Seahawks’ Tom Cable: spread offenses are ‘huge disservice’ to players
Seattle Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable says college spread offenses are hurting players’ fundamentals
Seattle Seahawks‘ offensive line coach Tom Cable is not a fan of college football’s style. On 710 ESPN in Seattle, Cable discussed the way the game is becoming a much more pass-happy, chuck-and-duck format instead of a balanced attack. The spread offense has become popular in college, finding exceptional success with teams such as Oregon.
"“I’m not wanting to offend anybody, but college football, offensively, has gotten to be really, really bad fundamentally. Unfortunately, I think we’re doing a huge disservice to offensive football players, other than a receiver, that come out of these spread systems. The runners aren’t as good. They aren’t taught how to run. The blockers aren’t as good. The quarterbacks aren’t as good. They don’t know how to read coverage and throw progressions. They have no idea.”"
Cable is getting at a larger point with the discrepancy between the schemes and priorities of college football and the NFL. Unlike other major professional sports, the NFL does not have a minor league system to develop talent. The NFL has college football to develop talent.
Unlike the minor leagues, college teams are huge business and are trying to win. Yes, players that want to make it in the NFL are going to try to improve themselves so that they can be drafted, and drafted high. But a college football coach is going to do what gives him the best chance to win, not what will give his offensive linemen the best chance to be successful in the pros.
With that in mind, many college teams have adopted spread offenses and employ things like the zone-read or read-option. These plays make it difficult to evaluate college talent and its ability to be successful in the NFL. For example, in evaluating quarterback Bryce Petty for the 2015 NFL Draft, Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer noticed that Petty fumbled, bobbled, and poorly handled numerous snaps under center. After that he clumsily backpedaled while trying to look for receivers downfield.
Defenses are faster and smarter in the NFL. Offensive linemen have to be able to protect a quarterback taking snaps under center. When you’re taught fundamentals your whole college career that don’t actually work in the NFL then you’re going to have to unlearn before you can learn. This is why Cable and the Seahawks have begun to convert defensive linemen into offensive linemen. The first such project was J.R. Sweezy, a converted defensive tackle who now plays guard for the Seahawks. He’s proven to be a competent guard playing well above his seventh-round cost.
The most recent project is Kristjan Sokoli, another defensive tackle. Sokoli is being trained to play center for the Seahawks. While these players had little to no experience on the offensive side of the ball, they have shown excellent intelligence and athleticism which makes them great candidates for the offensive line. Since they were never trained to play the position, Cable has a free hand to teach them fundamentals from the ground up.
The biggest counterargument to Cable’s point is that most college players don’t go on to play in the NFL. Why should they be trained to play in a pro-style offense if they are never going to be in the pros? Let them play in the system that gives them and their team the best chance for success at the level their playing at.
High-profile players like Tim Tebow, Johnny Manziel, and Robert Griffin III will continue to enter the league with fanfare and flounder unless they can alter their style or play and learn how to drop back and go through progressions.
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