This video, featuring Coach Raphael Ruiz from CrossFit Football, adds considerable dimension to the old football cliche, “when the bullets start flying” as he draws an analogy to grouping shots on a target at a firing range versus firing at an actual live target with bullets actually flying back at you. The idea behind the analogy is that training an athlete’s emotional response in situations of stress will improve said athlete’s “default” level of performance. In terms of training for football, or any high intensity sport, taking the thinking or emotion out of rehearsed actions and re-actions so that production or performance is maximized is always the goal.
John Welbourn, co-founder of CrossFit Football explains the necessity for training for optimum performance further:
For football, we know the demands; football is a game of inches and seconds. We know that timeframe and scale, and we know when, where, and how game day is played. Knowing this, we can precisely prepare for the demands of the sport. What we cannot control is the player’s talent: his instincts, and his ability to react to stress, pressure, and the opponent. We know what weapons we need in our arsenal and we will know when and how to use them. Optimum training results in optimum performance, and the optimally prepared athlete is in the position to make the best use of his talent, and thus to fulfill his potential as a player.”
Ruiz refers to the desired final outcome, a product of stimulus response programming and training, when he asserts that “no matter if you’re on field, no matter if you’re in the weight room, you’re trying to develop the mentality that you’re a bullet in a gun. Squeeze the trigger . . . the bullet does what? Does it think? Does it hesitate? Does it go slow? It goes as hard, as fast as it can possibly go—no matter what.”
So, the trick for us coaches is to find a way to manage that emotion and stress that comes with competition so that your athlete’s training can take over “when the bullets are flying” and trust that he will do what is asked of him when everything is on the line…
When I created this website one of my initial goals was to explore Bill Walsh’s West Coast Offense in greater detail, and to provide a glimpse of how offenses today rely heavily on the concepts established decades ago by Walsh.
Recently, a reader contacted me to explain that he shared an equal appreciation for the system that has become synonymous with 49er success during their glory years. Michael Schuttke is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee studying psychology and works with at-risk youth and teens. He has previously written articles at nfldraftdog.com as a team columnist for the Atlanta Falcons.
Michael has expressed interest in using this forum to delve into the history and evolution of the West Coast Offense. From the day’s of Paul Brown and situational scripting to the use of formations, concepts and strategies for planning, teaching, installing and executing offensive football, the West Coast Offense has provided a solid framework for what we see today, on all levels.
Like myself, Michael was heavily influenced by the writings and teachings of Bill Walsh. The first Super Bowl he watched ended with “The Drive”, making him a life-long 49ers fan at the tender age of 5, setting the stage for a Zen-monk like devotion to learning all he could about the West Coast offensive system, quarterbacking and the game of football as a whole.
Enjoy the following guest blog – Part 1 in a series – researched and written by Michael Schuttke, with diagrams and links contributed by Saturday Nite Lites, exploring the roots of Walsh’s West Coast Offense and it’s foundation based in “21” personnel and the “split-backs” formation…
As most investigations go, this one started with what looked like a simple path. However, I have had to go down many roads to make a thorough discussion of Bill Walsh’s distinctive formational feature to his offense. The formation set I am referring to is the split-back formation (a.k.a. flat-backs in some circles) out of 21 personnel (2 running backs, 1 tight end). So far, no major conspiracies have been discovered but, oddly enough, a fish’s head was stapled to my door with “Red Right Slot – A Right – 322 Scat Y Stick” written on it followed by “stop now”.
Y Stick: A Bill Walsh / West Coast Offense staple
I think it was from a spread guru who heard what I was up to…
Anyway, in investigating an age-old formation that has appeared to have, at least temporarily, gone the way of the dinosaur, I came across a statement by a famous source within the football realm that I thought would serve as a good introduction to this topic.
Traditional West Coast Offense "split backs" formation
Recently, Mike Mayock was discussing the abilities of draft prospect Robert Griffin III (RGIII as he has been branded; personally, I am hoping he adopts a symbol that evokes Freudian phallic stage “stuckness”, a la Prince and refers to himself as “The Quarterback Formerly Known As Robert Griffin III”). Specifically, Mayock went on to address the distinct possibility that the talented quarterback will land with the Cleveland Browns, who have two first-round selections (#4 and #22), ammo that will likely be needed to acquire the second overall selection from the St. Louis Rams to ensure they will get Griffin (assuming the Colts do not pick him over Andrew Luck).
