High School Sports

The image of four wide receivers spread across the line of scrimmage is one that is becoming popular at colleges and high schools across the country.

Mention "spread offense" and it immediately evokes thoughts of gun-slinging quarterbacks ready to pile up the yardage by tossing the ball down the field virtually every play.

But the variations of the spread offense are almost as plentiful as the teams that run them. For every Texas Tech that throws the ball 90 percent of the time out of the formation, there's a West Virginia that runs it just as much — and many teams in between. There's a definite trickle-down effect from the college to the high school game.

Ten to 12 years ago, the spread offense was just beginning to surface at the high school level. Now, probably 40 to 50 percent of the teams in Alabama run it, estimates Oxford coach John Grass.

In Calhoun County, there are several teams that run some version of the spread offense, including Oxford, White Plains, Ohatchee, Piedmont and Anniston, to name a few.

Teams running the spread formation had success on opening week, with Oxford outgunning Benjamin Russell, White Plains thumping Donoho and Ohatchee edging Pleasant Valley. Piedmont lost to Cherokee County, but scored 32 points and rallied at the end before falling by two.

Getting players out

With the lure of video games and the proliferation of things to do after school, the potential pool of athletes has decreased over the years. Coaches say they like the spread offense for reintroducing an element of fun to the game, which helps bring out players.

"Kids like to play it," White Plains coach Heath Harmon said. "You can do so much in the offense, throwing it. White Plains is so successful in basketball, and that's what this is — basketball on grass."

Says Grass, "I think it's a lot of fun and keeps a lot of kids out there that might not play if you weren't throwing the football around. I think it's a recruiting tool to get kids out to play. There're so many things for them to do. But I think it's important to keep kids out here playing this game because you develop something in this game you don't get from anything else and that's a hard-nosed mentality — toughness."

Grass said he picked up elements of the spread offense from then-Kentucky coach Hal Mumme, along with assistants Chris Hatcher and Tony Franklin, who are now at Georgia Southern and Auburn, respectively.

"Until probably two to three years ago, there probably wasn't but 5 percent of the state running it," Grass said. "You could name the teams on one hand."

The big draws for Grass included being able to make defenses defend the entire field, as well as the simplicity of the passing game.

"You always want to stay ahead of the game," Grass said. "This is almost the easiest, simplest, almost elementary passing game out there, I think. It's very simple on your quarterback, and I think simplicity is the key to whatever you run, whether it's a run game or a throw game. A lot of people call it elementary, but I'll take elementary because elementary wins games. The bottom line is about execution and blocking and tackling."

Staying physical

One knock against the spread offense is that players who run it — as well as teammates trying to defend it in practice — aren't as physical as teams with a grind-it-out mentality. Grass acknowledges it can happen, so he chooses to work on his team's toughness.

"It's one of the things we've been able to continue — to be physical," Grass said. "You win a lot of games on offense, but you win championships on defense. Unless you're good and physical on defense, you're not gong to win a championship. We start off there. We want to be good on defense, then be physical on offense, and be able to run the football when we want to run the football."

The success of teams such as Hoover and Spain Park, where Grass coached before taking the Oxford job, has increased the exposure of the offense at the high school level.

Harmon summarized himself as a coach who had been searching for the offense he really wanted to run. He took the best parts of the option and Wing-T offenses, trying to find the right thing. Now, he said he feels as though his search has ended since he started going with the Franklin system.

"It's been a big deal for me, as far as personally rejuvenating me," Harmon said. "I'm the type that will be coaching forever. In hindsight, I can see that I was searching for something. I found this. Players love the way we practice in it and coaches love it. We're not doing stuff that's wasted time."

Harmon said he's bought wholesale into the Franklin system after initially trying to "piecemeal" it. He said he first started looking into it a number of years ago.

"The thing that intrigued me wasn't the plays, but the system — from the practice field to the game field," Harmon said. "What you do on the practice field, you see on Friday nights.

"The next thing is you get people spread. If you can line up in two tight (ends) and an 'I' and run it, that's good. But against people you can't line up and move out of your way, you better find a way to line up and run. By spreading people out, you can find more consistent ways to run and throw."

Running from the spread

One of the main reasons coaches like the spread offense is because it gives them the ability to run the ball from the formation as easily as pass it. Texas Tech garnered its spread reputation based on passing the ball predominantly, but other teams chose to run from that spread formation. West Virginia, with athletes such as Alabama native Pat White and former star running back Steve Slaton, have been impressive running the ball out of the formation. Florida, with coach Urban Meyer and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, also employ a power running attack.

Piedmont coach Steve Smith decided to explore a version of the spread about a decade ago while coaching at Cedar Bluff, after finding himself thin on the offensive front. He likens his offense at Piedmont to a combination of the option spread and the power spread — or, like a cross between West Virginia and Florida.

"We felt like if we spread four or five guys wide, they might put five or six out there covering us," Smith said. "Then, they'd have just five guys in the box we had to block."

Smith said it took time for his teams to "grow" some quarterbacks and wide receivers. Now, his Piedmont team essentially can run a Power I offense out of the shotgun with receivers spread wide and enough talent to throw the ball as needed.

"It evolved," Smith said. "We didn't start with all we've got now. (This offense) allows you, if you've got multiple playmakers, to take what the defense gives. We've been fortunate enough to have good skill players the whole time. It makes the defense have to be more conscientious than if you just have one or two playmakers."

Taking advantage of a defense with all a team's weapons remains the biggest draw of this offense, regardless if a team is passing or running the ball.

Continued success means a continued — and possibly growing — presence of this offense.

In simple terms: It's not going away.