We run a WCO? Since when?
What I saw last year definitely wasn't a WCO.
Since we hired Turk. Actually it's more of an aggressive version like the one he was part of back in his playing days @ Cincy under Walsh. Little known fact is that the K-Gun stole certain parts of that offense.
From ESPN insider earlier in the year...
Have the Buffalo Bills adapted to their new West Coast offense?
This system, installed by new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert, should be beneficial for QB Trent Edwards, who needs to get his completion percentage above the 60 percent mark. Yes, he finished at 56.1 percent last year, but was also guilty of having games in the 30 percent range. Edwards lacks big-time arm strength, but he is a cerebral quarterback who makes good and quick decisions. This is a system that really benefits the Bills' personnel, from Edwards to WR Lee Evans, who can make plays with the ball in his hands, to rookie WR James Hardy, who is a big target and can work the middle of the field, to RB Marshawn Lynch, who will see more seven-man fronts from three-receiver sets. Along with a maturing defense, the ability for Edwards to run this new system will go a long way toward determining the Bills' playoff hopes.
While offensive coordinator Turk Schonert seems intent on installing a scheme using Bill Walsh’s principles and not the late genius’ wholesale structure, it’s still apparent that the Bills will be inclined to use quick drop backs, brief routes, and plenty of targets. The primary beneficiary should be quarterback Trent Edwards, as his penchant for delivering accurately thrown short passes and capacity to supervise are good skills for quarterbacks mentally residing on the West Coast.
http://www.realfootball365.com/index.php/articles/bills/12271
Schonert's west coast influence
<TABLE borderColor=#09347b cellPadding=10 width="95%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=mediumrow style="BORDER-RIGHT: #548bb5 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #548bb5 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #548bb5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #548bb5 1px solid" colSpan=2><TABLE style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #002d78 1px solid" width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>January 17, 2008
</TD><TD align=right>Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 11:13 AM ET | Link (http://www.buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?post_id=2809)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>SCHONERT'S WEST COAST INFLUENCE: It's true that Turk Schonert and Alex Van Pelt for that matter have backgrounds in the west coast offense. Schonert was the first quarterback to ever run it as the quarterback at Stanford from 1979-81 under Bill Walsh. And Van Pelt played in it at Pitt.
But the truth is there are plays in every offense in the league that come from the west coast offense. Sometimes plays are taught differently to the quarterback in how to move through progressions with those plays, but every team in the league has some plays that are rooted in Walsh's west coast system.
And though there are many disciples of Bill Walsh coaching in the league today (Holmgren, Gruden, Reid, McCarthy etc.) only one guy according to Schonert still runs the "true" west coast scheme anymore.
“West coast nowadays is all terminology," said Schonert. "The only guy that runs the closest thing to the pure west coast is Mike Holmgren in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City>. He runs split backs. Bill Walsh was my coach in college and I ran it in college. That’s where it came up. It’s a split back running game. Nobody runs split backs. It’s all strong or weak high, but <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> runs the ball out of split backs. They still have the true west coast concepts."
Schonert said some teams still have some of the pass concepts and they still call those plays with the same terminology as the original west coast scheme. But Schonert doesn't believe the "west coast" is an all encompassing scheme anymore.
"The west coast to me is just terminology because everybody runs the same (expletive),” he said.
So the feeling I got from him was if he does add anything to the passing game that is rooted in the west coast offense it won't be significant. I think he's more focused on being more aggressive down the field knowing he has a line that can pass protect.
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