Rich Rodriguez's November hiring marked more than just a fresh start.
It officially ended the UA's decade-long affair with the spread offense.
From 2001-11, the Wildcats posted five of the 10 most prolific offensive seasons in program history. But the team's lack of balance - and a pair of historically bad defenses - rendered the UA just average during that time.
Consider: the Wildcats posted a combined record of 55-77 while running versions of the spread under John Mackovic and Mike Stoops, an average yearly mark of roughly 5-7.
Here's a look at how Rodriguez's spread-option offense compares to the pass-happy attack that the Wildcats previously ran:
THE SPREAD
• AKA: "The Air Raid," "Air Zona," "The Greatest Show on Turf"
People are also reading…
• Popularized by: Former San Diego State and San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell, former St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator and head coach Mike Martz, former Texas Tech coach (and current Washington State boss) Mike Leach.
• The basics: Using wide splits on the offensive line and a series (typically three or four) wide receivers, the spread attack forces defenses to cover the entire field, sideline to sideline. Quarterbacks identify mismatches either at the line of scrimmage and, after checking down, throw to the receiver or running back with the greatest speed, height or talent advantage.
• Creation story: Middletown (Ohio) High School coach Glenn "Tiger" Ellison wrote the book - literally - on the modern spread offense when he penned "Run and Shoot Football: Offense of the Future" in 1965. Ellison believed spreading his wide receivers would allow his team to run more effectively while opening up more passing lanes.
• Patron saint: Darrel "Mouse" Davis. An Ellison adherent, Davis brought the spread - then, it was called the run-and-shoot - offense to prominence while serving as Portland State's head coach from 1975-80. BYU adopted many of the same schemes in the 1970s and 80s, and quickly became known as a quarterback factory.
• Stats that matter: The popularity of the spread has obliterated the sport's record books. Nine of college football's 10 all-time leading passers have played football during the spread era (2000-present), and the one who didn't, BYU's Ty Detmer, ran the Cougars' spread attack to perfection a decade earlier. All-time yardage king Case Keenum of Houston, and the two players below him, Hawaii's Timmy Chang and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, all ran versions of Leach's Air Raid system.
• Variations: Bill Walsh took Coryell's philosophies and added more horizontal passes, and the revolutionary West Coast offense was born. Current UA assistant Robert Anae ran a version of the "power-spread" while at BYU from 2005-10; the scheme included a tight end and a traditional, "downhill" running game.
THE SPREAD-OPTION
• AKA: The read-option, the lead-option, the "Blur."
• Popularized by: Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, formerly the head coach at Bowling Green, Utah and Florda; Oregon coach Chip Kelly; Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, formerly of Michigan and West Virginia.
• The basics: The spread-option offense combines passing and running out a shotgun, four- or five-receiver set. Quarterbacks either hand the ball off, fake the "lead" and run or throw to receivers in the flats or deep. Spread-option offenses rarely huddle, hoping to keep defenses off-balance with their speed and quickness.
• Creation story: Quarterback sneaks and deception behind the line of scrimmage have been a part of football since the days of single-wing offenses. It took a happy accident, however, to start one of college football's latest trends. Rodriguez was coaching at tiny Glenville (W.Va) State College in 1992 when quarterback Jed Drenning muffed a snap during practice and bolted away from the running back, toward a spot formerly occupied by a chasing defensive end. Rodriguez asked Drenning what he was doing and, sagely, the quarterback said he was reading the defense. The idea of a "read-option" was born.
• Patron saint: Chip Kelly. The former New Hampshire offensive coordinator arrived at Oregon in 2007 and promptly turned the Ducks' "Blur" offense into one of the nation's most potent attacks. Kelly was promoted to head coach in 2009, and has since led the Ducks to two Rose Bowls and one BCS National Championship Game.
• Stats that matter: Oregon running back LaMichael James ran for 5,082 yards and 53 touchdowns during his three seasons (2009-11) in Kelly's spread offense. As a junior, the diminutive James ranked second in the Div. I FBS (former Div. I-A) with 181.30 yards and 11th with 10 points scored per game.
• Variations: The NFL's Denver Broncos and New York Jets borrowed from Meyer's Florida system in an attempt to maximize quarterback Tim Tebow's value. The resulting "Wildcat" formation has been a part of college and pro football for more than a decade. It differs from the spread-option, in part because "Wildcat" quarterbacks typically do not throw.
