Rise to the Top: The Coaching Career of Joshua Morgan (NCAA 14)

[Daonlyjmo7]

Introduction

This will be a story that is familiar to most. I have been a longtime reader here at OS, and my absolute favorite part of the forums has to be the dynasty section. The creativity shown through our favorite storytellers have allowed us to become immersed in their fictional worlds. Reading some of the great NCAA 14 dynasties on this forum motivated me to repurchase an XBOX 360 and this wonderful game. I also want to give dynasty reporting a try for myself! Let's see how it goes.

[Daonlyjmo7]

Dynasty Info

Rules

Difficulty: Heisman
Sliders: BlackRain37 (Coach Mode)
Coach Progression: Very Slow

House Rules

My approach to house rules may be different from others. I don't like to put set rules on myself. Instead, I will just try to keep things as realistic as possible from every aspect without making set restrictions.

Dynasty Plan

I first created my offensive coordinator in the main menu roster page and gave him a one year contract. I then simulated the first season using 2017 rosters and hit the coaching carousel. From there, I was able to take any job of my choosing and begin my coaching career in the 2018 season.

Another thing I want to do is place a big emphasis on playcalling and playbook building. I want my coach to learn from the head coaches that he works with in order to build his own coaching style. Again, I won't have any set rules in place for this, but it is something I look forward to implementing.

Last, I am not entirely sure as to exactly how I will go about reporting everything as this is my first go at this, but I will learn as I go along. For now, I am thinking I'll have articles for any non-game stuff and then have game recaps for the games themselves.


With that out of the way, let's begin the Rise to the Top!

[Daonlyjmo7]

Wyoming Hires Joshua Morgan as Next OC

With Josh Allen leaving for the NFL Draft, Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl went to find a new offensive coordinator to take the team's offense to the next level while preparing for the next era of Cowboys' football.

Bohl finished a thorough search for the position by opting to go young, as 28-year old Joshua Morgan will become the next offensive coordinator for the Wyoming Cowboys.

Morgan was a quarterback at Cal from 2008-2012, never getting any significant playing time under coach Jeff Tedford. However, he was a highly respected teammate and a hard worker whose love for the game of football perfectly fit the mindset of a future coach.

When Tedford was fired following the 2012 season, the new coach for the Golden Bears opted to keep Morgan around as a graduate assistant, as he wanted to keep some familiar faces for the players and was impressed with Morgan's football knowledge and work ethic.

After an impressive year as a graduate assistant, Morgan was appointed as the QB coach for the Bears, a position previously filled by the offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. It was certainly a big change for Morgan, as he had to go from the pro-style offense of Jeff Tedford to learning a new air-raid offense, but Morgan quickly saw how effective the offense could be. He served as Cal's QB coach for three years and was instrumental to the development of future #1 overall pick Jared Goff as well as the transition to graduate-transfer and future third-round pick Davis Webb.

Then, following the 2016 season, Cal hired a new head coach in Justin Wilcox. Wilcox wanted to bring in his own staff, so Morgan went with offensive coordinator Jake Spavital to go work with Dana Holgorsen. There, Morgan continued his success by helping turn quarterback Will Grier into a star for the Mountaineers.

At that point, Bohl had seen enough. Morgan was an emerging offensive mind with a great resume for developing quarterbacks and being a part of offenses that knew how to put up points. Bohl called Morgan up and after being flown down to team facilities, they quickly were able to reach a 3-year agreement.

Wyoming wasn't the only team to gives offers to Morgan, however, as he turned down OC offers from UNLV, North Texas, New Mexico State, and others before settling on Wyoming. Morgan said that he made this decision in order to be able to learn from a great coach like Craig Bohl.

When asked what offense he would be running at Wyoming, Morgan said: "I come from roots of a pro-style offense, but have spent time with some Air Raid minded coaches in the past few years at Cal. I truly believe that a combination of the two is best. Call it a modern pro-style offense if you wish. We are going to look to spread the ball out and be a pass-heavy team, but we also understand the importance of running the football. I am excited to get to work with this young group of men."

