POWERSPREAD

Power Spread is basically a Concept – utilizing different schemes to produce Power Football from a Spread Formation.   Today we see lots of different Read Options, including the popular Zone Read scheme, along with the Pistol formation, the Triple Spread Option invented by Paul Johnson and even the Run and Shoot when its used first and foremost to highlight the RB as the main weapon – something that was seen all the way back to the 1980s when the Detroit Lions showcased Barry Sanders in this unique passing spread set, which really was a Power Spread scheme in disguise.Always, the Power Spread is about the threat of the run first, unlike the passing spread sets or even the spread concepts of earlier days with the West Coast Offense. These are all “pass first” concepts as opposed to the older and more traditional “run first” styles of the Two Back and Full House sets.  The ever changing face of American Football has come full circle from the 80s, where the brilliant Bill Walsh utilized the pass as his main weapon and set up the run with the pass, to the 00’s and beyond, where once again the run is used to set up the pass, only this time from Spread Sets instead of the older conventional Two Back or Two TE sets.The “circle” is even larger – as it stretches back to the days of the Single Wing,where there was a time where the forward pass was still a novice idea and most of the scheming consisted of an overwhelming layer of misdirection utilizing all 4 backs in a contained set. Spread the backs and ends out in a multitude of formations, but utilize the same run first mentality with great use of misdirection involving EVERY back including the QB and you have the Full Circle that American Football has completed in this past decade – Absolute Balance.In the end the Power Spread is about nothing else, if not BALANCE.  As pioneers such as  Dutch Meyer, Mouse Davis and Bill Walsh discovered – the field can be spread horizantally as well as vertically and when the misdirection of the old Single Wing is brought into the equation the balance of this offense is so complete that its near impossible to stop – even with bare bones execution. And if the Team possesses a player who can throw the ball a little, then its simply impossible to stop at this time in Football History.  Always, its run first out of the Power Spread, but its very easy to alternate to a pass first mentality  when the defense stacks the box and then back to the run. In fact, the field can be stretched deep, short, wide or middle – like a 4 way Accordian – continuing to counteract  the defense until the defense can no longer commit to any one part of the field or any one player. EVERY PLAYER MAXIMIZED, EVERY PART OF THE FIELD UTILIZED.  That’s the Power Spread and where Football continues to grow – from the Rugby style scrums of the 1800s, the Single Wing of the early 1900s, the T Formation of the 1940s,  the Pro Sets of the 1960s and finally the Passing Spreads of the 1990s – this is just one more step forward in the evolution of American Football.
-Drew