Before I start, I will apologize for calling Don Meredith, one of the great Cowboys “Dan Meredith” in the last podcast, just don’t let my Dad know, he might disinherit Me. Ive been dealing with some radically bad allergies and sinus issues the past week so i’ll blame it on the medications. Good news is I am on the mend and should be able to get through this with as little error as possible, so here we go.

The Texas A&M-Commerce football program announced on Wednesday that HC Clint Dolezel has decided to reorganize the offensive staff. This is certainly welcome news and I am going to explain how this is all going to work as some of the terms a lot of you might not be familiar with. So, first, let’s get to the new Lions on staff from the article on Lion Athletics.com-

Texas A&M University-Commerce football coach Clint Dolezel has announced a re-organization of the offensive coaching staff going into the 2024 season with the additions of Andy Townsend and Tony McClain.
 
Dolezel, who enters his second season as the Lion head coach, assumes the position of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Chase Paramore, who was the running backs coach in 2023, moves over to wide receivers as well as being the pass game coordinator, while McClain is the new running backs coach, and Townsend is the assistant offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
 
“I am so thrilled to add Andy and Tony to our coaching staff,” said Dolezel. “They both add valuable experience to our offensive room, having coached at both the professional and collegiate level.”
 
Townsend returns to A&M-Commerce after most recently serving as the offensive line coach for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). He has also been an advanced scout for the XFL.
 
Prior to his stint with the USFL, Townsend was the offensive line coach and director of football operations for Texas Wesleyan. He also worked as the assistant director of football operations for the Memphis Express in 2019.
 
From 2015-18, Townsend was the associate head coach and defensive ends coach right here at A&M-Commerce, being a part of the 2017 National Championship run for the Lions. He coached four all-conference defensive linemen during his time in Commerce.
 
Prior to A&M-Commerce, he was the offensive intern at SMU in 2014 and an offensive line coach at West coach during the 2013 season, coaching two first team all-region and first team all-conference honorees as well as the Lone Star Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year.
 
Townsend played collegiately at East Texas Baptist and that is where he got his start in coaching as the video coordinator and offensive line coach. He was also a high school state champion at Pewitt High School in 1998.
 
He and his wife, Meredith, have three children: Tripp, Ian, and Elise.
 
McClain spent last season as the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for Saint Augustine’s, a Division II school in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also worked at Texas Wesleyan as the special teams coordinator and defensive line coach in 2021.
 
Prior to his second stint at Texas Wesleyan, he worked at UT Permian Basin in 2020 and was with Texas Wesleyan as the defensive line coach for two years. His coaching career began at Austin Westlake High School, mentoring many Division I commits, including Braden Cassity, the 2017 6A Defensive Player of the Year, who went on to play and be the team captain at Oklahoma State.
 
McClain played in the Arena Football League for the Kansas City Brigade and the Rio Grande Valley Dorados. He played collegiately at Auburn and Southern Illinois.
 
He and his wife, Kasey, have a daughter, Tatum.

So, now that you know the who, here is the what. Aside from being the Head Coach, Dolezel will be the offensive playcaller. A lot of coaches have done this before. Chip Kelly at Oregon, Dana Holgerson at West Virginia and Houston, Neal Brown at West Virginia, and of course the late Mike Leach at Texas Tech, Washington State, and Mississippi State. He will be the guy calling the plays and creating the offensive schemes and formations. How much latitude he gives his Quarterbacks in what to call or check in or out of we don’t know, but it seems like this offense coming next season will be more based on reads of letting the defense get settled in and then attacking open spaces, or as the Air Raid gurus call it, “attack grass.” The short passing game will probably be a big part of the game plan and supplementing the running game. I like this approach because it does allows your Quarterback to react to what he sees, and when that happens, if you have the right personnel, there is a TON of points you can score. I like where this is going already. It will focus on getting the ball out quickly to the skill position players and moving the ball quickly down the field. Dolezel will also be the quarterback coach, meaning that He will be responsible for developing the Quarterbacks and coaching them into how to run his offense. Former Quarterback teaching a new group and a crowded Quarterback room. I like it. A lot.

Chase Paramore, who coached the running backs last season, will be moved the Wide Receivers coach and also the passing game coordinator. You might ask, “what the heck is a passing game coordinator?” Basically my understanding is that they should have the best understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of every receiver, and then gets with the Offensive Coordinator to design a scheme based on that. I assume that’s why you often see the receiver coach also become a passing game coordinator. His input will be invaluable to passing attack and what receivers should be in what positions, whether they are split ends, flankers, inside receivers, slot, or tight ends. Essentially, Paramore’s job is to coach up the receivers to fit the scheme Dolezel wants to run and find who the best are at running it.

Tony McClain will be the running backs coach, which means he will do with the Fullbacks and Tailbacks what Paramore is doing with the receivers. Develop them to run in the offense and work on the fundamentals of being a running back in the Dolezel offense. This means everything from blocking, blitz pick up, ball carrying, and catching passes out of the backfield.

Andy Townsend will be help current offensive line coach Dave Ewart, and this is something we desperately need. Ewart mainly got his coaching experience with the offensive line in the Arena Leagues, where he was very successful, but in the Arena Leagues, you are working with only 3 Offensive linemen 99% of the time. Townsend has a lot of experience coaching linemen on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball in the 11 man game, which will certainly help supplement Ewart’s coaching. Townsend will also be the running game coordinator, which is somewhat odd in that typically a running backs coach handles that, but Townsend has a lot of good experience with many programs and is also a former associate head coach here in Commerce and was on Colby Carthel’s staff from 2015-2018, a very fruitful stretch of football. It adds a nice touch to the staff to have a guy who is from the Carthel era and remembers what those winning days were like and what it takes to rebuild a program. As running game coordinator, he will work with both McClain and Dolezel to develop the running backs to fit the scheme that Dolezel wants to run and work to develop the running backs, and with guys like Reggie Branch (hopefully) returning, it will be something to keep an eye on for sure.

I seriously doubt that we will see any change on the defensive side of the staff, as the changes should help the two units mesh together, and if you have a defense that does what it did this year, which was create turnovers and takeaways and turn them into points, that is something you can hang your hat on for now. Really since the 2021 season, the offense has needed help and never looked like it was on a firm footing and knew what they were doing. It has been frustrating to watch for the past 3 seasons for sure and just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, it would. The new staff and reorganization of some coaches is a testament to the BC Forbes (of Forbes Magazine fame) quote, “Don’t ever underestimate the power of having the right people in the right places within any organization.”

We will have to wait for the Spring Game to get a taste of what this new unit looks like, but until then, i’ll be waiting anxiously for our offense to start humming again, or at least getting back on the road.