Wells, who is pretty decently traveled if you read his bio, was brought in last year to coach USU's quarterbacks and helped groom a pair of studs in Adam Kennedy and Chuckie Keeton. Given the job he did on preparing those guys for primetime, it's not tough to see why he was a hit among Aggie fans. Not only that, but given his relationship with the quarterbacks, chances are he won't be shy about opening up the passing game next season, something Baldwin seemed reluctant to do over his career at USU despite seemingly stellar results whenever he did.
In the case of Baldwin, I can't imagine a more love-hate relationship. On one end, his offenses set all sorts of USU records, but at other times he seemed incapable of making adjustments when he needed to. Far too often he would try to put square pegs in round holes (WR screens anybody?), and other times he would seem dead-set on ignoring what was working, which often times was as simple as giving the ball to that Turbin guy who is going pro.
For the most part, people's biggest beef with Baldwin was that they felt like he often cost the team games with his conservative play calling and grossly underutilized certain star players at times. Diondre Borel's senior year might be the best example of that, but the lack of balls thrown to Matt Austin, Stanley Morrison, Chuck Jacobs and Travis Van Leeuwen this year also testify to how reluctant Baldwin was to open things up, no matter how much they worked.
This change might be coming at just the right time though. Without Robert Turbin next year, and a smaller back like Kerwynn Williams as the featured running back, the offense is going to have to rely on the passing game a lot more than the past three years. I believe Williams will still be a superstar at running back, and if he's used pretty often as a receiver out of the backfield, All-WAC is not out of the question. But he's also going to need the passing game to be consistent and solid to take pressure off the running game and keep defenses honest.
I'll have more thoughts on Baldwin, both good and bad, when I put out football's season grades later this week. In parting, it's tough to not be grateful to Baldwin for being part of the turnaround of this program. His offenses were really fun to watch when he was on his A-game, but the frustrations that came with him on a bad day were a detriment to the team's success. At the end of the day, I believe this move could work out well for all parties involved. Baldwin lands in a situation he likes better, Matt Wells gets his shot to lead USU's offense, Aggie fans get what they wanted... Everybody wins.
Best of luck Dave. Thanks for being a part of a great thing for us!
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