For the OSU offense, excitement begins with boring
STILLWATER — Mike Yurcich has it so made, so the theory goes, readying to push the various and exciting buttons that will power potentially the most dynamic offense in the country.
Hand the ball to Justice Hill or have Mason Rudolph fling it to James Washington or Jalen McCleskey or Marcell Ateman or Tyron Johnson or Chris Lacey or Dillon Stoner or ... yeah; oh, the possibilities.
Can’t you just picture the scene late at night, the Oklahoma State offensive coordinator retreating to the man cave inside the Yurcich abode, slipping into his big comfy chair — cold beverage in hand — pondering all the good times to come.
“Absolutely not,” said Yurcich, abruptly editing the image. “That will not happen.”
Not now. Not yet. Not at all, according to Yurcich.
Yes, he allows, the Cowboys have an abundance of good pieces, with a potential for great and wonderful things. But first, there’s a need to be boring.
Huh? Yep, boring. “Listen, we’ve got to improve this year, just like last year,” Yurcich said. “Just like the year before that. Just like 100 years before that. It’s about improving.
“And if we start thinking about how fancy and how good we are, and thinking about all the things we can do, you’re going to get away from the goal of what a coach is supposed to do. And a coach is supposed to improve the team.” Enter the boring stuff. “Blocking better, becoming more physical, catching the ball better, running routes better, reading defenses better, ball security, understanding our
offense better than we did last year — all those things can improve,” Yurcich said. “And that’s what we’re working on. All those fundamentals.
“All those things that are boring.”
Yurcich doesn't do this dance to tap the brakes for fans on their excitement for 2017. The same anticipation exists inside the Boone Pickens Stadium locker room and on the Cowboys’ practice field, where so many proven players prop up OSU as a team to be reckoned with in the Big 12 and nationally.
Yet like the ace salesman who requires continuing education, the Cowboys face a need not to rest on past accomplishments, but to push ahead, polishing and perfecting the seemingly insignificant details that can swing a play or a game.
“I think of Peyton Manning and how much pride he takes in his preparation,” said Rudolph, the on-field maestro of the offense and a Manning disciple.
“For as much hype as we are getting as an offense, Coach Yurcich said it, ‘We can be as good as we want to be, but that doesn’t matter if we don’t come practice.’ My thought process, my philosophy is don’t buy into any of this hype. And every single day in practice ... treat it like it’s your last.”
The hype has its advantages. In selling tickets. In recruiting. In energizing the fan base and boosters.
As far as Yurcich is concerned, however, when it comes to the Cowboys, the hype is for selling, not for buying.
“It’s all flash. It’s Twitter, whatever,” he said. “We’ve got to compete. We’ve got to beat Tulsa. That’s exciting. Let’s game plan Tulsa and let’s beat Tulsa. And then we’ll move on to the next game, and that’s exciting.”