[jbrew2411]

I don't know if I can help but I'm a high school coach and run the spread. Where I'm from most the schools run triple option because it is easy to find kids that can run it but to teach a kid to throw the ball is real coaching. I don't have a football background, played basketball in high school and college, but I have studied football for years to get where I'm at. Here we go, this is how I see it.

The spread is desinged to spread the D out. What some peolpe don't know is the O-line also lines up a little wider for the spread passing teams. Why, well to give the QB an ally to throw through. See Drew Brees back in Purdue. Helps the smaller QB's.
With 4 & 5 wide the D does have to decide weather to play zone, which creates holes between the deep safeties and corners, or they blitz with man coverage which can be picked apart by the short passes. Also when playing a team that runs a 3-4 now has to put 4 down linemen on the filed to blitz 4 or stay ture to the 3-4 dime coverage an send a Linebacker which can create a hole if you read it right.
Like someone said the spread is not always down the field and does not have to be 4-5 WR but can use TE's, & back's to spread teams out. Yes the Colts do run a form of spread with Clark lined-up off the line like a WR. This works if you have a freak like Clark that is no more then a huge WR.
The routs that work well in the spread or the crossing routs, short slant/shallow post, and screan's. All these routs expose the holes left by zone coverage and if in man coverage then it gets guys open. The crossing routs can create a pick if the D is in man. The key is open easy throws and the WR's finding the holes in the zone coverage.
The differance in formations is to change things up. For me I find it better to run out of 4 wide becuase the D is so "spread" out that and safeties are back, that the back's will have a hole and one-on-one with a linebacker. The run plays can also be the screens and passes to the backs in the flats. You don't aways have to the hand the ball off for it to be a "run play".
The bunch is great to draw the D close and run those pick plays. These are like a pick in Basketball in that 2 guys will get locked up with one guy and one guy is now free/open. The key is to get your guy (you are the WR) to get triped or caught up with his own man. A good run play out of the bunch is a toss since that D is in tight. You can seal off and get the back out past the tackle and in space.
As far as needing a moble QB is not as big unless you run a spread option. See UF or WVU for this. Tebow and Pat White was great at this style. For me I need a kid that can throw the ball on the mark. I don't need a big arm since I don't have a single throw over 20 yards. A QB that knows when to step up in the pocket.
Its easier to find 4 good WR's then to find 4 good CB's. This is where the spread has the advantage in college and kills in high school if ran right. You take the strength of the D away (strong linemen and linebackers) and the blitz.
For me this is the best system. There is so much you can do with it. You can throw the ball every where or you can run the option. I like to move guys around like a WR to a back or 2 o-linmen out wide with a WR behind them. Thank you Ol' Ball Coach for that one. If you can make the D do things they are not use to doing then you win. My #1 formation is 4 wide QB in the "Pistol". I try and keep my QB in the "Pistol" because you can do so much.
The spread in video games is worthless becuase the guys making the games don't know what they are doing. They don't understand football. And in real life ever coach puts there own spin on the spread. So things differ from team to team.
Thats just a little insight from a coach. Alot of you guys make good points and like I said the spread is different for every team. But the one thing that is the same is it spreads the D out and can create holes or miss-matches. After that it depends on how the team runs it.


P.S. I'm not typing all this while teaching kid. I'm at home sick so no wasting of State money here.