Did the Spin Offense Live Up to its Hype?

With over 250 High Schools implementing the spin offense, AFM profiled 3 programs...
by: Mike Kuchar
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If you were to ask Cirtronelle High School (AL) Offensive Coordinator Barry Gibson or Catholic High’s (LA) Head Coach Dale Weiner a year ago if they thought they would have this much feedback from the Spin offense, neither one would have believed you. But the truth is since the first article on the Spin appeared in AFM’s December, 2006 issue, Gibson and Weiner have spent countless hours on the computer emailing coaches and in the post office sending out cut-ups of the Spin scheme. It has taken off literally to the point where the distribution process has become a second job.

“I’m thinking about hiring someone just to take phone calls and do all the shipping of these tapes,” said Weiner. “The response since the article came out has been nothing short of miraculous. It’s even been overwhelming at times.” Weiner put out a series of DVD’s on the Spin that has been the best seller among all AFM videos. He’s also been working the clinic circuit as the headlining speaker at AFMU’s clinics in February and March fielding question after question on this offense. Similarly, Gibson, who invented the Spin while at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Ridgeland, MS in 2001, has been inundated as well. He also has three videos on the Spin, one entitled ‘Game Breaking Plays.’ “I’ve answered many, many questions from all over the country and a number have asked me to come to their school and give a clinic on the Spin,” said Gibson.

Weiner changed to the Spin for the 2004 Louisiana State playoffs after reading the article that Gibson wrote on the subject. Going into the 2007 season, his Catholic High team had a 50-9 record since implementing the Spin. The core of the Spin offense is based off a double slot formation and the scheme is a cross-breed among the Wing T, Double Wing, and Spread Shotgun offenses. It’s coined the ‘Spin’ because on the snap of the ball the quarterback, in the shotgun set, pivots off his foot in the direction of the play, turning his back on the defense. It provides for instant deception – the defense never knows who actually has the ball. Utilizing the spin of the quarterback enables the offense to run sweeps, dives, off tackle power, counters, reverses, options, and isolation plays. “Misdirection is the key,” says Gibson. “If executed well, the defense won’t know which of four backs actually has the ball.”

So, the question is why the recent demand of the Spin offense in a time when what’s now in football is in the form of four and five wide receiver formations? With over 250 high school programs implementing some form of the Spin scheme this current season, American Football Monthly decided to profile three programs that have made a full commitment to the Spin since reading articles about it – just to see how it worked out.

De Soto High School
(De Soto, KS)
Brad Scott, Head Coach

After struggling through a tumultuous 4-5 season in 2006, Brad Scott figured that changes had to be made – particularly offensively. His ‘I’ formation offense lacked explosiveness. His run game such as his iso’s and leads seemed to be moving uphill instead of downhill and what’s worse is that his gap schemes were often terminated in the backfield with much quicker defensive linemen penetrating his smaller offensive line. The Wildcats were lucky to win four of nine games, according to Scott, because they had a QB who got the ball downfield. But on the ground they were atrocious – compiling an average of 55 yards a game.

So consider the fact that when Scott first noticed the article on the Spin in the December 2006 issue it served somewhat as a blessing. “I obviously liked the deception. I also liked how quickly you can get the ball out on the perimeter with the speed sweep and counter series. We had quick linemen and I figured that might be our strength,” said Scott. The only deterrent was whether he would be able to blend his traditional blocking schemes in the I set to the ones in the Spin. “I liked our blocking schemes and I didn’t want to make a complete overhaul offensively. Our kids were getting to know our system and I wanted to keep it simple.” As it turns out, with a few emails to Weiner, the cohesion began to set in. Scott made the trip to the clinics in Baton Rouge (LA) where Weiner was speaking and he was able to absorb as much information on the offense as possible. Then he decided to purchase the tapes.

What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. Scott spent the entire off season coaching up his staff on the new scheme. Despite a few raised eyebrows among staffers, Scott debuted his Spin offense in a passing league at Pittsburg State over the summer and the rest was history. Now 75 percent of his offensive package relies on the double slot, spin scheme. “We ran spin sweep, spin counter and spin reverse at will for the first three weeks of the season. We caught everybody by surprise because no one had seen it out here. Then, once teams started to adjust to our game by sending people on the perimeter, it opened up all the complementary plays like QB iso and FB power,” said Scott. De Soto finished at 5-5 this year, but the major improvement came in the run game. The Wildcats rushed for 1,500 yards this past season, three times more the output than the season before. More importantly, they did it with the same schedule, against the same teams that shut them down the year before – all the while replacing four of their starting five offensive linemen.

“We’ve even got it going down at the middle school level. They dominated every game they played this year, averaging 20 points per game,” said Scott. “We just decided that we needed to commit to it in order to be effective. If you utilize the offense the correct way, teams have to defend every gap. It gave the defense a ton of fits.”

Hanson Memorial High School (Franklin, LA)
Richard Sandusky, Head Coach

One of the first programs to catch on to the Spin offense was about an hour and half down the road from Weiner’s program in Baton Rouge. Head Coach Rich Sandusky was in his third year of building Hanson Memorial from a perennial cellar dweller into a competitive squad when he decided to get some advice from his mentor. “I knew that Coach Weiner was having a ton of success at Catholic High but I wasn’t exactly sure how he was doing it,” said Sandusky. “We are a much smaller school so we never really got a chance to cross paths.” Sandusky was searching for an offensive identity after tinkering from a Pro I team to more of a Wing T scheme to better fit his smaller, but quicker athletes. But it wasn’t until Sandusky started to get in contact with Weiner and started to attend the clinics that he started to buy in to the Spin philosophy.

