STORRS — There have been a number of times the night before a game where UConn football head coach Jim Mora, a skilled speaker, would ask Gordon Sammis to address the team.
“He has a really good way about him that draws the players in and captures their attention,” Mora said.
Sammis came to UConn as an offensive line coach in Mora’s first year and quickly established a mindset and a culture within his group that was evident to the entire team. When he speaks, he talks of “mindset points” to focus on each week, tells stories that stick and often makes analogies to boxing, tight end Alex Honig said.
“He just always impressed me. He’s very intelligent,” said Mora, who promoted Sammis to offensive coordinator ahead of this season. “You watch him and how his group played – the offensive line, when I came here, that was supposed to be one of the weaknesses and it’s turned into one of our strengths. It’s obviously because of the players but it’s also because of the way he’s coached the players and the way they’ve responded to his coaching. So you think: ‘Wow, he can do that with that group, can he do it with the entire group?’”
So far, the answer to that question has shown itself on the field.
UConn’s offense under Sammis is clicking in a way that it hasn’t the last decade and a half.
The Huskies enter Week Five against Temple (ranked No. 102 in the FBS in total defense) with three monster wins and a 158-34 scoring margin at home. The offense, with two very different quarterbacks involved because of injury, is 26th in the country in total yards per game (465.4) with 244.6 coming on the ground (11th in the FBS) and 220.8 through the air (No. 77).
Overall, the offensive unit under Sammis is 24th in scoring at 37.2 points per game. The last time UConn averaged over 30 points for a season…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/behind-oc-gordon-sammis-uconn-185700872.html
Author : Hartford Courant
Publish date : 2024-10-04 18:57:00
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