After thirty years of coaching college football a coach reflects on a few things he would do over if he had the opportunity. Some things I wish I could do over deal with career choices made with the heart and not the mind, and I wish I had the taken the opportunity to do more with a formation we “toyed” with at Wichita State when I was the offensive coordinator in 1978. It was an unusual idea which was incorporated into the offense from time to time, but in 1978 the offensive staff was too heavily involved in developing the trap option series, which was created at WSU, to give too time and energy to the idea.

The formation we “toyed” with was labeled East. In today’s football terminology it would be considered a “shotgun” formation. But, at that time I considered it a single-wing formation rather than a passing formation. (Probably not many coaches reading this article will have any concept of the single-wing.) East was considered a single-wing because we viewed the quarterback as a threat as both a runner and as a passer. In the single-wing the tailback was a double threat and he also provided the third threat as a punter. We never considered including the third threat -but, today I would seriously consider that aspect of the formation.

EAST DIAGRAM / RIGHT EAST

East was unique at the time and probably still would be today in relation to the “shotgun” pro style offenses prevalent on football now. In East the quarterback’s feet were at five and a half yards from the football and the tailback aligned two yards behind the quarterback. The fullback aligned with his feet at four and a half to five yards from the football with his outside foot on the tackle’s inside foot.

The reasons East was an asset to our offense – and the reasons I now feel we should have made better use of the formation:

1. It placed our five foot ten quarterback with 4.55 speed and a great arm in an ideal position to quickly pressure the perimeter of the defense – run and pass.
2. It was extremely difficult for the defense to determine run or pass in the two base plays from East – the down the line option and sprint/pullup passes.
3. It allowed us to maintain our I formation tailback offense – run and pass to complement the option.
4. It was an excellent way to handle the blitz – then and now.
5. It gave the staff and the players a break from our obsession with the trap option.

This is an excerpt from the eBook titled Reflections on an Idea by Larry Beckish. The eBook is available on request to football coaches in Adobe PDF format.

Coach Beckish is a member of the South Carolina State University coaching staff, coaching the Offensive Line. The list of coaches that Larry his worked with reads like a “Who’s Who” among coaching legends. His coaching stints include stops in the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten.

Larry played for four years at Wichita State University (1960-1965), and was team captain in 1963. Upon graduating from Wichita State, Beckish began his coaching career at the University of Tampa where he coached both the offensive and defensive lines.

After two seasons at Tampa, Beckish headed north to serve as the receivers coach at Clemson under the legendary Frank Howard. He moved south again for a season at the University of Miami before returning to Clemson as receivers coach and he coached the Tigers from 1971-1976.

After Clemson, Beckish returned to his alma mater to work with the legendary Willie Jeffries, who made history by becoming the first African-American head coach in Division 1-A. At WSU Coach Beckish, the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator and the staff developed the Trap Option.

Following three years with Jeffries, Beckish became an assistant at East Carolina for a season before joining the Arizona Wranglers of the now-defunct USFL. He later coached three seasons at the University of Minnesota as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Lou Holtz.

After brief retirement Larry returned to coach two seasons at Ole Miss (1990-1992) as well as a season with the Charlotte Rage of the Arena League. From 1995 through 1998 he coached at Duke. Larry recently worked as a ‘volunteer’ coach at Hilton Head High School in 2001 and 2002 before returning to college football in 2003.

During retirement from 1987-1990, he wrote ‘The Trap Option – 40 Plus 60 Equals Option.’ He also authored, ‘I Believe in Cream, Apples, and Football – Thoughts for Coaches’.

LISTEN TO Coach Beckish on The Coaches Corner Football Coaching Podcast and hear him discuss other thoughts and ideas from I Believe.