73° CLEAR, Spread offense is spreading
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 3:25 p.m.
It's helped produce the last two national champions. It helped Appalachian State pull off the biggest upset this season. Three teams currently in the top 10 are using it exclusively.
Speed and athleticism are musts for defenders now, especially in the SEC.
“Anytime in the SEC you got to have speed for one to even have a chance,” Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin said. “So I think a lot of teams now will start recruiting athletes instead of just going for the size.”
The spread-option is magnifying the need for athleticism with its ability to pose mismatches and create space for speed to work. After showcasing that in the SEC championship and the national championship game, UF coach Urban Meyer feels opposing teams will need to recruit better, mainly in the secondary.
“I think that defensive coaches need to have an abundance of personnel now,” Meyer said. “If you want to play man (coverage) now you're going to have to play man on four of them (wide receivers).”
But it's not all about athleticism.
“Defenses have to be better in space, better tacklers, better cover guys,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who installed the spread offense with the Ducks.
Bellotti feels the spread-option has contributed to new defensive strategies.
“I think people have been taking bigger defensive backs with greater speed and moving them up,” Bellotti said. “Taking bigger linebackers with speed and putting them on the edges to rush the passer.”
Defensive awareness is also crucial, as the right quarterback can cause headaches.
“It's not that big a deal unless your quarterback is a runner, because then it's just shotgun offense,” said Southern California coach Pete Carroll, one of the nation's top recruiters. “If your quarterback is a runner, then it takes on different dimensions.”
With the quarterback a running threat, the option-handoff or option-pitch can be a handful. The pressure is on the defenders who are forced to make split-second decisions.
“That option responsibility has got to be taken into account and handled,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “That generally means what would be the standard run, you can't gang up on (the ball-carrier) regularly.”
Meyer feels the two components of the spread-option have leveled the playing field and allowed for some of this season's major upsets.
“In today's day and age with how well-coached defenses are, the personnel (defensively) in certain conferences is phenomenal,” Meyer said. “You can consider the spread offense an equalizer and you can consider option football an equalizer.”
That was evident two weekends ago when Kentucky's version of the spread shredded LSU's top-ranked defense.
The Tigers, one of the top recruiting schools annually, were giving up just 6.4 points per game before playing Florida and Kentucky in back-to-back weeks. The Tigers allowed 24 points and 43 points, respectively.
“I can tell you that it does challenge the defense,” Miles said.
The offense may be hard to shut down, but it can be contained. Harvin feels Ole Miss' defense exposed the spread-option by taking away the big play in the Gators' 30-24 win over the Rebels.
“Definitely,” Harvin said. “If you take away the deep ball you at least give your defense a chance, not to stop it but control it.”
What's impossible for defenses to control, however, is the spread-option's greatest weapon: its attractiveness to players across the country.
“In recruiting, I think players want to play in the spread,” Meyer said.
Even that doesn't explain how contagious the spread-option offense has become.
“It's amazing to see how much of it is all out there,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “It's been an intriguing part of the evolution of football the last five years.”
Several surprising teams this season have found success with the spread-option, while others only extract some of its ingredients.
No. 11 South Florida is enjoying one of the school's best seasons, using the spread-option on occasion to take advantage of quarterback Matt Grothe's running ability.
No. 14 Kentucky has also found sudden success by using an adapted pass-first spread offense that relies on quarterback Andre' Woodson's strong arm.
Other teams enjoying newfound success such as No. 12 Kansas, No. 16 Hawaii, and No. 21 Virginia are using spread offenses, while sprinkling in the option.
“A lot of people are adding more elements of the spread,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, whose fifth-ranked Ducks are using the spread-option in the Pac-10. “But some are committed to the option, some are not, some are just spreading the field.”
A team that rarely cracks the top 25, No. 13 Missouri is committed to the spread-option along with No. 6 West Virginia and No. 9 Florida.
The recent success will make it hard for the spread-option to fade.
“I believe that offense has real staying power as we go forward,” LSU coach Les Miles said.
It's found a home in Houston, which won its first Conference-USA title in 10 years last season and is tied for the best record in C-USA this season. The Cougars suffered a narrow 44-36 loss to South Carolina in last year's Liberty Bowl, in which they hit the Gamecocks for 527 yards of total offense.
The spread-option's propensity to generate fireworks is undeniable.
Four of the nation's top 10 most efficient quarterbacks (Tim Tebow being No. 1) all play in spread-option systems.
Its influence has also reached the high school level.
“Everything trickles down,” said second-year DeFuniak Springs Walton High School coach Lenny Jankowski, who attends high school coaching clinics held during UF's spring practices and runs the offense with his 6-1 Braves. “I've had an opportunity to listen to Coach Meyer, and he's a very dynamic speaker.”
Jankowski shares Meyer's sentiment that more touches for more players results in more of their attention.
“The kids really play hard for you,” Jankowski said. “They're involvement is so much greater in the spread.”
Williston High School coach Jamie Baker is in his second year running the spread-option with the Red Devils. He feels the offense gives smaller schools a better chance to compete.
“Traditionally here at Williston we're not going to get the big linemen so we've got to have more skill guys than linemen,” Baker said. “Especially with the defenses we're up against.”
Second-year Baker County coach Bobby Johns has turned his Wildcats (7-1) around with the spread-option, taking over a program that was winless the year before he got there.
Its impact at the high school level stretches across the country.
“I think it's much easier to understand and conceptualize for young coaches,” Southern California coach Pete Carroll said. “I think we see it a lot in high schools, and I think it's going to have a good life in football.”
Meyer and other coaches are surprised that it hasn't seeped into the NFL. Falcons coach Bobby Petrino planned on using it before Michael Vick's legal troubles. The Titans and Colts run plays with spread-option principles, but sparingly.
Carroll, who has 16 years of NFL experience, doesn't believe it will ever make a splash in the professional ranks.
“NFL teams are never going to run their quarterbacks,” Carroll said. “There just aren't guys that they'll put out there to get pounded like they get pounded. The season's too long and (quarterbacks) can't endure it. So it's not going to make it in the NFL to a great extent other than the rare extraordinary athlete.”
While the offense is struggling to find a foothold at the pro level, it is leaving deep footprints at the college level.
Despite many who believe offensive trends are cyclical, Carroll and others see the spread-option sitting comfortably in college football's future.
“I think it's an offense that's here to stay,” he said.
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