begun to build relationships with them and go over his offense from a mental standpoint,
“I like [Hill and Pigrome] a lot,” Canada said. “I have a lot of fun with those guys. We laugh and it has been good. They don’t do anything right now except work out, but they’re learning the offense well and they’re fun. Kasim’s knowledge of the game--I was asking him about players on other teams and he had it all. And Piggy, we just laugh and have a good time, so I’m enjoying it.”
Like quarterback, Canada plans to have an open competition at virtually every offensive position, stating, “It’s more about who shows up and who wins the jobs.”
But besides a plethora of talent and untapped potential across the roster, it was Durkin’s reputation and overall promise as a head coach that really made Canada want to come to Maryland.
“It was a lot about Coach Durkin,” Canada said. “We have some mutual friends and I met him here and there. We’ve crossed paths but I never spent a lot of time with coach. But we have some mutual friends who have always talked about him and that was the draw for me.”
Throughout 25 years of coaching experience Canada has helped put players such as Pitt quarterback Nathan Peterman and NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett, as well as Wisconsin running backs Montee Ball, James White and Melvin Gordon in to the NFL.
In his last game as an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten, Canada’s offense exploded in the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game, by way of a 70-31 rout of Nebraska, earning the Badgers a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Wisconsin had two 200-yard rushers for the first time in school history and compiled 539 yards on the ground and 640 total against the Cornhuskers.
Terps fans will be hoping for similar results moving forward.