Triple-option trendsetter?
posted by LW, Wednesday, September 09, 2009
I'd love to fast-forward 10 years and see what college offenses look like.
Earlier this decade, Urban Meyer's offense at Utah looked truly wacky. Now, not so much.
Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson has brought his funky triple-option to the big time -- given that it's the ACC, we'll use a loose interpretation for the term "big time" -- and you have to wonder how much others will emulate it if he continues to succeed.
Kevin Steele had some interesting insight in this Post and Courier article.
To Steele, the effectiveness of the triple option has never been in question.
Option offenses worked with great success at Oklahoma and Colorado when Steele was coaching linebackers at Nebraska in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The scheme has also worked well for Paul Johnson at Navy, at Georgia Southern (Division I-AA titles in 1999, 2000) and now with the No. 15 Yellow Jackets, who finished fourth in the nation in rushing last season.
The problem is the scarcity of labor willing to work as cogs in the triple option, and perhaps, shaky approval ratings among alumni who prefer style points.
"What happened, I think, was recruiting," Steele said. "Everyone wanted to go to the NFL, so the quarterbacks wanted to be at the schools where they were throwing it around. That's why you walk out here in the summer time now, or any other college campus, and they have 50 teams in a passing league. That's been the case for years in California and it kind of swept through the country.
"You just don't see it at high school games. Go to high school games now and you barely see a running back."
I tend to think PJ's stuff won't exactly take college football by storm, largely because of the reasons Steele outlined. But it will be undertaken by teams that are either small in stature, or teams that are trying to rebuild and gain some sort of edge.
Bart Wright writes about the same topic and has a great line about teams that face the triple option.
It's like getting off a wild ride at a theme park: If you walk away without throwing up, you consider it a success.
Wright, quoting Steele, hits on a key point:
“But in this region?" Steele said. "There's still people sitting in the stands that remember Alabama (and its wishbone offense with Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant), so, yeah, it's OK in this region.”
The last truly successful Clemson team, the one that won an Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1991, was an option-based offense.
Ah, Clemson.
This has been said before on the board, but ...
Just hypothetically, what if Terry Don Phillips would've let Tommy Bowden go to Arkansas in December of 2007? What if TDP goes after Paul Johnson, who had not yet left Navy for Georgia Tech?
What if PJ runs the triple-option at Clemson his first year and wins 10 games?
Again, just purely a hypothetical. Because even had TDP let Tommy get on that plane bound for Fayetteville, I don't get the feeling PJ was on his radar.
But ...
Ya think Clemson fans, seeing instant success with a wholesale return to their roots of option-based football, would not be slightly giddy right now?
What if PJ would've ended up at Nebraska?
Point is, "new" offenses can become more prominent and prevalent more quickly than you think. Coaches and programs are more open to new things now more than ever.
So no, we're probably not headed back to the 1970s and 80s. But I'm betting PJ won't be the only guy in the BCS running the triple option in five years.
Also in The P&C, a look at Tech safety Morgan Burnett.
In The State, it's deja-PJ all over again for Dabo Swinney. Seems he's destined to face Georgia Tech on a short week.
Also in The State, Steele is very complimentary of Rashard Hall.
“He’s the one guy we have whom I could hand the keys, turn out the lights and say, ‘Run my meeting,’” Steele said. “He prepares like a professional.”
In the Independent-Mail, Greg Wallace explores why Clemson has struggled so much in Thursday-night games.
First off, the Thursday-night hex is irrelevant to Clemson's players and coaches. The Tigers have played in two Thursday-night games the past three years -- last year at Wake Forest, and in 2006 against Virginia Tech).
Hard for the Tigers to explain a phenomenon to which they've only minimally contributed.
But the obvious answer is that most teams struggle on the road on Thursday nights. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the home team has a pretty overwhelming advantage.
Clemson's last home Thursday night game? In 2002 against N.C. State (a loss).
If the Tigers played more home Thursday night games, they'd probably have a much better record and people wouldn't be writing stories about it.
Gotta cut this short. On to the taping of our podcast, complete with predictions for tomorrow night's game.
This is gonna be a tough call. Getting a headache just thinking about it.
