With Urban Meyer at the helm, the Dave-centric offense has become a thing of the past. It's time for OSU fans to bone up on what the new offense will look like. If, like me, you enjoy the sense of superiority you get from explaining to your friends why they're idiots for making mindless comments based on knowledge gleaned from Craig James's gems of football information, you really need to check out Chris Brown's (no, not that Chris Brown) blog, Smart Football.
Here's a few posts that will help OSU fans transition from understanding an offense based on I-formation power plays, to Urban Meyer's offense...
- Florida Gator Urban Meyer Offense: If you read one thing on this list, make this it. Chris Brown lays out the origin, fundamental concepts and evolution of Urban's offense. He then explains a few of the basic run plays that Meyer uses. (Spoiler: One is very similar to a favorite play used by a certain sweater-vest-wearing OSU coach, albeit with the QB taking the snap from a few yards further back.)
- Urban Meyer's "Crazy" or Shovel Triple Option: This an addendum of sorts on the first blog post in this list. Brown explains the reads involved in this play and then reminds the reader that it isn't really a recent idea.
- The Shotgun, The 'Gun, and the Shotgun Spread Offense: You hear the talking heads on TV make sweeping generalities about the "spread offense." If you are interested in learning what "the spread" actually is (and isn't), you need to read this. To sum it up in one phrase: There's nothing (or at least not as much as you thought) new under the sun.
- Did the spread really evolve from the single wing?: One of those sweeping generalities you hear from commentators about various spread offenses is that they evolved from the single wing. Although the single wing and spread look similar, Chris Brown explains how they are built on fundamentally different concepts. Also, what they do share in common isn't necessarily the result of an evolution, but just intelligent coaches coming to the same conclusion at different times.
Comments
Good stuff. Love learning more X's and O's
Fan of bacon since 1981
Very Well Done, Mr. omahabeef. Love quality posts like this & great analysis in your links.
If you ain't a Silver Bullet, you're a target
Good post Omaha! I'd been clamoring for years for Tressel to go for the Meyer spread (a friend and I refer to it as the Power Spread, and even Urban stressed heavily on Monday that it's a spread offense with basic power run game principles).
Pryor would've been perfect for Urban, but that's neither here nor there. Braxton, and the rest of the talent Tressel did such a great job of recruiting will be perfect for Urban's offense.
This should be bumped to front page, good work.
Perhaps Bollman would have benefitted from reading smart football, especially the post on contraint theory, linked from the Florida Gator post. Great stuff.
I feel like an Xs and Os football snob after spending the last week digesting these articles. But now I do know when the term "spread offense" is used correctly - for the most part. I wonder if Urban will teach a class like Tress did..
Recruiting 101: Mastering the In-Home Visit
If you ain't a Silver Bullet, you're a target