Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
“KILL It” — New MT OC Stewart keeps his air raid offense likable and learnable
3/16/2022 6:00:00 PM | Football
The former Murray State Head Coach has hit the ground running for the Blue Raiders
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The first day of spring ball is coming to a close, and Mitch Stewart is still walking through the basics. Four wideout groups, all walking through short routes. Nicholas Vattiato at QB, Kyle Lowe, a QB playing RB in this drill, alongside him getting the calls and hand signals down. All the basics of an early install in the air raid.
The Blue Raiders' new offensive coordinator wouldn't have it any other way.
"That's the fun thing for me going through spring, is getting a feel for who we are, what I think we can do the best and the most, how that gels with things I've done in the past and how that's going to transition into things we're going to do in the future," Stewart said.
Stewart is perhaps the most notable new cog in Rick Stockstill's offensive staff reshuffling over the offseason, with the former Murray State head coach taking over as Middle Tennessee's offensive coordinator, most recently holding the same position at Samford, where his Bulldog offense ranked sixth nationally in the FCS in scoring (37.9), ninth in passing offense (307.5) and 10th in total offense (448.7).
The air raid coach was familiar with the MT staff through his time at Murray State, where he became great friends with Blue Raider offensive line coach Mike Polly when the two were both on the Racers' staff as offensive coordinator and O-Line coach, respectively. When Stewart was elevated to head coach, Stockstill often invited him and his staff down to Murfreesboro to work at MT's football camps, helping him with player evaluation.
That connection, plus the fact Murfreesboro was halfway between his daughters' Murray friends and Birmingham friends, made joining the Blue Raider program an easy choice, Stewart said.
"From a football standpoint, the big thing is Coach Stock," Stewart said. "He's just phenomenal. He's a phenomenal boss, phenomenal ball coach. He's great with these players. He and these players have a relationship that's very different in this day and age. The loyalty that both sides have to one another.
"From a recruiting base, you're in middle Tennessee. You're a short drive to Atlanta, to Birmingham, to Memphis. You can be everywhere, and guys can be here. You fly them into Nashville, it's a short drive to come here. If you want to go get a Florida kid or whatever the case may be, that's a huge selling point. You can get the guys here that you need."
A coaching acolyte of Samford head coach Chris Hatcher, who was Stewart's coach when he quarterbacked Valdosta State to a Division II national title in 2004, Stewart is only one coach away from Hal Mumme's air raid coaching tree, which features the likes of Mike Leach, Dana Holgorsen, Neal Brown, Kliff Kingsbury and myriad of others. Hatcher was Mumme's quarterback when Mumme coached Valdosta State, and Hatcher later coached under Mumme at Kentucky before taking the Valdosta job.
Stewart says he knows "where his bread is buttered" as far as his offensive philosophy goes, but he also notes that the term 'air raid,' along with the offenses of some of the Mumme tree's air raid purists (most notably Leach), can lead to some misconceptions about how the offense operates.
"People look at my background and go 'Oh, he's an air raid guy and wants to throw it all over the place.' Not necessarily true," Stewart said. "What air raid means is we try to find the most air, or the most space, and we try to raid it. Whether that be with the pass, whether that be with the back. It's 'Where is the grass? Let's try to get the ball to the grass as much as we can.'
"Now, the way that we go about that, my approach is a little different," he continued. "A lot of people run, run, run, try to play action and take a shot. We do it a little differently. We'll spread it, spread it, spread it, trying to get people out of the box so we can run vs. like numbers. So the term I use is football math. I want to make sure that my football math adds up. If I have five to block, I don't need to be running against seven.
Stewart notes that he's had games where his offenses have rushed for over 300 yards. It all just depends on what the opposing defense is giving you. But what might be the most familiar aspect of his offense to Blue Raider fans will be the tempo they start out at, something that's been a trademark of a lot of Rick Stockstill's teams in Murfreesboro.