LW
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I'd love to fast-forward 10 years and see what college offenses look like.
Earlier this decade, Urban Meyer's offense at Utah looked truly wacky. Now, not so much.
Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson has brought his funky triple-option to the big time -- given that it's the ACC, we'll use a loose interpretation for the term "big time" -- and you have to wonder how much others will emulate it if he continues to succeed.
Kevin Steele had some interesting insight in this Post and Courier article.
To Steele, the effectiveness of the triple option has never been in question.
Option offenses worked with great success at Oklahoma and Colorado when Steele was coaching linebackers at Nebraska in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The scheme has also worked well for Paul Johnson at Navy, at Georgia Southern (Division I-AA titles in 1999, 2000) and now with the No. 15 Yellow Jackets, who finished fourth in the nation in rushing last season.
The problem is the scarcity of labor willing to work as cogs in the triple option, and perhaps, shaky approval ratings among alumni who prefer style points.
"What happened, I think, was recruiting," Steele said. "Everyone wanted to go to the NFL, so the quarterbacks wanted to be at the schools where they were throwing it around. That's why you walk out here in the summer time now, or any other college campus, and they have 50 teams in a passing league. That's been the case for years in California and it kind of swept through the country.
"You just don't see it at high school games. Go to high school games now and you barely see a running back."
I tend to think PJ's stuff won't exactly take college football by storm, largely because of the reasons Steele outlined. But it will be undertaken by teams that are either small in stature, or teams that are trying to rebuild and gain some sort of edge.
Bart Wright writes about the same topic and has a great line about teams that face the triple option.
It's like getting off a wild ride at a theme park: If you walk away without throwing up, you consider it a success.
Wright, quoting Steele, hits on a key point:
“But in this region?" Steele said. "There's still people sitting in the stands that remember Alabama (and its wishbone offense with Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant), so, yeah, it's OK in this region.”
The last truly successful Clemson team, the one that won an Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1991, was an option-based offense.
Ah, Clemson.
This has been said before on the board, but ...
Just hypothetically, what if Terry Don Phillips would've let Tommy Bowden go to Arkansas in December of 2007? What if TDP goes after Paul Johnson, who had not yet left Navy for Georgia Tech?
What if PJ runs the triple-option at Clemson his first year and wins 10 games?
Again, just purely a hypothetical. Because even had TDP let Tommy get on that plane bound for Fayetteville, I don't get the feeling PJ was on his radar.
But ...
Ya think Clemson fans, seeing instant success with a wholesale return to their roots of option-based football, would not be slightly giddy right now?
What if PJ would've ended up at Nebraska?
Point is, "new" offenses can become more prominent and prevalent more quickly than you think. Coaches and programs are more open to new things now more than ever.
So no, we're probably not headed back to the 1970s and 80s. But I'm betting PJ won't be the only guy in the BCS running the triple option in five years.
Also in The P&C, a look at Tech safety Morgan Burnett.
In The State, it's deja-PJ all over again for Dabo Swinney. Seems he's destined to face Georgia Tech on a short week.
Also in The State, Steele is very complimentary of Rashard Hall.
“He’s the one guy we have whom I could hand the keys, turn out the lights and say, ‘Run my meeting,’” Steele said. “He prepares like a professional.”
In the Independent-Mail, Greg Wallace explores why Clemson has struggled so much in Thursday-night games.
First off, the Thursday-night hex is irrelevant to Clemson's players and coaches. The Tigers have played in two Thursday-night games the past three years -- last year at Wake Forest, and in 2006 against Virginia Tech).
Hard for the Tigers to explain a phenomenon to which they've only minimally contributed.
But the obvious answer is that most teams struggle on the road on Thursday nights. I don't have the stats in front of me, but the home team has a pretty overwhelming advantage.
Clemson's last home Thursday night game? In 2002 against N.C. State (a loss).
If the Tigers played more home Thursday night games, they'd probably have a much better record and people wouldn't be writing stories about it.
Gotta cut this short. On to the taping of our podcast, complete with predictions for tomorrow night's game.
This is gonna be a tough call. Getting a headache just thinking about it.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.