In reference to the strategic tendencies of the Browns offense, Mayock is of the belief that the current tendencies will only serve to hinder Griffin’s development if the Browns select him. The statement he made though to justify this was where I wanted to begin our discussion.
If Cleveland moves up to get this kid, they have to make this kid comfortable . . . he’s too explosive and too much of a play-maker to have him just sit there and read the triangle the West Coast offense is. In other words, [offensive coordinator] Brad Childress and that group of coaches in Cleveland are going to have to change some things to make this kid the playmaker he is.”
Now, in principle, I agree with Mayock’s bigger idea. The Browns (or any team that lands RGIII) should construct their offense around the strengths of their quarterback rather than force a square peg into a round hole. The majority of Griffin’s collegiate career has been spent lining up in the shotgun formation in Baylor’s wide-open spread offense. However, if the colossal rookie year of Cam Newton taught us nothing, “spread quarterbacks” are not a college gimmick quarterback doomed to mediocre performance in the NFL. Various teams around the NFL ran well over half of their plays from the shotgun formation this past year. Various studies of quarterback performance confirm that most quarterbacks are simply better when they set up in the shotgun than under center, even with the same personnel on the field.
The Spread Offense, with a dual threat at quarterback, adapts split backs with shotgun
The Spread Offense, with a passing threat at quarterback, adapts split backs with shotgun
How does this relate to Bill Walsh and the famed West Coast Offense, perhaps the seminal offense of the late 20th century and for sure into the early part of this century? Good question reader.
What The Walsh Offense Wasn’t
Walsh was never a fan of the shotgun formation, something he was not shy about stating. For Walsh, there were simply too many variables to account for, particularly with regards to the center to quarterback snap, which he wanted to eliminate. The genesis of the West Coast Offense and how it differed from offenses that came before it was the extremely defined nature of timing that occurs between the footwork of the quarterback and the subsequent timing of the receivers routes, specifically their breaks and the progression the quarterback would move through from one target to the next.
In the following clip, Bill Walsh breaks down the art and science of quarterbacking and the importance of timing in the West Coast Offense:
It is a misnomer though to say that a West Coast Offense cannot be based out of the shotgun. Chris Brown of smartfootball.com and myself got into a discussion about this via e-mail with each other wherein the end takeaway was that all of the “signature plays/concepts” most commonly associated to the West Coast Offense can also be run “from gun” but that there needs to be a change in the vertical stems of the receivers. In short, the receivers need to take their routes ever so slightly longer to account for the “time lag” between the quarterback having to focus on catching the snap before he can look at the defense as compared to when he takes the snap directly from under center and can then immediately observe the movement of under-coverage defenders.
View the following clip to see an example of how a spread offense incorporates the standard West Coast Offense route concept, Y-Stick:
So where did Mayock go awry in his statement?
ANSWER: By defining “triangle reads” to “just” the West Coast Offense.
Really, any passing concept that is worth its salt will incorporate stretching the defense to some degree on two planes; horizontally and vertically. The only other real read that differs from this is a true “Flood” concept, where three players attack what is essentially a vertical plane at different depths but all coming into one relatively straight alignment at some point. In the triangle read, the degree to which any one “stretch” is emphasized does vary (e.g. the “stick” concept will not stretch a defense as vertically as the “smash” concept, but “slants and flats” is also going to stretch the defense more horizontally than “smash” and have more of a vertical threat than “stick” does on the linebacker level of the defense; but it still is run in roughly the same vertical area…you get the idea).
Smash: Vertical stretch on cornerback
Y Stick: Horizontal/Vertical stretch on linebacker
Slant/Flat: Horizontal/Vertical stretch on safety or linebacker
However, any sound play design in the passing game will incorporate what all amounts to gaining a numbers advantage. At the end of the day, whether it be passing or running, an offense is always trying to get more “at the point of attack” than what the defense can respond with. This is why we pull lineman. This is why we option a defender. This is why we “flood” a zone. All of these ideas are essentially about creating movement and getting more of “our men” in one plane of the field than “they have”.
