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Posted: 1:43 PM- Detailing how he discovered his offensive coordinator, LSU coach Les Miles mentioned remembering Gary Crowton's work with the Chicago Bears when each of them was coaching in the NFL.
Continuing the story during a recent news conference, Miles said, "And then he went to Oregon."
That explains a lot. Maybe those four years in Provo never really happened. That might be the best answer for how Crowton is thriving at the highest level of college football, coaching the Tigers' offense in tonight's BCS national championship game against Ohio State at the Superdome in New Orleans.
I know this: If not for coming home to coach the Cougars, the former Orem High and Snow College quarterback would be celebrated as a Utah success story, right up there with the guy from Pleasant Grove who won "Survivor: China" last month.
As it is, Crowton will be forever remembered at home as the guy who mismanaged the BYU program, suffering through three straight losing seasons between the LaVell Edwards and Bronco Mendenhall eras. He obviously did not destroy the program, considering the roles that Crowton recruits such as Bryan Kehl, David Nixon, Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta have played in the Cougars' winning every Mountain West Conference game for the past two seasons. Still, there's no doubting that Mendenhall has elevated everything in Provo since taking over.
The further irony of Crowton's current status is that a year ago, he was dealing with the downturn of an Oregon offense that managed only eight points in a Las Vegas Bowl loss to BYU. His reward? A promotion to LSU, eventually resulting in a chance to call the plays in the national title game.
"Offensively, we're better than we've ever been," Miles said. "So I think coach Crowton has done a great job."
The Tigers are ranked 21st in the country in total offense, averaging a school-record 448 yards. That's impressive, considering the quality of defenses in the Southeastern Conference and the fact LSU lost the NFL's No. 1 draft choice, quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
Crowton has done it with a creative scheme that is "as far from vanilla as you can get," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
Crowton's success this season validates a couple of theories about him. First, his biggest impact always comes in his first year, before opposing defenses catch on to him. It was true with the Bears, who developed one of the NFL's best passing games; with BYU, where the Cougars racked up huge numbers behind quarterback Brandon Doman and won their first 12 games; with Oregon, which came to life offensively and reached the Holiday Bowl; and at LSU, where Crowton is viewed as an upgrade from Jimbo Fisher, who moved to Florida State after last season.
Second, he's better off as an assistant coach, where he can concentrate strictly on football and not worry about the rest of the program.
Crowton will not acknowledge that, although he did say at a news conference in New Orleans, "I love the coaching part of it."
The Tigers have elements of Urban Meyer's spread offense from Utah, which burned BYU's defense for 52 points in Crowton's last game as the Cougar coach in 2004, mixed with a power running game that features Jacob Hester. They also have developed an efficient passing attack with quarterback Matt Flynn, who credits Crowton for the offense's development.
"If coach Crowton didn't spend as much time teaching us and coaching us this year - because we installed a lot of new things offensively and we have a lot of young guys - I don't think we would be here," Flynn said.
Miles was looking for some new thinking in hiring Crowton, while also expecting him to build a system around the offensive personnel in the program. It has worked during a season blemished only by two overtime defeats. In each case, the game ended with offensive failures. At Kentucky, Crowton shockingly called four consecutive running plays to start the Tigers' final possession, and they could not pick up a first down. Against Arkansas, Flynn was intercepted in the end zone.
But LSU recovered with a victory over Tennessee in the SEC championship game when Flynn was injured and Crowton made effective use of backup QB Ryan Perriloux, then a wild sequence of events made room for the Tigers in the title game.
Preparing to face the Ohio State defense, Crowton said, "It's recognizing what they're doing and taking advantage of the small holes and windows that they give us. And they're there. They're not big, but they're there."
At this stage of his career, that's as much opportunity for greatness as Crowton could hope for.
kkragthorpe@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">kkragthorpe@sltrib.com