Portions courtesy of Wikipedia
Updated Videos of Coach Rod. Some new old videos of Coach Rodriguez discussing his spread option offense in more detail:
Outside Run Game
Inside Run Game
On Dec. 17, 2007, Rich Rodriguez became the 18th head coach in University of Michigan football history. Prior to becoming the head coach at Michigan, Rodriguez spent seven years as head coach at his alma mater, West Virginia University, where he led the Mountaineers to a 60-26 record, four Big East titles and six consecutive bowl game bids.
Rodriguez is considered one of the pioneers and innovators of the spread option offense. The spread option is essentially a hybrid of the traditionally pass-oriented spread offense and run-oriented option offense. The spread option is based on the concept of defensive isolation. The offense "spreads" the defense by aligning in three-to-five receiver sets, using two or fewer running backs in the backfield and often setting the quarterback in shotgun. This “spread” forces the defense to defend more of the field and isolates its players in “space”. To exploit this, the offense employs double or triple option plays which further mitigates the athleticism of the defense and forces it to play their assignments. When used in combination with a consistent passing game, the spread option offense can yield strong results. The means by which option plays are run from the spread option offense vary greatly. The most popular running play employed in the spread is the read option. This play is also known as a the zone-read, QB Choice, or QB Wrap. A type of double option, the read option is relatively simple play during which the quarterback makes a single read (usually of the backside defensive end or linebacker) and decides whether or not to hand the ball to a running back on a dive or slant track.
In the following video, Rodriguez discusses the spread option offense he ran as the head coach at West Virginia with Pat White as his quarterback. Rodriguez is currently implementing the same system at Michigan.
