Defeat the Spread at the Snap

In today’s game, the spread offense has become the premier method of moving the ball down the field. The original spread formation has given birth to a number of different systems: the run and shoot offense, the air raid offense and the pistol offense, just to name a few. And to give defensive coaches even more headaches, offensive coaches have added their own spin to those different spread-style offenses. It is very likely, in a ten-game regular season, you may face five or six spread teams with totally different styles of the spread. But one thing has remained the same throughout the evolution of the spread, and that is the protection scheme. Many coaches think that defense will eventually catch up to the spread offense like they have in the past with other innovative offenses. Some of us have defended the spread by simply “bringing more than they can block”. But simple blitzes