USA Football

The success of the spread offense on the collegiate level in the past decade has led many high school coaches to investigate and incorporate its principles into their programs.

Florida, Oregon, Texas and West Virginia are annual national powers behind this offense. In addition, lower level collegiate programs benefit from implementing the spread as it levels the playing field for smaller programs. The surprising upset of Michigan by Appalachian State last September illustrates how the spread allows small schools to compete.

A modern version of the single wing offense of the 1940s, “the spread” utilizes the shotgun formation with one or two backs and multiple receivers. It is named “the spread” because its base formations spread a defense horizontally to create mismatches in space. There are two philosophies behind the implementation of spread. The first is to spread the field to effectively pass. For years Texas Tech, Hawaii and Purdue have used this philosophy to successfully build winning programs on the collegiate level. The other philosophy, best illustrated by West Virginia and Clemson, is to spread the field to run the ball. Both versions take advantage of space created by spreading the field with multiple receivers, but do it in different ways.

As it relates to high school football, most teams are successfully combining elements from both philosophies to balance their spread offense. One coach having success blending the differing philosophies of the spread is Kevin Rooney of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Rooney’s squad went to the spread offense in 2005 after watching Urban Meyer craft an explosive offensive attack around the talents of Alex Smith at Utah. Rooney had a blue chip quarterback prospect (Garrett Green/USC) at the time and wanted to incorporate some of the quarterback running game used in the spread to take advantage of his athleticism.

“We liked the possibility of the quarterback being a part of the running game,” says Rooney. The ability of the quarterback to run the option series from the spread forces defenses to play assignment football which creates big play opportunities for the offense. Rooney also speaks of being able to “throw from the shotgun” as part of the reason for using the spread in his game plan. The spread employs high-percentage short throws to get the ball to playmakers in space. With bubble screens, smash routes and quick slants being staples of this offense, it minimizes the need to have a strong-armed quarterback.

David Green of Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, N.C., experimented with the offense as an assistant coach 10 years ago and has used it to post consecutive 10-win seasons without a big-time college prospect on his roster. Green says, “The spread is a great equalizer because it allows us to be productive despite having a small offensive line and slower skill players.”

Green, influenced by the spread used by Rich Rodriguez at Clemson, West Virginia, and soon at Michigan, believes the combination of the option component and shotgun formation gives his undersized offensive line a chance to compete against bigger defenses. He also believes the spread “limits the amount of pressure a defense can send” which allows the offense to stay aggressive.

What does it take to implement the spread? All coaches point to the quarterback.

Having a quarterback with a combination of throwing skills and athleticism is ideal, but not necessary, to be functional in the spread. Rooney explained that the “system can be tweaked to fit the strengths of the quarterback” which gives coaches flexibility to continue to run the offense for years despite having athletes of differing skill levels at the position. Green points out that the offense can be productive without outstanding athletes at the skill positions, but you must “cater the system to the personnel” for it to be effective. Both coaches would love to have big offensive linemen, but placed a premium on intelligence and athleticism over size. The spread requires an offensive line to be able to read on the move due to double teams and two-on-one concepts, so quick thinking is essential for the scheme to be effective.

The spread has exploded on the collegiate level with nearly every team incorporating some of its concepts into their offensive game plan. Expect it to gain popularity on the high school level.

Bucky Brooks, a USA Football regional manager, is a former NFL defensive back (1994-99) and has served as a scout for the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers, respectively.  As regional manager, Brooks conducts events and serves USA Football members in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Southern California, Southern Nevada, and Utah. You may e-mail Brooks at bbrooks@usafootball.com.