BOULDER — The Washington Redskins’ 2010 offensive playbook sits on Jon Embree’s coffee table like a paperweight.
It’s 2 inches thick, bigger than his players’ textbook “History of Planet Earth.”
As Embree embarks on his first head coaching job, his offensive philosophy may look familiar to Broncos fans. Of all the influences he has had in an assistant coaching career that spans from Bill McCartney to Mike Shanahan, his pro-set attack will have Shanahan’s fingerprints all over it.
“Being around Mike, I’ve learned a lot,” said Embree, who came to Colorado from Shanahan’s Redskins staff. “Not only plays, but how to attack defenses. He sees the game at a whole different level. He really does.”
The Buffs won’t exactly look like Redskins Light this fall. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy brought some West Coast offense principles from the Minnesota Vikings too.
Colorado ran a lot of pro set the last five losing seasons, but this year’s differences will be obvious. Colorado will run the ball more (hello, Rodney Stewart), Tyler Hansen will be under center more and the tight ends will play a bigger role.
Embree first learned a pro-style attack as a graduate assistant at Colorado in 1991, when he shared an office with five other assistants in what was then the new Dal Ward Center. He has moved down the hall, where his spacious office overlooks Folsom Field.
That was the year McCartney junked his wishbone offense for a pro set. As Embree’s coaching career blossomed in the college ranks, he often studied Shanahan’s offense with the Broncos.
With the Redskins, he honed in on it.
“I thought he was all about throwing it, but being around him and how he creates mismatches to run the ball was really impressive,” Embree said. “I understood why he did what he did.”
The pro set may seem old school to many, but college defenses are catching up to the spread. In Colorado’s new league, the Pac-12, Oregon uses the spread with great success, but its biggest challenger, Stanford, uses the same offense Embree wants to run.
“I like the ability to run the ball out of it, the different ways we can run the ball and attack people,” Embree said. “I don’t want to say I’m a traditionalist, but having a fullback, having two, three tight ends, it gives you a chance creating some mismatches.”
Football goes in cycles, and Embree thinks the spread has seen its better days. The question he is trying to answer this spring is how well his players are fitting into a new scheme. And former coach Dan Hawkins left him some weapons.
Hansen, a three-year starter, has been efficient. Stewart is a 1,300-yard rusher. Four starting offensive linemen return, and so do a couple of improving, speedy receivers.
“Our playbook’s pretty thick right now, and it’s going to get pretty crazy,” Hansen said. “This stuff is hard to learn and hard to keep up, so this is really important for all of us.”
Keep in mind that the offense might have to score like Oregon does to make up for a defense left in rubble.
“On paper, that (offense) is a great start,” said Embree whose spring game is 6 p.m. Saturday. “But we ain’t playing on paper. They have to relearn terminology. They have to relearn splits. They have to relearn route depths, drops. How many times was Tyler Hansen under center?”
Embree said he has installed only 30 percent or so of his playbook. When asked how much he’ll have installed by the Sept. 3 opener at Hawaii, he said, “Enough.”
The Jon Embree era is still five months away. It won’t be enough time to install his entire philosophy. It won’t be enough time to get all the players he needs. However, Embree hints that he’s a traditionalist. That’s what a shattered fan base needs.
A return to tradition.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
