HOOVER - Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom sees the kinds of problems spread offenses cause his defenses. But he just can’t see himself joining the parade.
“I would never say never, but I like having tight ends and fullbacks,” Croom, a believer in the West Coast offense, said Wednesday at Southeastern Conference Media Days. ”It’s part of who we are. We do use some spread sets, but to go to it fulltime, I don’t see us doing that.
Florida coach Urban Meyer is a true believer in the spread. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has turned his offense over to spread guru Tony Franklin, who will bring yet another version of the latest offensive innovation. Most SEC schools use some spread elements at some times. And even that has had an impact.
“Defending the spread is like defending the wishbone,” Croom said. “It all goes in cycles. You have to recruit a different kind of athlete to run the spread and a different kind to defend it. You have to have speed in the secondary and at linebacker."
“The days of the 260-pound middle linebacker are over. The days of the 215-pound safety that runs a 4.7 are over. All four guys in the secondary have to be able to cover, and you have to have six defensive backs that can line up and play.”
But like the wishbone, Croom said, the spread will have its day and vanish into history.
“There’s no question the defenses are going to catch up with it,” Croom said. “They always have and they always will in time.”
Meyer doesn’t disagree, but he says the spread and it’s many faces is still evolving, too. Like all offenses, he said, it is based on the talent available.
“We have two very good tight ends, two guys that are going to be playing football for a living if they stay healthy,” Meyer said. “So you’ll see two tight ends in the game at the same time quite often because they are both dynamic receivers.
“Two or three years ago, we introduced a fullback. Everybody said ‘What a great addition to your offense.’ We had a great fullback. Our fullback is gone. Now we have these two tight ends.”
LSU, under offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, might jump into the spread at any time in any game. But coach Les Miles, like Tuberville, vows he will never stop demanding physical play, regardless of the formation.
“To me, it’s a tremendous weapon on the offensive side,” Miles said. “It makes the numbers a little bit more even for the offense. It’s so much harder to gang an area. That, combined with the no-huddle and the opportunity to make calls after you align, is a great thing.
“It’s something we will evolve in and take part in, but I can tell you this: We will always look to be a physical team. We will put the most physical players we have on the field.”
Either way, the spread, once dismissed as finesse football, has arrived, even in the hard-nosed SEC.
“It makes your defense play responsible football and not necessarily emotional football,” Miles said. “That’s an advantage to the offense.”
