The Wishbone Offense

[rtrcam]

I was born a few months after Coach Bryant retired so I never got to see the wishbone offense in action at Alabama. Lately, I've read several books and watched a few replays and I've decided that its my favorite offense of all time. So, I got to wonderin', why did the wishbone go away? I know Oklahoma ran it into the '80s, but since then only the service academies and small colleges run it. I would like for those of you who have an opinion to give it as to why the wishbone has disappeared. Is it the speed of the game? The NFL influence? Could a major college still run the wishbone? I'm interested, any comments would be appreciated.

 

[pluckngrit]

one reason and one reason only. the speed of the game has increased across the board. especially defense. back in the wishbone days, there was no such thing as a 6-5 300lb DE running a 4.5/40. speed on the outside killed the bone/option oriented teams. but it was a beautiful thing to watch unfold that's for sure.

RTR!

 

[TommyMac]

There's still no such thing as a 6'5", 300 lb. DE running a 4.5 40.

 

[Redwood Forrest]

I never liked the 'bone, though it was awesome when it got rolling. It reminded me of 'sand lot' football. I think of the 'Fun-n-Gun' as the passing wishbone--and I don't care for that either.

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Texas A&M's excuse for 2004: "we would have had a winning season, but we ran out of bail money."

 

[pluckngrit]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by TommyMac:
There's still no such thing as a 6'5", 300 lb. DE running a 4.5 40.</font>

sorry mr technical. you know what i mean.

RTR!

 

[TIDE-HSV]

It's not just speedier athletes. Offenses and defenses run in cycles and people learned how to defense it. Coach Bryant kept it running as long as he did by incorporating more passing. The basic problem of the offense is that the defense can dictate who carries the ball for you. Also, dynamite 'Bone QBs got harder and harder to find, because there was no future in the NFL with that offense. The pros were looking for demonstrated drop-back skills. That's not the whole picture, but it's a lot of it...

 

[CRIMTIDE]

I loved the bone....especially when we started making it a run and pass offense. The Bear was one of a kind when it came to adjusting and adapting. Looking back, I would have loved to see a kid like Michael Vick running the bone. But, of course he probably wouldn't have been making a gazillion dollars in the NFL.

 

[Alanbama27]

The bone was great for a long time, but pluck 'n grit hit the nail on the head. The speed and quickness of the offense could kill the slower defeneses of the day. Today, the d's are WAY to fast and big and would kill the bone.

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The Bus to our future is driven by Coach Mike Shula...Get on board or be left behind!

--Me

 

[bamabake]

one reason and one reason only. the speed of the game has increased across the board. especially defense. back in the wishbone days, there was no such thing as a 6-5 300lb DE running a 4.5/40. speed on the outside killed the bone/option oriented teams. but it was a beautiful thing to watch unfold that's for sure.

HSV has as valad a reason. Players are preparing for the pro level at all postitions.I personally think that you could pick out a team and run the bone today. Now if you want D speed that ould kill the bone it would be in the pros. Which supplements the point. Players are going to schools that prepare them for the pros and the bone isnt run there.

 

[jdpas29]

a team could be successful running the wishbone in college or in the pros.

risk of injury due to the brutal nature of running a wishbone offense has a lot to do with why it isn't being used very much. good passing QBs don't usually want to take hits. the wishbone requires that the QB also be a running threat. the defensive guys have gotten faster but so have the buys on the offensive side of the ball. you still have to make your block.

 

[coachts1]

I have talked to several high school football coaches about the bone, and why it just went away. Nearly all the time, I get one of these two reasons.
1. Diffucult to teach, must be built upon each year.
2. It is too team oriented, which may hurt kids entering the draft because they don't have the flashy stats others may have.

 

[TommyMac]

It would still be effective today, but it would take an exceptional coach like Coach Bryant to sell it in this "me, me, me" atmosphere of today. That's why it's successful at the service academies, those kids have no pro aspirations, they're very dedicated and have a "team" mentality.

I can't buy the speed argument. It's not like only defensive players have gotten faster in the last 20-25 years.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Towards the end of the 'Bone, everyone simply strung out the option and shadowed the trailer all the way to the end of the play. That way, the QB must either run the ball or, as CPB designed the primary passing play, fake the option and then drop back. Finding the right QB, or, in reality QBs, since the 'Bone chewed up so many, became next to impossible. A highly disproportionate recruiting effort had to be plowed into the QB position. However, Tyler Watts could have run it effectively...

 

[rtrcam]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess it was part of the "trend nature" of college football. It was good while it lasted, but defenses eventually caught up to it. Like a couple of people have said, I do think it could still be run by a major college team if you could get players to buy into the "team" game. And, I do think Tyler Watts would have been awesome running the 'bone.

 

[mlh]

One reason the bone died is because teams began to get away from the pure wishbone. They began to get away from the true triple option. The FB became a blocker instead of the 1st option. Coaches tried too much to get the ball to their fast TB on the corner and weren't patient to let the FB chew up the field 3 yards at a time. Maybe it's the MTV mentality, but fans, players, and even coaches started looking for more excitement and seemed to lose interest in churning out scoring drives that took 6 minutes.

