11-21-2011, 04:15 PM
Because the triple option had it's day in the sun. In the '70's. The wishbone. Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama used it to win NCs. Other teams used it too. But eventually two things happened:Â
1. Defenses figured it out and a team with good athletes on defenses could disrupt the consistency of execution. The one great defect of the wishbone/triple option is that it's designed for ball control. Grinding out 1st downs. Eating the clock. You can pass out of it, but because the formation is geared to optimized run blocking, the pass game is handicapped. (and so it proved in practice). If a wishbone/triple option team falls significantly behind later in a game, it is harder to catch up.  But wishbone teams with really good athletes (like Oklahoma) mopped up for a while.
2. Some other things happened on the offensive side. For one thing, a guy named Walsh built on some other ideas and debuted the West Coast offense in the pros. Suddenly the options for making yardage, high percentage completion yardage, through the pass became apparent. The WCO passing game provided more offensive options. The Air Coryell/ Al Davis long bomb passing game became less prominent. The WCO was dismissed as dink and dunk, but Walsh proved his point with some Super Bowl rings. The number of options, passing to the backs, controlling the ball via short passes became the vogue. Don't think it really has passed out of fashion. Elements of the WCO are in practically every team's (pro and college) playbook. Now we're seeing the spread and pistol in the mix.
Vastly simplified, that's why the triple option became less and less prominent. It is now a kind of boutique presence in college ball. Paul Johnson's variant found a way to use H-backs to get more passing back into it and Navy used it to great effect. His results at GT, against better competition is less dramatic.
P.S. It ain't just about scheme. Elite athlete recruits don't seem to want to play in a system that doesn't showcase their talents. Would the University of South Central's Robert Woods want to play in the Navy triple option? Keenan Allen? Justin Blackmon? Andrew Luck as an option QB with Zach Maynard the Voldemort favorite? OTOH, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, South Carolina's Lattimore, LaMichael James thrive in the T-formation/ WCO variants These kids want their share of glory and the triple option doesn't offer as much personal or team glory. Nick Saban, being no fool, uses his own version of the WCO, t-formation.
1. Defenses figured it out and a team with good athletes on defenses could disrupt the consistency of execution. The one great defect of the wishbone/triple option is that it's designed for ball control. Grinding out 1st downs. Eating the clock. You can pass out of it, but because the formation is geared to optimized run blocking, the pass game is handicapped. (and so it proved in practice). If a wishbone/triple option team falls significantly behind later in a game, it is harder to catch up.  But wishbone teams with really good athletes (like Oklahoma) mopped up for a while.
2. Some other things happened on the offensive side. For one thing, a guy named Walsh built on some other ideas and debuted the West Coast offense in the pros. Suddenly the options for making yardage, high percentage completion yardage, through the pass became apparent. The WCO passing game provided more offensive options. The Air Coryell/ Al Davis long bomb passing game became less prominent. The WCO was dismissed as dink and dunk, but Walsh proved his point with some Super Bowl rings. The number of options, passing to the backs, controlling the ball via short passes became the vogue. Don't think it really has passed out of fashion. Elements of the WCO are in practically every team's (pro and college) playbook. Now we're seeing the spread and pistol in the mix.
Vastly simplified, that's why the triple option became less and less prominent. It is now a kind of boutique presence in college ball. Paul Johnson's variant found a way to use H-backs to get more passing back into it and Navy used it to great effect. His results at GT, against better competition is less dramatic.
P.S. It ain't just about scheme. Elite athlete recruits don't seem to want to play in a system that doesn't showcase their talents. Would the University of South Central's Robert Woods want to play in the Navy triple option? Keenan Allen? Justin Blackmon? Andrew Luck as an option QB with Zach Maynard the Voldemort favorite? OTOH, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, South Carolina's Lattimore, LaMichael James thrive in the T-formation/ WCO variants These kids want their share of glory and the triple option doesn't offer as much personal or team glory. Nick Saban, being no fool, uses his own version of the WCO, t-formation.