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Why the West Coast offense has stood the test of time.(professional football)
Trends come and trends go, but standards such as Beatles music and the West Coast offense have staying power.
For a while, the Don Coryell offense was the scheme du jour, and me west coast offense became stigmatized. Coaches wanted to call it something other than the West Coast offense, which was sort of like radio stations wanting to call new rock music "alternative." Raiders coach Jon Gruden once jokingly referred to his version as "The Silver and Black Attack."
Call it what you will. It's still rock `n' roll to me.
And it still gets the blood pumping. Or maybe we should say it gets the blood pumping like never before. The West Coast offense had unprecedented league-wide success last year, with five of the top 10 offenses (Broncos, 49ers, Giants, Saints and Raiders) running a version of it. Since the season ended, four teams--the Lions, Redskins, Bills and Jets--have decided to switch to the West Coast, bringing the total number of teams running the offense to an all-time high of 13. The others are the Eagles, Packers, Seahawks and Panthers.
"It kind of went away for a while, so now it's kind of new again," says Bills coach Gregg Williams, who made it a priority to hire an offensive coordinator who was familiar with the pure version of the West Coast offense, enlisting Mike Sheppard from the Seahawks to do the job. "It's the rage all over again."
The beauty of this offense, as many teams are discovering, is it gives the quarterback a chance. 49ers general manager Bill Walsh, father of the offense, laments me trend that sees offenses running for two yards on first down, then sending out four or five receivers on subsequent downs.
"People dispense with pass protection for the sake of getting receivers downfield," Walsh-says. "The quarterback is supposed to hit the hot receiver, but with coverage so tight on receivers, and with cornerbacks and safeties blitzing and getting to the quarterback so quickly, there often isn't a hot receiver who is a viable option, and the quarterback takes undue punishment.
- Mariucci's Band Plays Christmas Gig; Coach Has California in West Coast Offense
- Newspaper article from: The Washington Post Jeff Faraudo December 25, 1996 700+ words
...status in the pro sports-dominated Bay Area quickly grew to near-mythic proportions. Bringing the West Coast offense back to the West Coast from Green Bay, where he helped tutor Brett Favre for four seasons as the Packers quarterbacks coach...
- Vick faces big challenge in mastering West Coast offense.(Knight Ridder...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Domowitch, Paul August 27, 2004 700+ words
...Falcons have switched to the West Coast offense, which is to Reeves' old...experience for me every day in the West Coast offense," Vick says, unwinding after...the league think Vick and the West Coast offense is a marriage made in hell...
- West Coast offense has familiar look for Vikings; 49ers are third opponent who...
- Newspaper article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) Craig, Mark September 25, 2003 700+ words
...already 2-0 against the vaunted West Coast offense. And both victories came on...The keys to [stopping the West Coast offense] is don't give them the...to be." How popular is the West Coast offense? Popular enough that it has...
- West Coast offense has its detriments for Raiders, Broncos.(The Gazette)
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Zinser, Lynn December 30, 2001 700+ words
...game tape as final testimony in the demise of the West Coast offense. In the offseason, these teams' game plans should be incinerated. The West Coast offense can be effective at times. It moves the ball, produces...
- 49ers notebook: West Coast offense grows in New York.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Inman, Cam September 28, 2001 700+ words
...Having adapted slowly to the West Coast offense through two games, perhaps...yards. "When you install the West Coast offense, it's like learning a new...Newsday, "and neither will the West Coast offense of the New York Jets." Added...
- `West Coast Offense' in Vogue // Bears, Packers Making It Work In the Heartland
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times DAN POMPEI November 9, 1995 700+ words
...not run something called a "West Coast Offense." Yet the two teams atop...Packers, run versions of the West Coast Offense. "It is surprising," former...Packers run versions of the West Coast Offense is that the men in charge of...
- WEST COAST OFFENSE RETURNS TO LAMBEAU.(SPORTS)(TOM OATES)(Column)
- Newspaper article from: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI) October 6, 2003 700+ words
...Favre was directing a precision West Coast offense. The Green Bay Packers were...the Packers' version of the West Coast offense a weekly nightmare for opposing...season. It only seems like the West Coast offense has been away that long. Sunday...
- The Eagles proven system: Quarterbacks come and go, but the pass-oriented West...
- Newspaper article from: Morning Call (Allentown, PA) January 11, 2007 700+ words
...Simple -- it's because of the West Coast offense. Here is a scheme that, while...in large part, it was. The West Coast offense doesn't rely on bombs or...Steve Mariucci, who ran the West Coast offense in San Francisco and Detroit...