Personnel-wise, it does require a tough QB (preferably 2), a couple of big strong FBs, and several quick backs who can also block downfield. That's a lot of talent and with the reduction in scholarships it puts a burden on any team. And, as several have mentioned, it requires a pretty selfless team and RBs who are willing to share the glory. How many TBs are out there today who are willing to play in an offense where the FB may get more carries every Saturday?

Then you have the reduction in practice time and that's a killer for the wishbone. Because of the reads and the quick reactions required, repititions in practice are critical for success and the kids today just don't get the practice time they need to perfect the wishbone.

 

[jdpas29]

i would love to see it on the goal line.

any first downs inside the 5 yd line. BAMA goes to the triple option!

my heart would skip a beat...

 

[deliveryman35]

I have always thought the wishbone died when the Miami Hurricanes defeated an OU wishbone juggernaut three straight years, 1985-87. The Sooners mowed down every opponent they faced those years running the pure 'bone, but the 'canes under Jimmy Johnson beat them handily each season. Why? Barry Switzer said at the time that they "didn't beat out system, they just had better athletes than we did." In a way, I think he was right. College football players had reached a level of athleticism and speed that the wishbone was easier to defend, and thus, not very effective against def. players that were disciplined, athletic, and knew their assignments(pitch-man, qb, fb).

[This message has been edited by deliveryman35 (edited 05-11-2004).]

 

[selmaborntidefan]

There are a couple of reasons for the abandonment of the wishbone.

1. It is very difficult to come from behind with it if you get more than seven points down. Obviously, this was not much of a problem for us back in the day.

2. It is high-risk and low-reward in most cases. Pitching that ball all over the place is begging for a fumble. I remember the 1981 MSU-Alabama game where there were something like 11 turnovers and 15 total fumbles with both teams running the bone.

3. There's no future in the pros with it. I think the last time anyone ran it at that level for any period of time was the Colts in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Rod Dowhower.

4. It requires at least two capable QBs to run it, and scholarship restrictions have cut back on the number of players you have anyway. The last team that won the national title running it was Colorado. Remember what happened? Hagan got hurt in the title game with Notre Dame and Charles Johnson had to take over. And CU ran more of an option style than a full wishbone.

5. It requires a TEAM effort rather than a guy looking for an NFL career.

Not to knock us, but look at how many of our wishbone QBs went on to the NFL.

Jeff Rutledge - and he didn't run it there even though he won a couple of Super Bowl rings with the Giants and Redskins

Richard Todd - and he didn't run it there either.

Look at who didn't make it but ran the bone well.

Gary Rutledge
Steadman Shealy
Don Jacobs
Alan Gray
Ken Coley
Walter Lewis

Who were our 'big-time' pros from this era?

John Hannah
Ozzie Newsome
Bob Baumhower
Tony Nathan
Dwight Stephenson
Don McNeal
Woodrow Lowe
Wilbur Jackson


Most of those guys were defense. Ozzie was a great WR, but he mostly just ran out to keep the defense honest. Only Nathan of those guys was a key skill position guy.

 

[tidetudabone]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by mlh:
One reason the bone died is because teams began to get away from the pure wishbone. They began to get away from the true triple option. The FB became a blocker instead of the 1st option. Coaches tried too much to get the ball to their fast TB on the corner and weren't patient to let the FB chew up the field 3 yards at a time. Maybe it's the MTV mentality, but fans, players, and even coaches started looking for more excitement and seemed to lose interest in churning out scoring drives that took 6 minutes.

Personnel-wise, it does require a tough QB (preferably 2), a couple of big strong FBs, and several quick backs who can also block downfield. That's a lot of talent and with the reduction in scholarships it puts a burden on any team. And, as several have mentioned, it requires a pretty selfless team and RBs who are willing to share the glory. How many TBs are out there today who are willing to play in an offense where the FB may get more carries every Saturday?

Then you have the reduction in practice time and that's a killer for the wishbone. Because of the reads and the quick reactions required, repititions in practice are critical for success and the kids today just don't get the practice time they need to perfect the wishbone.</font>

all very good points mlh...welcome to the board...the bone is still my altime favorite offense....rtr

 

[wastedmason]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by mlh:
One reason the bone died is because teams began to get away from the pure wishbone. They began to get away from the true triple option. The FB became a blocker instead of the 1st option. Coaches tried too much to get the ball to their fast TB on the corner and weren't patient to let the FB chew up the field 3 yards at a time. Maybe it's the MTV mentality, but fans, players, and even coaches started looking for more excitement and seemed to lose interest in churning out scoring drives that took 6 minutes.

Personnel-wise, it does require a tough QB (preferably 2), a couple of big strong FBs, and several quick backs who can also block downfield. That's a lot of talent and with the reduction in scholarships it puts a burden on any team. And, as several have mentioned, it requires a pretty selfless team and RBs who are willing to share the glory. How many TBs are out there today who are willing to play in an offense where the FB may get more carries every Saturday?

Then you have the reduction in practice time and that's a killer for the wishbone. Because of the reads and the quick reactions required, repititions in practice are critical for success and the kids today just don't get the practice time they need to perfect the wishbone.</font>

Super analysis! Are you a former coach?