As much as Brennan Armstrong flourished under Anae and Beck last year, throwing for 4,449 yards and 31 TDs and a 156.4 passer rating, he has struggled under Elliott and the new offensive coordinator, Des Kitchings, this season, passing for 710 yards, two TDs and a 108.3 rating through three games in 2022.
Elliott was asked Tuesday what he learned about Anae and Beck through his analysis of his new team in the offseason.
Here’s where you learn what made the Anae/Beck system work at UVA, and what’s different about the Elliott/Kitchings system that’s been hard for Armstrong and his offensive teammates to pick up on.
“They did a great job of being creative and using their personnel. They had a different approach. That’s just my perspective, and I don’t know this for certain, but it was more kind of just go make plays,” Elliott said. “We’re going to focus more on the play aspect, where my approach is more off of the timing, the design of the play, the progressions of the reads, the balance on offense. So, they did a great job with what they did. They found a way. I think it helped Brennan because he was able to get in a rhythm where he threw the ball a lot, where it’s a little bit different here, and it’s more — in the pros you don’t throw the ball every single play, you have to be balanced. There’s going to be times you’ve got to hand it off. You’ve got to manage the game.
“I think that’s a little bit of where Brennan is. He’s trying to make every single play for us because he had that freedom last year in the system, and he was confident. Again, he’s a playmaker, whereas here I want him to play within the system and make the required play,” Elliott said. “I had that discussion with him today, said hey, maybe the required play is, throw the ball away. That’s the best football play. You never go broke making a profit. Chad Morris taught me that. You never go broke making a profit, and sometimes the profit is hey, throw the ball away as opposed to scrambling around and you take a loss, and now you’re behind the chains.”
For the record, an incomplete pass is not a “profit.” It’s not a loss, but it’s not a “profit.”
You can go broke losing money, but you’re not going to get rich throwing things away.