Walsh may have become very known for this concept though, long before it was popular, namely creating “triangles” inside of the defense. For Walsh and the West Coast Offense, the central idea of the offense was to time to the exact step when the quarterback’s back foot would stop his drop from center to when the throw would be made to the first receiver in the read. Indeed, many of these throws were made “on time” (no hitch step), such as the square out and the quick out. Others were thrown with a hitch step (in-routes and curls) or even two (post routes). The beauty of the triangle approach is that it makes any read of the quarterback very quick and simplified.
If one looks at the West Coast version of the commonly used “snag” and “stick” concepts, one clearly sees that the key features of this passing concept are retained when a “spread team” such as the New England Patriots, runs this same concept from shotgun and with multiple receivers at the line of scrimmage.
The New England Patriots use an empty set to combine the "snag" and "stick" concepts, effectively giving QB Tom Brady his choice of concepts to read, based on the defensive pre-snap alignment
So this brings us back to our original query…what makes a West Coast Offense just that and, more specifically, what made Walsh’s version unique?
For me, in approaching this idea, the place I continually came back to was in Walsh’s formations and use of motion. In particular though, it was how almost all of Walsh’s offense was based out of a split backs (a.k.a. flat-backs in some circles) look, with one back on each side of an under center quarterback, each back aligned behind the offensive tackles. Minor variations existed (e.g. the backs may be aligned directly behind their same side tackle or they may split his inside-leg or, as this video shows, both can be split but even the depth and horizontal spacing of the split can vary) but the majority of his offense was built out of very basic, 21 personnel.
21 Personnel (2 running backs, F & H; 1 tight end, Y) Split Backs or "Red"
The variants to use old West Coast terminology were often with where the fullback would align. In what is often known as “Far” (or “Brown” in Walsh’s verbiage), the halfback would align “far” from the tight end behind the weak-side tackle. In what is often known as “Near” (or “Blue” to Walsh), the halfback aligns behind the strong-side/TE-side tackle. In both of these sets though, the fullback is stacked in a way that places him in alignment behind the quarterback and center.
21 Personnel Far or "Brown"
21 Personnel Near or "Blue"
This set allows for a strong “downhill” diving action by either the halfback (as seen at the 2:00 minute mark of the previous hyperlink) or the fullback. One can also begin to cue other runs off of this diving action, wherein one back dives down and the other moves in an arc behind this back, often receiving a pitch or direct hand-off from the quarterback. If this quick-hitting nature sounds familiar, it should as the run concepts fundamental to the Walsh West Coast system ultimately come from the Wing-T offense. A system populated at the turn of the 20th century at the University of Delaware, the main difference between a pure Wing-T team and a split-backs “Pro-Set” is the “wingback” is now a “flanked out” receiver. We also call this player the “Flanker” now in most terminologies. However, as this article discusses, the elements of the Wing-T were very strong in how the run game for the Walsh offense worked.
However, the bread-and-butter formation of the Walsh offense was the same 21 personnel but out of split backs. What is lost in “downhill” running (which isn’t that much, as seen here at the 1:35 mark; the Broncos are basically in a goal-line defense and every relevant defender is accounted for in this man-block, trap dive as the left tackle pulls inside the guard and goes second-level) is gained in edge protection, more immediate release from the backs into pass patterns and holds the same cross-faking properties as the “Blue” and “Brown” sets. Indeed, “Red Right/Left” became the signature formation of the early 49ers dynasty.
And for good reason…there is much that can be done out of the split-backs set.
The main intention Walsh had was to have his backs control the under-coverage defenders, allowing routes deeper downfield to develop. Contrary to popular belief, the mainstay concepts Walsh wanted to build his passing game around were not the famed 3-step routes (especially the quick slant) but rather more intermediate routes that came via the 5-step passing game. As such, he frequently had backs run routes such as shoots, arrows, swings, angle routes, and sit routes. Option routes were also implemented as well, something that Brigham Young developed heavily under LaVell Edwards in the 1980’s. The BYU offense ultimately spawned the USC “Pro-Style” offense that came to fame under Norm Chow and then what we now see as the Air Raid of Mike Leach today, both at Texas Tech and what we will likely see in his current position at Washington State.
