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Gary Crowton

THE man expected to call the offensive plays for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has no CFL experience in his 30 years of coaching.

The unit he takes over was in the bottom half of most league categories last year and was often looked at as the weakest aspect of the club.

The optics are clear: In bringing in Gary Crowton, who was announced Monday as the Bombers offensive co-ordinator, the team is betting that a coaching lifer can inject some much-needed seasoning into its bland attack. The 54-year-old from Provo, Utah has decades of NCAA football knowledge to draw from as he adjusts to his new surroundings, and that experience is what the Bombers are banking on this season.

The first thing you notice about Crowton's resumé is depth. He's guided offences in big-time college programs like LSU (where he won a national championship) and Oregon. He's helped put Louisiana Tech on the map, brought national attention on himself with a high-powered offence at BYU, and even sprinkled in some time as an OC with the Chicago Bears.

Throughout these stops, he's called his own plays from his own playbook.

That's not changing in Winnipeg, he says.

"I've always called the plays everywhere I've been," Crowton said via conference call Monday. "So, what will happen is, once we get to that point we'll just work it out. Right now I'm preparing as if I'm going to call them, but we'll see how it goes when the time comes."

This assumption echoes what Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice told reporters. It sounds like he has come to grips with the idea that he needs to relinquish his responsibilities after two seasons of so-so offensive showings, and is willing to hand off the play-calling duties.

"How I've talked to Gary about it: If you're ready to call the plays, you can call the plays. If you don't think you're comfortable and ready -- which I'm sure he will be -- (I'll) call the plays," he said.

Whether GM Joe Mack ordered LaPolice to share the play-calling duties or whether LaPolice is relinquishing the job on his own terms is unclear, but bringing in Crowton goes beyond the definition of an "outside hire" for the Bombers. Simply put, it's a gamble. Sure, the deep resume looks great and the stories he'll share will no doubt impress, but what does he know about the CFL game?

Not much right now, he says. Give him a couple of months, though.

After a brief visit to Winnipeg last Friday, Crowton left Manitoba tasked to figure out how his up-tempo, pass-first, spread-offence system will work on the larger Canadian field. The motion unique to the three-down game intrigues him, he says, and he likens the five-receiver attack to the "empty set" offence down south -- with the addition of a tailback.

He pays lip service to the run game but make no mistake: Crowton loves to throw the ball. And when that doesn't work, he likes to throw it some more.

"It's kind of exciting to me, the things you can do," said Crowton, who looks at every series with a "second and 10" mentality. "It lets my mind be a little creative, and then the motion. It looks really fun and exciting. That's kind of what I'm looking at."

As for the pieces the Bombers currently have in place for this offence, Crowton is optimistic. The new OC doesn't mind having a pivot that can scramble away from trouble, but doesn't want that to be what the attack is built around.

"I like the mobile quarterback but you always look for the passer first, the mobility second," he said, when asked for his thoughts on how free agent quarterback Buck Pierce would fit in his system.

NOTES: The Bombers are still looking to add two more coaches for the 2012 season. LaPolice wouldn't say what positions he's looking at; he may move some current coaches around... LaPolice said the club is close to making some free agent announcements this week or next. One subject LaPolice wasn't keen on talking about was his own contract situation. Right now, the coach is heading into the final season of a three-year deal.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

The Crowton file

NEW Bombers offensive co-ordinator Gary Crowton has been around the block a few times in the U.S. college game and NFL -- a trip that landed him with the Chicago Bears for a couple of seasons. An overview of some key highlights (and lowlights) in Crowton's recent football life:

1998: His final season as head coach at Louisiana Tech, Crowton coached the Bulldogs to the No. 1 spot in passing offence (432.1 average per game) and a No. 2 ranking in total offence (542 yards per game).

1999-2000: As OC of the Chicago Bears, Crowton helped guide the NFC North club to the No. 3-ranked passing offence in his first year.

2001-04: In his first year as Cougars head coach, BYU led the nation in total offence (542.9 per game) and scoring (46.8 per contest). The Cougars were 12-2 that year, but lost in the Liberty Bowl.

2005-06: Crowton's offence set the foundation for the current Oregon passing game. In 2006, Oregon's multi-look spread attack was ranked ninth in the nation; in 2005, it ranked 18th. The Ducks won the PAC-10 title in 2005.

2007-10: Helped the LSU Tigers set 10 school records and rode the arm of Matt Flynn (soon-to-be NFL free agent) to a national championship in his first year. After that, the LSU offence sunk to 112th in the country (2009). In his final year, the Tigers passing offence was ranked 107th.

2011: After leaving LSU with a year on his contract, his time at Maryland did not go well. The Terrapins (2-10) were terrible and had the 10th-ranked offence in the 12-team ACC. Also of note for Bomber fans: the slow starts. Maryland scored just four first-quarter TDs in 2011. Crowton is taking a pay cut in Winnipeg, too. He was let go after one season of a three-year, $1.5-million deal.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 31, 2012 D1