Maybe he could just, I don't know, call the plays?
He was calling the plays, but he's still beholden to BK's aspects of the playbook, as well as BK's gameplans and call sheets.
He featured the TE heavily at Memphis, and recruiting trends say he wants to do the same here. Last year felt like an uptick in TE usage, but I still don't feel like we were doing it enough to maximize the threat of the run game, attacking the seams and deep middle and such.
That's partly on Long pounding the table when the coaches talk about installation in meetings, and partly on Long pounding the table in film sessions when he's telling Wimbush where he should be throwing the ball.
Not sure if this was just for show with the recruit viewing practice but Ethan Rae said that the TE's were very active in practice. He said it was nice to see, as a lot of coaches say it, but not a lot actually do it.
Also, it's sounds like they've been quite active in the 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 viewings the media has seen.
This is good news. And Long and BK have both mentioned that the offense NEEDS to pass the ball more this year, so TE targets should increase naturally either way.
I just hope BK doesn't revert to "Air Raid BK" and affect Long's designs for TE usage too drastically.