WildCat Revolution

[Ibanez]

I LOVE football. I am a football geek and enjoy learning about the strategies and coaching philosophies.

I see how various coaching ideas have played out over the years-- for instance the evolution of the West Coast offense and the Tampa Two defence, the 3-4 defense, the 4-6 defense etc etc etc.

Anyway, I notice that the Miami Dolphins are now utilizing the `wildcat`offense formation in their games! This is a high-school formation that takes advantage of the agility of the quarterback-- the running back typically takes the snap and the quarterback is lined up in a wide variety of positions.

Here is a snippet analysis from Gregg Easterbrook from espn.com on page 2:

Miami ran the Wildcat with good results for the third straight week, and Atlanta also used the Wildcat, as this high school tactic -- tailback takes the snap -- begins to catch on in the NFL. On many of Miami's Wildcat snaps, quarterback Chad Pennington lines up as a wide receiver and is ignored; the defense figures he is only lined up this way to draw a defender outside. On Sunday Pennington lined up as a wide receiver; tailback Ronnie Brown took the snap; Brown handed off to tailback Ricky Williams running right, toward Pennington. Is the quarterback really a blocker on this play? Not likely. Pennington stepped back behind the line, Williams flipped him a lateral, and Pennington threw to uncovered tailback Patrick Cobbs for a 53-yard touchdown. Sweet high-school-style action, plus Miami had three tailbacks on the field for the play.

[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/ 081014&sportCat=nfl[/url]

Now views differ on the current use of the wildcat. Here are Warren Sapp`s comments:

[url]http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/10/09/warren-sapp-finds-the-dol phins-wildcat-offense-disrespectful/ [/url]

Of course, wikipedia has a somewhat sparse explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcat_offense

Now my theory is that this will be the future of NFL play. People like Tebow are MADE for this type of offense. The thing is that I highly doubt that the Wildcat in the future will resemble what is being called the Wildcat right now. It will naturally evolve.

People are already talking that Tebow will fail at the NFL because he does not take snaps from centre and he runs an option offense-- not a quick pass and read defense NFL game. Just like the run and shoot was in vouge back in the early 90s, (but never really had a long history), the Wildcat will take off due to people like Tim Tebow!

There are always singular originators in the NFL who are not too popular with their radical philosophies (Mike Martz back in the day!), so the Wildcat may seem too silly at this point. But I beleive that some coach will utilize it AROUND a smart QB like Tebow and there will be plenty of copycats....

What do you guys thinkÉ

 

[Don Wassall]

The success of it, at least initially, shows the conformity of NFL offenses. We often hear about how "complicated" defenses supposedly are, but if that's the case where's the imagination when it comes to offense?


As far as the Wildcat, if it's made for players like Tebow, then expect it not to catch on unless it's dominated by affletes. The NFL is not a copycat league when it comes to anything that results in more white players or which showcases their abilities.

 

[sport historian]

In 1961, when I was 11 years old, the 49ers started the season with the Shotgun offense. They were running it on almost every play. It was a sensation at the time in the sporting press. They got off to a 4-1 start, scoring 35 or more in the 4 wins, and losing only to the Packers. One win was 49-0 over the Lions, who then had an excellent defense. Some thought the Shotgun would revolutionize pro football. I recall hearing the TV announcers saying this.

In the sixth game, the Bears shut out the 49ers 31-0, and SF ended up 7-6-1 for the season. The Bears figured that a center could not block well while looking between his legs to hike the ball back to a tailback. Bear middle linebacker Bill George lined up right over the center and charged straight through to the QB on every play. (Source, The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football)

You did not see the Shotgun again until several years later when Tom Landry used it for the Cowboys as a situational offense. It has been that way since.

 

[dwid]

thats the way i see the wildcat offense, a situational formation that is used only a few times a game if that, i think they were showing the results of the dolphins success using the wildcat and the production has gradually dropped each game, it is not going to revolutionize the game

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

the Wildcat formation was "invented" two years ago at the collegiate level by then-Arkansas offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn (it is, of course, a re-discovery of an OLD football formation), and made famous by the success it had there because of Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, and company. Malzahn had perfected the formation during his tenure coaching high school football (where it spread across the country in part due to a book he authored discussing it and numerous other theories he had), as Ibanez suggested.

an interesting fact that very few people are aware of is that Malzahn implemented the formation at Arkansas specifically to feature Peyton Hillis.

it's true.

but Malzahn's fascination with the multi-talented Hillis, and his carrying the football, was overridden by the megalomania of then-Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt and HIS fascination with McFadden. it was one of numerous conflicts between the offensive prodigy Malzahn and the control freak/egomaniac Nutt which eventually saw Malzahn head to Tulsa. Malzahn's success there and Nutt's departure from Arkansas (and subsequent poor performance at Ole Miss) should show who was the better judge of talent.

just some food for thought.