"We are a tempo team," Stewart said. "However, I make the baseball analogy where if you face a pitcher that all he throws at you is 95 mph, for the first two innings it may be tough. After that, if he has nothing else, you're going to shell him. The way that we say it is that we want to dictate tempo. In doing that, you have to start fast. If you don't start fast, if you don't teach that first, it's very hard to get them to speed up. It's easier to get them to slow down."
Getting the air raid system in, alongside that tempo, however, is a process, as a lot of the blocking schemes and route trees might be different than even spread option or RPO heavy schemes, like the one Brent Dearmon ran a season ago.
"The biggest thing is making it ultra learnable," Stewart said. "A lot of people use the term 'KISS', Keep It Simple Stupid. Well I think that if you're simple, that is stupid, because I think you're going to get schemed up. So we say we want to 'KILL' it, Keep It Likable and Learnable. And that's going to be our biggest deal, making sure our guys can execute at a very, very high level."
What's helping that process along is the fact Stewart is not overseeing a specific position group in his role, thanks to a staff reshuffling Stockstill wanted to do and implemented this offseason. Stewart said the head coach even mentioned the possibility of not giving Stewart a position group when he interviewed him for the offensive coordinator position.
"I like the structure of our offensive staff, with Mitch being able to walk around and have his hand in the running backs, the receivers, the offensive line," Stockstill said. "I think it's going to be really beneficial."
What also helps is the connection Stewart is already forming with his players, starting with how he always makes sure they keep reintroducing themselves to him as he gets up to speed these first few months on the job.
"I told them, 'Hey, I've been drinking water through a fire hose right now. Every time I see you, introduce yourself, shake my hand and tell me your name. Even if you know that I know your name. Tell me your name.'
"But the players, man, the way that they have kind of been such a sponge. They're always up here in the facility. They're always wanting to learn, they're always wanting to talk. Most of the time about football, sometimes just trying to figure out who I am and who they are, where you're from and all that kind of stuff. It's been really, really easy and a lot of fun. We've got a lot of good people in this building."
The feeling is mutual for Vattiato, who says he's already learned a lot at the earliest stages of Stewart's install.
"He's been super cool," Vattiato said. "Really energetic, he'll tell you what you need to know. I love everything about him, I can't wait for our relationship to keep moving forward and learn more from him."
The Blue Raiders' new offensive coordinator wouldn't have it any other way.
"That's the fun thing for me going through spring, is getting a feel for who we are, what I think we can do the best and the most, how that gels with things I've done in the past and how that's going to transition into things we're going to do in the future," Stewart said.
Stewart is perhaps the most notable new cog in Rick Stockstill's offensive staff reshuffling over the offseason, with the former Murray State head coach taking over as Middle Tennessee's offensive coordinator, most recently holding the same position at Samford, where his Bulldog offense ranked sixth nationally in the FCS in scoring (37.9), ninth in passing offense (307.5) and 10th in total offense (448.7).
The air raid coach was familiar with the MT staff through his time at Murray State, where he became great friends with Blue Raider offensive line coach Mike Polly when the two were both on the Racers' staff as offensive coordinator and O-Line coach, respectively. When Stewart was elevated to head coach, Stockstill often invited him and his staff down to Murfreesboro to work at MT's football camps, helping him with player evaluation.
That connection, plus the fact Murfreesboro was halfway between his daughters' Murray friends and Birmingham friends, made joining the Blue Raider program an easy choice, Stewart said.
"From a football standpoint, the big thing is Coach Stock," Stewart said. "He's just phenomenal. He's a phenomenal boss, phenomenal ball coach. He's great with these players. He and these players have a relationship that's very different in this day and age. The loyalty that both sides have to one another.
"From a recruiting base, you're in middle Tennessee. You're a short drive to Atlanta, to Birmingham, to Memphis. You can be everywhere, and guys can be here. You fly them into Nashville, it's a short drive to come here. If you want to go get a Florida kid or whatever the case may be, that's a huge selling point. You can get the guys here that you need."
