What does Darrin Chiaverini's reported promotion to OC mean?

BOULDER — According to multiple reports, Darrin Chiaverini will be the next offensive coordinator at the University of Colorado.

Chiaverini, 42, spent the 2019 season as the Buffs’ assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. He’ll likely retain his role coaching receivers but his exact combination of titles is still unknown.

Here’s what that means for Chiaverini and Buffs football:

Chiaverini is still on the head coach track

Chiaverini’s jump from receivers coach and assistant head coach to offensive coordinator is a big promotion and the biggest takeaway here is that Chiaverini is still on pace for a head coaching job.

Chev has climbed the coaching ranks, starting as a wide receivers coach in 2007 and bouncing around the JuCo level to Texas Tech, UCLA and eventually Colorado. He’s worked with special teams and as a co-offensive coordinator.

The four-year NFL vet followed a fairly linear upward path up until the 2018 season. That’s when, in his third year as Colorado’s co-offensive coordinator, Chiaverini became the offensive play-caller for the first time. The Buffs’ offense sputtered down the stretch and new head coach Mel Tucker moved him back to wide receivers coach.

This time around, Chiaverini will have an offensive-minded head coach to help mentor him through his second stint as an offensive coordinator. We don’t know whether Dorrell or Chiaverini will be calling plays this time around but, either way, Chiaverini should be in a much better position than he was a few years ago.

Chiaverini was interim head coach after Tucker’s departure and was a candidate for the full-time job, which Dorrell ended up getting. While Chiaverini likely wanted to be a head coach this fall, he now sits just one step away from the top job, a big step forward compared to his standing last season.

If Colorado can put together a couple of strong offensive seasons under Chiaverini’s watch, he could be ready to make the leap to top dog.

The offense could have some mixed philosophies

Karl Dorrell ran a West Coast offense in his last two stops where he was in charge of the offensive scheme; offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt in 2014 and head coach of UCLA from 2003-07.

Darrin Chiaverini ran a spread offense in Boulder from 2016-18 as offensive coordinator.

So which will it be in 2020? Until the Buffs take the field, all we can do is speculate.

Chiaverini’s spread scheme was different than most spread schemes in college football. It relied much more heavily on the running game.

The base concept behind a spread attack is: By stretching the defense horizontally and vertically, there will be pockets of space created throughout the field.

The spread uses the receivers to stretch the defense and then settle into those pockets of space. The quarterback has to be able to identify those pockets quickly and have a strong enough arm to fit the ball into them. Quarterbacks who are too weak to throw to the sidelines struggle in a spread scheme.

But what makes the Buffs’ offense from a few years ago different is that they ran the ball much more than the typical spread attack. By stretching the defense, the Buffs created running lanes. Colorado’s quarterbacks, Sefo Liufau and Steven Montez, were both talented enough runners to threaten opposing defenses, which gave Colorado a numbers advantage.

When the defense put seven run defenders in the box and Colorado was lined up in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers), it looked like an even matchup. If each lineman and the tight end blocked one defender, the running back would be left one-on-one with a linebacker.

But with a running quarterback, there’s one more player to count on the offensive side of the ball. A defender has to be assigned to the quarterback.

Dorrell, on the other hand, ran a West Coast scheme, which primarily stretches a defense horizontally. That means there aren’t as many receivers on the field, because it’s easy for a tight end to run out into the flat and you don’t need as many players who are vertical threats.

Dorrell typically used multiple running backs and tight ends, making his offense more of a run-based scheme. His guys overpowered the others.

To summarize the differences:

1. Dorrell used more tight ends and running backs, while Chiaverini used more receivers.
2. Dorrell’s quarterbacks need to be able to make quick reads and make short passes consistently, while Chiaverini’s need to be able to throw the ball to the sidelines, stretch the field, run the ball and find gaps in the defense in a more “playground” type of way.
3. Dorrell runs the ball more, though Chiaverini runs more than expected for a spread scheme.

But there is one thing they should have in common: the option.

Chiaverini’s quarterbacks ran plenty of read options, run-pass options and more traditional option looks. That’s how he used the numbers advantage that stemmed from having mobile quarterbacks. Essentially, in an option, the defense needs to account for both the quarterback and running back with a defender during the play, even if one of them doesn’t get the ball.

The modern West Coast schemes are using more and more option concepts as well, though there weren’t as many in Dorrell’s schemes back in the day. Remember, this option-infused West Coast offense has only been around for a few years though.

Don’t be surprised if Dorrell and Chiaverini meet with some of the minds behind the current “West Coast option” offenses in the next few months, particularly San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, both of whom worked with Dorrell.

There’s still money to throw around

Dorrell convinced the University of Colorado to increase the salary pool for assistant football coaches from $3.155 million to $3.8 million.

Some of that extra $645,000 was expected to be used to bring in an experienced offensive coordinator like current Las Vegas Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable, who fits schematically with what Dorrell likes to do and is also a close friend.

By going with a less-experienced coach like Chiaverini, Colorado should save some cash and have more money to play with when filling out the rest of the staff. Cable may even be an option as offensive line coach, assuming the Buffs are willing to give him a raise.

Another name to keep an eye on is T.C. McCartney. The 30-year-old, who is the grandson of legendary Buffs coach Bill McCartney, is one of the next generation of bright, up-and-coming offensive minds.

Last season, McCartney followed offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello from the 49ers to the Denver Broncos and became the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach. When Scangarello was fired this offseason, the Broncos let McCartney go too. McCartney is currently an offensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns and may be enticed to come back to Boulder if offered the quarterbacks coach job.

It’s worth noting that Kyle Shanahan got his coaching start under Dorrell at UCLA and worked closely with McCartney in San Francisco. The coaching world is small and Dorrell has loads of relationships.

There are plenty of other potential coaches in the Dorrell tree, but McCartney is an example of how Dorrell’s industry ties could help him fill out his staff with big-time talent, especially with the money left at his disposal.