Mike Denbrock -- 2023 FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year
FootballScoop is proud to announce that Mike Denbrock (LSU) is the 2023 FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
In its most simplest terms, the job of the offensive coordinator is to score as many points as possible. No one did that better than LSU in 2023.
The Tigers averaged 46.4 points per game -- not only the best in the nation, but the most by an FBS team over a full season since the 2019 LSU team that roared their way to a national title.
Denbrock's unit topped the 60-point mark twice, and posted at least 48 points seven times in 12 games. Only two teams held the Tigers below 34 points; LSU beat the scoring average of all 12 defenses it faced in the regular season, and six times they set the opponent's high-water mark for points allowed.
The offense was, of course, keyed by quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Heisman Trophy winner set the FBS single-season passing efficiency record, hitting 72.2 percent of his passes for 3,812 yards (11.7 per attempt, first in the nation) with a national-best 40 touchdowns against four interceptions.
Malik Nabers led all receivers at 1,546 yards and 128.8 yards per game while hauling in 14 touchdowns on his 86 catches -- tied for second nationally. Brian Thomas, Jr., also topped the 1,000-yard mark, while leading the nation with 15 touchdown grabs on 60 total catches. Kyren Lacy led both in yards per reception, averaging 19.3 yards to Nabers's and Thomas's 18 yards per grab, while turning seven of his 24 catches into touchdowns.
LSU was also tough to contain on the ground. The Tigers ranked eighth nationally at 213.5 yards per game while leading the nation at 6.33 yards per carry. Daniels led the Tigers' ground efforts with 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns at 8.4 per carry, while Logan Diggs added with 652 yards and seven touchdowns.
Add it all up and you have an offense that not only out-scored every other team in the country, but also led the country in total offense (547.8 yards per game), yards per play (8.53), yards per attempt (11.0) and yards per carry (6.33). LSU racked up 102 plays of 20+ yards, making them the first team to reach that number since 2019 LSU and the first team to run 100 such plays in only 12 games since at least 2010.
In addition to the Heisman, Daniels took home the Walter Camp Award, the AP Player of the Year, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the Davey O'Brien Trophy, the Sporting News College Player of the Year, the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and was a consensus All-American. Nabers was a Biletnikoff Award finalist and garnered unanimous All-American honors, while offensive linemen Will Campbell and Emery Jones collected First Team All-SEC accolades.
A former Grand Valley State tight end, Denbrock entered coaching as a GA at his alma mater in 1986. He has served as both an offensive and defensive coordinator in his career, with stops at Michigan State, Illinois State, Stanford, Notre Dame, Indiana State, Washington and Cincinnati before joining Brian Kelly's staff at LSU ahead of the 2022 season.
Denbrock has since taken the offensive coordinator position at Notre Dame.
"Mike not only has a lot of experience, but he has achieved a high level of success at multiple places. He has the ability to mold his offense to utilize his playmakers, while putting defenses in conflict," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Willy Korn and Newland Isaac [Liberty], Ryan Grubb [Washington], Kirby Moore [Missouri], Sherrone Moore [Michigan], Will Stein [Oregon] and Denbrock) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Previous winners of the Offensive Coordinator of the Year award are Kevin Wilson (Oklahoma, 2008), Bryan Harsin (Boise State, 2009), Gus Malzahn (Auburn, 2010), Kliff Kingsbury (Houston, 2011 and Texas A&M, 2012), Philip Montgomery (Baylor, 2013), Tom Herman (Ohio State, 2014), Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma, 2015), Lane Kiffin (Alabama, 2016), Josh Heupel (Missouri, 2017), Mike Locksley (Alabama, 2018), Joe Brady/Steve Ensminger (LSU, 2019), Steve Sarkisian (Alabama, 2020), Jeff Grimes (Baylor, 2021), and Garrett Riley (TCU, 2022).
1st Nationally -- Scoring Offense | 1st Nationally -- Yards Per Carry |
1st Nationally -- Yards Per Attempt | 1st Nationally -- Plays of 20+ Yards |
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