THE OC

[GoRedGoBlue]

Dunno if he's the guy, but good article on Todd Dodge.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/high_school/7529581.htm


Posted on Fri, Dec. 19, 2003

Carroll spreading virtues of hurry-up
By Len Hayward
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

STAR-TELEGRAM/KHAMPHA BOUAPHANH
Todd Dodge's players have mastered his wide-open offense; it's other programs that struggle to keep up.

SOUTHLAKE - With each victory, there are murmurs that Carroll's no-huddle, spread offense is the next big thing.

Football is still about blocking, tackling and execution. Every once in a while, though, a trend takes shape that moves beyond those basics in the ongoing chess match between offensive and defensive coaches.

It's part of a decades-old football cycle.

In the 1970s, it was the wishbone and split-back veer.

In the 1980s and 1990s, it was the one-back offense and a focus on passing.

Now, Carroll's prosperity has helped bring an offensive philosophy once considered "gimmicky" into the mainstream.

Carroll coach Todd Dodge did not start the no-huddle, spread offense craze in Texas, but the Dragons' overwhelming success in their first two seasons in Class 5A has put the program at the forefront of football's newest trend.

Carroll (15-0) will play for a second consecutive Class 5A Division II title at noon Saturday against Katy (14-1) in San Antonio. The Dragons are averaging more than 450 yards and 42.3 points a game.

"Somebody comes along every decade or so and kind of adds something that the game's never had before," said Marcus coach Randy Mayes, who also was a head coach at Odessa Permian and Ennis. "As far as play selection is concerned, Southlake [Carroll], in my opinion, has kind of set the tone for the rest of the state. Todd is still playing quarterback like he was 23 years ago."

Stephenville, Marcus, Ennis and Grapevine have won state championships in the past decade with wide-open spread offenses. Their success helped to change the attitudes of coaches who relied on run-based offenses. By the late 1990s, four-wide-receiver sets were as common as the Wing T or I-formation.

Dodge, whose passing roots can be traced to his days as a strong-armed quarterback at Port Arthur Jefferson, was already running the spread with success at Carroll before last season. He had firsthand experience watching Highland Park and Ennis run a no-huddle offense, and paid a visit to Middle Tennessee State before the 2002 season.

Carroll has racked up yards, 31 consecutive wins and a state championship, helping to legitimize the offense at the state's highest classification.

"There are a lot of teams that do it and a lot of teams that are not near as good as Southlake [Carroll] doing it," Coppell coach Mike Fuller said. "They definitely have a better grasp of it. But I think as much as anything, their success is due to the fact they've got some great players."

Irving MacArthur coach David Beaty, whose team lost to Carroll in the first round the last two seasons, said the popularity of the spread has been fueled because players have become bigger, faster and stronger.

"The field is starting to get too small. The kids are getting too big and too fast. ... There's just not that much space out there," said Beaty, who has resurrected the MacArthur program with a similar no-huddle, spread offense philosophy. "It's not like it used to be, because those lanes don't last too long."

The spread hasn't been a fit for every team.

In the late 1990s, Katy won more than 50 games in four seasons, including state titles in 1997 and 2000, using a power running game based out of an I-formation.

The Dragons will see it Saturday at the Alamodome.

"I don't think there's any doubt, especially with the success teams have had running this offense, a lot of folks are looking at moving toward it," Katy coach Mike Johnston said. "That's fine, but, again, you have to assess the talent you have on hand. I would say running [the spread] at Katy, we'd be sitting at maybe 5-5 every year. We don't have the caliber of athletes to do that."

So far, Carroll's spread offense has shown it has staying power.

"I will tell you this, I've never seen the butts in the seats like they have since that ball goes in the air," Beaty said. "It's that out-of-the-box type of thinking; people like that. I don't think the spread is going to be leaving anytime soon."

Class 5A Division II state championship

Carroll (15-0) vs. Katy (14-1)

• Noon Saturday, Alamodome, San Antonio

• TV: Fox Sports Net

[GoRedGoBlue]

suspicious that Bennett will announce it possibly this weekend though...but, that could just be coincidence.

"Coincidence? I think not"

Again, who knows, we'll find out this weekend perhaps.

[PG]

It's not Todd Dodge. He's not even a candidate. The new OC will be someone who has had college experience calling plays. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[Mike Damone]

If I could only explain how pissed I was when I realized this post was talking about our Offensive Coordinator and not the best new show on television.

<small>[ 12-19-2003, 10:31 PM: Message edited by: Mike Damone ]</small>

[GoRedGoBlue]

Originally posted by PG:
It's not Todd Dodge. He's not even a candidate. The new OC will be someone who has had college experience calling plays. Sorry to burst your bubble.

How are you bursting my bubble? I have said I was for a solid college experienced OC in the first place.

Everyone needs to start READING posts and not READING INTO posts.

[PonyTales]

I don't know if Dodge is a candidate or not. And I openly admit that as a rule, I want someone with college experience rather than a high school guy, no matter how prolific his offense is at the HS level. But I have to admit, that article makes him sound like he really knows how to rack up yards and points.

For what it's worth, the DMN reported that Turner Gill -- who's on some wishlists around here -- is one of two Nebraska assistant coaches who's still in the running for the Cornhuskers' job. (The other, defensive coordinator and interim head coach Bo Pellini, is rumored to have received an offer to join Oklahoma's staff next year.)