 

[Riddlewire]

Auburn and Tennessee had no problems shutting it down completely the second time they saw it. And that was with the ideal Wildcat team.
It's a pompous offense for pompous coaches. If you want to do it once per half in a game, that's fine. If you do it once per series, you're just throwing downs away (once the NFL finally realizes that it's pretty easy to stop).

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

you're right about that, Riddlewire.

i simply can't understand how stupid the affletes on defense must be when they see a guy who can't throw line up to take a direct snap and STILL don't expect a running play.

of course, we're not exactly talking about mental giants here.

 

[Ibanez]

I hope to see some more inventive schemes in the ultra conservative NFL.

For instance, I fully expect that at some point in the future, the NFL will certainly adopt the CFL rule of having unlimited motion on the offense.

I am Canadian, but I can say with zero bias, that the unlimited motion on the offense the CFL has is the way football should be played and is an excellent rule the NFL should adopt.

For some reason the NFL decided way back to allow unlimited motion only on the defense.

What are your guy's thoughts on all of this?

 

[Andrew Lynch]

Unlimited motion on the offense would nullify those stupid false start penalties that hold up NFL and College games. So I'd be for it for everything except the O-line.

 

[Ibanez]

Just to update some people here on my football thoughts that may be misinterpreted: The Wildcat Formation is not meant for black players! A formation is not black or white. I am excited to see the possibilities in the spread/spread option formations and I want to see more white players doing it!

I am just predicting that we will slowly see coaches incorporating the Wildcat into an offensive philosophy that is not gimicky, and we may someday use the term Wildcat just like WestCoast etc.

Here is an updated article analyzing the Wildcat that is pretty interesting for any football geeks out there:

Wildcat Analyzed

I am a Lions fan, and I have to tell you that there is nothing worse than watching sup-par players using an antiquated offense like the West Coast (Steve Mariuchi days). That comment is out of context, I just wanted to complain about being a Lions fan.

 

[ManifestDestiny]

I hope to see some more inventive schemes in the ultra conservative NFL.



For instance, I fully expect that at some point in the future, the NFL will certainly adopt the CFL rule of having unlimited motion on the offense.



I am Canadian, but I can say with zero bias, that the unlimited motion on the offense the CFL has is the way football should be played and is an excellent rule the NFL should adopt.



For some reason the NFL decided way back to allow unlimited motion only on the defense.



What are your guy's thoughts on all of this?

Disagree, the NFL is fine with the motion calls. The offense gets enough help as it is and the game is already offensive-oriented enough. I absolutely hate the Arena Football thing where the guy lines up 20 yards back and gets a running start.

 

[Bear Backer]

The Bears tried their version of the Wildcat formation once against Minnesota and got absolutely nothing. The Vikes keyed on Forte almost instantly and completely stuffed it. Of course though, the Bears can't even manage to run a basic offense half the time.

 

[Quiet Speed]

The nutty professor, Jerry Jones, is considering drafting a quarterback to run in the wildcat scheme.

Dallas Cowboys will use Wildcat formation

We may want to do some things on our offense this year with a third quarterback," Jones said. "That's something other than be there as a backup to the second quarterback and be there in case you lose all the quarterbacks and be there not certainly as a development prospect, but we could hopefully find a quarterback with a set of skills that we could put some packages in for

 

[celticdb15]

Hopefull jerry jones picks up james casey. On second thought, i take that back. I want Casey to go to the Browns

 

[dwid]

hopefully he brings in Matt Jones, who will see the field at WR and wildcat quarterback!
I wish, the only White we will ever see running the wildcat will have the first name of Pat. I doubt the Cowboys would let a White guy run the wildcat, and i doubt we'll see a White player run the wildcat in the NFL. Thats why they want to convert Tebow to a fullback or a Tight end/h-back, they are not interested in him running the wild cat, even though he could. They aren't even interested in him playing quarterback.Edited by: dwid

 

[Europe]

I remember payton played qb for the Bears when they had injuries in the early 80's.

