Arizona Cardinals
Former Michigan State legend Duffy Daugherty long ago summed up his disdain for the passing game thusly: “Three things can happen when you put a football in the air, and two of them are bad.”
That was in an era of the 1970s when consistently successful teams—both at the university and pro levels—ran the ball to victory rather than passing it.
Obviously, coach Daugherty was among those who hadn’t seen the West Coast Offense at work.
The West Coast Offense, so-named because it’s popularity and success achieved its first extensive spotlight with Bill Walsh during his success as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s, is often acknowledged as one of the most innovative and precise offensive strategies in modern football history.
In simple terms, the West Coast offense is based upon a combination of precision-timed passing, an array of offensive formations, and utilization of the short-passing game—in addition to strategic running plays—to control the ball. Above all, the running game and long pass must be a threat on any down, prompting defenses to keep some semblance of balance on the field, thereby allowing the short passing game to flourish through motion and mismatches. And with big-play potential lurking in the shadows.