Norm Chow's "H/Y Option" concept
Much has been said about the decline of the traditional “fullback” position. What I find funny is that this is viewed as some “recent” phenomenon when we can even see this going back to Walsh. Particularly in the early 49ers dynasty, we can see how Walsh would play with what was essentially a two-halfback offense.
The core idea behind the spread offense is to get “speed in space” and force the defense to immediately react to an additional receiver presented at the line of scrimmage. Walsh took that idea of “speed in space” but simply had the player start in the backfield. In “Building A Champion”, Walsh spoke of how he would often have a player like Jerry Rice start aligned as a halfback before motioning out into the formation.
Walsh’s unique use of player positioning, even within his very basic 21, split-back structure, led to all sorts of adjustments that the defense had to make. While it was basic in terms of personnel, Walsh’s offense was incredibly multiple with its slight variations in receiver splits, motions, back alignments (split even, split but slightly staggered, etc.). At the core of it all though, the “mode” of the offense revolved around a very basic personnel grouping and what, essentially amounted to a Split Back set, a Far set, a Near set, and slot derivatives as well as a “3-wide” variation for each.
Indeed, one does not need a billion formations, 400-page playbooks and 1,000’s of plays to be successful. Vince Lombardi was an advocate of keeping things simple and he did pretty well with it. The Colts have done very well primarily basing out of either 11 personnel or 12 personnel through most of the Peyton Manning era.
“Well, things have changed Michael!” may aruge the pundit or “Peyton Manning doesn’t need a ton!” . . . Indeed, the times have changed. And yes, great quarterbacks do give you an edge no matter what you are doing. Teams are indeed now more multiple on defense than ever. Confusion is the name of the game, as Sean Payton noted.
However, offense always has a pre-snap edge in that, unlike the defense, it knows in advance where it intends to go. Offense is by its very nature pro-active. The point of all the confusion is to force offenses to become more tentative and reactive. Most defensive sets are bound by rules built on coverage, front and offensive formation; in short, no matter how “aggressive” a defense gets, it is still fundamentally reactive. Perhaps it becomes more aggressive through one-gap principles or heavy blitzing or both with the trend now of pre-snap movement and exotic lineman stemming actions.
There are multiple ways to this growing desire to confuse (no-huddle offenses are a start), but, besides changing pace to force a defense to “be more basic”/less exotic, there is the simple nature of keeping your offense “knowable” by all players by keeping things simple. Any offense is much more likely to execute correctly after players have repeatedly been drilled relevant game skills, applied within the framework of the movement on key plays, taught in such a way as to know how to react to every defensive alignment that can realistically be seen, from front-alignment to coverage shell.
Walsh’s offenses were not simple per se but their main complexity came via the pairing of the various passing series he had with the blocking actions of his lineman. Due to having built-in hot reads, plays and protections were very linked. In the early days of one of Walsh’s disciples, Mike Holmgren, and a quarterback named Brett Favre, Holmgren refused to have Favre alter a single receiver route and instead only allowed for an audible to reset the entire pattern. This is in part due to the linked nature that Holmgren’s early Green Bay version retained of Walsh’s offense; due to relying primarily on a man-blocking scheme that heavily incorporated players “double-reading”, it was vital to have the correct play work with the protection that would be optimal for blocking the “most probable” rushers. I will later discuss how the zone-blitz would essentially kill the double-read and how this, more than anything else, affected the split backs formation.
