Tommy Deas
TideSports.com Editor
LSU needed an offense. Cam Cameron needed a job.
Both solved their problems when LSU head coach Les Miles hired Cameron, his longtime contemporary from when they were on the coaching staff at Michigan and a proven offensive guru at the NFL level, after last season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The Tigers had been a regular in the national championship hunt under Miles, but had fallen flat on offense somewhere during the 2011 season, culminating with a shutout loss to the University of Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans.
And while LSU will come into Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 9 with two losses, the Tigers will be more formidable on offense.
The credit goes to Cameron, who carved a reputation for high-octane offenses in 14 years in the NFL.
"We needed a guy that had a great knowledge of football and had success really at every level," Miles said. "I knew he would make a great impact on our offense."
He has done that. LSU ranks higher in every major offensive category - total yards, passing yards, rushing yards and points per game - than it did at the end of last season.
In hiring Cameron, Miles was bringing aboard a coach who had been dismissed in season by the Baltimore Ravens in 2012. He was fired last December, 14 weeks into the season, from a team that went on to win the Super Bowl.
"Cam was doing a heck of a job here. He did a heck of a job here for a long time. I believe that, and I also believe that right now at this time, the timing says that this is the best thing and this is what we're going to do," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said at the time.
Miles didn't worry about that. He knew what Cameron could do at LSU. He also had to shake up his coaching staff - Greg Studrawa, who spent two seasons as offensive coordinator after Steve Kragthorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, was moved back to offensive line coaching duties, and Kragthorpe, who had continued to coach quarterbacks, was reassigned to an administrative position.
"I wanted Cam to work with us, period," Miles said. "I looked forward to relying on his experience and his expertise. There was no hesitation in any way."
Cameron's influence has shown most in the improvement of quarterback Zach Mettenberger. Last season, as a first-year starter, Mettenberger completed 58.8 percent of his passes for just more than 200 yards per game with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. So far in 2013, he has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 277 yards per game with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
"Zach was willing to make a change," Miles said. "I think it's a wonderful piece for him, a senior, his final year of competition, looking forward to being mentored by one of the best offensive coordinator/quarterback coaches in the business. I think he gets a lot of credit.
"Frankly, Cam has had a lot to do with the fact that we're throwing the ball more and better than we have. I think it's exactly what we needed in terms of his experience in how to throw it, and he's added to the running game, for that matter. His calls are on pace to attack the defense that we face. We would like to rewrite some offensive records here."
Connecticut interim head coach T.J. Weist, who got his coaching start at Alabama in the 1980s after being part of UA teams under Ray Perkins and Bill Curry as a walk-on, was on the staff at Indiana in the late 1990s when Cameron was head coach there. He also coached with Cameron at Michigan.
Weist likens Cameron to late former UA offensive coordinator Homer Smith.
"He's very sharp, he's very smart," Weist said. "His football intelligence, he's always been very interested in and very involved in the history of the game and the evolution of the game. He understands that more than most coaches, very similar to Homer Smith in that regard. He's also very good at transmitting that to the players. Homer was a great teacher, and Cam Cameron is a great teacher like that.
"He understands, because he played quarterback, the pressure and how to make decisions under pressure. It's one guy throwing to another guy. It's about body language, about temperament, those two guys knowing each other and knowing how a play works from a timing standpoint and trusting it. He does a great job of developing players, developing trust and developing timing and rhythm."
http://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1567767
TideSports.com Editor
LSU needed an offense. Cam Cameron needed a job.
Both solved their problems when LSU head coach Les Miles hired Cameron, his longtime contemporary from when they were on the coaching staff at Michigan and a proven offensive guru at the NFL level, after last season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The Tigers had been a regular in the national championship hunt under Miles, but had fallen flat on offense somewhere during the 2011 season, culminating with a shutout loss to the University of Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans.
And while LSU will come into Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 9 with two losses, the Tigers will be more formidable on offense.
The credit goes to Cameron, who carved a reputation for high-octane offenses in 14 years in the NFL.
"We needed a guy that had a great knowledge of football and had success really at every level," Miles said. "I knew he would make a great impact on our offense."
He has done that. LSU ranks higher in every major offensive category - total yards, passing yards, rushing yards and points per game - than it did at the end of last season.
In hiring Cameron, Miles was bringing aboard a coach who had been dismissed in season by the Baltimore Ravens in 2012. He was fired last December, 14 weeks into the season, from a team that went on to win the Super Bowl.
"Cam was doing a heck of a job here. He did a heck of a job here for a long time. I believe that, and I also believe that right now at this time, the timing says that this is the best thing and this is what we're going to do," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said at the time.
Miles didn't worry about that. He knew what Cameron could do at LSU. He also had to shake up his coaching staff - Greg Studrawa, who spent two seasons as offensive coordinator after Steve Kragthorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, was moved back to offensive line coaching duties, and Kragthorpe, who had continued to coach quarterbacks, was reassigned to an administrative position.
"I wanted Cam to work with us, period," Miles said. "I looked forward to relying on his experience and his expertise. There was no hesitation in any way."
Cameron's influence has shown most in the improvement of quarterback Zach Mettenberger. Last season, as a first-year starter, Mettenberger completed 58.8 percent of his passes for just more than 200 yards per game with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. So far in 2013, he has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 277 yards per game with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
"Zach was willing to make a change," Miles said. "I think it's a wonderful piece for him, a senior, his final year of competition, looking forward to being mentored by one of the best offensive coordinator/quarterback coaches in the business. I think he gets a lot of credit.
"Frankly, Cam has had a lot to do with the fact that we're throwing the ball more and better than we have. I think it's exactly what we needed in terms of his experience in how to throw it, and he's added to the running game, for that matter. His calls are on pace to attack the defense that we face. We would like to rewrite some offensive records here."
Connecticut interim head coach T.J. Weist, who got his coaching start at Alabama in the 1980s after being part of UA teams under Ray Perkins and Bill Curry as a walk-on, was on the staff at Indiana in the late 1990s when Cameron was head coach there. He also coached with Cameron at Michigan.
Weist likens Cameron to late former UA offensive coordinator Homer Smith.
"He's very sharp, he's very smart," Weist said. "His football intelligence, he's always been very interested in and very involved in the history of the game and the evolution of the game. He understands that more than most coaches, very similar to Homer Smith in that regard. He's also very good at transmitting that to the players. Homer was a great teacher, and Cam Cameron is a great teacher like that.
"He understands, because he played quarterback, the pressure and how to make decisions under pressure. It's one guy throwing to another guy. It's about body language, about temperament, those two guys knowing each other and knowing how a play works from a timing standpoint and trusting it. He does a great job of developing players, developing trust and developing timing and rhythm."
http://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1567767
