Ohio State HC Ryan Day wants to permanently end Tennessee Vols' style of offense
Tennessee Vols fans won't like what Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day had to say this week. Vols head coach Josh Heupel won't like it either. Day was recently interviewed by Fox Sports' Joel Klatt and the Ohio State head coach was asked what one change he would make to college football. Surprisingly, Day […]
Tennessee Vols fans won't like what Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day had to say this week.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel won't like it either.
Day was recently interviewed by Fox Sports' Joel Klatt and the Ohio State head coach was asked what one change he would make to college football.
Surprisingly, Day immediately suggested that that he'd make the hash marks closer to each other in the college game, just like they are in the NFL.
"The hash marks," said Day in response to what he would change about college football. "I think those hash marks were built for football a long time ago. You know, I think like the NBA has made their adjustments. College (basketball) has made their adjustment — they moved the three-point line. They've made adjustments. We haven't. And I think now, today, you know, with the type of athletes that we have, they're faster, they're bigger, they're more powerful. You know, putting the ball on a hash mark is just putting everybody in the smaller area of the field. And we're not playing, you know, outside the numbers to the field. I think putting the ball in the middle of the field, more like in the NFL, opens up the entire game."
Tennessee's offense under Josh Heupel is reliant on the wider hash marks in the college game because it allows the Vols to spread the field with their alignments. UT's wide receivers often line up outside the numbers on one side of the field while the ball is spotted on the opposite hash mark. This alignment forces the defense to essentially "declare" if they're playing the run or the pass (or if they're in man or zone coverage…unless it's disguised well).
Moving the hash marks closer together like the NFL would completely change Tennessee's offense. The tempo would still be there, but the wide splits would go away (the hash marks are one of the main reasons why the Vols' style of offense isn't used in the NFL).
Heupel and his staff would certainly find a way to adapt. But taking away one of the main components of Tennessee's offense would absolutely make the Vols' offensive attack less potent.
I think it's doubtful that Day gets his way — I can't imagine why college football rules makers would want to make the game less exciting. And really, the only reason Day is making this suggestion is because opposing defensive coordinators and head coaches don't know how to stop Tennessee's style of offense when it's being executed at a high level.
In past years, I think this style of offense — which started at Baylor under Art Briles — was viewed as a novelty. Tennessee's emergence as a national title contender last season, however, brought Heupel's offense into the mainstream. And coaches like Day would prefer to eliminate its existence instead of figuring out how to stop it.
Again, it's doubtful Day gets his way, but you never know what the future of the game holds. And this is a drastic change that could realistically happen at any time. Vols fans just have to hope that it's a change that never comes to the sport.
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Featured image via USA TODAY Sports
