Triple Option Football Explained Triple option football has all three elements of the different styles of running

attacks - quickness, finesse and power. Homer Rice is given credit for inventing triple option football. He retired as G eorgia Tech's athletic director in 1997. Before that, he was head coach at Kentu cky, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and Rice. Mr. Rice also worked as athletic director at Rice and North Carolina as well as a brief stint as head coach of the Cincinnat i Bengals. But it was when he was coaching high school in the 1950's that he came up with t riple option football. The two usual triple option styles are the wishbone and v eer. The main idea behind this offensive set is to leave the defensive tackle and end unblocked in order to double-team the linebackers with extra offensive lineman. This brings an element of power to this basically finesse type of running attac k. The "Wishbone" style of triple option football gets its name from the alignment of the backs. You have a quarterback, a fullback directly behind him and then tw o halfbacks split behind the fullback. At the snap, the quarterback turns and pu ts the football in the fullback's gut as he reads the defensive tackle. If the QB sees the tackle taking outside responsibility, he hands off to the ful lback. If the tackle takes inside position, the QB keeps the ball and the fullba ck blocks the tackle. Now the quarterback's attention turns to the defensive end . If the end comes in to tackle him, he pitches out to the halfback who is trail ing behind the play. The quarterback has much responsibility in triple option football. He must first make sure there is no confusion with his first option (whether to handoff to th e fullback or not) in order to prevent a fumble. He must also make a good pitcho ut to his halfback. Further complications can arise if the QB makes the wrong re ad on the defensive tackle or end. Here's one way to teach the quarterback to read the end - If he can see the end' s number, he should pitch the football as the end is probably coming in to tackl e him. If he sees the end coming across the line of scrimmage focusing on the ha lfback, the QB should keep the ball. The quarterback should also keep an out for further pitch opportunities to his halfback even as he's making his way downfie ld. The "Veer" style of triple option football adds a passing element. Bill Yeoman i nvented the veer in 1965 as coach of the Houston Cougars. That's why you'll hear it also called the "Houston Veer". Yeoman replaced the fullback with a wide rec eiver and split out an end. Now the QB's first option is to a diving halfback (no fullback). The pitchout op tion then goes to the other halfback in the set. The tight end helps get the def ensive end wide by taking a wide split. At the snap, the tight end arcs around t he end (remember, the end is left unblocked) to block anyone trying to tackle th e quarterback (usually a safety). The wide-out takes on the cornerback. Looking for finesse, power and quickness? Try using triple option football. ZZZZZZ