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It’s The Spread

Posted by TaylorTRoom on January 9th, 2008 under Football

The most important strategic decision a head coach makes, whether new to a team, or established, is which offense to run. His choice of offense determines what kind of personnel he needs, how practices should be organized, and how he should scheme for different opponents. All decisions come after this decision.

There are times in D-1A history where a coach can win with one of several offenses, given the talent and coaching ability. Think of the mid-80s, when OU won with the Wishbone, Miami won with a pro-set “I”, and
Nebraska won with it’s Option “I”. Some of these offenses relied more on superior talent to work, others required superior coaching and game planning, but there was always an offense that was uniquely suited to a team’s strengths and weaknesses.

This is not one of those times. The Spread is the dominant offense in D-1A, so dominant that a coach better have a pretty good reason to not run it. For the 3rd year in a row, a Spread team has won the MNC, joining pass-based Spread MNCs TCU (1935, 1938) and OU (2000). The very talented and well-coached OSU Buckeyes have lost only 5 games the past 3 years (2005- UT and PSU, 2006- Fla, 2007- Illinois and LSU), and each loss was to a team that ran a run-based Spread offense. UT, Fla, and LSU were extremely talented teams, but tOSU had better players than PSU and
Illinois. Spread teams score more often and more consistently than other formations right now.

What exactly is the Spread? I’ll let one of its creators define it-

“The Spread offense creates spaces in the defense which, if they can be kept open, will allow good gains on run plays. It is no longer necessary to make holes. It is only necessary to keep holes open.”

Dutch Meyer
“Spread Formation Football”
copyright 1952

TCU

You know…

Meredith

They didn’t always used to just produce running backs…

Layne

in Texas.

Did you think the Spread was invented recently? No, Meyer won MNCs with it in the ‘30s, run by his Single Wing tailbacks Sammy Baugh and Davey O’Brien (check out O’Brien’s ’38 Heisman winning season sometime. In an era that didn’t pass much or well, he threw up stats that most of the QBs in the Big 12 would love to have). The wide open Single Wing popular in the ‘30s (Note- not every Single Wing was a Spread formation) was replaced by the “T” (which evolved to the “I” and its NFL variations) because the “T” had fewer turnovers, with its simpler handoffs and pre-determined holes. The lessons learned from the modern option offenses’ running plays, and the West Coast Offense pass routes and reads have been incorporated into Spread formations and effectively turbo-charged them. The modern Spread has all of the big play capability of the old Single Wing Spreads, with no greater risk of turning the ball over than in the “I”.

A way to tell the difference between the Spread and the “I” is that the “I” formation plays try to put blockers on tacklers by design and execution. It puts Xes on the Os. The Spread doesn’t worry about putting Xes on Os; it tries to use formation to create spaces between the Xes and Os and attacks those spaces. Some Spreads are pass-based; others are run-based.

How do you designate a Spread team, given that a lot of Spread teams still run some “I” formation, and “I” formation teams occasionally spread the field? A big clue is where the QB receives the snap. The “I” formation has an important reason for him to be under center- so the handoff can be sure, and the back can read the blocks before taking the ball. Many of the “I” formation pass plays depend on play-action, and the under-center snap helps sell it. In Spread offenses, there is less of a reason for the QB to be under center, if he’s trying to get the ball into an open space as quickly as possible. I know that a lot of “I” formation passing can come from the shotgun, so I’ll give you another clue. If a team is in a short yardage situation, say 3rd and 2, and the QB is 5 yards behind the center receiving the snap, with no more than one back with him and both Ends split wide, and then runs or throws from there, you’re probably watching a Spread team.

I think if you proposed to Jim Tressell or Pete Carroll that the Spread was a fundamentally superior offense, they would look at you patronizingly and gently explain that the pro-set “I” was a very proven offense that has won a lot of games, it is the offense of the NFL, and that it can do the same things the Spread can do. Unfortunately for their argument, Charlie Weis would say the same things, and until last December, so would Lloyd Carr.

The Pac-10 is the last bastion of the Pro-set. USC has had a ton of success with the Pro-set. The nation seems to forget that USC was not the only Pac-10 team in MNC contention last year. Spread team Oregon rose to #2 in the nation, and was in the process of whipping Mike Stoops’
Arizona team to consolidate that position, when QB Dennis Dixon went down. With no backup ready to run the offense, Oregon finished the year the way
Texas would have finished 2005 if Matt Nordgren had to take over in the Baylor game. Let’s see how Oregon does in 2008, with
Dixon and a bunch of other seniors gone. My guess is that they’ll do better than expected, and contend again.

