DaytonDailyNews.com

NEW ORLEANS — Gary Crowton has been building football offenses for more than 20 years, and his only shot in the pros was a memorable one, at least for the talent he had.

"A great mind, skinny guy," Crowton said of Shane Matthews, who was a fourth-year quarterback when Crowton took over as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator in 1999. "He could only take about three games, and then he couldn't walk. It does seem like forever ago."

Crowton's latest of his 11 career stops brings him to the BCS championship game, where he searches for a way to attack Ohio State's imposing defense as the LSU offensive coordinator. Players have raved about his spread offense since he arrived last season following Jimbo Fisher's departure to Florida State.

Now, he needs to them to play unlike his slender pro quarterback project.

"He brings a lot of excitement, a lot of new plays that got our spirits up in the spring time," said running back Jacob Hester. "It's an offense you see on TV a lot but never know if you're going to get a chance to run, and now we have it."

Crowton developed his spread offense beginning in 1984, when he was named the offensive coordinator at Snow Junior College. His stops at Western Illinois, New Hampshire, Boston College and Georgia Tech earned him respect in the profession before he took over Louisiana Tech's offense in 1995.

Since, including his stops as the Tech offensive coordinator and head coach (1995-98), Bears offensive coordinator (1999-2000), BYU head coach (2001-04), Oregon offensive coordinator (2005-06) and now LSU offensive coordinator, Crowton has become one of the most respected offensive coaches in college football for his ability to create passing yards and points.

"It's a little more spread option, some out of the shotgun, mix it up a little more," said LSU center Brett Helms. "Jimbo's offense last year was a little more power, right at you. I think with coach Crowton, he creates mismatches."

Said wide receiver Early Doucet, "We allow the quarterback to run the ball a little bit more than we did last year with coach Fisher, that's the big difference, making the defense wonder."

With an offense that ranks 12th nationally in scoring (38.7 points per game) and 21st in yards (448.2 per game), Crowton will call plays against an Ohio State defense that is widely regarded as one of the country's best, if not the best.

"We have an identity in our spread offense, and we have an identity in our two-back offense," Crowton said. "We believe that we have staples in that. I haven't run everything I ran at Oregon in the spread offense because if you bring another concept in, it causes a whole 20 minutes of practice on a daily basis, and you can't practice that long. But we've had some success."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com