 

[Don Wassall]

As far as the Wildcat, if it's made for players like Tebow, then expect it not to catch on unless it's dominated by affletes. The NFL is not a copycat league when it comes to anything that results in more white players or which showcases their abilities.

I was reminded of this upon reading this article extolling Michael Vick and the Wildcat. Given that everything in society, especially the NFL, is constantly moving in an anti-white direction (with whatever few exceptions exist being inadvertent), it's not hard to see the Wildcat in part as an "end-round" to reverse the glaring failure of black quarterbacks in the league despite 15 years of doing everything possible to help them succeed. The Wildcat is and will continue to be promoted as something that only "exceptional athletes," i.e., you know who in just about every case,can run. Does anyone else get the same feeling?


<H1>NFL insiders differ on Vick's impact with Wildcat</H1>
By PAUL DOMOWITCH
pdomo@aol.com
<DIV =- id=->


CORTLAND, N.Y. - If Jon Gruden still were coaching the Tampa Bay Bucs, there's a pretty good chance the Eagles wouldn't have signed Michael Vick. That's because Gruden would have beaten them to him.


Gruden is bullish on the limitless NFL possibilities of the spread offense and its baby brother, the Wildcat formation. It's become all the rage in college football, and Gruden thinks the time is ripe to bring it in a big way to the pros.


Last year, more than a dozen NFL teams used the Wildcat. Most, including the Eagles, just tinkered with it. The only team that really made it a regular staple of their offense was the Miami Dolphins, who used the Wildcat on 12 percent of their offensive plays. But they seldom threw out of the formation.


"I wanted to use it last year, but we had some injuries and shied away from it a little bit," Gruden said. "But it's been something I've been studying.


"When you pick up a college tape, 90 percent of those guys, you never see them under center. Ever. All you're seeing is spread-read options. There are guys like Tim Tebow, who is going to be coming out next year, somebody is going to take him, and somebody is going to have a plan for him. Vince Young has struggled the last couple of years. But he was wicked in that Rose Bowl game against USC. He ran for 200 and threw for 200.


"Then there's Vick. He's certainly a candidate to run the spread. Everybody's got a guy [who can run it]. Brad Smith with the Jets. Michael Robinson in San Francisco. Isaiah Stanback in Dallas. Everybody's got a guy that can throw a little bit. I think there's a wave coming."


With their recent signing of Vick, the Eagles are expected to be a big part of that wave. They used the Wildcat about a dozen times last year with wide receiver DeSean Jackson taking the direct snaps. Jackson had success running out of the formation, but threw the ball just once (an interception against Cleveland).


With Vick in the Wildcat, they will have a guy who can run and throw out of the formation.


"Michael Vick would be one of the scariest guys to run that [Wildcat] offense," Jets coach Rex Ryan said yesterday during a break at the Jets' SUNY Cortland training camp. "Probably the scariest guy."


"What the league hasn't seen yet is the Wildcat with a true passing threat there," said Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, who spent 7 years as the head coach at William Tennent and North Penn high schools. "Because if you have both, whether it's a Vick or a Pat White, the key is whether he can withstand the punishment of basically playing tailback as well [as quarterback]. How long will they be able to withstand the pounding of it?"


While Pettine acknowledges that Vick certainly will pose problems for opposing defenses in the Wildcat, he thinks the Dolphins' White, who was taken in the second round of April's draft, actually might be better fit for the role.


"A lot of [Vick's] runs [with the Falcons] were scrambles," he said. "I don't think they had a lot of designed runs for him. Plus, it remains to be seen whether he can withstand the type of punishment you're going to take playing almost a tailback-type position.


"Pat White, to me, would be a [ideal Wildcat] guy. He had a lot of called quarterback runs at West Virginia. He was basically a tailback who had good enough passer skills."


Even before the Eagles signed Vick, they already had expanded their Wildcat package this summer. They figure to expand it even more now with the arrival of Vick.


"The package has grown a little bit," coach Andy Reid said. "Can Michael eventually do that? Sure, he can do that. Are there other things we can do [with Vick]? Yeah, he can do other things. We'll see how all this works out. He's got to get back into the swing first. But at the same time, I can't tell you that things wouldn't be added to a package here and there.


"With Michael and Donovan [McNabb] and DeSean, we have a couple of guys that can run pretty fast and run the ball pretty good. So you add all those things up and you can have some fun."


