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This is part of a package of stories looking at the effects of the spread offense on prep football. See also: Airing it out - how the spread aids the passing game Old-school - why some teams prefer not to use the spread Defending the spread - How do defenses slow the fast-pace offense Calling the shots - what makes a good spread QB When to switch - how personnel determines an offense Next level - how the spread has changed recruiting
What was considered a niche less than a decade ago has grown to become the biggest influence in football since the forward pass was introduced. The spread, a generic label that encompasses numerous styles of offense, is now the predominant formation among college and high school programs nationally and is the main reason scoring averages have reached video-game type numbers.
"It's been eye opening to see how it's changed the game," said Chattanooga Christian's Rob Spence, a 34-year coaching veteran who has worked at both the collegiate and high school levels. "It affects every aspect of every game, from offense, defense even to college recruiting. Everything about the game has changed.
"First, it's tough to prepare for because teams can run such a variety of plays out of the same formation, so defenses don't know what's coming. Next, if you can create one-on-one situations where you have an athlete in space, the defender is going to lose that matchup almost every single time and the offense is going to have more explosive plays.
"Tackling is a lost art because not many people spend time working on it anymore. Any time you can challenge defenders, especially at the high school level, to tackle in space, you'll win almost every time."
Originating from the run-and-shoot, the spread has the basic principle of getting the offense's best athletes open against slower defenders, creating mismatches and rewarding quicker teams instead of those that are bigger and play the more physical brand of the game.
The spread features the quarterback in the shotgun set with either one or no running back and anywhere from three to five athletes/receivers spreading the defense thin across the field to open running lanes or create passing gaps, depending on the style preferred.
"It used to be when you saw a team lined up in the gun it was because they were going to throw it all over the field," North Jackson coach Mark Rose said. "But now almost every team is in the gun but they're mostly running the ball. Toughness still figures in, but if you can't catch them, being physical doesn't matter. In the last two years here, I haven't seen a single team on our schedule that doesn't run some form of the spread.
"It's changed the kind of athletes you play on offense and defense trying to stop it. I didn't really want to go to it, but I knew lining up and running it right at people wasn't working as well anymore. We had some great defensive teams, and when we started having trouble stopping it, I was smart enough to know it was time to change."
Just eight years after fewer than 50 percent of teams in the Chattanooga area were using a spread, 32 of 37 coaches asked this season said it is their predominant offensive formation. Grace Academy coach Bob Ateca noted that his team used a power offense, with the quarterback lining up under center, just five years ago but has run from the shotgun on every snap this season.
The average for the area's 10 highest-scoring spread offenses is 39.2 points per game this season, 15 points more than the area's 10 highest scoring teams that do not incorporate the spread into their offense. Overall scoring is also up by more than two touchdowns from 2000, when most prep teams ran offenses that focused on running inside the small space between the tackles, which meant that the bigger, stronger teams bulldozed opponents.
"You try to spread the ball around on offense so you give defenses more to prepare for and worry about, and you want to get as many kids involved as you can," Spence said. "You don't see as many teams that are giving it to that one back 25 times a game anymore. Defenses now have to account for a runner, an athletic quarterback who can run or throw and several receivers that could either take a handoff or run a (pass) route.
"It's a nightmare to prepare for, and defenses haven't caught up yet."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.