Moorhead Ready To Lead UO Offense
02/05/20 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon's new offensive coordinator met with local media Wednesday, two weeks after being hired to head coach Mario Cristobal's staff.
Two weeks after being announced as Oregon's new offensive coordinator and then immediately hitting the road to recruit, Joe Moorhead on Wednesday held his first press conference with local media since joining the UO staff.
Moorhead last served as offensive coordinator at Penn State, helping the Nittany Lions average 39.3 points per game in 2016-17. He came to Oregon after spending two years as head coach at Mississippi State.
Head coach Mario Cristobal said he was "as excited as can be" to add Moorhead to his staff, calling him "one of the premier playcallers and coaches in the country, off the charts as a human being, and a guy we certainly think can make a tremendous impact."
Moorhead will take over an Oregon offense that was No. 16 nationally at 35.4 points per game in 2019, and that led the Pac-12 with 4.80 rushing yards carry. The Ducks have to replace quarterback Justin Herbert and four starting offensive lineman, but return Outland Trophy winner Penei Sewell and a stable of skill-position players led by leading rusher CJ Verdell and leading receiver Johnny Johnson III.
In his press conference Wednesday, Moorhead professed his intention to achieve close to a 50-50 run-pass balance as a coordinator, and said he's meeting with the rest of the Ducks' offensive staff to discuss formations and philosophies the UO offense will employ in the fall.
At Penn State, a typical game plan included between 10 and 15 plays that were either designed quarterback runs or provided the option for that, a number Moorhead said was "just about right."
"Ultimately at the end of the day it's a personnel-driven game," Moorhead said. "It's not what the coaches know, it's what the players can execute. It's really going to be based on what we can do as a team and what we're proficient at."
The Ducks return three quarterbacks, led by 2019 backup Tyler Shough, redshirt freshman Cale Millen and sophomore Bradley Yaffe. Freshman Jay Butterfield enrolled in January, and fellow 2020 recruit Robby Ashford was signed as well.
Shough completed 12-of-15 passes for 144 yards and three touchdowns in five appearances last season.
"It's tabula rasa; it's a blank slate," Moorhead said. "We're gonna install a new offense, give it to all the guys, and I'm excited for the competition. But there's certainly plenty of talent to work with."
The Ducks announced one new addition to the 2020 recruiting class on Wednesday, the first day of the traditional letter-of-intent signing period.
The addition was a big one: defensive lineman Jayson Jones, a 6-foot-6, 350-pound native of Calera, Ala. Jones was a four-star recruit according to ESPN and a three-star prospect according to Rivals and 247Sports. He had three tackles with a sack in the Under Armour All-America Game.
The addition of Jones elevated Oregon's 2020 signing class to No. 9 in the team rankings of Rivals, No. 12 according to 247Sports and No. 13 according to ESPN. This is the third time in the last 10 years and the second year in a row that the Ducks have had a top-10 class according to at least one of the major recruiting services.
Cristobal announced a position change during his own press conference Wednesday.
Junior DJ Johnson will be at tight end when the Ducks open spring practices in March. He had 14 tackles as a defensive end in 2019, after sitting out the 2018 regular season as a transfer from Miami (Fla.)
Johnson will add depth to a position that lost seniors Jake Breeland and Ryan Bay from the 2019 team.
"We want to get him on the field more," Cristobal said. "He's a team guy. He wants to be here, he wants to help the team and he looks great running around."
