There's been a lot of good back-and-forth about what Miami should run here in terms of offensive scheme/philosophy, and I'd like to get the gurus here in one thread to weigh in.
First, I feel like there are some misconceptions about the term "spread offense". There are as many variations on what we call the "spread" as there are coaches who run it. I've linked some articles along with some highlighted sections about how the concepts work and then my own thoughts on how they might translate to what we might run here at Miami.
Chip Kelly - Zone-Read Spread
Oregon Spread Offense Tutorial #1: The Inside Zone Read | FishDuck
"Chip Kelly predicates his attack upon the QB read, namely in conjunction with the inside and outside zones. The Oregon offense is therefore a descendant of Rich Rodriguez and the original zone read offenses. The zone read is Oregon's bread and butter and will be run a majority of plays.
The Inside Zone Read (IZR) is the foundation of the Oregon offense…and it is a tailback plunge play up the middle, or a dive play. It is physical blocking to create a hole, and is not meant to fool anyone as it is right up the gut. Everything starts with this play, and the complementary plays such as the Bubble Screen, the Play Action Pass, and the Triple Option…will not work if the two foundation plays (Inside & Outside Zone Read) don’t work. Success with the Outside Zone Read (OZR) depends on the threat of the IZR."
Urban Meyer - Power (Inside Run) Spread
Not All Spreads are Alike | Eleven Warriors
Meyer's base offense, by contrast, is largely inspired by the original, one-back pro-style offenses that currently flourish in the NFL. Meyer's run game reflects this.
Of course, the read and QB run threat is everpresent and crucial to the offense's success. But unlike Oregon, the offense is not completely centered around the read.
Instead, the offense puts more emphasis on the inside run game, including the use of angle and power blocking. Hence, you will see an emphasis on plays like counter-trey and inverted veer, which uses the same power blocking but adds a frontside option.
These distinctions have corresponding results. For example, Meyer will feature more H-backs and tight ends, becasue it permits the type of angle blocking necessary to run the above-plays. Meyer also employs heavy amounts of motion, moving tight ends and backs to and from the slot.
Art Briles/Dino Babers - Baylor "Tempo Spread"
The Baylor Effect: Spread energizes Bowling Green, Tulsa | College Football
A quick summary of Briles' concept of the spread -
"First, go fast. Second, spread the field about as wide as possible. Third, run inside to take advantage of all that space created by receivers lined up outside the hash marks. Fourth, go deep — a lot.
The Baylor offense rarely asks quarterbacks to make NFL-style progressions and defensive reads. Running backs and tight ends are hardly ever used in the passing game."
Now here's where it gets interesting to me re: Dino Babers -
"Babers and Bowling Green are a little different.
"You'll see them do a few more traditional NFL concepts," said Chris B. Brown, the author of "The Essential Smart Football" and "The Art of Smart Football." "It's not that Baylor doesn't have that stuff, it's that they don't have to use it."
Babers spent nearly 25 years in coaching before landing on Briles' staff at Baylor in 2008 as wide receivers coach.
"I'm a little bit older than Coach Montgomery so I've got some other people in me," Babers said.
The 54-year-old Babers cites the late Homer Smith, a longtime UCLA and Alabama offensive coordinator, former Hawaii coach June Jones and former NFL coach Mike Martz as influences."
Chad Morris/Gus Malzahn/Tom Herman - "Smashmouth Spread"
Here's a good article from last year on Morris' "smashmouth spread" at Clemson: Explaining Clemson's Chad Morris and the smashmouth spread offense - SBNation.com
And this one on how it works at Houston under Herman: How Tom Herman's Houston unleashes underdog speed - SBNation.com
This quote in particular caught my eye:
"The description "basketball on grass" is apt, but in a literal sense. It captures how the offense becomes more about getting the ideal matchups and executing options, as in basketball, rather than out-guessing the opponent. The lightning tempo utilized by Malzahn and Morris further allows for this simplicity.
You can see the effects of simple concepts run quickly in the SEC. There's no confusion as to why Nick Saban's Alabama defense has had the most trouble with Auburn and Texas A&M, teams that use tempo. Some of his favorite tactics, such as play-call diversity and bulked-up players, become totally nullified and even turned against him, as his players suck air and look to the sideline while the opponent's already snapping the ball.
Of course, despite that simplicity and speed, Morris teams will make heavy use of motion to change leverage before the snap and see if the defense adjusts. Often the QB's options will depend on the defense's response to motion. This creates a good deal of confusion for the defense.
After the snap, you can see the past come alive as Morris' smashmouth spread starts cycling through the four options of a triple-option attack, whether two or three at a time or all at once. That's right. The best triple option offenses present four main threats to account for."
I posted all of this mainly to say that just saying we should or should not run "The Spread" here is a gross oversimplification of what really goes on in an actual offensive philosophy. I could have posted much more - there are at least 50 teams in CFB that currently run some variation of a spread offense - I just ran out of time to post...
Personally, I think the offensive philosophies of Herman and Babers are most appealing to what we may want to see here if we choose to go in that direction. The idea of a "Smashmouth Spread" that combines tempo AND ball control would seem to jive best with what we have to offer our athletes in South Florida. Further, elements of Babers' more "pro-ed up" Baylor spread would be a dream come true for the WR talent down here, though I think a true Air Raid may not be the best way to go, IMO.
Finally, I found it interesting that while most of these offenses do call for the QB to be mobile, he doesn't necessarily have to be a "running QB" a la Tim Tebow or RG3 to be successful. Rather, he just has to be smart enough to read the defense and react quickly based on what is or is not there. We all know Kaaya is a statue back there, but I think elements of the Herman "Smashmouth Spread" do play to his strengths, such as quick drops/reads and playaction.