Some of that "fun" almost certainly will include using Vick in other ways besides the Wildcat. He may line him up at wide receiver and be used on end-arounds or even get the ball on the outside via bubble screens or hitches, assuming he proves he can catch the ball.


Jets linebacker Bart Scott, though, is skeptical about the Vick-as-a-wideout possibility.


"I guess you could do that, but he's not a polished receiver," Scott said. "From that standpoint, he's handicapped because he's not comfortable. He doesn't know the minute details that you need to know to get off the ball, like how to point your toe, that type of thing. The things that come with doing something for a long time.


"It'd be just like if you moved me to tailback. Yeah, I can run. But I don't know the small things. I wouldn't be used to reading blocks, reading coverages, seeing where the safety is at."


Opinions of the Wildcat are mixed around the league. Some coaches think it could be The Next Big Thing. Others view it as a gimmick that will die out as soon as defenses prove they can consistently stop it.


"The single wing's been around a long time," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "[The Wildcat] is just revitalizing something that was very successful at one time. It certainly was an innovative move [to bring it back]. We'll see how that goes. We'll have to wait until the season to see how much it gets used and whether anybody really has an answer for it."


Said the Jets' Ryan: "I think it's a good weapon, I do. And you're talking to the guy that stopped it not once, but twice last year. It's more of a weapon if you have a guy like Vick that can throw the ball."


Ryan was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore last year when the Ravens' twice shut down the Dolphins' Wildcat, once in the regular season and again in the playoffs. But the Dolphins, who used running back Ronnie Brown as the Wildcat, seldom threw out of the formation, except to occasionally flip it back to the quarterback.


"Defenses, when they see Ronnie Brown taking that direct snap, when see [Falcons running back] Jerious Norwood taking that direct snap, defenses take the safety out of the middle of the field and get into zero coverage, knowing that the guy isn't going to throw it," said Gruden. "When that guy back there can be a threat to throw it, it'll be real interesting to see what defensive coordinators do."


Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he's not going to lose any sleep over the Wildcat.


"I hope we see it every week," he said. "Because our defense is set up to defend it. If you've got a good front seven, you don't have to commit a safety to run or the option. That's the way it worked for us last year against Miami. We didn't have to [bring up a safety]."


"Our approach against the Wildcat was we had to be sound in what we did and make sure the edges were set, and we needed to beat blocks," said Pettine, who was the Ravens' linebackers coach last year. "The one thing the Wildcat allows you to do, it's like playing with an extra guy. It's the single-wing mentality. They now have an extra blocker. They can remove one more defender by splitting the quarterback out. Now you're getting two-back runs out of one-back spacing on the defense's part.


"That's why the issue for us always has been let's be sound, play great technique and beat blocks. That's how we feel is the best way to go against it. You don't need to scheme up anything crazy for it. We saw some teams try to do that last year and get burned on it because there's so many variations to it."
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20090817_NFL_insiders_differ_on_Vick_s_impact_with_Wildcat.html

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

good point, Don. and that article is a good example of what you've been saying.

i will point out, however, that the re-inventor of the Wildcat, Gus Malzahn, implemented the scheme at Arkansas in order to take advantage of Peyton Hillis' talents. no joke! however, negrophile Houston Nutt overrode Malzahn's idea and inserted Darren McFadden.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Malzahn's impact as offensive trendsetter felt far beyond Auburn.

From his home in Austin, Texas, Chad Morris watches every Auburn game, just as he did for Tulsa the past two seasons and Arkansas the year before that.


Morris, the coach at reigning state champion Lake Travis High, had no prior affiliation to any of those schools. But like many in his profession, he's a fan of the Tigers' offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn.


"It's really neat to watch how a guy who was a high school coach just a few years ago has changed the trends of college football, and even into the NFL," said Morris.


Indeed, in the four seasons since then-Arkansas coach Houston Nutt took the unusual step of plucking the coach of nearby Springdale High to run his SEC offense, the soft-spoken, bespectacled 43-year-old Malzahn has become one of the sport's most innovative offensive minds, not just in the college ranks, but in all of football.


The now-ubiquitous Wildcat formation first entered the national conscience in 2006 when Malzahn installed it at Arkansas using running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones; now, it's a staple of countless college and NFL playbooks. And that wasn't the only trend Malzahn helped popularize. While still at Springdale, he wrote the book -- literally -- on the increasingly popular hurry-up offense.


