Syracuse Football: 5 questions with Central Connecticut State OC Ryan McCarthy

Here is our conversation with Central Connecticut State OC Ryan McCarthy, breaking down the gameplan for the Syracuse football squad Friday night.

We’ve waited months for this opening contest, but it’s finally here. The Syracuse football team will square off tonight against the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils tonight at approximatley 7:04 p.m.

You may suggest this is the usual cream puff for the Orange to feast on Week 1 and you may be right. Or perhaps we could actually have a game Friday night. While I’m not predicting it by any means, I’m feeling a bit different after talking with CCS offensive coordinator Ryan McCarthy.

Earlier this week we spoke to McCarthy on The Score 1260 in Syracuse to help preview the season opener. We talked about the offensive philosophy of the team, who he models his game after, and the players to keep an eye out for in this contest.

It was a phenomenal conversation and we’ve transcribed that into our top-five questions heading into this matchup tonight. The Blue Devils have only played a FBS opponent one other time in their history and it wasn’t pretty. With a new coaching staff and high hopes, we’ll see what happens tonight. Before we get there, get yourself ready for the game with our conversation.

Paul A. Esden Jr. (@BoyGreen25): 

If you had to describe your offensive identity what would it be coach?

CCS OC Ryan McCarthy:

Well I’ll say this, last year we were more geared towards the pass, because we really struggled to run the football. A lot of our coaches are former offensive linemen and I’m going to be honest, we want to run the football.

We want to make it clear that we want to run the rock. We’re going to run the football, unless we can’t. Now we’re going to do that through a multitude of formations. So you guys are going to see some spread and some heavier personnel and sets. We know that in order to win football games, you’ve got to be able to run the football.

Regardless of how you accomplish that. Whether it’s through smoke and mirrors or lining up and going toe-to-toe, that’s what we’re going to try and do. Now listen, we have a very capable quarterback. He put up some pretty good numbers last year. We obviously feel really good about him, but we’ve got to help him by being able to run the football and I think we’re going to be able to do that this year.

Paul A. Esden Jr. (@BoyGreen25): 

Coach, the Blue Devils are returning 18 starters this season, how big is continuity to this football team?

CCS OC Ryan McCarthy:

Well when I first got here three years ago, it was all freshmen and sophomores. Now we have evolved juniors and seniors and in my opinion a very strong redshirt freshmen class. So we’re going to be playing with a lot more experienced kids.

Obviously a lot of those kids were on the team last year and it’s safe to say we struggled (2-9 overall). There was a real tough stretch there where we lost a handful of games where we just didn’t finish. That wasn’t due to a lack of talent, it was more so a lack of focus.

It’s about learning how to win. There’s pros and cons to having guys coming back. But overall I feel pretty good going into the first game, like a lot of people do. Entering this season, this is the best I’ve felt since I’ve been a part of this organization. If we stay together and grind through, I think at the end of the year we’re going to be a pretty good football team.

Paul A. Esden Jr. (@BoyGreen25): 

Coach, you have two members of your offense that made the preseason all-conference list, tell us a bit more about them?

CCS OC Ryan McCarthy:

Well Joey Fields is probably the fastest player we have on the team. He’s not very big he’s 5’7-5’8, maybe 160 pounds soaking wet, but he can flat out fly. I recruited him when I was out at Albany. I think if you watch our tape he’s probably the first or second guy that jumps out at you on film.

He can really run and he’s had several NFL teams come and visit him on campus. He’s a good

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football player, no question. He needs to be more attentive with some other things. Fields is a typical wide receiver, you know he’s concerned with catching the football and getting those yards after the catch. He probably needs to pay that same attention to his blocking and overall scheme and assignment. He’s going to have a lot of targets in this game.

K.J Smith, Tight End

K.J. Smith you should keep an eye on, he’s another guy who was all-conference. He’s as dependable as a tight end that you’ll see. A very good blocker and a good receiver, but personally he’s better as that h-back kind of role. He’s versatile and you can move him off the line, that’s where he’s best.

You’re going to see him all over the place on Friday night. You’ll see him in the flex, the slot, on the line, off the line, coming out of the backfield, I mean you name it we’re going to do it. Smith is a very intelligent football player. He understands how to read defenses and assignments, that’s what makes him so valuable.

Paul A. Esden Jr. (@BoyGreen25): 

Coach we’ve talked about some of the big stars on the team and the sexy names, but what about some of the guys that don’t get the street cred, who should Orange fans be watching out for on Friday night that no one is talking about?

CCS OC Ryan McCarthy:

Yeah I mean No. 1 name is Cam Nash. He was a second team all-conference running back the last two years. He’s 5’7 on a good day, more like 5’6 maybe. He’s 180 pounds and just very compact. He can run the ball between the tackles and can also stretch it to the outside.

Jose Garcia is a junior wide receiver from New London Connecticut. A dangerous slot wide receiver for us. He got a lot of playing time last year due to injury and really impressed. A tough instinctual football player who caught 30-40 passes at the end of the season.

A lot of guys who don’t get love is in the trenches and I like a lot of the guys on the offensive line. We had two true freshmen play and one ended up being second team all-conference at guard. J’Von Brown, Cole Phelps are both talented youngsters with a lot of promise. But the best out of the bunch is our blindside protector, Connor Mignone he’s just a beast.

He hasn’t played a down yet, but has the highest ceiling out of the three. We’re overall young and inexperienced on the offensive line. But I do know this, we’re a lot further along then we were last season.

Paul A. Esden Jr. (@BoyGreen25): 

To wrap things up coach, going off the beat and path, I’m curious who do you model your game after as a coach? Anybody you idolize or that influenced you and your coaching style?

CCS OC Ryan McCarthy:

Well with my time in Albany, we spent a lot of time in New Hampshire when Chip Kelly was there. He was definitely a guy I followed around quite a bit. I try to stay in the know with what offenses are doing around the league. Although a lot of it is adapting your system to the players that you have.

While I’ve obviously spent a lot of time watching teams like Clemson. We aren’t like them, we don’t run our offense at a break-neck pace. We don’t try to run as many plays as you can as fast as you can, we’ve got a slower tempo. Don’t get me wrong we’ll try to put opposing defenses in consternation.

Next: Syracuse Football: Positional grades heading into 2017 season

While giving them a lot of different things to look at offensively. We have west coast philosophies, but I’d like to call what we do a ‘see coast’ offense. That means if we see something we like we’re going to do it. Overall creatively we’re going to stay within the framework of the offense, but if it’s something we think we can adapt to our style, we’re going to do it.