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The Lost Art of the Pro Style/WCO

Craig7835

Well-Known Member
I was watching California vs. Ole Miss the other night & I noticed that Cal was running some old school Pro Style/WCO formations & plays,stuff that I haven't seen in a minute. I also noticed the same in the USC vs. Texas game, in which Tee Martin(USC's OC) blended the Smash concept with the old school Slot Cross play. With the RPO now basically being copied everywhere including the NFL,do you guys think the Pro Style, WCO & Erhardt/Perkins have become a thing of the past now?
 

Renegade

Charge on!
I'll be excited when I see this on the field again:

375px-Pro_Formation.svg.png
 

Renegade

Charge on!
FWIW, that is the same exact diagram I saw when I first read a book called "How to Watch Pro Football," by Hall of Fame NY Giants QB Y.A. Tittle.

That book was published in 1966.

Isn't that the formation that LaVell Edwards was running his passing scheme out of when BYU won their natty?
 

Craig7835

Well-Known Member
Isn't that the formation that LaVell Edwards was running his passing scheme out of when BYU won their natty?

It looks like it. Speaking of that formation, Oklahoma State used it against Pitt then turned around used the Full House formation,which is now called the Diamond formation SMDH
 

bruin228

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
I was watching California vs. Ole Miss the other night & I noticed that Cal was running some old school Pro Style/WCO formations & plays,stuff that I haven't seen in a minute. I also noticed the same in the USC vs. Texas game, in which Tee Martin(USC's OC) blended the Smash concept with the old school Slot Cross play. With the RPO now basically being copied everywhere including the NFL,do you guys think the Pro Style, WCO & Erhardt/Perkins have become a thing of the past now?

Depends what you mean by "pro style." The majority of these terms are so completely meaningless at this point when you can categorize both 2015- Alabama and something like Missouri under Pinkel as spread. Pro style college teams largely have to live out of under center to be categorized as such, but teams like the Chiefs, Packers, Saints, and Patriots are largely running spreads, not to mention teams that are working in the read like the Seahawks or Panthers. RPOs don't disqualify a team from being "pro style" since Favre and the Packers were running them in the late 90s/early 00s.

I think the WCO is still around, though it's certainly a smaller number of teams. Some big names like Michigan and (I hesistate to put them in the same category but they get a fair amount of coverage with Rosen) UCLA are running it. The WCO in its pure form is probably going to become a novelty, yeah, but it's never going to die out. Leach's air raid is basically the WCO on steroids. Though the air raid again brings up the meaningless of labels, since you have "air raid" teams running 50-60% of the time. Yeah, they run the concepts, but it's not like the raid invented this stuff. They're largely West Coast concepts.

The future of football is almost certainly these "multiple" offenses that match West Coast stuff with spread stuff, at least in the NFL if they want to remain a league. College is always going to have that variety, because Kansas can't line up and run the same thing OU is running and win very often. It may change if/when they decide to go to four super conferences, but even then I think there'll still be more variety than the NFL.
 

BasinBictory

OUT with the GOUT
Well, in the Y.A. Tittle book, he calls it the "three-end offense."

His premise was that teams that have strong talent at every position would tend toward this formation because it gives them the maximum flexibility with which to attack the defense. Said that variations (like 4 wideouts, or double tight ends) are either thrown in to confuse the defense, or to shore up weaknesses in personnel.

Not sure if totally true, but makes sense to me. :dunno:
 

Craig7835

Well-Known Member
Depends what you mean by "pro style." The majority of these terms are so completely meaningless at this point when you can categorize both 2015- Alabama and something like Missouri under Pinkel as spread. Pro style college teams largely have to live out of under center to be categorized as such, but teams like the Chiefs, Packers, Saints, and Patriots are largely running spreads, not to mention teams that are working in the read like the Seahawks or Panthers. RPOs don't disqualify a team from being "pro style" since Favre and the Packers were running them in the late 90s/early 00s.

I think the WCO is still around, though it's certainly a smaller number of teams. Some big names like Michigan and (I hesistate to put them in the same category but they get a fair amount of coverage with Rosen) UCLA are running it. The WCO in its pure form is probably going to become a novelty, yeah, but it's never going to die out. Leach's air raid is basically the WCO on steroids. Though the air raid again brings up the meaningless of labels, since you have "air raid" teams running 50-60% of the time. Yeah, they run the concepts, but it's not like the raid invented this stuff. They're largely West Coast concepts.

The future of football is almost certainly these "multiple" offenses that match West Coast stuff with spread stuff, at least in the NFL if they want to remain a league. College is always going to have that variety, because Kansas can't line up and run the same thing OU is running and win very often. It may change if/when they decide to go to four super conferences, but even then I think there'll still be more variety than the NFL.


I agree. I look at the 2010 Boise State Broncos team & they clearly ran West Coast/Pro Style plays. Their TE coach at the time under Chris Peterson had stated the Broncos didn't have a base offense they use, the team went out there & ran plays. Yeah UCLA is one team & I would be hesitant to put them in that category also went from running a spread when Noel Mazzone was the OC to Polamalu trying to run "West Coast concepts" & now Jedd Fisch. Michigan IMO has always been a WCO team dating back to when Lloyd Carr took over from Bo

The NFL like you said has more of a variety. Add Philadelphia to the list who IMO runs a pretty good Multiple Offense with a mix of RPO,WCO & a little E&P concepts in as well
 
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bruin228

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
UCLA's offense this year is a lot more competent West Coast style offense.

Skip to 1:49:25 or so:



Purdue is another good example of a pro spread.
 

Craig7835

Well-Known Member
UCLA's offense this year is a lot more competent West Coast style offense.

Skip to 1:49:25 or so:



Purdue is another good example of a pro spread.


I noticed against Memphis, ol' Jedd mixed it up with some Empty 5WR, Tight Flex & some Pistol formations. He was confusing the hell out of Memphis' defense
 
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