Saturday, May 9, 2009

The WildCat Series From An NFL Perspective

I found this interesting article with diagrams on the wildcat spread offense formation as it relates to the NFL, particularly the Seattle Seahawks and quarterback Seneca Wallace.

To view the article link, go to:
http://bal.scout.com/a.z?s=118&p=2&c=863498




--Mark

Spread Offense

Friday, May 1, 2009

Pat White's First Action With The Miami Dolphins


You can only wonder what David Lee is saying to Pat White in this picture at Miami's rookie mini-camp. Is it... "OK, here's the play, if you feel the desire to run, then RUN! LOL!"

Or, maybe the entire wrist coach Pat is reading off says in real big letters: DRIVE THE DEFENSE CRAZY - Wild-Cat, Wild-Pat, Go Wild!

I hope the other teams have great cornerback's, because if the safeties creep into the box, Pat can beat you on the pass!

Whatever the plans are down in Miami, I'm sure they'll be doing just that... driving defenses nuts with Pat White in the spread offense in the NFL.

Follow the link below for some video highlights of the Dolphins mini-camp: http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/aquavision/aquavision.asp?category=1&search=&mediaid=42434


Keep spreading u'm!


--Mark

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Herb Hand Q&A Interview On The Spread Offense

Last year we did our first coaches Q&A with Herb Hand, Co-Offensive Coordinator at the University Of Tulsa Golden Hurricane. It's our pleasure to offer our second installment with Coach Hand, as he offers more insight on the team, and the spread offense in general.

Tulsa is coming off an 11-3 season in 2008, and their spread offense is one of the most dynamic, explosive, and creative in college football.


To view the complete Q&A interview with Coach Hand, go to:




Keep spreading u'm!


--Mark

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Why The Miami Dolphins Selected Pat White

After just watching the Miami Dolphins select Pat White with the 44th overall pick in the NFL draft, I decided to jump online and give my 6 reasons for the decision by Tony Sparano and Bill Parcells:


The Wild-Cat Offense - Just Scratching The Surface

I bet Ronnie Brown let out a sigh of relief with this pick... because now he and Ricky Williams can be in their comfort zone as running-backs with the wild-cat in 2009.

What Pat White will add in terms of a dual threat 'single-wing' quarterback will be the presence of the forward pass with his lightning speed and four years of reading defenses.

It must be hard for the offensive staff down in Miami to wipe the grins off their faces tonight.

Keep Pat White Away From New England and Bill Belichick

It's been known that the Patriots have been eyeing White for about a month now, and you can bet Bill Parcells knew this and didn't want the Patriots and his old buddy taking the wild-cat to the next level in 2009... especially when it was the Dolphins who kicked the door open with it against New England.

The Dolphins Coaching Staff 'Gets It'

I don't know how else to put it, but if anyone deserves the services of Pat White in the NFL to see how far this wild-cat/spread run offense can go, it's the Dolphins coaching staff. It's kind of like how Bill Walsh deserved to have Joe Montana back in 1979 when he drafted him to run his West Coast Offense.

Dan Henning, David Lee, George DeLeone, and the rest of the offensive staff will see how fast this wild-cat car can drive in 2009.... or, as head coach Tony Sparano put it: “There was an awful lot left on the bone that we didn't roll out there in the wild-cat".

Make Opponents Prepare For Another Offense

Coaches out there, think about your preparation week now for the Miami Dolphins offense. You have to get your rep's in for the Chad Pennington/Chad Henne conventional offense and now the Pat White/Ronnie Brown Wild-Cat/single wing offense.

Think about how this can actually extend the careers of all the QB's involved. Lets say in a specific game the conventional offense is productive, you stay with it until they stop it. The same with the Wild-Cat/Single Wing, run it for a change of pace or stay with it until they consistently stop it.

I always thought that a conventional 'sitting duck' quarterback getting sacked 6 or more times a game was more vulnerable to injury then a running QB on designed run plays.

Pat White is a Winner

Pat White was the starting QB for West Virginia University from 2005 through 2008. Every year during that span, the Mountaineer's went to a bowl game (2 games being BCS games vs. Georgia and Oklahoma) and they won every one of those 4 bowl games. White was also named MVP in 3 of the 4 bowl victories.

White has also been drafted 3 times by Major League Baseball (Anaheim Angels twice and the Cincinnati Reds once).

Lastly, Pat White graduated this past December with a bachelor's degree in general studies from WVU.

Pat White Can Throw The Football

White threw for 5,576 yards in 4 years... with 1,844 yards coming in his senior season. The all-time leading rusher for NCAA quarterback's has a very good arm.

Check out the link below of Pat White's Senior Bowl MVP performance:

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80e54d3c






Keep Spreading U'm!

