How Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes II, and the Eagles Won the NFL’s Scheme War This is a great article on the influences on and odoption by the NFL of spread offenses...bringing up Big12 players, teams, and influencers and, in my mind at least, casting doubt on some of the SEC "pro-style" hype. I have always thought the 2009 CFB Championship was a definitive moment for the landscape of football. It wasn't necessarily billed this way, but it was the early stages of what became a style war between "pro-style" and "spread-style" offenses, represented by the SEC and Big12 respectively. The media(ESPN/ABC especially), pundits, et al were obviously salivating and clamoring to exalt Bama and the SEC and, ultimately, to sell the SEC and it's "pro-style" offenses as superior to all other conferences and styles. However, most teams of the SEC at the time were not equipped to defend spread offenses with high-powered passing attacks (assuming the "spread" teams had quality line play..which a few did, including Texas). Now though Texas was more of a hybrid and not the true modern spread-style offense that has caught on, I fully believe had Colt not been injured the team, conference, and style represented there fighting to thwart the soon-to-be narrative we've heard the last 9 years would have prevailed...and who knows what the effect may have been. Well, Texas didn't win, and "the spread" lost...perhaps, though, only in narrative and perception. In reality, Bama quickly moved to adopt both defensive and offensive concepts from "spread" teams and conferences. And while Bama isn't exactly Tech or OSU, look at how much more balanced they have become because of it. And Mack Brown? He played right into and fostered the false narrative himself by ditching what had worked so well to try and become Bama (note: He was actually moving in the opposite direction of Bama). The truth is, Texas, the Big12, and spread-style offenses may have been closer to cutting edge than anything the SEC was focused on. The "pro-style" teams needed more dynamic offenses, along with the players and concepts to defend them. If anything, some of the spread teams needed to get tougher... especially on the lines, but the concept was there....and hard to defend...especially at the collegiate level. It was only a matter of time before smart people found ways to successfully incorporate it into NFL concepts. And smart college coaches are still taking notes.
Well, also, Bama didn't win that game because of anything to do with a pro-style offense or not using the spread. They had 263 yards of offense and primarily scored on short fields. They won in spite of their offense, not because of it.