As I wrote in the beginning, the most important strategic decision a team makes is which offense to run.
Michigan has just decided to go with the Spread, by hiring Rich Rodriguez. UCLA, TAMU, and
Arkansas have seemingly decided to go with the pro-set, judging by their recent hires, unless Neuheisel, Sherman and Petrino decide to get away from the offenses that they made their bones with. My prediction is that in two years they’ll realize they’ve made a mistake.

It's amazing.

“It’s amazing. It’s the Spread.”

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24 Responses

  1. mileslong said:

    January 9th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

    nice read, thanks. i wish we ran the spread, with the current talent for next year being basically possession receivers and a steady if not unspectacular back in VM, i think we could maximize our potential with that offense. colt can throw short well enough to run it and run well enough to keep defenses honest. not run the VY spread but the hawaii version. it wont happen of course but i often like to daydream about such things along with nicole kidman giving me a sponge bath…

  2. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 9th, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    We do run the spread.

  3. TaylorTRoom said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 4:58 am

    Texas runs what I call “Frankenspread”. We take the safe, conservative pass routes we had in our old offense (sideline out, short hitches, etc.) and run them from a spread formation with the QB 5 yards behind the center. We run a lot of zone read from the spread, and only rarely bring in a fullback to block in short yardage “I” formations (even then we might have the Ends split wide). This is actually a very effective offense, because it doesn’t ask too much of the QB, and the running threat from zone read limits what the defensive secondary can do to jump all over our routes.

    We won a MNC with this offense, and then decided in 2006 that our personnel required us to change back to more of what we had before. That was a bad decision. Then in early 2007, we thought out personnel required us to be more of a pass-based spread team. That was a bad decision. In the 4th quarter of the Nebraska game, we learned that our current offense is our best choice, even if some of the pieces don’t seem to fit, talent-wise.

  4. Ojnab Bob said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Nice article.

    To me, the current dominance of the spread has most to do with the progressive relaxation of the way holding has been called over the last twenty years. Under the current rules, both linemen and wide receivers can now extend their arms and grab jersey. This makes it much easier for wide-OL-split teams to run the ball, as they can tie up the DLs and “keep the holes open” long enough for the quick-hit running plays to get to and through the line.

    Accordingly, these two facts are not coincidental – 1) that Big XII teams disproportionately run the spread, and 2) that Big XII refs are famed for not calling holding (e.g., contrast the Fiesta Bowl (OU/Loadholt flagged, deservedly, for many holding calls) with the BCS Championship (Big XII refs, as usual, ignore numerous holds on both sides)). I am surprised more people haven’t picked up on this.

    I’m an old-guard Husker fan, and love the Option-I offense. However, I believe that the spread is the “dominant strategy” given the current rules, and will reach near 100% use in the next few years. I think it will take a change in the rules/enforcement of holding for the return of diversity in offensive systems.

  5. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    I loved the old Tom Osbourne offense, too. The CFB universe just doesn’t seem right without NU running it. That’s why the football gods have banished NU to the realm of the mediocre. Hopefully Pelini understands this and corrects it.

    Anyway, that offense has essentially been replaced by what WVU does, and what Oregon did this past season. As running QBs become more skilled in the pass game, coordinators are heaping more and more responsibility upon them.

    Unless the NCAA enforces stricter holding rules, we may never see those old school I offenses again.

  6. RansomStoddard said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    I’m not sure what offense Texas runs but it sure as hell is not the spread. Right now, no one has figured out exactly how to stop it so offenses are kicking defenses asses. Eventually the D coordinators will figure it out and everyone will switch to something else. As the post points out, everything in college fb is a cycle.

  7. SlickStreet said:

    January 10th, 2008 at 7:52 pm

    Sheesh, they’ll let f’ing anyone write for this site, LOL.

    Good stuff, T-Room!

  8. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 11th, 2008 at 5:32 am

    “I’m not sure what offense Texas runs but it sure as hell is not the spread.”

    Yes, it is. The spread, quite literally, is just a normal offense run out of spread formations, which is what we do. We don’t do it well, and I don’t think Davis understands exactly why the spread works and how to take advantage of it, but we do it.

    It’s semantics, I know.

