In this brief life, we’re all pretty much blind squirrels trying to find a nut.
Tread lightly.
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Longhorn legend Steve Worster
He led my high school to its only state title.
Ah, Bridge City. Worster was the foundation of the Wishbone offense, which made its debut in 1968 when he was a sophomore. I loved watching him run, and the debate whether he or Leaks was the better Wishbone fullback goes on. Not in my mind, though, because they had completely different running styles. The ‘68 and ‘69 Longhorns also had the benefit of defenses not having a clue about how to defend the triple option. Leaks played in the era when defenses used assignment football to slow down or stop the triple option (UCLA in ‘70 was the first), and Royal added the “loaded” call to adjust to what defenses were doing.
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Curious, what as the “loaded call”?
Running the option, onside HB comes down hard to block the defender assigned to the QB instead of running an arc to block for the pitch man. The QB, after keeping the ball from the fullback, runs by the collision and keeps (cuts up) or pitches depending on what the outside defender does. Loaded created a running lane for the QB and made the play a 2 on 1 option on the outside defender.
UCLA was the first to use assignment defense on UT’s triple option, which meant a defender was assigned to the FB, another assigned to the QB, and still another assigned to the HB pitch man. The defenders attacked each offensive player at the snap of the ball rather than trying to read the play. Loaded was DKR’s adjustment.
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If I’m not mis-remembering, DKR was asked about his new Wishbone offense and replied something like
" you don’t want my offense. You want my fullback".
Yep, I shared that one with Mark yesterday. Duffy Daugherty of Michigan State had called to ask about the Wishbone when it was new. You quoted DKR’s reply.
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As an aside I should point out that OWA member TeeJoe is also an alum of BCHS.
I’m sure he saw the same team picture in the weight room that I did with #30 on the front row.
Re Wishbone - my son and I were watching the 1982 Iron Bowl (Bo over the Top) on SEC Network the other night. His comment watching two wishbone offenses run - “Crazy how far football has come. Even in terms of how the center holds the ball before the snap.”
I read a series of books by Chris Brown (actually collections of articles).
He touches on the theme that football remains a game of trying to get a numerical advantage /getting one defender cover 2 choices.
The wishbone/veer do it from the ground. So do zone running schemes. The spread offense does it thru the air and the ground. But at the point of attack that’s what it boils down to.
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I love and believe in the triple option and ran it each year I was a JV or freshman coach. I could run it out of any set the varsity coach used for his offense, and with starting guys in motion, I could run the three-back option from any formation or set. The varsity HC always wanted his offense run, and I did so, but I could run the option from his formations and incorporate the option into his plays. That kept me out of trouble with the HC I worked for.
The option and reads are not difficult to teach a QB, but you have to work on the reads every day.
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I wasn’t aware of your football background. You are quite the Renaissance Man.
Do you have the same passion for football as you do for The Great Game?
Yes, I do. I played football at Austin High (QB), and I coached football each of the nine years I was a HS coach. I was a varsity football assistant 1971-75 at McCallum and was JV or freshman football coach the other five years.
I loved coaching football and believe it is a very cerebral game. Calling plays was the best thing I got to do. I scouted each week my first three years and was in the pressbox and sometimes on the phone my four years as a varsity assistant. Preparing written scouting reports those first three years was a task I really enjoyed doing.
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Bummer - Street, Bertleson and Worster. That was a hell of a back field.
Did Bertelsen die also?
Yes, last year. When I was a kid, I chose #35 as he was my favorite player.
Such a good player, and he fell into DKR’s lap from Wisconsin.
Don’t neglect Ted Koy. He didn’t carry the ball that much but he was very valuable as a lead blocker for Bertelson. And he’s Texas royalty with his brother and dad both playing for Texas. Still has a vet clinic here in Georgetown although I can’t imagine he’s still practicing himself.
Ted Koy is alive. He mentioned the others as a group because they are not.