San Diego State coach Rocky Long likes the triple-option offense.
Long was a wishbone quarterback at New Mexico in the early 1970s.
“It’s the best offense that’s ever been designed because you don’t have to block everybody,” said Long in his weekly press conference.
When Long was asked if he ever thought about running the option at San Diego State, he made a bold statement.
“There are several reasons you can’t run them any place but the academies, and it’s all because of recruiting and selling tickets,” Long said. “People don’t like watching the triple option. They think it’s boring because it’s not what they see on TV on Sundays. It’s not what they see from the NFL, so they think it’s a boring offense. I remember people saying all the time, `Well, you give it to the fullback every single time, you give it to the fullback.’ The fullback only gets it if the read is correct. People don’t want to get that in depth and they don’t like watching it.
Long went on to say that it’s hard recruiting players for the option.
“Everybody wants to be an NFL football player,” Long said. “If you’re an offensive lineman, you don’t want to come out low and scramble on the bound and cut people…If you’re a wide receiver, you don’t want to stock-block the corners for the pitch guy, you want to run routes and catch the ball. Now they will get a good quarterback because they will recruit a quarterback that was a quarterback in high school that everybody is recruiting as a defensive back. He’ll still want to be a quarterback, so he’ll go to the wishbone.”
