These days you hear it everywhere. If you watch football on Saturday or Sunday, announcers and analysts can’t stop talking about the number of teams that have adopted some form of the spread offense. This attacking style of play grew out of the ideas of Glenn Ellison (of Middleton High School in Ohio), and is transforming the game at every level.
Though the spread was first run some 45 years ago, it has gained the most notoriety within the past decade. Due to the overwhelming success of many teams running the offense, there has been a rapid diffusion of the spread down to the high school level. In Georgia, some of the best examples of spread-offense teams are Lassiter, Chattahoochee and North Gwinnett.
A NEW ERA
There are several reasons why high schools are incorporating the spread offense into their schemes. One thing is for sure: it has been a major contributing factor to the success of many programs and has created new interest in the game. Chip Lindsey of Lassiter, Terry Crowder of Chattahoochee and Bob Sphire of North Gwinnett each rely on different forms of the spread, and each coach broke down the positives and negatives of these offensive systems.
Overall, there seems to be an immediate spike in offensive production for teams that implement spread offenses. If the spread is run correctly, it will score a lot of points. In five games this year, the North Gwinnett Bulldogs are averaging 29.2 points per game. Sphire ran the Wing-T and triple-option wishbone before he adopted the spread.
“In past years, the [North Gwinnett] teams had been very competitive, winning about eight out of 12 games,” Sphire says. “However, with the spread, it has given the team a chance to beat more talented opponents that they were not able to in the past.”
With a 4-1 record (the lone loss coming to Byrnes of South Carolina, one of the top teams in the nation), the Bulldogs look poised to continue baffling Region 7-AAAAA foes with their efficient spread offense. Similar to Sphire, Terry Crowder at Chattahoochee switched to the spread from the Wing-T. Crowder points out that by running the spread, “it keeps your team in the ballgame.” This is especially true if a team falls behind, because it is essentially in the two-minute offense the entire game.
X’s AND O’s
Within the spread formation, there are many factors that make it difficult for defenses to stop its offensive production at the high school level.
“It allows you to get the ball to your better athletes,” says Lindsey. In addition to getting the ball to your best players, it is very important to have strong play from the offensive line.
Crowder speaks highly of his young offensive line. The talent of the line is one of the main reasons the team switched to the spread, and there are high expectations for them to handle the bulk of the defensive pressure in the future. Like Crowder, Sphire believes that in many ways, “the greatest challenge is to the offensive line, especially on blocking schemes and misdirections.”
All three coaches stressed the importance of strong blocking up front and the ability to get the ball into the hands of the team’s best athletes.
There are many people who question whether running the spread offense, which requires players to do a lot of the decision-making, is reasonable to ask of high school athletes. Crowder, Sphire and Lindsey unanimously believe that high school football players have the maturity to run the spread offense and that their programs are better for having incorporated it. For instance, at Lassiter, the high-powered style of offense has sparked an interest amongst the student body to join the team.
“There has been an increase in athletes coming out to play, because [the spread] is the offense [students] see on Saturday and Sunday,” Lindsey says. As for the maturity level of players, the coaches believe the athletes can handle the decision-making. However, each coach stressed the importance of the staff making sure that each player knows his job on offense.
At this rate, the spread offense is surely going to start appearing at more high school programs. Due to the increased use at the college level, it certainly gives an advantage to those players who will make the jump to collegiate football in the years to come. Most importantly, though, it challenges all coaches and players to approach offensive football with discipline, and it definitely adds a lot of creativity and excitement to the high school game.
Gupta can be reached at rgupta@scoreatl.com.
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