Exploring OC Options For Miami: David Yost

Now that Dan Enos has been let go as offensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes, the search is now on for UM to find the programs next OC. The first candidate I wanted to talk about is David Yost, who’s currently serving as offensive coordinator for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Prior to arriving in Lubbock before the 2019 season, Yost spent two years at Utah State, turning Jordan Love into one of the more exciting quarterbacks in college football, and transforming the Aggies into an offensive juggernaut.

2018 was Yost’s finest year with Utah State, helping the Aggies secure an 11-2 record. Love threw for a school record 3,567 yards, 32 touchdowns and just six interceptions. That season, Utah State was one of only four teams in the nation to have a top-20 passing offense, and a top-35 rushing attack, and they ended the year ranked 11th in total offense. Yost was named a semi-finalist for the Broyles Award in 2018, which is given to the nations top assistant coach.

In a coaching career that has spanned nearly 25 years, Yost also spent time with the Missouri Tigers, where he coached quarterbacks like Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert. He was Mike Leach’s receivers coach at Washington State for three seasons, where they led the country in passing twice. From there he went to Oregon for a year, and helped the Ducks and true freshman Justin Herbert become a top-20 offense.

In his first year at Texas Tech as OC, the Red Raiders was 11th in total offense (474.3 YPG), and was also 7th in passing (324.7 YPG).

Wherever he’s gone, Yost’s offenses has scored lots of points, gained a ton of yards, and won games. So let’s take a look at what kind of scheme the guy with the shag runs.

First things first, Yost runs the spread-option offense, and focuses on high tempo, as you’ve seen with traditional systems at Washington State, Oregon, Texas Tech, etc. This year, the Red Raiders were one of the top teams in college football as far as plays ran. In the first game of 2019, Tech’s offense ran 95 plays. 95 PLAYS. Just to give you an idea, Miami’s offense averaged just 68 plays per game.

And while you may think Yost is just another air-raid pass happy guy, think again. In 2018, his Utah State offense ran the ball more than half of their snaps, and they still managed nearly 300 yards per game passing.

Yost isn’t shy about his passion and desire to run the football, telling a reporter one time, “the whole reason we throw the football so we can the football.” The success that Yost’s offenses has had running the ball is a big reason why he’s being considered for the Miami OC job.

If you watch Yost’s offenses, they’ll attack the defense with the vertical pass game, and by doing so it sets up the run as well as underneath routes. The deep ball for the Hurricanes got better by the end of 2019, but it’s something that has to be used more with the speed of Miami’s receivers.

Sticking with passing the football, Yost has been a fan of using the screen game, whether it’s to set up the deep ball or another run. While Texas Tech often voiced their frustration with all the screens Yost would call, they were always gaining yards. For instance, against Iowa State this year, the Red Raiders called 16 receiver screens, averaging over five yards each play.

He’s also proven to innovative with calling screen passes, like this beautifully designed play to the tight end when Yost was at Utah State in 2018.

Another plus is Yost loves to utilize his tight end and makes it one of the vocal points of his offense, both as a blocker and pass catcher. On passing plays, you usually see the tight end flex out and create difficult matchups for the defense. Luckily for Miami, they’ll have one of the best tight ends in the nation coming back in 2020 in Brevin Jordan. Jordan would most likely be the most talented TE Yost has coached in his career, and he’d no doubt look to use him a lot.

If you were to ask me, David Yost would be one of my top choices to be the next OC for the Hurricanes. Everywhere he has gone, his teams have scored points and that’s the biggest hold up for Miami right now. His explosive system and exciting schemes would be perfect for the plethora of talent currently at UM.