When it comes to Jim Zebrowski calling plays from the coaching booth, Kansas football team already has proof of concept.
“It worked pretty well in the bowl game,” Zebrowski said on Thursday.
Indeed, when Zebrowski — then KU’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach — served as the interim offensive coordinator in the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl, the Jayhawks put together one of their best passing performances of Lance Leipold’s head coaching tenure. In a 49-36 victory over UNLV, quarterback Jason Bean threw for six touchdowns (albeit with three picks) and 449 of KU’s 591 total yards.
Zebrowski and the Jayhawks’ offense will hope to build on that this coming season, now that he is the full-fledged offensive coordinator and, as Leipold said on Thursday, will coach from the box once again.
And while Zebrowski, the longtime position coach, acknowledged that he would be happy to remain on the field with his quarterbacks — “I’m going to miss that, I love that part” — he said it’s the right choice to call plays from a controlled setting.
“The way our game plan is, it’s hard,” he said. “We’re pretty wordy, some of our stuff, so it’s kind of easier to be able to have a relaxed atmosphere and be able to kind of spread out the game plan, kind of see what’s going on. So that’s why.”
First-year defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald, however, will coach from the sideline.
Leipold said he used to be more insistent about coordinators coaching from the box (and indeed, in years past, they have done so for him), but the implementation of tablet technology has lessened the need for that somewhat, among other factors.
“With the amount of analysts that are working in your program, or assistant position coaches — whatever we’re going to gravitate to call them — and the ability for video to be accessible on the sideline, you can address things right on the field as well,” he said.
That can prevent unwelcome surprises, Leipold added: “There’d be times back in the old days where you come in and watch film on Sunday and you go, ‘I didn’t know they were doing that, and nobody could see it.'”
McDonald doesn’t need to worry about that, and he’s well accustomed to tablets, which he also used in the NFL during his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles. He said he’s spent most of his career coaching from the field and is more comfortable down there.
“You can really get the corrections you need to down there,” McDonald said. “You get a chance to look in a guy’s eyes. If some type of injury happens, you can get to some of your adjustments a lot quicker.”
Like Zebrowski, McDonald enjoys being around the players and the team atmosphere — but unlike his fellow coordinator he’ll continue doing so during games this season.
“I think that’s going to benefit us as a defense, and so that’s what I needed to do,” McDonald said.
Coordinator arrangements were a prominent topic of discussion early in the 2024 season, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
KU’s offensive coordinator at the time, Jeff Grimes, began the year calling plays from the field with co-offensive coordinator Zebrowski in the booth, before the two switched places three games into the season after a couple of uneven offensive showings. The Jayhawks saw improved results on that side of the ball later in the season.
That said, they were also employing a system last year in which Grimes called plays and gave them to Zebrowski, who would in turn relay the calls to quarterback Jalon Daniels. There is no known intermediate step this time around with Zebrowski as the permanent OC, as he’ll be controlling the offense himself from the box.
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