I'll post more if I can, but these are just some of my musings as we await word of our new coach. Thoughts?
First, I feel like there are some misconceptions about the term "spread offense". There are as many variations on what we call the "spread" as there are coaches who run it. I've linked some articles along with some highlighted sections about how the concepts work and then my own thoughts on how they might translate to what we might run here at Miami.
Chip Kelly - Zone-Read Spread
Oregon Spread Offense Tutorial #1: The Inside Zone Read | FishDuck
"Chip Kelly predicates his attack upon the QB read, namely in conjunction with the inside and outside zones. The Oregon offense is therefore a descendant of Rich Rodriguez and the original zone read offenses. The zone read is Oregon's bread and butter and will be run a majority of plays.
The Inside Zone Read (IZR) is the foundation of the Oregon offense…and it is a tailback plunge play up the middle, or a dive play. It is physical blocking to create a hole, and is not meant to fool anyone as it is right up the gut. Everything starts with this play, and the complementary plays such as the Bubble Screen, the Play Action Pass, and the Triple Option…will not work if the two foundation plays (Inside & Outside Zone Read) don’t work. Success with the Outside Zone Read (OZR) depends on the threat of the IZR."
Urban Meyer - Power (Inside Run) Spread
Not All Spreads are Alike | Eleven Warriors
Meyer's base offense, by contrast, is largely inspired by the original, one-back pro-style offenses that currently flourish in the NFL. Meyer's run game reflects this.
Of course, the read and QB run threat is everpresent and crucial to the offense's success. But unlike Oregon, the offense is not completely centered around the read.
Instead, the offense puts more emphasis on the inside run game, including the use of angle and power blocking. Hence, you will see an emphasis on plays like counter-trey and inverted veer, which uses the same power blocking but adds a frontside option.
These distinctions have corresponding results. For example, Meyer will feature more H-backs and tight ends, becasue it permits the type of angle blocking necessary to run the above-plays. Meyer also employs heavy amounts of motion, moving tight ends and backs to and from the slot.
Art Briles/Dino Babers - Baylor "Tempo Spread"
The Baylor Effect: Spread energizes Bowling Green, Tulsa | College Football
A quick summary of Briles' concept of the spread -
"First, go fast. Second, spread the field about as wide as possible. Third, run inside to take advantage of all that space created by receivers lined up outside the hash marks. Fourth, go deep — a lot.
The Baylor offense rarely asks quarterbacks to make NFL-style progressions and defensive reads. Running backs and tight ends are hardly ever used in the passing game."
Now here's where it gets interesting to me re: Dino Babers -
"Babers and Bowling Green are a little different.
"You'll see them do a few more traditional NFL concepts," said Chris B. Brown, the author of "The Essential Smart Football" and "The Art of Smart Football." "It's not that Baylor doesn't have that stuff, it's that they don't have to use it."
Babers spent nearly 25 years in coaching before landing on Briles' staff at Baylor in 2008 as wide receivers coach.
"I'm a little bit older than Coach Montgomery so I've got some other people in me," Babers said.
The 54-year-old Babers cites the late Homer Smith, a longtime UCLA and Alabama offensive coordinator, former Hawaii coach June Jones and former NFL coach Mike Martz as influences."
Chad Morris/Gus Malzahn/Tom Herman - "Smashmouth Spread"
Here's a good article from last year on Morris' "smashmouth spread" at Clemson: Explaining Clemson's Chad Morris and the smashmouth spread offense - SBNation.com
And this one on how it works at Houston under Herman: How Tom Herman's Houston unleashes underdog speed - SBNation.com
This quote in particular caught my eye:
"The description "basketball on grass" is apt, but in a literal sense. It captures how the offense becomes more about getting the ideal matchups and executing options, as in basketball, rather than out-guessing the opponent. The lightning tempo utilized by Malzahn and Morris further allows for this simplicity.
You can see the effects of simple concepts run quickly in the SEC. There's no confusion as to why Nick Saban's Alabama defense has had the most trouble with Auburn and Texas A&M, teams that use tempo. Some of his favorite tactics, such as play-call diversity and bulked-up players, become totally nullified and even turned against him, as his players suck air and look to the sideline while the opponent's already snapping the ball.
Of course, despite that simplicity and speed, Morris teams will make heavy use of motion to change leverage before the snap and see if the defense adjusts. Often the QB's options will depend on the defense's response to motion. This creates a good deal of confusion for the defense.
After the snap, you can see the past come alive as Morris' smashmouth spread starts cycling through the four options of a triple-option attack, whether two or three at a time or all at once. That's right. The best triple option offenses present four main threats to account for."
I posted all of this mainly to say that just saying we should or should not run "The Spread" here is a gross oversimplification of what really goes on in an actual offensive philosophy. I could have posted much more - there are at least 50 teams in CFB that currently run some variation of a spread offense - I just ran out of time to post...
Personally, I think the offensive philosophies of Herman and Babers are most appealing to what we may want to see here if we choose to go in that direction. The idea of a "Smashmouth Spread" that combines tempo AND ball control would seem to jive best with what we have to offer our athletes in South Florida. Further, elements of Babers' more "pro-ed up" Baylor spread would be a dream come true for the WR talent down here, though I think a true Air Raid may not be the best way to go, IMO.
Finally, I found it interesting that while most of these offenses do call for the QB to be mobile, he doesn't necessarily have to be a "running QB" a la Tim Tebow or RG3 to be successful. Rather, he just has to be smart enough to read the defense and react quickly based on what is or is not there. We all know Kaaya is a statue back there, but I think elements of the Herman "Smashmouth Spread" do play to his strengths, such as quick drops/reads and playaction.
I'll post more if I can, but these are just some of my musings as we await word of our new coach. Thoughts?