In addition to controlling the under-coverage though, backs in Walsh’s 21 personnel, split-back paring would often be used to challenge the defense into its deeper regions as well. The primary routes for this that were used were the “wheel” and the “seam” route. Jason earlier discussed the 49ers use of the seam route in their 1995 Super Bowl win against the Chargers. We can see use of the “wheel” route here at the 1:03 mark (albeit with a “back” in motion out of the backfield). Clemson became absolutely excellent at running the wheel route, as seen here to Jamie Harper and to a now Buffalo Bill runner by the name of C.J. Spiller here and here. Note in the second Spiller touchdown how the throw was actually an underthrow though; this is the kind of subtle difference of a throw a college quarterback can make that makes his stat line look great but is not a good translation of how that throw must be made at the professional level. It is such subtle differences Walsh often spoke about, as Mike Holmgren once recalled, that makes the difference between a good throw and a great, touchdown throw.
Another advantage of a split-back set is its ability to quickly be “re-set”, especially in no-huddle situations. The first Super Bowl I watched was the famous 49ers-Bengals match wherein Joe Montana drove the Niners 92 yards before throwing the game-winning strike to John Taylor. Note though that, in the video clip of “The Drive” below, for almost the entire series, the 49ers were set in one personnel grouping – split backs. There is use of a dual receiver slot side for a stretch but the essential features of Red Right/Left are retained; an “unbalanced” set at the line (i.e. three receivers to one side of the center, two to the other) but with back flow (a concept Walsh often spoke of) used to influence the under-coverage as well. By having backs releasing either on check-releases or immediately into the flats or hook/curl regions, either way, the offense can quickly get back to the line.
It is debatable whether this is “distinct” compared to non 21 personnel groupings as, again, the same route combinations can be run from almost any personnel grouping. However, the incredible utility of split backs is illustrated as well on this drive as we often see backs check releasing and stopping blitzing linebackers before they release into vacated areas of the defense. Again, zone-blitzes have helped reduce the effectiveness of these “dual-read” concepts but I will also address in a later writing how Walsh’s primarily man-blocking schemes out of Split Pro can also have partial slide protections incorporated to help correct for this as well as how to have “simpler” hot reads. Further, the faking/cross-faking action to split backs, particularly if under center but still present in shotgun sets as well, gives it a very distinct advantage to influencing linebacker play.
Any formation has strengths and weaknesses. The point of this series though will be to show that maybe the 21 personnel, split-back offense perhaps died a pre-mature death…but that it may make a comeback before long as well. Like fashion, offenses and defenses are cyclical. As such, certain offenses have a certain Cher-like longevity (sans the plastic surgery and auto-tune vocal corrections) while others are more of a flash in the pan than Joey Lawrence’s hairstyle, before and after.
Things Change; Embrace It But Learn From The Past…It May Come Back Around (with or without hair plugs),
– I could always just send you to Brophy’s excellent website, Cripes! Get back to fundamentals… and tell you that everything you find there is gold. I have his site bookmarked on my toolbar, and literally, as I look at the titles of his 20 or so most recent posts, every single one of them begs to be delved into and broken down, piece by piece, to uncover some incredibly valuable nuggets of football coaching information. He writes about all facets of the game, but I have been especially interested in his offerings centered on Noel Mazzone’s (former NFL WR/offensive coordinator and most recently ASU’s offensive coordinator) melding of pro style passing with college style spread and run game, college and pro adaptations of inside zone and stretch in the run game, and his overall access to some great coaching cutups and clinic films presented for your leisure, or in-depth study. Try these on for starters:
Alex Gibbs: Stretch/Run Game Developments (part 1) (This post features nearly 5 hours of clinic discussion – between Gibbs and former Florida Gator Offensive Coordinator, now Mississippi State Head Coach, Dan Mullen, and former Florida Gator Offensive Line Coach, now Temple Head Coach, Steve Addazio – on the inside and outside zone game implemented at the NFL level.)
– Lastly (for now), I have been gathering information recently on all things relevant to running a high school football program. I came across a great website titled Cheifpigskin: Football Video Haven. This is a great site for coaches looking to grow as there are TONS of great videos concerning all areas of high school football development including overall program development, practice scheduling, O/D drills, in-depth documentaries, and more. And it’s all FREE (most of it, anyway). They even offer you a free downloadable eBook titled, Playbook for Manhood, for joining their mailing list. I have only perused it briefly, but it looks like it will be helpful in providing some real world examples in the effort to lead some of those uncertain youngsters – whom we often come across in the coaching profession – in the right direction; toward becoming a real man. From a description on the website, the book’s author, Frank DiCocco, “The Playbook for Manhood addresses an important problem in our society today: the breakdown in the positive developmental process of our world’s young men.”
