The offensive system for Rich Rodriguez has undergone quite a bit of changes over the years.
While Rodriguez has become known for the ground-based spread offense with the quarterback being used in the run game over the years, the scheme actually started on the opposite end of the spectrum.
“When this offense started it was about 70-percent pass and 30-percent run and zero, maybe about one-percent quarterback run,” Rodriguez said.
As part of that there weren’t the familiar elements of the zone read, or counter read toss with his early quarterbacks and the pass game was pretty basic as well.
It was simple not because of the quarterbacks but those around them and the offense was based on throwing the football because that’s what the personnel on the roster dictated both with the signal callers and the offensive linemen on the team.
“Part of a coach is a thing to evaluate ability. What they can and can’t do well. When you can throw the heck out of it and you’re real smart, well, they’ll just throw the heck out of it,” Rodriguez said.
The zone read became a bigger part of the offense once Rodriguez became the offensive coordinator at Tulane following a successful stint as the head coach at Glenville. There he inherited Shaun King who put together two impressive seasons in the scheme, including a senior season where he threw for 3,232 yards and 36 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions while rushing for 532 yards and 10 scores.
From that point forward, that became a fixture for Rodriguez with stops at Clemson, West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona and most recently at Jax State.
During those stops, he either inherited or recruited a long list of talented dual-threat quarterbacks, including Woody Dantzler, Rasheed Marshall, Pat White, Denard Robinson, Khalil Tate, and most recently Tyler Huff, among others.
“I think there was a graphic one time that every quarterback I've had for at least two years or so has been player of the year in our league,” he said.
That’s a lot of success at the position and has raised the bar for those playing in the scheme.
“So, if that's the goal, quarterbacks, you're here. You can't just be a starter. Dang it, you've got to be an all-conference guy,” Rodriguez said.
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