![]() ![]() The shotgun itself usually is attributed to former Niners coach Red Hickey, who in 1960 had John Brodie stand well behind the center for a direct snap. Shocking proof - Franco Harris invented the shotgun spread. Since then, every NFL team has shown this look at least occasionally. About five years ago, offensive coordinator Tom Moore of the Colts made it clear that a shotgun formation with two or three wide receivers and a wide-spread tight end could work on a consistent basis. At the NFL level, teams copy other teams. My guess is that in 20, hundreds of high school coaches have switched to the shotgun spread hoping to surprise opponents - only to find their opponents opening in the shotgun spread, as well. In high school, the shotgun spread has proliferated partly because coaches have heard that Southlake Carroll used the offense to win four Texas high school championships in the past five seasons, and Hoover of Alabama, which had its own show on MTV, won a lot of games with a shotgun spread. Beginning in the early 1990s, Leach developed a shotgun spread attack at Valdosta State, then at Kentucky, now at Texas Tech beginning about the same time, Meyer perfected a similar offense at Bowling Green, then at Utah, now at Florida. Who gets credit for the popularity of the shotgun spread? Mike Leach and Urban Meyer are the most prominent names. ![]() How long until the shotgun spread is passé? A couple of seasons, most likely. Beginning in the late 1960s, the veer-option offense went from being rare to nearly universal to rare again, the cycle taking about a decade. All hail the shotgun spread!įads come and go in sports, of course. And of course, Indianapolis just won the Super Bowl from a shotgun spread. Almost every NFL team now uses multiple-wide formations: According to Pro Football Prospectus 2007, 28 of the 32 NFL clubs went five wide on offense at least once in 2006. Come the NFL's opening weekend, Atlanta, Dallas, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jersey/A, Miami, Minnesota, New England, Philadelphia and Tennessee regularly lined up in a shotgun spread, even on rushing downs. III, as well, and lest we forget, Appalachian State used the shotgun spread for its historic upset of Michigan. The shotgun spread offense has taken over Division I-AA, Div. Miami, Ohio State, West Virginia, Washington, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Hawaii, Louisville - we could save space by listing the major teams that currently don't go shotgun as their base offense. Almost every big-college game this weekend featured at least one team that had shotgun as its base look. Imagine telling the Gipper that Notre Dame just played at Penn State, and both spent most of the game in a shotgun formation with multiple wideouts, including the Nittany Lions' opening snap being shotgun spread with five wide. Come Saturday, LSU and Virginia Tech slugged it out in prime time with both teams in the shotgun spread. ![]() Friday night at my kids' high school game, both sides were running it I've seen maybe two dozen high school teams since September 2006, and most of the offenses were shotgun spread. Considered quirky just a few seasons ago, the shotgun spread has taken over football as completely as if it were a Ukrainian virus targeting Microsoft Outlook.
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