An excellent football coaching website with tons of useful material and information:
Cripes! Get back to fundamentals…
Clink the link below to their latest post – a collection of legitimate coaching cutups (not the stuff you see on Fox) containing the first quarter of the 2010 BCS National Championship, featuring Cam Newton running Gus Malzahn’s power spread offense, Chip Kelly and the lightning attack spread of Oregon; Nick Fairley, Casey Mathews, and some defense too.
Also featured in the thread:
3 quarters of 2010 Rose Bowl contest between Wisconsin and TCU
First half of 2010 regular season match-up between Oregon and Stanford
Synopsis
You will definitely see a lot of down blocking and pulling by the Auburn and Stanford offenses. Among many perceived differences between these two offenses, you will also find similarities in the execution of the power play as a base run. Auburn works from a predominate shotgun set while Stanford prefers more traditional under center sets. Auburn will employ multiple variations using the quarterback both as a misdirection key and a ball carrier. Stanford likes to shift run strengths to gain a formational advantage, often using a double shift or shift/motion pre-snap movement variance.
Luck under center
Conventional power sets
Newton in the gun
Spread power set
The end-zone clips are great for studying the run game (more on passing game to come).
All the teams featured run some aspect of zone, with Oregon heavy in outside zone/read action; Stanford runs some of their zone packages out of shotgun with a read element as well with Andrew Luck (as does TCU and Dalton); Wisconsin likes to run lead and outside zone with multiple tight-end and fullback sets; both Auburn and TCU will run some fly sweep, quarterback zone reads; Auburn will also run veer with heavy backfield misdirection more than Oregon because of the inside running threat of Cam Newton.
Oregon’s efforts to diversify an admittedly simple scheme were focused on two back sets early – using orbit motion with a third skill player – attempting to create confusion and hesitation with fast split flow action, elements of deception and surprise.
Will Muschamp and the Auburn defense added fuel to the fire on an old football cliche: offense scores points but defense wins championships.
TCU is head coached by 4-2-5 technician, Gary Patterson, and capitalizes on fast, athletic, and aggressive play.
New 49ers defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, while anchoring the same position at Stanford, utilized a heavy four down set and emphasized keeping leverage on the ball and keeping Oregon skill players in front of them.
Recently the newly formed Pac-12 has landed the most lucrative tv deal in college sports. SI.com reported that the Pac-12 agreed to a 12-year television contract with Fox and ESPN on Tuesday (May 3) worth about $3 billion.
Second year commissioner Larry Scott has spearheaded a marketing blitz aimed at bringing the often dismissed conference – specifically in regard to national prominence in the FBS Division I-A landscape, where teams have previously incurred the stigma of playing in a soft conference highlighted by finesse offenses and mediocre defenses – into the conversation with the likes of traditional power conferences such as the SEC, Big-10, and Big-12. This latest deal will help Scott and the Pac-12 counter media bias in terms of voting in the football polls, attracting top level recruits and coaches, and padding their bottom line when it comes to athletic program budgets.
Dennis Dodd, from CBS Sportsline had this to say about Scott and his landmark deal:
Larry Scott is gold. The commissioner was hired to drag the sleepy Pac-10 out of its past and rocket it toward a lucrative future. In less than two years, he delivered big time. … Scott reshaped and repackaged his conference in such a way that it became the most lucrative league television property in history.
The celebrated new-kid-in-town is no stranger to building brands in athletics at the professional level. For six years prior to his current post, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour (Women’s Tennis Association), where he helped generate unprecedented growth and popularity for women’s professional tennis on a global scale. Scott couldn’t have timed his leap into the big money world of amateur* Division I athletics any better.
Before Chip Kelly and The University of Oregon exploded onto the scene with their light speed (everyone-wants-to-know-how-they-do-it) attack, Andrew Luck helped Jim Harbaugh lead Stanford University to a top 5 finish in 2010, the steady improvement of the Arizona Wildcats, and the enthusiastic optimism of the Washington Huskies, there was USC – the original PAC-10 juggernaut.
