Teams/Coaches Running The Spread Offense

[FanOfHoltz]

The Spread Offense (or different variations of it) seem to be increasing in popularity among high school football squads. Especially now that so many Colleges are going to a form of it. It is a great offense because you dont have to have a good passer at QB to run it. It runs really well with just athletes and a QB that can throw it 8-10 yards with an occasional deep ball.

 

Here is my question....we all know that Trinity runs it very well and that Cover is a master at it.

 

What other teams are running it?

 

My brother put in the Spread at Iroquois during the 2006 season at Iroquois under Coach Thompson and they had a lot of success with it ( he had to take a year off of coaching to finish his teaching certification). My father coaches at Male and says that Coach Redman may be interested in going to a true spread next year. So Im interested to see who else runs it since it seems it is growing in popularity.

[born2reign]

When I did some work at Lex Cath, they had some concepts.

 

The thing about the spread is that it really is comprised of aspects of so many other offenses, that a lot of schools have some of the concepts. Raceland has a lot of the quick pass concepts and blocking schemes used in the spread because a lot of those concepts come from the Run and Shoot.

 

Highlands lined their QB up in the shotgun a couple years back and ran some spread stuff pretty well.

 

Lafayette made a switch a few years back as well, I believe. Even little Berea Community runs some spread.

[neersfan]

The Spread Offense (or different variations of it) seem to be increasing in popularity among high school football squads. Especially now that so many Colleges are going to a form of it. It is a great offense because you dont have to have a good passer at QB to run it. It runs really well with just athletes and a QB that can throw it 8-10 yards with an occasional deep ball.

 

Here is my question....we all know that Trinity runs it very well and that Cover is a master at it.

 

What other teams are running it?

 

My brother put in the Spread at Iroquois during the 2006 season at Iroquois under Coach Thompson and they had a lot of success with it ( he had to take a year off of coaching to finish his teaching certification). My father coaches at Male and says that Coach Redman may be interested in going to a true spread next year. So Im interested to see who else runs it since it seems it is growing in popularity.

I disagree with the part that you don't have to have a good QB. I think that the spread requires athletes. We bought into the idea that you don't need a great QB at Estill and we were horrible with the Tony Franklin System. We now run the DW. I think you have to use a system that compliments your players.

[Mr.Fundamental]

Williamsburg runs the spread!

[Coach Hard]

I'm a huge fan of the DW, especially if you know your area doesn't get the "right" type of players for a spread. I know Estill Co. has implimented the Double Wing, and I think it is a great fit for them.

[PepRock01]

I disagree with the part that you don't have to have a good QB. I think that the spread requires athletes. We bought into the idea that you don't need a great QB at Estill and we were horrible with the Tony Franklin System. We now run the DW. I think you have to use a system that compliments your players.

 

 

I know one of the basic concepts of Coverdale's offense is that you don't need a great QB to run it, as per his book.

[nees1212]

Dixie has been running it since around 1999 with some success. They've had the luxury of having a qb that could throw the ball down the field each year since Spritzky installed it.

[HazzBeen]

I believe personally that the spread is a great offense because it makes the defense have to cover the whole field. It doesn't take a big strong line to block in the spread because most of the blocking is about angles. Most people think the spread means you throw the ball all the time, but I have found that the running game is what really opens up because there are less people in the box to defend the run. If you have a Qb that can run it makes it even better because he can usually take one person out of the picture by just carrying out his fake. That leaves 5 on 4 most of the time.

[3ptshooter]

Beechwood hasn't done bad w/it beginning back in '91.

[Canescat]

What you don't see watching Trinity's offense is the enormous amount of mental preparation that goes into playing the QB position in order to read defenses and coverages, set the line protection and put the team in the correct play. Trinity's offense is not simply lining up and running the play that is sent in. It is much, much more than that and requires a QB who can handle all of the presnap reads, reset the alignment, set the players in motion and execute the play after the snap.

Further, throwing the short to midrange pass is not so simple either. Most of those passes require great precision to put the ball in the correct spot in order that the receiver can make the run after the catch. If the ball is not placed where it is supposed to be then the receiver's adjustment to the ball will, most likely, ruin his chance to run after the catch for any significant yardage.

