WVU 2.0: How Will Rodriguez's Replacement Revise the Spread Offense?

In my day job as a business reporter, I hear these terms a lot: "disruptive technology" and "creative destruction."

The former refers to something like MySpace or Facebook or the iPod: A piece of technology so revolutionary that it disrupts the marketplace and forces others to react radically.

The second refers to the process of reorganizing—often painfully—a company or technology for its betterment.

WVU had the former; now it must have the latter.

Rich Rodriguez's zone-read spread-option offense was the disruptive technology of the early part of this century in college football. It allowed smaller and less-talented teams to compete against better teams (witness Appy State against Michigan) and allowed good teams to, at times, overwhelm rivals (witness WVU versus Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl).

Versions of the spread have, um, spread all across college football, from Florida to Texas to plays and sets I saw in the Division II playoffs—and even to the NFL, where I heard an announcer over the weekend call a "bubble screen," one of Rodriguez's go-to plays.

At many colleges, the spread has obliterated the I-formation, consigning it to the dustbin of college offensive history along with the Wing-T, and has even unset the pro-set.

The spread is now the norm in college football, which means defenses are learning how to stop it. The only proof you need of that is WVU's two losses to South Florida over the past two years, and last month's loss to Pitt.

Which means now, it's time for a little creative destruction at WVU.

I will not bad-mouth Rodriguez's record at WVU. He was 60-26 in his career with the Mountaineers, posting an average of 8.6 wins per season. He has won at least 10 games in each of the past three seasons, and his team will play in its second BCS bowl in three years next month.

It is uncharitable, as some have written, to say that, in his time at WVU, he only had one great half—the first half against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl—and choked in every other important game. It is indisputable that he and the team returned a poor performance in what was probably the biggest game of his career, the loss to Pitt. And it is hard to understand how he lost to South Florida two years in a row, in exactly the same fashion.

Yet the Big East championships, the Top 10 rankings, and improved recruits cannot be denied. So let's leave that there and move on.

Even before Rodriguez left, I wrote that he needed to shake up the offense—that it was killing Steve Slaton's numbers and concentrating too much firepower along the offensive line, which was getting gummed up by aggressive, penetrating defenses.

Rodriguez's offense is built on spreading the defense and getting his playmakers in space. But in recent games (UConn notwithstanding; the Huskies were outmanned) there has been no space.

The Bubble Screen got poked, the spread got squeezed, the reverse got reversed, and there was no downfield threat to take cornerbacks and safeties away from the line. (Where are you, Brandon Myles?)

As someone else wrote, this has meant that defenders only had to defend the first 15 yards from the line of scrimmage, essentially creating a goal-line situation and closing Rodriguez's playbook.

Which, to his credit, he closed plenty of times himself this season.

I remember one set of downs at Mountaineer Field (I forget against who) where WVU had the ball inside the five. Rodriguez called Owen Schmitt up the middle, and, just to throw the defense off-balance, Slaton up the middle. Of course it ended in a punt.

Doesn't WVU have a mobile quarterback who is adept at throwing on the run? Why wasn't one of those calls a rollout run-pass option?

Again, on a crucial fourth down against Pitt, Rodriguez called for Slaton off-tackle. He was tripped up in the hole and didn't make the first down.

I thought: Rich Rodriguez, offensive genius, father of the spread, THAT'S your play on fourth-and-three with the season on the line? THAT'S it?

Woody Hayes could have drawn that up. Worse: Fourth down against Pitt AT HOME with the national championship in view, and you can't pick up three yards? That is pretty much indefensible.

Thus, it's time for some creative destruction.

Whoever the new coach is will have his own offensive scheme. If he is smart, I don't think he'll try to turn Pat White into a pocket passer, which would take away White's second-best weapon (his first being his brain.) I don't think you make Noel Devine an I-back banger. I don't think Slaton is an I-back fullback.

But I don't expect the same offense. I expect the new coach will take what has been left him and add his own flavor to it. Maybe some more downfield passes (what did six foot eight Wes Lyons do to stay in Rodriguez's dog house all year?) Maybe less horizontal passing. And maybe some better on-the-fly coaching adjustments.

Too many times, Rodriguez—even by his own admission—got "stubborn," and stuck to his game plan when it was clear the defense had stopped it. This is a sign of arrogance; maybe it's understandable from a guy who invented a thing. But it limits the success of his team, as was shown against South Florida this year and last and against Pitt a few weeks ago.

Rodriguez invented the iPod of college football offenses. But, just like the iPod, now everyone has one. The iPod had updated to keep its market lead—it added video, it made the shuffle wheel simpler, it added memory, it reduced size, and it added colors.

Then, Apple introduced the iPhone, which blew everyone out of the water.

WVU fans hope their new coach has an iPhone of an offense in his pocket.