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Published Jan 7, 2022
A closer look at new Temple offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf
Dante Collinelli  •  OwlScoop
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@DanteCollinelli

Danny Langsdorf, the former quarterbacks coach at Colorado, has been hired as Temple’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, according to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman that OwlScoop.com has been able to confirm.

Langsdorf comes to Temple with 25 years of coaching experience at various levels, including college football, the Canadian Football League and the NFL. Most recently, he served as Colorado’s quarterbacks coach but has offensive coordinator experience from his time at Nebraska from 2015-17 and from his time at Oregon State from 2005-13.

In the NFL, Langsdorf spent the 2014 season coaching with the New York Giants and helping then quarterback Eli Manning throw for 4,410 yards, 30 touchdowns — his third-highest mark — and complete 63.1 percent of his passes.

Langsdorf has a history of working with future NFL passers. He coached Matt Moore, Sean Canfield, a seventh-round pick in 2010, Sean Mannion, a third-round pick in 2015, and Tanner Lee, a sixth-round pick in 2018.

When recruiting quarterbacks, Langsdorf has said in past interviews that he values accuracy and arm strength more than things like athleticism and size. He often noted he views athleticism as a bonus, rather than a prerequisite.

The longtime offensive coach is taking over a Temple offense that produced a measly 16.33 points per game and just 286.8 yards per game in 2021.

Here is a look at what Temple’s offense could look like under Langsdorf.

LANGSDORF'S OFFENSE BY THE NUMBERS

Taking a look at the last time Langsdorf had play-calling duties at Nebraska reveals some encouraging signs for Temple fans. The Cornhuskers averaged just more than 31 points per game in his three seasons there, with the best season being 2015, when they averaged 37.3 points per game.

During the same period, the Cornhuskers averaged a little more than 404 yards of total offense per game, including 446.9 yards per game during the 2015 season.

Moving to his time at Oregon State, Langsdorf again proved he could coach a productive offense. During his tenure, the Beavers averaged 28.2 points per game, with their best season being 2013, when they averaged 34.6 points per game.

It’s also important to note that Langsdorf’s Beavers consistently increased their scoring output for each of his first five seasons coordinating the offense.

Langsdorf hasn’t coordinated an offense since 2017, but his most recent work as Colorado’s quarterback coach for two seasons deserves a look. He helped quarterback Sam Noyer earn second-team All-Conference honors in 2020 after Noyer had spent the previous season learning to play safety.

Noyer transferred following the 2020 season, leaving the Buffaloes with a hole at quarterback, and that made the 2021 season tough on the offense. They averaged just 18.8 points per game and 257.4 yards per game.

While Langsdorf did not call plays in 2021, he was considered the passing game coordinator, so some blame can be placed at his feet for the team underperforming this season.

Regardless, Langsdorf has proven he can coach productive offenses at the Power-5 level and develop quarterbacks well enough to get them drafted into the NFL.

Coming off last season, it’s hard to imagine Langsdorf not improving the offense, especially considering starting quarterback D’Wan Mathis is returning to the team for 2021.

LANGSDORF'S OFFENSE BY SCHEME

Pinning down exactly what Langsdorf’s scheme will look like at Temple is pretty difficult. There is no recent film to pull from since he hasn’t called plays since 2017, so a lot of this will be using his past statements, stats, and some film to read the tea leaves for an educated guess.

The easiest way to describe Langsdorf’s past offense is a blend of pro-style and spread schemes. He’s articulated in past interviews that his offense will always try to be “multiple” in its personnel groupings and different concepts.

That statement doesn’t reveal much about the specifics of the offense — pretty much every offense in college football is “multiple” — but it does reveal Langsdorf is a coach willing to adapt his scheme over time.

Breaking this into the two schemes Langsdorf’s offense seems to pull the most from, the pro-style offense is highlighted by a lot of under-center work and a vertical passing attack.

Temple’s quarterbacks never took snaps from under center under the previous staff, but that might change this season. In past interviews, Langsdorf acknowledged the need to use more shotgun concepts, so don’t expect to see it take over the offense anytime soon.

Another hallmark of a pro-style offense is the use of a single running back at all times. The Owls played around with using multiple running backs at times last season, but that not might continue under Langsdorf.

With that said, Langsdorf is willing to use running back rotations, meaning there is a chance Temple uses a running back-by-committee approach again this season, unless someone impresses enough to win the job outright.

The last important note to make about the pro-style offense is the de-emphasis of the quarterback run.

When Langsdorf took the reins of the Cornhuskers offense, there was a marked drop in quarterback rush attempts. The Cornhuskers' starting quarterback recorded 145 rushing attempts in 2014 but recorded just 98 attempts in 2015 — Langsdorf’s first season as OC.

It’s important to note those are not purely designed runs and include scrambles and sacks. However, this matches up with Langsdorf’s philosophy of athleticism being a bonus for quarterbacks and not a prerequisite.

For reference, Mathis and Justin Lynch recorded 123 rush attempts this past season, with 75 of them coming from Lynch, who transferred to Northern Illinois this offseason.

The spread style part of the offense is what Temple fans should be familiar with thanks to the last staff. In past statements, Langsdorf has eluded to how his time in the CFL helped him develop a horizontal passing attack by taking advantage of spacing on the field.

This means Owls’ fans shouldn’t expect to see things like bubble screens and quick outs go by the wayside. Temple will likely still try to stress teams horizontally under Langsdorf.

While there will still be the easy reads from spread offense in Temple’s playbook, whoever quarterbacks the Owls this season will likely be asked to be more of a drop back passer.

Moving away from scheme and to pass vs. run tendency, again Langsdorf is a bit of an enigma. When he was at Nebraska, the Cornhuskers’ only passed the ball more than 50 percent once. When he was at Oregon State, the Beavers consistently passed the ball more than half the time.

This was likely a response to having better quarterback play at Oregon State with Mannion heading the offense and eventually becoming their all-time leader in passing yards.

This means Temple’s tendency will likely be decided upon if Langsdorf believes the running or passing game is the strength of the team. This isn’t revolutionary, but again, it shows Langsdorf is an adaptable coach capable of constructing a productive offense around his team’s strengths no matter what those strengths are.

Temple’s 2021 offense is still mostly a mystery, but looking back at Langsdorf's past stops shows a coach who is malleable with his schemes but mostly uses a combination of pro-style and spread schemes.

Front page photo: David Zalubowski, Associated Press

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