After producing the nation's top-ranked offense at Tulsa in 2007 and 2008, Malzahn has returned to the SEC, where he's engineered another remarkable transformation. Using virtually the same cast of players that slogged through a disastrous 5-7 season last year, Auburn is off to a 4-0 start thanks largely to an offense that has improved from 104th in the country ... to No. 3 (526.3 yards per game).


On Saturday, Auburn -- which has beaten Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, West Virginia and Ball State -- visits 2-2 Tennessee, where new coach Lane Kiffin said his father, renowned defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, "spent a lot of time this offseason looking at Gus's offense, tying to break it down, because it is so different than anything we've seen.


"He does things I don't think anyone else has the guts to do. When you look at it, it's just wild and crazy, like when you're little and draw plays up in the dirt."


Two staples mark Malzahn's no-huddle offense: unconventional formations (unbalanced lines, pistol running backs and constant motion) and a frenetic pace ("We're trying to run a two-minute offense the entire game," said Malzahn). At its core, however, Auburn's attack centers on the most traditional of concepts: straight-ahead running.


First-year Tigers coach Gene Chizik said he was looking for someone that was "innovative and did things that gave defenses a problem" when he went looking for an offensive coordinator last winter. However Chizik, who served as Auburn's defensive coordinator during the Carnell Williams-Ronnie Brown era, said his most important criteria was "a running game that's physical, back to the old-school Auburn way."


Most wouldn't peg Tulsa as the logical place to go looking for a power-running guru, seeing as the Golden Hurricane produced a 5,000-yard passer (Paul Smith) in '07 and a 4,000-yard passer (David Johnson) last season. However, a closer look reveals Tulsa had more rushing attempts last season (674) than any team besides option-based Air Force and Navy. In Malzahn's attack, the threat of the run sets up play-action opportunities.


"I told our kids when we first got here, we're going to be a two-back, run-first team, with an emphasis on taking downfield shots," said Malzahn.


So far, the Tigers have lived up to his vision. Led by the tailback tandem of senior Ben Tate and true freshman Onterio McCalebb, Auburn ranks fifth nationally in rushing offense (261.3 yards per game), while senior quarterback Chris Todd (1,012 yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception) is No. 6 in pass efficiency. Kodi Burns, the Tigers' starting quarterback for much of last season, has produced five touchdowns as the Wildcat specialist.


The no-huddle Tigers are also averaging nearly 75 snaps per game -- though that's not up to Malzahn's standard of 80.


"We need to get a little bit faster than what we are," he said. "You have a chance to mentally and physically wear down your opponent if you run fast. It's a different kind of 'in-shape.' There's a football shape and basketball shape, and we're someone with a little bit of both."


Auburn is hardly alone in running the hurry-up, an increasingly common staple of college offenses. Chizik spent the past four seasons in the Big 12 (two as Texas's defensive coordinator, two as Iowa State's head coach), where nearly every successful team operates without a huddle. Oklahoma, in particular, raised eyebrows with its breakneck speed during last year's run to the BCS Championship Game.


But Malzahn's history with the no-huddle dates farther back than most. He first installed it in 1997 while the coach at Arkansas' Shiloh Christian High, where the team shattered state and national offensive records en route to consecutive state titles in 1998 and 1999. In 2001, Malzahn took the offense to Springdale, where he won another title in 2005.


Chris Brown, author of the Xs and Os blog SmartFootball.com, said Malzahn uses the hurry-up for more than just wearing down opponents.


"Whether a run play is successful is usually determined within a second of the snap, and whether the blocking was effective typically hinges on the leverage and angles blockers do or don't have," said Brown. "Because Malzahn combines a lot of formations and motions with varying strengths, angles, or numbers advantages with a very quick pace, defenders often wind up out of position. And small mistakes can equal big gains for the offense."


When Texas A&amp;M coach Mike Sherman decided last winter to switch to the hurry-up, he consulted Morris, the aforementioned Texas high school coach whose team holds the longest current winning streak (35 games) in the state. Morris, an A&amp;M alum, was happy to oblige, but admits he learned the hurry-up from his friend Malzahn, whom he first visited at Springdale in 2004 and still trades tips with on a weekly basis.


Much like Auburn, the Aggies' offense has thus far exhibited a complete transformation, improving from No. 78 in total offense in '08 to No. 1 through three games this season (574.3 yards per game).


"[The hurry-up] is something that Gus was onto before anyone else," said Morris. "It's changed the way defensive coordinators are playing defense. It's a trend-setter. You're seeing colleges catch on to it, much like the 'Wildcat' that Gus himself was running at Springdale."


