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I like the new history, but with "Cactus Jack" copyright notices after every paragraph, in a free use encyclopedia, I think the insert is entirely inappropriate, and the constant notices a use of the Wikipedia as unpaid advertising. The whole passage seems like copyrighted content lifted from the editor's book and should be reverted. Dwmyers (talk) 19:21, 25 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Dwmyers: I agree completely. It's so obviously just lifted from the source that is cited over and over. The whole tone is wrong for Wikipedia too. I'm not experienced enough with Wikipedia to know quite how to deal with it though. SlackerInc1 (talk) 07:41, 17 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I edited a sentence that read "Arizona Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops and his offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes....." to simply read "Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Dykes...." Sonny Dykes is currently the head coach at LA Tech and Mike Stoops was fired from his position as head coach of Arizona and as of today, does not hold any coaching position. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.19.102.80 (talk) 15:48, 20 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I edited him out of the coach list... whoever included him probably has not seen a Georgia Tech game. No resemblance to the spread whatsoever. In fact, doesn't part of the article mention four-receiver sets? Other than the occasional Hail Mary, we never use those. 128.61.31.201 (talk) 18:14, 2 November 2009 (UTC) GT[reply]

Amazing Rich Rodriguez is not even mentioned in this article.

Whoever edited Paul Johnson out hasn't studied Georgia Tech's offense. Johnson himself refers to his offense as a spread option^[1] and does use the two A-backs as receivers in addition to the two designated wide receivers. The option to pass exists but like in Rodriguez version the run comes first.--68.211.39.30 (talk) 21:03, 9 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

References

This section is incredibly poorly worded and doesn't have any citations. Most of the information contained in this section is already covered in the rest of the article. Request that someone with knowledge of the subject clean up this section. 192.91.173.36 (talk) 13:04, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I removed a large section of text, present at the creation of this page, that was a direct rip-off of a Bob Davie column on ESPN.com. It was good information, so I hope someone will try to include something similar, only legally. This page needs a lot of attention anyway. I'll try to work on it some but help would be much appreciated! --SuperNova |T|C| 03:07, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When did Miami use the spread offense? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I just don't know enough about the different schemes to know. Mmortal03 07:11, 14 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Nebraska didn't run the Triple Option, and Urban Meyer is not merely the latest person to use the Spread Option. He had more success with it than either of the people listed next to it, and he had success before them. Lastly, Bellotti is a defensive coach and is not responsible for the installation of the spread option at Oregon.72.67.175.145 22:06, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.67.175.145 (talk) 22:03, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply] 

I went ahead and corrected the beginning of the article, which originally implied that wide offensive line splits were a necessary feature of the spread offense. In fact, unusually wide splits are only used in some versions of the spread (like that run by Mike Leach at Texas Tech), while many other versions (such as those used by the Indianapolis Colts and more "balanced" pro-style spread offenses) do not feature particularly wide splits. Nolewr (talk) 05:37, 22 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One inaccuracy here--while the Wildcat stymied the Patriots defense the first time they saw it, it was almost useless the second time around. (Yeah, they got some yardage out of it, but basically zero points.) Samer (talk) 18:14, 31 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article asserts the pass-oriented spread was probably first used in 1968, with a run-centric version being first used in 1958. This isn't true. A spread was used as early as the 1920s at Missouri ([1]), and in the early 1950s Don Faurot used a pass-based spread at Mizzou.

The reference cited in the article doesn't work any more, either.

Strikehold (talk) 03:11, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think this article suffers from the oft-reoccurring rhetorical problem that arises when talking about the "spread," in that the idea of "spreading the field" (either horizontally or vertically) occurs in many philosophies, but the idea of a "spread offense" itself is a moving, and perhaps non-existent, target. I have issues once you start talking about the run and shoot variants in the third paragraph of history - naming Chip Kelly at Oregon, Mike Leach (who isn't at Texas Tech but Washington), and Urban Meyer.

First off, you need to talk about Rich Rodriguez, as he was probably one of the first to include the veer and a horizontally spread formation. His basic philosophy involved counting the number of defensive backs in a set "triangle" on the field and determining whether to run or pass based on that number. Next, Kelly's "spread offense" isn't an offshoot of the run and shoot as much as it is a more evolved version of Rodriguez's spread running. Both Kelly and Rodriguez (and you can probably include Meyer here too) combined the old wing T/triple option with the idea of a horizontal spread because that created mismatches and running lanes for that option attack.

Now, the Air Raid created by Mike Leach is probably the best direct descendant of the run and shoot, given his emphasis on screens and draws in the running game and on passing routes that react to the defense.

Also, the Pistol isn't any sort of offensive system, but is the variant formation that one coach uses. Consider, the pistol's defining characteristic is that the quarterback is (approx.) 3 yards off the line and the tailback is behind that. Beyond this definition, you can drop another back behind the quarterback and put tight ends on the line and make it a tight i-form pistol set, or you can set out the wide receivers as spread out as you wish. Really, the defining idea of the Nevada offense is that the shotgun running game suffers when the quarterback and tailback are standing next to each other. Beyond that, the offense is far more about power running than it is about horizontal spread to create lanes and mismatches.

So essentially, my point is that the article really needs cleaned to talk about the "idea of spread" in that spreading the field horizontally puts an offense at an immediate advantage. Perhaps the rest of the article talks about variant philosophies that try out this principle in various ways, but that very few, if any, of them can be called a "spread offense." June Jones runs the run and shoot, Urban Meyer runs a shotgun option, Chip Kelly runs a shotgun speed option, Mike Leach runs the Air Raid, Dana Holgerson runs a modified Air Raid, and the New England Patriots still run a "pro-style" offense but some formations they use create leverage mismatches and space by spreading the field horizontally. 199.107.16.119 (talk) 13:46, 10 January 2012 (UTC)oles — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.107.16.119 (talk) 13:44, 10 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have a problem with the Run & Shoot being a variable of the Air Raid attack.... They are from two different sources. The Air Raid attack is really a variant of Lavell Edwards BYU offense as the website Smart Football points out. The Run & Shoot Offense was developed in the 80s by Mouse Davis at Portland State. Therefore the Run & Shoot cannot be a variant at all since it appeared 10-15 years before the Air Raid even began. I will flag this comment and need verification for it, and I will run counter arguments to dispute your statement. Here is the actual article that distinguishes the "Run & Shoot" from the "Air Raid" attack.

http://smartfootball.blogspot.com/2009/03/simple-approach-to-run-and-shoot-part-1.html

00:40, 26 October 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:3774:6330:0:0:0:48 (talk)