“In reality the offense is a glorified single wing formation with Wing T progressions,” said Sandusky. “It was also a smooth transition from the I formation stuff we were running in years previously. The stretch play was always a staple of our offense and the spin sweep was just a natural progression.” Sandusky was also intrigued by the personnel delegated by the spin. The double slot formation gets your best athletes on the field. “If we can get two more athletes on the field and utilize them, why not? You never know who is going to get the ball because the scheme is so deceptive with all of the fakes.”

Over 50 percent of the Tigers’ offense this year was the Spin. Although they finished 3-7, Sandusky wants to implement more of the scheme, making it about 80 percent of what he does next year. “I wish I would’ve had more of it earlier in the year. Next season it will be better because as our staff has a better knowledge of it, we will become more comfortable calling plays and running the scheme,” said Sandusky. Another one of the Spin’s assets is the fact that kids love running the scheme. The misdirection of the offense makes it interesting and when the players have fun they play better. “Our kids were actually thinking of new plays to run. It’s important that you have something the kids like because they play harder,” said Sandusky.

According to Sandusky, win or lose, opposing coaches would tell him after the game how hard the Spin is to prepare for especially since the scout offense can’t replicate it in a week’s time. “I’m a big believer in the Spin. It’s tough to defend. It’s like facing the option. You make them have to work on something they’re not used to working on. When you have defenses changing their entire scheme to play you – and that’s what they did with us – you know you’re making them think, which makes you think. It made me a better coach, just by learning the Spin scheme.”

Sidney High School (OH)
Dan Cairns, Head Coach

As the saying goes, “either you’re a Wing T team or a team that lines up in a Wing T formation.” For Dan Cairns, the head coach at Sidney High School, he was the former – a Wing T coach through and through. This is the reason why he had some reservations about making a complete transformation to the Spin. Reading about the spin peaked his curiosity, but it wasn’t until he ordered online DVD’s of the Spin that he started to seriously contemplate implementing this offense into his Wing T.

“When we sat back and thought about it we realized that it was so similar to Wing T principles. A lot of Wing T guys don’t like change because the offense is so structured and proven that there is an answer for everything. But I guess we felt that we needed to step out of our comfort level,” said Cairns. Step out they did – the Yellow Jackets used the Spin in five of their ten games this year. But the reason for its effectiveness lies in the change up it provided for the defense. Cairns would use it in certain situations when teams hadn’t seen or prepared for it.

“It was so similar to our regular blocking schemes that we decided to use it,” said Cairns. “We packaged the spin sweep with our regular buck sweep play because it gave us instant speed to the perimeter. We also utilized the misdirection of the counter criss-cross, the QB iso and QB power. We just made our fullback – who was an excellent player – the lead blocker, whether it was buck sweep, QB trap or QB iso. Some teams couldn’t match-up.” One team in particular suffered the consequences of trying to defend the Spin. Troy High School, a Sidney rival, lost for the first time in six seasons to the Yellow Jackets, 17-14 in week three. “The Spin simply won that game for us and it was a huge game,” said Cairns. “We just kept gashing them with QB iso and spin sweep so they didn’t know how to adjust. And when they did it was too late.”

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3 Elements To Make The Spin Work

Barry Gibson originated what is now called the ‘Spin’ offense in 2001. From his years implementing this offense at a number of different high schools, he feels there are three key elements to maximizing its potential.

1. “You really need speed at the two slotback positions. I would say you should put the fastest players on your team at these two positions. Speed is important at other positions as well but I think the slots are crucial to the Spin’s success.”

2. “You need guards that are quick enough to pull. Athletic guards that have quick feet are a plus because they’re critical for the success of the Spin Sweep and Spin Counter. Having your linemen out in front for these plays almost guarantees positive yardage.”

3. “Your quarterback in this offense should be a runner first and a passer second. He also has to understand the importance of carrying out fakes and why misdirection is the basis and focus of the Spin offense.”

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Origins of the Spin

Veteran Head Coach Barry Gibson of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Ridgeland, MS was struggling with his football program in the fall of 2001. His team did not have great athletes and they were consistently outmanned by stronger and faster high schools. He then thought of adjusting his single wing offense to give his team an advantage. What he found was that misdirection was the great equalizer.

Gibson developed the ‘Deuce’ or ‘Double Slot’ but what is commonly known today as the ‘Spin,’ arguably the fastest growing offense in America. The concept is based off of a double slot formation with two wingbacks and the quarterback and tailback in the shotgun. It’s called the Spin because on the snap of the ball to the QB, who then pivots off his foot in the direction of the play, turns his back to the defense. The misdirection is instantaneous – the defense really doesn’t know who ends up with the ball. From this concept, Gibson added motion to a number of plays to increase misdirection.

“The original thought was an offense that was based on misdirection that combined the single wing with a spread formation,” said Gibson. “Four or five receivers were part of the flow of every pass play but now – combining that with the quarterback’s spin – any one of four backs could be carrying the ball. This offense really was a combination of the old school with the new school spread look. It helped our program immediately and we were able to compete with all our opponents. What helped us was that our opponents really had to prepare for us because they only saw this offense once a year.”

It also helped other programs. The effect was immediate on Dale Weiner’s Catholic High School team in Baton Rouge, LA. Weiner tinkered with his offense and then installed the Spin for the Louisiana State Playoffs in 2001. The results: Catholic High has gone 50-9 since heading into the 2007 season. They’ve also averaged nearly 35 points per game. “It’s been great for our program,” says Weiner. “We’ve taken the spread package and meshed it with the option and misdirection run plays like counter, power and sweep.”

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