Mailbag Question: Regarding Coach Rod's spread

Hey,

We know that new HC Rich Rodriguez and OC Calvin Magee will bridle the Wolverines with a new spread offense attack this fall. Personally, I am convinced that with the right personnel and team speed, this style of offensive can be extremely effective at the college level.

Michigan may generate fewer NFL profile QBs going forward, but between 1969 and 1983 Michigan cultivated only 2 QBs to the NFL (Dennis Franklin and Larry Cipa), but won more football games and Big Ten titles during this stretch than any Wolverine team prior with emphasis on the run and option offense.

Recent sports articles have stated the obvious: spread offenses are nothing new to the Big Ten conference.

Rich Rodriguez is regarded as one of the spread formation "creators". Can you explain in what ways Rich Rodriguez's offense and offensive philosophy may be completely different from what we've seen before from Randy Walker at Northwestern, Terry Hoeppner at Indiana, Jim Tressel/Jim Bollman at Ohio State, Joe Tiller at Purdue?

My suspicion is that Michigan offensively will closely resemble the style of the dangerous Northwestern teams between 1999-2005 with QBs Zak Kustok & later Brett Basanaz with a few more option pitches sprinkled in.

Please share your view of what we can expect.
Thank you and keep up the excellent work with your blog. I love it.
Sincerely,

Markusr2007

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Thanks for the question. Coach Rod and staff prefer the read option version of spread offense.

It is a version that relies on Quarterback being a threat with his legs as much as with his arm.

Most of the other spreads you mentioned are more of the pass first versions. Some like Northwestern and Purdue have a strong running game included, but not to same degree as Coach Rod’s.

They also do not emphasize a Quarterback who runs as much as new Michigan will. Coach Tressel/Bollman at Ohio State uses very little pure spread. They will run some empty from time to time, but this package is different then pure spread.

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