NCAA-Violating Wes Welker Tweets Whiff On BYU Wide Receiver Cody Hoffman

Dec 20, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; BYU Cougars receiver Cody Hoffman (2) carries the ball in the 2012 Poinsettia Bowl against the San Diego State Aztecs at Qualcomm Stadium. BYU defeated San Diego State 23-6. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

The series of tweets current Denver Broncos and former Texas Tech Red Raiders Wes Welker fired off to BYU Cougars recruit Nick Kurtz on Friday (full story on West Coast Convo) sparked a firestorm over the weekend. The Dallas Morning News reports Welker’s tweets violate NCAA rules — NFL All-Pros are not exempt from regulations prohibiting boosters from using social media to contact recruits — but it also indirectly disparages one of the top wideouts in the upcoming college football season.

Cody Hoffman was one of the premiere receivers during the 2012 season, hauling in 100 passes for 1248 yards and 11 touchdowns. Hoffman was in elite company, ranking No. 15 nationally for receiving yards per game. The names ahead of him included Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Terrance Williams and Marqise Lee. And Hoffman lacked the benefit of quarterback stability.

[[ RELATED via LAWLESS REPUBLIC: Wes Welker Tells BYU Football Recruit He Has “50 Reasons” To Not Go To BYU ]]

The Cougars started three different quarterbacks last season: Riley Nelson, Taysom Hill and James Lark, who combined for just 25 touchdowns. Hoffman was responsible for 44 percent of them.

BYU’s offense was hardly reminiscent of the ahead-of-its-time system LaVell Edwards’ staff employed a generation ago. Current Cougar head coach Bronco Mendenhall rehired Robert Anae as offensive coordinator, to bring back some of that uptempo mojo. In an ironic twist, it was BYU that helped spawn the Texas Tech system Welker now touts.

Welker’s first year at Tech coincided with Mike Leach’s first there as head coach. Leach employed an almost pass-exclusive offense that set records — an offense Leach crafted in part because of Edwards’ BYU teams.

Here’s Leach discussing the implementation of the air raid at Washington State with The Salt Lake Tribune, before the season opener at BYU:

"“I think offensively, we may look more BYU than BYU does, if you reflect on the LaVell Edwards days. You know what I mean? [T]here are plays that we run … and we don’t run them exactly, but we got them from the golden days back there at BYU when LaVell Edwards was there. They were throwing the ball all over the place…It influenced me directly, specifically. It is the core of a lot of things we do offensively, the philosophy of attacking the whole field…”"

This system helped make Welker a two-time, 1000-plus-yard receiver. Hoffman is striving for the same milestone in 2013, and is likely to reach it under Anae’s guidance.

Anae was offensive line coach at Tech under Leach, and while Welker was playing. He ran a variation of the system at BYU from 2005 through 2010. Only once during that stint did the Cougars finish out of the top 15 of passing offense, and standout Austin Collie emerged as an elite receiver amid that run.

Anae has considerable experience working with NFL caliber receivers, given his relatively short time as an offensive coordinator. His one season as OC at Arizona, the Wildcats ran the spread largely through Oakland Raider Juron Criner. Criner caught 75 passes for 956 yards and 11 touchdowns in an injury-shortened 2011 campaign.

At 6-foot-3 with explosive athleticism and a nose for the ball, Criner’s closest comparison in the 2013 college season? Arguably, it’s Cody Hoffman.

As for NFL readiness, ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper said Hoffman is currently his No. 2 senior receiver in the 2014 class. That has to be a promising sign for Kurtz, whose size and style are similar. It also negates Welker’s argument.

However, the most important takeaway from this episode beyond any others isn’t the connections between BYU and Texas Tech. It’s not the NFL success of either program’s players, nor is it the season Hoffman has in store before he joins the professional ranks. Rather, it’s that tweeting recruits to badger them into picking your school is unsavory, no matter who you are.