Post by coachinghopeful on Jan 21, 2009 18:07:27 GMT -6
After seeing Ted Seay and a few others on this board speak highly of him on many occasions, I went ahead and ordered used copies of Homer Rice's "Homer Rice on Option Football" and "Winning Football With the Air Option Passing Game."
They arrived yesterday.
WOW
I didn't know who Rice was before I found this board. He retired from coaching the year I was born, and now no one outside of coaching ever talks about him anymore. Yet, as I was reading this books, I realized I'd found a genius who was decades ahead of his time.
His book on the Triple Option isn't just a book about merely executing the Triple, it's a very thorough book on basic football philosophy, technique, etc--all published in 1973. His book on the Air Option was published in 1985, after Rice had been developing the system--a precise drop back passing attack to compliment an option running game--for decades. Maybe today much of what he wrote is considered dated or archaic (like his "sprintback" passing), or it's become so common that many coaches won't see what the big deal is (the air option is all about creating a 2 on 1 in the passing game to stretch isolated defenders, then keying on who's in the passing lane), but to a newb like me it was still eye opening and surprisingly modern for a 35 year old book.
As a Kentucky HS coach in the 50s, Rice claims to have invented and dominated teams with the triple option by modifying the old T-formation Belly/Double Dive play and combining it with the Double Option, which eventually led to Darrell Royal and the wishbone a decade later (he says Royal and Co. really deserve credit for the triple because of how they'd perfected it).
Then in the 60s, he combined the split back veer with a spread formation, pass first philosophy, and precision passing game to create an early "spread option" team. Looking at it now, it looks a lot like what would later be called the West Coast Offense, but with a triple option running game. His teams set a ton of records at Cincinatti and Kentucky, creating stars and NFL prospects out of players no one remembers anymore. The idea of quick passes where you just key one defender in the passing lane is common now, but Rice built his passing game around it at a time when everyone else was focusing on deep progressions and praying for 40% comp percentage.
It's not just the grander Xs and Os theory, either. Rice pays attention to "the little things" that so often go overlooked but can make a big impact on a game. I mean, how often does a coaching book take a couple of pages to detail how to really work a snap count in your favor, or remind you to have your QB call out the location of an interception so everyone can chase the guy before he runs it back?
This is just the tip of the iceberg so far, as I've barely even gotten started on the Triple Option book. I just wanted to direct some attention to the guy, as this wonderful, innovative coach is largely forgotten these days even as many of his basic ideas are more popular than ever. Aside from Xs and Os, what I've read of the man himself and his "complete person" philosophy makes him sound like a fine role model for the HS or college coach who thinks the "student" in "student-athlete" should always come first.
Are there any other great, overlooked coaches out there I should also be reading up on? I know Fritz Shurmur, who I remember as DC of the Packers, is becoming more and more obscure as the years go by, which is also a real shame. I just read "The Eagle Five Linebacker Defense" and was impressed by his clarity of teaching and attention to detail. I was primarily a defensive player, and our coaches always taught us defense was just about "getting low" on the line and then chasing guys around. Man, was I wrong!
They arrived yesterday.
WOW
I didn't know who Rice was before I found this board. He retired from coaching the year I was born, and now no one outside of coaching ever talks about him anymore. Yet, as I was reading this books, I realized I'd found a genius who was decades ahead of his time.
His book on the Triple Option isn't just a book about merely executing the Triple, it's a very thorough book on basic football philosophy, technique, etc--all published in 1973. His book on the Air Option was published in 1985, after Rice had been developing the system--a precise drop back passing attack to compliment an option running game--for decades. Maybe today much of what he wrote is considered dated or archaic (like his "sprintback" passing), or it's become so common that many coaches won't see what the big deal is (the air option is all about creating a 2 on 1 in the passing game to stretch isolated defenders, then keying on who's in the passing lane), but to a newb like me it was still eye opening and surprisingly modern for a 35 year old book.
As a Kentucky HS coach in the 50s, Rice claims to have invented and dominated teams with the triple option by modifying the old T-formation Belly/Double Dive play and combining it with the Double Option, which eventually led to Darrell Royal and the wishbone a decade later (he says Royal and Co. really deserve credit for the triple because of how they'd perfected it).
Then in the 60s, he combined the split back veer with a spread formation, pass first philosophy, and precision passing game to create an early "spread option" team. Looking at it now, it looks a lot like what would later be called the West Coast Offense, but with a triple option running game. His teams set a ton of records at Cincinatti and Kentucky, creating stars and NFL prospects out of players no one remembers anymore. The idea of quick passes where you just key one defender in the passing lane is common now, but Rice built his passing game around it at a time when everyone else was focusing on deep progressions and praying for 40% comp percentage.
It's not just the grander Xs and Os theory, either. Rice pays attention to "the little things" that so often go overlooked but can make a big impact on a game. I mean, how often does a coaching book take a couple of pages to detail how to really work a snap count in your favor, or remind you to have your QB call out the location of an interception so everyone can chase the guy before he runs it back?
This is just the tip of the iceberg so far, as I've barely even gotten started on the Triple Option book. I just wanted to direct some attention to the guy, as this wonderful, innovative coach is largely forgotten these days even as many of his basic ideas are more popular than ever. Aside from Xs and Os, what I've read of the man himself and his "complete person" philosophy makes him sound like a fine role model for the HS or college coach who thinks the "student" in "student-athlete" should always come first.
Are there any other great, overlooked coaches out there I should also be reading up on? I know Fritz Shurmur, who I remember as DC of the Packers, is becoming more and more obscure as the years go by, which is also a real shame. I just read "The Eagle Five Linebacker Defense" and was impressed by his clarity of teaching and attention to detail. I was primarily a defensive player, and our coaches always taught us defense was just about "getting low" on the line and then chasing guys around. Man, was I wrong!