Further, the screen passes also require throwing the ball to an unoccupied spot with great precision and with an understanding of where everybody will be after the snap of the ball. Many of Trinity's pass plays, screens, etc. also require a great deal of finesse in order to get the ball over on-coming lineman or blitzing LBs and Ss.

Go watch Trinity practice and attend the countless hours of Coach Coverdale's QB school, film sessions and QB meetings and then decide if the spread offense is simple enough that any team can run it, any coach can coach it and any QB can execute it.

[MR. HOLTZ]

You have different options for the spread offense to choose from. You must be sure to choose the right one to fit your kids for more than one year. You must stay with it for a period of time. This is not the type of offense to try and run for a year. You must buy into the system and run it. As far as the quaterback, i'll take smart over athletic any day of the week.

[neersfan]

I know one of the basic concepts of Coverdale's offense is that you don't need a great QB to run it, as per his book.

 

We bought into the spread last year and midway through the season we were 0-5 and maybe scored one time in the five game that we played. We knew that were not that bad of a team but we were not playing to our strenghts. We switched and won 3 out of the last five of our games running the DW and went 9-3 this year. I just think it is the best fit for us.

[FanOfHoltz]

AS with any offense, the spread comes with a variety of options. Some teams run it very well without a true QB...some run it well with a very good QB. The one good thing about the spread is that it can be easily adjusted to your personnel. My brother told me that when he put it in at Iroquois, they had planned on having a really good QB who was both a great passer and a great runner. When the kid became ineligible, they went to a predominantly run oriented concept. Nothing really changed much except they just added more dimensions of the running game each week instead of throwing it. They put a TB at QB and he ran it well. His thought was that if they spread out the defense and make them cover the whole field, add some misdirection and fake handoffs, then it was harder to know if the QB had the ball or not.

 

I know he got most of his ideas from West Virginia's offense which is pretty much a read-option oriented offense.

 

I do think one of the problems with putting in the spread for the first time is that some coaches try to do too much and put too much in at once. It takes some patience and its probably better to put it in when a new coach comes in rather than try to change the offense with an existing coach. Players are more likely to still think of the old concepts and schemes. at least with a new coach, players' minds are open to learning new things.

[born2reign]

We bought into the spread last year and midway through the season we were 0-5 and maybe scored one time in the five game that we played. We knew that were not that bad of a team but we were not playing to our strenghts. We switched and won 3 out of the last five of our games running the DW and went 9-3 this year. I just think it is the best fit for us.

 

I know Estill's DW is unique because of the line splits (foot to foot still, right?). Are there some spread concepts in their offense, especially in the quick passing game?

[barrel]

Foot to foot splits is not uncommon in a DW offense. I am not sure how many of the big names (Markham sp?) use them all the time. One of the coaches from Estill wrote a book on the DW. When run well it is nasty but in certain areas it is a hard sell to the players.

 

The term "spread" is one of those words that is thrown around a ton yet very rarely defined. from what most are talking about here it is the shotgun 3-5 rec sets with 0-2 RBs. Male has run some of this in the past such as with Busch, and Redman to name a few. the one true thing about these offenses is you better have a good oline. People will tell you that you can be good with lesser oline men which is true but they better be good. If your front 5/7 can not block their front 3/7 then it is going to be a long day. Lone Oak is a good example and so was Couch's SR HS season.

 

Coverdale's books are a toolbox not a complete system. Coverdale's POV is that you can adapt the system to work with the type of QB you have through formations and tags. Coverdale is complex at Trinity because the school gives him the ability to be. He coudl go to a rural school and run the same stuff but he would have to cutback either in his overall install or in what he asks his QB to do. I know many would call Trinity a spread team when they are in truth a pro pass team much like in college USC is (more so under Chow). Coverdale's concepts come from pro and top level college. USC made a living running what I believe Trinity calls snag. The QB school is not much different then what any number of schools have their QB do.

 

Now as far as the type of talent you need for the spread that will come down to the coach. Good coaches will just adapt the system to meet the players talent. So you do not need a smart or a strong armed QB as long as you adjust the system for them. An example is like Iroqouis in that they adapted to what they had. This is not college and you can not just plug kids in and have them do the same jobs. You have to adjust according to what you have. Now that is not just a spread thing that is a system thing period.

 

Reading coverages on the HS level is a little over rated. There are ways to make that whole process easier using Coverdale, Tony Franklin or a number of other coachs' methods