It seems every year, the players have nothing but great things to say about their coaches and their schemes. But there is something a bit different about the way they are talking about new offensive coordinator, Greg Olson.
"Oli has this aura about him, you can feel the creativity," said Marcel Reece. "He's always thinking about football, he's always thinking about matchups. I feel great about that, I love that, and he knows that I love that. So we have fun talking football. It's a great feeling around the building right now.
"He's like a mad scientist. I don't think I've even seen half of what he has in store for this team. And it's not just me, it's all the guys -- Darren, Jacoby, all of them. So we're all looking forward to unleashing this playbook and to see what he has in store."
The young quarterbacks are liking what he's doing as well including Terrelle Pryor who has had a different offensive coordinator all three of his seasons in the NFL.
"We have a great guy calling plays, a great coach, to me, calling plays," said Terrelle Pryor. "It gives Darren McFadden a chance to get downhill... He gives us a chance. He just wants guys to make plays. He's just honest. Sometimes, the play isn't going to come out as it's drawn up on that clipboard before we come out and practice, in the playbook. He just wants guys to make plays. That's wonderful just to hear that. That's what we're here to do. It's not going to be the same route that it is in the book. That's definitely what I like about this new situation."
While Pryor has not enjoyed stability at offensive coordinator, rookie Olson is the first and only OC rookie Tyler Wilson has known at the NFL level. He is enjoying the experience Olson has as a quarterbacks coach as well as the schemes he brings to the offense.
"I like it," said Tyler Wilson. "There are lot of things that are quarterback friendly. There's a lot that goes on at the line of scrimmage -- the quarterback getting us in the right run play, the right protection, the right pass call. So there's a lot that goes on, communication between the center and quarterback. So I think that's really good. In order for us to be successful, the quarterback has to take charge, and I think we've done a good job. We're getting there."
There is a great deal of smoke that gets blown from players with regard to new coaches. Some of it's high hopes and some of it's simply saying what they're supposed to say. But when you have players like Marcel Reece using words like "aura", "creativity", and "mad scientist", it means something. And when you hear guys such as Terrelle Pryor saying things like "He gives us a chance", that also means something.
These statements and the way they deliver them carry the weight of the experiences of last season. They see the difference between an offense that didn't consider the players executing it compared to the kind of offense for which Olson was brought in to institute. That, of course, being pretty much the opposite of what was put in place last season.
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