--Mark

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Vince Young and Pat White - Spread Offense Highlights

I found this video combining highlights from both Texas and West Virginia... highlighting Vince Young and Pat White. It still amazes me how easy Vince Young can 'flick' the football 40 yards down the field, it looks effortless. It baffles me how he's a 'back-up' QB now with the Titans.... he's way too talented to be on the sidelines.

With the NFL draft this upcoming weekend, Patrick White out of WVU is getting a lot of attention, I'm curious to see who picks him, and when.

Note: Pardon the F-bombs in the music and the S-bombs also... feel free to mute the sound on the video, I didn't produce it.




Keep Spreading U'm!

--Mark

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spreadoffense

Friday, April 17, 2009

Wild Cat Spread Offense Video - Miami Dolphins 2008

Below is a video courtesy of ESPN Gameday discussing the wildcat spread offense the Miami Dolphins used this past NFL season. I'm excited to see how this evolves in the NFL this upcoming 2009 season, with the upcoming draft approaching, what teams will make offensive decisions based on the 'wildcat' factor? Patrick White, Percy Harvin, and Jeremy Maclin have all been discussed as wildcat influenced picks.

Gus Malzahn, now at Auburn University is featured in this video as the master-mind behind the wild-cat/wild-hog offense. We had also posted an article on SpreadOffense.com about another group who had influences on this now popular formation.

Enjoy the video...and keep spreading u'm.





--Mark

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Spread Offense - Not Just Between The 20 Yard Lines

One thing I love about the philosophy of the Florida Gators is they're going to run the shot-gun option from anywhere on the football field, and this video below shows just that.

Whether they're on their own 1 yard line or the opponents 1 yard line, they're going to line up in the gun and run the football. Notice the physical nature of the offense, with the down blocks, kick-out, and gut blocks (counters).

I love it, physical spread option offensive football!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Is This Spread Offense Too Spread Out?

I found a recent article on the A-11 Offense, a complex hybrid spread offense that takes
advantage of a loophole in the high school rule book.

Here's a video below if you've never seen the A-11 offense, decide for yourself, is this too spread out?



--Mark
Spread Offense

Friday, April 3, 2009

Tulsa Spread Offense Video Clips

The University of Tulsa has one of the best shot-gun spread offense option philosophies in college football. One of our most popular posts is still our Q&A session with Herb Hand from Tulsa.

Here's some great video clips of The Golden Hurricane offense in action:



--Mark
Spread Offense

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Florida Gators Spread Offense Run Game Clips

I thought you guys would enjoy this... The University of Florida spread offense run clips from the national championship game vs. Oklahoma this past January.





You got to love that inside shovel pass to the TE!

Keep spreading e'm!

--Mark
Spread Offense

Saturday, March 28, 2009

It's harder to evaluate spread offense players... PLEASE!

I love football... I've been watching, playing it, coached it, and now have taken it to the internet with this blog and website (www.spreadoffense.com).

That being said, I read a lot about all levels of football... from Pop Warner all the way up to the NFL, and one thing that's really aggravating me is this term being thrown around prior to this year's NFL draft: "It's harder to evaluate players that are from spread offense systems".

Do you really think an NFL team would pass up an elite football player who happened to come from a college 'spread offense' system??

You hear this term a lot with the quarterback's, O-linemen, and running backs more than any other position.

"The O-line in college are never in a 3 point stance in the spread offense so they'll have a very hard time adjusting to a pro style offense"... well, give them a mini-camp and guess what, they'll go right back to being in the 3 point stance!!

I remember hearing last year that Steve Slaton coming out of West Virginia would have a hard time adjusting to a pro-set I formation coming out of the spread offense. All those lateral movements in the shot-gun zone read and triple option would make for a hard transition to the 'down hill' I formation... HAHA!! 1,282 rushing yards later with a 4.8 per rush average his rookie year with the Houston Texans... tough transition to the I formation Steve... you really had a hard time figuring it out in the NFL.

Come on analysts.... give the spread offense a break, because in a few years you may be saying... "This XYZ player out of X University will have a difficult time transitioning from a pro-style, two tight end college career to the NFL shot-gun spread offense".

--Mark

Spread Offense

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Congrat's To Chip Kelly - Another Spread Offense Head Coach In Major College Football

With the recent move of Mike Bellotti to Athletic Director starting July 1st at Oregon, Chip Kelly was promoted to head football coach effective immediately. Coach Kelly is a true spread offense coach, with his offensive philosophy being one of the best in the college spread game.

Here's some video clips of the Oregon Ducks from this past season, they can execute the spread run game with the best of them:




--Mark
Spread Offense

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Using Motion In The Spread Offense Running Game

In the spread offense, wide receiver or slot motion can be used to open up the running game. This article will cover three types of motion, motion to a pistol set, motion to a two-back set, and speed sweep motion. Many of these plays use motion to provide different types of zone read style reads and they are all easy to flip.



To read the entire article, with diagrams please go to:






--Mark