Option football: from eternity to here (part 2).

The veer, or triple option, is an offense not just a play. As former U. of Houston head coach Bill Yeoman noted, "Though appearing complicated, it is still the easiest way to get wide. The inside veer delays commitment of the offense to run our pass just long enough to handicap the defensive commitment to both."

Coach Yeoman developed the inside veer for two reasons--to complement the earlier outside veer and to specifically defeat the Oklahoma defense. What the Okies did to the Split-T was similar to what the veer would do to the Okie defense later on.

The following steps will show just how Yeoman did this with simplicity and a strict attention to detail.

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The basic premise of the outside veer (Diag. 8) was to hold the linebackers at bay to the interior, while reading two defenders at or near the LOS. When the QB received the snap from the center, he stepped off with his left foot and read the reaction of the first man outside of the offensive end.

If the defensive player moved across the LOS or stayed stationary, the ball would be given to the diveback. If the first key read advanced toward the diveback the ball was kept by the QB, who aggressively continued his path down the LOS to his next key.

The veer could also be run inside or to the weakside with some minor adjustments in blocking. When it became apparent that defenses committed more to run support veer option passes were used with the inside veer (Diag. 9). To complement the offense Yeoman also designed plays that would enhance the rest of the offense. These plays included a lead option or load option to the perimeter. Counters and counter options were also used to balance the attack.

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From 1966 through 1970, the Houston Cougars held the national stage in both total overall offensive yards and scoring. Yeoman's veer offense took the option to another level and changed the way coaches looked at defeating defenses. But all the triple-option offenses of today can be linked to Bill Yeoman's original veer offense at Houston.

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FROM FAUROT TO WILKINSON TO ROYAL

The head coach at the U. of Texas, Darrell Royal, was thinking about the up-and-coming 1967 season. He realized that he no longer wanted to take the time to work on his goal-line offense. He wanted to be able to use an offensive package that would be strategically sound from goal to goal, and feature three running backs.

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Early in his coaching career Royal had come to the conclusion that if you can't run the ball, you can't do much of anything. He learned that while playing quarterback in Bud Wilkinson's Split-T offense at Oklahoma. Further proof came in 1963 when his Longhorns captured the conference with a perfect record and the National Championship by beating Navy in the Cotton Bowl. Royal was fond of two things--the option and a three-man backfield. He would have an answer to his offensive problem shortly before the next football season.

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It would come in the form of a newly hired high school coach who had been asked to take over the offense at Texas. Emory Bellard was no novice. His years of coaching had taught him to watch out for anything and everything, and that's just what he did at Texas in 1967. He was asked by Darrell Royal to devise an offense that would have both power and deception, with a fullhouse backfield. An offense unique and durable enough to win the Southwest Football Conference.

BACKYARD BELLARD

Coach Bellard had noticed two things during the 1967 football season. First, was Yeoman's continued success at running the split back veer at Houston, and second was Texas A & M's impressive win over Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. Aggies coach Gene Stallings displayed a different approach to the triple option out of the Slot-I formation (Diag. 10). He had his quarterback read the flow of the linebackers. When they moved to attack the give to the fullback, A & M went to the option. If the LBs flowed too much in anticipation of the option, the ball would be given to the fullback on the inside dive.

Both Yeoman's veer and Stallings' Slot-I option had only two running backs, and could not be run as a balanced offense due to the strength of the formation to the right or the left. These two factors kept Bellard from using either in his attempt to satisfy Royal's request for a three-man back-field triple option offense.

Looking at both offenses, Bellard had a notion that he might be able to merge Texas A&M's Slot-I fullback with Houston's split backfield. This new formation would not come without difficulties and the finer points of the triple option would need working on before the next football season.

Sometime during the summer of 1968, Bellard along with his sons took to their backyard to work out the details of the new offense. As the details began to be worked out, it became evident that the key to the offense was in the placement of the fullback at the correct distance from the LOS. After trial and error, Bellard finally placed one of his sons at fullback, 6-7 yds. behind himself, the QB. Another one of his sons served as the defensive tackle. A few hours later the problem was solved. Yeoman now had something to take to Coach Royal--the Wishbone alignment.

The first use of the Wishbone can be linked to George Woodruff in the 1890's and later to Glenn "Pop" Warner's impressive teams at the Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania. However, no one had developed the Wishbone the way in which Emory Bellard did for Darrell Royal, and for that reason he is generally given credit as "father" of that particular offense.

When Coach Bellard showed his head coach the triple option out of the three-man backfield, Royal must have flashed him a big Texas grin. Royal now had a balanced, goal-line offense that could be run from anywhere on the field.

Both coaches knew that the offense still had to fill some basic needs, including a way to attack the defense at any point along the LOS. This could be done with fakes to confuse or delay, or by exploiting any defensive weaknesses on either side of the field. Both coaches found out quickly that the Wishbone triple option could have breakaway potential on any given down.

The Wishbone also had one or two split receivers at all times, and could be broken to accommodate twin receivers to either side.

THE WISHBONE TRIPLE OPTION

Due to the alignment of the backfield execution, the triple option (Diag. 11) was different than its predecessor, the veer. The basic task of the offensive line was to seal off the interior as the fullback made his way into the crease between the guard and tackle. The QB took a 45-degree angle on the snap and picked up the fullback with split-vision and extended arms.

The QB was then instructed to place the ball into the fullback's belly with a ride step as he read the first man across the LOS near the tackle.

If the defender took the diving fullback in, the QB would keep the ball and continue down the LOS to the next option key--a pitch to the trailing halfback on the perimeter.

If the defender took the QB, the ball would be pitched. If the defender took the pitch man, the QB would keep the ball and run to daylight.

COMPLEMENTARY PLAYS

The triple option made up most of the running game in the Wishbone offense. To keep the defense honest, other plays had to be added, such as the off-tackle power play and the counter lead.

After the running game was established, the offense could implement the passing game with various play-action passes and screens.

In summation: The success of the triple option out of the Wishbone offense formation opened the floodgates of the ground attack. Darrel Royal and Emory Bellard had pieced together a goalline offense with a wide-open series that made Texas the 1969 National Champions. That season, Royal's Longhorns averaged 363 yards a game and might have been the best team of the decade.

The Wishbone option was one of the most copied offenses in football history, and dominated the gridiron for several decades. Several of the most influential coaches of the time such as "Bear" Bryant, Pepper Jones, and Chuck Fairbanks also made the Wishbone the focus of their success.

All the "broken" Wishbone offenses of the day can be traced directly back to Emory Bellard, who would later go on to say, "The Wishbone is a theory of offense, and not just a formation. The alignment was used to create the triple option concept itself. If you're running the Wishbone and not the triple option with it, then you're not really running the true Wishbone. Without the triple option, the Wishbone would have been just another formation."

By Rick Whobrey, Varsity Linebacker Coach, Bellaire H.S., Houston, TX