The tao of spread

Read this New Age-y quote from Rich Rodriguez about the spread.

The spread is whatever a coach wants it to be.

“It’s a philosophy offense, meaning it is whatever your offensive philosophical views want it to be,” Rodriguez said. “And everyone who runs the spread is always looking to throw in a wrinkle here and there, so it’s also an ever-changing offense…”

Then read this from Chris Dufresne…

4. Which is the most intriguing team out there?

Georgia Tech. First-year coach Paul Johnson did something last year that first-year Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez failed to do: he took over a team, junked the scheme and won anyway.

Georgia Tech finished 9-4 operating Johnson’s unique triple-option offense. The Yellow Jackets flourished despite finishing 116th nationally in passing — you talk about old school. Johnson basically now has Navy, where he previously prevailed, only with more quality players. There’s no reason to think Georgia Tech can’t wreck the winnable Atlantic Coast Conference.

And ask yourself:  is Rodriguez as smart as he thinks he is?

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Friday morning buffet

Grab a plate and get after it, folks.

• I don’t know what amused me more about this New York Times piece on the spread of the spread in the SEC – Ray Glier’s ridiculously broad definition of the spread offense, or Pat Dye’s admission that the spread is man enough for the SEC after all.
• Mark Richt and the Dawgs get some grudging respect over at Barking Carnival.
• If God has a sense of humor, this will turn into a quarterback controversy.
• I’ll be the first one to concede that the typical Stewart Mandel article is a target-rich environment, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy Elkon’s latest Mandel takedown immensely.
• Okie State opened its preseason practice, if you’re interested.
• The one person on the Tennessee staff who has a worse track record as a head coach than Junior is the guy about whom he says, “… this is somebody who can run our program exactly the way we need it run to be a national championship team…” That Red Bull is potent stuff.
• If you want Georgia weight room numbers, David Hale’s your man.
• Brian Cook looks at some numbers comparing the take in the Big Ten to that in the SEC.  Like Brian, I’m not sure how accurate the comparison truly is, but I think it’s safe to say that neither conference is missing any meals right now.

So, they finally got to him.

You can spend your time parsing the preseason Coaches’ Poll, if you feel like it, but I found only two items of note.

First, if BYU somehow runs the table, it’s going to be a serious contender to play in the BCS title game, no matter what else goes on, as it faces four teams in the preseason top twenty, including #3 Oklahoma.  I’m not saying the Cougars would be a lock to play if they’re 12-0, but they’ll be in the mix, and deservedly so.

Second, Duke didn’t get a single vote.  Again.  The OBC is losing his bark and his bite.

Ah, what the hell, make it three.  Nice showing there, Big East.

Well, we’ve all got our stories to tell.

So Eric Berry wants to do a little rippin’ on Mark Richt for using his palm as a crib sheet, does he?  Well, Mark Richt sees that comment and raises it one grandmother, sucka.

Richt was talking about freshman receiver Marlon Brown’s grandmother, who strongly influenced his decision to come to Georgia (much, you’ll recall, to Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin’s chagrin).

Richt: “Well, she just is a wonderful lady. When grandmothers are raising their grandchildren as the main caretaker, that in itself is a wonderful thing, and you’ve got to give her a lot of credit. But she is a very tough woman, very intelligent. She is a disciplinarian. Marlon is the way he is because of her. And he has the utmost respect for her, and he should. And even in the very end of the recruiting process, when she didn’t like the way things were handled, she jumped right in and took care of business. She is a no-nonsense gal, I’d say.”

Reporter: She didn’t like the way what was handled?

Richt: “Just at the very end, the last day. Once he had made his decision, she felt like it should be a very happy day for him. And there were some people trying to confuse him;  I guess [‘confuse’] would be a good word.”

Reporter (sarcastically): People actually  use confusion in recruiting occasionally?

Richt (smiling): “It’s like a,  you know, people say, well, I won’t say it.  I won’t say it. Nah,  I’m not saying it.  I’ve got to watch what I say. People make a bigger deal than it should be.”

Well played, Coach.  As we like to say here at GTP, it’s all part of the plan.