Malzahn is reticent to take credit for the Wildcat, which has roots in the century-old single wing formation. Its more recent origins remain a source of much debate -- Hugh Wyatt, a double-wing coach in the Pacific Northwest, claims he first dubbed his direct-snap package "the Wildcat" (named after his school's mascot) in a series of videos and coaching journals in 1998; others believe it originated at Kansas State (also the Wildcats), where Bill Snyder used a similar formation as far back as the mid-'90s.


Whatever the source, there's no denying Malzahn's role in the Wildcat's recent explosion. Having run the formation (an unbalanced line with both tackles and a guard on one side and a tight end on the other) and its two main plays (the "QB Power" run and the "Speed Sweep") at Springdale with quarterback Mitch Mustain and receiver Damian Williams (both now at USC), Malzahn brought up the idea to Arkansas' staff upon his arrival. However, at the suggestion of running backs coach Danny Nutt (Houston's brother), he employed McFadden at the quarterback spot and Jones as the motion receiver who would take the fly-sweep.


"We were just trying to get [McFadden and Jones] on the field at same time," said Malzahn. "It was the same formation [Arkansas had previously used] and done a toss sweep out of it with the regular QB. We used the same formation, but with McFadden at QB running the power and speed sweep."


David Lee replaced Malzahn as offensive coordinator the following season but continued running the Wildcat. He brought it with him last season to the Miami Dolphins, which unveiled the package (with Ronnie Brown at quarterback) in a game against the New England Patriots last October. A year later, everyone from the Philadelphia Eagles to Notre Dame is running a similar package.


Though the Wildcat became Malzahn's biggest legacy from his lone season in Fayetteville (which included a 10-game winning streak and a SEC West title), at the time he unwittingly found himself at the center of controversy. Many believed Nutt only hired Malzahn to help land four blue-chip recruits from his Springdale team (including Mustain and Williams). According to various accounts, Nutt junked Malzahn's preferred offense after the first game, a 50-14 loss to USC, and in December, a group of disgruntled parents for the "Springdale Four" secretly met with athletic director Frank Broyles to voice their displeasure.


After the season, Nutt hired Dallas Cowboys assistant Lee to serve as "co-offensive coordinator," at which point Malzahn left for Tulsa and Mustain (who lost his starting job after nine games) and Williams transferred. Malzahn, however, has never spoken publicly about the details of the Arkansas soap opera and remains grateful to Nutt for allowing him entree to the college level.


"Things have happened extremely quickly," said Malzahn. "It's a true blessing for me to coach at this level and experience some of the things I have."


The only potential downside to Malzahn's budding acclaim is that soon, some of his own tactical advantages may wear off.


"One of the things that hurts you when you're innovative is everyone's copying you," said SmartFootball's Brown. "It's only a matter of time before everyone's running the Gus Malzahn hurry-up."


Traditionally, coaches have looked to the pros as the ultimate source of innovation. This time, they're following the lead of a recent high school coach.

i just want to point out how good Malzahn really is ... this paragraph from the article sums it up nicely: After producing the nation's top-ranked offense at Tulsa in 2007 and 2008, Malzahn has returned to the SEC, where he's engineered another remarkable transformation. Using virtually the same cast of players that slogged through a disastrous 5-7 season last year, Auburn is off to a 4-0 start thanks largely to an offense that has improved from 104th in the country ... to No. 3 (526.3 yards per game).

guys, it doesn't get any better than that for a coach. this White man is a genius, if that term is applicable to a football coach.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

It strikes me a quasi trick play, that should be used rarely. I definitely think Tebow could excel using it, but (as Don alluded to) it'll only be used as for/with the "affletes".

 

[Animalmuther0]

This is a spin-off of the single-wing offense made up by Pop Warner decades ago. I remember an NFL coach once saying that if it ever made it into the pro's, it would be hard to stop.

Nothing new here. As a youth football coach a decade ago, I ran the SW with great success. Pretty soon, one of these geniuses is going to "discover" the gap 8 or 4/4 stack (most affective against the SW). Youth and High School coaches have been running these things for decades.

Peyton Hillis, Heath Evans, Matt Jones, Tebow, Locker, (Yes, even the likes of M. Vick), were made for this offense.

You will be seeing much, much more of this stuff. Right up until some defensive coordinator sticks up the 4/4 or something similar.

Twenty two players have been on the field for almost a century. I doubt there is much that hasn't been done.