For years when USC seemed to be in repeated contention for national titles (bringing home an AP Championship in 2003, BCS Championship in 2004, and several top 10 finishes until Pete Carroll’s departure in January 2010) the rest of the country’s media labeled football played on the west coast as lacking toughness, and in one instance (from the hometown Los Angeles Times, no less) in 1999, accused the Pac-10 of “playing flag football, hoping that by waving a hand, holding a fistful of jersey for a moment counts as a tackle.”
If Scott’s recent marketing efforts (expansion and tv deal piggybacking improvement of multiple programs) are any indication of the direction the conference is headed (and the future of financial incentives driving college football), it is safe to say that the increased exposure and image branding for the Pac-12 will help to further thrust them into national prominence.
Take a look at some of the latest productions put together by Scott and his team, laying the foundation for ascension into the national spotlight, and hopefully, for Scott and the Pac-12, continued talk surrounding contenders like Oregon, Stanford, and more for the BCS National Championship.
Reintroducing the football conference with a new brand and image for the 2010 season:
Revealing the new Pac-12 logo welcoming Utah and Colorado:
Okay, maybe the second video could be toned down a bit in overall spirit and funk (think SNL cheerleaders, Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri) but the message is clear – the Pac-12 will be in your face and here to stay.
The official Pac-12 website displays the corresponding schedule for the new deal between the major networks ESPN/ABC to air 20 contests with an option for Fox Sports Net to select additional games for broadcast as early as June 2011.
ESPN/ABC TO AIR 20 PAC-12 FOOTBALL GAMES
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.–Pac-10 Conference television partner ESPN/ABC will provide extensive coverage of Pac-12 football in 2011. ESPN and ABC will combine to televise 20 games from Pac-12 sites. Some of the games to be televised are selected prior to the season, others will be selected as the season progresses with picks made either six or 12 days prior to the games. Additional telecast selections by Fox Sports Net/Versus/FX will be announced in early June, 2011.
“The inaugural year of the Pac-12 will showcase new rivalries and some of the very best football in the country,” stated Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott. “We are delighted that this year, ESPN’s Thursday and Friday night packages will provide significant national exposure for the entire Conference, along with our Saturday coverage on ESPN and ABC.”
Following are games involving Pac-12 teams that have been selected by ESPN/ABC for television as of May 10, 2011.
Day/Date
Game
Time
TV
Sat., Sept. 3
Minnesota at USC
12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET
ABC
Fri., Sept. 9
Missouri at Arizona State
7:30 pm PT/10:30 pm ET
ESPN
Sat., Sept. 17
Texas at UCLA
12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET
ABC (reverse mirror on ESPN)
Stanford at Arizona
7:45 pm PT/10:45 pm ET
ESPN
Sat., Sept. 24
Oregon at Arizona
7:15 pm PT/10:15 pm ET
ESPN or ESPN2
USC at Arizona State
7:15 pm PT/10:15 pm ET
ESPN or ESPN2
Thur., Oct. 6
California at Oregon
6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET
ESPN
Thur., Oct. 13
USC at California
6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET
ESPN
Sat., Oct. 15
TBD
7:15 pm PT/10:15 pm ET
ESPN
Thur., Oct. 20
UCLA at Arizona
6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET
ESPN
Sat., Oct. 22
Washington at Stanford
5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
ABC or ESPN or ESPN2
Sat., Oct. 29
Stanford at USC
5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
ABC
Fri., Nov. 4
USC at Colorado
6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET
ESPN2
Sat., Nov. 5
TBD
12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET
ABC
*Sat., Nov. 12
TBD
12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET
ABC or ESPN or ESPN2
or 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
Sat., Nov. 19
TBD
12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET
ABC
USC at Oregon
5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
ABC
Fri., Nov. 25
California at Arizona State
7:15 pm PT/10:15 pm ET
ESPN
Sat., Nov. 26
TBD
12:30 pm PT/3:30 pm ET
ABC
Notre Dame at Stanford
5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
ABC or ESPN or ESPN2
2011 Pac-12 away non-conference telecasts on ESPN/ABC platforms
Day/Date
Game
Time
TV
Sat., Sept. 3
Oregon vs. LSU
5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
ABC
Colorado at Hawai’i,
7:15 pm PT/10:15 pm ET
ESPN2
Thur., Sept. 8
Arizona at Oklahoma State
5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
ESPN
Sat., Sept. 17
Utah at BYU
6:15 pm PT/9:15 pm ET
ESPN2
A unique clause that should help to promote the competitiveness of the new conference allows the participating networks to reserve 5 “open” dates on the schedule. By selecting games with high intrigue and/or games with national significance the conference continues to get increased positive national exposure. This exposure will culminate with a football conference championship game, increasing the chances of the Pac-12 having further stake in the BCS fight at the end of the year … hopefully putting to rest the notion that the conference is anything but soft.
