Slowing Down the Spread

What do defenses do to slow down the spread and how do offenses counter? AFM asked spread offense coaches, “What defenses give you the most trouble?”Sparky Woods • Head Coach • Virginia Military InstituteSparky Woods has been the head coach at VMI for the past four seasons. Previously, he was head coach at Appalachian State and South Carolina and the OC/QBs Coach at Memphis. Woods was also a position coach at Alabama, Virginia, and Mississippi State. He has been running the spread for 8 years.AFM: What defense gives your version of the spread the most trouble?Woods: Well, we really don’t identify a certain defense that gives us a lot of issues. We do what we have to do to put the defense into conflict. Most defenses will take on the mission of stopping the run first and pass second. Our goal is to spread the defense out, or get guys out of the box in order to run the ball