A coaching acolyte of Samford head coach Chris Hatcher, who was Stewart's coach when he quarterbacked Valdosta State to a Division II national title in 2004, Stewart is only one coach away from Hal Mumme's air raid coaching tree, which features the likes of Mike Leach, Dana Holgorsen, Neal Brown, Kliff Kingsbury and myriad of others. Hatcher was Mumme's quarterback when Mumme coached Valdosta State, and Hatcher later coached under Mumme at Kentucky before taking the Valdosta job.
Stewart says he knows "where his bread is buttered" as far as his offensive philosophy goes, but he also notes that the term 'air raid,' along with the offenses of some of the Mumme tree's air raid purists (most notably Leach), can lead to some misconceptions about how the offense operates.
"People look at my background and go 'Oh, he's an air raid guy and wants to throw it all over the place.' Not necessarily true," Stewart said. "What air raid means is we try to find the most air, or the most space, and we try to raid it. Whether that be with the pass, whether that be with the back. It's 'Where is the grass? Let's try to get the ball to the grass as much as we can.'
"Now, the way that we go about that, my approach is a little different," he continued. "A lot of people run, run, run, try to play action and take a shot. We do it a little differently. We'll spread it, spread it, spread it, trying to get people out of the box so we can run vs. like numbers. So the term I use is football math. I want to make sure that my football math adds up. If I have five to block, I don't need to be running against seven.
Stewart notes that he's had games where his offenses have rushed for over 300 yards. It all just depends on what the opposing defense is giving you. But what might be the most familiar aspect of his offense to Blue Raider fans will be the tempo they start out at, something that's been a trademark of a lot of Rick Stockstill's teams in Murfreesboro.
"We are a tempo team," Stewart said. "However, I make the baseball analogy where if you face a pitcher that all he throws at you is 95 mph, for the first two innings it may be tough. After that, if he has nothing else, you're going to shell him. The way that we say it is that we want to dictate tempo. In doing that, you have to start fast. If you don't start fast, if you don't teach that first, it's very hard to get them to speed up. It's easier to get them to slow down."
Getting the air raid system in, alongside that tempo, however, is a process, as a lot of the blocking schemes and route trees might be different than even spread option or RPO heavy schemes, like the one Brent Dearmon ran a season ago.
"The biggest thing is making it ultra learnable," Stewart said. "A lot of people use the term 'KISS', Keep It Simple Stupid. Well I think that if you're simple, that is stupid, because I think you're going to get schemed up. So we say we want to 'KILL' it, Keep It Likable and Learnable. And that's going to be our biggest deal, making sure our guys can execute at a very, very high level."
What's helping that process along is the fact Stewart is not overseeing a specific position group in his role, thanks to a staff reshuffling Stockstill wanted to do and implemented this offseason. Stewart said the head coach even mentioned the possibility of not giving Stewart a position group when he interviewed him for the offensive coordinator position.
"I like the structure of our offensive staff, with Mitch being able to walk around and have his hand in the running backs, the receivers, the offensive line," Stockstill said. "I think it's going to be really beneficial."
What also helps is the connection Stewart is already forming with his players, starting with how he always makes sure they keep reintroducing themselves to him as he gets up to speed these first few months on the job.
"I told them, 'Hey, I've been drinking water through a fire hose right now. Every time I see you, introduce yourself, shake my hand and tell me your name. Even if you know that I know your name. Tell me your name.'
"But the players, man, the way that they have kind of been such a sponge. They're always up here in the facility. They're always wanting to learn, they're always wanting to talk. Most of the time about football, sometimes just trying to figure out who I am and who they are, where you're from and all that kind of stuff. It's been really, really easy and a lot of fun. We've got a lot of good people in this building."
The feeling is mutual for Vattiato, who says he's already learned a lot at the earliest stages of Stewart's install.
"He's been super cool," Vattiato said. "Really energetic, he'll tell you what you need to know. I love everything about him, I can't wait for our relationship to keep moving forward and learn more from him."
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