The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Lucas McComb

Mitch Browning fixed a suspicious gaze upon his offensive linemen as they repeatedly hurtled into one another at an early April practice.

Browning was brought in to repair the entire Syracuse offense, but he doesn't seem too concerned with the big picture right now.

He hovers over his offensive linemen, peering out from under his blue Syracuse hat. He is wearing blue athletic shorts and a gray sweatshirt, seemingly in defiance of the 40-degree weather that has forced the rest of the SU coaching staff into big blue parkas and highlighter-orange knit hats.

If his dress would indicate he is a no-nonsense coach, his running critique of SU's linemen confirms the fact. While head coach Greg Robinson claps and cajoles on another field in his upbeat manner, Browning is stern and serious. He's quick to pick out the slightest imperfections in blocking fundamentals - when a guard fails to keep his elbows tight to his body when delivering a block or a tackle doesn't form a wide enough base with his feet.

Browning, the most notable addition to an SU coaching staff that nearly didn't survive last year's 2-10 debacle, was brought in to shake things up. Brought in to repair an offense that ranked 114th out of 119 Division I teams in total offense. To repair a mistake-ridden line that allowed 54 sacks.

His solution is simple. Start over.

"We changed the system, we changed the technique, we changed everything," Browning said. "We started from scratch."

That means the end of the West Coast offense, which has staggered through three seasons under Robinson. The pistol, Syracuse's hybrid shotgun formation? Forget about that, too. ("I don't know anything about the pistol," Browning said.)

Browning has slashed pages out of the playbook. He's set about installing the simpler system he presided over during his seven years as offensive coordinator at Minnesota. A balanced mix of power runs and pass plays that produced the top five offenses in Golden Gopher history.

And in the process, everything on the SU offense - from the lineman's stance to the proper way to deliver a block - has been questioned by Browning in an attempt to turn around this Syracuse offense before the Robinson regime runs out of time.

So if Browning, SU's third offensive coordinator in four years, seems like a taskmaster on the field, it's because he knows the Orange can't afford the mistakes that plagued last year's sloppy group.

Continued...

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