The run and shoot/spread: Davis built a better Mousetrap

This offense became famous for spreading the field with receivers.

By Chip Scoggins, Star Tribune

Last update: August 25, 2007 - 5:26 PM

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The NFL has the big-time passing offenses, but for sheer variety, creativity and unpredictability, nothing beats college football. From the single-wing formation Bernie Bierman employed during the Gophers' glory days to the spread attack that is taking today's game by storm, take a clipboard tour with staff writer Chip Scoggins, who spoke to a variety of former coaches about college football's most innovative offenses over the years.

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Darrel (Mouse) Davis still can remember the first time he lined up his offense without using a running back, and the commotion it caused. He unveiled his unconventional scheme in 1968 while coaching high school football in Oregon.

"The safety yelled, 'Hey, come over here, I got two [receivers] over here,'" Davis recalled. "The other guy said, 'No, I got one over here.' They had never seen anything like that. We went up and down the field."

Though Davis is not credited with inventing the "run-and-shoot" or spread offense, he made it popular during his days at tiny Portland State in the 1970s.

A few weeks shy of his 75th birthday and back as offensive coordinator at Portland State, Davis has been viewed as both a crackpot and genius in a career that has taken him from preps to pros.

As the spread offense has become the rage in college football, Davis admits he feels vindicated after facing criticism for thinking too far outside the box years earlier.

"People thought it was a lark," he said. "It wasn't real football. The truth is, football coaches are a very conservative lot. They're slow to change. When we were running it at the pro level, people told me it was impossible. Then suddenly everyone's running it. I guess it's OK if it works."

It worked well enough at Portland State. The team went 42-24 and averaged 38 points and nearly 500 total yards per game and led NCAA Division II in scoring three times in Davis' six seasons. The offense put up record numbers, but Davis said outsiders still viewed it as fundamentally "unsound."I think the key was, either I was crazy enough or didn't care what other people thought," he said. "Early on people thought I was nuts. Why was I nuts? Because no one else was doing it. My thought was I didn't really care what other people thought as long as it was working."

Davis left Portland State and made stops in the Canadian Football League, the USFL, the NFL and Arena football. Most recently, he served on the staff of Hawaii coach June Jones, a star quarterback under Davis at Portland State. Hawaii, operating out of the run-and-shoot, led the nation in passing, total offense and scoring last season. Following the 2006 season, Davis returned to Portland State to run the Vikings offense under new head coach Jerry Glanville.

Davis said he takes pride in seeing so many teams use the spread offense now.

"It's rewarding that it's certainly found its way into the annals of football and will remain forever, because it is the way to move the football," he said.

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