*Not Really, but absolutely hilarious, nonetheless.
In no way do I mean to mock the historical event paving way to American retribution for the 9/11 terrorist attacks (no matter what Rashard Mendenhall says) – the deftly coordinated Navy SEAL raid and consequent termination of Osama bin Laden (read a short tribute I put together about the members of SEAL Team 6 here).
But, what would this momentous occasion be without commentary from everyone’s favorite (pseudo) President Bush. Currently declining to share the spotlight with President Obama, camera’s caught the reticent former Commander in Chief at his favorite Sizzler Steakhouse on Canyon Ranch Road, right outside of his gate guarded community in Dallas, TX. There, he shared insight into a recent “covert and strategic operation” in which he directed:
If you haven’t seen it or used it, Urban Dictionary is an entertaining site giving life to “street” language. Everyday definitions with an urban tilt on common slang that you will not find in Merriam Webster’s Dictionary. It also has some other cool features worth checking out like word of the day, define your friends, and my city.
This is what came up when I clicked on my city, Santa Barbara, CA:
A jewel on the Californian coast, truly like no other. The weather is beautiful 24/7/360, the people are decent, the ocean and the Santa Ynez mountains surrounding it are beyond words.
Come see it before its too late, though. Its being invaded by developers, and the average house price is near a million dollars. Affordable housing is used as an excuse to put in large ugly apartment buildings. While SB still has the “Small Town” feel, its not going to be there for long.
Oh yeah, the mission. If you only see one mission in your life, see the Santa Barbara mission. Its incredible.
Santa Barbara. Its the last beautiful city in California.
1. State the produces more food than anywhere else, has crazy night life, large schools, hot women, a load of stuff to do, and the longest beach anybody has ever seen.
2. A place you’ll want to stay in once you visit get there.
3. Extremely diverse.
3. Much more entertaining than Texas.
3. An almost too-good-to-be-true place that combines excellent academics with a vibrant social atmosphere and perfect weather. It is also the only university in the United States that owns its own beach.
Most commonly refers to the area around the bay located in the northern region of California. The peninsula part is based around San Francisco. The other major areas include Oakland in the east bay, and San Jose in the south bay. The Bay Area constitutes of all those regions and suburbs of those cities near the bay. There are, however, common misconceptions of the bay area, such as the Bay Area of Memphis, Tennessee, as well as a few others. THE BAY AREA MOST COMMONLY REFERS TO THE REGION IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, YOU CAN NOT DENY THAT.
The rapper Lil’ Wyte states that he is from the Bay Area. He is not from the Bay Area in Northern California, so he is in fact a pussy bitch. E-40 and Too Short are from the Bay Area; Vallejo and Oakland, respectively. Dont hate on the Cali Bay Area just cause your state’s Bay Area isnt as well known.
Here’s an analogy…When people say Portland (there are 14 Portlands in the U.S.), they’re most likely talkin about the one in Oregon.
(my bad if i didnt name your city in the definition of the bay area…i got love for the whole bay…vallejo, concord, richmond, pittsburg, sunnyvale, palo alto (EPA), fremont, mateo, marin, berkeley, and every lil town i forgot from gilroy to sactown to santa rosa and back down)
Saturday Nite Lites 
