OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez joked that he had just two runs in the playbook when he implemented his now-famous spread offense at Glenville State in the 1990s.
"I had a couple of good receivers, and I said, 'I'll just get me five dumpy linemen who can get run over slowly and go two-minute drill the whole game,'" he said. "And that's what we did."
Then, Rodriguez started tinkering. He had success as an offensive coordinator with mobile quarterbacks Shaun King at Tulane and Woodrow Dantzler at Clemson. Eventually, others borrowed from his approach, and dual-threat quarterbacks running spread offenses started winning Heisman trophies and national titles.