    But as far as the cycle thing, I don’t know. I think the spread is here to stay, for two reasons. One, it’s grounded in solid fundamentals. The run & shoot didn’t work because you could exploit it. The old Wishbone stuff died down because you couldn’t really do as much out of it, and the speed of defenses started making it harder to do.

    So, coaches spread it out. WVU runs the wishbone, quite literally, but now the QB acts as the third back, and the FB is now a slot receiver. The spread works because it isn’t a gimmick or a series of plays, it’s good, proven offenses, like the option or west coast offense, but it eliminated the defense’s ability to gang up on you. So now instead of creating holes, you jsut have to keep them open. You can get your WR one on one matchups much more easily, and you can take what the defenses give you on every snap.

    The one downside is, you it puts a lot of pressure on the QB to make the right decision very time. The second reason I think the spread is permanant at the college level is because of the proliferation of 7 on 7 and all the camps and junk. There are, in any given year, 6-7 good QBs who come out of Texas alone, and a dozen more capable ones for lower level conferences.

    As coaching continues to get better in high school (look at Highland Park, Southlake Carrol, Stephenville, etc.) the result will be even more QBs capable of executing the offense.

  9. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 11th, 2008 at 5:34 am

    One last thing, the reason it’s tougher to do in the NFL (unless you have an amazing OL and a hall of fame QB) is that every defense is fast as hell. Most of them anyway. Speed on defense is really rare, and anyone who can run, regardless of talent, ends up at a high level BCS school. So the lower levels have no chance of matching up with these offenses. That’s why Southlake and HP can take a bunch of white kids and ruin everybody’s shit year after year. Execute it well in high school, and nobody stands a chance.

  10. Peter North said:

    January 11th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    Actually, I made “the spread” notable, but initially I wanted to call it “The Gap”…

  11. SlickStreet said:

    January 11th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    Chris, sure enjoy your takes on this site.
    Even so, I don’t know that we’ll see this offense remain for all times, as implied. Inevitably, defenses do counter, and the O’s then respond accordingly. There may well be some schools that continue using the spread and the many variations, but I suspect a good portion inevitably will do something that’s been done before.

    For now and in the foreseeable future, though, you’re right that it sure looks like the O’ to be utilized. In fact, with more and more high schools going to it, it’s kinda like the Wishbone was at one time in the 70’s. Took awhile, but it became “the” offense for a large number of colleges, especially as the high school ranks became proliferated with candidates to run it.

  12. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 11th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

    The thing is, though, there is nothing to counter. If someone adjusts to your version of the spread, change it to one of the other hundreds of versions.

    The spread is not an offense, a fad, a cycle, a play, or anything. It’s progress. It’s not an offense, it’s how you run your offense.

    The only way defenses are going to get on top of it is when human cloning is mainstream and every defense has 3 DJs and 4 Huffs.

    Of course I could be wrong, but this site will be long gone by the time I’m proven such. Suckers!

  13. BiggUggly said:

    January 12th, 2008 at 9:46 am

    Ojnad Bob is right on. The refusal by the zebras to call holding are what makes these offenses successful. Call holding and they become “chuck and duck” offenses with QBs running for their life and completions much harder to generate. The other issue in my mind is offensive pass interference because it is NEVER called unless the player is in Burnt Orange with a # 4 on his jersey.

    I have no problem with

  14. BiggUggly said:

    January 12th, 2008 at 9:48 am

    I have no problem with Tech’s offense so long as the rules are enforced. Now, holding and grounding are largely ignored.

  15. Ojnab Bob said:

    January 12th, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    Exactly, BiggUggly – enforce the 1980 or 1985 holding rules, and Texas Tech’s offense becomes incredibly less successful (there were, after all, good reasons why no one ran those super-wide OL splits back in the day).

    I’m sure Mike Leach would be the first to admit this! I’d love to hear his opinion on the whole trend, actually…

  16. SlickStreet said:

    January 13th, 2008 at 8:39 am

    Chris, besides the possibility of holding being more enforced (doubtful, since most seem to love endless amounts of offense), I think we will start seeing more quick, fast talent brought to the defensive side. More coaches will start putting at least a modest amount of their best athletes on defense; kind of the anti-Mackovic approach. Initially, just a few will, but others will see how comparatively successful at slowing (not stopping) the spread that they’ll emulate.