[Daonlyjmo7]

New Offensive Coordinator Instrumental in Finalizing Wyoming's 2017 Recruiting Class

Coach Joshua Morgan was able to make a great early impression by being responsible for adding 5 offensive signees to Wyoming's 2017 recruiting class. At his previous QB coach jobs at Cal and West Virginia, Morgan did do a bit of recruiting, but as offensive coordinator at Wyoming, he will be asked to expand in his recruiting role.

Well, it looks like that won't be much of a problem. Morgan hit the recruiting trail as soon as he inked his new contract and helped bring in some of Wyoming's top recruits in their 2017 class.

The first players that he nabbed commitments from were 1-star fullback Sean Chambers and 2-star center Luke Andrews. These players were already being heavily recruited by Wyoming and were largely expected to be finalized as official commitments on signing day.

Morgan and the Wyoming coaching staff then proceeded to get an official commitment from 3-star guard Cody Byrd. Byrd was another player that Wyoming was already expected to get, but it was a commitment that they needed to make official and succeeded in doing so.

Then, Morgan proceeded to make his own mark by getting commitments from two unexpected players. First, he flipped 3-star quarterback Jay Simmons from West Virginia to Wyoming. Simmons was a player that Morgan had recruited to West Virginia in the first place, and he was able to carry his commitment over to his new position.

Lastly, Morgan was able to grab the crown jewel of Wyoming's 2017 recruiting class in 4-star center Matt Jackson. Jackson was projected to sign with Washington State on signing day, but a late effort from Morgan was enough to sway Jackson into going to Wyoming.

All in all, it looks like Morgan was successful in improving Wyoming's 2017 class. In fact, Wyoming was able to improve their class from the 120th ranked class to the 97th ranked class from their signing day commitments.

It will be exciting to see how Morgan can help the Cowboys in terms of recruiting.

One more interesting tidbit is that both Jackson and Simmons hail from Morgan's home state of California. We will see if he can build a California pipeline to Wyoming, although he has stated that he wants to focus on grabbing local talent as well.

[Daonlyjmo7]

Wyoming Announces 2018 Football Schedule

The first thing to notice here is a tough out-of-conference schedule that includes two away matchups against ranked Power-5 schools. A home game against Florida Atlantic should be a win for the Cowboys, but they should enter conference play with a 1-2 record barring an upset victory.

In conference play, they draw a decent schedule that paints a picture of a season that can go in a variety of different ways for the Cowboys. I expect them to finish in the 4-7 win range, but with a new offensive coordinator and the loss of star quarterback Josh Allen, this team may end up having a wide range of outcomes. It sure will be exciting to see what this team can do in the 2018 season.

[Daonlyjmo7]

Wyoming Announces 2018 Offensive Depth Chart

A few interesting choices here. The first is to go with the redshirt Freshman Tyler Vander Waal over the redshirt Senior Nick Smith. Coach Morgan said that this decision was purely based on the new offensive scheme. Smith is a more mobile quarterback while Vander Waal has the stronger and more accurate arm, even as a freshman. With an offense that will be looking to pass the ball more than in past years, Vander Waal got the start. It also definitely helps that he could be the quarterback for the next four years for the Cowboys if things go right.

Kellen Overstreet will also be getting the start at running back over redshirt Senior Nico Evans. Morgan said the two will both be getting plenty of action but Overstreet will be the starter due to him being the better receiver of the two.

Austin Conway shows up as the second starting receiver on the depth chart, but James Price will likely start opposite of C.J. Johnson with Conway being the slot receiver.

Lastly, the Cowboys decided to redshirt many incoming freshmen, including 3-star guard Cody Byrd and 3-star quarterback Jay Simmons. It appears that the coaches want to attempt to give these two players a year to develop while keeping a year of eligibility rather than having them sit on the bench to start their college careers.

[jpfine]

Solid schedule to get the blood pumping, especially early on. Can't wait for this!

[Daonlyjmo7]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpfine

Solid schedule to get the blood pumping, especially early on. Can't wait for this!

Appreciate it man! Huge fan of your Central Michigan dynasty!


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