After the University of Maryland relieved head football coach Randy Edsall of his duties with the team, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson and University President Wallace Loh both stressed their desire to bring on an energetic coach who would run an exciting, spread offense. But with so many different iterations of the spread, what will Maryland’s offense look like next season? I have a pretty good idea.

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What is the “Spread” Offense?

When many people hear the word “spread”, they cringe. They ask questions like: “So we’re a finesse team now?” or “You know no team has ever won the National Championship running the spread, right?” or “Don’t NFL teams hate players who come from spread offenses?” Let’s address these questions first.

First of all, not all spread offenses are finesse in nature. A very simplistic definition of the spread would be that this is an offensive scheme which attempts to spread the defense out to make it easier for to get the ball to your skill players in space. Seems pretty vague, right? That definition can encompass nearly every offense run at any level of football today.

There are a few different types of spread offenses. You have your pass-heavy systems like the Air Raid, which relies on short passes to set up deeper strikes down the field. Sound familiar? It should, because that’s exactly what the West Coast offense pioneered by legendary NFL head coach Bill Walsh ran in San Francisco in the 1980s. Conversely, you have your run-heavy systems like the Spread-to-Run. This scheme aims to spread the defense out to the perimeter in order to run the ball between the tackles. This is the system run by many of today’s most lethal offenses (Oregon, Ohio State, Auburn, etc.).

Secondly, it is completely untrue that no team running the spread offense has ever won the National Championship. Last season, the two teams competing for the National Championship ran spread offenses (Ohio State and Oregon). Both run a spread-to-run system, and you saw how successful Ohio State was at running between the tackles in that game. In 2010, the same situation occurred with Auburn and Oregon. Both teams were running a spread-to-run system, and Auburn came out on top. Both of Florida’s National Championship wins (2006, 2008) came while running a spread-to-run offense. Texas’s National Championship win in 2005 also came while running a spread-to-run system.

Thirdly, NFL teams do not hate players who come from spread offenses for one simple reason: most NFL teams run a spread offense. The days of power-run offenses featuring huge offensive linemen and hulking fullbacks are gone. Even teams known for that style of play like the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Oakland Raiders have moved to a zone-based spread offensive scheme. The NFL‘s best offenses come from teams like the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. All of these teams run spread-to-run offensive schemes. Most of their snaps come from shotgun or pistol formations, and they aim to run the ball between the tackles and execute short, quick passes to their talented wide receivers.

What Will Maryland Run?

It is my opinion that Maryland will run a spread-to-run offensive system next season, much like most teams across the country. It will not be a finesse offense, and will be based on a down-hill running game with quick screens off of those runs in order to get the ball to the team’s talented wide receivers in space. Below are the base plays that Maryland will run next season. Get used to them, because you’ll see them a lot, and with a quick pace.

Notre Dame – Inside Zone

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly runs one of my favorite versions of the spread-to-run offense. It is balanced, mixes in the vertical passing game, goes fast, and features a down-hill running game that doesn’t rely on the quarterback to carry the ball 15-20 times per game. This is a clip from their game against Michigan last season with Everett Golson taking the snaps.

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As you can see, they come out in a 3-wide receiver set, with their running back offset to the right and the tight end in the wing to the left. They run between the tackles with the running back. It may look like Golson is reading the play-side defensive end, but the tight end comes across to block him and seal the outside. The offensive line executes simple down-hill zone blocking, and the running back finds the hole and powers through it for a short gain. While this example comes from a shotgun formation, the inside zone play can also easily be run from the pistol formation.

While this is not a zone read, it can easily be run as one. The line would still leave the play-side defensive end unblocked, and the tight end would simply act as a lead-blocker for the quarterback if he in fact kept the ball. I would expect Maryland to run this variation about 10 times per game, primarily in third-down and red-zone situations.

Oregon – Outside Zone

The Oregon Ducks have been one of the main pioneers of the spread-to-run offense, and run it better and with more precision than most teams in the country. Like Notre Dame, their offense is centered around the inside zone running game, with occasional inside zone reads sprinkled in, but they also mix things up by throwing in an outside zone run every once in a while. The outside zone run below comes from their National Championship Game matchup against Ohio State last year.

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As you can see, they come out in an unbalanced set, with 3 receivers bunched to the wide side of the field, and a tight end on the line to the short side. Their goal is to stretch the defense out and get to the edge with their running back. Poor blocking by their offensive line leads to a negative play, but you can get the idea from this image. As you can see, this is the more risky play, as the running back is heading horizontally rather than vertically. This play can also be run from the pistol formation.

This is a zone read for Marcus Mariota, as he is reading the weak-side linebacker. He also has a receiver setting up for a potential bubble screen to the wide side of the field. This play can also be called as a straight run without a read option to it. I would expect Maryland to run this play on 20-30% of their runs, with the remaining 70-80% coming on inside zone plays.

Tennessee – Bubble Screen

After running the inside zone successfully, the next goal for the spread-to-run offense is to run quick screens off of that play. The Tennessee Volunteers have run a spread-to-run offense since 2013, when Butch Jones first brought the scheme to Knoxville, Tennessee. The play below is from their matchup against Oklahoma last season.

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As you can see, they come out in a 4-wide receiver set with two receivers to each side. Justin Worley fakes the inside run and quickly throws to slot receiver Josh Smith, who is running a bubble screen with outside receiver Pig Howard blocking for him upfield. Once again, poor blocking results in a negative play, but this is a play that can go for some nice yardage. Spread-to-run offenses run this play as an extension of their run game.

Clemson – Outside Screen

The second type of screen that spread-to-run offenses like to run is the outside screen. It is the exact same idea as the bubble screen, but this time the inside receiver is blocking for the outside receiver. Clemson’s spread-to-run offense is one of the more potent in the country, and the clip below comes from their Russell Athletic Bowl matchup last season against Oklahoma.

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As you can see, the Tigers come out in a 4-wide receiver set, with both inside receivers flexed on the line of scrimmage. Chad Kelly fakes the inside run and flips the ball outside to his receiver on the short side.

Summary

Hopefully now you have a good idea of what the Terrapins will be running offensively next season. A spread-to-run offense with a zone running scheme and quick screens off of those runs. Once they set those plays up, they can work down the field to their speedy receivers. Haskins will serve as a point guard for the offense, distributing the ball to his playmakers in space, and also contributing with his legs and his arm down the field. The offense will also be run quickly, wearing the defense down as the game moves along.

Zack Kiesel
Zack Kiesel

Terps Analyst

Zack is a financial analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, DC. The Owings Mills native focuses most of his efforts on Maryland Football recruiting and individual coach and player pieces; but also covers Terps Basketball. He has established relationships with Big Ten beat reporters across the conference, which he utilizes in his game previews. Now a Sr. Terps Analyst for BSL, Zack can be reached at: [email protected].

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