How a Northwestern offense 20 years ago influenced Urban Meyer, Ryan Day and so many others
"We didn't even know what we were doing, but we kind of ran with it. It took off, and it changed the Big Ten."
theathletic.com
This is a great article from a few years ago about the spread offense and Northwestern’s role in its history. The article delves into the relationship of Coach Randy and Kevin Wilson (who is the former Ohio State OC) as well as other key figures like Rich Rodriguez and Urban Meyer who moved the spread offense to the forefront. To Coach Randy’s credit, he and Wilson sought out offensive innovation to fire up NU’s languid offense Coach Randy had brought with him from Miami (Ohio). That Miami offense just didn’t work with the offensive personnel NU had at the time and the poor initial performance on NU’s offense forced the search for innovation. The 2000 NU-UM instant classic (which I attended with my brother) epitomized how the spread could wear down an opponent. I remember how exhausted the UM defense players were in the 2nd half as NU overtook UM for the win. The spread maximized NU’s players abilities and boosted our offense scoring capabilities. Just a great read of the history of this innovative offense which reverberates today.
Last edited: