ASU Football: Rob Likens looks for success in first year as OC

Heading into the 2018-19 season, the ASU football team will feature three new coaches at head coach, defensive and offensive coordinator.

The only coaching position that will feature a familiar face is on the offensive side of the ball with Rob Likens. Likens will take over for Billy Napier, who spent last season as offensive coordinator before becoming the head coach at Louisiana Lafayette in December.

After spending last season with ASU as the wide receivers coach, Likens has a sense of familiarity around the program. He oversaw the successful seasons from N’Keal Harry, who hauled in 82 receptions for 1,142 yards, and Kyle Williams, who reeled in 763 yards and seven touchdowns.

Coaching History

Likens began his coaching career at North Alabama as a running backs coach and receivers coach after a playing career at Mississippi State. Since his time at North Alabama, Likens has coached at eight different schools and will be entering his sixth offensive coordinator job.

Through his 25 years of experience, some of the most prominent jobs that the veteran of the college football ranking has held include two years at California as the assistant head coach and passing coordinator for the 2013-14 seasons and his most recent job as the offensive coordinator at Kansas for the 2015-16 season.

During his time at Cal, Likens helped establish a prolific passing attack that helped set single-season school records in 2013 with highs in passing yardage (3,977), pass completions (368) and pass attempts (622).

Likens also helped 2016 NFL Draft No. 1 pick Jared Goff rewrite school history for the second straight year as he finished the 2014 season with 4,152 passing yards for the Golden Bears. Not only did Goff gain national recognition under Likens, three of his top four receivers in Bryce Treggs, Chris Harper, and Kenny Lawler were candidates for the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s top wide receiver.

More from Devils in Detail

Style

During Likens’ coaching tenure, he has been known to be a pass-first coordinator as evident in success at Cal, throwing the ball a school-record amount of times. This style varied slightly during his time at Kansas, where the team threw the ball a total of 452 times while running the ball 445 times en route to an 0-12 campaign.

While most of Likens’ success has come from throwing the ball, new head coach Herm Edwards has been known for more of a heavy-run attack during his time coaching the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. Edwards was often criticized for his ultra-conservative offensive approach as he played more to not lose the game than to win.

In order for this transition to be successful, Edwards will have to expand the playbook beyond basic zone and power runs and be willing to trust senior quarterback Manny Wilkins, who is coming off an over 3,000 yard passing season while completing 63% of his pass attempts.

Wilkins will be surrounded by the talented group of aforementioned Harry and Williams but will also be joined in the running game by sophomore Eno Benjamin, who will look to carry the bulk of the carries for ASU.

Look for Likens and the offense to run the ball early and often with multiple receivers split out to empty the defensive box and provide running lanes for Benjamin and the rest of the running back committee for the Sun Devils. This approach will keep the time of possession in favor of ASU and keep the defense off of the field.

While the run should and will be expected by many teams, the Sun Devils are going to have to be able to let Wilkins spread the ball around to his talented receivers in order to keep up to pace with the talented offenses in the Pac-12, which include some of the nation’s best in Oregon and Washington.

Upgrade or Downgrade

During the 2017-18 season, ASU ranked 36th in the country in total offense with a total of 5,600 yards, with 3,324 coming through the air and 2,276 coming on the ground while averaging a notch above 30 points per game.

While Napier was able to lead an offense, don’t expect there to be a drop off from Likens’ offense. The offensive weapons from a year ago are still alive and well around Tempe, Arizona. The deadly combination of Wilkins and Harry, of the best in the Pac-12, will lead a flurry of options for Likens and company to use multiple weapons for success.

Next: ASU Football: N’Keal Harry leads wide receiver group

Expect the Sun Devils to stumble a bit at first on the offensive end as they find their approach as they merge Likens pass-heavy offensive mind with Edwards ground and pound approach. Once ASU finds their footing, they will be one of the top offensive attacks in the Pac-12 behind experienced quarterback play and a group of talented wide receivers.

Home/ASU Football