Michigan Fan: We didn't land Pryor...so...Rich's spread doesn't need a mobile QB!
Ohio State Fan: We didn't run a spread! Troy Smith was a pocket passer who ran as a last resort. We live by 3 yards and a cloud. We live in 1968. We don't lose to spread offenses, our defense just happens to be inept at covering them...
Purdue Fan: We've been spread fucking eagle since Tiller's Mustache rode into town. Don't try to tell us what a spread means.
Northwestern Fan: We use the spread to be competitive in football because it seems to nuetralize the opponent's superior talent. BTW, check out my SAT score if you want superior. Boo-Yah.
Indiana Fan: Huh?
So you can see that the spread means various things to various people. Ohio State doesn't lose to the spread offense, they just don't perform well against it. And heaven forbid you suggest that they ran a version of it in during the Troy Smith years. The spread is now a Michigan thing. And all Michigan things are evil.
So we here at State of Game have taken a hint from SMQ's football explainer series, and we've decided to do one of our own. We'll break down the spread from start to finish and beyond, hopefully with some helpful illustrations. So sit back, relax, and enjoy Spreadin' Like Butter Part One - History.
Part I
Like so many things shiny and new, the spread offense can trace its beginnings back to humility: one man coaching at a high school in Middle of Nowhere, OH. In tiny Middletown, presumably named for being equidistant from Cincinnati and Dayton, a man by the name of Glenn "Tiger" Ellison coached football. The year was 1945. In much the same way that basketball was revered in the state to the west, football was king in Ohio during a time that desperately needed distraction. Tiger Ellison, apart from being an English literature teacher, motivation speaker, and author, was an innovator in a game that had grown stagnant. While other teams were cobbling together as much mass as they could muster for offensive lines that would block strait ahead, Tiger's formations were often considered sparse - almost as if there weren't enough people on the line of scrimmage. His offense was the run and shoot - and the first spread.
Tiger's run and shoot would employ 4 receiver sets, and the ability to adjust to whatever the defense was doing. It would not have any tight ends on the line, and it routinely featured one running back that would often motion out wide. If you would be so kind as to forgive the defensive scheme, it typically was aligned like this:
In Tiger's run and shoot, the two slot backs were typically bigger players who were capable of running as well as catching the ball. This provided an inside threat that kept defenses from ignoring the middle. Typically, these bigger receivers would be the ones motioning, as well as the ones who would catch the 4 and 5 yard passes under the defense's zone. Basically, they provided the running game by running short routes that were easily completed. The extra beef was needed because often times these players would take punishing hits while trying to cut up field. In the NFL, these slot backs were typically smaller to maximize speed. They were usually allowed to catch the ball, then punished severely by charging safeties and linebackers.
Also of note is the lack of the true tight end. The 5 man line went tackle to tackle, which is why most defensive schemes relied heavily on the blitz when trying to defend the run and shoot.
Pre-snap, a slot back would typically motion to a spot that garnered the most favorable match up. This would also usually reveal the type coverage the defense was in. If a man followed the motion, they were in man - strait up Madden style. Once the ball was snapped, the receivers each had the option of what route to run, all dependent on what the defense was doing. If a safety was blitzing on one side, the receiver may run a fly route. If he was sitting in deep coverage, it may be broken off to the sideline, etc. The trick was that the quarterback would have to make the exact same read, and often throw to a spot before the receiver even got there. This, of course, led to many "tacopants" throws, as well as INT's. Pressure could often force the quarterback to make a bad decision, and was the main defense against the run and shoot.
Once the threat of the pass was established, often times you would see runs off tackle, or between the tackles. This was accomplished by spreading the defense thin on the assumption that further plays would be passes. The run and shoot truly "pass to set up the run." Once both were established, the defense was nearly powerless to stop an offense that constantly adapted - in play - to what they were doing.
Tiger ran the Run and Shoot to perfection, compiling a 124-46-9 record while at Middletown High. For those playing along at home, that's winning at a 70% clip over a 17 year career. In 1963, he joined the coaching staff of Woody Hayes at Ohio State, finally retiring in 1968 after Ohio State won the National Championship. In his retirement, he wrote a book called Run-And-Shoot Football: The Now Attack. Clocking in at 510 pages, the tome is the virtual bible of the offense. It can be yours for just over $500.00 from Amazon.
It was from this basic philosophy that the modern day spread was born. One man on a field in Ohio drastically changed the landscape of football as we know it today. As time passed, other coaches tweaked the system to fit their personnel, and to further confuse the defenses they faced. However, the guts of the spread still lie in the run and shoot as invented by Tiger Ellison, whose portriat hangs in the High School Lobby with other Middletown legends, Stan Lewis, Paul Walker, Ed "Skeeter" Payne and Elmo Lingrel. It is of Tiger standing under the fading twilight of an autumn day - football in hand, quarterback at his side. I don't imagine that Tiger knew he was pioneering in those days. My guess is that he had figured out a way to win football games, and that was good enough for him.
Coming Soon: Spreadin' Like Butter Part Two: Early Tweaks.
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