BLACK

We've covered this before quite a bit and Chris Brown knocks it out of the park when writing about the loaded backfield of Oregon and West Virginia but just documenting the trend that many teams are featuring heavy backfields out of the same "spread" 10 personnel groupings.



It goes to show that everything is cyclical and if you stay in the same spot (schematically) all you become is a stationary target.

On a somewhat personal note, I find you can discover so much more about actual 'coaching' from the programs that have to fight for wins.  It takes creativity, some guile, and a lot of hustle to manufacture plays that add up to wins when you're playing with a short deck.  While Tony Franklin will never be considered a face for the public, there is no denying his commitment to his players and his humble desire to win.  An interesting note to the season for La Tech is how much their offensive staff (in their first real season after recruiting) is relying on brand new faces to the program.  With transfers (WR) Quinton Patton and (OT) Oscar Johnson, to true freshmen (QB) Nick Isham, (RB) Ray Holley and (RB) Hunter Lee getting the bulk of responsibility in the past four weeks.

Like the Calvin Magee clinic? How about hearing from the man himself, Rich Rodriguez?

Six more hours of spread offense dissection from one of the decade’s biggest names.  This clinic took place just before Rodriguez took over at West Virginia while he was making a name for himself under Tommy Bowden at Clemson.

While nothing went according to plan at Michigan, the innovations Rodriguez spearheaded at Tulane, Clemson, and finally West Virginia, became his thumbprint on many offenses we’re seeing today (particularly in the run game).  What if Rich Rod stayed at WVU instead of trying to resurrect  Michigan? What if they actually landed Terrelle Pryor in 2008 instead of having to pin their last desperate hopes on Denard Robinson?  UM’s defense certainly didn’t help matters, but it makes for an interesting look at how drastically perceptions would change if a few chance events took place.
In the late 90s, while other programs were rediscovering athleticism at quarterback (McNabb at Syracuse / Vick at Va Tech), Rodriguez was capturing lightning in a bottle by paring athletes (Shaun King, Woody Dantzler) with complimentary, multiple option threats from the gun.  If you have the old (now canonized) Alex Gibbs Gilman clinic on wide-zone, you’ll hear Gibbs marvel over what kind of mileage coaches were getting out of Dantzler at the time.  In the infancy of his philosophy, it was applying extremely simple concepts from the gun and capitalizing on the low-hanging fruit of “athletes in space”.  It was by adapting to the talent on the roster to the innovations of defensive adjustments, borrowing from other successful programs (Northwestern), and acquiring an infusion of  expertise (Rick Trickett), that Rodriguez became increasingly successful through the height of his career.
Rodriguez essentially set the table for up-tempo offenses of today (Oregon, Oklahoma State, etc) that have taken the best of both worlds (spread option with proven Air Raid concepts)  and evolved into a multi-dimensional threat to defenses.  Did Rodriguez plateau or hit the creative wall before leaving WVU?  The offense relied heavily on zone read and speed option with the passing game usually a result of play-action or a simplified 2-man-game.  Was he the victim of a program in decline, a dried up well (little recruiting help), or did his offense simply fail to evolve itself to the defense’s natural response? Will we witness his return to the coaching ranks, adapting his offense to the new decade’s defenses?

Manchester United lost 2 points earlier today as Liverpool held the champions at 1 a piece. This provides Chelsea with a great opportunity to move within the top 3, within 1 point of Man Utd who are still setting the standard under Sir Alex.

Chelsea still have bags of competitiveness and ambition in the Premier League. History suggests that André Villas-Boas will get one season to deliver major silverware to the Bridge and he will be out. With Drogba hitting decent form at the minute (no Torres today) the pressure will be on the Toffees from the very first minute. However, David Moyes has a great record travelling to Stamford Bridge as Everton haven't lost there in the last 5 years. The lunchtime result could motivate Chelsea that bit more today so I predict a modest home victory.

A collection of quarterback fundamentals with Jim Miller, the grittiest of the gritty.  Grab your pain meds and enjoy these drills from the Michigan State staff and Chicago’s John Shoop.

1	Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	9
2	Sergio Agüero	Manchester City	8
3	Edin Dzeko	Manchester City	6
4	Frank Lampard	Chelsea FC	4
5	Gabriel Agbonlahor	Aston Villa	4

1	Mario Gomez	Bayern Munich	8
2	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	SC Freiburg	7
3	Papiss Demba Cisse	Schalke 04	6
4	Claudio Pizarro	Werder Bremen	6
5	Mohamed Abdelaoue	Hannover 96	6

1	Bafetimbi Gomis	Lyon	6
2	Alain Traoré	AJ Auxerre	6
3	Kevin Gameriro	PSG	5
4	Javier Pastore	PSG	4
5	Dennis Oliech	AJ Auxerre	4

1	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	8
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	7
3	Roberto Soldado	Valencia	5
4	Radamel Falcao	Atletico Madrid	5
5	Gonzalo Higuaín	Real Madrid	5

1	Sebastian Giovinco	Parma	5
2	Rodrigo Palacio	Genoa	5
3	Antonio Di Natale	Udinese	4
4	German Denis	Atlanta	3
5	Fabrizio Miccoli	Palermo	3

Scottish Premier League SPL top scorers

1	Steven John Naismith	Rangers	8
2	Garry O'Connor	Hibernian	7
3	Jon Daly	Dundee United	6
4	Paul Heffernan	Kilmarnock	5
5	Scott Vernon	Aberdeen	4

1	Thierry Henry	New Y Red Bulls	14
2	Dwayne De Rosario	DC United	14
3	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles	12
4	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose	12
5	Dominic Oduro	Chicago	12

David Beckham is leeading top goals assist, he has assisted 11 goals followed by Dwayne De Rosario DC United and Brad Davis of Houston both with 10 goal assist.

It wasn’t long ago that the West Virginia football program was known for an entirely different high-octane offense.  That offense was spearheaded by a coach who is now deemed a pariah after languishing at Michigan for the past few years.  Rich Rodriguez used this simple brand of  fast-paced-spread to pressure defenses during his stops at Glenville State, Tulane, Clemson and West Virginia.

Now at Pittsburgh, Calvin Magee was an integral part in developing this ‘spread to run’ offense that Rodriguez became renowned for.  In his own words and philosophy, here are 5 hours worth……