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Army head coach Jeff Monken needed a new idea. The Black Knights were transitioning from their traditional triple-option offense that Monken ran since 1997. They had to adjust to modern NCAA rules that eliminated blocking below the waist, cut blocking outside the tackle box and cut blocking outside a three-yard radius of the quarterback.

Monken wanted to learn from some of the most efficient offenses in the country. He sent offensive line coach Saga Tuitele and tight ends coach Matt Drinkall to Nebraska-Kearney, a Division II program that averaged 35.9 points per game in 2019. Its offensive coordinator, Drew Thatcher, ran a double and triple-option offense from shotgun. Tuitele and Drinkall reported to Monken’s versatility, piquing the head coach’s interest in the offense.

“They wanted to dabble in the gun a little bit more,” said former Nebraska-Kearney coach Shayne Shade. “It opens up more doors as far as the passing game.”

Service academies like Navy, Air Force and the Black Knights, have historically been known for triple-option offenses. But with the rules changes and evolving recruiting landscape, Monken entrusted Thatcher, hiring him as Army’s offensive coordinator. Now, after putting up 97 points in two weeks, Thatcher will look to upend Syracuse and flex his offense against one of the top defenses in the country.

In 2004, Thatcher walked on at New Mexico State as a receiver for head coach Hal Mumme, dubbed the architect of the air raid offense. After three seasons as a graduate assistant for the Aggies, Thatcher took a job coaching wide receivers and halfbacks at the New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college in southwest New Mexico.

A season later, he was promoted to offensive coordinator, holding the position for the next six years. Thatcher ran a spread offense that helped produce multiple Canadian Football League players and five Division I quarterbacks. He helped the Broncos win the El Toro Bowl in 2013, their first postseason victory since 1999.

“(Thatcher’s) just a worker. He’s extremely sharp,” said former Nebraska-Kearney head coach Josh Lynn. “He’s really good at going from offensive line all the way to outside receiver.”

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Thatcher said recruiting bigger offensive linemen for junior college was a challenge, but it was easy to find speedy players. This led Thatcher to take what he knew from Mumme and install a spread-heavy offense. The goal was to spread out defenses and clear the middle of the field so that the Broncos could run into “light boxes.”

It worked, with Thatcher’s time at New Mexico Military Institute highlighted by the development of Jordan Ta’amu, who passed for 3,014 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2017. Ta’amu transferred to Ole Miss after the season and threw for 3,918 yards, the second most in the Southeast Conference.

Though it took two seasons to overhaul the offense, Thatcher said the gun option, including the one he now runs at Army, still hinges heavily on the run and scheming away from challenging defenders. Once the transition was complete, an opportunity opened up for Thatcher.

Lynn, currently the head coach at West Texas A&M, wanted Thatcher on staff at Eastern New Mexico during the five seasons he was head coach. When Lynn took the head coaching job at Nebraska-Kearney, he had an opening at offensive coordinator after the 2018 season.

Lynn wanted someone that was familiar with his inside zone schemes. Thatcher’s success at New Mexico Military Institute made him a top candidate, and Lynn brought him in for an interview.

“I always kind of liked guys that worked their way up and grinded it out a little bit. Drew’s kind of one of those guys,” Lynn said.

They exchanged ideas about run schemes and how Thatcher developed successful quarterbacks at the junior college level. Lynn was enthralled with how Thatcher combined the Broncos’ play action plays with their run game, so he hired him. Shade, who was the outside linebackers coach at the time, immediately noticed how well he disguised the run while opening up receivers on play actions.

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Thatcher said he wants his runs, blocking schemes and routes to look similar no matter what the playcall is. He’ll try to coax the defense into coming downhill enough with a few runs then open a receiver up outside on a play action. Lynn said that’s where the offense “really starts to get deadly.”

The next four seasons, Thatcher put up 40 or more points 12 times through 38 games. The Lopers set program records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, averaging over 400 yards per game in two straight seasons. Lynn’s transition to a gun option offense was complete, but Thatcher sprinkling in his spread offense background took the offense to a historic level.

“He helped open up our offense,” Shade said. “He took the plays we had and added to it, made it more dangerous to defend.”

In 2022, Army went a disappointing 6-6 — a season that Monken called a step back for the program. When Monken called Thatcher after the year ended, he was done scouting. He wanted to take a chance, revolutionizing the Black Knights’ offense.

Thatcher said the call was “out of the blue” and was followed by a three-hour conversation with Drinkall. But after the interview, he accepted his first full-time FBS job.

Monken called his players over winter break and told them the flexbone offense was gone. The one-of-a-kind formation gate kept by service academies that featured a fullback, two slotbacks, two receivers and almost no passing, was out. Army needed someone who knew a gun option offense. Thatcher had already helped one program successfully transition. The partnership was there. He was in the right place at the right time.

“Coach Monken’s kind of taking a chance with him, and I guarantee he’s not going to regret it,” Lynn said.

Published on September 21, 2023 at 12:43 am

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt