Can the Triple Option Offense Work at a Big School?

One of the liveliest debates nowadays, at least since the demise of Tom Osborne’s Nebraska Option Offense, is whether the more pure form of the Flexbone Option offense can work at a large scale program. Service academies such as the Air Force, Army, and Navy have used it for multiple decades as a means of gaining an advantage against much more athletic, highly touted football programs that over match them physically. Georgia Tech made some noise incorporating it under coach Paul Johnson.

Opponent Speed Argument
One, that in my opinion is flawed, is that defenses all over the country are simply too fast and too dominant and too tough to get beat up by an Option offense. They are so much bigger size wise and never mind the speed factor, you simply can’t have a 4.4 running back match up against a 4.5 linebacker who’s 6’5″ and 265 (especially down South in the SEC).

On the flip side of that argument is that a powerhouse program can very easily recruit speed and athleticism on the offensive side of the ball to counter the defensive speed. One of the trademarks of Oklahoma’s Wishbone was that their players were faster than nearly every other team. Even into the late 1980’s, Notre Dame was flush with NFL caliber talent at the running back position under Lou Holtz and he married the Wishbone with Nebraska’s Power
I formation.

One thing that is heavily preached is that execution will always outweigh pure physical talent. Doesn’t matter if you have a 6’2″ behemoth weighing 310 pounds if they can’t properly execute their block and stalemate the defensive lineman or linebacker necessary to get the open hole. Tom Osborne prided himself on his team’s execution and that has been an obvious staple of pride at the Service Academies as well.

Win Games?
Keep in mind that the recruiting restrictions are much tougher at the Service Academies and small schools, such as Wofford and Georgia Southern normally don’t play nearly the level of stiff competition that the FBS provides (in theory sometimes).

*2008: Georgia Tech beats #16 Florida State 31-28.
*2008: Georgia Tech beats #23 Miami 41-23.
*2008: Georgia Tech beats #13 Georgia 45-42.
*2009: Georgia Tech beats #22 North Carolina 24-7.
*2009: Georgia Tech beats #4 Virginia Tech 28-23.
*2009: Georgia Tech beats #25 Clemson 39-34.
*2009: Navy loses to #6 Ohio State 31-27.
*2009: Navy beats #19 Notre Dame 23-21.
*2010: Air Force loses to #7 Oklahoma 27-24.
*2010: Air Force loses to #8 Utah 28-23.
*2010: Georgia Tech loses to Georgia 42-34.
*2011: Georgia Tech beats #6 Clemson 31-17.
*2011: Navy loses to #10 South Carolina 24-21.
*2012: Air Force loses to #19 Michigan 31-25.
*2013: Georgia Tech loses to Georgia 41-34.

Despite often lacking much more in terms of sheer athleticism and talent, there were a lot of close losses to highly touted, top ranked national teams. Fans can argue that, “preparing for the option in a week is tough for any team,” but that belittles the efforts of the Service Academies and Georgia Tech in particular. Also makes even less sense when other teams are running variants of the Zone Read Options that require the same assignment discipline from defenses.

2007-2013 Air Force: HC Troy Calhoun has gone 49-41 for a .544 winning percentage.
2008-2013 Georgia Tech: HC Paul Johnson has gone 48-32 for a .600 winning percentage.
2008-2013 Navy: HC Ken Niumatalolo has gone 48-30 for a .620 winning percentage.
2009-2013 Army: HC Rich Ellerson went 20-41 for a .328 winning percentage. Georgia Southern HC Jeff Monken has taken over for the 2014 College Football Season.

Recruiting
One of the biggest issues is going to be recruiting and the ability to cater towards recruits whom want to take the physical pounding at quarterback, A Back (halfback), and B Back (fullback). Not to mention the lack of 80+ catch opportunities for wide receivers on the outside whose roles are primarily to block downfield and ensure production from the running game. With that said, one of the benefits of running a pure option offense is the ability to recruit athletes whom may not have a ready position in college or a quarterback who may be too short for a passing offense at 5’10”-6’0″ but could slide in as a speedy option quarterback rather than switching positions to wide receiver or defensive back. The option offense also allows for undersized offensive linemen who don’t fit power blocking schemes to get playing time and experience. Most of Georgia Tech’s offensive line ranges from either 260-270 pounds or 290-300 pounds, especially lightweight when compared to say Alabama.

One could also make the argument that playing in an option offense forces wide receivers to adapt and be extremely efficient run blockers, an absolutely vital trait for their future NFL prospects, that they may not receive as in-depth at another school’s offensive system.

That ignores that the teams running the option have sent talent to the NFL through either the Draft or through being undrafted free agents. Players such as QB Trent Steelman (Army), RB Anthony Allen (Georgia Tech), RB Jonathan Dwyer (Georgia Tech), WR Stephen Hill (Georgia Tech), WR Demaryius Thomas (Georgia Tech), and OT Andrew Gardner (Georgia Tech) have been drafted or signed as undrafted free agents. QB Jerick McKinnon out of Georgia Southern will be a name to watch as he converts to running back for the NFL. Also largely ignoring the glut of talent in the 1970s-1990s from programs such as Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma.

The easiest recruits are obviously going to be the running backs as they can amass 6+ yards per carry in an efficient option attack while showcasing some ability to catch the ball and even block on the outside. Add on the fact that many teams utilize nearly 4 or 5 running backs in a rotational style and every back is guaranteed to make an impact on the field.

One of the issues that most fans have, and a misconception really, is that any fast speedy quarterback can roll on in and smoothly fit into the option offensive system. Michael Vick at the NFL level or Johnny Manziel are examples of quarterbacks that fans see the speed and assume they could be just as good. Being an option quarterback takes incredible discipline and making the correct reads is far more paramount to a great team attack than just running a 4.45 40 in shorts. A lot of Oklahoma Sooner fans call Jack Mildren the best Wishbone quarterback ever because of his sound decision making and the ability to make the perfect read on nearly any given play.

Trust Factor
The fan base and trust factor are the biggest reasons that the more pure option attack has not landed at a “big” program and even Georgia Tech fans have been calling for the possible firing of Paul Johnson after recent seasons of .500 level records.

A head coach who is willing to install the system, stick with it through the good and bad, and get faith from the higher ups has a chance to bring a pure form of the option offense to a big program. Remains to be seen whether this can or will happen.

Final Answer
Absolutely it can work at a big program. The factors of recruiting can be solved very easily (win games, push talent to the NFL) and the offense has been proven to work in the past with big programs as well as with much smaller schools that lack the ability to recruit a bevy of 4 and 5* talent.

Credit to SBNation for feature image

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