Henderson State's 'Scorched Earth' Offense

Scott Maxfield, head coach at Henderson State University, a Division II college in Arkadelphia (AR), was one of the early adopters of the spread offense, as he started to employ it eight-nine years ago. It’s such a potent attack that it’s often referred to as the “Scorched Earth Offense.” We talked to him recently about how he deploys it.     One key issue, Maxfield said, is that so many offenses are going to the spread that defenses are starting to adjust. “It’s like the wishbone offense, which was real hot in the 1970s,” he said. “In the early ‘80s, the defenses caught up to it. Pretty much the same thing is happening with the spread offense. When I started using it in 1997-98, people didn’t know how to defend it. Now, they’re catching on. That’s part of the reason why we’re using tight ends more – to give the defense some different wrinkles.”