    Then, with smaller, quicker defenders littering the field, the O’s start pounding the hell out of those units with big ol’ burly fullbacks and such.

    I could be the “sucker” in the end regarding this though, ha.

  17. echeese said:

    January 13th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    they won’t let me write for this site

  18. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 13th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    There is only so much speed in the country.

  19. TaylorTRoom said:

    January 14th, 2008 at 4:48 am

    Anybody watch the NFL playoffs? One of the offenses is not like the others…Sure, the Patriots occasionally line up a lot of blockers to overpower the LOS, but for most downs they spread it out, and occasionally on short yardage, too. The Patriots and the Colts have the most running plays out of the shotgun as well.

    The NFL is a copycat league, I’m told. It’s funny to see teams like UCLA, Arkansas and TAMU go after NFL Offensive Coordinators, because they want the NFL offense. I suspect in 2 years the typical NFL offense will resemble what TT runs more than what Dallas or SD ran this year.

  20. Beergut said:

    January 18th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    With the exception of TCU and SMU’s time under Matty Bell, single wing teams of that era were just about exclusively tight splits, grind-it-out, football in a phonebooth-type offenses.
    What made Meyer a genius and TCU so successful is the fact that they spread out their single wing offense to attack defenses.

    texas does not run the spread. texas runs a zone-based running game with a West Coast passing attack; that does not equal spread.

    Florida runs a spread single wing attack, with their running game a take off on the old buck lateral single wing offenses.
    LSU ran a lot of wing-on in the MNC game, running a whole power series that looked straight out of Florida’s playbook. You could classify them as a spread single wing team, too.

    What OU ran in 2000 is nothing like what Florida or LSU ran this past season. What Florida and LSU ran is closer to Meyer’s spread single wing than anything OU has done this decade.

    I would classify West Virginia as the definition of a spread option offense, with Illinois and Oregon trying to imitate them. However, WVU does use a TE like a wingback, and they pull their linemen like a single wing team on some series.

    I disagree with your contention that Illinois doesn’t have better players than Ohio State, b/c I think superior speed at QB (Williams), RB (Mendenhall), and WR (Benn) are the reason Illinois beat tOSU.
    Illinois didn’t win b/c they ran the spread option, they won b/c they simply out-ran tOSU.

    New England is conclusively proving this season that you can run the spread offense in the NFL.

  21. TaylorTRoom said:

    January 19th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    Some good points. TCU and SMU were spread teams in the context of the ’30s and ’40s, but their splits would be nothing special today.

    Similarly, OU was running a pass-based spread in ‘99 and ‘00. I give Stoops credit for running the offense he didn’t want to face as a defensive specialist- the spread. I think this offense, and its evolved version at TT are the closest in philosophy to what the Pats are running. I doubt the NFL ever runs the spread option or anythink like it, but I would like to see somebody pick up Pat White to play wingback.

  22. Beergut said:

    January 20th, 2008 at 2:17 am

    Tech is running a series-based spread with split-T line splits. In philosophy, the Patriots are probably closest to Purdue in what they do.
    One of the main series that Tech uses is the Shallow Cross series, a series they got from Mike Shanahan and the Denver Broncos. Shanahan invented the Shallow Cross series.

  23. ChrisApplewhite said:

    January 20th, 2008 at 7:08 pm

    “texas does not run the spread. texas runs a zone-based running game with a West Coast passing attack; that does not equal spread.”

    They run it out of spread sets. That’s all the spread is. It’s about formations and philosophy, not any pre-defined plays.

    “What made Meyer a genius and TCU so successful is the fact that they spread out their single wing offense to attack defenses.”

    Meyer’s offenses at Bowling Green and Utah had much, much more in common with Air Force and the double wing motion offenses, with a very West Coast offense passing game. He uses what he uses now because Tim Tebow is the only good running back on the whole team. He’s been good about fitting his offense around the talent at QB.

    “New England is conclusively proving this season that you can run the spread offense in the NFL.”

    . . . if you have Tom Brady. Most teams don’t. Plus, if it doesn’t work, they can just pound the ball on the ground. Most any pass-first team doesn’t have that failsafe.

    “Shanahan invented the Shallow Cross series.”

    Unless he invented the process of learning things from Bill Walsh, this is not true.

  24. Shanahan said:

    January 20th, 2008 at 8:33 pm

    I wouldn’t say invented; I discovered the process of learning things from Bill Walsh. It’s true.

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